Hattie - 8 Years!

My little Hattie Lou - 8 whole years you've been brightening our world and making us laugh!  You're such a ball of energy and witty comments.  You are still a little mother hen to anyone who will allow it.  You always seem to know what to say to brighten someone's day, but you also don't hold your tongue when you feel like someone is acting some sort of way.  

At 8 Years Hattie:

-weighs 55.6 lb (39%)

-is 47.64" tall (8% - always my little peanut)

-is finishing up 2nd grade with your most favorite teacher yet

-still loves the color purple

-wants to be a hair stylist/nail technician when she grows up

-loves to play/pretend still and I love it!

-loves to dance/listen to music

-can be found most days with her light-up cat ears headphones on her head

-doesn't meet many strangers

Hattie girl, I love you more than life itself.  Your love of everything makes life so fun!  

Hattie - 7 Years!

Hattie, my little love bug, you are 7!  You're such a sweet, motherly type.  One of your downfalls is you love too much, but I say that's okay!  You love to cuddle and quality time is definitely your love language.  I love that you still love your babies and you carry them around everywhere.  You're definitely a social butterfly and you love to be right where your people are.  Your favorite thing to do is accessorize and you're still great and knowing right where you left something.  

At 7, you:

-weigh 47.3 lb (30%)

-are 46" tall (13%)

-love the color purple

-love your Peppa Pig blanket still

-had your first broken bone (wrist - June 2020)

-want to be a teacher and a moma to four kids one day

-still keep up with all the catchphrases (bruh, come at me, dope to name a few)

-loved tumble, but you're not really interested in any other sports

-love to run errands with me, never complaining about all the stores we visit

Hattie, I just love that my last baby loves to hang out with me so much.  I see many mother/daughter trips with you in the future.  You're the sweetest girl and you love with your whole heart.

Hattie - 6 Years!

Hattie girl, you're 6!  You started kindergarten this year and you're loving it so far!  You struggle in match which is new, but you love reading and love learning.  You are a special little girl that loves her friends.  You've already snuck a pair of shoes into school because you didn't like the "practical" closed toed shoes I decided you should wear during winter.  You're my handful for sure!  

At 6:

-you weigh

-you are " tall

-you love the color purple

-you want to be a teacher

-you love your Daddy, but you love your Moma more

-you love to snuggle

-you learned to read

-you're my little lefty and it's so challenging teaching you how to do stuff with the opposite hand than I'm used to!

-you love to accessorize

Hattie, I love you more than life itself.  I can't imagine our family without you in it!

Hattie - 5 Years!

My little Hattie girl is five!  I can't hardly believe it.  When we moved to Wilmington, she was six months old, wasn't sitting up by herself and was still very much my baby.  Today, she is five, runs around like a crazy woman until bedtime..but she's still very much my baby.  Through all the kids, I wanted just one that loved their momma.  Well, I finally have it.  She wants to be constantly by my side.  She loves to run errands, no matter where we're going.  I definitely think she'll be the one to go on shopping trips with me as she gets older..no matter what we're shopping for. I think to myself all the time how unfair it is to only have one baby in each family.  They always get your laid back personality because you've done this parenting thing a time or two and you're not as paranoid about every.little.thing that could go wrong.  I guess they also get some of the disadvantages - you're tired!  Hattie has been a little mother hen from Day 1.  She loves her siblings, baby dolls, Maggie and all her friends with a fierceness.  She loves to nurture, whether it's giving up the last cookie or wrapping you up in a blanket when you're laying down.  She absolutely loves to crawl into Lily's bed after Lily falls asleep and cuddle her like there's no tomorrow.  She loves to hang out in Landon's room and play with his Legos while he plays video games.  She loves to hug Nixon before he leaves for school in the morning (mainly because it drives him nuts).  At 5, Hattie:

