fall festival, take 1.

Hartley went to her first Fall Festival (out utero) last night at Mema's church. She wasn't happy that I woke her up from a nap (it was a 3 nap day yesterday) but she was happy when we arrived and she saw her cousins.

"I'm four, four years old!" [Marshall's caption]

Mema, Caleb, Rebecca, Anna, Marshall, Hartley

Marshall, Hartley, Rebecca, Anna, Mema, Caleb

Hartley had fun, although she didn't play any games or eat any candy. Darn. We did go on a hayride and she enjoyed the nice breeze. It was so hot last night!

We're attending another festival on Saturday at Rebecca's church. It should be cooler and she'll see other kids that she "knows."

Hartley looked cute as a "princess ballerina." She was happy. She only cried the entire ride home. And she slept until 7:40 this morning.

nine months

Hartley Caroline!

you are nine months old today!

I was reading your 8 month post to remind myself where you were developmentally a month ago. My word, you have changed!

This is Us. One year ago.

(for the record, you ruined my hair.)

Not too shabby, huh?

Minutes old - 3 months - 6 months

• You were sick for the first time this month. It started with a cold and led to an ear infection. They were the most miserable 2 weeks of our lives. Nursing and sleep were so disrupted!

• You started crawling! I tried different items to get your interest. I was really surprised my Sonic slush didn't work, but my cell phone did! Now you love crawling around (mostly on your hands and knees) and finding shoes, Maddie's tennis balls, magazines, and furniture! You are already trying to climb- your new favorite is pulling yourself up and looking out the window. You also enjoy lunging off the couch and the bed. As soon as we put you on the floor, you are OFF! Most recently we've found you sitting up in your crib! You think you are hot stuff!

• Babbling slowed down while you were sick. But you really enjoy "buh" these days. Daddy and I are pretty sure you have tried to say "Ss-ss" (Sassy).

• You learned to put your hand(s) in your mouth and go "buh-duh-buh-duh." Caleb and Anna taught you that. I can usually get you to copy me when I do it.
• We've been working on waving and saying bye bye. Except when you "wave" you put your hands on your forehead.. and you seem to enjoy doing this while you are eating.

• You still nurse 5 times a day and eat 3 meals with one snack. While you were sick you refused everything we offered except pear sauce and puffs. And now we are almost out of pears. They lasted 3 months. Don't worry, I made apple sauce and you enjoy that just as much! Daddy and I let you eat our dinner, too. You were eyeing Daddy's steak the other night!

• We are attempting to change your schedule. We'd like to drop a nap and get you down to 2- one in the morning, one in the afternoon. Our goal is to do this by Thanksgiving. I would also like to move to a 4-hour schedule (meaning you nurse every 4 hours). You are still between 3 and 3.5 hours. We'll see how you do with naps and go from there first.
• You're still very silly! You have the silliest grins and love to show off those 2 pearly whites. You've started looking at me for responses- for instance, Daddy was being silly and you looked at me to see my reaction. Maybe you're trying to figure out if you should laugh at things if I do, or you understand that I have emotions too and are curious what I think. Who knows!

Cheese!

• Sometimes you wave your toys at me, as if you're showing me what you have. And you like to share you pacifier with us. Even though you don't get it into our mouths, you aim pretty well.
• I took you to the doctor last week when you were sick. You weighed 14lb 10oz. I could tell you felt lighter. Once you started feeling better and eating more than just pears I weighed you. Almost 15.5lb! Glad our good eater is back. :)

• You started wearing cloth diapers! I found a good deal on craigslist- 10 Fuzzibunz for $50! You wear cloth diapers around the house, but wear disposables (Luvs size 2) when we go out and at night.

Happy and Screaming!

• You still wear a few 3-6 month clothes- dresses that are now tops and leggings that are getting way too small! You wear 6-9 month pajamas, but they are getting too short already! I was going to hold off on giving you the 9-12 month clothes I bought and wrap them up as presents.. but I don't think we can wait that long! I'm excited to see your length percentile. You are totally gonna be a model. :)

Step 1: Find something you want.

Step 2: Go for it!!

Hartley Moore, you keep your Momma and Daddy busy! We were once able to plop you down on the floor and walk off, but now we can't turn away for a second because you get into everything! You continue you to be a joy and amaze us with every new milestone. Keep up the good work. :)

dining room buffet

We're back at our favorite pastime- DIYing!

Do you see all this wood?! Our dining room is full of handmedown maple furniture. Table. Chairs. Buffet. Extra table that's conveniently folded against the wall.

I'm SICK of maple.

I'm not as sick now. And neither is Hartley. She's feeling much better.

Our dining room and kitchen are adjacent, thus, they need to flow. So how about bringing in our kitchen wall color? Are you serious? Does that mean I get even more green in my dining room? It's pretty much my favorite color so I don't mind.

And I get to buy new knobs at TJ Maxx? They are so old-world with the cracking in the them. And quite eclectic on our new piece of furniture. :)

Now I have to find a way to get these curtains I've been eyeing. Unfortunately they are out of stock. But I think they are so fun!

World Market Savannah Curtain Panel

Hartley is waking up from a glorious morning nap. Ciao!

living room ideas

I've been on a mad hunt lately for a new living room design. Out with the old handmedown, in with our style.

Without further ado, here's our new living room! Okay, um.. here's what I would love but will probably never pay full price for...

