Things I want to remember

I've been thinking lately about how quickly Hadley is growing up and leaving behind some of the cute things he says and does. So just to remind myself in years to come, here are a few things I never want to forget.

1. I love the way he will randomly stop whatever he is doing and say, "Momma...(long pause)...I just want to say I love you."

2. Funny restaurant/store names: McDonalds = Old McDonald; Buffalo Wild Wings = Chick Fil A Wings; Tracks = The Choo Choo Place; Target = The Red Store

3. I love that "yellow" is still "lellow"; "Jessie" (from Toy Story) is "Gessie"; "Francesco" (from Cars) is "Fran-ge-i-co"

4. He likes to play baseball, but usually only if he is wearing a Texas Ranger t-shirt (and always his helmet as well).

5. Lately he is a milk drinking fool. Given the choice, he will pick milk for every meal, snack, or drink break.

6. He is very inquisitive about God, and always wants to know if God can see certain things. For example, "Can God see what's in my tummy?", "Can God see my flip flops?", "Can God see me playing baseball?", "Can God see me at the library?"

7. He eats very few things right now including: mac & cheese, lunchables (except he doesn't like the cheese in many of them!), fruit snacks (sometimes), crackers, chips,& bread (almost any kind), hot dogs, cheeseburgers (plain & dry), spaghetti (sometimes), and of course cookies. As far as fruits and veggies - forget it.

8. He would eat at Whataburger every day if we let him.

9. Half the time he asks to take a nap, or take a bath and go to bed. (Not many 3 years olds do that I'm thinking!)

10. Stuffed animals are called "cuddlies."

I could go on and on...

6 months later...

This might be a record...(for the longest between posts!).

Quick recap:

January: snow
February: more snow and lots of ice; sad time when Mema passed away but nice time spent with family; Eric's birthday
March: warmer weather; Karah's birthday in Quanah
April: playing outside; Easter egg hunt
May: hot; Hadley plants a garden; Mandi forgets how to walk and hurts her foot; wedding dress shopping with Karah
June: even hotter; playing in the water to keep cool; quick trip to the ranch

That about does it.

Oh, and here are some pictures. (The real reason some of you want me to update this!) :-)

To Remember

Hadley is growing up way too fast. Every day he is looking more and more like a little boy instead of a baby. While that is exciting, it is also a little sad (for mommy). I want to remember every single thing about what he is like right now, so this post is really more for me, for memory sake.

Right now he is really into Elmo, and has even started saying it (sounds more like "memo"). He doesn't really have a favorite toy, but instead seems to find a new favorite item each day. Some days it's a sippy cup, or a certain book, or even a baby doll (at the babysitter's house). He also doesn't really have a "comfort" item (blanket, toy, etc.) specifically, but he does always need a burp rag (cloth diaper) when he naps or goes to bed. Some of the words he is saying (or trying to say) frequently now are: what's that, daddy, hi, bye, elmo, bite, cup, car, shoes, moo (the sound every animal makes!), and he has his own words that only mommy can understand for bink, burp rag, and book. He give such sweet hugs and kisses, and sometimes blows kisses. The funny thing about the kisses is the way he has to give them to both mommy and daddy each time. If only one of us is present, he always looks around for the other one, waiting to give them a kiss as well. Sometimes he is very friendly to others saying "hi" and "bye" to anyone and anything he sees, and sometimes he plays shy. He has started noticing things outside when we are in the car, especially animals, and will "moo" at them.

As of a couple weeks ago Hadley is completely off a bottle. I worry that he's not getting enough milk now, but we try to get him to drink some in a sippy cup when we can. Bedtime now consists of reading books with mommy, and snuggle time, before laying down to go to sleep. I am so glad that he learned very early on to go to sleep on his own since we have always put him in bed awake. (Note to self: do the same thing with any other kids we might have!)

I am so blessed and so happy to have such a sweet, happy, easy-going boy. Mommy loves you so much my sweet Hadley.

An Interesting 24 Hours

The past 24 hours have been filled with "wetness" where Hadley is concerned, and I'm writing about it because someday all of these things will be funny. (Some are already, but others...not so much yet.)

When I picked Hadley up from the sitter's yesterday he was in a different outfit than when I had dropped him off that morning. Now, for some babies, this is not an unusual concept, but for Hadley that was only maybe the second time he had an "accident." Miss April said during his nap his diaper leaked quite a bit and his entire front side was soaking wet when she picked him up. Luckily I had stuck an extra onesie in his bag long ago so he had something to wear the rest of the day. (I say luckily because of the "mom of the year" stunt I pulled later in the day!)

Next event (this is the "mom of the year" stunt referred to above): Last night Eric, Hadley and I went out to eat at The Smokehouse in Lindsay and as we were getting Hadley out of the car I realized that I (super mom) had not brought a single thing for the child...no diapers, no wipes, no burp/snot rag, no bink...nothing! Way to be prepared, Mandi! You would think this was our first time to take our child out in public, but no...just me having a complete "what? I'm a mom? My child requires supplies to leave the house?" moment! Luckily, we made it through supper and even made a quick trip to Walmart without any incidences requiring the above mentioned forgotten items. Oh...forgot to mention that all of the above happened after I made one trip back into the house during the leaving process for something else I forgot. Nice!

Later last night (and this one is pretty funny), Eric took Hadley outside for a little while since it was so nice. He later came back in to tell mommy that Murph (our dog) had licked Hadley from his toes to his nose. I'm not sure if he smelled the restaurant on him, or just wanted to know what "baby" tasted like, but Hadley didn't seem phased a bit by it. Good thing since I'm sure there will be much "licking" in the years to come!

Now here's the one that was not funny at the time and is still not really that funny to me. (Maybe someday it will be.) Hadley has been sleeping between 8-10 hours almost every night for several weeks now (very nice, by the way). But last night he decided to wake up at 2:30. I really think it was the wind and rain that woke him up, and I think he would have gone back to sleep if we had left him alone. But...we're not that smart. So once he saw us, the crying began and there was really no consoling him at that point. So (against my better judgement) we fixed him a bottle and I sat down to feed him. He seemed to devour the bottle in very little time, but I decided I had just dozed off while he was eating so the time seemed to go by faster. No...not the case. When I sat him up to burp him I realized the burp rag that was laying on his chest was soaking wet, as was his night-shirt (front and back), as well as the entire front of my shirt. What in the world? Turns out, the lid on the bottle was screwed on crooked and the milk had just been pouring out of it rather than going down the desired hole (Hadley's mouth). At that point both Hadley and I were unhappy, wet, tired, and needed a change of clothes. The rest of this story is not really important, but it did make for a not-so-restful night. Note to self (and to Eric): always make sure the lids to bottles are screwed on straight and tight unless you want this episode to be repeated.

Here's the best super-mom thing about all of this...Hadley didn't get a bath before, during, or after any of these events took place. Wow...I'm doing good!

Sweet Memories (and some old pics)

I just want to always remember how cute Hadley is at this stage. He is talking and smiling all the time these days and it is absolutely the cutest and funniest thing ever. He just talks and talks like he has so much to tell us. Sometimes it even sounds like he's saying "mama" and "uh-oh." (I have witnesses to that so I'm not just making it up!) One night last week he giggled for the first time, and we have heard it a couple times since then. Eric and I try and try to get him to do it again, but I think he's saving most of his giggles for a little later.

These pictures are from Thanksgiving when Hadley was just a little over a week old, but they are wonderful pictures.