Happy Anniversary to My Love

Today me and Jason celebrate 7 years of marriage! I cannot believe it has already been 7 years, and in a good way! We have been through undergraduate, grad school, med school, residency and a baby!! We have moved to another state where we have learned to lean on eachother for everything and have seen how important your love is to make it through tough times. For all the amazing 7 years we have shared (and the 3yrs before then)I want to say Thanks for being my husband!
And most importantly thanks for giving me my Hadley. She is the most amazing thing that has come from our marriage. Seeing you be the amazing (albeit childish) father you are makes me fall in love with you all over again. I cannot wait to expand our family in the future to watch you be a father all over again.
No matter what comes our way in life I know I have my strength in you. Words truely cannot explain the vast amount of love I have for you!

Happy Anniversay Jason!!

Christmas Time

We had an amazing time home in Kansas for Christmas. Lots of family and friends which meant a VERY busy schedule! We stopped and had breakfast with Carolyn and her family in Iowa on the way down..a great way to break up the long drive! Once in KS I got to see my best friend Joan, who I miss dearly! And one night together is never enough time! But unfortunatly didn't get to touch base with Nickie and Jenny due to the flu...but really, three families all down with the flu wouldn't be a good idea! But next time..we will make it happen! We were able to see both families now that Jason's parents are back in KS so that kept us going nonstop!
Hadley of course walked away with a car packed full of gifts!! (mostly due to Mommy and Daddy..I will one day learn to NOT buy her everything at the store!!)
It was a very Merry Christmas! We were very sad to leave our family and look forward to being closer to them soon!! Miss and Love you all lots!!


Hadley with Talor and Grace (Joan's girls)

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Hadley and her loot on Christmas Morning (okay..most of it)

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Hadley on Christmas Eve




Grandma became her gift holder on Christmas night



Hadley with her cousins: Rylie, Sydney and Zach

Fashionista

Hadley picked out her own outfit today..bright pink tights, dark pink dress, and pink/red/white poncho. It made me smile at how crazy the outfit was! But at least she stayed in the same color scheme!!

Winter Wonderfest

Every year we go to the Navy Pier Winter Wonderfest, it is one of my favorite things to do in the winter and something I will miss very much! The entire festival hall is turned into..A Winter Wonderfest! It has inflatable slides, obstacles, rides, food, and ice skating! Since Hadley is now into ice skating I was thrilled to do this! We were there for 4 hours of fun!
The big Christmas Tree:

Hadley practicing..she was so excited to get to the middle of the ice

Hadley enjoying skating

Mommy and Hadley..we now have a great mommy and daughter thing!

Me and my love

Hadley's Play Mate

Dee Dee has quickly became Hadley's playmate! She lets Hadley treat her like a doll..covers her up, dresses her up and cuddles nonstop with her! This is often how I find Dee Dee!

Christmas and Family Pics

We got some amazing pics done today at Portriat Innovations. We always took Hadley there when we were in KS and even though it is a bit of a drive, we have always taken her to one here too!

Here are some of the best pics...

A Morning Surprise

Yesterday I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and Hadley comes in with something behind her back and says:

H: I have a surprise..
M: What?
H: (pulls around an opened christmas gift..yes I said opened..she had unwrapped one)
M: Hadley Sarah Day, did you just open up a christmas gift? Seriously?
H: yes (crying as she can see I was upset)
M: Seroiously? (I was in shock)

So I took the gift and proceeded to the living room hoping not to find all the other gifts unwrapped..nope..only this one.

M: Hadley, if you open up another gift before Christmas I will take them ALL back..
H: I won't Mom..I won't open another one. (still crying)

So I let us both calm down a bit and then we sat and talked about how we don't open gifts until christmas and all... then Hadley looks up at me and says:
"I liked the gift."

Later she asked me, "Mommy, can you rewrap the gift and this time I will open it up on Christmas?"

Deep Thoughts of a Dog

"What a life!"

Happy Turkey Day

Trip East

We flew out east to North Carolina to visit Jason's parents this past weekend. Here are some pics from the visit:
At the Beach with Grandma and Grandpa

Playing the piano with Daddy

With her Aunt Lesley and Uncle Keith

Outside the house:

Tippy Toes

Saturday was Parent Observation Day at Hadley's Ballet. She is in the Tippy Toes 2 class and they do a lot of game play and learning the basics of ballet. I always watch from the partly closed blinds (so we can see in but the kids won't be distracted) but it is nice to be in there and get to see and hear what is going on!

