while we were in roseburg visiting joseph's family, his sister michelle had her good friend brittany farrer come out to take some pictures of all the gilbuena cousins together. she did such a great job, no thanks to any help from baby hadley. it's tough to get a happy shot of her at a photo shoot! thanks brittany!
p.s. you can see more of brittany's photos at brittanyfarrer.blogspot.com
these photos are in no particular order, joseph and i were trying to figure out how to rearrange them, with no success. then i stopped caring, and moved on!
let's see here...well the water pictures are ongoing. it's been one of my favorite parts of this summer. hadley seems to enjoy it, and mommy and daddy sure do. there are a couple splash pad areas here in wilsonville, and they can be super busy on the hottest days. we usually go after dinner, when things are starting to slow down though.
she also had her first time in the big bath, and it was cute to see her wiggling around. she is going to be our little swimmer.
joseph's sister shanda and two nephews AJ and dylan were in oregon for a long weekend. they stayed one night at the end, and one night at the beginning with us. the in between we spent in roseburg with joseph's parents, other sister and her family. this was minus joseph though, he was stuck working the entire time, and we were all very sad without him. especially me. i didn't take any pictures but a few on the iphone. i will get them on to the computer and onto here soon i hope. but dilly and AJ had a super time playing the wii. they enjoyed playing some games that were not in their own library at home. hadley really enjoyed all the snuggle time with her aunts and grandparents. i enjoyed having free hands a little more than usual.
derek, bree and riley came over to visit one evening about a week ago. it was great to have them over. they were kind enough to bring us dinner, lots of dinner, and dessert, and leave leftovers behind! i can't believe how grown up riley is getting to be. she is talking so much now! when i met her, she wasn't even walking yet! what a big girl now! i told her hadley would become more fun to have around soon. someday they will be running around together.
last sunday i hosted my sister's baby shower here at our house. much thanks to my mom who came to visit a couple days before so i could have some good cleaning time before visitors. my sister's long time friend katy was also a huge help. i am so glad she's living in portland now. we've even had her along for our pedicures recently. jewel made some great jungle cupcakes, and my mom and stephanie also brought yummy food. the picture is my sister iayesha and her good friend denise. we had a good turnout, including my brother, jeff and baby justin. they were down from seattle for my brother's high school reunion, so we also got to play with them on saturday. justin is so cute, eating his grown up food, and playing at the playground.
we are flying to minneapolis for a long weekend very early thursday morning. i have family back there, and i really want them to meet hadley as a tiny baby and am really looking forward to her meeting more of her cousins. this is the last bunch until my sister has her tiny baby in about six weeks.
when we return home, i will be getting ready to go back to work just a couple days later. i am very excited to go back. it is easy to be excited because i have a great friend, and a great mom and aunt who will be taking turns with hadley. it would be much harder had i had to choose a day care for baby h. it is two 12 hour days a week, so i should be able to manage that. i realize when the time comes, it will not be easy, no matter who hadley is with, i am just getting cabin fever. i am getting bored, regardless of the fact my hands are so full that i can't wash the dishes half the time. i love my job, and i love my co-workers. they are my friends and i've been missing them.
like many babies, we are fairly certain hadley has mild acid reflux, and she's been sleeping mostly in her monkey bouncy seat. she has a strong preference for sitting upright. it's nice, most mornings we can now get to her quickly enough to wake up with her before she actually starts to cry. that also goes for when she wakes up in the middle of the night. this happens to be a few mornings ago when joseph went to change her diaper while i got ready to feed. like both of her parents, she likes to wake up slowly. this is to our advantage for now. when school rolls around in a few years, i will gain an understanding of what my mother and older siblings dealt with.
since i last posted, there have been great things to write about. it's finding the empty hands, and hadley allowing me time to stand still that is difficult. i will try to remember the important stuff.
two weeks ago today, my mom and i visited the hospital where hadley was born, and where my mom works. we weighed her on the baby scale in the ER, and was up to 9lbs. 2oz. that means she's gained over an ounce a day since she started gaining weight again. i am curious how long babies are supposed to keep at that rate. we will see late next week when we have our two month checkup with hadley's pediatrician.
along with the growth, we have been filtering out of newborn clothes, and into the 0-3 month drawer. i am sad to see a few of our favorite outfits go, but excited for a completely new wardrobe!! babies are lucky.
we've had a few trips with the top down. i've sat in the back most times, and she seems to enjoy it. it's hard to tell with babies. but i say if she doesn't cry or almost cry, she must like it. once, we made it on the freeway, and she did scream. but again, hard to tell with babies, because i happened to know her diaper had filled with a serious poop as we put her in the car. what's new?
hadley started busting out some smiles in the last couple weeks. daddy gets more than me. he's much more silly than i am. and grandma beth is better at baby talk, and has had a few. my best ones were actually tonight. we went for a walk outside, and she quickly fell asleep. i set her in the bouncy seat. when i returned with her blanket she was wide awake and smiling big, as if to say "haha, mom, i gotcha!! i am not ready for bedtime, it's only 10:00 pm!"
most recently, hadley has begun figuring her hands out. not to say she's figuring much else out yet, but she is more aware of those crazy things flailing around are attached to her. she grabs onto the sides of the baby bjorn now, and sometimes folds her hands over her blanket when she is sitting. that is almost as cute as her crossing her legs since she was about a day old.
there must be more going on, but it seems so usual for us, that i am having a hard time recalling...hadley and i are spending lots of quality time together at home, and we miss joseph when he is at work. secretly, i am jealous that he is at work. i miss my friends, and adults in general. however, hadley's diaper is much easier to change than any i see at work, so i am counting my blessings.
we are looking forward to joseph's sister shanda and his two nephews coming from nebraska this next week. i will be taking hadley down to roseburg so we can all be together (with the exception of joseph) for the length of their trip. joseph will come down and spend saturday evening with us. hadley and i will miss him, but it will be fun to be with family. i will enjoy the extra hands for hadley. it's tiring holding her all day long. she's a little princess that makes her opinion known. and in her opinion, if she wants held, somebody had better pick her up.
over labor day weekend we get to go to minnesota to see some of my family. my mom and brothers and nephew are also flying out. it will be a crazy houseful, but i want them to meet hadley when she's small. otherwise, next summer she will already be turning into a little girl!! we are hoping to hit a twins baseball game while we are there, and hopefully that will be with a friend of joseph's.
most nights we are getting enough sleep to survive. but there is no solid routine to help us yet...we could get to bed faster after she falls asleep, but then you wouldn't be getting this note right now!! sometimes sleep is overrated.
on that note, good night.
