I had my first truly terrible mommy moment today.  (Okay, maybe second - the time I tried to put Henlie in her rocking chair that was by the door and knocked her head on the doorknob was pretty bad, too.)  

I worked, so I was getting ready to take Henlie to Matt's mom's house, as I do all days I work.  As I typically do since it is warm and I have a whole lotta crap to carry, I took my tote bag and my pump bag downstairs to put in the car and start the car.  I went back upstairs to get the baby, and the door was locked.  Apparently, I locked the knob on my way out (another habit when we are leaving, because why use the key twice when you can only use it once? :))

My keys were inside.

My phone was inside.

I dashed downstairs to the car and sped off to Matt's mom's house to grab the spare key. (Thank heavens they live close by and have a spare to my house!)  It was about 2:15, and kids were getting home from school.  The bus was stopped. Ugh!

Then that darn bus stopped again to let my sister-in-law off at the end of their lane. Walk faster, Jenn!  I picked her up to speed down the lane and grab the key, then sped back home.

The puppy was watching from the window.

I opened the door, and found my baby standing up with the help of the tote box that has my fall decorations in it.  She just smiled at me. (That tote was a great drum, I'm sure.)

We got everything else together, the baby in her car seat, and the dog a treat before going back to Grandma's house.

Thank goodness everything turned out fine.

Are we really only two months away from having our itty-bitty baby be a 1 year old? Eek!  She really does get more fun each day.  She's one smart (and speedy) cookie who likes to keep us on our toes.

Some people say their house is harder to keep clean with a kid around.  Yes, she makes messes, but our house is, in general, more clean than before she came.  We have to be more diligent about vacuuming thanks to feathers and fur, and I think this is the longest our coffee table has been relatively clear.  One of Henlie's favorite things to do is pull everything off of the coffee table.  Solution? Don't leave anything on it (except Matt's tree . . . she has tried getting into it a couple of times, but it is still surviving :))  Our office is a lot cleaner too.  When we were clearing out the nursery (because that room was essentially our storage shed), a lot of it got moved to the office, and it has stayed in disarray.  Now at least half of the room is clear lol.

Speaking of those messes she makes, she loves to get into everything. And she can, too.  She can speed crawl, and she can walk along furniture.  She has even stood up in the hallway using the wall and the nightlight that is plugged in there.  Her reach keeps getting longer as her arms and legs continue to grow.  As long as it's not her own toys, she's captivated. (Her own toys are only good for pulling out and strewing about before being left alone.)  

Along with her increased mobility, she can walk while only holding onto one hand.  She's still pretty wobbly and is more prone to walking in a circle that way, but she can do it!  If you go really slow, she can even walk down the hall!  She hasn't successfully climbed onto anything (except the cat toy, but that's not much more than a tall step, and she could pull herself up onto it with the TV stand, although, I didn't actually see her do it, just the result).  However, she has started trying.  On occasion, she'll hike a leg up to see if she can climb.  That will be a fun day when she figures that out...


She is also a "great helper."  When I'm doing dishes, she will come over and pull herself up with the dishwasher door.  She then tries to take out the silverware.  I've started waiting to put the silverware in until the end, but then she tries to get the plates out.  It's less annoying when I'm loading the dishwasher (because they're just about to get washed anyway), but it's a real struggle when she wants to pull out the clean dishes.  She can even poke at the top rack.  (Unfortunately, she managed to get her hand stuck in the rack one day - poor girl.)  When I vacuum, she loves to come right over to check it out.  She doesn't move when the vacuum bumps into her, either.  I have had to vacuum around her and pick her up and move her to vacuum.  I guess this is better than when I had to hold her while vacuuming or else she'd scream... Hopefully this enthusiasm will continue when she gets old enough to actually help with chores ;)


As for baby girl's runny nose, she had a bit of a relapse.  Although, it wasn't as bad nor for as long.  A lady in my ward brought over a trial size of DoTerra Breathe blend, and it has been quite helpful.  Dr. Fullmer said it could also be a mild allergy, considering the duration and she didn't really get "sick."  Who knows?

She is doing better with sleeping at night again, for the most part.  This is good because when I was reminded how crappy waking every few hours is, I wanted no more children ;)  However, napping is becoming more of a struggle.  She'll nap after nursing, but not deep enough for me to put her down.  If I try, she just wakes up and then there is no more nap.  It's rather unfortunate because her morning nap is when I usually shower.... (she can't get into much trouble if she's sleeping, right?)