My beautiful Ballerina


Miss Allie has Hadley demonstrate how to play the Statue Game..don't ask..it seemed way to hard for the kids but she says they get it and were just shy!


Hadley thinks her teacher is SOOO funny!


Practicing her moves!

Christmas Fever

Every Year I start planning, buying, and thinking about Christmas early..I mean really early! It is my favorite time of year for several reasons..1)love snow, 2)love to buy gifts for people (not big on recieving gifts..but love to buy them), and 3)it's all about family! And for the past few years the last one has been a big one for me. I know that every year at Christmas I get to go home for an entire week..you can't beat a better reason to love Christmas! So here I am, only 6 wks to go until Christmas and I have already bought Hadley..well..almost all on my list. And yes I will most likely keep shopping for her until Christmas..but it is impossible to NOT buy things for her..right?! I haven't started shopping for everyone else yet, I need to think and plan what I will get them first. We have also adopted a family this year from a local church..so I am VERY excited to get Hadley involved in this and make this a yearly tradition. I am anxiously awaiting for the day after Thanksgiving so I can bring out the tree, decorations, and gifts! I am also the Christmas dork who listens to Christmas music ALL the time!! I love the cheerful music, the stores and the holiday decorations everywhere!! And I plan and look forward to my day of shopping with Jason every year! We have our babysitter (man..I wish family was around to watch Hadley..it would save a lot!!), anyway, we have our babysitter set to watch Hadley so we can go and finish all our shopping..I just love it!!
So..I am early, but I couldn't wait to change my blog to Christmas and start getting everyone in the Christmas spirit!!

Another Dose of Sex..

Sex and The City that is!! I read today as I was doing my daily gossip/celeb blog reading that it has been confirmed that they will start shooting next summer the next Sex and The City Movie!!!



I LOVED the series and LOVED the movie..so I cannot wait for another one!!
And yes I am a dork and have the theme from the movie as my ring tone!!

It's a Bird..It's a Plane...

It's SUPERGIRL!! (or maybe not) Hadley had decided to be Supergirl for Halloween. She saw the costume at Target and loved it. I waited a couple weeks to buy it to make sure that is what she wanted..I was in shock she didn't want to be a princess! But that is what she wanted. So she got all dressed up as Supergirl for her Halloween Party at school...


and with her best friend, Valerie at school...




And as I suspected all the other girls at school were princesses. So when I picked Hadley up after school, first thing she said when we got in the car, "I don't want to be Supergirl. I want to be Snow White." So Supergirl lasted for half the day!! Luckily she had the Snow White Dress. And I happened to buy the shoes and head band at Disney last week to put aside for Christmas (by the way..Disney puts all Halloween costumes 50% off a week before..great Christmas dress up gifts!!). So, Snow White it was...


Hadley loved going Trick or Treating..every time she saw a house with a light on she ran up to it! She was a little scared of some of the houses that were decorated up..but she really enjoyed it. Half way through the night Mommy or Daddy had to carry the bag since it was so heavy!


After trick or treating for over an hour we decided it was time to head home and Hadley was getting tired..

Grab your tissue

I watched Oprah today, and I was so glad I did. The topic was on babies/kids who beat the odds. And wow did I see an amazing story. A story that makes you realize how important it is to live your day to the fullest, and to NEVER take others for granted. It makes you see how blessed you are to have a healthy baby, and how you need to cherish that baby every moment. And the message from the mom on the show, (paraphrased) "I decided I was going to enjoy every moment and be sad later."
I couldn't get the video downloaded but here is the link: (copy and paste it)

http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/570/99-Balloons

Get ready to grab your tissues!

I think I have seen it all

Today we were on our way to pick up DeeDee in downtown Chicago and I was using the GPS..Hadley heard it say, "Keep Left and then Keep Left". Hadley then said (she likes to repeat the directions for me as if I didn't hear it).."Keep Left Mommy, and then Keep Left." A few seconds after that the GPS repeated it and Hadley leaned forward in her seat and looked right at the GPS and said, "I already said that!"

I couldn't believe my daughter was arguing with the GPS!!

Now, I do admit there have been times I have had a few choice words with the lovely machine..but to see Hadley do it was priceless!!

Meet the new member of our family!

Well, I finally gave in..we got a dog! Jason and Hadley, okay, mainly Jason has been begging for a dog for almost 2 yrs! I finally thought it was the right time and Hadley was more than ready for her first real pet..so the hunt began! We spent hours online looking, almost 4 hours at the dog adoption event at Navy Pier and then another 3 hours at the shelter..we finally decided after seeing her two different days and spending lots of time with her that DeeDee was it...


