sleep talkin'

I got more than I bargained for when I married Marshall.. especially during the middle of the night.

Soon after we were married, Marshall started blaming me for taking off his shorts during the night. I had no proof it wasn't me until one morning he woke up with his boxers in his hands. And another morning they were on his pillow.

So- it's not me with the sleep quirks...

Marshall also talks in his sleep. And performs surgery on dogs apparently. I get some good laughs, but usually I forget them.. like last night. Until he asked what happened last night...

Lemme set the stage for you. Whatever Marshall says will be bold. I will be italicized. Ready? Go.

I returned to bed at 3:38am. I was exhausted from staying up with Hartley for about 30 minutes and ready to get some more sleep.

Them Goobers! Dogs!

What? What did you say?

I assumed he was awake and about to tell me what the dogs did during the night. Mind you, we've been pet sitting this week.

They're asleep. I was asleep.

Big mess!

At this point, I realize he's asleep! I've started taking advantage of these moments and try to get crazy stuff out of him.

A mess?! What happened?!

[uncertain rambling]

What? What did you say?

Unfortunately he starts waking up.

I was asleep and you keep asking questions.

I didn't realize he was waking up, though.

What mess, Marshall?

The fun ended there. He woke up and was aggravated that I was talking to him. I laid there, smiling to myself and drifted back to sleep.

Then I dreamt that my nephew Caleb (15 months) started talking.. in a British accent.

babyproofing

It's time to start babyproofing the house.

And cleaning up dog hair more often..

six months

Hartley Caroline! You are 6 months old today! And I can't believe it.

What are you up to these days?

• During your 5th month, our schedule was almost perfected. Of course, things happened and we were thrown off. I say this every month, but you are still changing so quickly!
• When our schedule was consistent, you would start your day around 8am. You finally got to the 3-hour schedule, in which you would eat every 3 hours. Now sometimes you go 3.5 hours! This is much better than 2 or 2.5 hours! You've also become more efficient at nursing. For a few weeks you were down to 10 minutes per side. Now you average 6-7 minutes per side. At first I was so scared you weren't eating enough or I wasn't making enough milk, but you were just growing up!

• You went on your first vacation with Daddy's side of the family. We went to Edisto Beach and you enjoyed being with your cousins all day! You changed a lot that week. Perhaps being with all your cousins helped you to come out of your shell and squeal for them. You also learned to roll from your back to your front and suck on your toes.
• Teething and a growth spurt made vacation difficult (and teething continues to make life difficult). You took very short naps. Since we've been home, naps have gotten slightly better but you wake up throughout the night. Instead of sleeping through the night (boy was I spoiled) you wake up around 1am and 5am. And sometimes it takes forever for you to go back to sleep. At least in the middle of the night it feels that way. Rocking for 30 minutes to an hour is a long time. Thankfully, Daddy helps out.

• You have started eating rice cereal. I think you've done very well being spoon fed, except you want to grab the spoon and help. And you also like to blow raspberries and send food flying everywhere, including me. You eat your "meals" for breakfast and dinner. You've tried banana a little. You weren't too sure about it. And you had a "banana poop" - there were little stringy pieces in it. I told your Daddy today that your poots have forever changed- they stink now. Mema and I discovered this in Hobby Lobby yesterday.
• Right now Daddy is feeding you dinner and y'all keep blowing raspberries at each other. Hope he put a bib on himself...

• Sometimes I look at you and don't see a little baby. You look like a big girl, especially when you sleep and roll around. You're still very petite, not even 13lb. I weigh you when we visit Daddy's office. You are about 26 inches long. You wear size 1/2 diapers during the day and size 2 at night. You had been wearing size 2 throughout the day, but after multiple blowouts we switched. Mucousy poop is not stationery.
• Rolling around is your favorite thing. I can't keep you contained on your playmat any longer. When you first realized you could roll over, you kept doing it in your sleep and would wake up highly upset. We propped the boppy in your crib so that you wouldn't roll over, it worked a little. I found you sleeping on your stomach the other night though.
• Sassy is another favorite of yours. You reach for her and pull her fur, or chomp on her.

• You love to squeal.. still! You have become louder, too. You get a lot of attention when we go out to eat and in stores. You don't mind at all! In addition the mmming sound you make, you've added a bbb sound. It's more blowing spit that anything. I'm still working on getting you to say mama.
• You enjoy scooting around in the walker. You can get around pretty well, too! If only you wouldn't throw your toys on the floor...