She still will eat pretty often.  She's not demanding food constantly like she did during her huge growth spurt between 7 and 8 months, but I'm sure she's growing pretty steadily.  We'll nurse in the morning, and she'll share some of my cereal (usually Cheerios of some sort, but not the ones in the milk! I pull her out some Cheerios before I pour the milk on).  Then she'll have her own cereal and bottle.  Always eating...  

However, I noticed with the snacking and drinking water from her sippy cup, she wasn't demanding to nurse really anymore.  She still prefers to fall asleep after nursing, so, in an effort to regulate our lives a little more and help my body figure out supply (yet again), we are on a 4-session schedule.  (I don't know how this pans out when I work, but my frozen breast milk supply isn't terribly decreased because Matt gives her formula probably half the time.  It's faster.)  So now, we nurse in the morning (and pump, time permitting and if she didn't wake and need to nurse in the night), then 3 to 4 hours later we nurse again before (hopefully) her morning nap.  We nurse before her afternoon nap (maybe another 4 hours later), and then we nurse before bed, which is anywhere between 6pm and 7:30pm.  It's crazy to think she'll probably start weaning soon(ish).  Once she figures out how to fall asleep without nursing, I'm sure weaning will happen pretty quickly.  I anticipate those nap-time feedings to be the first to go.


She is definitely her daddy's girl.  When it comes to drumming, that is.  She loves to bang on things and has for quite awhile.  Only now, she has found banging on doors and walls is fun.  And the toilet lid.  That makes an awesome drum.  Even better is she can get both hands going at the same time because she can lean against the bowl.  Just thinking about it makes me want to grab the Lysol wipes :)

She also loves the puppy and the kitty.  She thinks it is great fun to chase the dog around.  They'll even play with Mocha's gecko together.  Sort of.  There have been some games of tug-o-war over it, anyway :)  Just wait until she learns to throw!  She loves the kitty too, but the kitty is less enthused about this.  Sometimes, if we're helping her, he'll let her pet him.  She thinks it's funny when she gets tail in the face (our cat is FLUFFY - so it's like a freaking (soft) bottle brush in her face).  In fact, Henlie's first word may have been "puppy."  One day I was making dinner in the kitchen, and Dad and Henlie were in keeping me company.  The dog came over and she exclaimed, "Puh-pay!"  At least, it really sounded like puppy, and the dog was there.... I wasn't even watching her (busy at the stove) and I thought she said puppy.  However, she hasn't tried that since. :) Not certain she knew what she was saying exactly - so we'll count it as her unofficial first word :)


Another of her tricks is spinning.  Usually this happens at Grandma's house (probably because there is so much to see all at once there!)  She will sit and use her legs to turn in a circle.  She doesn't really do this at home, but I have seen her do it at church.  Must be a more efficient way to turn around to take everything in :)


As usual, Henlie and I visited the doctor's office to get her weight this month.  She weighed in at 18 lbs. 8 oz.  That's another two pounds from last month.  Her growth chart is opposite the average kid so far.  Standard chart shoots up fast and then tapers off.  Henlie's was slow at the beginning and is now taking off!  Who knows where she'll end up? :)  By my calculations, she hasn't grown much in height this month, though.  I measured her at 27.5 in.  However, she does have at least four teeth coming in, all in the top middle.  The two on the right are seeming a bit quicker than the two on the left, but none have erupted just yet.  (Dr. Fullmer even mentioned it looked like she had top teeth coming in - I guess standard is the two bottom middle then the two top middle, but there isn't anything on the bottom, yet.)  She may actually have some teeth come her one year birthday!

Every year, the Hadfield side of the family gets together to camp up Payson Canyon at the riding club's "cabin." We've gone up a few times, but usually just for an evening.  This year, however, we decided to break out our new tent for the first time and try camping with an almost (at the time) 9 month old.  And a dog.  But only for one night :)

Matt gave me until 10am Friday before he would start harassing me.  We left at 9:30am :) and the only thing I forgot was my pair of glasses for at night after my contacts are out. (I'm really quite blind :p)


It is always fun when we get to hang out with family.  Mostly, we hung out around camp and talked.  The kids played games and had some crafts.  Aside from being my first time camping in a tent in years, Henlie's first time camping (and her having sleeping struggles anyway), and just the logistics of camping more than one night, I'm really glad we just decided to go up Friday to Saturday.  That's when most everyone was there.


