I am actually writing the weekly update on time this week! There is a reason I am doing it on time… tomorrow afternoon, I am heading to the beach for the weekend for my little sister’s bachelorette party. Yep, I am leaving H for the first time for more than just a few hours. I have SUPER mixed feelings about this… so I have just been trying not to think about it. I know that she will be in good hands with Jon and his parents, so I’m sure she will probably be just fine and I will take it much harder than she will! It’s just crazy that for 23 weeks, I have not been away from her for more than 5 or 6 hours (and that was only one time!). I will not know how to act without having a diaper bag and nursing child along for the ride!

I am leaving Jon with 5 pages of rules instructions notes on things to do/not do and what her normal schedule is usually like, so hopefully it will be a seamless transition and everything will be just fine! (deep breaths, Stephanie)…

With that being said, here is H’s weekly update. I’ll be MIA for the rest of the weekend, but I’ll be sure to post about how things went (or at least how Jon TELLS me they went!) when I get home!

Weight/Length: I am estimating around 18 lbs and 26ish inches long. Definitely filling out all her 6 month clothes, not sure how much longer they will fit (SAD because there are some cute ones!).

Sleep: No changes. Sleeping and napping like a champ! Even at the lake in a pack ‘n play, she doesn’t even seem to notice that she’s sleeping somewhere else. :)

Feeding: Still nursing every 3ish hours, and she is eating some fruit/veggie purees after nursing after her nap. This week she tried both peaches and sweet potatoes…and she LOVED both! She wasn’t too sure about the peaches at first (you’ll see from the photos), but she ended up loving them. And the sweet potatoes? She loved from the very beginning! (I HATE sweet potatoes… not sure what she sees in those ;)).

Developments: I have been meaning to put this as a development for the last few weeks but keep forgetting. She is just SO aware of everything. I think this might just be a nice way of saying she is nosey… she wants to see exactly what is going on all the time. And if she is nursing and I talk, she stops eating and looks up at me and smiles until I’m finished talking…it is mostly cute but sometimes I just want her to eat! ;) I think we are approaching a time where we may have to go to a very quiet room in order for her to nurse!

Firsts This Week: Peaches and sweet potatoes… and meeting her 2nd cousin Nicholas for the first time!

On a not so good note, she also had a sad first this week. Jon is going to kill me for writing this, BUT she got her first bruise this week! :( Of course I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, but if it was up to me, of course I’d rather her never have one! I won’t tell the whole story to protect those who were involved (it wasn’t me…), but let’s just say there was an unfortunate incident where her fat rolls on her thighs may have gotten caught up when someone was trying to buckle her into the carseat. :( There were a few tears, but she was ok in just a minute or two. Tough girl, but this mama was still sad!

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: Having a husband that I can trust to take good care of Hadley while I’m gone this weekend. I will still be a little nervous, and I know I will be SO sad to leave her tomorrow, but I know he is fully capable and she will be in great hands with Jon and his parents!

What I’m Looking Forward To: A weekend at the beach celebrating Bekah’s last fling before she gets married. I can’t believe my little sissy is all grown up! I am definitely looking forward to a weekend of not wearing nursing bras…though I am NOT looking forward to pumping!

Next Pediatrician Appointment: July 6th for her 6 month appointment.

All for now… here is what Little Miss has been up to this week:

Hope everyone has a great weekend…and please say a prayer for peace of mind for me! ;)

-S

“Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must. We must honor it in our own lives by holding their memories close to our hearts, and heeding the example they set.”

        —President Obama

I want to start off this post by saying that I am so thankful for all those who have served and who are still serving to protect our country. My family will be forever grateful for their service and do not take for granted the freedom that we have!

