PhotoBoothing with Hattie at 5 mos.

So... we had a crazy busy weekend, so Hattie is not herself today 

for our PhotoBoothing session. She's just so tired! :-( Ah well. 

I LOVE this outfit (given to us by our friend Michelle), 

so I decided we needed to do our PhotoBoothing anyway. :-)

This was me trying to hold one of her favorite toys up over the camera. 

She *always* smiles at this toy, but i don't know... because it was over the computer's camera,

these are the looks I got instead... LOL.

Then I decided that I'd put her closer to the camera, 

so she'd see her adorable self on the screen and want to smile...

*sigh*

Still no luck. Okay, THEN I decided to tickle her chin. 

That always gets a smile...

Nope.

Okay, didn't want it to come to this, but now Mom decides

she should act crazy, so Hattie will smile, and then I'll try

to get a quick smile in before the camera takes the photo...

Uhh... yeah. The result is... Mama looking like a silly fool,

while Hattie has a look on her face that says,

"My mom is ridiculous. Seriously? This is what she's doing to get me to smile?!

Oh, brother. Are we done yet?"

And so, I claim defeat. No smile this month, 

so we just try to look pretty instead. ;-)

Rolling Over.

Okay, so this is a month old (she was just under four months), and I totally forgot to post it. It's just too cute. :-p

So glad to get this on tape. She did it once, just minutes before this one, so I grabbed the camera... hoping she'd do it again right away. Success! :-D




I totally think she could have rolled over long before this, but honestly, she had never even *tried* before this! LOL.

Writing One Line a Day.

So... in 2010, I decided I would write a sentence or two 

(what I did, what I ate, where I went, a thought or two... whatever i wanted to write... as long as it was *something*) 

EVERY day in this blog here. 

Um.... Yeah, as you can see, I only did that 76 times out of the year. Oops. :-p 

I found my problem. If it's online, I won't do it. 

It didn't matter if it was a blog, Facebook or Twitter. I just like paper better.

So at the beginning of 2011, I decided I'd find myself a journal that provided me space to write a sentence or two per day. And I promised myself to give it a try... even though I knew 2011 would be tough... being pregnant and having a baby.

But all the more important that I document that year. ;-)

And I found the One Line a Day 5-Year Memory Book.

 Well, actually, the Mom's One Line a Day was on sale ($11) when I went searching, 

so that's the one I went with. I figured... "Hey, I'm becoming a Mom in 2011! Why not?" ;-) 

(Even the fact that it's pink didn't deter me! ;-) )

There were some other ideas out there. Like this one from Ashley Ann:

But in the end, I wanted something small, something bound,

and something I could keep by my bed (on my nightstand) or by my computer.

And guess what? 

IT WORKED!

I'm happy to announce that I have an entry for EVERY.SINGLE.DAY of 2011. :-D

Now... don't get me wrong... I didn't *actually* journal every single day.

If I missed a few days, I didn't sweat it. :-p Some weeks, I'd wait till the weekend to record the week,

but I still made sure to put a sentence or two for each day... even if I had to go back and do it.

If I couldn't remember, and I needed ideas...

Sometimes I'd go check photos I took, check Facebook statuses, check the calendar, etc.

It didn't have to be exact, and if I didn't remember something that happened,

I just recorded a feeling I was having that week.

For example:

On September 21st, I wrote,

"Hattie always wakes up smiling and cooing and giggling.

I love it so much!

I can't get enough of her.

And she's just SOOOOO adorable! :-) "

See? 

Not necessarily what happened that day, but just something that was on my mind that week. :-)

So I wanted to have a good record for 2011, and I'm glad I actually made the effort.

I'm SOOOO glad I did because it was an important year,

and I love looking back. 

When you're pregnant or have a new baby, things get fuzzy.

When you have little ones, the days mesh together. 

They fly by.

It needed to be done. :-)

Kinsey has a cool idea on her blog too! This is her day-planner, 

but you could totally use the block-style calendar to write in 

a thought or two or what you did that day. :-)

What do you think? 

Are you going to give it a try?

Do Project Life?

Project 365 with notes?

I'd love to hear how you plan to document 2012!

Visiting Santa Claus.

Hattie and I ventured out to see Santa the other day. She was such a champ... 

we waited in line for an hour to see him. LOL. Yes, since I don't have school-aged children, 

I should have gone the week *before* school let out. Tee hee. Ah well. 

Hattie is such a good baby though. She actually enjoyed standing in line... 

all smiles and giggles and flirting with the kids behind us. LOL. :-p

She loved his beard. LOL. I think she had a handful of hair when we left... ;-)

It was SO cute when she looked at him! She wouldn't smile at him though.
But he didn't talk to her or smile at her (which was bizarre...),
so that's probably why. LOL. She was probably like, "What's the deal with this guy?!"

