Hattie is (was) Two Months Old!

Well now that Hattie is nearly 3 months old, I figured I should post about her second month.  Things have been a little hectic lately, but now that I've finished my Specialist Degree, things should slow down a little.

Hattie continues to be an easy baby.  By the two month mark, she had settled into a nice routine of long naps and good sleep at night, with a couple 1--2 hour stretches of awake time.  The only time Hattie becomes real pill is when she's overtired.  And to be truthful, this happens more often then I'd like.  Poor Hattie is a younger sibling with a sister and cousins who are super duper busy.  If I don't wake her up to take someone to school, she will sleep till 10:00 or later.  But usually, I'm waking her up and throwing her in the car to go somewhere.  Then in the middle of her morning nap, I wake her up to pick up Gracie and Kia from PreK.  Oftentimes in the evenings, Hattie is hanging out at Gracie's gymnastics or dance class right around the time she's ready for bed.  But she's a trooper!  I call her a "Party Animal" because she'd much prefer to look around and smile than snooze... until we're driving home or she's actually able to fall asleep... then she shows you her lung strength!

Around her two month birthday, Hattie was mastering the smile, as you can see in the cute pictures below!  She's a very pretty baby and can make anyone light up when she gets their attention.  So far she's proven to be a calming presence to our family.  She makes us all slow down a bit to relax and enjoy the simple things in life.

Some of Hattie's favorite things around the two month mark were lights and ceiling fans.  She also gets quiet to hear me sing, which is so sweet and endearing.  When she gets the chance to sit in her swing, she loves to watch the fish tank next to her and drift off to sleep.

At her 2 month check up, the doctor said she was perfect!  She weighed 11 lbs. 4 oz. and was 23.75 inches long.  She was doing everything they expected her to and even smiling and cooing, which was a bit early! That makes another over-achiever in the Weaver family!  When it was time for shots, Hattie was a trooper.  She got 3 in her legs and took the Rotavirus vaccine orally.  Poor Baby Girl was tough until the first needle was out of her leg, then her bottom lip curled under and she started to cry.  I was there right away to nurse her and she didn't seem bothered after about 10 seconds of nursing.  Sweet Hattie.  Now the Rotavirus is a mean little cuss and her tummy was upset for a day or two afterward.

Because their two older sisters are attached at the hip most of the time, I predict that Natalie will be close to Hattie by default.  But the good news is, they already love each other.  Natalie is very gentle with her almost all the time and sweetly says, "Hi baby!  Hi baby!  Baby Hattie awake!  I hold her! "  Hattie smiles at her all the time and studies her face.  Whenever Nat gets the chance, she asks for the 'bop" to hold Hattie... and as long as her nose isn't running, I let her!  

Among Hattie's firsts for this month include her first birthday party.  Slugger attended Kyle and Kia's joint party.  I told Hattie that not all birthday parties are quite this big!  

Another first was wearing leg warmers... I mean, seriously, isn't cute clothes half the fun?!

Gracie continues to adore her baby sister... and I think the feeling is mutual.  Gracie wants to snuggle her as often as she can and is the biggest help to me when I need to get things done.  Hattie never seems to mind when her big sister watches her while I get dinner started.  The two girls just hang out and chat away.  Because she's begun cooing already, these two ladies have quite a conversation sometimes.  I took a video of Gracie practicing having baby conversations with her.  See below... it's cute!

So even though I'm a month or so late on this post, it's only because I've been spending all my spare time with Hattie in the moment.  I'll try to do better, baby girl.  You're the second child of the family and I know what that feels like...  very little documentation of your childhood.  Hopefully I'll do a little better as the months go by, but I have much less free time now than I did with your sister!  But the good news is, I still have all the love!  

Leaves!

Last Sunday was a "work in the yard" kind of day at the Weaver house.  I didn't get to participate because I had a whole house-full of work to do inside.  My awesome sidekick decided she'd rather 'help' her Daddy pick up the leaves than help me clean the house.  I guess that's what happens when you become a Daddy's girl!  I ditched my chores long enough to snap a few pictures of Gracie hard at work!

This one might be my favorite!

A Royally Wonderful Day!

