Hadley's 1 year update!

Here goes - Hadley's ONE YEAR UPDATE! I still can't believe our baby girl is a year old! Time truly DOES fly once you become a parent. To start off with, here are Haddy's one year stats from her well-baby checkup last week. Our little peanut is still a little peanut. She measured in the 5th percentile for everything: she weighs 18lb-2oz, has a 17 inch head circumference, & is 27-3/4 inches tall. She got three shots, which she was NOT happy with and she didn't seem to be too convinced when Mommy tried to tell her that the shots were meant to keep her safe & healthy!

Hadley is completely weaned at this point, which may have happened sooner than the time that I actually weaned her, as I've been feeling like my supply had been drying up for a while since I've become pregnant again. Especially since I just decided to go cold-turkey one day (2 weeks before she turned 1) and she never looked back! I would say that Haddy had minor emotional issues that week & it wasn't exactly a smooth transition to cow's milk, but I think that was more the fact that she doesn't like to drink much period, not just milk. She seems to be doing pretty well now. There were a few weeks in there (that coincidentally went hand-in-hand with weaning) where Haddy was a terribly picky eater. Fruits & veggies were spit back out the second they were put into her mouth. We seem to be working past that for the most part now, though, which is a huge relief to Mommy!

Haddy FINALLY sprouted her first tooth this month, which coincided "nicely" with her first cold. The first night was rough, as she was so congested & couldn't breathe, so she spent a couple of hours sleeping on Mama's shoulder in the rocking chair until she had finally drained enough to be put down flat, slept 5 hours in her crib & was then super clingy all of the next day. She was pretty much her normal self after the first day or two, which was a relief, since she wanted nothing to do with anyone other than Mommy while she was sick. Lucky for her that she has a great Daddy who went out to buy her VapoRub at 10PM after a super-long day of work with parent-teacher conferences just to give her some relief!

In Haddy's 12th month, she celebrated her first Halloween and her first Thanksgiving! For Halloween, she dressed up as Tinkerbell. We only went trick or treating to two houses, Aunt Mel/Uncle Pat's & Carolina's (the next door neighbor), but Haddy didn't really know the difference. She was more excited to pace back and forth in front of the door, waiting and
watching out the window for more trick or treaters to come! It was so precious! Hadley did a great job eating her first Thanksgiving dinner, as well! She really seemed to enjoy the turkey, stuffing, corn casserole, homemade noodles, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes!

During this month, we also celebrated Uncle Rob & Aunt Kasia's wedding! Hadley enjoyed entertaining everyone there!

Hadley's vocabulary is slowly starting to grow. While mostly only understood by Mommy and Daddy, Haddy can now say dog and duck (which basically sound the same). Although she doesn't verbalize much, she understands a TON! It seriously amazes us on a daily basis how much she seems to know and absorb from her environment. And WOW can she communicate! She really started to pick up on the baby sign language this month! She regularly (and accurately) signs 'more' when she wants food (or more food) or if she wants you to read her a story again - she also uses it for 'please'. Haddy can also sign for 'milk' and she finds her own way of communicating other things to us. For example, if she wants a snack, she will sign 'more' and then smack her lips!

Hadley also learned how to climb the stairs this month, so I guess it's about time we invested in some baby gates at the top and bottom of our stairs, huh? Haddy also loves to dance now! Her favorite tunes are Sharky & Bones from Jake & the Neverland Pirates (hopefully we'll get video of this soon!).

And here are some picture updates from Hadley's two birthday celebrations!

If you would like to see the video that Gregg made for Hadley, you can watch it here (password in caps: HADDYKINS)

Our Cards!

Without further ado - our Christmas cards!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Cards!

Can I just say how much I LOVE Christmas? I have always been one to be really excited about the holidays (pretty much from Halloween through the New Year) ever since I was a little kid, but I have to say that this year is probably the most excited I've been in a long, long time. Five of the past six Christmases have been marked by sadness, emptiness, and longing for a child. And then last Christmas, I was mommy to a one-month old, so while I do remember bits and pieces of it, it more or less passed in a sleepless blur.

But not this year! This year, we will have a one-year-old who loves to play with paper and boxes and can really pick up on the emotions (excitement!) of others, particularly Mommy & Daddy! Although I've already started listening to Christmas music with Hadley, we're most excited to start decorating the house, watching Christmas movies and cartoons, and making our own Christmas traditions.

I'm also really excited that we'll be sending out photo Christmas cards again this year! I've already started scouring through our recent pics (and we even purposely took a couple photos while we were on our vacation) to find the perfect ones for our cards! I’ve been browsing the cards on Shutterfly and there are so many options, my head is spinning! I think these two are my favorites, but we will probably want to put in one family pic and one or two of Hadley, so maybe something like this or this or this would be better! I'm also planning on making photo calendars for Christmas gifts, too! ☺

And now onto the fun stuff! Because I have such great readers & took the time to share about my great experience with Shutterfly, they have sent me 3 codes to give away to my readers, good for 25 free photo cards! (Shipping may still apply, but I know it is very affordable!) If you would like to enter, simply leave a comment below telling me your favorite thing about Christmas (favorite song, movie, cookie, food, memory, tradition, etc! Anything!). I will use a random number generator to select three winners on November 28th! Good luck!

