Harper's 1st Birthday

Harper Madden, I cannot believe you are already ONE!  You definitely complete our family and you are such a joy!  Our social baby for sure, she lights up the room with her smile, red hair, and laughs. 

I still mourn that you are the last baby in this family when I really sit down and think about it.  Physically, I know my body can’t handle another pregnancy, but you and you sisters are so amazing, that I think about another often.  Then there are days, when you are crawling around crazy, getting into everything, and your older sisters aren't listening and I think, “yep. I’m good with three!” Your sisters absolutely adore you and you adore them.  You already stand up for yourself when they take things from you.  That red hair stands true to that feisty personality you have! 

You’re sleeping better at night, but still wake up once.  You take 2 naps during the day, although only one of them I would consider a good nap.  When you are awake – you are 100% full force.  Crawling, climbing, throwing, laughing, pulling…anything and everything you can get your hands on.

You love food – any food at that really.  Yogurt is your favorite, but there isn't much you don’t like.  If someone is eating, you think you should be eating too.  I’ve pretty much started giving you anything and everything – peanut butter, jelly, olives, pickles, chicken, rice…anything!

1 year stats

Weight: 21 pounds 11 ounces (78 percentile)

Height: 30.25” (86 percentile)

Head: 18.75” (98 percentile)

 Your birthday party was so fun to plan and everyone had a great time.  You loved swinging, playing with your gifts, eating, and diving into your cupcake. 

 Birthday Party details:

On your actual birthday, our family went to a local diner and had dinner & ice cream to celebrate. 

 You are so loved!!

Hayden is potty trained!!

Yep – our Hayden is potty trained.  She’s been potty trained for a month now, but I’ve been so afraid to officially call it.  I didn't want to say it, then it back fire on me! The whole potty training business was a disaster at first.  We tried going cold turkey over Christmas break and it completely failed.  She was not ready at all.  School continued to try and push it, so they asked for underwear.  A few thoughts went through my mind:

1 – GOOD LUCK!

2 – What? Do you not believe that I’ve tried this and it has completely failed?

3 – Actually, I take that back. She probably will do it 100% for them instead of me.

We didn't have anything to lose, so I sent her in with a ton of underwear and another change of clothes.  I picked her up and the teacher sarcastically said, “It went great!” Oh freaking awesome.  They then told me that Hayden would just sit there in her underwear, pee, and act like NOTHING had happened.  Only my child. So we left the issue alone.  She continued on with pull-ups, but her teachers would ask her if she needed to go potty.  She would sit on the toilet, but wouldn’t pee.

Then she moved up into another class at school and started doing great.  She would go pee for them during the day, but then at night would want a diaper.  That lasted a few days.  A Friday rolled around and she hadn't had any accidents at school, so I decided she was only going to have a pull-up when she went to sleep.  And that was that. 

Hayden has done amazing ever since.  She tells us when she needs to go pee and when she needs to poop. It’s been a lot easier than it was with Hadleigh.  Hadleigh took a while to go poop on the potty, but Hayden rocked it.  Now, we have definitely had some accidents in our house.  Either she has gotten too busy or just not made it to the bathroom in time.  But there hasn't been many.  She still wears a pull-up at night, but most mornings she is still dry!  Woohoo Hayden!  I’m not sure when I’ll feel comfortable enough to let her wear underwear only to bed.  We shall see.  

The big thing I can say is that I only have ONE in diapers.  Which makes me want to dance and cry at the same time.

1st Birthday Prep & Inspiration {Harper}

I can’t wrap my head around the fact I have less than 2 months until Harper Madden is ONE whole year old. Harper’s first year has gone faster than either of her sisters (and they went by pretty fast!)  I started pinning flowers and fairies, then moved to butterflies before I chose to go shabby chic! I just purchased the invitations, so now onto the decor! 

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I have lots more ideas on my Pinterest Board - go check it out if you're curious! 

Valentine's Day Crayons

I did cute little Valentine’s crayons again this year.  I did it a few years back, but this year I got more help!  The girls helped a lot in unwrapping the crayons and then breaking them.  Daniel came in and got smart with the razor blade to take the wrap off of the crayons, so from there it went a lot faster!

They came out really cute and the girls loved them!

Step 1: Take the paper wrapping off all of the crayons.  Again, you can use a razor blade once the kids get tired of helping {which honestly, is after about 10}

Step 2: Break the crayons into small pieces

Step 3: Fill your mold with crayon pieces. I didn't strategically place the crayons for most. 

But I did make some of them color coordinating.

Step 4: Place in the oven at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes {or until all melted}

Step 5: After cooled, the crayons should pop right out.  I did have to bang on the back a little for a few.

Super Easy!

Threenagers

I just came across this article. So, I wanted to comment and elaborate a bit more on this.  I'm not entirely sure I would only include three year olds - can we add the age range 2.5-4?! Who's with me?! 