• I think your hair is growing now. During your cradle cap phase a few patches came out, but now it's filling in. It's a little lighter than the dark brown it was at birth, but it's still brown. And your eyes are slowly changing. They will probably be like your Daddy's- greenish brown.
• You grab on and reach for everything these days. We have to be careful with plates, and most recently, newspaper (she got black ink around her mouth today). This is why I think you were ready to start solids, minus the spoon grabbing ordeal.
• We are working on dropping your third nap, mainly because you won't take it. I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but we're trying to figure out what kind of schedule it will be. It would be nice if you took 1.5 to 2 hour naps. Some days you do and it's wonderful! Other days, like today, you do the usual 45 minute nap. Boo.

• You are such a silly girl, Hartley! You make us laugh a lot. You are giggling more for us and not just the dogs. You think we're pretty funny and smile for us all the time (just not the camera). You give sweet open-mouth kisses.. slobbery ones too! And you think it's so funny to pull on my hair, glasses, and face.
• We continue to have good days and rough days. Teething has been incredibly hard for you. It's been at least 2 months of teething and I feel like there's no end in sight. Your Daddy got his first tooth when he was 7 months old. I'm hoping you get yours sooner. If not, we have one more month then. Hopefully they won't hurt as bad when the next teething phase comes.
• You know your name. You turn your head when we call your name. Sometimes you're really distracted and I have to add your last name. You haven't misbehaved too much so we haven't had to call you by your full name.. but I'm sure that will be soon!

We're going to Columbus for the weekend. Grandmommie will be surprised to see how much you've grown and changed! Maybe you'll surprise us with some teeth!!

they may say I'm a dreamer

It's been that kind of a week around here. Can you identify our evening rituals?

Marshall has a popsicle each evening (that means I haven't cleaned up after him the past 2 nights).

We've been back from vacation since Sunday and I've managed to do ONE load of laundry (our washer is slightly messed up right now), only swept the kitchen floor once.. and that's about it.

Hartley decided it was her week to grow and teeth terribly!

We had a much better night last night. I gave her a dreamfeed around 11pm. She woke up shortly after I put her down, I think she heard Daddy on the phone (he was on-call), but she went back to sleep after a brief rock.

She didn't wake up until around 5am. We nursed and she easily went back to sleep. This was much better than the nights before!

And guess who slept in this morning? Hartley Moorely! (The PigglyWiggly language.. PigglyWigglese??)

I dreamt she got in like 5 teeth, but alas, none. That's okay. She let me sleep in until 8:45am. I awoke frantically because it was so late and I had not heard a peep. I found her, passed out with Emmie covering her face. She had been having fun at some point this morning. I got her up shortly after that and she had some banana-rice cereal for breakfast. Note to self: put dogs outside for feedings, Hartley gets very distracted. Oh, as I was putting Hartley in the high chair the dogs got really excited. I think they confused it for her carseat. It entertained me.

So, today.. hopefully I'll get in some cleaning. Do some laundry, cook a meal?? We'll see how someone's naps go...

rice cereal

We've been having a rough week due to teething and a growth spurt. Last night Hartley woke up 3 times. This is 3 times more than usual. While we were on vacation she started waking up once during the night. When we got home she went to twice a night. Needless to say, last night was not fun.

After some research, I decided to go ahead and start rice cereal. She's a week shy from being 6 months... so I think we did very well with her being exclusively breastfed for her first 6 months of life.

We actually attempted feeding her rice cereal a week before going on vacation. She didn't do very well, so we gave her a few weeks. She's been so interested in what we're eating, so I think she was ready. And hopefully this will extend her naps.. and nighttime sleep?? Because 30 minute naps and 3 hour stretches of sleep at night are so not fun. I got spoiled with her sleeping through the night..

Hartley has her 6 month checkup in less than 2 weeks, we'll probably expand her menu after talking with her pediatrician. I'm excited about making baby food for her. Marshall and I drove by his parents' pear trees the other day and it looks like there's going to be a lot this year (if nobody steals them like last year...). So we'll make pear sauce! And sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, bananas.. any other suggestions?

some rolling over videos

Sassy missed her buddy.

Mastering her new skill.

our trip to Edisto!

We're back from Edisto! Imagine 8 adults, 5 kids (FOUR in diapers), one house, and a big ole' ham- for a whole week. There were some rough moments where I felt like I might strangle someone, but we made it. And we enjoyed one another so much that we'll take a vacation together next year!

Anna Kate. One of my favorite pictures!