She is a 6yr old Sheltie mix, and at only about 15 lbs she is the perfect dog..not too big and not too small..yet I can still pick her up in one arm! Hadley was SO excited, she picked out the perfect toys and bed for her. On the way home from the shelter she kept saying, "It's okay DeeDee we are almost home." Now her name came with her, I offered to let Hadley change it but she loved the name..so it stuck!


We are going to have her sleep and stay in the pop up kennel for the first week or so..they thought it would help her get comfortable..and I wanted to make sure she was house trained! They think she came from a home due to the condition she was in and how social she is. She is very tame and cuddles a lot! She loves the bed in Hadley's room which is where she will be after the kennel goes away!
DeeDee loved her first bath, Hadley helped..and then afterwards she let Hadley dry her, brush her, and then cover her in a blanket...(and yes she is in her undies..Hadley that is,not DeeDee!)


So far it has been great..we will see how it is when she gets more comfortable in our house!!! Right now her favorite spot is on her belly and getting rubs!!

Love to PBS Sprout

I love PBS Sprout! I will never be the mom who says, "no TV time" for many reasons. 1)Both me and Jason are addicted to TV, 2) how else am I to get the millions of things done around the house that are on my list (yes I have a list)and 3) I think TV really teaches things..well..some shows!And that is why I love PBS Sprout! Hadley is addicted to Calliou and Sid the Science Kid. And she learns from them. One Saturday she was watching Calliou and then went and cleaned her room, reason: "Calliou did it." and another time she asked to help with laundry, reason: "Calliou helps his grandma with laundry." and today..Sid the Science Kid. After getting dressed Hadley ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth on her own (something I usually do, for which the dentist says keep doing it since her teeth are great..pat to me on my back) but..watching Sid talk about brushing your teeth made Hadley get up and do it herself!
Now I won't say the oh so wonderful things (notice the sarcasm) she has learned from other shows..but..a little of both good and bad never hurt anyone..right??

Pumpkin Patch

For the last three years we have went to the same Pumpkin Patch: Johansen Farms in Boilingbrook. It is a bit of a drive, but so worth it! The last two years my mom happened to be up so she has been able to make the adventure with us! There is a ton there to do: inflatable slides and obstacle courses, petting zoo, hay rides, pony rides, mazes, pumpkins, pies, you name it! And the best part is you pay one price and kids can ride all the rides unlimited!!It was unseasonablly warm that day..when we left chicago it was 76 and when we got there it was 90! But we had a blast!!
Going through the maze:

Hadley on one of the slides:

Holding the baby chicks:


Group photo on the Hay Ride:

Bye-Bye Full Nights Sleep

About a year ago after Hadley started having all her sleeping problems..restless nights, nightmares, etc I moved her into our room on a make shift bed next to ours..a very comfortable one..I didn't just let her sleep on the floor! Anyway, she would go to bed in her room and then around midnight end up in our room on her bed. I did this as I wasn't sleeping with her in the next room not knowing if she was having nightmares, and she would wake me up anyway.Well, problem solved in June when she had her tonsils out..yes it has been 4 amazing months of sleep!!! But she never broke the habit of coming to our room in the middle of the night to sleep..until now that is! Tonight will start the first night we will remove the bed from our room and work on Hadley sleeping in her room ALL NIGHT! So..here come the sleepless nights again! Now, I don't really have a problem with her in our room..I like having her next to us at night, but I know it needs to be broke sooner or later..and since I am sure it will take a while, I have choosen sooner! As for her prize for sleeping in her room all night..a table and chair set. She has been asking for this since before Christmas last year!! So hope this will help get her to do it!!
Well..wish me luck (notice I say we, Jason sleeps through everything!)

Navy Fear

My favorite place in Chicago..Navy Pier..I just love how much there is to do there: rides, shops, kid stuff, the lake..it's always a blast! And at Navy Pier now it is 'Navy Fear' for Halloween! Hadley is of course too young for some of the things..but she liked the decorations. And of course..Build a Bear. This is becoming her favorite place. She doesn't always get to make a bear or buy an outfit, but this time she did! She picked out a blue bear and dressed it as Cinderella..we named it Cindy!



Her are some of the decorations they have around:


Hadley and Grandma playing around (my mom was in town!!!)