be-bopping!

This about sums up how fun my weekend was with my sweet family!  Brandon played in a golf tournament this weekend, so I had lots of sweet girl time with Hadley :)

Pork Chops with Apples & Creamy Bacon Cheese Grits

I'm so making this recipe soon! 

If you haven't heard of The Pioneer Woman, you better check this site out for some seriously yummy, indulgent recipes! 

11 months!

I can't believe a whole month has passed since I wrote one of these posts....and that in just one short month my baby will be ONE!  So many mixed emotions about that - but that is another post for another day :)

• Hadley is 20 pounds but I'm not sure of her length. I do know that she is tall!  We don't go back to the doctor till her 1 year check-up so I'll know her official stats then.
• Wearing 9-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• Drinking a bottle in the morning and at night, and 2 sippy cups during the day.  She is hardly interested in drinking from the sippy cup during the day as she is much more into her solid food!  I've tried many different sippy cups (Avent, Dr. Brown, and Playtex), but she still doesn't seem to drink properly out of any of them (she sucks, and then the liquid dribbles down her chin).  She is getting around 12 or so oz of formula throughout the day + water/juice at one feeding.
• Still napping 2 times a day at 10 and 2. She sleeps about 1 hour each time (at daycare), but takes a much longer morning nap on the weekends when she is home.
• The girl LOVES to eat. The only thing she isn't crazy about seems to be plain tomatoes.  I put them in several dishes I make for her, but doesn't really love them plain.  I would say yogurt is her favorite food.  She goes crazy when she sees me get it out of the fridge!  At her daycare (Nanny's), they serve breakfast, lunch, and a snack during the day.  We are starting to let her eat the food at school and she has done awesome so far.  They have an 11 day menu that rotates for half the year, and then a new 11 day menu will come out.  We love all the healthy options!
• I think Hadley is definitely going to be more into shoes than her mommy is.  Whenever she sees shoes in the floor, she makes a beeline for them!
• Sleeps about 11 hours at night (usually 7:30p to 6:30a, give or take a few).  She will lay in her crib a good 20 minutes in the morning before she really needs me or Brandon to get her.  She rolls around and talks - it's adorable!  And it gives me extra time to hurry and get ready in the mornings!
• Giggles a lot and definitely notices when we start laughing at something she's done...she'll usually do it again to get more attention.
• Pulling up on EVERYTHING!  She'll "walk" around her Laugh and Learn table while holding on and cruises while holding onto the furniture.
• She can stand up by herself for just a few seconds.
• When she gets sleepy, she plays with her hair. I think this is so sweet.
• Still uses her pacifier at naps and during the night. Although she would be content to suck on it all day long if I'd let her. I'm scared to wean her from her pacifier!
• "Loves" on me and Brandon now.  She will lay her little head on our shoulders and will cuddle too.  This was the first month we both noticed this sweet little change - and I am loving every minute of it!  
• She doesn't give us kisses yet, but when Brandon lets her drink out of his cup, she will open her mouth and lean towards his check after she takes a sip. It's like a kiss!
• Really likes bath time every night - it amazes me how it calms her down so much.  I bought a toy caddy for the tub - it suctions on the wall of the tub.  Every night, I put her toys back in the caddy before we let the water out.  Last week, she started putting the toys in the caddy.  Me and Brandon couldn't believe it!  She is so smart!
• Has 7-8 teeth
• Says ma-ma, ba-ba, and da-da.  She has some other random jibber-jabber, but these are the only recognizable "words."
• She loves being a ham!  

A few other recent pictures from this past week...

Reading some mail

My bud, Sophie, at her birthday!

Playing with my cousin, Kylie

Shoppin' fool

Some cute things I recently purchased today.  Happy Friday!

Pennington & Bailes TN polo dress a la Zulily today!  I'm so ready for football season!



 I've been wanting a sweet little necklace with Hadley's name. Found this cute necklace at The Vintage Pearl's site.  I can't wait till my UPS man delivers this beauty!

Finally ordered a couple Praise Baby CDs. These get great reviews and Hadley loves some of the worship CDs my sister gave her!  They make our ride to daycare very enjoyable :)

Mud Pie Sip & Munch Cup.  I found this for $5 today on the Totsy website!



I also ordered our Christmas cards today - I've never ordered them this far in advance, but Tiny Prints has 30% off certain cards through August 22nd. Yay for marking something off my to-do list!

 

amen sister!

All moms should read this post. 

I can totally relate to how this mom feels. I've experienced this judgement as a new mom, and I'm sure it will continue.  From how I chose to feed my baby, diaper her, let her sleep, how I dress her, and who cares for her when I'm working....and the list goes on.

I've definitely had to make some tough decisions since Hadley was born. 

The most difficult - returning to work.  I worked in public accounting at KPMG for 4 years before beginning my new life as a mom.  It was challenging, stressful, and wonderful, all at the same time.  I had amazing mentors and clients and worked my tail off for 4 years.  I was so lucky to have 6 months of maternity leave (some paid, some unpaid), but I need to work.  It's part of who I am, plus we like paying our bills.  But working 50-60 hours a week did not appeal to me once Hadley was born.  So I decided to leave the only place I'd known for TVA where more work-life balance was available.  I'm so thankful for better hours and the wonderful people I work with - plus I get to work out at lunch (but I do miss KPMG and my peeps there).  It is hard to leave my baby at daycare - somedays its harder than others - but I'm so thankful that we found such a wonderful daycare for her to attend.  If I can't love on her from 8-5 everyday, we found the next best thing.  She loves her teachers and friends and is always smiling when we drop her off and pick her up.

Formula/Breast feeding.  Ugh.  Hate this one.  I desperately tried to breastfeed Hadley.  It was no easy task for us.  Hadley would get frustrated, and cry, I was frustrated, and I cried. We cried together for 3 weeks.  I read books, did alot of internet research, and contacted a lactation consultant, with little success.  Finally, I started pumping and giving her the milk in a bottle.  It worked for us for 7 more months. It was a ginormous pain, but I did it for her.  Since then, she's had formula, and I'm grateful that is an option for all mothers.

Sleeping. We co-slept with Hadley for about 4-6 weeks (starting when she was about 6 weeks old).  Because this mama needed sleep!  It worked for us at the time.  And them I read a few sleep books and came to the realization, this was really the only thing that was "ours" (mine and Brandon's) and that we needed our bed back.  So we put Hadley in her crib around 11-12 weeks.  We let her "cry it out" based on the "Healthy Sleep Habbits, Happy Child" extinction method.  I wasn't as hardcore as the book method explained, but in a week or two, we were all sleeping.  Hallelujah!

Clothing.  Thank goodness for consignment sales and Carters brand!  I don't feel like I need to dress our baby in $50 smocked outfits everyday.  Don't get me wrong, I love a cute outfit every now and then, but let's be honest, she crawls on the floor, self feeds, and drools all day!  Not to mention, she's growing like a weed!  I'm lucky that we have some great consignment sales around town.

Baby food.  Make your own or store-bought.  Who cares, as long as you feed that baby!  Hadley has had both.  I loved my Babycook from WS, but somedays, I don't feel like peeling, dicing, steaming and pureeing!  I love Sprout and Gerber for store-bought options.

All moms make their own difficult decisions, just as I have.  In most cases, it’s just a guessing game. We survive and we move from one day to the next.  I'm so proud of all my mommy friends.  This is the most rewarding and difficult job in the whole world!