When we got there, the littles were blowing bubbles and the bigger littles were having adventures and making bugs (from water bottles, that is).  We broke out our tent and didn't find the instructions until it was halfway put together lol.  It went up pretty easily.  It's a really nice setup too (thanks, Mom!).  And big.  So big.  Matt was talking about laying it out beforehand to make sure all was well since we'd never used it....but it is 11' x 11' - almost the size of our living room :)  Needless to say, we fit both sleeping bags, a pack and play, our bags, and the dog kennel in with room to spare :)


One of the crafts was making boomerangs.  Later, we walked down to the clearing to watch people throw them.  Good times, but I was done walking anywhere outside of camp.  The hill back was less than fun :)




It's a good thing Henlie has an awesome cousin with fun outdoor toys.  We played with Charlie's rocking horse, slide, and bike while we were up there.



Mocha had a grand time as well.  She got to be off leash, and she had Paisley, Chloe, Sadie, and Sasha to play with.  Plus, who knows how many people feeding her who knows what? Spoiled pudgy puppy.



Later in the day, Henlie even got to ride a real horse (thanks Grandpa, Aunt Jen, and of course, Jewel!) and we sat and chatted (and ate oreos and pistachios lol) while some of the fam headed over to Payson Lakes.  Devan and Curtis played a game of horseshoes with their wives.  We watched, and Jennifer did Matt's hair :)  




Matt was sitting so still for so long that he ended up with a butterfly friend.  In fact, afterward, he got up and wandered over to the kitchen/patio area and still had the butterfly on his shirt.  We'd forgotten about the poor thing until it flew away when Matt tried to put his hand in his pocket. 





That evening, Grandpa Hadfield came up to enjoy time with the family, and dinner.  Friday was also Dad's birthday, so we sang and had cake for dessert.  As usual, we had family home evening as well.  Henlie didn't want to go to sleep, so she got to stay up for the fun and the lesson.  In fact, she still didn't want to go down after that.  It was a long night.




After dark, Mom gave the kids glow sticks to put in their bugs.  Henlie got one as well.  It doubled as a pretty sweet night light in our tent. 



I wasn't tired the first bit we got Henlie to sleep, so I stayed up reading.  And then she woke up.  She screamed for quite a bit of the night.  Fortunately, most everyone else was still up.  There was even a game of Capture the Flag going on right outside.  And then Keep Away - they had to institute a rule of no throwing between the tents.  Poor Ian apparently tripped over one of our ropes.  He pulled the anchor out of the ground he hit it so hard.
 

It was a pretty warm night for the most part.  When Henlie's skin finally felt cool (after waking who knows how many times), I stuck her in my sleeping bag.  She nursed in bed a little bit, but that is how we got the most sleep.  

We don't have pads or cots, so finding a comfy spot around rocks was a fun challenge.  It was more fun trying to find somewhere to put the baby where she might be comfortable, and then still trying to lay down next to her...



In the morning, I thought Henlie was waking, but she stayed asleep.  So I got up before her, and before most people.  We had hot cocoa and yummy pancakes for breakfast (and Mocha had so many pancakes).  Then we took down camp.  We left camp about 10am.  Successful trip. (And since then, we have purchased our own mallet and tent duster haha)

Sunday, August 11th, was our 6 year wedding anniversary.  Six years already lol  I think this was the lowest-key anniversary to date.  Friday, Matt took work off, so we got to hang out.  We went to AT&T and got new phones.  Our renewal time was around our anniversary, and we'd both cracked the screens on our phones, so this was our anniversary present.  More exciting was Matt okayed getting the newest phones. (Previously, we got what was highly discounted or free).  I got the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and Matt got the S 4 Active.  The Samsung representative was there showing off the active - like putting it in a bowl of water and taking pictures.  He also had the Galaxy camera - so cool!  Only downside was, in upgrading to 4G, we needed new SIM cards - so our contacts had to be re-added.  Small price to pay for awesomeness :)

Yep, that was pretty much it. Happy anniversary!





(I worked all day Saturday and had to work from home for a little bit on Sunday night.)






So, these phones - epic! LOVE my phone.  I went with the S 4 for the better camera.  My Infuse was starting to replace my actual camera anyway, so I know that's a key feature for me.  The processor on this phone is so quick! I was way giddy playing with the camera.

After stopping by the UVU library for Matt to take care of his note taking stuff (he took notes for someone with a disability - and they pay you for that...), we went to his parents' house to show off our new phones.  Matt's dad apparently also got a new phone, and he got . . . . . . . . an S 4 Active! lol  Dad's is blue, though.  Matt got black - so we'll be able to keep them straight ;)  They also had the missionaries over for dinner, so we stayed and had dinner and visited.

My baby girl is already 3/4 of a year old! My how time flies!  She definitely thinks she's old now, too.  This month has brought on our newest adventure - mobility!

