New Toy!

I learned the hard way this week that one of Matney's new favorite things to do is to open the wipes case and pull out all the wipes one by one. All. Of. Them. Nice. Here she is playing with an EMPTY case that is now hers and lives down on her toy shelves. I thought she'd get mad when she realized it was empty but apparently it is just as much fun to open and close the lid as it is to pull out wipes. Who knew?

Halle Kate's Room

Ok, these really aren't of her room because she doesn't have much of a room yet. Well, she has the 4 walls and roof that came with the house otherwise...time to get moving! Jared has already measured and cut the chair rail and we'll put bead board up, kind of like Matney's room but probably a foot higher, or just above the light switch. It will be painted white. The remainder of the walls will be painted one shade lighter blue of her bedding (see below). I wanted something totally different than Matney's pink, pink, pink and finally found this blue set from Pottery Barn Kids. I don't love the flower applique square (ok, I can't stand it) but I love the rest of it and will try to play that up and hide the other!

We have several things for the walls that people gave us for M's room that ended up being too much pink on pink so I think those things will end up in Halle Kate's room. I need to find material for curtains so if anyone has any ideas about where to find material with blue and pink let me know!

Don't forget that you can double click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.


bedding and accent pillow case

close up of quilt (notice that I am hiding the flower squares)

entire quilt

CHEESE!

I was just standing at the island (about 2 feet from the fridge) pouring a drink when I heard Matney saying "cheese" over and over. When I got my glass out of the cabinet about 30 seconds earlier she had been in the living room. By the time I'd poured my drink she was standing "in" the fridge pounding on the drawer with the cheese in it and saying "cheese, cheese". Such a smart girl! She knows just what she wants! So, Miss M just sat on my lap and had a piece of cheese this morning and it back rolling on the ground wiht Dog. Had I had the camera nearby you would have a cute picture of this but I couldn't reach it and make sure she was safe at the same time. Sometimes safety takes priority over cuteness!

We don't know what her deal is but she hasn't slept through the night in more than a week and wakes up at 6am wanting out of her bed. Um, NO! When Jared is here on the weekends he can go in and give her her paci and put her back down and she'll go back to sleep for about an hour. For me this morning? I tried that and she screamed for almost 20 minutes before I gave in and got her up. Little stinker!

And today is the 23rd...only 2 months until our due date for Halle Kate. We are anxious to meet this little girl but have lots to do. Now that the weather is prettier Jared spent 5 hours outside staining the fence yesterday. The 2 backsides are done...only the entire fence (on the inside) to go! We knew we wanted to get M a swingset for her birthday and the one we'd like went on sale last week so Jared picked it up after work. So far he's spent 3 hours sorting and labelling the pieces in the garage. Hope the weather stays nice so that those projects can get finished. Then we have to hang the chairrail and bead board and paint Halle's room. Maybe a project for a bad weather day? Poor Jared!!! I know he just wants to relax on the weekends and enjoy Matney. I feel bad being unable to help much with what he's working on. Although, I am growing his kiddo so that has to count for something! If any of you girls wants to come hang out with M and I and volunteer your hubby to help Jared call me!

Since a post isn't complete without pictures here are a couple I have on the computer from a week ago. I will get the others off the camera this afternoon! She's a cutie...Gina, do you recognize this dress?

Let the monogramming BEGIN!!!

I *think* that our new baby girl finally has a name. And, see the bib, she has at least a couple of things that are "hers" and not hand me downs from Matney. I am working on little sis/big sis shirts. I can't find a big sis shirt small enough or cute enough for Matney (most in the stores start around 3T...should that tell us something? Oh well, too late now!). Plus, I want them to match...and I want tutus...so I am making them. Who is surprised?!?!

Back to the point...if she makes it to her due date (please just don't be late baby girl!) then we have 67 days until Matney is a big sister. This pregnancy has flown by compared to Matney. By this time with M everything was ready to go. This time...there really isn't anything done. We first have to paint the nursery and get everything put together. I guess that means really that I need to take her bedding and pick a paint color. And find material for curtains, and....I need to make a list RIGHT NOW!

AGH! FOCUS, Stacey. In 67 days or less we pray that we will introduce you to a very healthy Halle Katherine Heald. I love Halle Kate but Jared isn't big on the two names thing so I don't know if she will end up being Halle or Halle Kate (I LOVE 2 names, so Southern with a big bow in her hair!). And in case you haven't seen it spelled this way it is Halle, just like Halle Berry.

If you have been around us we have thrown out EVERY name possible and finally found the name that "fits" for this baby and our family. So, even if you have one, no negative opinions please. Be glad you had other parents who named you something different!!! AND...

LET THE MONOGRAMMING BEGIN!!!!

Daddy can make anything better!

I will let the picture progression explain...


Not a great picture but this is Matney in my lap starting to pitch a FIT. I wonder what she wants???

Hmmmm...Daddy is working on something. Do I see Elmo on the floor?