Hartley did really well.. for the most part. There were times (or a whole day) that was thrown off with short naps or extremely early morning waketimes. Mollyanne, I don't know how you that everyday. And I'm pretty sure she went on a nursing strike. She would nurse 2 minutes and pitch a fit for the next 10 minutes. So we gave her lots of bottles. She didn't act like she was starving, so I guess she got enough. That's the difficult part with nursing, though.

Hartley loved playing with her cousins, especially Bess and Anna. They would get in each other's faces and talk. Hartley would chomp on their noses and pull their hair and SQUEAL! She had fun. Next year she'll be the same age as Isaiah and Caleb (almost 1.5 years). That's a good age for the beach. We won't have to stick around the house all day while she sleeps. She'll be able to actually play on the beach. And we can go on all the fun adventures!

Classic grandkids picture. Anna crying. Isaiah sticking his hand in Bess' mouth. Bess with her hair in her face.

Marshall and I were able to get out a little bit. There were a couple of evenings just the two of us went swimming. We would put Hartley to bed, bike down to the beach, and fight the undertows. Those few hours were probably my favorite parts of our "vacation." We took Hartley to the beach a few times. We found around 5pm to be the best time for her.

Highlights from the Trip

Monday

We took Hartley to the beach for the first time. It was in the evening and she seemed so content. We helped her stand up and let the waves wash ashore onto her feet. We took many pictures!

Tuesday

This was a really difficult day. Hartley would not nap very well for us. We tried to take Hartley down to the beach in the afternoon and we weren't there for 5 minutes before she got really upset. The entire walk back to the house she cried and took forever to calm her down. But she finally took a good nap and Marshall and I were able to fix dinner (it was our night to cook).

Bess, the fish of the family.

Wednesday

The entire family went out to eat that night and took family pictures by the beach. Prior to leaving the house I had the most embarrassing moment of the trip. At the last minute I changed my mind about the outfit I was wearing. After being informed by my brother-in-law Jason that everyone was ready and waiting for us, I hurried up in the bathroom and ran into our bedroom to change my shirt. Knowing that everyone was downstairs, or so I thought, my shirt was halfway over my head as I rushed into the bedroom. I was able to glance and see "Marshall" hovering over Hartley as I ran in, but it wasn't until I was blinded by my top that I heard his voice coming from a completely different side of the room.

"What are you doing?!" Marshall said.

I FROZE.

Jason then walked out of the room. I had a hard time even looking at him for the remainder of the night. He only saw my back, but it was sooo embarrassing.

Caleb. The wonderful Jason in the background. [awkward]

Amanda, Marshall, Hartley, Isaiah, Janna, Bess, Kent, Anna, Rebecca, Jason, Caleb, Autrey, and Jean

"The Brooklet South Moore's"

Thursday

I have no idea. This week was such a blur! We probably let Hartley swim around in the plastic pool. She loved it! We spent a lot of time putting puzzles together. I think we took Hartley to the beach that day and, even though she was covered with a hat, she got a little too much sun. She had a very distinct pacifier line. It almost looked like a white goatee. It's faded, whew! Hartley also rolled over from her back to her front. I could tell she was really wanting to, and she finally did it. Then she did it again, and again, and again!

Hartley also realized she could suck on her toes.

Friday

Marshall and I went out for dessert, just the two of us. We got some ice cream and went for a stroll on the beach. It was perfect weather. Even though we didn't spend much time on the beach during our honeymoon (imagine that.. or don't imagine that..), it made me think back to our newlywed days at St. Simon's.

Saturday

We took one last trip to the beach with Hartley. It was rather windy, so the pictures a stranger took weren't very pretty.

Our hair looks horrible!

Sunday

This was not a fun day. On the way home, the truck decided to mess up. Something with the radiator and a hose, whatever. We were almost to Savannah and we had to pull over. We let it rest for a few minutes. It was actually good timing because Hartley decided to start screaming and wouldn't calm down. We managed to make it to the next exit and pull into Wendy's. Fortunately, Rebecca and her family were only an hour behind us and were able to tow the trailer and take me and Hartley home. Marshall stayed behind and fixed the truck.. and also picked up the dogs that were staying with our friends. Hartley napped a total of 1.5 hours that day. She was incredibly fussy the remainder of the evening. I kept telling her there better be a mouthful of teeth in the morning. (There wasn't.)

Gnawing on my legs. A new pastime.

As much I did enjoy the trip, I'm so glad to be home. There's nothing better than sleeping in my own bed. Not having to worry about noise disruptions/distractions. Being able to nurse in the living room without covering up and watching whatever I want on tv. You have no idea how happy I am about that!