To say we enjoyed our four day weekend for Memorial day is the understatement of the century. We headed to my favorite place on Earth, the lake, on Thursday night after Jon got home from work. I held H off on her afternoon nap until it was time to leave, and she did great on the drive, slept the whole way. Friday morning, we slept in (thank goodness for a baby who likes to SLEEP) and did a whole bunch of nothing for the first part of the day… we just hung out and played with H. That afternoon, Jon went to play golf with Kyle, while Bekah and one of her friends came over. After playing a little bit with Hadley down on the pier,  I got to get in a little much needed time in the sun during H’s nap.

Jennifer came over during H’s nap, so we all hung out on the pier until H woke up…she was very happy to see Aunt Jennifer when she woke up! :)

Friday night was low key, my parents made us a delicious steak dinner and we just hung out…H definitely enjoyed some QT with Aunt Jennifer!

Zack, Kelley and family arrived Friday night, and we stayed up way too late, doing what, I’m not sure! :) Saturday, we slept in (“we” being Jon, Hadley and I) again, and headed outside soon after we woke up to play outside!  We spent all day outside, and it was a perfect day! My brother’s kids had a ball tubing and swimming… and boat rides put H right to sleep every time. ;)

Do you SEE those thighs?!!?!?!??!?!?!

Saturday was also my nephew Jacob’s 7th (so big!!!) birthday, so we celebrated at dinner (pizza and cake!) that night. Is he not the cutest?!

Saturday night was low-key, we just spent some family time and did some (continued) relaxing. Can I reiterate how much it was a perfect weekend? Mary also got some time to love on Miss H… not sure there is anyone who loves Hadley more. ;)

Sunday, we headed to church at UG. It was a special Sunday because my Uncle Butch (my Mom’s brother) and his friend were in town for the Fiddler’s convention, and they played some special music at church. My Aunt Teresa, cousin Derrick, his wife Lindsay, and their cute little boy, Nicholas (who is just 4 days older than H!) all came to church, too… I was excited for them all to meet H for the first time, to get to meet Nicholas, and to get to hang out with Lindsay and Derrick for the first time since their wedding! 

H didn’t make it through church (yet again…maybe it’s Pop’s preaching?!), but I got to catch up with Amanda and her sweet little Garrett during a little nursing session in one of the Sunday school classrooms, ha! He is so cute and I’m so glad that the Loftis’ are doing so well! :)

We headed back to the lake for lunch right after church, and got to spend some time with the Bosts. I would say that Nicholas and Hadley really hit it off, they just did a lot of looking at each other and smiling! :) The weather was absolutely PERFECT outside, so we enjoyed most of the afternoon on the pier!

We had a FABULOUS afternoon…can’t wait to do it again soon! Sunday evening, my Granny and Paw Paw came over for dinner. I was a bad Mama and forgot to take any pictures while they were there, but it was great to see them, as always! :) The weather was still perfect that evening, so we spent most of the evening on the porch. H LOVES to swing!

We definitely took advantage of our last opportunity to sleep in (again) on Monday. It was another day with absolutely perfect weather, so we spent the day outside again, of course! We also finally got a chance to blow up the cute little pool that Bekah got for Hadley, and she (and Mary!) loved it, despite the water being QUITE a bit colder than her bath water. :)

As always, we waited until the last minute to leave…I NEVER want to head home after a lake weekend. :( We have learned that it is best to bathe Hadley and put her in her PJs before we leave…she slept the whole way home, I nursed her when we got here, and she went back to sleep and slept until 10 Tuesday morning. Score!

Whew, photo overload, I know…but ahh, looking back at the photos makes me even sadder that the weekend ever had to end! I am glad that summer is HERE, and I am looking forward to the rest of it and many more weekends like this one. A big thanks to my parents for hosting and feeding all of us…I know there were a lot of us! :) 

Hope everyone had as fantastic of a holiday weekend as we did, and remembered that it was not just a day off of work…SO grateful for the men and women serving our country! 