It didn't take Henlie long to figure out this crawling business.  For the longest time, I thought she may be one who skipped crawling all together as she hated being on her stomach but loved holding onto fingers to stand and walk.  However, within a couple of days, she had it figured out.  July 16th, she had backwards motion down, but forwards was still elusive.  The next day, the 17th, she managed forward motion.  What was it that finally convinced her to go forward? A nasty bone the dog had lying on the floor. Yuck.  Since then, she has gotten more efficient and can go longer before needing a break.


My next surprise in her growing independence came only a few days later.  On July 20th, I left her playing contentedly surrounded by toys and a diaper box in her room (diaper boxes make great toys) while I took a shower.  When I got out, I checked on her, and she had pulled herself up with the diaper box, and managed to get around to the other side!  I didn't know she could do that yet :)



As for food, we have gotten a bit more lax about what she can try.  (Mini Nilla Wafers were a freaking life/sanity saver on our trip to St. George.)  Henlie also shares more off of our plates, depending on the food.  She is a really good eater for now.  She hasn't had an aversion to anything or refused anything since ham in a jar.  She has had small pieces of lunch meat ham, though, and done just fine.  Some things apparently weren't meant to be bottled :)  She can also feed herself finger foods (helpful with those Mini Nilla Wafers!)  She can pick up Cheerios and pieces of bread and get them in her mouth.  It's cute to watch :)  A lot of times, to ensure she gets the food part, she eats her fingers too.


Along with this food business, she has gotten to the distracted nursing stage.  She still nurses about as often as before (sometimes more when she's having a rough night), but not for as long.  This has killed my supply.  Pumping at work has always been a struggle, but now my morning pumping is just as bad most days.  Oh well.  Three more months and I won't mind if she gets most of her liquid elsewhere :)


This month, she also had the worst runny nose.  Matt thought maybe she was sick, but she acted fine except for the leaking of her face.  Sometimes she gets stuffy and wakes herself up from sleep from not being able to breathe well.  She hasn't really acted sick at all, so there must be some other cause.  For awhile, we thought it might be a tooth.  She plays with her lower gum just left of center, and Matt says there is a bump there, but it has been a week or two now, and no tooth has erupted yet.  I'm not entirely certain it is the cause of the runny nose.  Or that we can really call this "teething."  At her check-up, Dr. Fullmer didn't see any teeth yet, either.  He figures it is just a cold.  Fortunately, she's doing lots better now!


Mentioning sleeping, my good little sleeper has turned into an awful sleeper!  I try putting her to bed earlier, and she just wakes up an hour later.  That is, if she actually went to sleep.  Her sleeping patterns are all off.  I've been really lucky that she hasn't woken much at night for most of her life, but this month has been a struggle!  One night was particularly bad.  I'd just gotten home from work at like 11:30pm, and she woke up.  I nursed her and held her, and she finally went to sleep.  I fed the dog, and food hitting the metal bowl woke her again.  We nursed, and then she was done nursing, but not done screaming.  When I finally put her down, I couldn't leave or she would cry again.  I slept about an hour on her floor before she woke.  After that, I was able to make it to bed, and she woke once more at like 4:30am.  Then she was up her usual time between 7am and 8am.


Since Henlie's growth spurt last month, she has caught up in her clothes.  It's weird to me because I'm used to her being about two months behind (ie. wearing 3-6 month clothes when she's 7 and 8 months....)  She is in her 6-9 month clothes, and she's actually 9 months.  Crazy :)  Probably by next month, most of her 6-9 month clothes won't fit either.  In fact, in a few things, she's wearing 12 month clothes (which is expected come 9 months, but weird for my petite baby).  She has some shorts and a skirt that she can wear already that are 12 month.  I also bought her a pair of 12 month PJs, since all of her PJs are only supposed to be good through 9 months.  (Finding PJs I think are worth buying and that aren't, you know, Dora, is insanely ridiculous.  Especially when I am cheap and don't want to order from Carters lol.  This is why she only has one pair so far.  Even walmart.com doesn't have any 12 month in stock of styles/designs I'd buy her.)


She is doing great. Developmentally, she's on par with average 10 month olds (the detailed questionaire they gave us to fill out was designed for 10 month olds...)  She looked to me when Dr. Fullmer was listening to her heart and lungs, which is a good developmental sign.  Only downside to our visit (besides getting her ears checked...she didn't like that one bit) was they didn't have her vaccinations recorded from her 6 month visit.  She got them, though, so they were just going to record she got them all for us.  (Different nurse than usual last time....)  Aside from our monthly weight checks for her baby book, we'll go in again at 12 months! Three more months! Craziness.