Harper's Christmas Wish List {Infant}

Even though Harper can’t tell us exactly what she would like this year for Christmas, we have some cute gifts ready for her! 

MinnieMouse Touch N’ Crawl //  Daniel and I were out shopping and thought this would be cute. She seemed to like it when we were in the store too J  Harper so close to crawling, so maybe having a little friend with help her out!

Placemat//  Hadleigh & Hayden both have this placemat already, so I had to get Harper one!

LearningHouse //  Super cute wooden toy that she can enjoy now and when she gets a little older.

SleepSack //  Harper has almost outgrown the one she uses now, so we bought her one that she can use until she’s over 2.

Kids Learning Touch Smartphone //  She loves playing with our phones, so I snagged this one when I saw it for sale at $7.99.  It lights up and has a bunch of different settings.  I’m sure she will love it.

What are you buying for your infant?    

Hadleigh & Hayden's Christmas Wish List {Pre-school & Toddler Age}

I’ve asked Hadleigh & Hayden several times what they want Santa to bring them for Christmas and each time I get a different answer from Hadleigh.  Hayden is pretty consistent on her answers!

Here are a few I’ve heard from Hadleigh:

-          EVERYTHING!

-          A doctor kit so I can fix all the people and animals

-          iPad just like mommy’s

Here is what Hayden says every time:

-          LET IT GOOOOO! (this is what she calls ‘Frozen’ and she’s obsessed)

-          A baby doll

Both of them have circled everything in the toy catalog from Toys R Us & Target; even though they already have half of the things they circled.  Hopefully the girls are excited with the things Santa has planned.  Here are a few items we know Santa has in his little bag this year.

1-       iPad // Yes, this might be a crazy gift for a 4 year old. Her and Hayden fight over mine constantly.  They love watching Netflix and play educational games.  They've never taken to their LeapPads, so we’re selling those and just upgrading to the iPad. It’s truly a win-win.  There have been several moments since we bought it Daniel and I have said “we cannot wait for Christmas!”

2-      Lite Brite // I loved this growing up, so this is something I’m excited to see them open and play with!  This mama is excited to play with it too ;)

3-      Elsa dress // They will both be very excited for this.  They love Frozen, but they love dressing up. I’m expecting this is what they will want to wear Christmas Day.

4-      Shoes // We picked up these cute Nike tennis shoes the other night.  Hayden grew out of her New Balances, so she needed them.

5-      Books // Definitely needed some reading material for these girls! You can never go wrong with books.  We got both of them a mixture of fun and educational type books.

What does Santa have planned for your kids?
Linking up with September Farm today too!

ChristmasTown

A few weeks ago my parents, Daniel, and I took the girls to Busch Gardens ChristmasTown. It’s an amusement park that is about an hour away, but during Christmas they have tons of lights and Christmas themed activities. It’s the first year we have gone, and I’ll definitely be going back! 

There’s an outlet shopping center pretty close to the park and I had seen where Anna & Elsa were going to make an appearance at The Yankee Candle store on the same day we planned on going.  My girls still love Frozen, so I figured it would be a cool thing to stop in and do before heading to ChristmasTown. In theory, it was great.  But everyone else in the state of Virginia thought so too. 4 hour long lines to see Anna & Elsa (who by the way didn't even really look like them) wasn't working, so we told the girls to look at them from the sidelines. See what I’m talking about? Doesn't really look like Elsa…

After the Anna & Elsa bust, we made our way to the park.  We got there when they opened to enjoy some rides and shows.  We knew we had time to kill since it was daylight.  Hadleigh really enjoyed the show, which was ballet dancing and singing. She was so cute (and funny) trying to copy the ballet moves the girls and guys were doing.  We even played a fish game where the girls won polar bear stuffed animals.

It was a great day, but if I’m being honest it didn't come easy!! There was about 45 minutes where the older two were crying and whining.  It’s so hard as a parent when you’re there to make great memories for your kids and they could care less. All three wanted to be held by me and only me, so when they didn't get their way the crying started.  I should have known it was from exhaustion because shortly after, we put both in the stroller, and within minutes Hadleigh was asleep. In the grand scheme of the day it was just a minor hiccup, but it certainly didn't feel minor in the middle of it!