-S

Greetings from LKN, and happy Memorial Day Weekend to everyone! We are here for the long 4-day weekend and having a blast with family…so this week’s update will be short and sweet, but I promise there will be lots of photos after the weekend is over. ;)

Weight/Length: 17.7 lbs and 25 1/2ish inches long. I would say at least 8 or 9 lbs are in her thighs. ;)

Sleep: She’s officially sleeping 100% sans swaddle, and is back to 12 or 12.5 hours a night, with usually about a 45 minute or hour long cat nap in the mornings and about a 2.5 hour long nap in the afternoons. She definitely likes to sleep, just like her Daddy! 

Feeding: She ate avocado a couple more times this week and still really liked it! However, we tried bananas later this week, and she was definitely NOT a fan. I suppose I will just try them again at some point later on! She’s still nursing like a champ, still about every 3 hours. 

Developments: She is sitting up for longer periods of time, but still wobbly…she mostly just wants to push herself backwards with her feet. But we are practicing sitting up every day and she is getting steadier and steadier! 

Firsts This Week: Sitting up on her own for short periods of time…and bananas!

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, etc. etc. etc.! 

What I’m Thankful For: Beautiful weather, and summer time…my FAVORITE time of year!

What I’m Looking Forward To: The rest of our long weekend at the lake, hanging out with family! 

Next Pediatrician Appointment: July 6th for her 6 month appointment.

I know I’m a little late on writing this…I meant to write it yesterday but wanted to go ahead and write H’s 5 month post. This past weekend was one of the best ones I can remember. In fact, it was one of those just like I had dreamed we would have when I was pregnant. We didn’t do anything outstanding, but it was great nonetheless.

Friday night was low key. We grilled out some delicious BBQ chicken—the grill is still “new” to Jon so he loves to grill on it any time he has the chance. After dinner, there was lots of play time and giggles from Miss H—she sure loves her Daddy.

We ended up watching some Jennifer Aniston movie and going to bed semi-early. It is important to note that Friday night was the first night I took the plunge and (finally) let H sleep without being swaddled. I was SO nervous and I was sure that we’d be up every 2 hours, but our girl surprised me yet again. She slept from 10 until 6! Don’t get me wrong, I was less than thrilled to be woken up at 6 on a Saturday, but she ate and went right back to sleep until 10:45…so I definitely consider it a major success. Just when I think she is gonna make things difficult for me, she does the opposite. I keep waiting for someone to bring me my “real baby” any day now…if she didn’t look so much like her Daddy, I’d be sure she couldn’t be mine! Like my Daddy says, I definitely do not deserve this good of a baby considering the type of baby I was! ;)

Saturday, we slept in until H woke up the 2nd time, and it was glorious. I woke up not feeling too great (I have not been sleeping well—maybe I’ll write more on that at some point), so after I fed her, Jon took her downstairs and let me rest a little longer. When I got up, Jon went out to do some yard work he had been putting off (by the way, his hard work has paid off—our yard looks beautiful!!). I took this opportunity to head over to Morgan and Lee’s to see them and Jamey, Jamie and Jaxon who were in town for the weekend! We were already planning on heading over there for dinner, but with Jamie and Jamey moving to WA soon, we wanted to get in as much time as possible! This was the first time I have gotten to meet Jaxon, who was born about two months after Hadley. He is a cutie, and such a big boy! H and I hung out until it was time for her nap, and then headed back home so she could get some sleep and be her sweet self later for everyone. ;)

H ended up taking an extremely long nap, and I actually woke her up after about 3 hours so we could head back to Morgan and Lee’s for dinner. Morgan had cooked quite the spread—everything was delicious! We had a great time hanging out with everyone, and I would say that Jaxon and Hadley really hit it off… He wouldn’t take his eyes off her and kept smiling at her! So, so cute!

We headed home around 10 (past H’s normal bed time, but I try not to be TOO strict on times, just the routine) and H was so tired she went right down. She ended up sleeping 11 hours—as if she didn’t even realize she wasn’t swaddled any more. I guess it really showed that it was me who wasn’t ready for her to stop being swaddled—I think that subconsciously, I think that no more swaddling means that she is no longer a “little” baby. Tear!

