Hadley's first trophy

Hadley has taken gymnastics since she was 18 months old but it has always been a mommy and me class. When she turned 3 she started gymnastics at Oklahoma Gold and was able to do the classes by herself. We just finished her first year and she loved it. She tries really hard and loves to practice her handstands, cartwheels, hopscotch, and jumping jacks. She likes to hop from tile to tile in the kitchen and balance on the street curbs outside.

Last week was Oklahoma Gold's M&M Olympics. All the kids paraded through the gym, then performed for the families, and got their awards at the end.

Ready for the olympics...cowgirl boots could not be forgotten!

She wanted to turn to the side so that she could get a picture of her braid and side ponytail:

Parading through:

Cousin Peyton parading through with the other cheerleaders:

Hadley's class (minus a couple):

Hadley and her friend, Presley:

She is so good at the balance beam:

Hudson came to cheer on sissy:

Getting her trophy:

SO PROUD!!!

We are very proud of our little gymnast. I think her shyness is wearing off and she loved performing in front of the crowd.

ZOO DAY!

Last Thursday my brother and I took Hadley and Peyton to the zoo. It was absolutely perfect weather and all the animals were out. As we were walking inside Hadley asked if she could pet the tigers and the bears. I said, no, but there is a petting zoo and you can pet some pigs and goats. Her response was, "gross!" Agreed, Hadley.

Here is a picture of Hadley holding some nectar and feeding the birds. She didn't quite know what to think at first with the birds flying all around her head and then she was DONE when one of the birds bit Peyton. All smiles for the picture though:


Riding on the rhino:

Accidently cut most of Hadley out of this picture but I almost missed the bear walking behind her. She was so excited that the bear "came to see her."

One of my favorite pics of the girls. They have so much fun together:

Leaving the zoo after a fun day. This time her favorite animal was the lion. Hadley said she wants Hudson to go next time because she wants to show him all the animals.

It's a race to the top

Hudson WILL NOT stay off our stairs. As a matter of fact, we finally gave in and just put up a babygate yesterday. I was trying to avoid it because Hadley runs up and down the stairs all day long and I just don't LOVE how they look. But I think our babysitter had too many trips up the stairs and when I watched him fall down 4 steps I decided to give in. Now he just stands at the gate and shakes it because he wants on them so badly.

When he would get to the stairs he would turn and look at you, then shimmy as fast as he could up the steps. Here is a guilty face:

So proud that he made it to the top:
And if you don't watch closely he quickly turns around...
...and thinks he can come down. He's not so successful this direction.

One of my favorite lunch dates

Last Tuesday my mom surprised me with a lunch date and these two happy faces:

We went to Chick-fil-A (the girls choice because all they care about is a playground) and spent an hour and a half talking, laughing, and playing. I miss my family a lot while I am at work and I love that my mom knew this would make my day much better. Hudson was sleeping but I am sure it won't be long before my mom gets suckered into bringing him too!

That night Hadley said, "Mommy, I had a lot of fun and next time I am going to lunch with daddy." Daddy would be thrilled to have a lunch date too.

A backyard view

A few days ago we were sitting on our backporch with the kids and three hot air balloons came by. It is very common (about once a week) for a hot air balloon to come past our backyard and there is actually one that typically dips down so close to our backyard that the man have waved to Hadley before. But we have never had three at one time. Hadley was so excited and was screaming "Hi" to all the balloons.



This one was her favorite:

More Bieber Fever

Hadley went to the store with me the other day and while driving home she said, "Mommy, will you turn on Justin Beaver. I've really been missing him!" I laughed and thought to myself that I was glad her daddy didn't hear her say that when she told Hudson, "Someday you will be big and you can be Justin Beaver."

We also decided we should not have the Bachelorette on when she is in the room because during the first show (when all the guys are getting out of the limo) she said, "Daddy, this girl is seeing A LOT of boys!" Daddy just told her it was make-believe...

Our almost 4-year-old is much more observant than I ever anticipated.

One year later...

I cannot believe we have already been in our house a year. It feels like a couple of months ago that I was moving in here 7 months pregnant and wondering what we were thinking! It finally feels like home and we love our house. We had a wonderful building experience with practically no complaints but I could go the rest of my life without having to make all these decorating decisions again. Thankfully, Matt was the perfect person to build a house with because he had as many, if not more, ideas than me and we actually agreed on everything!

When we sold our old house we also sold almost all the furniture with it. The only furniture we brought with us was: our bedroom furniture, Hadley's bedroom furniture, my bed since I have had it since I was 2 year's old, and a leather couch. I loved starting with a clean slate but decorating has never been my expertise so it has been an interesting adventure. All of the big furniture is bought and some accessories are still needed but this is where we are, one year later...

Front of the house. We had a landscaper when we built the house and then Matt had another vision and swapped some trees, added different bushes, and now we will patiently wait for it all to mature.

Back of the house. We love our fescue grass but with NO shade we have seen a drastic increase in our water bill!

Entry

Entry stairs

Family room

Kitchen

Breakfast room

Butler's Pantry

Wine cellar

Dining room

Master bedroom

Master bath

.

Hadley's room. Matt's assistant's husband painted the flowers on her wall that match the flowers on her bed...all free-handed.

*Quick funny story about Hadley's room. Hadley went through a long phase (about two years) of only wearing pink. When deciding on her "big girl room" we knew she would love pink walls and pink bedding. The entire time we were building she would run in her room, so excited for her pink room. Well, after only a couple months of living here we got the flowers painted on her wall. We brought her in her room to show her, she looked all around, and said, "I wish my room was purple because that's my favorite color now." Perfect. She had to settle for her second favorite color.

Hadley's bathroom

Hudson's bedroom

Hudson's bathroom

Office

Hallway to media room. We are wanting to get some vintage movie posters for this hallway and in the media room

Media room

Playroom

Guest room (still a work-in-progress)

Guest bath

Work station

Mud bench

Laundry room