Here are some of the crazy things Daniel and I deal with {on the regular}:

• Putting on socks the wrong way. "Mooommmm! It's tickling me!" (the seam, oh the seam) AND for the record - seamless socks are SO damn expensive!
• Tags. "Daddy! It's scratching me!" "Take the tag out" Then we are followed into the kitchen, so she makes sure we cut it out.  She's not into the "faking out" thing.
• Going limp while trying to get her dressed. A whole new level of frustrating.
• Some days Hayden will cry/whine/refuse to get dressed unless it has a picture of Elsa on it
• Hayden wanted pizza the other night for dinner.  I made the pizza and then she decided she didn't want it.  She heads to the fridge only to pick out a pizza lunchable --- it's the same thing just not melted cheese! 
• Wanting a drink, but not picking the right cup(she wanted one with, no without the top)
• Hadleigh ate turkey lunch meat and pineapples all the time and then overnight (literally) she decided she didn't like these anymore. So for the next 2 weeks, on our way to school, she asked me what was in her lunch to make sure I didn't pack those 2 things.  Some days even checking behind me to make sure.
• Hadleigh had a friend in class whose parent got them Chick-Fil-A one morning.  The next morning she wanted it and when we told her we would go over the weekend instead - she cried. ..the entire way to school.
• If you have more than one kid, one of them will want EVERYTHING the other has. EVERYTHING - drinks, underwear, gloves, shoes, shirts, hair clip...everything.

Please share your crazy stories to make this mama feel sane! 

Hayden 2.5

Oh Hayden, you're TWO and a HALF.  That half means a lot.  Had I sat down to write this post a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have been able to write about how you are showing some terrible two signs. I remember two and a half being slightly difficult with Hadleigh as well, so it must be a thing.

Hayden is so fun, sassy, loving, motherly, stubborn, and strong willed all rolled into one little girl.

Loves: "Let it go" (Frozen) - she is quite obsessed.  Everything is "let it go" and will only wear "Let it go" socks.  It makes for a difficult morning when there are no clean Frozen socks left for her to wear. She still loves baby dolls and has started getting into the doll house we got for Hadleigh a few years back.  She also loves Barbies.  She loves her iPad {as she calls Pie-pad}

Hates: Putting on pajamas - she would much rather just sleep in her clothes, so that's what she does most nights.  She doesn't like her hands to get dirty or Harper's face to be dirty.  She is hating the fact we are taking her bippy away from her during the day.

Eating:  Hayden eats so well when she wants, but when she's not in the mood she just won't eat.  She likes most anything and will pretty much try it first before she decides if she doesn't like it.  She loves any kind of sauce {just like her mama}.  Her favorite is cheese as that's her answer every time you ask her what she wants to eat.  We have to limit it a bit so she doesn't get constipated though. Girlfriend has a sweet tooth too, which I can't blame her! 

Sleeping: She's a pretty good sleeper and has always been a better sleeper than Hadleigh.  If Hayden was tired, regardless if she was watching TV, she would fall asleep.  She's now learning to keep herself awake, so sometimes it's not as easy as it once was.  She still takes naps at school which do not interrupt bedtime, so that's good.  When she's at home, it's hit or miss whether she naps.  Most nights she will still wake up to come into our bed.  So, by morning we have Hayden & Harper in bed with us. Hayden still loves her bippy to go to sleep :)

Potty Training: No, no, and no.  She will go for school every once in a while, so over Christmas break we tried going cold turkey. Failed.  When she wore underwear she just peed and pooped in them & then when I had her go naked, she cried for a diaper.  We took that as a clear sign she wasn't ready.  We are still full into pull-ups only, so I'm thinking maybe in the Spring/Summer?  Crossing my fingers!

School:  Hayden really enjoys school.  She has learned so much since starting the new program over the summer and her speech has picked up tremendously.  Pronunciation is still a bit off, but I think that's partly her age.  She listens to her teachers - sometimes better for them than us!  She will go sit on the potty for them and go without her bippy ALL day - no complaints.  By the beginning of February, she will move into an older class - she's getting so big!

Hadleigh & Harper:  Love her!  Hadleigh and Hayden fight as sisters do, but if they are away from each other they miss one another.  They will both ask where the other is.  They play pretty well most of the time.  Harper loves Hayden even though Hayden holds her hand all of the time.  Hayden makes sure there's no dirt on Harper's face.  Hayden is definitely our little mother hen - she has very endearing qualities around kids that are smaller than her. 

Funny things Hayden has said:

Hayden - "I f*ck"

Me - very shocked, but picked up quickly what she was trying to say, "no, you pooted"

Hayden - "I f*ck"

Me - "You're trying to say you farted aren't you?"

Hayden - shaking her head yes, "i f*ck!"

She was climbing her bookcase in the playroom and I immediately told her to get down.  Hayden turns around, points her finger at me, and says "minute mama!"

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!