Sunday, we decided not to go to church because our church, which is part of a “family of faith community” with three other churches, was meeting at Koka Booth Amphitheatre with the other churches. While I’m sure it was a great service, logistically, it would have been hard for us with a 5 month old because we had to bring chairs and a picnic lunch, plus there is the whole nursing thing… Anyway. We ended up spending most of the morning in the bed, loving on H and Ralph. These were the moments I dreamed of before Hadley was born. Just pure love!

It was BEAUTIFUL outside on Sunday, so we knew we wanted to do something outside. First up, we headed to lunch at Chipotle (yum), where we sat outside to eat. After that, we headed to the Raleigh Farmers Market to get some fruit and veggies for this week (love supporting our local farmers!), and also some to make for H’s baby food (I’ll try to write about that at some point!). H loved walking around the Farmers Market and seeing all the colors and people—she was entranced. We got a lot of deliciousness and have been enjoying it all week. :) P.S.—those strawberries?? To die for!

After we left the Farmers Market, it wasn’t quite time for H’s nap yet, so we decided to head over to Pullen Park since we were in that general area. The park has recently been redone/renovated, and we have been wanting to check it out for a while. It was VERY crowded, but it was really nice! There is a train that goes around the whole park, a carousel, a pretty fountain, tons of play equipment for the kiddos, and a beautiful lake. When I just googled, I saw that it is the oldest public park in NC—neato. AND it’s only a hop, skip and a jump away from the greatest place on Earth…NC State, of course! :) Hadley, as always, loved just being outside and taking it all in…and she especially loved watching the train. Our afternoon definitely wore her out—she was asleep in her car seat before we even got out of the parking lot! ;)

H went down and continued her nap when we got home, and Jon got the rest of the yard work finished while I worked on dinner. We grilled out again—filets and some of the yummy veggies from the Farmers Market—delish! It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

I am particularly glad that we had such an amazing weekend at home, because it is our last one here until after the 4th of July! We have three weddings and our beach trip in June, so it is going to be go, go, go for us (as usual) this summer! I only wish the weekends could be a lot little longer! :)

-S

Dear Hadley,

You are 5 months old today. Almost half a year! I can honestly say that if I could just freeze time right now for a while, I would. This is by far my favorite age thus far. You are eating well, sleeping well, so interactive and fun, and are just generally a joy to be around.

When people are around you, they all say to me, “she is SUCH a happy, good baby!”. They are right! I am not saying that we haven’t had our share of rough days, but you normally reserve those for the times when it’s just us, haha (not sure if that’s a good or bad thing?). For the most part, you freely give those precious smiles and giggles to anyone who talks to you. An older woman at Target today thanked me for letting her talk to you; she said your smiles made her week! You truly do brighten the days of everyone around you, especially mine!

You are so independent already. I imagine that I was much the same way as a baby. You want to hold everything yourself, and touch and examine anything you can get your hands on. I can just see those little wheels turning in your head. When we fed you avocado for the first time last week, it only took a couple minutes before you were reaching out to grab the spoon and bring it to your mouth. So big! I have a feeling that when you start talking, we’ll be hearing “I do it” quite a bit…

I will admit that I sometimes worry that you will be fussy or not cooperate for certain things…but you almost always prove me wrong. When we went to church with your Mamaw and Great Grandma Aldridge for Mother’s Day and you woke up right as we were walking into the church, I was positive that you’d be fussy within 10 minutes and I’d spend the rest of the church service trying to entertain you outside. But, you stayed awake the entire service, smiling and playing with your toys and didn’t make a peep! And when I finally decided to take the plunge last weekend and put you to bed without swaddling, I was sure we’d be up all night and that it would be a terrible transition. But again, you slept 8 hours the first night, 11 the second, and 12 the next two nights…hardly even missed a beat. It just shows that YOU were ready, it was ME who wasn’t. I guess I should have more faith in you, huh? Feel free to keep surprising me! ;)

You will be sitting up on your own before we know it. You can already do it for short periods, but just need to work out the wobbles and you’ll be set. You still love to stand up with our help, and you just giggle away in your doorway jumper and in your swing! I think you are going to be a lake girl, like me, because you absolutely love to be outside and looking out at the water. We’re going to have a great summer between our beach trip and lake trips…I can’t wait to experience it all with you!

