One Year Ago Today

It was a "no tech Tuesday".  Nate walked to the library with the dog, while I rested at home.  I was exhausted- I had done curb walking and pineapple eating and all of the tricks that are supposed to make stubborn babies be born.

He had been gone for just a few minutes when my water broke. I panicked. I rushed around, making sure I had everything I needed in my hospital bag. I tried to call Nate, and heard the phone ringing in the kitchen. Of course he left his phone.  It was no tech Tuesday.

I called my mom. I felt perfectly fine, but I knew this baby was coming. It felt like Nate was gone for hours, but in reality, it was only 25 minutes.  I told him my news and he panicked. He rushed around. We left a couple of hours later only to be told we could not go to the hospital we had been counting on. I thought it was the end of the world.  But eight hours later, we had our beautiful girl, who didn't notice that she wasn't born at the right hospital.

This year has sped by, as everyone said it would. We've had some panic and some rush, but mostly we've been trying to enjoy each smile and coo and milestone. Some people consider 1 year olds to be toddlers, but it doesn't matter to me what this stage of life is called. I don't want to be sad that "babyhood" is over- I am just thankful that she is in our lives.

Hadley's First Swim

Hadley's first swim warranted its very own blog post.  It's not hard to figure out why: I love Hadley. I love swimming.  There's a lot to write about.

When we were at my mom's house in California, we spent the day at our friends, the Anderson's, in their beautiful backyard pool. Nathan and I both wanted to be there with Hadley for her first swim, but it was even more special that her grandma, Aunt Rachel, and almost-Aunt Katrina could be there. Her cousins Nola and Drake even swam with her.

I was excited that we got her in the water before the newborn kicking instinct wore off.  She kicked her feet and even paddled her arms when we held her horizontal to the water.  She didn't want to get out- so we took a couple of dips before throwing in the towel.

Mom, Dad, and "Aunt" Katrina swimming with Hadley.  Hadley is pretty lucky that her first swim lesson was with Katrina, who is such an amazing swimmer and teacher! 

We will let Hadley choose to do whichever sports or activities she wants when she is older, but I have a feeling that she'll choose swimming (wishful thinking?) 

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Hadley, Two Months Old

Hadley Two Months Old

Sleeps through the night in 7-9.5 hour stretches!

               Pushes up on her forearms

                                Still likes to be swaddled

Smiles during play time and when Mom gets home from work

               Loves staring at her hair bows while on the changing table

Likes listening to books and looking at pictures. 

Two Months

                               

Looks like spring!

Dad and his girls!

Hadley's First Easter

I used to not enjoy the Easter holiday, not because I didn't appreciate the meaning of the holiday, but because I was away from my family and always felt a little like a vagabond, hopping from one random celebration to another. The past couple of years have been different now that we have found a group of friends that has quickly become our Denver family.  We spent Easter with these friends, and I am so happy that Hadley has people that love her and will set a good example for her as she grows.

Before church. I can't seem to get those socks to stay on!

Hadley's Easter outfit #1.

Our church held their Easter service at a hotel downtown so that all three services could be together.  The service was a half hour alter than usual, but it took us so long to get out of the house!  Hadley decided to have a marathon feeding session, and we kept thinking of things we might need for our afternoon out.  The car was filled to the brim by the time we left, and we barely made it on time for the service. 

We covered Hadley up during the service to keep strangers and their germs away, and she slept soundly- right until the sermon started.  She then decided that she needed another marathon feed, so I missed the rest of the service! I did meet about three new moms in the bathroom, though! 

Some actual family in Denver- Hadley and her Auntie Marissa. 

Yard games!!

Easter outfit #2.  Love the little bunny bottom :) 

Ready for Baby!

I just put up our maternity pictures on Facebook, and it is hard for me to believe that we are going to be done with our baby bump album in just a week or so (less than that, please God!) Even though the last few weeks have dragged on, nine months flew by overall.

We are all set for Baby to get here. Tonight we ran our last errand- we got a baby book so we can start filling it out while we're at the hospital and the memories are still fresh. The nursery is done, the clothes have been washed, and now we are just paying attention to every little ache and pain, in hopes that it means baby is on her way.

Here is a little look at what we have been working on the past couple of months!

 

Baby Crafts

I am thankful for all of my friends, and this weekend, I was especially thankful for Eleanor, who lent me some of her interior decorating talents and donated her time to help with a BIG nursery craft that I kept putting off.

Nathan's mom gave us a beautiful wooden rocker, but it was just so uncomfortable that it needed cushions.  All of the cushions I found either were not the right size or were just ugly.  So I ordered some fabric with the intent of making it into cushions. I scoured the Internet for patterns.  I look on Pinterest for ideas.  The fabric sat there for weeks, and I was pretty sure I'd never work up the courage or motivation to get the job done.

Enter Eleanor.

Eleanor didn't need patterns or Pinterest.  Once I knew the size of the cushions I wanted, we started snipping, pinning, and sewing (she did the machine sewing- I am still afraid of my sewing machine!) It took us a little over three hours, but the end result was better than anything I could have schemed up myself.

It is reversible, so when I get bored of the pattern, I can just flip it over. I forgot to buy white ribbon for the ties, so after a little bit of rummaging in my sewing trunk, we found tulle.  I love the way it adds a little bit of whimsy and frill to it!

After Eleanor left, my nesting instincts were still kicked into high gear, and I still had some batting and fabric left over for the chair cushions.  I decided to get started on a bow board, which I also have been thinking of doing for ages. All it took was the batting, fabric, elastic, a staple gun, and some hot glue.

I wasn't sure how I was going to hang the headbands, but the elastic did the trick.  Now I feel like the nursery is all set, just in case Baby girl decides to come a little bit early!