Now that we're home, we're working on getting our schedule back. We're going through some really rough teething, a growth spurt, and a little girl that rolls over in her sleep and wakes up highly upset because she would much rather be on her side. Yay.

thirty before thirty

It was only a bite, but I bravely ate a piece of fried shrimp. It wasn't as bad as thought it would be. The texture was strange.. just as I suspected. Now I understand why people always say, "It taste like.. shrimp." Or "the texture is like... shrimp." That's the only way to describe it. We'll see if I ever try it again.

4. Eat Shrimp. Yeah- I live an hour away from the coast and I've never eaten shrimp or any seafood for that matter, besides canned tuna when I was young. Marshall thinks I would really enjoy it, especially the fried variety, but I just can't imagine eating anything that swims in the ocean with all our pollution and waste. And I think the texture is really strange. I'm the type of eater that gets weirded out by different textures.

hello Edisto

Proof of Hartley's first trip to the beach.

Pretty sure she loved it.

She's had a lot of fun with her cousins.

Spent all day with her Daddy. No work!

Swimming in the kiddie pool. She loved it!

Enjoyed the water (on her first trip.. not so much the second).

Our little family.

Our BIG Family.

Hartley and Sassy

We featured Hartley's new friend a few months ago.

I promise I clean her hands after Sassy bathes her in licks.

It really surprises us with how well Sassy is doing with Hartley. We thought she would just find a corner in the house and hide, but she makes a point to visit Hartley throughout the day. And Hartley absolutely loves Sassy! Her first giggles were for the dogs, especially Maddie's tail.

Maddie has surprised as well. We thought she would be the one protecting Hartley. But she's not. She doesn't care for Hartley to grab at her or anything. We have to force Maddie to lay down so Hartley can visit. I'm sure Maddie will change, though. She's wonderfur with older kids.

five month videos

Hartley playing in her walker.

fourth of july

Marshall and I were talking about how different our Independence Day this year was from last year. We went to Athens last year. Our friends, the Gurley's were expecting Hudson. And we were maybe 10 weeks along with Hartley. The Bates' had just moved into their home.. but still lived at their old apartment.

Marshall was saying that this year was pretty low-key.. until we realized that we celebrated this weekend every night.

Marshall's sister, Rebecca, had us over for dinner Friday night. We got to meet a friend's 9 week old, Molly.. who was practically Hartley's weight! We celebrated our independence with one of Rebecca's yummy flag cakes.. aka fresh blueberries from their backyard and lots of "coo" whip.

Saturday night we got a last minute invitation to visit the Cromley's at their pond house. Marshall's mother and some of the Cromley's are second cousins. Which means Marshall has third cousins, so Hartley got to meet some of her fourth cousins Saturday night. Does this make sense to you? It took a while for me to figure it out! Also, when we someday build a house on the land we want, Hartley will be the seventh generation having lived there. Oh, and we had some delicious smoked ribs.

Sunday night we celebrated with the Moore's (the usual gang minus Kent's family). We had even more smoked ribs, fresh corn from the Cromley's (I think), and more flag cake!

Grandaddy thought it would be funny to stick Hartley in a wagon.

Of course, Anna and Caleb wanted to join the fun.

And Mema surprised us all!

I'd say we had a pretty good weekend. Marshall didn't have to work. None of us were sick. And Hartley is the best baby I've ever had!

the eyes have it.

Okay, okay. So Hartley looks just like her Daddy. I was really hoping she'd get something from me, like my eyes. They like to change colors, depending on what I'm wearing, if I'm outside, umm.. if I've been crying thanks to Marshall or Hallmark/Publix commercials or putting away Hartley's clothes she's outgrown..

They can be dark blue, or crystal blue, green, greenish-blue, bluish-green, bluish-gray. You name it...

So I was hoping maybe Hartley would get blue eyes! They've been bluish-gray since she was born. Until now..

Marshall has brown eyes. No exclamation point. They've changed colors since he stole me from his roommate though. They were brown-brown, but now they're brownish-green. And one day we were outside and they had blue in them!

They reminded me of sunflowers that day.

In the past week, Hartley's eyes have changed colors a little bit. It's hard to get a picture of them.. and they're really dark so nothing comes out very clear.

But they appear to be her Daddy's. Darn. I thought she'd get at least one thing from me. But nope. So far they have a hazel tint around the pupil and bluish-gray on the outside.

I don't get it. Everyone in our family has blue eyes- except Marshall and I think his Daddy. Gosh his genes are strong. But I'll take them 'cause he's so handsome.