Fun times this Fall

I know I'm way behind on my blogging, so I'm just going to post lots of pics as a recap of the last month. It has been a busy one, hence the lack of blogging! The most exciting news, however, is that Hadleigh is diaper-free!!! It was so much easier than I ever imagined. In fact, we really didn't do much except stop putting her in diapers. She was obviously ready since she has never looked back. I have to say that I selfishly miss the convenience of the diaper. I think I spent most of November in bathrooms!

Fall is here...playing in the leaves at Old Main

Another failed attempt at a good picture of my girls...Hadleigh walked away unscathed, while Harper rolled away with scratch marks on the face!

Our precious 5 month old is all smiles all the time!

Thanksgiving dinner

We didn't want to deprive Harper on Thanksgiving, so she had her first helping of rice cereal...yum.

Not to sure what to think about this but she gobbled it all up in true Thanksgiving fashion.

Family photo before the Alzheimer's Gala

A girls' shot before the gala

Christian and the girls at the school's Thanksgiving Lunch

Playing outside in our Sunday best

Harper before our Thanksgiving meal...can you tell what she's thinking? My guess, "Look mom, I've got my bib on and I'm all ready to go...carve up some turkey for me!"

Hadleigh enjoying her meal, especially the sweet potatoes.

"Look at me with at the fancy table with all this food!"

"Fine, since I don't get any turkey, I'll settle for daddy's lap."

Halloween wrap up

What a holiday and what a relief it finally happened and is over! Hadleigh was supposed to wear her costume to dance on Friday, but I didn't think the sheep was very conducive to dancing, so she was the bumble bee from last year. The tutu was perfect for all her dance moves. That afternoon, our school had a Halloween party, so I took the girls up there so Hadleigh wouldn't miss out. The kids paraded around to all the classrooms and then got a sugar-high at snack time. I'm sure the teacher was glad most of the parents came to take their kids home early that day. As if we didn't already have a fun-filled Friday, we did pumpkin carving at our house that night. Of course when Christian is involved, nothing is done the old-fashion way. He had every power tool possible out and of course the kids quickly lost interest, leaving the dad's to take over. Meanwhile, I'm still cleaning up pumpkin from my wall, floors, and everything in between!
Saturday, Hadleigh and Christian went down to the tailgate for a while before the trick-or-treating festivities began. We practiced all day what she was to say at each house, however, she apparently lost her voice at every single house. Christian said she was pretty timid at every house and was extremely frightened by an 8 year old Dracula. The overall experience was a great one for her and fortunately for us, I think she has already forgotten about all the candy she got last night! Harper was a trooper through all of Hadleigh's parties. She was the cutest cow around by far and did a fabulous job helping me pass out the candy. I even heard a kid tell his dad that he didn't give me the "scary treatment" just because of the baby...lucky me!
Hope you all got lots of treats for Halloween!

The bumble bee at dance

The best snack at school ever!

She picked out this outfit/shoes for the pumpkin carvingThe girls displaying their dads' works of artsDylan and Hadleigh on the Razorback grillHadleigh geared up for trick-or -treatingMy trick-or-treaters at workAn exhausted sheep post- trick-or-treating. The costume is on it's last leg!Mommy's happy helper:)

Halloween fun continued

The good news is Hadleigh is not allergic to penicillin, the bad news is that she had to take her first round of antibiotics ever! She got sent home from school Wednesday with a fever and a splotchy face. I took her to the doctor that afternoon and she was diagnosed with strep throat. By this point, she had a rash all over her torso and her face had bright red splotches all over it. She looked pretty terrible (we even got sympathy from the pharmacy and got out of there in record time), but she stayed in good spirits the whole time. Getting her to take the first dose of amoxicillin, however, was not an easy task, but she has learned to love it and now begs for more each time! Anyways, Hadleigh rebounded quickly so none of our weekend plans had to be changed.
We made a quick trip down to Little Rock Saturday where we watched a terrible football game with The Franks and spent some time with Christian's family. Then our church had its Fall Festival on Sunday and Hadleigh was so excited to be a sheep again. She was overwhelmed when we first got there, but once she realized she got candy each time she played a game, she was totally on board. Scarlett and her had fun going to all the booths and making up their own set of rules along the way. The costume held up a lot better indoors without the strong winds! Here are pics from the weekend:

Harper the cow and Adriene the chick hatching from the egg

The sucker kept her from eating all the other pieces of candy she was collecting!

A hole-in-one on her 3rd try!

The cow and chicken refusing to look at the camera

Madison kept the girls entertained during the whole game...what a nice break!!!

This picture is just a mild representation of how red Hadleigh's face was. And no, I wasn't being a bad mom exposing Harper to Hadleigh...the doctor said that she wasn't at risk of catching it since her tonsils aren't fully developed yet.

Look at the big blue eyes!