-weighs 39 lbs (45%)
-is 41" tall (22%)
-wears a 5t in clothes
-wears a 10 in shoes (itty bitty feet still)
-goes to bed around 9 and will sleep until around 9 on the weekends or days without school
-loves to carry her baby dolls in their carriers when we go shopping
-loves to shorten people's names - Dad, Mom, Land, Nic, and Lil
-will start kindergarten in about 4 months
-finally loves dance - it only took about 1.5 years
-will bust a move and sing in a heartbeat
-has already chosen her husband (Cole Manning)
-has a stubborn streak (baby of the family probs)
-has a favorite color - purple
-loves to accessorize..you can spot her wearing necklaces, rings and bow that usually don't match at all times..sometimes she even sports her tiara
-has told me "Happy Mother's Day" and Chris "Happy Birthday" every.single.night without fail since last May
-has a sweet tooth..she'll sneak a snack in a heartbeat

I love this baby girl of mine with all my heart.  She's so hard to stay mad at because of her cute, bubbly personality.  She completes our family in a way that no one else could.  I can't wait to see how her personality develops even more as she grows up!

Hattie - 4 Years!

My little Hattie girl is officially a four year old!  Seems like yesterday, she was my chubby little baby doll with a head full of black hair...

At four years old, Hattie:
-weighs 37.4 lb (69%)...still my little chunk
-is 38.25" high (19%)...still height challenged
-loves the color purple..she constantly tells me it's her favorite and if you buy her something in that color, she's beyond excited
-still hates to brush her hair.  She has gotten better, but will still fight tooth and nail to not do it
-loves her preschool...everyone is her best friend
-is still a momma's girl which makes my heart so happy
-loves to crawl in bed with Lily almost daily.  She will cuddle right up to Lily and even though Lily "says" she doesn't like it, she cuddles right back
-loves Maggie and any other dog she comes across...she's definitely an animal lover
-still loves her babies..she has moved on from just covering them up to brushing their hair, putting it in hair bows, and dressing them up in clothes
-is our little 'mother hen'.  If you sit beside her, she's going to have a hand on your leg, brushing your hair, covering you up with a blanket, etc.  She loves to nurture anyone around her
-loves to stay up late and sleep in.  She stays up a good hour after we lay her down just playing in her room or roaming around looking at her toys

I can't imagine our family without this little bookend.  She keeps us laughing and on our toes all at the same time.  She's our Patty, Hattie Girl and Hattie May and we couldn't love her more!

Hattie - 3 Years!!

My baby is 3!!! It's so hard to believe.  I look at that little face and she's losing all those little baby features that she's held onto for so long.  But, as she constantly reminds me, she'll always be my baby!  I just love her little fat rolls that are hanging on for dear life.  I love that sneaky smile she has.  I love how sassy and sweet she is.  I love how when someone is hurt, she goes up to them and hugs/kisses to make it all better.  She's definitely still a moma's girl and there's nothing better than that!

At 3, Hattie:

-weighs 33.6 lb (75%)
-is 35" tall (10%...that's right..short like Nixon always was)
-loves to play with all her babies still.  She'll lay them all down, cover them up, and pat them to sleep
-is finally potty trained!  This was a battle I was sure would last until college!
-loves to color (mainly on things she shouldn't, but nonetheless)
-loves to sing/dance (although, she will not participate with Mr. Mark at school)
-loves to show me the stretch-n-grow moves, but won't participate at school
-is a mother hen.  She loves to "mother" (aka boss) everyone around
-absolutely loves Maggie still.  I'm not sure how we got so lucky to have a dog to put up with everything that she does...from pulling her tail to laying all over her
-has had 3 haircuts, but still hates to have her hair washed, pulled back or brushed
-is quick to say, "leave me alone" when you pull her hair back
-loves to use the phrase "Bye Felicia" at every moment
-stalls when it's bed time...she'll play for an hour or more when I lay her down at night
-will most nights end up sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag...she loves it!
-will tell you to "call me when you're done" when she has to go poop on the potty (because that's what I would tell her when she first started potty training)
-loves to hug and kiss
-loves to play with her friends at school...no problems at drop off and wants to stay most at most pickups
-loves to swing!
-has plenty of nicknames: Hattie May, Pat, Mooky, Booty, Hattie Lou-Lou, Patty

I just love this huggable, lovable little girl.  I couldn't have asked for a better "baby" of our little family.  She's got plenty of spunk and personality and fits right in with our wild crowd.

