toddlerhood

The things this girl does.

At one point today she was spinning around in a circle, holding a bottle of Karo syrup, and whistling. Yes, whistling.

sewing

I can confidently say I know how to sew. And in my mind, I have a million projects I'd like to accomplish. I know my Momma will read this and now everytime we talk, she'll ask if I've sewn anything. She will keep me accountable!

This is my list of what I need to make:

Home Decor

1. Curtains for Living Room (6 panels) <- Marshall finished the window last night, now we just have to paint the trim!
2. Bedding for play crib (mattress sheet, blanket, pillowcase)
3. Seat cushions for play chairs (2)
4. Slipcover for Glider (we moved it from the nursery into the living room)
5. Pillows for Couch (using fabric from curtains, slipcover)

Apparel

1. Shoes for Abigail (our friends just had a baby)
2. Pink pillowcase dress for Hartley
3. Georgia pillowcase dress for Hartley
4. Apron.. for Hartley (aren't girls fun!)
5. Shoes for upcoming babies (2 boys)

Required Purchases

1. Pretty much everything for the home decor. :(
2. Red fabric for UGA dress

Mrs. Jean and I went to "The Warehouse" today and I was thrilled to find so many interesting fabrics! I did find one I really liked, only to get home and realize the sample doesn't go very well with our couch. They had a lot of prints for bargain prices!! Plus many beautiful pieces of furniture that we can't afford. Shopping spree? Anybody?

I'm sorry if you're still reading this. I just needed to get all my ideas out and realize I'm way too ambitious. And way under-skilled.

14 months

Hartley Caroline!

You are fourteen months old!

• We are pleased to announce you are finally walking! We never thought this day would get here. I would say you crawl about 60%, walk 30% and walk on your knees 10%. You're very unique. :)
• Your favorite words these days include: dogs, byebye, dada (sometimes daddy), juice, shoes, baby  and most recently "doe" which I'm pretty sure means "no." You say it in a lower, short tone.. kinda like I say it. I think you're trying to say "stop" too.

• You love climbing up and down. You are surprisingly good at climbing off the couch and our bed. I'm working on getting you to tell me if you need help. You don't exactly say anything, but you pat your chest/point to yourself and I think that's your way of saying you want me to help you. We're also working on please. You were saying it for awhile, but haven't lately. Sometimes I think I hear you try to say thank you.
• You are so good at repeating sounds. My favorite thing to ask you is "what does a truck say?" You go "crrrrgghhh." I discovered this when you were looking out the windows and saying it when trucks went by the house. And that's exactly what they sound like!

• You've been saying "nana" and you said it to your cousin Anna last week. She was just as surprised as we were to hear it! You also say Grandaddy, but it's more of "rrrnndada." And I'm so glad you say my name more now! You've also been trying out Maddie and Sassy.
• You love babies and love on them all the time. All day long I hear "baybee baybee baybee" and you kissing on them. Daddy and I are working on the play crib and high chair that you've inherited from my side of the family. I'm so excited to watch you play with them (and get to make the bedding for it) and have tea parties with the table and chairs you also inherited.

• We talk about how good of an eater you are all the time. You really are! You eat a lot! Your skin is a little sensitive to spices, but that doesn't stop you. There was one night I made a Steamfresh bag of "multigrain" something. It looked really good.. but Daddy and I thought it was the blandest dish ever! You gobbled it up! We gladly gave you ours. :)
• You started signing "more" for non-food items/activities. If you see something you want to do (jump on the trampoline) you will sign.
• You wear 9-12 month and 18 month clothes. You've been wearing 18 month pajamas and you look like a big girl! You're in size 3 disposable diapers and still wearing your cloth diapers! You could wear a size 3.5 in shoes, but it's hard to find so you're still in a 3. I did buy you some new shoes like I promised!

• We're working on dropping your morning nap! Since you did so well on St. Patrick's Day, we thought we'd go ahead and try. Plus- our church is moving to one service and it will be during your naptime. We tried it today and you did great! As long as you're out and about, you do fine. We're going to occupy ourselves this week to help you. That means lots of browsing and hopefully playdate(s). You have been taking one 2.5 hour nap!
• You wake up between 8-8:30am and go to bed between 8-8:30pm. We're so glad you sleep so well. You still take your pacifier, so we'll start working on that in a few months. You also love your Emmie and blanket. You're very sweet before bed/naps, you'll nuzzle yourself in our neck/chest. :)

You are definitely getting into a difficult stage. You want to manipulate toys/everything and you get frustrated when you can't. You also get mad when we don't let you have your way. You hate it when we tell you no and you often tell me no! I know these next few months are going to test our patience- yours and ours, but we look forward to watching you develop even more! You will be running before we know it and telling us all kinds of things!

little walker

We're learning what works for Hartley with walking. For instance, she really likes to wear shoes. She also walks better when she's holding something or two somethings.

And she likes holding our hands. :)

my husband is actually pretty smart.

We left you Tuesday night with some cah-razy news. Marshall was knocking a huge whole in our living room. Around midnight he finished. And this is what he left.

It actually didn't look that bad from the outside. By Wednesday evening, we had many curious visitors/passersby. There were some annoying kids that even rode their bikes in our grass and asked Marshall all kinds of questions. I convinced myself that their mom told them to come spy so she could get us in trouble with the neighborhood committee.

Hartley and I helped..

We just walked around and looked really cute.

Marshall continued his adventure. It was getting close to bedtime so Hartley and I headed inside for her bath.

Somehow a duck got stuck on her booty. It was really funny.

