She Leaves A Little Sparkle...

We've really come to love our St. Ambrose family.  They are so amazing.  We've chosen to keep Hattie out of daycare this coming week so she will (hopefully) stay healthy for her surgery on Friday.  That meant that we had to say goodbye last week to her teachers and all of the other ladies we've become so close to.  It was tough!  Hattie will go back in November, but she will be in the toddler room, so it was the last few days with her incredible infant room teachers.

When I picked her up on Friday, they presented me with a gift and asked me to open it.  Oh, the tears!  Her teachers had all of the kids in the class paint their handprints on this print for her room.  Hers is the glittery handprint in the middle.  It says, "She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes."  It looks perfect in her room. They couldn't have created a more special gift.  We are so blessed!

Apple Orchard 2015

Today we enjoyed the beautiful weather at the apple orchard. 

 Hattie LOVED this donkey!  I think the feeling was mutual, the donkey kept coming back and putting his nose by her stroller.

 We couldn't get them to both look at the same time.

 This one wasn't from the apple orchard, it was at home afterward.  Hattie and I were putting some laundry away in her closet and I decided to look in her hat bin to see if any of them fit yet.  My friend Linda made this adorable hat for her when she was born.  It fits!  She looks so adorable in it!

My Baby Started Kindergarten

The week of September 8 was filled with mixed emotions for this mama. I was proud, I was sad, and I was excited.  On September 8, I took Owen to school to have an assessment with his teacher.  I waited in the hall and Mrs. Christianson and Ms. Weiler asked him all kinds of questions to see where he's at.  Once they were done, they called me in so we could go through it.  Mrs. Christianson said that she was impressed with how strong he is academically.  She said he recognized all of this letters both upper and lower case, he told her the sounds that they all make, he recognized all of the numbers she showed him up to 30, he named all of the colors and shapes she asked, except for a hexagon, which he called an octagon.  She liked how he wrote his name, she said she stopped him at 50 when she asked him to count (he counts over 120 last time I checked), she said he counted by 10's, was strong with his math skills and had strong sentence structure.  So overall, I was a proud mama!

 On September 10, Owen started Kindergarten!  That morning, we brought Hattie to school first so that we could focus just on Owen.  He was pretty excited, and just a bit leery when we walked into school.  We checked him into Kid's Club and introduced him to another little boy named Silas, who was playing with some pirate ships.  He hugged us and was fine as we left.  That night, he talked all about his day, told us it "wasn't awesome, but still pretty much cool."  The next morning though, he was super clingy and cried at drop off and didn't have any interest in staying.  I'm hoping tomorrow goes better! 

Happy First Birthday Hattie Girl!

I know, it has been a really long time since I posted last.  I struggle to find the time and struggle to find a time that Blogger is cooperating.  Then I get further and further behind and think that I should go back and try to post all of the things our family has been up to.  That is overwhelming, so I don't do it.  Today I decided that I am just going to start from today.  Tomorrow is my baby girl's first birthday and I don't want her to not have a post about it on her "online" baby book!

Where to begin?  This past year has been so filled with blessings.  Hattie came into our lives  few days before her due date and quickly stole our hearts.  She has a smile that is contagious and a giggle that would melt a heart made of stone. :)  And those dimples...we are going to be in trouble when she gets older!

Hattie has two teeth on the bottom and two on the top that are just newly poking through.  She gave up on baby food at 7 months and has been using those two bottom teeth to get through chicken, pulled pork, ham, hamburger, fruit, veggies, cereal...you name it.  This girl is definitely a carnivore and wants nothing to do with applesauce or yogurt because it is too much like baby food.

She has been taking steps for about a month, but really started to take off a week and a half ago.  She still does her "wounded animal dragging its leg" crawl when she wants to get somewhere quickly.  She loves books and pulls them all out of the shelf many times a day.  Her favorite toys are her babies and her animals.  She hugs them and says, "oof" whenever she picks up her stuffed puppies.  she pats them to say that they are "nice!"  She has always loved Owen's play kitchen and now practices getting up and down from the mini table and chairs in their playroom.  Yes, I included table because if someone isn't right there, she climbs up onto the chair, then up onto the table. 

She makes a beeline for the steps or the bathroom if either door is left open.  She'll be up the steps before we can even get to them - she is so fast!

She continues to be smitten by her brother and everything he does.  She laughs and smiles and follows him around if he's nearby.  He loves her just as much.  He constantly is trying to put on a show for her and she loves every minute of it.

Sleeping has been a struggle for this little girl.  She is not a good daytime sleeper (two 30 minute naps a day is the norm) and then she is ready for bed at 6:30.  We try our best to stretch it to 7, but she is grouchy, fussy and rubbing her eyes  Then she is awake around 3:30 or 4AM.  Part of the issue has been chronic ear infections.  We had tubes put in on Monday, so we hope that will give her some relief.

We celebrated Hattie's first birthday last weekend and here are a few pictures from the celebration. I realized that I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked to. :(

Hattie's smash cake

 Yummy desserts

 So BLESSED to call you ours!

 Daddy's girl

 Love this little face!

Hattie and her Godparents, Uncle Bob and Auntie Dawn

I will get you Bear!

 Why did everyone start singing?

 She didn't actually eat any cake because she was too busy doing this.

 Getting a little help from big brother

 And from friends, Piper and Lucy

 Getting in some snuggles with Miss Erin, our babysitter and aide in Hattie's classroom

 Loving the grocery cart from Nana and Papa

 

It's been an amazing first year baby girl.  I can't wait to see what the rest of them hold for you.  Love you to the moon and back. :)