Your Daddy says that he can’t wait to get home from work every day to see you. As soon as he walks in the door and you hear his voice, you greet him with the biggest smile. There’s no mistaking that you are a Daddy’s girl already! You already have him wrapped around your little finger, baby girl—I’m sure you’ll figure out how to work that to your advantage the older you get…

I can’t explain the joy you continue to bring to my life. Sometimes, when you fall asleep on me and are super snuggly, I do everything I can not to move. I sit and smell you, listen to your sweet breathing, and sometimes just cry thinking about how much I love you. When did I become such a sap?! I never could have imagined how much I could love you, and it somehow grows each day. Time is just passing so quickly…and I am afraid to blink because I don’t want to miss a thing (we won’t talk about me going back to work, even if it’s for a short time, I can’t imagine spending my days away from you!). The smallest things bring me so much pride and happiness.

So thank you, sweet H, for being you. Our sweet, smart, independent, happy, BIG 5 month (!!!) old girl. Your Daddy and I absolutely adore you!

Love,

Mommy

This weekend was busy for the Aldridges, to say the least. We literally did NOT stop going from Friday night through Sunday night, but we had a great weekend! We left Holly Springs around 6 p.m. on Friday to head to the lake, to get ready for the couples shower that we hosted for Bekah and Kyle on Saturday. H did perfect on the ride, she pretty much slept the whole way. I am learning to try to time our drives for when I know she will need a nap, that seems to do the trick every time!

Saturday, we got up and started preparing for the shower—my Dad worked outside on the pier ALL day long, and Mom and I worked on getting the food ready, while Jon entertained H. The menu was simple—hamburgers and hotdogs—our typical go-to summer entertaining meal. Bekah’s bridesmaids all pitched in and brought appetizers and the sides to go along with everything, and everything turned out great! We had a great turnout and Bek and Kyle got some awesome stuff. We also played “The Newlywed Game” with Bekah & Kyle vs. my parents and Kyle’s parents, and it was hilarious…not to mention my parents surprised us all and won by a landslide! (Sorry Daddy, I just had no faith in ya!) Most of their friends ended up staying for a while, and we played Catch Phrase (our favorite) until after midnight. We had a blast with everyone! Here are some photos of the fun that was had…also I want to mention that I made the towel/utensil cake, only the 2nd crafty thing I have ever made! ;) And…yes, that is a gun. A pink gun, given to the bride by her soon-to-be groom. Only in North Carolina.

We are officially only a month away from the wedding, can’t wait!!! :)

Sunday morning, we got up early to head to Concord to see Jon’s mom and Grandmas for Mother’s Day. Before we left, Jon surprised me with some sweet cards from him and Hadley, and the best part? A spa day at The Umstead that he and Dan had planned for Sarah and me! I can’t wait to go and have some QT with the bestie along with some relaxation at the amazing Umstead spa!

We had to wake H up, then I fed her and we hit the road…she slept the whole way (score)! She woke up right before we went into church, at which I thought “great”. She shocked us, though, and stayed awake through the whole service but didn’t make a peep! She just smiled at the people standing behind us and played with her Oball—she was seriously perfect! After church, we went back to Jon’s parents’ house with Jon’s parents, Heather and all four of his grandparents and ate a delicious lunch and hung out for a while. It was great to see everyone and to celebrate several of the awesome mothers in our lives!

