Ocean Isle

We went to Ocean Isle in NC last week for a family vacation (The Skeens, my mom, and the Harbisons (my sisters family + 2 of my nephew's friends from school). We had a great time! I was SUPER nervous about how Hadley would do on the 7 hour trip down and back, but she did really great! She slept in a pack n' play in our room which wasn't ideal since we had to be really quiet so we wouldn't wake her, but she seemed to sleep well in it.

We had great weather while we were there! We knew it wouldn't exactly be hot this time of year, so it wasn't like our normal "beach" vacations, but it was nice enough for lots of outdoor activities! We rode bikes, took Hadley on walks, went to the beach, went shopping inMyrtle Beach, and went to Wilmington for lunch and site seeing.

The beach house we rented was beautiful! Someone my mom knows own this house (5 BR, 5 BA, 2 living areas, and lots of great outdoor space). They had lots of baby stuff for us to use (strollers, monitors, pack n' play, etc) which was a huge help and less stuff for me to pack. Here are some pictures from our trip!

The house

Kitchen and dining area

Stairs to downstairs

Brandon catching up on his celebrity gossip

A little beach golf a la Skeen

Daddy and Hadley

Me and Hadley

In Wilmington

My two favorites!

Daddy's Caddy!

Beach bums!

Olivia (my niece) and Hadley

Smile!

Amy, Olivia and Hadley playing

Amy and Mom cooking

Skeen grilling

Brandon playing with Hadley and Olivia

Hadley had a great first time at the beach! Next time we will probably be chasing her down the beach :)

Adorable!!

You might have already seen this clip - but it is SOOOO cute and I couldn't resist reposting!

Mothers

- Rajneesh

Saw this quote and loved it! Thought you other mamas might love it too!

"The moment a child is born,
the mother is also born.
She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never.
A mother is something absolutely new."

6 months!

I can hardly believe my baby is 6 months old. For a half a year now, she has changed our world....changed it for the better. 6 months ago I could have never imagined loving her so much. But we love her more with each passing day! She's such a joyful, content little baby.

Here are some of Hadley's stats at 6 months old:

• We go to the pediatrician next week for her 6 month check up. I will go ahead and guess she that she weighs in the 15-16 lb range and she is TALL!
• Wearing 3-6 months clothes. I stocked up on 6+ month clothes at a couple consignment sales and I'll start dressing her in those soon. Some of her 3-6 months stuff is getting short on her, especially one piece outfits.
• She is cutting 2 bottom teeth, right in the front of her mouth. Brandon noticed this a couple of days ago. She loves to gnaw on things and is drooling, so we had suspected she might be teething and we were right! She is going to look so cute with teeth, haha!!
• She can now roll from her back to her tummy. She did this for the first time about a week ago. She is quiet the rolly polly!
• She is eating 3 bottles a day (7:30a, 1:30p, and 7:30p normally).
• We have introduced a good amount of solids to Hadley at this point. Brown rice cereal, bananas, avocados, green beans, peas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, prunes, and oatmeal cereal. She pretty much likes it all. She's a great little eater! I've made all the fruits and veggies with the exception of the prunes b/c I'm not even sure what an actual prune looks like :). I'm giving her solids now twice a day (10:30ish and 5:00ish or so).
• Hadley is able to sit up with a boppy around her or with someone supporting her. Can't wait for her to sit by herself!
• She is getting very curious and LOVES to grab at everything in sight! We have to be very careful about what is in her reach now.
• Not crawling yet, but she has managed to scoot backward when we put her on her tummy.
• 
• 

Knoxville Mamas!

I went to Jack and Jules Consignment Sale last week and forgot to mention something awesome!! I signed up Hadley for Imagination Library. It's a program for all Knox County children (and lots of other counties in TN, too!) where they mail the child one free book each month until they reach the age of 5! This program recognizes that books help prepare children for kindergarten, build their vocabulary, and encourage family time. This is a totally free program, all you have to do is sign your sweet little baby up! Thank you Dolly Parton for starting this awesome program! Go to www.knoxlib.org to sign up!

House Saga

Last Thursday, after going back and forth with the potential buyers of our house, we decided to reject their requests for items to fix at our house. It's a very long story, but their realtor went behind our backs and gave them documentation from a roof repair company that we had not even seen before. In addition, we started having second thoughts about the house we had a contract on. Since the purchase of the new home was contingent on the sale of our current home, both contracts were basically void. We are fine with staying here and just couldn't believe how fast everything happened. We had a nice weekend, free of thinking about houses, inspections, moving, etc.

Tuesday, the managing broker of Coldwell Bankers (the agency both we were using, as well as the potential buyers of our house were using) called me. Apparently the potential buyers of our house really want our house and believe we terminated the contract because we changed our mind about selling our home (and not due to the repair issues). I believe this is based on what their realtor, Gina, told them, even though she is the one that actually broke the contract by going behind our backs and getting her own estimate and giving to them. The broker told me that if we don't sell the house to them, they are going to get their attorney involved. Really??!! I was totally shocked at this development.

