what's in a name, etc.

So to elaborate on the name issue - I guess the obvious question is how/why we came up with Hadley Carter...


32 weeks! (Forgive my no make-up/painting clothes look. I'm rocking it a lot these days.)

I guess my biggest priority was not only to find something I liked and felt that would embody our new little one, but also something that "went" with Knox, while shying away from all K or N names to starting any kind of Duggarish theme. (Although, Lord knows I love that show... Guilty pleasure!)

At first it was between Hadley Claire and Reese Caroline. I love both names, but for the past few months I've just felt more "led" towards Hadley. Especially since both Knox and Hadley are Old English sur names, I think it makes for a classic yet unique little tradition for our kids. James agrees...



I was trying to be cute and sat this on his desk months ago ;)

So it was Hadley Claire, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to give her atleast one name with a little meaning. That's where Carter came in. I love the tradition of mothers passing their maiden names to daughters, and I thought mine just weant perfectly with Hadley. The switch worked out well too because in an effort to "try it out" I'd already monogrammed a few little things using the HCD!

[Fun Fact : Ernest Hemmingway's wife was named Hadley.]

And now that the name is out - I guess I can share a few of the things I've been working on for her...



I love pillowcase dresses! Special thanks to my friend Leslie for helping me out on the measurements for these. She has two girls - a toddler and an infant - so I trusted her judgement! The first is a copy-cat of one I saw online, and the second - just plain eyelet because every little girl needs one! I left plenty of hem room in each (the white still needs to be hemmed, in fact) so hopefully we'll get a good year's wear out of these. Because of the gathered design, the neckline/armholes can be let out indefinitely.

Now what else have we been up to... (Bear with me because this post is gonna include lots and lots of phone pics. I've been a bad bad camera-picture-taker lately!)


Asleep in his "box." (Aka: The drawer to his activity table.) It's his favorite these days and he loves to load it up with blankets, pillows, cars, tools, you name it!

Well if you remember correctly James and I were toying around with the idea of a date night last week. Well - it actually happened! And it was a really good one at that. James is in the 847 Club at The Palm and got a gift certificate for a free lobster for his birthday. Well it was AMAZING, and when I casually mentioned his birthday to our waiter he comped us with a free dessert as well. (Aka: a $15 piece of carrot cake that was sent straight from heaven!) So yes - we had a perfectly perfect FANCY date (#92) filled with a leisurely meal and adult conversation. We've come to a mutual agreement that we'd much rather treat ourselves to a nice place like that 3 or 4 times a year than do the run-of-the-mill Chili's/mexican every other week.


A bow that came with one of Hadley's new outfits. (I've really gotta stop this!)
Saturday morning I went to a baby shower for a friend. Ironically enough, she has a two year old boy and is also pregnant with her second - a girl. And we're just two weeks apart! Now tell me that's not the makings of a perfect playdate???

Sunday we definitely slept in until 9:45 and totally missed church! Awful, seeing as how I was responsible for posting a "Meals" sign-up-sheet for a family who just had a baby, and we'd committed to hosting a 'Share & Care' get together at our house that night. Needless to say, I had to throw on jeans and a t-shirt and drive up there [shower-less] to drop off the sign-up sheet and spread the word that we were still on for S&C. And luckily it was a lighter crowd that night since we're kinda limited on living/dining furniture right now. But a fun group none-the-less!


He got a hold of his INFANT life jacket one day last week and wore it all day, begging for 'Poppy' (my dad) and the 'boat'. Somebody LOVES the lake!

Monday - house projects. Tuesday - I took Knox up to his school (or as I call it - our "second church") because they started their Music in Motion program for toddlers this week. Basically just a fun hour full of silly songs and games. You should have seen his face light up when I told him we were going to school. He was like "Social interaction?!?! Yes, please!!!" Ha. He's definitely missing it. He spent the first 20 minutes just running around crazy with excitement. And then totally crashed about 15 minutes later. He was up veeerrry late the night before, so we had to head out early for a nap.

Last night we got out looking around for a deal on wicker furniture for our balcony and patio. No such luck. Mainly because I refuse to pay full price for anything. I guess we'll just be keeping our eyes peeled for those end-of-the-season patio sales... But, since we ended up out by our local Little Gym we decided to stop by for some info and it just so happened they were having a 2 year old class so Knox got to try it out first hand. He LOVED it. I'm sure I was a sight - 8 months pregnant waddling behind him trying to keep up. Ha! But when the sweet instructor told me it was "about $20 a class" my jaw dropped. I couldn't help but think about how my advanced gymnastics classes were $20 apeice. And they were one-on-one coaching and it didn't include 15 minutes of bubble blowing and song time! So anyway, now I'm on a mission to find a more reasonably priced toddler class for him at one of our local cheer/tumbling gyms because the kid really did LOVE it and I truly believe that kind of activity benefits strength and coordination for all athletics in the future...

Today we've just been lounging around the house with the exception of a much needed grocery run. Oh and we got to see our friends' new baby girls when we delivered them dinner. SO precious. It's hard to believe their girls are just 6 weeks ahead of my Hadley and they're already over a week old! Gosh if that doesn't hit home... And Knox - well he acted interesting. He's all about babies until it comes to Mommy holding one. So he refused to even acknowlege them and even went as far as to curl up in James' arms and let us know that HE was the baby! Oh, we're gonna have a rough couple of weeks ahead of us I think...

But anyway - I was the last to sign up to bring them something, so I really wanted to bring them something besides the typical casserole/lasagna/etc. (Although I don't think they would have minded!) So I settled on my Beef Tips and Rice.

2lbs beef sirloin tips, cut in to 1" pieces (or lean stew meat)
8oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced (the regular kind work just as well too)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup mix
1/2 cup red wine
1/8 tsp pepper

Spray down a crock pot with Pam and throw all the ingredients in. Technically you're suppossed to cook this on High for 4 hours, stirring frequently, but I usually crank it down to Low after the first hour or two to avoid nuking it to death. And, well - that's it. Just sit bake and enjoy the smell of it simmering! Serve over buttered brown rice, and if you're smart - with a salad and Sister Schubert's rolls :)

Now for tomorrow - Knox and I may try to make the morning play date up at "school". They open up the indoor playscape from 10-12. And James has a morning tee time. But other than that - no plans. Just napping! I'm scheduled to work Thur, Fri, and Sunday and I'm kind of scared. Haven't worked 3 of 4 days in a looooong time, but that's how my schedule fell this time a round, so wish me luck! I'll enjoy the paycheck none-the-less ;)