Before 10am

I’m living in a sweet spot.  I have one young toddler who hasn’t had the desire yet to completely rebel and develop his own autonomy.  And I’ve got an 8 month old that can’t go very far very fast.  Oh and she can’t speak, so arguments are rarely a thing with her.  It's just a sweet spot.  Life is easy and enjoyable.  Don’t get me wrong, of course we have bad days; we’re human.  But for the most part my days are really enjoyable.  Right now I’m loving my mornings with my babies.  There is something just so special and enjoyable about the mornings lately.  I want to remember these mornings, how ever early they may be, always.  Just to capture a glimpse of our home, this is what our days are typically like before 10am.

The early morning alarm goes off at 4am………through sleepy eyes, let’s get the day going

The house is dark and quiet……the ONLY time it’s like this all day long.  Must embrace the early quiet!

The Mr. gets ready for the gym and work and while both babies are sleeping like angels. He is out the door pretty early.

The puppies loathe the early mornings.  I think they would sleep until noon if I let them. Lazy pups!

I forgot to get the coffee ready the night before!  Hurry and get that go-go juice!!!!!  I recently discovered Dunkin' Doughnuts hazelnut coffee.....it's pretty good y'all!  We still have the old school coffee maker.  No Keurig for us.....I'm anti-Keurig which I guess is a topic for its own post.

It’s a Friday….that means we have to get the trash to the curb, and of course we didn’t get to that last night either. 

I try to get a pump session in before Lady Ellis wakes.  She usually gets up around 6 now.  So we nurse, change her diaper, play and have one on one time.  She’s so cheery in the morning.  (She did NOT get this trait from me!) On this particular morning as I’m washing my face, Lady Ellis discovers the puppys’ water bowl.  “Oh this is going to be so much fun today” is the sarcastic thought the scrolls across my mind.

 Time to get Ellis dressed and another cup of coffee…..and yes I always stir my coffee with a child’s spoon now.  At first it was out of desperation and sheer avoidance of tackling the mountain of dirty dishes, but now I actually think they’re the perfect coffee stirrers…. I might never go back.

About 8am my Dutch is awake, and he ALWAYS asks to see “baby girl” first thing in the morning.  But right after he sees her he's on to “dump truck” hunting.  He knows that Fridays are trash days so he sits at his window to watch for the garbage trucks while I change another diaper.  Just for reference, trash doesn’t get picked up until about 1pm so he is stalking the window for hours.  Every sound outside that is even remotely close to the sound of a truck has him racing to the window.

 Dutch reads “If you give a mouse a cookie” while I make breakfast.  It’s definitely his favorite book right now.  Our go-to for breakfast is breakfast tacos, or as Dutch calls it “bread and cheese”

After breakfast I try to get my blog posted.  All of my posts are pre-written and scheduled to go live at 5am, but I post them to social media around 9am.

Peanuts is another one of Dutch’s favorites lately, so he’s allowed to watch 15 minutes while I nurse Ellis before her nap.  I keep telling her that if she doesn’t want to nap at 9am she should just sleep later.  So far she hasn’t listened to my suggestion.

Once Ellis is down for her morning nap in mama’s bed, Dutch and I have our school time.  We’ve been working hard on fine motor skills, shapes, colors, & days of the week.  For our scripture work we’ve been learning about Jonah and the big fish.

By the time our school time is over, it’s time to start thinking about lunch and afternoon naps.  The mornings go so quickly.  Slow down time!

Hawley Peeps Monthly: Month Eight

So here we are, at the busiest and fastest phase of the year.  I know the next few months are going to go fast.  I feel this way every year with the holidays.  Before we know it though, I’m going to be writing a one year old post for Lady Ellis.  I better get my tissues ready!  I think I should buy the Costco jumbo tissues for this birthday.

Month 1 ~ Month 2 ~ Month 3 ~ Month 4 ~ Month 5 ~ Month 6 ~ Month 7

Month Eight- Dutch

• This month you learned how to “high five”
• You received a visited from Grammy and Grampy in Houston
• You fell off the bed :-(
• I should have known not to cut tags off of anything because you love tags
• You still love to hold onto things like fabric
• You makes noises like spitting sunflower seeds
• You’re a stomach sleeper
• Took your 1st nap in crib for 40 minutes
• You’re now eating solids once a day- tried avocado, sweet potatoes, bananas and likes them both
• First night going to bed in his crib 1/17/15…...lasted an hour
• First night at the dinner table with mama & daddy 1/19/15
• On 1/20/15 slept from 9:30pm to 4:15am! Longest stretch ever! Only woke up because he needed to be changed.  I wonder if he would have slept longer?
• 1/22/16 disciplined for the first time for pulling on the cable boxes... he thinks "no" is funny.  It’s hard not to laugh when I’m disciplining.
• Dutch can feed himself with a spoon
• He’s starting pulling up onto his feet
• Dutch still loves bath time
• You’re still breastfed and cloth diapers
• For clothes, most shirts are still 3-6 months and pants are 9 months
• You got to watch your first Superbowl
• You’re just not interested in toys so much as crawling around
• You found the dog food and water bowls….it’s a mess
• You got your first accident at school 1/30/15; fell over and got the teeniest red bump on his forehead
• You like to pull up on the range in the kitchen
• You sported your first mohawk
• First trip to the farmers market
• You learned how to clap

