Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

If you give a toddler a superhero cape...








She flies with her arms held out while in Daddy's arms. 
They soar around the house together. 
She bounces on the bed pretending to "fly so high!"


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

We lost it but now it's back



Tyson and I spent the morning passing the camera back and forth at our church's Trunk or Treat almost 4 weeks ago. It wasn't until I got home that I realized it was gone. I searched the car, our bag, the house and I still could not find our camera. So we thought, if we were lucky, it would be at the church. Weeks passed and we kept forgetting to check the lost and found in the church building. Well, I found it this past sunday in a ziploc bag with the note above. 
"Found this camera near your church. Hope it gets back to its owner Thanks!"
I was so happy! Four weeks later! I have no idea where it was but the note made it sound like it was on the side of the road or something (though there is no damage to the camera at all.) So crazy. We are grateful for wonderful people in this world!

So to recap from the past few weeks...(some of these pictures were taken with my phone due to our "lost" camera - sorry they are such poor quality)




4 year Anniversary dinner. Grandma watched the babes while we enjoyed dinner. Then we returned to feed the baby and have a marathon of Downton Abbey- haha! I never understood why everyone talked about this show until we checked it out from the library finally. Totally hooked now. 


It's tough being a baby



Tyson, Taryn, and Grandma Smith




Taryn was a cute little kitty at our trunk or Treat. 












These are probably the last of the Fall photos from this year. So sad that it seemed to go by so quickly. These are also the last shots of Taryn's long hair before I cut it. Now it's a cute little curly bob. It took me a few days to finish after finding some uneven areas and adding layers to it. But I am so happy with how it turned out. Cutting Taryn's hair wasn't as scary as cutting Tyson's for the first time.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Eastern market with Grandma











We started off our morning right with donuts and crepes from the Eastern Market in D.C. before taking Grandma to the airport a few weeks ago. We were so sad that we didn't have enough time to try Market Lunch breakfast and our bellies were rumbling. Man! You know it's amazing when the line wraps around forever. One of these days we will get to try those blueberry buckwheat pancakes. We loved having Grandma Smith with us and we are so grateful for all her help!
The leaves have almost all fallen from the trees but the Christmas decorations are already going up so the streets don't look so bare. Last night for our Family Night we made turkeys by tracing our hands and for each finger or "feather" we wrote what we were grateful for. Taryn was all for this little art project and made sure to help Tyson and me complete ours. Now when she heads out the door she counts them each time. 
I'm sure grateful for a whole lot this year!



Friday, November 15, 2013

The best little treat- all smiles







Just a bit after Halloween, Hadleigh started smiling for us. It's been a big treat! Her eyes connect with ours and then she gives us such a fun, happy smile. Thinking back, I thought this was super early for smiles but as I looked into our photo collection of Taryn I found that they both smiled at about the same time. Some of the best moments have been when she starts smiling without being prompted and when we're not looking and we turn to catch her big gummy grin. 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I cried in the Grocery store. Now I am going to pay it forward.


Taryn said, "I love you!" to Hadleigh right before I took this picture. 


For the past six weeks, Tyson has been volunteering to go grocery shopping for me. It has been the biggest help! I am trying to find my new rhythm with two little ones now and one thing I need to get down is grocery shopping and what time of the day works best (I'm not a huge fan of shopping at night.) So yesterday I tried -as I have a few times before- going mid morning with both girls. Hadleigh was bright-eyed and Taryn was obedient as she walked in front, behind, or next to me the whole time, clutching her special bag of marshmellows. 

I had two more small items to grab when Hadleigh started to cry because she was hungry. I had made it  a rushed shopping trip up to this point but I still didn't make it out before she needed me. So I directed Taryn down the last aisle, trying to get Hadleigh to suck on my pinky finger because I didn't want to dig for her pacifier (steering a cart and a toddler with one hand is hard!) I almost ran into another lady because of the extra long cart with the toddler car at the end of it. She looked at me and with the kindest eyes, seeing that things were getting a little difficult for me and said, "Can I help you with anything?" I thanked her and waved her off saying, "It's ok. I'm fine." I hate asking for help or accepting it. It's something I'm trying to do better at. 