15 weeks!

I know, I know...it seems SO unfair that Haddy got a post almost every week in-utero from 4 weeks on through her birth...I feel like I'm short-changing this baby. I HAVE been writing down notes, etc, but I just honestly don't have the time during the day (or the energy at night!) to type them up! I'm going to try and do a re-cap (complete with all the pics that I've taken of the belly progression & our ultrasounds when G scans them in) of the 1st trimester - I can't believe we're quickly approaching the halfway mark...we will know the gender in just over 5 weeks! HOLY MOLY!

On September 7th, Gregg was home from school (on what would have been his 2nd day back for the year) due to flooding. I was on my online infertility board while Haddy was sleeping, asking my friends about how long it took for their cycles to regulate after giving birth, since it had been about 8 weeks since I had last seen mine! They all told me that I needed to go out and "take a test" to which I laughed - I mean seriously? We tried for 5 years before we finally got our miracle baby & they were trying to tell me that I was pg now? When we weren't even trying? When the chances were less than they had ever been in all of the 5 years prior to this? I didn't want to spend the money on the test, but I had heard of using an ovulation predictor test strip as a pg test. I went upstairs and peed on the stick, only for two lines to pop up immediately. That meant one of two things...either I was pg or ovulating. I was still in disbelief & I told the girls that it would have to wait until Friday (this was a Wednesday) when I could get to the dollar store to buy a test. Well...they were having none of that and told me that if I didn't go march myself out to the drug store and buy a test, they were going to start a pg test fund for me! LOL! Ok, ok, twist my arm! So I went out and bought a test & came home and took it. Well...the test line used so much of the dye that there was barely anything left for the control line! We were pregnant!

After several days of major freaking out on my part (worrying about how I could possibly handle two babies when Haddy still wasn't sleeping through the night, etc), I got used to the idea and definitely started getting very excited.

On September 9th, they squeezed me in to the doctor's office for the initial consultation & bloodwork. I had them run a few extra checks for my thyroid & progesterone levels, since those are things I've had issues with in the past, once I've gotten pregnant...but everything came back fine!

On September 15th, we went for our initial ultrasound. We didn't really know what to expect since we didn't know for sure how far along I was (we thought 8 weeks), but the dr's office was great. They had me listed as "high risk" until we got that first appointment and could see/hear the heartbeat. I ended up measuring about 6.5 weeks & we could see & hear a strong little heartbeat inside! It was all so surreal - how could this be happening? to us? and so soon?

At the end of September (the 18th & 30th respectively, I believe), we shared the good news with Gregg's family and then with mine! Everyone was as shocked as we were! We shared the news by putting Hadley in a bib that said, "I'm the BIG sister!" I think we confused everyone a little bit, but once they caught on, they were overjoyed for us!

The day before leaving for Disney, on October 19th, we went to the Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit for our Level I ultrasound. We got some great pics of the baby & once again it hit us how surreal this whole experience was!

As for how I'm feeling, things are going well. The first few weeks were really rough. I don't think they were any worse than the last time around, but to be dealing with nausea & extreme fatigue while simultaneously chasing around a VERY active little one - well let's just say it was tough. I slept during all of Hadley's naps from about 8-12 weeks - I was seriously wiped out (which could have also had something to do with the fact that I was still nursing until just two days ago!). I definitely don't remember feeling so tired last time. I still do take a nap during at least one of Haddy's naps now, but the EXTREME fatigue (like seriously wanting to fall asleep while playing with Haddy) has passed for now.

The nausea was really bad during that same time period (8-12 weeks). I not-so-fondly recall gagging over changing dirty diapers & the smell of Hadley's baby food. I am SO glad that phase is behind me!

Now that I'm in the second trimester, I'm starting to feel better & a bit more like my old self again! Hadley has been a sweetheart & will kiss Mommy's belly anytime we ask her to! I don't think she gets it at all, but it's still so darn cute!

We've got exactly 5 weeks to go until we find out if BS#2 is a boy or a girl! We can't wait!

Pics to be added later!

Hadley's 11-month update!

As promised, Hadley's 11th month was an exciting, busy, and fun-filled one! It started off by announcing to Grammy, Granddad, MumMum, & Pops that Hadley was going to become a big sister! Yes, much to everyone's (including Mommy & Daddy's) surprise, Baby Scholl #2 is due Cinco de Mayo, 2012! We couldn't be more excited!

Hadley mostly wears 12 month clothes now, but still hangs out in some of her 9 month outfits. She is still in size 3 diapers, and has (much to Mommy's dismay) become somewhat of a picky eater. She will eat pancakes, rice, toast (carbs!) with the best of them, as well as most meats, but give her a fruit or veggie and she spits it right back out, unless it's in baby food form, or her morning banana with her yogurt. It's frustrating when trying to get her a balanced diet, but we do what we can to squeeze everything in!

