Chop, Chop

I did it. I cut my hair. After arriving back from New Mexico on Monday I went to the salon and told them to take it off. I am enjoying it! I don't have any pictures yet of the finished product. It is so short now that it doesn't quite all fit in a pony tail. Maybe that will force me to be more girly- hmmmm.

We went to New Mexico to house hunt. Saw some good things. But none are really attainable for numerous reasons. We hope some more options come up soon. It was not fun to have Hadley in a hotel. I think she was confused. Below is a picture of her chillin' in her seat during the drive. She was pretty good. It was because of me that Chris had to pull over a bunch (I got sick).

We would have liked to go over the weekend intead of a Sunday/Monday, but I had to coach a soccer game in Odessa (2 hours away). My girls won. At a cost. We lost our keeper to a broken wrist. Yep, she got pushed, landed, and after the game I spoke to her mom on the phone. I sent her home with another parent and found out hours later that she broke her wrist. I felt so bad!

The wrist. Now that does NOT look normal- does it?

Below are just a few pictures of what Hadley did while I was coaching. Chris took her to the park for the first time. And he did laundry. Hadley loves the laundry. We dump the warm laundry on her and she sits in the big pile. She tries to put everything over her head and then she plays with the bakset. She loves it when he put her in it. Or over her. I think she plays with it longer than her 'real' toys. And yes, that is my sock in her mouth. She loves to eat socks. She has no preference as to whose sock. She just loves to eat them. Her's are so wet at times that you could really wring them out!

The Many Faces of Hadley

Wow! We have been so busy! We are trying hard to secure a loan so we can get a house in New Mexico. We plan on going out there this weekend to look at some that are 'on the list.' It is tough to do this when it is all taking place in another state.

We both have a bad case of...well, I don't know what to call it. It is not laziness. We are working so hard. Every weekend I go out of town with the high school soccer teams to coach. Out of town here means at least a two hour each way travel distance. Chris is studying hard and doing many projects. It is like senioritis, when you are graduation and just are not motivated, but you have to drag your feet and do it anyways. We don't want to wish time away- not in the least. But we are anxious (and that word doesn't even adequately describe how we feel) to start this new life. And of course, still a little sad to be leaving Texas and the wonderful things that are here. I am so excited to be the one to take care of my own baby though and teach her more things.

So, new things with us...Chris is often Hadley's best friend, caring for her every need and playing a ton with her. He taught her to clap and loves to pretend to throw her on the bed and pick her up upside down. It is so fun to hear her squeal. Luckily he has been healthy, and Hadley, too.

Me- I have been fighting a sinus infection. I think I have officially won, now. I also am in the process of an unexpected root canal, therapy for a slightly torn ligament in the knee, just to name a few things. Crazy busy, and still trying to play soccer myself on a few teams.

Hadley is the highlight of everything in our lives. I leave the house with her on my mind, and spend every minute away counting down the hours until I can be back with her and Chris again. She can pull herself up on ANYTHING now. And she loves to let go and just balance standing. She is never afraid to land on her well padded bum. We have yet to see her try to take steps. For now she likes to just balance. She thinks standing up on the chairs/pews at church is the greatest. And since the people behind her think it is so cute, she squeals and acts like even more of a ham. She thinks unpacking her diaper bag and pulling CD's out of the shelves is the most fun thing ever. And she loves to eat real food. So far her favorite is Shepard's Pie- a big combination of meat, potatoes and veggies. She smears it all over and almost inhales it! She likes to eat pasta, too. She wont really use a sippie cup, but she loves to use a straw in a cup. She drinks so much she starts to choke, but she always comes back for more. The other day she drank so much that in about an hour and a half she completely peed through an outfit- something she hasn't done in...well, I can't even remember!

She has seven teeth now, and when she gets over excited she tries to bite! We have been working on letting her know that that is NOT OK! We have had such a blast with all the funny things she does. Our friends who help us watch her taught her the fish face. Chris got some GREAT shots of her doing this! He also got a few ones of her trying to dress herself (or rather- eating her clothes while she was trying to put them over her head).