Yesterday was the Kansas City Parade to celebrate the World Series win by the Royals!  Even though it wasn't a working day for me, it was pretty cool that school was closed for the event!  Everyone called it a Blue Snow Day!  To celebrate, Gracie and I wanted to try out a new recipe while Hattie napped!  We made Cinnamon Chip scones using this recipe and they were absolutely heavenly... maybe even better than Panera's!  What?!  Yep... so, so good!  Gracie particularly enjoyed painting the unbaked scones with heavy cream!  I'm pretty sure that she will be baking on her own as soon as she is able to read well enough.  This kid did everything for the recipe, including cracking the eggs and opening the carton of cream.  She's been with me in the kitchen since she was 5 months old... her first Thanksgiving!

Just before we got the scones in the oven, Hattie woke up and joined us!  She was all smiles!  Gracie and I joked that she's Cinnamon Baby.  If any of you haven't read the picture book titled Cinnamon Baby by Nicola Winstanley, you should definitely check it out at the library.  It's basically about this baby who's super cranky and cries all the time.  Her parents try everything to console her, but nothing works... until they bake cinnamon bread and the house fills with the smell of cinnamon.  Then the baby is happy!  Gracie loves that book and we think Hattie loves the smell of cinnamon, too!  Who doesn't?!

Once we got Hattie down for her nap, it was time for the parade to be televised!  Over 850,000 people actually went downtown for the parade, but not us.  I don't think I couldn't handled all the chaos with my littles!  So G and I enjoyed some together time.  She drew a portrait of #8 - Mike Moustakas - her favorite player.  She gave him antlers and a KC on his shirt.  When she asked me what his job is, I told her that he plays baseball for the Royals.  She asked, "He gets paid for that?!"  A pretty sweet gig!

Baking with Natalie

A couple of weeks ago I found this amazingly healthy pumpkin muffin recipe on Pinterest and decided I needed to make it ASAP.  While Hattie was napping and the big girls were at Pre-Kindergarten, Natalie and I worked together to whip up a batch.  It was hilarious baking with Natalie.  Every time I pulled out an ingredient or utensil, she asked, "Is it?" which means, "What is it?".  Of course I let her dump and pour everything... so the job was a little messier than necessary, but fun, nonetheless!  When it came time to stir, I gave her the spoon and put my hand over hers, showing her what to do.  I turned my back for one minute and she'd accidentally splatter some on her hand.  I told her she could lick it off and then before I knew what had happened, the inexperienced sous chef had the spoon in her mouth!  Oops!  I said, "Oh Natalie!  Don't lick the spoon yet, babe!"  So she quickly put the licked spoon back into the bowl of batter.  Yum!  At least it was only family that we were baking for!  Silly monkey!  She was super interested in the oven mitts, so I let her play with them while the muffins baked.

On a  side note, did everyone else know that you can substitute 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water for one egg in a recipe?  I didn't know that!  This pumpkin muffin recipe is super delicious, by the way!  I made it with a couple different sous chefs 2 days later!  

Halloween

We had such a great Halloween this year!  Gracie decided last Halloween that she would be a bride for her "four Halloween".  She originally wanted to be a bride pushing a double stroller with 2 babies inside, but I explained that God prefers that we become a bride first, then a Momma second.  She agreed that she'd be a bride first this time.  She's already planning to be a mermaid for next year... so we'll see if that one pans out.

Hattie was a little witch.  Her costume was a regular outfit, borrowed from cousin Annabelle, and a hat a friend from church made for her.  She was a tired witch on Halloween night and was in her jammies by 7:00.  

We always do the same thing to celebrate Halloween.  We head to Grandma Jean's house first.  There we visit with all the Weaver side of our family.  Annabelle was Sofia the First, although she wasn't super excited about trick-or-treating.  Grandma Tena took the girls to a few houses so they could get some candy!  The big girls were quite excited to see each other!  Hattie was a tired baby, so she fell asleep during our visit.   

After our visit at Grandma Jean's house, we headed over to Ron and Debbie's house for dinner and trick-or-treating.  The kids were all super exited to get out and fill their pumpkins!  Gracie, Kia, and Kyle were doing so well that we decided to go back for more after we emptied their full pumpkins!  It was a blast!  This was the first year that Gracie's been able to keep up!  Hattie on the other hand stayed back with Grandma Sevedge and Grandma Debbie and got plenty of snuggle time, from what I could tell!