This was during the meltdowns - priceless face!

Nighttime fell and all the lights were beautiful.  I would have enjoyed it with kids or no kids.  

 

There’s just something about Christmas Time! It's definitely magical :)

Christmas Cards

I’m in love with our Christmas cards this year!  I wanted to buy them through Shutterfly, since that’s where I store all of my pictures and make the girls birthday books every year.  They were pretty expensive when I first started looking, but then I snagged them at a really good deal I couldn't resist!

I had a $20 off coupon, an additional $5 off coupon, and the cards were all 50% off when I bought these = I was THRILLED!

Front

Back

·        Did you send out Christmas cards this year?

·        Did you go for the photo cards, or traditional holiday cards with no picture?

Holiday Pictures

We took some Holiday pictures a few weeks ago with the talented Nikki at NikkiSanterre Photography.  It was a very chilly Saturday morning and the girls weren't really feeling it after about 15 minutes, but she managed to get some great shots of us.  Daniel and I even got some pictures just the two of us J  I had given both girls baths that morning so their hair would be nice and clean, but of course they didn't want me to style it at all. I picked my battles, so that is why their hair is all in their faces!  I just ordered our Christmas cards with some of these shots, so I’m really excited to send those out soon.

Go.Check.Nikki.Out.  Also – BOOK HER! I leave you with proof…

Christmas Wish List

My Wish list is pretty simple.  I only included items specifically for me.  Daniel and I usually take each other shopping closer to Christmas while we are out getting last minute things for the girls, so I'll definitely be looking for one of these items.  Also, we usually ask our parents for things we could use around the house or projects we want to get done around the house.  There are only 4 things that I really want these days if I was go to splurge on something for myself.  Everyone has a wish list right?! 

1.        TOMS Wedge Bootie – I’ve been eyeing these for a while and I’m in love with them!  I think I’ll actually need a new pair of skinny jeans that are just the right length for them as well ;)

2.      TheVintage Pearl mixed metal charm necklace – This is another thing that I’ve always seen and wanted.  I just have never clicked the “buy” button! 

3.      NikonD3300 – I NEED a new camera! Enough said.

4.      Cowboy Boots – There’s a local boot store I would probably go to buy these.  I just found this image since it was a picture of what style and color I would get.  Every girl needs a pair (or two) of cowboy boots!

What’s on your wish list this year?

Halloween 2014

Nothing like posting about our Halloween the day before Thanksgiving!

We had so much fun on Halloween this year with all three girls!  Earlier Halloween week, the girls and I went with Nene & Baba to our aunts neighborhood trick-or-treating (Daddy was out of town).  They do things a few days early for the extended families of the home owners.  It was small and low key, but the girls had so much fun riding around in the golf cart from house to house.  Plus, some houses gave out FULL candy bars! I would've loved a neighborhood like this growing up!!

On actual Halloween we walked around our neighborhood.  There are a lot of kids between our sub-division and the sub-division right in front of ours.  The older girls were hanging out in the wagon while I had Harper in the stroller.  We were able to snag a few pictures before we started and they turned out really good!  Hadleigh & Hayden got lots and lots of candy, so they would call it a success! As a mom, I love how they forget about the candy a few days later J  Next year; I’m walking around with wine in a cup.  Not that this is breaking news or anything, but it didn't occur to me that I should do it until we were already a few blocks away from our house. fail.

Cue the cute Halloween pictures!! Introducing our two witches and their black cat:::

State Fair 2014

This year we took the girls to the State Fair twice.  We didn't have enough time to let the girls enjoy the rides on our first visit, so we came back a few days later.  We enjoyed seeing the animals - Harper was amazed.

 Hayden even rode one of the ponies there!  She was so cute and very brave, but towards the end she was done.  Hadleigh wouldn’t step foot near it!