Hattie - 2 Years!

Well, that two years went by way too fast!  My little Hattie Girl is and always will be my baby.  I'm ashamed to say that at two years old, she already knows it and will take advantage! Just the other day, Lily was sitting in my lap and Hattie comes up to her and pushes her away with her hand while saying, "No, Lily, that's my mommy, not Lily's".  I love that she's such a moma's girl!  The boys kind of go back and forth between me and Chris and Lily is definitely a Daddy's girl so it's nice to have one that's mine.  I'm sure this will change many times through the years, but for right now, she finds great joy in telling her Daddy no to everything and then running to me.  At two, Hattie:

-weighs 27.4 lb (50%)

-is 33" tall (25%..my little shorty)

-has a head that is 47.6 cm big (50%)

-wears size 5 diapers

-wears 3T clothes...she must have had a growth spurt recently because she was rocking the 2T clothes just a couple of weeks ago with plenty of room.  I will say that she can't wear blue jeans because her belly is so big.  If I get them to fit in her belly, they're way too long in the length.  So, we have to do all leggings.  I love to see those little fat thighs in leggings!

-wears size 6 shoe.  She still has itty bitty baby feet

-talks like crazy..her favorite words are No, Li-ly, Goose, Nic-Nic, Landon, Moma, Daddy, cookie, pop-tart and milk.  She has also started pairing words together.  If Chris picks her up from school, she'll say, "Mommy work" and when Chris is gone, she'll say, "Daddy work". She also love to say, "Hush Maggie". (she may have heard this from me a time or two)

-loves to play outside.  She absolutely loves the trampoline and just wandering around the back yard

-has started posing when I pull my camera out.  She'll put her hands on her hips and say cheese like crazy!

-goes to sleep around 8:00 every night if we're home and will sleep until about 7:30 am on the weekends (sometimes later if I'm lucky)

I just love this little girl so much.  She's such a snuggle bug and she has such a mix of all her siblings personalities.  

One More Step

Well, this past weekend, we took one more step to saying goodbye to our baby years.  And let me tell you, this was probably one of my hardest steps to take.  After this, all we have left of our baby years is Hattie sleeping in a crib and diapers!  It's so hard to believe and while Chris is loving it, I'm hanging onto every step until the last minute!  I've known since Hattie was born that I wanted to do something special when we got rid of her paci.  Simply because she's our only child who has cared anything about it.  So, early on, we decided when the time came, we would go to Build-a-bear and let her put her paci into the bear with the heart.  This way, she can sleep with her paci still, just not with the paci in her mouth.  

Recently, she has started talking around her paci.  This drives me nuts!  She also would bite her pacis to the point that most of them were barely hanging on.  This made me nervous especially at nap time.  Couple that with the fact that she didn't even use her paci at daycare and I figured it was time.  The boys were going to be going to a basketball game in Chapel Hill this past weekend so I figured there was no time like the present.  On the way down, I looked at Hattie and said, "Aww, Hattie this is the last time I'll see you with a paci".  Her immediate response to me was to point her finger at me and say "hush!"  She obviously did not want to talk about it!  

When we got to Build-a-bear, she put the paci right into her bunny she had chosen and didn't look back.  I couldn't believe that it went that well.  But, oh when we left the store, she had a meltdown.  She cried from one end of the mall to the other and 30 minutes into our ride to pick up the boys from the game.  She kept saying, "paci, I want my paci".  I would give her the bunny and she would throw it down on the ground.  Or, she would dig in the bunny trying to get the paci out.  

Luckily, when we got home, she was so tired, she went right to sleep.  On Sunday, she didn't even ask for her paci during the day.  After bath, she did ask for it once, but I told her that her paci was gone bye bye and she was fine with it.  She has finally come around to loving the bunny.  I think she's finally figured out that at least she can still hold it!  I love that little sassy girl of mine.  

Hattie - 18 Months!

