Life is good.

You know those streaks in life when everything is pretty perfect? We're in one, and I'm loving it. 

And you know how you have times in life you wish you could go back and relive? I already know this will be one of those. Why can't we have a freeze button and just stop time right now? 

We've been having a lot of great weekends but the weekdays aren't shabby either, and I just want life to always be just like this.

I guess I'd been feeling like life was pretty wonderful but today is my parents' 30th wedding anniversary and that got me thinking. I thought, "30 years ago my parents were in their early 20's just starting married life. I wonder if they had any idea how perfect things would be 30 years later." Everyone in our family is happy and healthy. There's love, weddings, a grand baby. 

And when I write this, I'm not trying to brag or sound like an asshole but I feel the need to say this.

For literally a couple years I was always the friend with the anecdotes of annoyances or bad news. Failed fertility treatments. Surgery. I wasn't working so my life was pretty boring. Pregnancy ailments. At the end of my pregnancy, in law drama. Just blah. I kept thinking, "I can't wait to not be this person anymore." And I made it - I'm not that person anymore! :) 

I feel like I need to take a thousand pictures so I'll always get to look at that sweet, blue eyed babe smiling and laughing. I can't get enough videos of her dancing. How do I freeze this? Or even just bottle it for a not-so-great day that's bound to happen? I guess I just need to savor it and actively try not to think that the boom will be lowered soon. 

Probably some super ordinary-looking pictures but these will always capture a moment in time where everything was right in the world...

I know life is about ups and downs but I can't help but want to stay in the "up". At lunch with a girlfriend a couple weekends ago I got a fortune cookie that said a lifetime of happiness lies ahead.

I guess a Seinfeld quote says it best. I just need to look to the cookie.

The weekend.

Another weekend came and went too fast. Now it's Tuesday and what we did only a few days ago already seems to be a distant blur. 

Friday was gorgeous so we decided to have family date night at Reston Town Center. We had dinner at Vapianos, and it was delicious. We got a nice spot on their patio:

We strolled a little bit and got to see the "light up the night" event, which was a really neat sight. 

Saturday, errands were run and laundry was done. I painted our new wall (which I plan on posting about soon). Brian and Hartley walked to the grocery store to get some things for dinner. Hartley decided to be a champion napper so Brian and I could tidy a little before my friend Sabrina came over.

Then Sabrina came over which made out Saturday more fun. 

She took some really awesome fall pictures for us. Then we ate dinner and donut holes. We watched the best Halloween movie of all time: Hocus Pocus. But you really just want to see the pictures I've already bombarded Facebook with. Seriously, this girl is so talented. Here are the pictures:

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I love these pictures. I could have a wall of them in my house ;)

Sunday our big to do was buying H an umbrella stroller. It was our first time going to Babies R Us, and both Brian and I found it to be extremely dangerous. It's like a Mecca of baby goodies. Needless to say we did not leave with just a stroller. But seriously, turkey slippers for Thanksgiving? Come on. How could we not?

And we had to do a family walk to try out the new pretty purple stroller:

We capped off the weekend with taco night and The Walking Dead.

It's so tough for the weekend to end but I am looking forward to my mom coming over tonight. That lady is amazing. On Tuesdays, she goes to spin class at 5:30 am, works all day, then comes over to bring us dinner and play with Hartley. Can you say super nana?!

But after her coming over I might start counting down to Friday afternoon!! Love the weekends. 

Weekday life.

The above picture basically sums up my life. These two crack me up and tire me out simultaneously. I'm their wrangler, their referee and their entertainment. Can someone tell me what they are always talking to each other about? Hartley is babbling "dadadadadaaaaahhhhhh dadadadadaaaaahhhhhh". Winnie is like, "roger. I totes agree." 

When Hartley isn't pulling Winnie's tail or grabbing her paws or lunging at her, she's pulling books out of one of her 50 thousand book boxes. She'll pull out like 10 before she hands me one to read. It is such an understatement to say she loves books. I'd say we read about a dozen books a day but we could probably triple that, and she'd be cool with it.

Oh and the fall one she's holding is one of those bright baby touch and feel books. She's in love with touch and feel books right now. 

Her top reading request is Corduroy though.