Sweet Baby Girl

It's 11:30 at night and everyone is asleep, except for me. I'm rocking you, Hattie Faith, after a dream feed and soaking up a few extra minutes of snuggle time. I tell myself that I'm trying to get a burp out of you, but the truth is that I just what more time with you. Time to just be. Just be together. To feel your tiny fingers on my neck and hear the rhythm of your breathing. Sweet Hattie, you are the second baby and I get much less snuggle time with you than I want. So much less. Because you're so easy and calm and because there are so many needs that require my attention, I don't get to give you all the lovin' I really want to. I've decided that I'm going to hold you for an entire nap one morning this week, just because I want to. No laundry. No dishes. Just me, you, Natalie, and a few too many TV shows.  Sweet girl, you are loved every bit as much as your sister, even if I don't get to sit down and hold you as much. But in these late night moments, there's nothing I'd rather do than slow down and kiss your forehead and tell you how special you are. Sweet dreams, baby girl. 

World Series Champions!

The Royals just took the crown!  So much excitement here in KC!  Fireworks are still going off!  The last time we won the World Series, I was 4 years old. Today, my big girl is 4 years old!  So cool!  Another generation of Royals fans has been born!  Great job, boys!  

Gracie had no choice about being a fan!  This was taken at her one year pics!  She's believed her whole life!

Pre-K Fall Party

We just got home from Gracie's Fall Party!  Crafts, snacks, and games!  School parties are always so fun for the kids!  G and Kia had a great time!  Hattie fussed and fell asleep during the festivities. One day she'll be a party animal, but not today. 

  

Crib Success!

Hattie has been in her crib for a whole week now and she's doing so well. Actually, she's transitioned perfectly. She hasn't even ended up in our bedroom once. Even though it makes Momma sad to put the cradle away (I feel like we just got it out) I'm so thankful that she's a good sleeper. She goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up for the day around 8:30. We nurse once around 4 am and then again when she wakes. She's been taking her naps in her own room, too, usually three times each day. Little Hattie is doing so well and she's as sweet as ever. She's a smiley baby!

Moving to Her Own Room

Hattie has become quite a good little sleeper and seems to be ready to sleep in her own bed. I'm both happy and sad about the transition, but ultimately, it's a good thing. Ryan is in Denver tonight and when we talked before bed, I told him that we may never have a baby sleeping in our room again.  So sad.  He said we might have another someday. I'm not sure about all that just yet. 

For the past couple of days I've laid Hattie down for naps in her crib awake and she's put herself to sleep. It's such a good skill for her to have. I've tried to allow her to do that more than I ever let Gracie. With so many little ones here during the day, she's gonna need to be able to get herself to sleep sometimes. She's also been sleeping about 8 hours at night. Usually 8 pm to 4 am. Then she will stir and I'll nurse her. She goes right back down and will nurse every 3 hours after that for the rest of the day. Most mornings I have to wake her up to get someone to school on time, otherwise I think she'd sleep till 9:30 or so. Like I said, she's a good sleeper!

At least I've got this one to snuggle while I'm sad about Hattie moving out.  This is Gracie's first night sleeping in my bed with me. Since Daddy's out of town, I promised her a slumber party. We will see how it goes. I'll either get great sleep or have a horrendous night. I'll let you know tomorrow!

Hattie's First Camping Trip

A couple of weeks ago we had our annual fall camping trip. This is one of my favorite fall traditions and having our sweet baby girl on this trip made it even more special. It's was rather chilly, but our camper has a furnace and space heater so we made it alright. Daddy and Gracie slept in the back bedroom of the camper and Hattie and I stayed in the front bedroom. Aside from missing my favorite snuggle buddy, the trip was absolutely perfect!  

We carved pumpkins... twice!  And we did some crafts. We took several walks, had several all day campfires, and played at the park. Since Aunt B and her crew were camping nearby, Gracie had tons of fun playing with Annabelle!  

I tried to take some pictures when I was able to. Here we are on our way down. Happy girls!

Carving pumpkins!

Daddy lit the candle with a blowtorch. Figures. 

Painting a stiletto piggy bank. Dollar General, baby!

This was what Hattie did most of the time. So sweet!  She always sleeps with her arms up. 

Where are we?

Snugglin'!

Two pretty girls!  

Three pretty girls!

Hattie's got her glow bracelets.  All ready for fun in the dark, but too sleepy. 

Elsa glow wand for Gracie!  Dollar General gets a small chunk of our paycheck every trip to the lake. 

Happy baby!

Taking over Daddy's bed!

Stealing my sunglasses!

In true Weaver baby fashion, she barely slept on the drive home. 

It was so nice to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and scenery for our little camping trip!  I'm so thankful for both of my little ladies and for their handsome Daddy. It's my biggest dream come true doing life with them!