Hattie Girl turned 18 months at the end of September.  Time has flown by faster and faster with each child.  It's crazy that she'll be hitting the 2 year mark before long!  She is such a little love muffin and loves to snuggle and give both Eskimo and regular kisses to you.  When she does, there's usually a loud MUAH that goes along with it.  She's the most laid-back baby that I've ever known, but I guess being the baby of 4 will do that to you. At 18 months, Hattie:

-weighs 22 lbs, 15 oz (30th percentile)
-is 30.25" (15th percentile)
-has a head circumference of 46.3 cm (44th percentile)
-finally moved up to size 5 diapers
-wears 18 to 24 month clothes, depending on how it's made
-sleeps from about 7:30 pm to 7:30 am on the weekends and during the week, it's whenever she can get to sleep (depending on practices and game for the boys) until 7:00 am when I wake her up
-takes about a 2.5 - 3 hour nap daily
-has 11 teeth (finally!)
-is in the Toddler 2 room at school
-still clings to that paci (she chooses which one she wants everyday and when she goes to sleep at night)
-is starting to cling to her "baby" (exactly what Nixon used to call his lovey too)
-loves shoes!
-loves to dance..she does it every time you turn the music on

Hattie is such a great balance to our family.  She's definitely a true baby of the family and gets spoiled by everyone..especially her brothers and sister.  Hattie May, I love you much and couldn't imagine our family without you in it!

PC: Dana Ashlyn Photography

Hattie - 15 Months!

Well, little Hattie-girl is 15 months old!  Hard to believe it!  Seems like just yesterday that she was my (not-so) teeny, tiny baby.  At 15 Months, Hattie:

-weighs 21 lbs, 10 oz (30%)
-is 29" long (11%)
-has a head circumference of 46.2 (58%)
-wears size 4 diapers 
-wears 18 mth clothes
-wears size 4 shoes (she has itty bitty baby feet still)
-has 6 teeth
-loves to wrestle.  If the boys are wrestling, she's quick to jump right in the middle
-finally started walking..she can go everywhere now and does.  Although, every once in a while, she decides that crawling may be faster. 
-has started really talking, saying mama, dada, no, yes, bubba (for Landon or Nixon), and Lily.  She'll also imitate most anything if she's in a good mood
-sleeps from 7:30 - 8:00 pm until 8:00-10:00 am.  Chris has also gotten her in the habit of taking 3 hour naps during the day
-eats like a hog.  I think the girl would eat all day, every day if you'd let her.  Her favorite snack is animal crackers
-is finally getting hair long enough for a hair bow.  She's really working on a little baby mullet so I'm thinking it's time for her first trim soon 
-loves the beach.  We've been multiple times this year and she'll crawl right into the water and waves if we let her.  She also loves to play in the sand.  She'll play non-stop.  
-since we've been to the beach so much, she has the cutest little tan lines and baby girl has a pretty good tan going on.  
-has plenty of nicknames: Patty, Patty-Wheeze, Wheezy, Pumpkin-head, Monkey, Pat, & Hattie-girl

I love this little girl more than life itself.  She has so much personality already and has definitely fit right in with our little family.  She's the baby and I'm pretty sure she already knows how to work that card.  I can't wait to see what the next few months hold as she starts to talk and interact more with her siblings.  Hattie-girl, I love you to the moon and back!

Hattie - 12 Months!!

How is it even possible for my little baby to be 1 already!?!  I just can't even handle it! She's such a little love muffin and definitely a moma's girl (which I LOVE)!!  At 1 year old, Hattie:

-weighs 19 lb, 1 oz (18%)
-is 28 1/4 in long (22%)
-head circumference is 45 cm (48%)
-wears 12-18 month clothes, depending on cut/style
-wears size 4 diapers
-finally is drinking from a sippy cup consistently!!  All it took was some chocolate milk :)
-sleeps from 7 pm - 7 am
-takes a 2 hour nap every day
-can sign 'more' and 'all done'
-says moma, dada, and bye bye
-makes kissy noises at you when you're leaving
-will cry some mornings when I put her down at daycare and will grin and wrinkle her nose at me as soon as I pick her back up (little stinker)
- loves her sister and brothers (especially when they're giving her their undivided attention)
-loves to swing (her favorite..she giggles the whole time)
-loves ravioli and bananas
-has absolutely NO interest in walking..she'd rather be carried everywhere (like a little princess should)