Then while making my way to check out and waiting in line, I finally had to take Hadleigh out of her car seat to hold and calm her. The sweet ladies in front of me made nice comments and asked how old Hadleigh was which made me smile. Then the store manager came and opened another lane for me, pulled my cart to the new lane and then proceeded to unload my entire cart saying to me, "You've got your hands full. I've got this for you." 
That's when the tears started coming. Everyone had been so kind and sweet. I wasn't crying because I was stressed or flustered. Actually, I had found the shopping trip to have gone quite smoothly and I was so proud of Taryn being such a good girl and happy that Hadleigh had made it so long. I was touched by how many kind people and veteran moms were willing to help me and were completely understanding of my situation. Another mom from a different line came to my lane and loaded up my cart for me. She said, "I know how it is. I've been there- I'm a mom too!" I tried to avoid eye contact  while saying "Thank you!" in my strongest crying voice that I could muster up because I didn't want to be that girl who cried in a grocery store but it was too late. 

Thank you, wonderfully kind strangers. You made my day. I made it a goal to pay it forward when I see a situation where someone could use an extra helping hand. I cried in a grocery store and now I want to help someone else just as I was helped. 

Maybe it's not so bad to go grocery shopping at night or Saturday morning when it's super crowded...as long as you already have food for that night's dinner :)

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Some pictures of Hadleigh













Some of these pictures are from Hadleigh's first few weeks of life and it's amazing to see how much she has changed and how much she has grown. She will be 6 weeks old tomorrow!

Monday, November 11, 2013

An Autumn moment to remember





Two weeks ago after we visited the park with Grandma, a certain little toddler was very upset that we had to leave the park- and the worst yet- take a nap!!! So we drove around our neighborhood showing Grandma the amazing homes and gorgeous fall colors all the while trying to calm Taryn down. That's when we passed my favorite fall tree. There was an audible "WOW!" in the car when it came into sight. Tyson made it to the next house before I told him to turn the car around. No questions asked, Tyson made a u turn and we stopped right in front of the house with the amazing Fall colored tree. 
There were giant mounds of leaves already waiting for Taryn. I jumped out of the car with her and I told her to run and jump in the leaves. She got so excited (and quickly forgot about said nap.) 

Grandma soon jumped out of the car and snapped a million photos. Taryn would wait for Grandma to count down and then Taryn would run down the sidewalk and jump into the gigantic pile of fall leaves, laughing every time. She even told me she was making a snow angel in the leaves after one jump. 








It started to sprinkle which was a perfect excuse to get Taryn back into the car. This picture is of me saying, "Oh no! It's raining! Hurry! Let's get in the car!!" 
I love that Taryn still has a giant smile on her face. 

The sweet, pure joy of a toddler is so heart warming.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Time with Grandmas




At the hospital after Hadleigh was born with Grandma Scott





Matching outfits from Grandma Smith




Getting things done with a sleeping babe.


We were so lucky to have had Grandma Scott and Grandma Smith visit during the month of October. They were both incredibly helpful!!! 
My mom lives in CA and Tyson's mom lives in AZ so both of them came from across the country to be with us and we are so grateful for that! I felt like I was able to give special attention to Taryn knowing that Hadleigh was in the loving arms of her Grandma and I was able to get a lot done around the house.  While I was in the hospital having Hadleigh, Tyson and I didn't have to worry about Taryn because she was with Grandma.  At other times I was able to take Taryn to the park and let Hadleigh stay inside nice and warm with Grandma. They did such a great service to me as I adjusted (and continue to adjust) to having two kids.

 Dinner time remains to be the most chaotic time of the day with two cranky & hungry kids that need my attention and dinner to be prepared while tyson makes his way home from work. I feel like despite my efforts, I end up with at least one crying babe by the time dinner is on the table. While our moms were visiting, I felt like I could tackle that time of day a bit better and fine tune its workings for the time when I would once again have to battle it alone. It's not perfect, but I'm learning every day how to do it all a bit better.
Thanks to both Grandmas!!!!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Fall at the park- the perfect time to be outside
















This was a fantastic day at the park with our little family and Grandma Smith. 
We played and talked (and changed Hadleigh's first explosive diaper!!)
We couldn't get over the beautiful fall colors that seemed to pop over night. Taryn was one happy girl playing with Daddy, Mommy and Grandma so much so that leaving the park was a little hard. 
Can you tell by Taryn's wild hair that she was playing with all her might? 
 I promise that Hadleigh was happy after her diaper/outfit change too :)