Brandon and I eventually decided we would consider selling to them under a few stipulations (reduced commission from selling our home, later closing date, a small lump sum for repairs they want to make, and that they are told the truth about what their agent did). So we should hear back from them tomorrow. What an emotional roller coaster this has been!

We are leaving for the beach on Saturday...yay!! Going to Ocean Isle in NC for a week. I'm so excited for Hadley's first beach trip! I've made a list of everything I need for her, which is alot! Here's hoping it all fits in the car :)

Success!

I went to the Jack and Jules Consignment sale yesterday....rain, baby, and all! I grabbed some great stuff!

Fisher-Price Bounce and Spin Zebra - $50 retail, snagged it for $12!

Jenny Jump Up - $20 retail, snagged it for $8

Lots of CUTE clotes for spring/summer! 3-4 Polo dresses for about $7 a piece, a green Zutano outfit for $6, an adorable pink smocked dress with lady bugs for $6, and lots of great comfy Carters outfits! Shopping for summer stuff is so fun!

Busy Bee!

What a fun weekend! Brandon was such a sweet hubby and watched Hadley Saturday and Sunday afternoon while I did 'girly' stuff! Julie, one of my besties and college roomies, came in on Saturday and we met up with Susannah, another friend from college, and had a great lunch at Mimi's Cafe and then went to the Women's Today Expo where we met Gretchen from The Real Housewives of Orange County! Then on Sunday, I went to a bridal tea for Stephanie at Lulu's Tearoom. It was the cutest place and the food was great!

This week is jam packed with house inspections, a hair appointment, Jack and Jules Consignment sale, and the DeBusk reception this weekend!

Today was low key which was nice. Went to the grocery store, made Hadley some butternut squash baby food, and made Zucchini e Pomodori Gratinati for dinner! It is in the oven right now and smells great! I'll share the recipe...it was super easy and had just a few ingredients.

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 zucchini, sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
4 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Move oven rack into the top third of the oven.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and spread the zucchini slices into the skillet in a single layer. If they don't fit, cook them in batches. Sprinkle pieces of garlic over the zucchini, and cook until the zucchini are golden brown on both sides, about 8 minutes per side. Remove from heat.

Arrange the slices of zucchini in an 9x12-inch glass baking dish, alternating with slices of mozzarella cheese and tomato, so that the slices overlap each other in a neat row pattern. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and basil over the dish, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and brown and the dish is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

First Baby Food Batch

I made Hadley's first batch of baby food with her Beaba BabyCook this weekend! I made green beans and I believe it was a success. Homemade baby food has more texture than store bought, and more than the bananas and avocados she's previously had. She wasn't so sure about it at first, but the 2nd and 3rd time I gave it to her she seemed to like it. I bought 1 lb or so of green beans and it made A LOT of baby food, so I froze some to have on hand. I am going to make a butternut squash tomorrow. I can't wait to see how she likes it!

Helping me do some laundry!

Silly girl!

Hadley is learning about her voice this week. It's quite hilarious, actually! She's been screaming/screeching and almost yodeling at times. I've got to try and get this on video so I can post and share with all of you!

She also started sputtering her tongue (I think that is what you call it anyway? Where she sticks out her tongue and blows spit). The more slobbery the better! I'm loving my little vocal sweetheart!

I started giving Hadley some solids. We've tried avacados and bananas - super easy as I just had to mash them up with a fork. She really liked them both! She loves to shove the bib in her mouth in between bites. Thank goodness for the wipeable bibs! I'm returning all the others and exchanging them for the wipeable kind.

Mmmm, avacado!!

Mmmm, bib!!

Granna and Pappy stopped by last week for a visit! Hadley looks pleasantly plump in this one!

And, we had TWO good naps today, each 1.5 hours without any intervention. PTL!

House Update #5

We got the house!!! We are SO excited! We close April 8th....sure have alot to do before then, but we will get it done! I can't wait to take Hadley swimming in the neighborhood pool this summer!

House Update #4

So we submitted our offer on the house on Friday. Since the house is owned by a relocation company that was closed over the weekend, we were to hear back on Monday. Yesterday our agent called us and said that the relocation company received 2 offers (our offer and one other person's offer). They requested that both parties submit their best and final offer by 5p yesterday. So we increased our offer a tad and had yet another sleepless night!

Today we heard that the company did take the other person's offer off the table (apparently it was a low offer) and is reviewing our offer today and will let us know something by tomorrow at the latest. Our agent also let us know that someone else was going to put in an offer by 5p yesterday, but didn't get it to the relocation company in time.

FINGERS CROSSED!