Well, I know this blog really has overdone it on the Hadley updates, but to me it is so exciting! It is funny, though, how it all seems to original, yet my friends who have babies around the same age are doing about the same things. Oh well, it is still exciting.

Wish us luck this weekend as we try to find a house! I will post pictures when we find one!

Photo Session!

I just got some new pictures taken of Hadley. So much has changed with her since my last post and since her last pictures (at 6 mo.)! Actually, a lot has changed with our little family! As I write, Chris is in New Mexico with a realtor! We are able to buy a home and get the first-time home buyers $8,000 rebate. So he is checking out some areas and a few houses. We are planning on going out there together over Spring Break. And I just keep thinking that in about 4 months we will be moving into our own home!

This place (portrait innovations) took such great photos and I was so happy with everything! They captured so many great shots. Hadley was really happy because I took her right after she woke up and ate. That is her happiest time!

Is every mom as enamored of their child as I am? Everyone still claims that she looks just like Chris.

So, this weekend has been a great one- despite Chris being gone and us missing him! Schools were shut down on Friday and classes cancelled because of this great snow storm! I haven't seen snow like this since Utah. Lubbock actually looked beautiful! The ponds are refilled and the trees looked amazing cloaked in ice! It was so majestic! I snapped a few pictures on my phone. Lubbock is not used to things like this so school was cancelled. Then on Saturday the soccer games were cancelled. Hadley and I have just hung out and it has been so wonderful to just take care of her. She stands up now on her own and walks slowly around things. The other day I was putting her down for a nap and she kept fussing in her crib. We just let it go for a while and I ignored her, but after a while I decided to open the door and check. She was standing up (this was the first time she had pulled herself up in her crib). Apparently she was trying to get our attention- she was so proud of herself. Her little accomplishments like this are so exciting and I love to see how she is so proud of her little achievements! We made a big deal of her standing in her crib and clapped and it made her squeal with delight! It is so fun!

I didn't have any plans to do any Valentine's Day shots, but the photographer came up with this one and since it is so close to Valentine's Day I just thought it was so perfect! And yes, I am waiting for the day when Hadley can wear bows clipped into her hair instead of these headbands that she lately tries to rip of and destroy. That's my angel!

Christmas Vacation Pictures

This post is mostly just pictures. There are so many fun ones that we took this Christmas season! It is tough to capture a shot where all the children in a picture are smiling- or even just looking at the camera.


This picture has nothing to do with Christmas. I just thought it was too cute not to post! We know that we are sooo blessed with our little angel (no longer so little- she is getting quite chubby! All this late night snacking)!

Future Best Friends! I love seeing Ashley, one of my best friends in the world when I go home! Her baby, Natalie, was born just about a week after Hadley. The babies really seemed to like eachother. Last time they were just a few months old and Hadley kept trying to eat Natalie.

Chris and a sleepy "Little Santa" on Christmas Eve!

Our first Christmas as a little family!

Hadley didn't cry with Santa! We went to Bass Pro Shops in Colorado. The line was not long, the people were nice, they print out a free photo for you and let you take your own- all for FREE! I was astonished to find out that the malls all charge outrageous fees for you to take your own photo with Santa. Didn't seem so 'Christmasey' to me. Love you Bass Pro Shops!

Saige (on Chris' side) is Hadley's closest cousin in age. They live in Colorado and we were so excited for the girls to meet. They are quite different, and it is funny how obvious it is at such a young age. Hadley is NOT shy at all, while Saige takes some time to warm up to people. They did get used to eachother and had fun playing with eachother's toys. We were hoping Hadley would watch Saige crawl (she is an expert- she is fast!) and get the idea, but nope!

I love this picture! My sweet grandpa is 95, and we had fun posing the great-grandkids with him. He read us the Christmas story on Christmas Eve.