Halloween Fun...Part 1

With the end of October quickly approaching, we figured we'd better buy some pumpkins for the porch. Hadleigh's field trip to the pumpkin patch got rained out, so we just went up to the local patch and picked out a couple of pumpkins. We are hoping the weather will hold out this week, so we can make it up to the big patch on Friday. We also had our neighborhood Halloween party on Sunday. I made a sheep costume for Hadleigh to go along with Harper's cow costume. Hadleigh was super excited to wear her costume, but she only made it about 15 minutes before taking it off. Oh well, at least it survived with only a few missing cotton balls. It's in the process of getting repaired for the next go-around.
Hadleigh and neighbor Haley getting ready for the hayride.The girls ready for the parade to the party

Harper's first drum lesson. She doesn't seem to be too enthused about it!Harper's 4 month stats:
weight 12 lbs (15th percentile)
height 24.8" (65th percentile)
head 30th percentile
She had a great check up and handled her shots as expected...with a loud wail:(
She's eating good, sleeping great, smiling a lot, and yes, her eyes are still blue.

Where have the 4 months gone?

I'm a little behind on blogging as usual. I feel like we have been super busy, but I don't have the pictures to prove it and I can't really tell you what all we've been doing! Fall is definitely here and we have dug out the winter coats. Hadleigh has the first cold of the season and I'm sure the rest of us won't be far behind as she has been extra generous in sharing her germs. Harper turned 4 months old Friday and has been growing like a weed. I've already had to pack away her newborn clothes and unpack some bigger, warmer clothes. She was bound and determined to roll over today, but she never quite made it all the way. She' s been enjoying her Jumperoo and prefers to sit up so she can see what's going on around her. I'm hoping she is about to cut some teeth soon because she has not been sleeping great. She's been waking up during the night and not falling back to sleep until I bring her to bed with us. Then she sleeps a little better, but I don't sleep great at all with her in my arms, not to mention the neck pains. I'm hoping she'll get back to her 11 hour sleep pattern soon!
We're still working on potty-training Hadleigh. We tried panties for a weekend, but that didn't go over too well. She loved getting to change into a new pair every time she messed up so that kind of defeated it's purpose! She loves her dance class, school, singing, and playing on her swing set. We read tons of books with her, per her request, and she has been so cute lately flipping through the books and making up stories as she reads to herself. She has mastered her colors, thanks to the classic game of Twister, shapes, numbers up to 12, and is working on the days of the week and counting on her fingers. She is a very inquisitive young lady, but what 2 year old isn't?
Pictures from the past couple of weeks:
Harper working on her rolling

Our trip to the pumpkin patch got rained out on Friday, so I bought a pumpkin for Hadleigh to paint today until we can get to the patch to buy our big pumpkins.

I had to post this picture because, though I know she doesn't know what she's doing, I'm sure this is what Hadleigh actually thinks as I'm snapping pictures of her!

Adriene and Harper chilling on the floor watching the Hogs play.

While Scarlett and Hadleigh call the Hogs

Woo Pig Sooie

It's game day in Fayetteville and this little happy hog is dressed and ready. Well, she's actually napping now and we already made our very brief appearance at the tailgate, but we'll be watching with friends somewhere warm and dry!

And, of course home games bring in lots of visitors. Here are some pics of a few of our Arkansas friends...
Vicki and Tommy

Fred, Jen the Hooter's waitress, Cooter

Vicki, Mandy, and Candy

Dale enjoying the tacos, Frito's, bean dip, chicken wings, Ding-Dongs, Twinkies, and pretty much every other food item there....He was in heaven

Uncle Dale and Aunt Angel with the girls. Hadleigh was so confused. She was actually relieved when the babysitter came and looked normal. She ran right up to her and it was the first time ever that she didn't mind us leaving.

Then, of course, our more dignified friends stopped by. Here are Justin and Michelle meeting Harper for the first time. They opted out of a night out with the rest of us...go figure!

A weekend at the lake...in the rain

Since the last post, Harper has started school. It was much harder for me than for her (and still is), but we have survived the first couple of weeks. The only complaint that her teachers have is that she won't finish her bottles because she is too busy smiling and laughing. What a happy baby! I wish I could be that happy while I'm off working...yeah right! Hadleigh loves having Harper go to school with her and her teacher told us that when she walks by Harper's room, Hadleigh tells all her friends to be quiet because Harper is sleeping. We are adjusting to our new fall routine, but we sure do miss playing outside and taking walks around the neighborhood everyday.
This past weekend, we ventured down to the lake with our good friends, The Considines. Everyone had a great time, despite all the rain and the lack of electricity the first night. Luckily, it was still nice when we got there Friday, so we got to go out on the boat for a while and the girls (and dads) got to swim. Michael and Christian took Maddie and Hadleigh to the science museum Saturday morning and apparently had a ball climbing through worms?!? Later that day, Hadleigh caught her first fish. All in all, it was a fun, relaxing weekend away and Hadleigh had a blast keeping up with her buddy, Maddie. Thanks Michael and Abby!

Michael, Abby, and Harper (sorry Michael...the next one is better)

Silly girls--Hadleigh and Maddie out to lunch

What a "cheese" face!