When it's nice we love to go for walks. The most popular walk is around Lake Newport but recently I take her for a lot of walks in "future neighborhood". Brian and I call it "future neighborhood" because we like to pick out our future dream house. 

Since its been rainy, and we have to kill time inside, she takes a really long, leisurely afternoon bath. I just bought her new bath toys, including alphabet letters. 

After her baths she has naked time. It's cute but that's a picture that doesn't need to be on here ;) it's for lucky mom eyes only. Getting a diaper on that tush is a struggle all day, every day. That production takes singing and funny faces and brut strength. After some lavender lotion she might zonk out and pop up her tush like this:

And I'll try to recover some energy for when she's ready to go again:

So those are a few bits of how our days go.

Eat. Crawl. Climb. Bounce. Read. Bottle. Cat nap. Play. Crawl. Climb. Errands. Walk. Eat. Bath. Naked time. Bottle. Real nap. Play. Read. Stroll. Bounce. Eat. Dad's home! Play. Bottle. Bed.

Shuffle in play dates, park visits, target runs, lots of laundry and my parents bringing over dinner and those are our weekdays. 

Now if only I could get her to add snuggle to that list ;)

a fall weekend

So it was a wonderful weekend that went too fast. I swear those sick days dragged on but our weekend of fall fun was just a blink. What's up with that?

Friday night was our typical Friday: 2 very exhausted parents, 1 wild dog child and 1 wild human child. So it was low key, and we just sat around entertained by all of Hartley's "tricks". Which consisted of crawling, "reading", and trying to pull up on things but falling. 

Saturday was pretty low key too. Brian took Hartley for their morning jog while I logged some extra beauty sleep I needed. When I put Hartley down for her morning nap, Brian dropped Winnie off at the groomer. When Hartley woke we did a Target run, and picked up big sis Winnie on the way home.

In the evening, Brian and I went to see Gone Girl. My dad baby sat Hartley, which was really sweet of him. The movie was great; I highly recommend it. We saw it at the Alamo in Ashburn, and that is the best movie going experience out there. But it will spoil you rotten, and you'll go to regular theaters disappointed that they don't bring you booze and fried pickles.

Sunday was pumpkin patch day. We went to Pumpkin Village, formerly known as Pumpkinville. I love that place so much because its actually a petting zoo that they basically convert to a whole big fall extravaganza. This year I decided we would pass on the contact zone, where you literally pet these farm animals that roam free. There's always next year for that. But Hartley got to see a ton of the animals we read about in our books. 

Picture overload as I documented a very special first pumpkin patch/petting zoo visit:

We took home a couple little pumpkins, and the little adventure was a big success.

That night we went out to dinner with some new friends. They have an adorable baby boy just a little more than a month older than Hartley. The cutest moment of the night was when the two of them listened to the server ramble off the specials. You had to be there for it. But a couple came up to us and told us how adorable they were just listening to the waiter. Not only was there all that cuteness but I had a delicious pumpkin beer in a glass rimmed in fall goodness. 

And girlfriend seriously knows how to put together a date night outfit by the way:

All in all, a wonderful weekend that I basically wish I rewind back to. Because let's face it, rainy Mondays don't hold a candle to petting farm animals and drinking pumpkin beer. 

photo shoot of an 8 month old

So I'm just about to toss a ton of pictures on here. Cell phone camera. Not professionally taken or retouched.

I always kind of wish fancy cameras weren't so expensive because I'd love to have one. But god knows we're busy paying for formula and saving for college so it's not in the cards.

I have totally given up on the old chair pictures. The past couple months I dread getting her into the chair when all she wants to do is find a way to hurl herself off. I felt like our side yard would be pretty and if she wandered off the blanket there is lots of tall grass to cushion her falls. 

So here it goes, a bunch of pictures on her 8 month birthday!

Oh, and yes, I let her chew on leaves. These monthly pictures had been starting to get really boring so I figured a little leave chewing couldn't hurt! 

It should also be mentioned there are less smiles as she's still on the sick side. And the adorable blanket was a gift from my friend Sabrina, handmade by her talented cousin. And the insanely adorable booties were made by my cousin Julia. Such sweet, talented people this babe knows.