no pictures.. just ponders

It's interesting how your body knows what you need.

You're thirsty. That means you need water! Duh.

You're low on iron. That means you eat red meat for a week straight. And you crave it even though you're stomach can't handle it. I could probably count the number of times I desired red meat while I pregnant. Not a lot. But I can't resist it now.

Marshall is really happy about this. Tacos once a week?! Sure! Steak sandwiches, roast beef, gimme gimme gimme!

And since the week before Hartley was born I've been loading up on carbs and fat. Alfredo sauce has become my masterpiece. And part of my second lunch/early dinner. I make it at least twice a week.. normally for lunch because we have to eat steak for dinner!!

I love my body's way of telling me what to eat. Except in the morning. It cries for bananas.. whatev.

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Enough about myself.. I know everyone wants to hear about Hartley.

She had her 2month checkup Tuesday. I have the sweetest baby! She enjoyed talking to her doctor so much. But she spit in the nurses face. Hmm. I wonder why.

We're going the vaccination route, in case you were wondering. They can protect her and those around her. Marshall and I turned out alright, didn't we?? [don't answer that!]

Hartley got very upset and cried. And I cried right with her.

It aggravated me that the office wouldn't let me nurse Hartley while she was receiving her shots. She had to "lay flat on the table." Fortunately I was able to immediately after. And wow! That helped so much. Within a few minutes she was fine and cooing as we were getting checked out.

She got fussy later on, but within 24 hours she was fine.

On a sad and selfish note, I think Hartley loves her Daddy more than me. Either that or she gets really bored looking at me all day.

Two Months!

I've always heard parents say they can't believe how fast their kids grow up. I can't believe how true it is! Two months have flown by. And Hartley is slowing filling out 0-3 month clothing.

So Miss Hartley, what are you up to these days?

• You are sleeping longer through the night! Instead of two feedings, you're down to one. And you usually last 15-20 minutes before you fall asleep! This has made me and your Daddy nicer parents and spouses!
• You LOVE "talking", smiling, and squirming around. Some mornings you would rather play than eat.. but then you definitely let me know you're ready to eat.
• You love kisses, too! You open your mouth when we give them to you. Kinda gross.. but it's so sweet!

• You went through a big growth spurt starting in the middle of your 5th week. It seemed to last forever, almost into 7 weeks. We can tell you've grown a lot! You're getting more and more rolls.
• Diaper changing is becoming more of a challenge. You thinks it's funny to straighten your legs out and hold your legs together. I think you're telling me it's time to start potty training because you like to peepee when I take your diaper off! Or right after I put one on. Not funny, little girl!

• You have a fussy time in the evenings, right around the time Daddy gets home. You want to cluster feed and stay awake. This disrupts dinner time. I've become pretty good at feeding myself and you at the same time, though.
• You took your first trip to Columbus. You absolutely LOVE your Grandmommie. You talked to each other nonstop! I'm so glad you're a great traveler. You made it an easy 3.5 hour drive with just one stop.

• You met your Papa, Uncle Brian, and cousins Emma and Jayden. Emma really likes you. She kept saying, "Baby! Baby! Baby?" Jayden wasn't so sure about you. He knows he's not the baby anymore..

• I noticed your hands stink last week. I kept finding lint in them, too! Apparently this is normal, but I was worried that I didn't clean you enough! You've been opening yours hand more lately. That should make them less stinky!
• You're hair started falling out a few weeks ago. I think it has slowed down, but there is still so much in the back!

• Mema brought us a saucer magnolia tree (seen in first few pictures) for Easter. You and your tree can grow together! I thought this was the sweetest present! Now I have to convince Marshall to dig it up and take it with us when we move.. 10 years from now.

Hartley Caroline! You are just growing up too quickly. I'm thankful I can stay home with you and watch you change day by day. In fact, you made a new face during pictures. Not sure what it was or what you were doing.. but it was cute!

We're going to the doctor Tuesday. I can't wait to see how much you've grown.

I used to believe..

Occasionally I visit this page. Random people tell random stories about what they believed when they were kids. Some things are funny, some I remember believing, and some.. well some are just stupid.

when it snowed in Feb.

I always thought "monsters" lived under my bed and in my closet. I had no idea if they were really monsters.. they could have been snakes or cougars. But I knew something had to be hiding. Taking care of the ones in the closet were a breeze. I just had to shut my closet door every night. Even in college, I felt the need to close my closet door.. which was a curtain.

Those creatures under the bed though.. gotta be careful about them. One must never have a limb hanging over the edge. Some thing is gonna grab you and pull you under the bed. I never though what would happen if I was caught.. I just made/make (yes.. present tense) sure not to lure any monsters.

And of course, you had to jump out of the bed and clear a good distance so they wouldn't grab your ankles.

Did you ever think there were monsters in the toilet?

I'm sure there were. I always feared snakes coming up and chomping off my.. parts. That made going to the bathroom at night really quick. In and out. Don't get caught! Or just hold it until daylight.. they go away in the light.

Morgie and Garrett visiting Miss Hartley

Now- the worst belief I've had. That I believed well into college...

The "windshield" factor. Of course. Somebody puts a thermometer on the windshield, probably those kind that my elementary school used to stick to my forehead, and that tells us how cold it is in the car.

Wrong. [insert game buzzer]

Yeah. I was a sophomore in college when it was clarified as a "windCHILL" factor. Hey, my logic sounded really good though.

And you can't live life without growing up believing something your older brother told you. For me, it was that there are bugs inside hush puppies. I know the truth, now, but I still think of the lie every time I eat hush puppies..

I wonder what Miss Hartley will grow up believing. And this is how we find her a lot of times. She gets unswaddled and pulls her blanket up around her face. Probably trying to protect herself from the monsters under her crib. I don't blame you, girlie..

argh time changes

Our weekend was so busy! So busy it took me all week to recover.