Okay, so I totally bought her the most adorable silver mary-janes to go with this outfit... 

specifically for this photo, and they fell off in the stroller, and I completely forgot to put them on. 

SO bummed. I'll have to dress her up in this again *with* the shoes, 

so you can get the whole picture. ;-)

And then they let me take some too. I just brought my point & shoot... not the *good* camera, but they're still pretty cute. ;-) Santa is actually *smiling* nicely in this one. :-D

(See! She loved that beard! LOL. :-p )

Merry Christmas!

Singing Hattie.

Not sure if she was singing or talking, but this is pretty cute... LOL. :-p

Growing Up: Hattie at Four Months

Man, I have got to get better at this Mommy-Blogger thing! ;-)

What's that, Hattie? Time for your 4-month post? Umm... yes, I think so! :-)

At four months...

She's 25.5 inches long.

She's 12 pounds 5 ounces.

Favorite toys: Puppy Tunes; my Build-A-Bear (maybe I should get her, her own in the future. ;-) ); a soft, little lavender chimp rattle; her lovie; the O'Ball Rattle (this thing is SO cool!); 24/7 Doll (which she dropped while we were in the grocery store, and it's gone forever. :-( She may or may not be getting a new one for Christmas... ;-) ) (And if *you* need/want to buy more toys, try out these coupons for Overstock.com.)

And this crinkle book... 

which she probably loves more than anything... LOL.

Still LOVES being in the Moby. She very rarely falls asleep in it though. LOL. :-p

Most of her clothes are 3-6 months. Footie pajamas and pants are still 6-9 months. ;-)

Has become quite vocal... talking to strangers she likes (usually older women... LOL) or singing along to music (like John Mayer...). And I LOVE this! Tee hee.

Still SUCH a great sleeper. (8:30pm to 9-ish am at night, and then three naps during the day).

Usually takes about three naps a day when our schedule allows. Getting better with being awake for longer periods though... Yesterday, we were out nearly all day, and she just had to take cat naps (30-45 minutes) in the car or stroller. She was a perfect angel all day. Didn't fuss or cry once. Hoorah! I'm wondering if this was a fluke... LOL. :-p (Or maybe just had cabin fever since I've been sick, and she was *ecstatic* to be out of the house... ;-) )

Really enjoys being in the stroller, but if I have it reclined, she sits up in it. And if I sit her all the way up, she doesn't like how the harness fits. LOL. Silly girl.

Is nearly sitting up on her own. She can sit up while holding her hands on the floor in front of her. And she can sit up on her own for a good few seconds.

Loves to grab her toes.

She gets flirty and giggles when people say hello to her. This face is *darling*, and i love it. LOL.

Enjoys books far more than toys that make noise and/or light up (okay, we only have one toy that does that... LOL).

Can sit up on her knees and elbows. (Holy cow, she may be crawling soon!)

Is kinda mobile... she can turn in circles on her tummy and scooch and scooch on her back. 

She can pretty much roll over from her back to her tummy (save for one arm). And she can roll from tummy to back like a champ (I'll post the video! Tee hee).

Is very interested in spoons and forks when I'm eating food. I got curious... and gave her breastmilk on a spoon. Yes, she liked that. It was too cute.

She can hold a sippy cup (empty) and bring it to her mouth. Did this for the first time at 3.5 months. Craziness.

Still the sweetest, little baby ever. :-)

- December 6, 2011 -

PhotoBoothing with Hattie at 4 mos.

A bit late this month with these, but just over a week. No worries. :-)

(This cute outfit was given to her by my dear friend, Michelle.

I love it with these polka dot pants! :-D )

In these next photos.... No, I'm not wearing makeup. No, my hair is not done. Yes, my scrap room is a mess. And yes, I was scrapping on the floor. Tee hee. It's okay though because I have a cute baby in my lap. ;-)





her serious face...

Till next time. :-)

Looking at Photos...

I was looking through photos today. There are so many photos, and I've posted about 5% of them. LOL. These are all from her 2nd week at home...

I didn't really feel like editing them. Just grabbed them and posted them. Hope you don't mind. ;-)

The pups were so sweet when Hattie first arrived. They didn't want to leave our side. :-) They're still pretty sweet with her. Ruby gives her kisses every day. Amber is so indifferent. She rarely even *sniffs* at her. :-p

She is SO his mini-me. She looks more like him every day, I think. *Some*times I'll see a glimpse of Reyanna in there, but yeah, she's mostly Jeremy. ;-)

And a sweet one of Jeremy's brother, Jesse...

(I loved that outfit!!!)

Holding her head up at ten days old...

So sweet and small...

And now she's FOUR months old. FOUR! When they tell you it flies by, they really mean it! ;-)

I'll post her 4-month stats this week. :-)

Thanking God.

I thank Heavenly Father for this sweet girl.

I'm so blessed to be able to look at that sweet smile every, single day. :-)

Comparing BumGenius OS and Swaddlebees OS Cloth Diapers.

