Smoky Mountains - again!

In the middle of October, we went up to our favorite cabin in Pigeon Forge. As usual, it was gorgeous up there, and the weather was great! On the trip, we stopped at The Dillard House on the way there for a fabulous breakfast and one day we drove over to Cades Cove for the wilderness drive. We were really hoping to see a bear or two, but no such luck.

We did have a little buddy at our cabin, though...a raccoon! He was eating the corn kernels out of the front porch decorations and he didn't seem the least bit scared of us. Dad finally had to use a metal shovel from the garbage bin to bang on the porch and scare him off so we could get in the house that night.

On the wilderness drive in Cades Cove, we stopped at a primitive Baptist Church and it had a really old graveyard behind it. The dates went back to the 1700s! I always find old graveyards really interesting...just imagining the lives of these people and sometimes the headstones will have little tidbits. One of the headstones said that the man had been in the NC militia during the Revolutionary War....another said that the man had been murdered by a rebel. And then there were really sad graves of young children...that hits me a lot harder now that I have my own child. I can't imagine how hard it would have been to live in a time where a common illness could kill you or your child so easily.

We also got to see and tour old log cabins from families that lived in those mountains in the 17 and 1800's. You can see part of one of these cabins in the photo of Hadley in the tree.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Today we took Hadley up to Burt's Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville and met up with our friends, Chris, Amanda and their son, Jackson. We picked out some great pumpkins and got lots of great photos in the pumpkin patch!

After we had picked our pumpkins and enjoyed some apple cider (which Hadley loved!), we went for a short hike down by the Amicilola (not sure I spelled that right) River. It was a beautiful day enjoyed with good friends! :-)

Not a baby anymore

It has suddenly hit me this week that my "baby" is not a baby anymore...she's a toddler. :-( Sniff, sniff. She's growing up and although I'm excited for her to learn new things...like how to run, ride a bike and TALK...I'm a little sad by how grown up she already looks!

Here's a cute photo I took the other night...Hadley watching her favorite show (the only one she pays any attention to) - Wheel of Fortune!

Apple picking

Yesterday we went to Ellijay, GA to do some apple picking. It was a beautiful day for it, although it was a bit colder than we expected. The wind was really blowing! We got some apples and took Hadley to the petting zoo (just to look...not to touch yet).

First steps

Hadley is WALKING!! In the last week or so, Hadley has started walking on her own and each day she is going further and walking faster as she gains confidence. It's so exciting!

Also, it looks like Hadley has a couple more teeth coming in. Her two front teeth on the top are coming in...they aren't fully grown in yet, though and I can't actually see them unless I lift her top lip. I had thought she was teething lately since I had noticed that she was putting EVERYTHING in her mouth and I guess I was right. She bit down on my finger, which previously wouldn't hurt much since she only had gums up top, but this time, it was QUITE painful since she now had chompers on the top as well as the bottom.

Milestone updates

Walking:
We have been waiting with bated breath for Hadley to start walking...but no such luck yet. We have managed to get her to take a few steps by herself but that's the most she'll do so far. It will probably be any day now (although I've been thinking that for the last month)!

Words:
She says "dada" to Rey consistently so we're pretty confident that she knows that's who he is. She will say "mama", too...but she usually only says it when she's upset and wants me to help her. She calls Simba "ba" but so far those are about the only words we can really make out. She babbles constantly so I'm thinking that once she does learn more words, she will be quite the talker.




Measurements:
Weight: 20lbs., 8oz. (38th percentile)
Height: 29.25 inches (43rd percentile)
Head Circumference: 18 inches (74th percentile)

Eating:
Now that Hadley is a year old she doesn't need formula anymore...Woohoo!! She drinks whole milk and thankfully, she didn't have any problems with the transition. She is also doing great with feeding herself...her favorites are bananas and strawberries. :-) She STILL only has 2 teeth and I am starting to wonder if the others will ever come in. I'm hoping she at least gets her top two in soon so she can use them to bite with. She still mostly drinks from her bottle, but she's getting better with a sippy cup and she's quite good at drinking from a straw.

Music:
As with most babies her age she loves music and she even dances sometimes! She kinda looks like she's doing the twist when she's dancing...so cute! Rey's mom taught her a couple of songs with little hand movements and she'll do those movements with her hand when she wants to hear them. Then we'll sing them to her and she'll clap!

1st Birthday party

I am FINALLY posting the pictures from Hadley's birthday party...sorry it has taken so long!