In October We Go To The Pumpkin Patch

I am a HUGE believer in traditions. Part of that is most likely my type A, control freak personality, but whatevs. I've carried on a lot of the traditions I had as a kid, including of course heading to the pumpkin patch (does anyone NOT make this a tradition?).

This year, with a jam packed October, both girls playing soccer, and the Royals madness, it was hard to sneak in an afternoon trip. The day we chose of course ended up being a smidge chilly/windy, so the Mr. stayed home with the babes (which I'm SURE he was super dissapointed about), and Aunt Jaime and I took the big girls to do what they do best. Burn off energy in the great outdoors. Each year we've pretty much gone to a different Pumpkin Patch, so of course we had to keep that tradition going ;) and we chose Kerby Farms.

I'm sure my girls were thrilled with the amount of pictures I forced them to take. But G & H I'm going to let you in on a little secret: 25 or so years from now you will have absolutely NO recollection of the whining, hissy fits, or tantrums of your youth. You will look back fondly on these pictures that I forced you to take, and wonder how on earth it's now time for you to take some of your own children.

So despite the melt downs of the past, we actually had a stress free trip. Both girls listened. And followed directions. And were nice to each other the whole time. It was basically a Christmas miracle come 3 months early. I was pretty impressed with Kerby, it was the perfect place for a 5 and 6 year old. Gracen's favorite part was by far the zip line (the zip line alone was worth the $5 admission), and Hadley's was of course all the dirt. Dirt for days. and sand. {How on earth that girl can be such a priss and love getting dirty at the same time is beyond me} They had a barrel train ride, a haunted house, hay rides, corn maze, tractors the girls could drive {Lord help us in 10 years when Gracen's on the real road...}, and much more. Plus the hot chocolate was $1 and they had a barn with picnic tables to keep you out of the wind. This place was by far the most family friendly (and wallet friendly) we've been to out of all of them.

Baseball may be over, but we're still smack dab in the middle of football season. GO STATE!

oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hadley Jean turns 5!

At our house, a birthday is something we don't take lightly. We love to celebrate. Multiple times, all month long if necessary. I'm so thankful that all of our kids birthdays are spread out, because then the spotlight is really on them. And maybe it's because I'm bitter that my birthday was in the summer, and my half birthday was over Christmas break so I never got to celebrate it at school. (Sorry P - same goes for you my love!) but I just love birthdays. That doesn't even mean we go overboard (occasionally we do), but in a house full of girls, I love to make them feel special.

And on September 28, my darling Hadley Jean turned 5 years old. I don't even know how it happened, because time certainly did not have my permission to pass so quickly. I can still remember the day she was born. She was the only one who arrived when planned! I want to laugh and cry at the same time when I think about her going off to kindergarten next year. Sigh. Such is the life of a Mother.

We certainly spoiled our sweet girl this year. We kicked off the celebrations the same day as Parker's baptism with family. I made the most delicious and wickedly simple buttermilk raspberry cake with homemade whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

You loved every single gift you received, and your favorite? Once again, easter eggs filled with candy. Uncle Adam certainly know the way to your heart.

Aunt Jaime got you new ballerina pajamas, and told you they were for your annual Halloween slumber party. You took that very seriously and refuse to wear them until you've had your slumber party. If only you could follow other directions that well :)

On your actual birthday we carried on the birthday donut tradition. We headed to Dunkin Donuts, and they gave you a pink donut for free. You would've thought they gave you the moon! I hope you always keep that child-like excitement, because it really is the little things that make life so wonderful.

For quite a while you've been telling us you want to be a dentist when you grow up - always the practical one ;) So naturally I bought you scrubs for your birthday. And let me just tell you, that unfortunately one trait you inherited from your dear Mother is that you're very particular about the most random things. And for whatever reason, you under no circumstances wanted to try on the scrubs. However, I finally got you to try them on after re-assuring you one million times that you could still be Anna for Halloween. And it's quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. 5 year olds in scrubs? Adorable. Scrubs with your name on them? I die.

If it's not moving, monogram it. That's my motto :) This probably stems from having the most popular girls name as a child, so I wanted my name and/or initials on everything. I promise you'll appreciate it someday. (Oh and just ask Aunt Nanie about her birth certificate!)

The celebrations continued at school with the repeat request of pink cupcakes with sprinkles. Done and done. And finally it was time for your birthday party with friends! I'm convinced that the anticipation of the party is just as exciting as the actual party. We lucked out again with the weather, park parties are always a toss up. But you had a great time with your pre-school pals.

We went with a pretty simple pink and green theme this year. All you wanted was cupcakes with sprinkles. Done and done. I added in the fruit snacks and goldfish, pretty successful for the pre-school crowd. It wasn't quite as extravagant as your 4th birthday, 3rd birthday,  or your 1st birthday (and I just realized I never blogged your 2nd birthday (which was my fav!) #blogfail. BUT with a 3 month old, this was as good as it gets this year, and you couldn't have cared less. There were cupcakes! and fruit snacks! and juice boxes! WIN.

 You were SUPER excited to wear this outfit, and I am SO thankful the weather allowed it. We got it in the mail from my cousin Karen months ago, and you would remind me about every other day that it was reserved special for your birthday party.

Cupcakes for the win.

It was too windy to actually light the candle, but you didn't care. Remember? There were cupcakes! And fruitsnacks! And juice boxes!