West Elm Blake Sectional

You are very handsome.

Here are some of Blake's friends.

West Elm Andalusia Rug

Wal-mart

I'll take you..

Pottery Barn

And some of you guys..

Pottery Barn

And you sure are a pretty penny.

Sigh. If only.

If only my feeling-better-child would take a nap.

sick baby

Timeline of Events:

Tuesday

Ornery

Took a really long afternoon nap!

Wednesday

Even more ornery

Took TWO really long afternoon naps!

Fever 102.7

Diarrhea

No appetite

Slept fairly well through the night :)

Thursday

Fever 102.5

Stinky diaper

Went to pediatrician

100.3 temp

14lb 10oz (can tell her weight was fluctuating)

Fluid in left ear

Pediatrician not too concerned with fluid. Sent off poop culture.

Poor naps

No appetite

No nursing

No Pedialyte

No bath! (what?!?)

Temp 104

Cried for a good hour

Rocked to sleep with Daddy

Slept for a little bit

Nursed fairly well

Went back to sleep

Friday

Slept until almost 7am

Nursed

Temperature of 99.9!!!!!!!!!

Really wet diaper!

Ate breakfast!

Laughed and banged on high chair!!

Napping now.

5x7

Marshall's mama (they spell it funny) wanted a framable picture of Hartley to go with the other grandkid pictures. And as many pictures that we have of her, none would do in my opinion. We needed a more professional one.

So I attempted a little photoshoot this afternoon. Unfortunately a little patookie butt has been so irritable lately and wouldn't smile much for me.

This is actually one of her smiling. She's silly.

Looking down, smiling.

She keeps her arms up a lot.

I think this will be the one. She's very curious these days.

giggly crawler

Although Hartley is still a little sick (and come-and-go feverish), she's usually happy.

Hartley loves being an airplane these days and chasing the dogs around the house/yard.

I was attempting to get her babbling, but she saw the camera and nothing could get in her way. This is a really good crawl.

Hopefully Hartley will get over her cold and Marshall and I can get over our allergies. Being sick is the pits.

homemaking

If I set my mind to it, I can get a lot accomplished in one day. Or I can sit at the computer/on the couch all day and avoid productivity altogether.

Yesterday I got my haircut. I call that being productive. I can mark that off my to-do list. It's been on the list for a few months now.

I assembled Hartley's fall costume recently. She's a ballerina. The only thing I really did was add some waistline to her tutu. And put ribbon in her booties so they stay put (or not) and make some bows.

I think I even painted my toe nails last week.

I made that wreath in the background. I need to re-hotglue a pinecone back on. I'll add that to the list, just so I can mark it off when I get around to fixing it.

I should probably vacuum today. And get back to the "deep cleaning" list. Now that the weather is cooling down, we've turned off some ceiling fans.. yeah.. they is naaaasty.

I'll also monitor Hartley and her getting-into mischief. In addition to crawling (slowly) she's pulling herself up. She's tried to get out of the bathtub recently. And she did very well pulling herself up in a cardboard box.

Here's the process...

In sitting position, find something interesting..

Switch to kneeling position and pull self up.

Lose balance, slide, injure self and cry.

That's what's going on around here. Hartley might attend her first non-family birthday party this weekend (if she's feeling okay). She's had a runny nose this whole week and has just been irritable. In addition to not sleeping through the night. :(

Marshall is not on call this weekend and hopefully we'll have some nice weather! And maybe I'll get some cleaning done.

Or not.

my little boy girl

Hartley gets mistaken for a boy a lot, usually by old people. I'm nice about it. They keep saying "Oh, he is sooo cute." Thank you, we think She is too!

"What's his name?" Her name is Hartley.

"How old is he?" She is 8 months old.

And they don't stop! I know she wears turquoise, green and brown a lot.. but geez.

So I decided to make some hairbows. We already have some.. but I wanted BIG ones so old people can see them clearly and not mistake Hartley for a boy.

One of Marshall's cousins pointed out (and I thought of too) that Hartley does look just like her Daddy.. and well, her Daddy is a boy..

We might stick to just one or two bows going out. Don't worry, I wouldn't make my child look that ridiculous in public yet.

sleep disruptions

Last night was not fun. I'm not sure if we should blame an oncoming sickness (her cousins were ill this weekend and we spent most of our time with them). Or if we need to blame her newest milestone.

Either way, she's still really cute. :)

Crawling officially began in our household this weekend. Did you check out the video from yesterday?! We have plenty more.. but I tried to find the best one.

Anyway. Marshall and I were awake from 1:30am to I don't know, at least 4am. I can't remember much. I just know Marshall eventually stuffed the baby monitor under a pillow (I think) so she wasn't as loud. Yes, we let her cry. You would too if you had to get up every few minutes. And if you appreciate your sleep.

She's happy in all these pictures, I promise. She just makes funny faces these days. And our flash is a little, well, too flashy.

She especially likes to show off her new teeth. Oh, these pictures weren't staged. Sassy and Hartley still love each other. We're also pretty sure Hartley has tried to say Sassy. It comes out as "Ss-ss." No lie.

So, we don't know what was up last night. Trying to crawl? Or wanting some lovin' because she didn't feel well. She wasn't warm, but her nose was running a lot. And it's never done that before, usually she's congested.

This was really random and I hope it helps you see how loopy I am from little sleep.