Krysten traveled all the way from Rome to meet Miss Hartley on Saturday. We had a wonderful visit. Hartley behaved really well and her schedule wasn't thrown off at all. We took a photo shoot that evening..

Unfortunately, Auntie Krysten had to go back home. But we'll get to see her again hopefully soon! Hartley really likes her Auntie Krysten.

She is her father's daughter. Especially that hairline. Hartley's eyes are still blue.. we have time.. I wonder if they will be brown like Marshall's or blue like mine. Or green?

She has been so expressive lately. It's like a whole new baby! She gets so happy in the morning. Usually I'll nurse her on one side, then as I'm switching her over she wakes up for real. And it's like she realizes, It's a new day! I am so ready to play! Where's my ceiling friand? [she loves the ceiling fan so much.. he's her friend; fan + friend = friand. There you have it]

So she usually looks around, smiling and cooing for a minutes. Then she remembers she's hungry and attacks whatever is around her mouth. It's pretty darn cute.

Then Auntie Laurie and Baby Bella came to visit. Pardon the non-rotated picture. It's not like that in my pictures.. but came up like this here. Couldn't figure it out, so whatever Trevor.

Bella and Hartley hit it off from the start! They both seemed really interested in one another, or Bella just really like Hartley's playground. They're going to be best friends for life and go shopping with me and Laurie!

I know, babies like other babies. But it's so neat seeing how Hartley responded to Bella and how she also enjoys watching her cousins. She's growing up too quickly!

In other news, which are related to the weekend events, the time change completely ruined our schedule! We usually woke up between 7-8am every morning. Well, Sunday morning we got Hartley up a little after 7. We needed to be on the road by 8:30am to make it to Savannah because Marshall had to practice for worship. She nursed for just a little bit, I tried playing with her to wake her up.. no success. Marshall tried. Nothing! So, we both got ready, left little girl in her sleeper, loaded her in car seat and headed out. She finally woke up when we got to church around 9:30am. We nursed, changed her, walked around a little, and tried to get her down for a nap.

For the record, she slept the entire service the week before. She refused to sleep this time. I missed a good bit of the service because I tried walking her around. All she wanted to do was nurse some more.. I feel like that's all she does!

After church, Marshall and I were craving Five Guys. After walking I don't know how many blocks in downtown Savannah, each block with Marshall saying "I think it's the next block," I arrived to our destination. Marshall ran back to the car a few blocks back.. so I was waiting for him to arrive before I started eating.

Should have known though. Hartley has this ability to know when we are eating in public and decide she wants to eat too. She woke up screaming!!

We booked it.

Our stroller is not a jogging one, but it pretty much became one that day. She cried the whole way from the restaurant. We nursed once inside the car.

I don't think we'll be going out much. By the way, a similar thing happened at Ruby Tuesday a few weeks ago.

In addition to the chaos, Hartley has been going every 2 hours for feedings. Growth spurt? Unfortunately, for me.. good for her. Yup. It's been two hours and she's calling for my milk.

making faces

It's so amazing watching Hartley develop. I remember coming home from the hospital with the sleepiest little girl. All she did was sleep. And eat. And sleep.. until it was time for Momma and Daddy to sleep.

But she's coming alive! She started smiling last week. For now it's only with me and Marshall. She's uninterested with the family. Sad.

I'm thinking she looks more and more like Marshall everyday. But I see myself somewhere in there. Not sure.. maybe the eyes.

She still loves her hands. And her hair is starting to fall out. It's mainly around her hairline.

And she is finally fitting into 0-3 month clothing. Yay! She's growing up so fast already.

We have company coming this weekend. Auntie Krysten is coming to stay with us Saturday. We'll take lots of pictures, don't worry! And then Auntie Laurie is stopping by on Monday with her Baby Bella, Hartley's future BFF. Arrange a visit to the Moore B&B soon.. weekends are filling up!

And this is all I do during the day. Hartley nurses, we play, stare at each other and the ceiling, change a few times.. change more if someone spits up, and let Hartley nap. And then 1.5 to 2 hours later we repeat the process. For the record- I rarely nap during the day. Marshall assumed this whole time that after her first nursing (7am-8amish) that we both went back to sleep. Umm.. no! We play a little and after she goes down for a nap I eat breakfast. I still can't believe he thought that! I know the house isn't spotless.. but I do clean.. a little!

not all things baby

Our life may revolve around Hartley and her 3-hour schedule (or 2.. or 1.5).. but we make time for other things.

Like Maddie! And Sassy, too. We still take our daily walk to the mailbox. Let the girls sniff where unleashed dogs poop on our yard. Argh.

Maddie wanted to be silly and camouflage into the "grass." She so silly.

We've also made time for dinner. This is a must for everyone. It's a Cajun Steak Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries. O. M. g. (courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens)

We made a few tweaks.. since we rarely have all the ingredients required. We used brown sugar instead of molasses, and swapped lettuce for green onions. I had the last sandwich for lunch today and used ranch instead of the dressing.. and added pepper jack cheese. Yumm-o. Of course, Wal-mart nor Bi-Lo had frozen sweet potato fries so we made homemade ones. They weren't as crispy as we wanted.. but we were so ready to eat!!

But we can't leave without a new video of Hartley. She was following Marshall with her eyes the other night and we got it on tape. Or digital?

Marshall obviously didn't want to be in the video.. but Maddie sure did.

boo hoo hoo

Whoever came up with the phrase "don't cry over spilled (spilt??) milk" never knocked over a bottle of expressed milk.. losing precious ounces of mommy milk.

Okay, it was only 1 ounce.. I managed to save the other ounce.

It still made me upset. It also doesn't help that it was all over the couch either. Ick.