This month, Haddy has gotten really good at bending over to pick up something from the floor (even a small object) and not falling flat on her hiney, but rather being able to stand back up with ease. She also can now clap & say "yay!" and she will give kisses (nice big, wet, open-mouthed ones) if you ask for them, or she will "blow" kisses to you if you blow them to her first. Her blown kisses are really quite funny, though, as she sticks a finger or her fist in her mouth, makes an exhaling sort of noise, and shoots her hand out in your direction, but it's still SO cute! She also will hug and kiss her "babies" (stuffed baby, penguin, Minnie Mouse, etc).

Hadley also had her first trip to Uncle Tim's pumpkin patch & apple farm this month! Though, we don't think she really understood what was going on very much, Haddy had fun sitting amongst the pumpkins & getting her picture taken with the fall decorations!

Haddy also had a mini photo-shoot to model her Thanksgiving dress in the beautiful fall leaves at Aunt Sandy's house! She wasn't quite sure what to think of those brown, crunchy things!

Hadley also had her first trip to Disney World (and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter) this month with Daddy, Mommy, Grammy, and Granddad! She was such a trooper the whole time, including being a very good sleeper and behaving great on her first plane ride. She rode many rides, which included: Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Scary Adventures of Snow White, Peter Pan, Prince Charming's Carousel, Finding Nemo, Great Spaceship Earth, Captain EO, the Haunted Mansion, Journey to Imagination with Figment, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, the Enchanted Tiki Room, MuppetVision 3-D, and Aladdin's Magic Carpets. Her favorite ride was It's a Small World and she loved the Disney Jr. Show, as well! She met several characters (Snow White, Marie the Cat, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy), but she wasn't really sure what to think of most of them.

We also celebrated Haddy's 1st birthday while in Disney (a bit early) - she was so meticulous when pulling the little chocolate candies off the outside of the cake.

What a wonderful little girl we have!

Hadley's 10-month update!

The word of the month is....SLEEP! Yes, that's right, this month, we can really, FINALLY say that Hadley now SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! It only took her ten months, but for about two weeks now, Hadley has been going to bed around 7:30pm and sleeping (almost always without waking) until 6:30am! Napping has also gotten somewhat better. She usually takes one long nap in the morning (1.5+ hours) and then her second nap of the day tends to be more unpredictable, ranging anywhere from 35 minutes to an hour and a half again.

Hadley has become a super walker & now attempts to run at full speed when she wants to get somewhere, particularly when Daddy walks in the door from work. It's actually pretty funny because if he doesn't come to see her immediately, she starts to cry. She won't even let him go to the bathroom or change his clothes without taking her with him! I guess it's a good thing so that Daddy can get a little taste of how Mommy feels all day (especially the baby in the bathroom part! LOL)! In true Haddy fashion, she also decided a little late that crawling actually is a necessary skill, particularly for those times when you fall down with nothing around you to pull up on. Her version of a crawl looks more like the bear crawl (hands & toes), but it serves its purpose!

Hadley is also learning more and more about how to communicate. She waves often, which we've come to discover is sort of her universal communicant. Instead of pointing at something, she'll wave at it. If she wants something, she'll wave at it. If she likes something, she'll wave at it. Of course she still waves hello and goodbye, too! It also seems like Hadley understands us more and more everyday. If we give her something and say "give this to Daddy," she will (usually) walk it over to Daddy. Or if you say,"Go get a book to read with Mama," she'll often come back with a book and plop down beside you or in your lap. It's especially funny on days like today where she went and got the TV remote, gave it to Mama, sat down beside her & kept looking from the remote to the TV, waiting for something to happen! What can I say? She loves her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her breakfast!

Despite the fact that she still has no teeth, Hadley is a super eater! She doesn't necessarily eat a great deal in quantity, especially at lunch (she'll eat half a jar of stage 3 baby food meat dinners and some puffs or fruit), but there is basically nothing that she won't eat for us! We took her out to eat over the weekend and she was eating rice and lo mein at PF Chang's & then today, she ate baked chicken pieces & bits of broccoli, just like Mama & Daddy! She usually has a cup of yogurt & half a banana for breakfast, half a jar of baby food & puffs for lunch, and then oatmeal & some of whatever Mama and Daddy are eating for dinner. She's great at gumming her food!

Hadley is also still wearing a size 3 diaper. Her growing definitely seems to have slowed down, now that she has eliminated her nighttime feeding. She is still wearing mostly 9mo clothes with some 12mo thrown in there, but they're really still too big - she's in that "between sizes" stage where everything just seems to be too small or too big! She's just such a little peanut!

Haddy got to meet her Great Uncle Jim, Great Aunt Lisa, & cousin Jimmi!

I can't believe it, but preparations are underway for Hadley's first birthday party! Yes, in less than two short months, Hadley will be a year old! Where does the time go? Next month's update will be full of fun things from a visit to the Pumpkin Patch to a trip to Disney World!