Later Sunday afternoon, we packed up yet again and hit the road for Conover—to go to my Granny’s house for a Mother’s Day gathering with the Kirby family. H did great on this drive too—we timed it so that we left right around time for her nap, and she slept the whole hour and a half drive. We got to Granny’s a little late and didn’t get to stay too long, so I didn’t get any photos from it, but it was great to (briefly) see my grandparents and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins…and to see all of the great-grandkids running around! It is crazy to me to think that Hadley will be right there running around with them before we know it!

We left Granny’s and headed back to the lake to pack up our things… and took advantage of a quick photo op of my Mom and her girls on Mother’s Day! ;)

Jon really wasn’t feeling great when we got back there, so we decided that we would go back to Holly Springs in the morning instead of driving the 2.5 hours back home with him feeling terrible. We watched the series finale of Desperate Housewives (*tear*, I’ve been watching since the beginning and am so sad that it is going off!!) and headed to bed.

Whew. It was a crazy, busy weekend, but it all made me realize how amazingly blessed we are to have such AWESOME mothers in our lives—our moms, grandmas, aunts, great friends, etc.! I am so lucky to have so many amazing role models to look up to.

I would say that my first Mother’s Day was one that I will remember. I always dreamed of becoming a mother, but it is even more rewarding and fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. Hadley is my proudest accomplishment to date—she fills my heart in a way I never knew it could be filled. I could not be prouder or happier to be her mom!

-S

Happy Mother’s Day! I am 3 days late on the weekly update this week, goodness gracious! We have had a jam-packed weekend and this is honestly the first time I have been able to sit down and write. I’ll try to do a weekend update post this week to share some photos from Bekah & Kyle’s couples shower and from Mother’s Day. We have had a fantastic weekend and I had an amazing first Mother’s Day! 

H turned 20 weeks (I think it is probably past the time where I should refer to her as a certain number of weeks old, huh?!) old on Thursday. Almost 5 months! Time is seriously flying by. Here are her stats for the week:

Weight/Length: By my measurements, 16.2 lbs and 25ish inches long. It also seems like her legs are starting to catch up with the rest of her body and her pants aren’t way too long anymore!

Sleep: I am terrible, I know, but I just can’t move away from swaddling completely! She is napping every day 100% sans swaddle and is sleeping pretty well, but some days she wakes herself up by jerking her arms and then I can’t get her to go back to sleep. This is why we haven’t tried it at night yet…but I think we will probably try it this week. She’s been sleeping with one arm out of the swaddle for the last few weeks and is still sleeping somewhere between 11-12 hours. Fingers crossed that she continues to sleep well even without the swaddle, but I’m not too optimistic…maybe (hopefully) she’ll surprise me!!

Feeding: She has decided recently that she’s not really a fan of the rice cereal anymore…she makes a bad face and turns her head. Not a huge deal to me if she eats it or not, but I don’t think it will be long until we start thinking about introducing some solid foods. She is SO interested in everything that we are eating and I just can’t help feeling like she is ready for them. Moms who are reading this—did any of you start solids before 6 months? Everything I have read says 4-6 months, with 6 months being the optimal time…but I just feel like she is ready. Obviously I’ll still nurse her as much as I have been, but I feel like it might be good just to start thinking about introducing some other yumminess to her! :) 

Developments: Hadley still loves to stand up (with help) and has gotten pretty good at going from sitting to standing on her own. She is LOVING using her voice—and has learned how to squeal! It may just be the cutest thing ever. She loves to “talk” to us and see how loud she can get! 

Firsts This Week: She sat up by herself yesterday! And again today. Only for maybe 15-20 seconds and she is still pretty wobbly, but she did it. SO. BIG. I will try to get it on camera this week!

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, etc. etc. etc.! 

What I’m Thankful For: My Mom, Mother-in-law, Granny, Jon’s Grandmas, and all of the other fantastic moms in my life. I have so many excellent role models and love them all very much!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Bekah and Kyle’s wedding. Only a little over a month away!

Next Pediatrician Appointment: July 6th for her 6 month appointment!

Here is what Little Miss has been up to this week:

Hope everyone has a great week!

-S