This was take on Christmas Eve. Okay- so the picture looks a little forced. There were distractions!

I wish I had some better photos of the three cousins in their matching outfits that I made them! They were getting sick of the photo taking and the new baby slept through everything anyways.

Hadley is here with my Grandma and Grandpa (my mother's parents). I love my grandparent's enthusiasm for each of the great-grandchildren. It was fun to see them with my 2 week old niece as well!
My folks with their grandchildren. Three grand-daughters: Keiya age 4 1/2, Hadley 8 mo. and Niyah 2 1/2 weeks. Hadley is trying to pull Keiya's hair. She loves to pull hair- good thing I have a tough head!

Cousins! Keiya and Hadley in their matching Christmas dresses! Keiya really is the best big cousin!

This photo has a story behind it. Christmas Day my brother, Jeff and Chris decided to fix up an old school Nintendo set and play with it. They got it working and spent the afternoon playing old games like Super Mario Brothers 3 and Contra. Do you remember those? They were so excited. My favorite thing about this photo? On the right is Hadley, as entranced and the two grown Nintendo-geeks!

Hadley and Keiya here in their jammies that I made them for Christmas. Hadley looks worried- it must have been early in the morning! Hadley is not really a morning person.

Hadley and Chayce, the little daughter of my friend who watches Hadley for us. I made them matching outfits.

We acknowledge our Lord and Savior for all our blessings and for the gift of our baby, family and friends! Most of all, we are grateful for the gift of the Savior and His sacrifice!

We Love The Holidays!

Ahhh, bahumbug! I say that because the holidays are almost over and we will have to go back to school and work. But there are good things that come out of that, too, and one of the best is that is gets us closer to Chris graduating! We will be moving to New Mexico in June and starting a new part of our lives.

Well, for Christmas we have had quite the vacation! The day I finished teaching we packed up the car and drove a long 9 hour drive to Denver, CO. Chris' folks and sister and her family live in Denver and we decided that it would be nice to see his side as well. His siblings were coming out to CO for Christmas, too, but the final factor in this decision for us was that plane tickets to San Diego were a LOT less from Denver than Lubbock. Like hundreds of dollars less!

We were in Denver for a few days and on the 22nd at VERY early in the morning we left for out 6:30 am flight to San Diego, CA. Hadley was wired in the airport. Wide awake and grabbing at everything! She didn't really want to sleep on the flight. Which meant that Chris and I didn't really get to sleep. Well, we were getting used to it at this point.

Early flights like that are no fun, but they do save us money. And they allowed us to spend the 22nd seeing lots of family. So while in San Diego we got to see a lot family and some friends, too! We went to the outlet malls, got some relaxation and better sleep, too! In Colorado, Hadley decided that she was going to wake up every 2 hours. We were sharing a room with her, and she knew it. But in California, we decided to stick her in the room with my sister, Alyssa who is 20 and can sleep through ANYTHING. My little niece, Keiya (age 4) also slept in the room and she also sleeps through anything. So when Hadley fussed she didn't bother anyone. Chris and I were in the next room so that when she really cried we could get up and feed her. But it went close to her regular night schedule with just one or two wakenings at night. It was wonderful!

We left California on the 30th at another 6:30 am flight, and this time Hadley slept some on the plane. After a minor tantrum, of course. We will probably leave Colorado sometime tonight and will look forward to being home again.

Some of my favorite things over the holidays were...spending time with the family and grandparents, too. It is so fun to play games with them and eat Grams' good food! I was so happy to be able to see my two best friends (besides my husband and sisters). Denise came over to visit and we got to see her parents and sister, too. And I LOVE playing games with Ashley and our group of friends. (The pic below is of her baby and Hadley- about a week apart in age- future best friends!) One of my favorite things about going home is getting to play the best game in the WORLD...Settlers of Catan. I even won twice this time! Chris won't play it, so I only really get to play when I go home.

