Happy 9 Month Birthday, Hadley!

Hadley turned 9 months old today! 

She's growin' up so fast! 

*Tear*

Newborn & 1 Month Old

2 Months Old & 3 Months Old

4 Months Old & 5 Months Old

6 Months Old & 7 Months Old

8 Months Old & 9 Months Old

Brushin' Teeth!

We started brushing Hadley's teeth today...all 2 of them! 

I know I should have started doing this two months ago when they first came in, but it just didn't happen.  We brush them every day now.  I start by brushing Hadley's 2 front teeth and then I let her "brush" her teeth while I brush mine.  I am hoping that watching me will serve as an example for her.  We shall see. 

In a few months, I will transition her into brushing in the morning and the evening, but I am hoping for more teeth by then!   

Not too bad for her first time, eh?

Happy Mother's Day!

Austin asked me a few weeks ago, what I wanted for mother’s day and I said, “Oh we can just count the home gym or the boat as my mother’s day gift.” Today, I’m wondering what I was thinking? Mother’s day isn’t about big gifts…it’s about those small things that mean so much to the heart. I knew I had sealed my own fate, because men just don’t think about those things like women do. I do have an awesome husband though and I was secretly hoping that he would do something special for me for my first mother’s day. I woke up looking for a card by my purse or a special note in my car as I headed for Indy. Nothing was there. I checked my email all day hoping for a special little email from the two of them. Nothing ever came. I came into the house tonight and looked around hoping there was just something small to acknowledge me on this day. Nothing.

I finally asked Austin if he had gotten me anything for mother’s day and he said no. He reminded me that I don’t care much for cards and have always said that flowers just die. I had once again sealed my own fate. I had brought this upon myself. For the first time in a long time though, my feelings were actually hurt. This “Hallmark” holiday had actually meant something to me. I had entered that elite group of women that call themselves mothers and for the first time I understood what a hard job it is to take on that role. I just wanted something…anything. I quickly reminded myself though of the letter that I read at my Grandma Wise’s funeral. She had written it for my dad on Mother’s day in 1976. In it she stated that every day is mother’s day. And she is right. It was mother’s day when I held Hadley in my arms for the first time, and when I first saw that little smile. It was mother’s day when I heard that first laugh. The day she first rolled over it was mother’s day. I do have the best husband in the world and he did give me something for mother’s day. He gave me the ability to have a beautiful daughter that I love very much!

Happy Mother's Day!

500 Festival Mini Marathon!

I participated in my 4th Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini Marathon today. I ran the first two years, walked last year because I was 6 months pregnant and did a run/walk this year because I just didn’t take the time to train. With absolutely NO training I still managed to pull off running 7.1 miles out of 13.1 with my friend Doubie in tow. It felt great, and has made me eager to get back into running. My official time was 2:55:30.

Austin, Hadley, Mom, Zeb, Holly and Gabe all came to watch us cross the finish line. Despite the thousands of runners, someone has always managed to pick me out of the crowd as I ran across the finish line. This was the first year they missed me. Oh well!

I got to hold Hadley after the race…instead of being proud of mommy for finishing something most people never even dream of starting, she just enjoyed chewing on my medal!

 

I can’t wait for Saturday, May 7th, 2011.  Bring it on!

Our boat is afloat!

We've been anxiously awaiting this day since we returned from vacation and few weeks ago. The marina called today to deliver our boat. Austin had to meet them at the boat ramp and drive it home. We were so excited to finally get to see what it looked like (remember: we bought it mostly sight unseen). When I saw Austin coming around the channel at the west side of the lake, I thought to myself, "Wow, our boat looks a lot better than I expected!" When he pulled it into the dock we were super excited about our awesome purchase.

After we got the boat docked, there were a few things that didn't seem quite right.  I thought that our boat had an Evinrude engine, but this one has a Johnson.  I was also a little upset that the speedometer doesn't work, but oh well.  I also thought that our boat had the original "sea nymph" stickers on the side, but this one looks much better with the after market change.  We'll take it!  

 

I bought Hadley her first life jacket today, so that we could take our new boat out for an evening ride. It's a U.S. Coast Guard approved Type II (near shore) PFD with a high buoyancy rate. I made her try it on the in the store so that I could test the fit...she wasn't diggin' it! Because of that, I was a little worried about how she would do with the jacket on the boat, but she wore it just fine.

This was Hadley's first boat ride, so we didn't really know what to expect.  We brought along her bottle and some snacks to keep her happy!

We love our boat!

Last full day in AL...make it a good one!

Today was our last full day in Alabama, and we started the morning off right with milk and beignets!  Ever since our trip to New Orleans, I have been in love with beignets.  I thought I would never get another one unless I made the long trip to Louisiana.  Fortunately for me we found a little hole in the wall called Cafe Beignet.  We have been driving past it all week and decided to try it out for breakfast.  All I can say is watch out Cafe duMonde!

After breakfast we decided to take another trip out to the beach.  The swimming conditions were red flagged because of strong currents and rough surf.  We found out about the rough surf alright!  Check out the pictures below...you can see where the surf was when we first settled and then you can see it creep up and give us the ol' sneak attack!  What a mess it made of our towels and belongings.  You know the locals were saying, "stupid tourist!"

We didn't let the surf get us down.  Hadley and I enjoyed a little splash time in the ocean!

Hadley didn't have a great time today.  I can't imagine why? 

Here she is with Austin and I both trying to comfort her...

We liked The Oyster House so much that we decided to eat dinner there again tonight.  Before we headed out, we decided to try our luck at the "camera timer" again.  Here's the picture we took on the balcony.

 

At dinner we all got a specialty drink.  Austin got a Pina Colada, I got the Victoria's Secret (P.S. I know what the secret it! :) and Hadley ordered up her staple: milk.  We are responsible parents...I promise! 

Well sort of...

And here's to a great vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama!  We heart the sun and we heart you!

And an evening in Perdido Key, Florida...

Hadley turned 8 months old today.  She's growing up so fast!  The morning started out nice and slow.  Hadley and I were sitting out on the deck enjoying the early morning breeze and she actually fell asleep in my arms.  She hasn't done that in months, and I was loving every minute of it! 

After Hadley's early morning nap, we got ready and headed over to the inside pool.  It's housed inside a solarium to afford exposure to the sun.  Because of this, the water temperature was very warm.  Hadley loved it! 

Hadley showed off some of her swimming skills she's learned from swim class. 

Cheesing for the camera...

Hadley loved her baby float and found it quite relaxing!  I LOVE this picture of her...

And here she is rockin' a new do...

For dinner we drove about 30 minutes to Perdido Key, Florida, and ate at the "Crab Trap." 

We ate outside at a picnic style table.  I started cracking up when I looked over and Hadley was using the bench to stand up (she loves to stand) in her high chair.  She gave me a look like "Hey, check it out mom!"  She's too stinkin' cute for her own good!

We ate lots of shrimp while on vacation.  This is a picture of my yummy shrimp basket.  My mouth is watering just looking at it! 

After dinner we headed back to the condo to take an evening stroll along the beach...

While walking out to the beach we realized that we didn't have any pictures of the three of us together on vacation yet, so we asked an older gentleman to take a picture of us on the boardwalk.  It was terrible and at a strange angle.  A few minutes later we asked a younger couple to take our picture.  It was blurry.  Because both picture attempts were a bust, I decided to try our "timer" on the camera.  The first one I didn't make it into the picture in time, but this one ended up pretty good.  Poor positioning on our part, but no weird angles and no blurriness.  We'll take it! 

Ta-da!