7 months

Last Sunday, our baby girl was SEVEN months old!  I can't believe it!  Time has just FLOWN and continues to do so.  Nancy Carolyn is SO much fun now and each day is more and more fun as she learns and masters new things.  The last month brought LOTS of changes to the Hartley house.  NC is eating more and more veggies and fruits.  She's a good eater and so far seems to enjoy everything she's tried.  She especially likes veggies, including sweet potatoes (of course!).  She also really liked the peaches that I made for her (fresh peaches that were pureed).  NC has mastered the art of sitting.  Every now and again she'll fall over, but it doesn't cause tears anymore.  She's TRYING so hard to scoot and crawl, but has figured out to reach toys she can pull the quilt and get the toy that she wants... or she can roll around and she'll eventually get it. :) She's resourceful, that's for sure! She loves to laugh and is constantly saying "ma ma ma ma ma."  I don't have "official" stats this month, but according to the wii, she's about 16 lbs.  She's also getting longer because we're starting to be too long for our 6 month pajamas.  Last night we wore our first 9 months pair!  

                                                                         Big girl!

                                         NC meets Bumba for the first time (my grandmother)

This was last Sunday.  She took a nap in her swing and I was amazed at how big she looked in it.  It prompted me to look back at old pictures to when she first started napping in the swing..




To the right is a picture from "week 2" of her life... just amazing.  When did she get so big???

Sorry blogger

I have been a horrible blogger as of late.  School started and I have NO time to blog.  I'm hoping that as we settle into a schedule and I get back into the groove of school that it will be easier and there will be more time.  School has been crazy busy, then I rush to get my Princess.  Once we get home, I want to spend EVERY waking minute with her until bedtime.  THEN, because it's too hot outside, I've gone to the Y for 3 nights a week to run on the treadmill.  Needless to say, it's 9:00 on Saturday night and I'm EXHAUSTED!  

I promise to blog tomorrow about my Princess.  She turns 7 months tomorrow, so I will brag and brag on how wonderful she is! :)

Until then... let me tell you about me.  Like I said, busy busy bee since school has started back.  Not only will I teach the gifted resource class, I will also be teaching the accelerated fifth grade math class.  I'm excited about both even though I would prefer to be at home with my baby.  Anyone want to pay me to stay home with her???  31 is going well.  I'm excited about the new products and hope the busy Christmas shopping season will add to my sales.  Training is going really well.  I've never considered myself a runner.  In fact, I've always said I hate running.  BUT I'm actually enjoying running (once I get going).  And that's it for now...

SOOOOO Excited

I am excited beyond belief!  Lots of great things are happening in my life right now and I am just so blessed!  First and foremost, NC is getting to be such a big girl.  She makes me smile and laugh constantly.  She can sit up and play by herself and it really amazes me to watch her learn and get stronger.  She's also enjoying veggies and fruits and trying new ones!
 
Something else I'm excited about is Thirty-One Gifts! Most of you know that I signed on in May to be a consultant.  Thirty One Gifts is a home based company.  It was started by a Christian woman who wanted to celebrate, encourage and reward women.  Thirty One is named after Proverbs 31, which many of you know is the Virtuous Woman... one of my favorite passages.  When I realized the company was Christian based and what 31 stood for, I got really excited and signed right up.  Not to mention that I LOVE bags and they have some of the cutest!!!  I went to a meeting for consultants yesterday and just got so excited about owning my own little business and it has made me PUMPED to share with you.  Please think about hosting a party.  You get LOTS of great things! (ask Rebecca C.)  The more you put into your party, the bigger the sales, the more FREE stuff you get! 

FINALLY, I am also very excited to start training "officially" this week for my half marathon.  I signed up with Team In Training to complete a half marathon.  I'm training for San Antonio half in November.  If you don't know about TNT, they train people to complete endurance events (marathons, triathlons, century rides) and raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.  A few weeks ago (long story short), I met Tina Bridges and her son Knox in the bathroom at Target.  The Bridges were in Atlanta for Knox to be checked into Egleston for chemo.  Knox just turned one last week.  He was diagnosed with infant ALL at the age of 8 months (which is very rare for children under one to be diagnosed... even though ALL is the most common form of childhood cancer).  He is currently cancer free but will have to have chemo for two more years.  When Tina told me about Knox's cancer, I got chills and immediately knew that he was my reason for signing on to TNT.  God put him in that bathroom with me to verify that I was following His will in doing this exciting thing!

A Shout Out

My sweet friend from college ("Little Sarah" as she was so lovingly called) has started her own photography business.  She came about a week after Nancy Carolyn was born to practice newborn shots.  This past week, she joined us to take some pictures of Nancy Carolyn, now that she is SIX MONTHS OLD!  (where has the time gone?)  Check them out here. 

It seems like the week was super busy but thinking back, we didn't do THAT much.  Monday we had lunch with Rebecca.  Anytime I have a break at school, I usually meet Rebecca for lunch.  NC was very entertaining at lunch and I think she enjoyed Rebecca's company as much as I did.  We ended up back at the doctor's office this week.  It seems NC was bit by something (?) and she's had a reaction to it.  :(  She doesn't seem bothered by it, it just looks horrible.  On the food front, since starting veggies... she's had squash, bananas, peas and carrots.  So far, she's seemed to like everything she's tried.  I know that I am a pretty picky eater.  I really want to raise a child that will eat anything (like Chris). :)

 

NC meets squash

1/2 year

My baby is half a year old... 6 months... 26 weeks...182 days.  I cannot believe it!  She is the light of our lives and we cannot imagine or remember our lives without her.  

Stats are... 15 lbs and 25 inches long.  She's a petite girl but is cute as a button.  Nancy Carolyn is always (for the most part) happy.  She has the BIGGEST smile and I absolutely love it.  My favorite is going in to her room after she's woken up and the minute she sees me she flashes a huge smile.  

Nancy Carolyn can roll all over the floor and is working on sitting up by herself (she still needs a little support).  She LOVES to "stand." Her latest thing is throwing things on the floor, including taking things off the exersaucer to throw on the floor.  

Our biggest news is that she's started eating veggies AND we're working on drinking water from a sippy cup.  My baby girl is growing up (sniff sniff) and I am SO PROUD!

Tennesse Aquarium, Ruby Falls and Rock City

While in Chattanooga, we headed to the aquarium, Ruby Falls AND Rock City!  We were busy but had a TON of fun and we think Nancy Carolyn enjoyed all the sites. :)  It's been a while since I had been to the TN aquarium and they've added a whole new building since I was there last.  They now have an Ocean building, which is VERY cool!  In it are penguins...everyone's favorite chilly bird.  They were the highlight of my day.  The River building was as cool as usual.  It was very fun to see Chris (who had never been) and NC's reaction to the different animals.

We also went to Ruby Falls and Rock City.  I had been to Ruby Falls before but never to Rock City.  Ruby Falls was cool, as usual.  The falls are very pretty and I think we had the BEST tour guide I've ever had (anywhere...) His name was Brent and he was an older gentleman, who has been giving tours there for 16 years.  (Can you imagine?)  He was quite entertaining and you could tell he LOVED his job.  We were up towards the front of our tour, so we were able to hear most of his banter.  Chris actually talked with him on the way back (after we saw old Ruby).  Rock City was self guided and it was beautiful out.  We didn't go EVERYWHERE (like "fat man's squeeze") because of the stroller.  But it sure was beautiful.   

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures from our adventures.  If you want to see ALL the pictures, click on the link for our shutterfly page.  I'm looking forward to returning next year for the race and taking NC to the Children's Museum.