We started cloth diapering Hattie when she was five days old. (We had received one package of disposables as a gift and just wanted to use those up...) Since then, I think we've tried between 20 and 30 different cloth diapers. LOL. Who knew finding a diaper for her would be so involved? ;-)

That being said, I just *wanted* to try lots of stuff. I could have definitely chosen one and used that one. But I wanted the *perfect* diaper... ;-)

• one that didn't leak
• one that has a stay-dry inner against her bum
• wasn't too bulky on her
• one-sized/I could potentially use till she potty-learns
• came in a variety of color options
• has snaps (I was willing to use hook/loop or aplix if I found a diaper I loved)

So anyway, we tried a bunch. And in that "trying" period, I found these diapers and wanted to take some comparison shots. :-)

BumGenius vs. Swaddlebees
(You can find both diaper brands here with discounts. I know how those diapers can add up.)

Left to right on smallest snap settings:

BumGenius Freetime in Mirror

BumGenius Elemental in Butternut

BumGenius 4.0 in Clementine

Swaddlebees Simplex OS in Marina

(Oops... forgot to brighten up these next photos. Sorry. :-p )

And another one, with the diapers stacked...

Left to right on smallest snap settings:

BumGenius Freetime in Mirror

BumGenius Elemental in Butternut

BumGenius 4.0 in Clementine

Swaddlebees Simplex OS in Marina

Left to right, top to bottom on largest snap settings:

BumGenius Freetime in Mirror

BumGenius Elemental in Butternut

BumGenius 4.0 in Clementine

Swaddlebees Simplex OS in Marina

The BG Freetime definitely has the smallest rise of the three, with the SB Simplex OS having the largest rise. What's interesting, though, is the variation of crotch width:

Swaddlebees Simplex OS in Marina - 6.25 inches

BumGenius Freetime in Mirror 6.5 inches

BumGenius 4.0 in Clementine - 6.75 inches

BumGenius Elemental in Butternut - 7 inches

I didn't measure (in inches) the thickness of the diaper in the crotch, but the variation in trimness is really neat to look at. Just by feeling the diaper, it feels like they rank like this, in order of most trim to least trim:

Swaddlebees Simplex OS

BumGenius Elemental

BumGenius 4.0 (when stuffed with hemp)

BumGenius Freetime

*If the BG 4.0 was stuffed with its own microfiber inserts, it would probably rank the same or a bit bulkier than the Freetime. The Freetime has two semi-attached microfiber inserts, plus more microfiber sewed right into the diaper, against the PUL.

And here are the action shots. I'm only comparing the Swaddlebees Simplex OS and BumGenius Freetime here. :-)

Hattie's stats, for reference:

age: almost 4 months

weight: 12 pounds

length: 25.5 inches

waist: 13.5 inches

thigh: 7.5 inches

This is the Swaddlebees Simplex OS...

And the BG Freetime...

And just because she's so gosh-darn cute... ;-)

The SB Simplex OS and the BG Elemental both have organic cotton inserts that stretch the entire length of the diaper (when on largest snap-setting), but get kinda bunched up when on the lowest snap-setting. Because of this, both these diapers may seem bulkier on an infant, but would probably look great on older/bigger babies and toddlers.

Because the SB Simplex OS has the narrowest crotch *and* the highest rise, it may be the best fit (of the four) for your average toddler.

I'd also like to mention that the SB Simplex OS and the BG Elemental both have their leg elastics *not* incased like the BG 4.0 and Freetime. This *could* potentially cause wicking issues, but I know Mamas who use both diapers, with little to no issues.

We've decided to go with the BumGenius Freetime. It's pretty much all we've been looking for in a diaper. :-) I would have *preferred* a natural inner (cotton, bamboo or hemp) with a stay-dry liner, but this is pretty near perfect. I can always add a bamboo or hemp insert/doubler for added absorbency if need be. ;-)

**I think I'll be adding photos of the *insides* of the diapers as well. I'll try to get to that later today or tomorrow... ;-)

Thanksgiving 2011

Hattie is so lucky.

FOUR (out of six) of her grandparents came to see her for Thanksgiving. Jeremy's mom and step-dad drove all the way from Albuquerque. And his dad and step-mom drove all the way from... well, San Antonio. LOL. That's only about 90 minutes, but still... they came to visit, and that was lovely. :-)

Hattie with Abuelita...

(Hattie LOVED being in the kitchen while she cooked!)

And she's always all-smiles when she's with Abuelito.

He's always making funny faces at her. It's so cute. :-)

Her Grandma and Grandpa (from Albuquerque) stayed four whole days, and it was so wonderful to have them! Obviously, Hattie was sad they were leaving...

It was such a nice Thanksgiving. :-)

Loving Bath Time.

Is there anything cuter than a nekked baby on a foam frog in the bathtub? I think not. ;-)