At Hattie's one year old well check, we talked about her weight.  It has continued a steady decline on her percentile range.  She started out so big, but has turned into a petite little peanut.  The doctor is not worried yet (she still has "strong" AKA chunky thighs and she eats NON-STOP!), but she has to eventually even out.  Her head circumference and length has stayed the same so they want to make sure that her weight growth does as well.  Her iron was also on the low side so they want to monitor that.  Part of the problem with her weight and iron is that she can't tolerate whole milk, therefore she has to drink almond milk.  It basically doesn't have the nutrients and calories that whole milk would.  She said that we can supplement her almond milk with a supplement that would increase her calcium and other vitamins that she would normally get from the whole milk.  Overall, a good appointment and she actually didn't cry with the doctor this time!

Hattie's 1st Birthday - Mad Hatter Style

Hard to believe my little baby girl is the big O-N-E already!  This year has flown by like nothing I've ever seen.  I'm not going to lie, I had her first birthday party planned out as soon as I found out I was having a girl because I knew Hattie was the name we had picked for a girl.  I even went so far as to have a secret Pinterest board so people wouldn't think I was crazy.  The only three people who knew about it were Chris (of course), my friend Kim (because she's a crazy party planner too) and my SIL Alex (hey, you made it to the blog!). Anyway, on to the party details...

The birthday outfit

The entrance

Mushrooms

Photo props

 The awesome cake

 Smash cake set to her birth time

 11 Months of my baby girl!

 She loved opening her gifts!

 She did not hesitate when it was time to eat!

I had so much fun planning everything for this party and I think everything turned out great.  We kept it pretty small with just family and close friends so that we could really celebrate our little love muffin.  I am just in awe of what a great baby she is.  She fits in perfectly with our little family and I can't imagine what it was like before she was a part of our family.  

Hattie - 11 Months!

My baby is 11 months!  Where has the time gone?  When I want it to go slow, it seems to pick up speed like crazy! Hattie is the sweetest little baby there is!  She is so fun and happy-go-lucky.  But when she's mad, watch out!  She can't throw a fit with the best of them already! In fact, she was throwing a fit tonight in the bath tub because I took her letter from her.  When she slammed her head in between her legs like she normally does, her complete face went into the water. Then, she looked at me like I had pushed her in.  It was priceless!

At 11 months, Hattie:
-is wearing size 4 diapers
-is wearing 12-18 month clothes, depending on style/fit
-is down to 3 bottles a day (8 oz).  She'll be cutting those in the next month
-is down to 1 nap a day, but is finally taking a good nap when she lays down (usually 1.5 - 2 hours)
-is sleeping from 7:00 pm - 7 am
-is cruising along on furniture and pulling up on anything she can get her hands on
-has learned "please" and "all done" in sign language
-finally is saying "mama" consistently
-loves to wrestle with anyone who gets on the floor with her
-has moved to the 1-yr old room at daycare
-eats table food at every meal (she LOVES bananas)
-is still the sweetest little love muffin ever!!
-nicknames: Patty, Daweeze, Hattie Lou, Hattie Girl

Hattie - 10 Months

Hard to believe my little butterball is 10 months old.  Before long, she'll be turning a year old and I'm really not looking forward to that.  I'm coming to grips that I'll always want that one last baby, but Hattie is definitely going to be my last.  I have to say, she's a great baby to end on.  Once we got the right formula for her, it's been pretty much smooth sailing.  She definitely has her days that I want to trade her in, but for the most part, she's such a little love muffin, I just can't get enough of her!

At 10 months, Hattie:
-eats (4) 8 oz bottles a day
-has moved to complete table food.  We keep a few jars of Stage 3 fruits in the cabinet just in case.  If she's really hungry, you can't feed her fast enough which does not work well with table food.  That's when the jars of baby food come in handy
-hasn't quite mastered a sippy cup yet.  She can't seem to figure out the concept even though we've tried just about every cup out there
-wears 12 month clothes
-wears size 3 diapers
-loves to head butt just like Landon used to..you have to watch out because she'll do it even when you're not paying attention
-finally started crawling and she takes advantage of it...she's all over the house keeping everyone on their toes
-pulls up on just about everything..including her crib when she doesn't want to take a nap
-has been trying to type with me on this entire post...I think I'll wrap this up so that I can give her my complete attention!!