And Marshall continued working. By the way, for curious minds, this is where the new window is. So next time you visit us, you can spy through the window as you walk up to the front door.

We're looking forward to many creepy Sassy-esque stares through that new window.

Marshall spent all today working on it. Sealing and putting the siding back up.

He's almost done. And Thursday is almost over...

My job is next. Making drapes!! And painting!!

my husband is officially crazy.

I may or may not have mentioned that we painted our living room (again) back in January. It's called Sierra Mist, I mean Silver Mist. The names they have these days...

Anyway. It definitely lightens up the room a lot! We like it. However, my husband decided we need even more light in the room. Usually one would add a lamp. Maybe get brighter bulbs.

But not my husband. I don't know why either, Hartley. No, Marshall decides the best way to get more light in to the room is...

To add a window. See how the wall looks a little purple. Sometimes it has that shade. That's not my favorite shade. So don't be surprised if we paint.. yet again.

Shortly after beginning demolition, he asks "Is this turning you on??"

Sorry. No. So he takes his shirt off..

Still not working, Sweet thang.

Throughout the sawing going on behind me, I've been singing "No Turning Back" to myself.

No turning back... No turning back...




He said there would be a window there by Thursday. And that there isn't a chance of rain in the next few days.

No turning back. Definitely no turning back..

Hartley can WALK!!

We've been doing everything to encourage Hartley to walk.. and finally.. Today was the day.

Yesterday I enticed her by putting big girl shoes on her feet. No cloth bottom, we're talking about real shoes. Real rubber soles. And she loved having them on. She mostly kicked her feet and danced. But I kept telling her if she started walking we'd wear pretty shoes and even get some new ones. Have I mentioned her fascination with shoes? I walked into her room Thursday morning, already dressed and ready to head to Savannah. The first thing she said- SHOOS!


So today we headed outside. In big girl shoes. And she requested our hands for help. She walked all around the yard. We walked all around the house. We walked and saw all the shoes in the closet.

While her main mode of transportation is still crawling, she's making many attempts to walk. We're so proud!

pictures. finally.

No pictures in almost a month. I'm horrible! I have taken pics, just not uploaded them. Here's our life in the past month. Our Hartley. Our very silly Hartley...

She's been so funny about laying down. I'm pretty sure she kissed the kitchen floor this evening.

Sassy continues to surprise us with how relaxed she is with Hartley. Sitting on her...

Loving on her..

Inspecting her teeth and gums..

Umm, chewing on her ears..

And giving more kisses.

Have we mentioned how silly Hartley is?? The above expression is a silly camera face.

She is obsessed with opening and closing doors these days. Unfortunately the dogs get trapped quite often.

My sweet friend Christa had her little girl Hattie in January and we had been putting off a playdate for months. We finally got together today and I made these shoes for Miss Hattie...

Baby shoes just make me emotional. And so do little toddler shoes. :(

We went to Savannah for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. If you didn't know, it's the second largest parade in the world. That's right. World. People from Ireland came here for it.

I was second guessing myself Wednesday night. Hartley was going to be skipping her morning nap. We were going to have to find a parking spot, which is a nightmare in Savannah. We would have to walk a long way (think UGA football games times 2 or 3). And we'd also have to find our peeps among 400,000 people.

Hartley did amazing! As long as she's entertained, she's completely fine without that nap! We found a pretty good (and free) parking spot. We walked and didn't get too lost. And we found our peeps.

It was a success. And we're never doing it again. :)

I found Hartley like this after her nap this afternoon- chilling with her legs betweens the crib slats. In case you're wondering, she's in a Halo SleepSack. Once it started cooling off for Fall, her pajamas alone weren't doing the job. It's pretty much a baby Snuggie. And she loves it! And she sleeps really well in it, too. Now that it's warming up, we're not sure what to do! 

4 months

13.5 months

We're also busting out last year's dresses for this year's shirts. That's a size 3-6 months!

And contrary to what Sassy thinks, that's a clean diaper. Doesn't she look like she's growing up?!

did you miss me?

Probs not.

Our computer is slow and I can't upload pictures to the blog. It doesn't matter because I haven't taken any either.

Marshall is allergy sick. Our car is covered with pollen. I suffered from vertigo all.day.yesterday. I would never wish that on anybody. I would say it's equivalent to morning sickness times 100. Although I never had morning sickness.. but I'm sure it would be horrible.

Since the last post, Hartley started teething again. She's working on her molars now. She was pretty inconsolable for 3-4 days. Right around the time we went to Macon, then Columbus, and then Atlanta. What a weekend that was! But Hartley started feeling better while we were in Columbus. She's also been a good baby while we've been feeling bleh.

Hartley continues to refuse to walk. She's talking more, but we have no idea what she's saying. Last Thursday I was hiding in the bathroom and she came looking for me. She actually called my name! Twice! This is the first time she didn't say it whiningly. We also think she's trying to say Sassy. We thought she tried months ago with the ss-ss sound, but that must have been coincidence. She didn't say it much after those few times.

She's been saying "nana" a lot, but we have no idea what it is! Honestly, it sounds like she's trying to say my name. Maybe it's Anna (or Anna's imaginary sister Nana)! It's definitely not banana- we haven't seen one of those in months. She doesn't eat them anymore!

Hartley has really started playing with her baby dolls! She puts them on the window sill all the time; I assume she's putting them down for a nap. She also puts herself down for a nap- she just lays on the floor usually with a blanket/lovey. It's so strange seeing her stay still for more than 3 seconds. It's really sweet because she'll lay her head on us, too.

BusyBee is waking up from her nap. Yay, lunch time!!