Mine? You mean it is MINE, Daddy???

WOW!

CHECK ME OUT MOMMY!!!

Sunday afternoon we went to Toys R Us to look for a swing set for Miss M. Jared had never been in that store with her before and they were so much fun to watch. Matney gets so excited by everything you show her or let her touch. I was a couple rows behind looking for something and when I caught up with J and M they were looking at chairs. Before I knew it Matney's Daddy (aka Big Fat Sucker for his baby girl) was looking at Elmo chairs that fold out into "beds" and have a blanket cover. If you'd asked me a year ago (heck, 6 months ago) I would NEVER have thought Jared would have turned into such a sucker. It is so sweet to watch them together. When Matney hears the garage door at night she gets so excited and rushes to the gate saying "Dada, Dada". (Of course, I am singing the Hallelujah Chorus in my head but that isn't as sweet!)
Anyway, back to the story, the Elmo chair landed in the cart with a very excited Miss Matney. I washed the cover when we got home and after she'd had a nap she came downstairs for Daddy to put it back together. She pounced on it before he had it zipped all the way and hasn't moved since. Seriously. And it is Tuesday. She'll go grab a book or toy from across the room and carries it back to her chair. Right now she's been sitting on it all morning and she is "reading" a book. I think I may have to put it up for a little while each day so that she will get moving around again. She LOVES her chair and is so excited to be sitting on Elmo!

Big Girl in a Big Girl Chair

One day last week Matney was standing at a chair in our living room crying. I normally keep her blanket and stuffed toys in the chair during the day and she grabs them when she wants them. Since she was crying I thought maybe she couldn't reach everything. Nope. She wanted IN the "big people" chair WITH her blanket and bunny. Once I figured it out she snuggled into the corner and was quite content. When she showed no signs of moving after a couple minutes I put in her "Baby Can Read" DVD and she watched it from the chair.
That would all be great except its too high off the ground for her so I had to sit right at the bottom the entire time she sat there. BORING! I took pictures and emailed them to Jared. When he was watching her Sat (after she'd been up most of the night Friday. I have no idea why but I was exhausted and had gone to lay back down) she wanted in the chair again and he got stuck sitting there! Look out for our next post...before the weekend was over her Daddy had "fixed" the chair situation. Matney couldn't be happier!


Such a big girl.

Is that not the sweetest!?!?!


Just chilling out in my chair!

Puppy Dogs!

Matney LOVES kitties and puppies. Cats she really likes in person but she is scared of real dogs and sticks to the stuffed variety.
We must have had a rough time waking up one day this week because normally I don't allow Dog out of the crib. I just don't want to have to keep up with him and she'll drag him everywhere if we let her. So, Dog stays upstairs and we keep this other dog downstairs to snuggle with. Anyway, I caught her all piled up with puppies so I took a couple pictures. Don't be fooled. She only handed me Dog because I bribed her with yogurt melts!

Craft Time

Matney's bows have been driving me crazy for a while. When we're home during the day I have a rule, ok I try to have a rule, that I don't get to do anything "fun" until all our work is done around the house. However, trying to find a bow to match one of M's new outfits put me over the edge a few days ago and out came the paint and hot glue gun!

**Update** The first comment on this post made me realize I need to clarify. I DO make most of Matney's bows. A few of these have been gifts or I found them somewhere but we do NOT spend much money buying bows. I grab ribbon with a 50% Michael's/Hobby Lobby, etc coupon and get just what I need to match an outfit. Speaking of that...there are bows to be made so that we have them for all the spring clothes!!!


A Big M.

To glitter or not to glitter??? Oh please, that is not really a question. She's a girl. I glittered.

Before

After! MUCH BETTER. Although I seriously underestimated the number of bows we have and should have made the ribbons longer. Maybe I just need to paint her entire name and have bows hanging everywhere!
What will I do if the new baby is bald?!?!?!?!

Cuteness

If you wonder why the recent pictures of Matney has slowed down and pretty much all are of her with a bottle on the ground, in my lap or in her high chair it is because those are the ONLY times she is still. Trying to take a picture of her that doesn't just turn out blurry is about impossible alone!

Miss M was in a great mood a couple days ago for lunch so I grabbed the camera as we sang, ate and played.


I can't remember what I was doing that was cracking her up but she was laughing so much I called Jared to let him listen.


Yummy! Peas, cheese, bananas...good stuff!

Spring Clothes!

Oh my goodness I just had to share this picture. We've gotten a taste of spring weather here in GA and I LOVE IT! Winter, the cold and lack of sunlight, is always hard for me so I love the first hints of spring. This year though our first warm days were better than ever. Why? Because Matney is here with a cute new spring wardrobe and I can't wait to get her in all those clothes!

This picture is from last weekend. Does she not look so grown in her big girl clothes? Lots of kiddos her age have been wearing jeans for a while but not our girl. Her thighs have made that hard! But check out this skirt. It has little shorts made of tee shirt like material attached so it fits! So so cute!