Hattie - 9 Months

The littlest munchkin is already 9 months old.  It's crazy when you have the first baby, everything seems to drag on.  You want them to grow up so you can experience all those firsts.  Then, when you have the baby, especially when the baby is the 4th baby, you want it to drag on and it flies by!! At 9 months, Hattie:

-weighs 18 lb, 10 oz (53%)
-is 27 in long (35%)
-has a 43.8 head circumference (51%)
-wears size 12 month clothing
-wears size 3 diapers
-drinks four 8 oz bottles a day
-has moved onto stage 3 baby food and usually eats 3 or 4 of those a day
-still goes to sleep around 7-7:30 pm and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 am
-can't quite figure out the concept of crawling..she'll get on those knees and rock like crazy but she can't figure out how to move forward and it makes her so mad!
-loves to eat the little Gerber puffs as a snack
-is starting to figure out how to drink out of a sippy cup...we're definitely working on that one!
-can't seem to shake her cold/ear infection..she avoided any kind of sickness until about 7 months but she's been sick since then.  She'll be getting better while on the antibiotic, but as soon as that runs out, it comes right back.  We're currently on her 3rd antibiotic which is supposedly a strong one so hopefully we'll kick this thing in the butt
-finally said "ma-ma" on January 3, 2014!! (made me so happy!)

I just can't get over how much I love this little girl.  She's definitely the apple of her momma's eye..she's so sweet, I just can't get enough!!

Hattie - 8 Months!

Sweet Hattie Girl is 8 Months old!  I can't believe it.  I keep telling her to slow down a little, but she just doesn't!  She's still such a good baby and if all babies were like her, I'd want to have 20!  She's such a little love muffin, always cuddling up to your neck when you're holding her.  She still hates to be kissed, but she just loves snuggling.  At 8 months, Hattie:

-wears mostly 12 month clothes.
-wears size 3 diapers.
-eats the same number of bottles and baby food containers as last month
-has still not gotten a tooth!
-can sit up very independently, even reaching for toys.
-loves her jump-a-roo.  She goes to town in this everyday and it reminds me so much of Nixon..although she's failed to fall asleep in it like he used to.
-has gotten very attached to her Bernie (sleep blankets).  She is always snuggled up to them when she's asleep at school and when she gets tired at home, that's what she wants to have.
-is getting ready to move up to the 6-12 month old class room at daycare.  They can't move up into that room until they're mobile and well, Hattie has just been lazy!
-loves to get on the floor and play with her brothers and sister.  They're very good at handing her toys that she can play with and mostly she just likes to watch them interact with each other.

Hattie - 7 Months!

Little Hattie is 7 months old!  Time is flying by.  I feel like she was just born.  I think she'll always be a little baby to me because she IS my baby.  She's still sweet as sugar and by far, our best baby yet!  I guess it's good that we're ending on a good note!

At 7 Months, Hattie:
-wears size 3 diapers
-wears 9-12 month clothes depending on the style
-sleeps around 10 hours a night and takes 2-3 cat naps at school everyday.  She hasn't gotten the whole napping at school thing down pat yet!
-can finally sit up independently
-still has no teeth
-eats four 8 oz bottles everyday
-eats baby cereal for breakfast, a fruit and veggie for lunch and a fruit and veggie for supper (Stage 2)
-loves to watch her brothers and sister
-is ticklish everywhere, but especially under her chin
-says Dada
-loves to snuggle under my chin, giving lots of hugs when I pick her up from school.  She absolutely hates to be kissed on the mouth though.  She'll turn her head every time!
-loves to sleep on her side when we lay her down at night.  She automatically moves to that position
-is the loudest one in her class.  She yells all day.  Nothing's wrong, she just babbles extremely loud.  I think it's from all the loud chaos she's used to at home!