Parker was napping when we left, so Daddy stayed home with her for awhile and they came late. You thought that was better than the presents. Keep that enthusiasm about your sister forever would you?

Funny story. Your party started at 12:30, because that's what time the park had open for reservations. We were so busy that morning we forgot to eat lunch. You and Gracen were SO excited that I told you it was ok because you could have goldfish and fruitsnacks and cupcakes. You did not know what to do with yourselves because you got dessert before lunch. (In my defense, Daddy was working on the kitchen putting up the backsplash, so yes unfortunately the procrastinator in me left the cupcakes until that morning so yes, for one day, you had cupcakes! and fruitsnacks! and juiceboxes! for lunch.)

Happy birthday sweet girl!!! Your love for life is contagious, and your sass is out of this world. I will always encourage your enthusiasm and zest for life. I can't wait to see you grow and learn and if you stick with becoming a dentist :)

Age 1,2,3,4 I can't wait for family pics again in a month!

1st Day of Pre-K

I'm sure they have their reasons as to why, but it sure is inconvenient that they start pre-school activities so much later than the big kids. Hadley had her first day of Pre-K yesterday, and has been (im)patiently waiting to start school ever since Gracen did two weeks ago. #secondchildproblems

This year she gets to go 3 days a week instead of 2, and we switched to afternoons. I am SO excited about this since I head home on my lunch breaks to feed Parker, and that means that I can drop her off! I know it may seem like a small thing, but it means a lot to me (and her) that I get to be more involved this year. And that means one less trip out for Daddy with the baby. #winning

Hadley was SO excited to begin school, she was ready to go at 8am. School doesn't start until 12:15. We took the obligatory school photos, and luckily the storm had passed by noon to get said photos. She ran straight into the building, and knew exactly where to go. This wasn't her first rodeo.

She knew most of her class already (most of them have siblings in Gracen's class), and happily hugged and waved. This chica means business. I was equally proud and sad, that my little Hadley really didn't need me. She wasn't even ready to go home when school was over. It's such a blessing that she loves school, and we can't wait to see what this year holds.

I cannot believe that she will be in kindergarten next year, my sweet baby isn't a baby anymore!

Happy 3rd Birthday Hadley Jean!

Today my sweet baby Hadley Jean turns 3. It has been an incredible journey, and it's hard to even thing about life before her entrance into the world. So in honor of her birthday, I thought I'd share the story of the day she was born.

My surgery (repeat c-section) was scheduled for Monday morning bright and early at 8am! When you have a c-section, you can't eat for 12 hours before surgery, so the earlier, the better. I'm pretty sure I did not sleep a wink the entire night before. I was SO anxious. When Gracen was born I had an emergency c-section, and this time since I made it to my planned date it made me nervous that I didn't know what to expect without all the doctors and nurses rushing around in a panic to distract me. I finally "woke up" around 5am to shower and get ready. You better believe that I braided my hair and put on makeup this time. With Gracen it was 2am and let's just say I don't break out those pics very often. Aunt Nanie had driven up the night before to stay with Gracen while we were in the hospital, and at 6:00am we were off!

The Mr. was in charge of her name this time. I told him that he could pick (I did have to agree though, and in case it was terrible I did have full veto power) as long as it went with the middle name Jean (my middle name, my Mom's middle name and my Grandmas middle name). Well of course he waits until the last second possible, ON THE WAY TO THE HOSPITAL, to give me his top 3 choices. I liked all 3 of them, so I told him to pick one. He decided to wait until he saw her to officially name her.

We arrived at the hospital around 6:15 got all hooked up and then very impatiently waited for my anesthesiologist. I'm still not sure why we had to be there so early, that 2 hour wait seemed to literally crawl by.

FINALLY (late might I add) they wheeled me in to surgery, and within 15 minutes of getting my spinal, she was out. Pink, screaming, and perfect.

Daddy finally chose a name, Hadley Jean. She was born at 9:11am and I was so excited to finally get to meet her and know her name!

Holding my sweet bambino for the first time! As they were sewing me up, I lost quite a bit of blood. Too much blood. So things from here get a little fuzzy. All I know is that I was very tired, and very cold. They whisked Hadley away from me and I remember being wheeled back to my prep room where they had a sleeping bag type dealio (very technical terms here) around me that was heated trying to get my body temperature back up. There were many wires and other contraptions (see very technical) hooked up to me and monitoring me and many doctors/nurses in and out deciding whether or not I needed a blood transfusion.  Say what? Am I dying? (SPOILER ALERT: I live!) At this point my Dad and Michelle were both there, and I was pretty much in and out of consciousness. After who knows how long the executive decision was made that I would not need a blood transfusion, as long as my body temperature rose and they did have to continue to monitor me. I think it was scarier for other people then it was for me, because honestly I had no clue what was going on. The only thing I was concerned with was when I got to hold the peanut again and when I got to eat. Luckily my body temp came back up eventually and they got to move me to my recovery room, where Gracen got to meet her baby sister for the very first time.

"Her" baby :)

Very first visitors!

Aunt Nanie!

Snoozin with Daddy on the hospital couch (and yes both c-sections he stayed with me all 4 days in the hospital sleeping on the couch - best.husband.ever!)

I cannot believe my sweet Hadley Jean is already three years old. It's been an incredible joy and blessing to be her Mama. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this lil lady. The world is your oyster Hadley Jean, Happy Birthday!!!!