  We ate some of the horrible (for you) fair food and even indulged in some ice cream J

excuse the blurry iPhone pictures!!
Hadleigh & Hayden both got bow & arrows that they had been asking us for several weeks before.  

fair = GREAT excuse to wear your cowboy boots!
Hayden wanted nothing to do with the rides, but Hadleigh had a blast.  Her favorite was the fun house, which was her favorite last year as well.  She went through that several times.

  It was so fun seeing them so excited about the rides and the games.  Daniel and Baba played some of the games with the girls and even won a few goldfish.  The goldfish lasted maybe 3 hours after we got home?  Once we transferred them into their tank, they were gone within an hour.  Apparently, Daniel and I are really horrible at being goldfish owners. Oops!  Hayden didn't notice and Hadleigh took the news really well.  She didn't even bombard us with 1000 questions.  I think we will just stick to the games that have the stuffed animals as prizes next year!

4/5/6 month comparisons

It’s been a few months since I’ve done side-by-side comparisons of the girls.  I’ve taken a picture of all three in the same Christmas dress, just so I could compare!  Hadleigh & Hayden actually wore the dress on Christmas Eve, but Harper is a little off on the seasonal clothes that her older sisters had. I dressed Harper in the dress a few weeks ago before I lost my chance of her fitting in it at all!

So, we always say how much Harper looks like Daniel and Hadleigh - which is so true!  But here, Hadleigh & Hayden look more similar.  I think Hadleigh looks more like Daniel now that she's gotten older, and Harper looks like both of them now. Can you tell Hadleigh & Hayden weren't too impressed when they were babies?! haha.

Who do you think looks the most a like?  

Harper - 6 months

Harper Madden is 6 months as of yesterday!! I’m so excited to see her grow, but a part of me is sad that she is probably my last baby.  It’s hard for me to admit that still!  Lately especially. 

 Harper is so happy – smiles all the time!  She loves pretty much everyone, but really loves when her sisters are around.  She will finally laugh for us, but Hadleigh still gets her to laugh so much more!  Harper loves to be around people, so I think she’s going to be our little social butterfly.  She’s happiest when in company. 

Harper rolls from stomach to back and back to stomach all the time.  She is sitting up great with support.  She can almost sit up by herself, but she still falls over or leans forward way too much.  It definitely won’t be long though!  She wants to crawl so badly, but hasn't figured it all out yet.  Because she’s so social and sees her sisters walking around, you can tell she just wants to be up and at it with them.  Although I don’t want to rush it, I really do think she will be even happier when she gains that independence of being mobile.  Right now she gets bored and frustrated easily with being on her belly/being in the jumper/being in her kickin’ coaster. 

 Harper is still nursing and getting breast milk in bottles during the day while I’m at work.  She does awesome with both, so I’m going to keep going until she starts showing signs of wanting to wean or she starts beating on my chest like Hayden started doing.  That’s when I know it’s time to stop nursing! J  Harper is getting cereal once a day, and then a fruit & vegetable once a day. Although I will admit that sometimes she just nurses because things get so busy.  She is 100% happy with nursing and doesn't miss the food on the days I don’t offer it to her, so I don’t sweat it.

She was sleeping through the night, but now I’ll admit that is not the case anymore.  I thought it was just a fluke, but after a few weeks…not so much a fluke anymore! Ha. She goes to bed around 8pm every night.  I nurse and rock her to sleep and then put her in her crib.  She goes until about 1:30-2am, and then she’s awake babbling in her crib.  So, I get up to nurse her and put her back to sleep.  Then she’s up again between 4-5am to nurse again.  Sometimes she wakes up at 6am, but then goes back to sleep around 7:30am.  Other days she is asleep after that 4-5am feeding until about 8am.  Days when her sisters are home, she takes more cat naps and then one decent hour nap.  She catches up on her sleep the days when both Hadleigh & Hayden are in school.  I think she’s going to be like her sister Hadleigh and if any stimulation is around, she’s up! 

She has brought so much joy to this family in the last 6 months!! We cannot believe she is 6 months ( ½ a year people!) already!

Mommy, Daddy, Hadleigh, and Hayden love our buddaboo, Harps, Harper-baby, poopy butt (as Hadleigh says sometimes) so very much!!