Month Eight- Ellis

• It seems like you’re skin is a little sensitive. It does’t take much to irritate it, and you tend to get diaper rashes more.
• You don't like having a dirty diaper, not even for 5 minutes.  You let us know right away when you need to be changed.  I'm hoping this is helpful when it's time for potty training
• You haven't sat up very much, just that one time last month
• On 8/19/16 daddy and I saw that you were kind of army crawling forward.  You weren't using your hands really, so much as pushing with your legs but you were definitely moving forward!
• By 8/27 you're definitely army crawling and getting pretty fast.  You haven't left the rug in the living room yet (I wonder if you think you're not allowed to?) but you move all around it.
• You are now waking up around 7 am every day.  It used to be more around 8 am but slowly that time started becoming earlier and earlier.  It's pretty predictable now.  You are still a morning person though; very very happy.  You're a lot like your dad in that you are up early and very happy.
• You're still taking 3-4 naps during the day.  Around 10:30 you take about 1.5 hour nap and again at 2 pm for about 2 hours and then another around 5 pm.  Then you take a short one around 7:30 and then you're about ready for bed around 9:30 pm
• You are still sleeping with mama during the night and in our bed during the day for naps.  I put the monitor by your head so that I can hear when you wake up.  You scratch it (you like to scratch everything these days) when you're ready for me to come get you.
• You still prefer to eat every 2 hours, and sometimes you'll stretch to 3 hours (this is both during the night and the day).
• Hugging and snuggling is something you love to do.  You love to just wrap your arms around my neck.
• Your baths are with big brother now in the big tub; it's so sweet to watch you together.  Bath time is still special time with daddy.  I love to hear you and your brother giggling in the bathroom at daddy.
• I'm convinced that you like to toot, especially when you wake up.
• When you're happy and smiling at people you make this hissing sound, like an alligator.  I think that might be one of your laughs?  It's funny to listen to you laugh.
• You’re still exclusively breastfed and cloth diapered
• On 8/27/16 I was at the grocery store loading the groceries into the car with you when I looked down and saw something shiny in your mouth.  It looks like you have 2 teeth coming in and one is already poking through.  You did not show any signs of pain or discomfort or drooling.  I had no idea! What a surprise!  I was cheering for your but sad for me because you're just growing so fast little one.  I can't keep up!
• By the end of this month that second tooth pushed it’s way through
• 8/29/16 was Ellis first day of school and she did great (though she didn't like to take a bottle and wanted only mama). She didn’t cry once this month at school.  She just watches everyone around her and it so sleepy once she gets home though.
• 8/29/16 was also the first time Ellis chocked on a piece of a cardboard coaster.  It was scary because I just couldn't get it out, and once I thought I had it all, I realized that I was wrong and there was still more.
• Ellis is a big fan of cars.  She likes to play (and eat) all of Dutch's cars.
• You’re starting to chew on your right hand a lot; I think you're doing it as you teeth
• On 9/3/16 you found the dog's water bowl.  I knew it was only a matter of time before you did.  You tipped it over as soon as you found it.  Now I really need to be ready to start chasing you, and re-baby proof the house.
• I removed the infant head insert from your car seat.  You don't need it anymore.  I feel like this means I'm starting to have to let you go a little bit because you're not my teeny baby anymore
• Your sleep schedule right now: you get up between 6 and 7 in the morning, play a little and then eat and go for your first morning nap around 8:45.  It's a short nap and then your up and go back to sleep around 11:30 for about an hour.  Around 2:30 you take your long afternoon nap for about 2 hours. Then you’re up until about 7:30 pm (only for about 45 minutes) and then you're up to eat and go back to sleep for the night around 9:45.  You get your longest stretch of sleep from 9:45 pm until 1 am, then you're up every hour to hour and a half until morning.
• You are getting really fast with your army crawl!
• You’re mostly in 6-9 month clothes, because you really need the length. 
• On 9/11/16 You took the slice of orange out of daddy's hand and ate it.  You seemed to like it.  I think we're getting closer to table food for you

Chickpea Shawarma

I forget that I have to make dinner sometimes.  I am the one in charge of making sure we eat, and I forget sometimes only to realize that I have 15 minutes before everyone has a breakdown.  This yumminess has become my go-to when I forget about dinner.  I always have these ingredients on hand and it takes no time at all to make.  It’s so easy that my 2 year old helps me!
Ingredients
3 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
3 tbs EVOO
3 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt, pepper & smoked (or regular) paprika
3/4 tsp ground coriander, & cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
For serving: warm naan, red onion, cilantro, lemon, hummus, tzatziki, feta, & grilled chicken if you want (marinated with EVOO & oregano).

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees & line a baking sheet with foil.
2. Mix together chickpeas, oil, & spices.  Then spread on your lined baking sheet. 
3. Bake for 15 minutes, and then turn on the broiler for 3-5 minutes until crispy & brown. While the chickpeas are cooking away, prepare your serving decorations.
4. Enjoy!

Honestly Hawley {August}

Now that we’re almost done with September I should probably look through August, right?! hahaha I’m not even going to try and stay on a schedule.  I’m pretty sure I don’t know what that word means anymore.  Let me be completely transparent though: while I was going through our pictures from August, I bawled as I composed this post.  I don’t know if it was the music playing in the background or just looking at everything that happened in August with my favorite people….I don’t know, but this mama is ugly crying right now!  Feel blessed that you can't see my face right now lol It's not pretty!

So here are the honest, unedited, unscripted scenes of our August life :-) 

Please excuse me while I bawl into my tissue!

Recap: June and July