I also enjoyed seeing my new little niece, Niyah. She is so cute, and so small. It was fun to hold a small baby again. And her sister, Keiya who is four and a half was so fun to watch play with Hadley. I liked getting to eat red cabbage (a family favorite), turkey and all the yummy Christmas treats. It was fun to see Hadley's facial expressions change with everything going on. I think that baby has gotten even fatter over the break! She is quite a chunker! I thought for sure she would start crawling over the break, but not quite. She does try. She gets up on all fours and even lunges. She has done a full arm and foot crawl on one side, but then she falls and rolls over to her back. She is so funny! It is so much fun to be around her and see all her attempts and growths. Even the not so positive ones- like realizing that she can get slap-happy past her bed time and stay up a little longer. That can be annoying, but so funny at the same time!

ALMOST CHRISTMAS!

I am in such a great mood just thinking that in two weeks we will be visiting with family and having a break from work! I can't wait for Hadley to all her extended family again! It has been since the summer, and she has changed so much! She is such a mover- scooting everywhere and getting into everything. It is so fun! She loves cords, ribbons, everything that is dangerous to a baby- she wants it!

I am so excited to meet some new family additions this year! My sister in law had a baby girl in January, and she and Hadley will be great friends since they are only 3 months apart! We get to meet her and I have been busy making them matching outfits.

My sister, Erin, is about to have a baby (due in a week, but we hope she comes sooner). So Hadley will have a girl cousin on each side that is close to her age. She is so lucky! I sure hope that baby comes soon. If she doesn't I might not get to see them at Christmas. A mother of a brand new baby might not be up to traveling that soon!

Here is an update on us...we have some pretty exciting things that are in the works!

Chris got a job in Alburqueque. Although that is a horrible city to spell, it has some nice outdoor activities to offer. That was an adjustment moving to where we are now. It has very few outdoor activities. New Mexico will be an adjustment, I am sure, as we were sure we would stay in Texas. But we will be able to get a house in the near future, and I may be able to snowboard again as well as use my bike, rollerblades, and a number of other things. I look forward to taking some camping trips and hiking. I wont lie- it will be nice to have some mountains again. Although plains have beauty and serenity as well!

Our sweet Hadley is almost 8 months! She is an expert scooter and she will be crawling very soon, I am sure. She loves to put everything in her mouth! She loves her baby food, and makes the most excited noises as she opens her mouth to eat it! She babbles and has the sweetest sounding voice (at least to us she does). She is also getting some top teeth. They haven't quite cut through, but I can feel that they are right there! She also loves to eat her socks! She is an expert at pulling them off. She eats them so much that when I take them away they are so wet I could wring them out! Yuck! And it has been cold here! She needs to keep socks on !

Hadley is getting a bit more hair on her head, too. Most people say now that she looks like Chris. I know that her eyes and eyebrows do. What do you think? Who does she look more like?

Halloween

Well, Halloween came and went for us. Just like that. We weren't able to make it to our friends' pumpkin carving party and we weren't motivated enough to do it on our own. But we will next year when we know Hadley will be able to enjoy getting all messy. We did attend the ward party, but Hadley is such a lightweight, that our little bunny rabbit got so tired that we left at 7:30. We barely got any pictures of her.

This last week she got her first shots. Many people are suprised that she is almost 7 months old and just now getting her first shot. But that is how we do things (No, we were not slacking. We have our reasons). She screamed and turned bright red when she got stuck. I was holding her arms down and she gave me this look like I betrayed her. Chris was there to be the comforter while I was the bad guy who let them stick her. And then I had to go back to work and Chris was stuck at home the rest of the day with a very cranky baby.

Seriously, Chris and Hadley are buddies. She is such a daddy's girl. He spends so much time with her and plays all sorts of games with her. He tells me what she is doing that is new and he tries to help teach her to scoot and crawl. He even tries to teach her to say Da-Da. I never hear him trying to teach her to say Ma-Ma. Only Da-Da. He is just so close to her. I love it!