Food/Allergy Update

At Hadley's 6 month appt a few weeks ago, we were planning to do some blood work to test for allergies. It was a whirlwind of a day after having her regular vaccinations and then being sent to do emergency blood work because of a weird rash she had on the bottom of her legs (NOT FUN to watch a nurse find a vein on your baby!). While they drew her blood, they went ahead and drew enough for 2 different tests--an allergy test and an intolerance/sensitivity test. My main objective in doing the testing was to make sure there weren't other foods she had an intolerance to that I didn't already know about. As we've started feeding her food, I've been more fearful about what may or may not bother her. So, we waited a little over a week and landed back at the dr. this past Monday. The Dr. walked in, gave me a you're-not-going to-believe-this-smile and told me what I had a feeling she would--everything was PERFECTLY NORMAL! There wasn't a single number "off". What? Seriously? We weren't expecting the allergies to be present but thought that surely something would appear as an intolerance. My Dr. did say that the intolerances may not show up without the things that she's intolerant to being in my body at this time. So, either she is still sensitive to those things (dairy, soy, and gluten) or she's grown out of it and will be fine moving forward. Regardless, time will tell and now I'll have to make decisions about if I want to add them back in, when, how quickly or how slowly, etc... As we've thought through those decisions this week, I must admit that it's been tempting to just keep doing what I'm doing. With feeling like we've finally hit the cruise control with Hadley, we're definitely not interested in causing any hiccups.... HOWEVER, my diet has been really hard and 4-6 months more of doing that does sound tough. We'll keep you posted on what we decide to do but we will definitely wait a month or so before we add anything back in. We are so, so grateful to be allergy free... I will forever feel compassion for parents who go through what we have endured with our Hadley girl. Hopefully the worst is behind us!

Cooper Wheatley!

Our dear friends, Scott and Ashley, welcomed their second little boy, Cooper Wheatley, into the world a few weeks ago! We were so happy to meet him and I'm so excited he and Hadley will be so close in age.

I think Cooper's already making the "touchdown" sign here :)

We love you guys!

Hadley Weekly!

Hadley is 29 weeks old!

I'm behind and a lot has been going on in the world of Hadley!

She is on the move! I regret to say that our just barely 6 month old is crawling. :( She is up on her knees and scooting--maneuvering however she needs to in order to get to the object of choice (which is usually whatever Tucker is playing with of course). I can't believe it. The whole just-sit-there-and-play-with-toys-while-they-can't-move-anywhere stage is not going to exist and I am SAD! She is keeping me on my toes for sure :)

She started being content to sleep on her back! All of a sudden one day, she decided she was content to fall back asleep on her back (after rolling over) and this was a shock after several weeks of her not being soothed unless we turned her over. This {long} battle was very frustrating so we couldn't be happier when she was able to self-soothe. She starts out her naps on her belly but sometimes will end up on her back.

About a week later, she also accomplished rolling from back to front! She's flipping all over the place now and can get comfortable in her bed all by herself!

She still loves to be held and will easily fall asleep in the bjorn or the sling. I know these days will not last forever!

She's eating her food well. We've introduced sweet potatoes and the rice cereal now and she seems to like it all! She's eating breakfast and dinner and we'll add lunch soon. She still takes the bottle great! Brad feeds her at bedtime every night and she's even taken a bottle with a few babysitters during the day recently--yay!

Last week Hadley met her Mema for the first time. She celebrated her 80th birthday a few weeks ago so we were excited to introduce Hadley to her!

Hadley is growing! She's wearing 6-12 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

At her 6 month appt, her stats were:

weight: 19 lbs, 4 oz (97th percentile!)

height: 25 1/2 inches (25% percentile)

Finally, Hadley had her first girls' weekend with my best friends from college. Thanks to Gigi being there with us, I was able to sit on the beach without a tent and go out to dinner without taking a diaper bag :) I was so happy for Hadley to meet some of my favorite girls!

So many times in Hadley's short life, people have said the statement to me, "It will get better". It's been a hard road with her in many different ways but I can genuinely say that things ARE BETTER! The 6 month mark has brought great rhythm to our days and Hadley is a content, happy little girl. To say we are thankful is an understatement!

We love you Hadley girl!

6 months old!

texas.forever.

Amy's story

I wanted to share this interview that Amy did with the local news. She is my hero! Thanks for continuing to pray for her as she waits for more results...

Hadley Weekly!

Hadley is 26 weeks old and quickly approaching 6 months old!

She got her second tooth this week so now she has two bottom teeth!

She also started eating food this week! The doctor suggested I skip over rice/oatmeal cereal for now because of all her food issues so we'll just do fruits and vegetables for now. We just started on bananas, which we've been doing during our dinner time, and it's been good! She seems to know what to do with her tongue although I forgot how long it takes at the beginning!

Hadley is starting to be on the move. While laying on her back on the floor, she can scoot herself a few feet off the blanket. When she's on her belly, she'll get on her knees and start to rock. Hadley, PLEASE DON'T CRAWL YET!

Hadley is perfectly content when she is awake. Brad and I were just saying what a different baby she is compared to a few months ago. She's content just to hang out, doesn't require a lot of attention, and she loves being outside! She loves to interact with anyone and will give you a smile that melts you as soon as you look at her.

She wants everything in her mouth...even Tucker's diggers :)

One of the sweetest times in our days lately are Hadley-Tucker times. Hadley's usually with me when I go to wake Tucker up and he insists that he "snuggle his baby sisser". Hadley looks at him with this biggest smile... this is my favorite time of the day!

Isn't she just the cutest?

Bananas!

Hadley started eating bananas this week! We're not going to do cereal for now because of all her dietary issues, so fruits and vegetables it is!

She looked like such a big girl in the highchair!

Happy girl!

Yummy!

We'll keep adding a new food every 3-4 days...I'm sure there will be many messy pictures to come!

33 months old!

Tucker is 33 months old!

Things I don't want to forget about this age...

He's started talking about God more and seems interested in understanding who He is. He talks about him living in our hearts and he thanks Him for dying on the cross. Be.Still.My.Heart.

He LOVES the water! With this "floaty" on, he is swimming independently! He jumps into the pool and swims to the ladder or stairs on his own. He also goes down the really big slide at our pool--he'll go down backwards, head first... he is not afraid! We are so thankful he loves it!

He still takes great naps--usually 3 hours everyday. He doesn't wake up fast or easily...like his mama :)

He plays soccer on Saturday mornings in an indoor league for toddlers. Brad goes with him (parents have to participate with them) and he's done great with learning how to listen in a group and play with the other kids.

He still loves diggers and machines. Watching them, playing with them, reading about them...

He loves to sit and read books (and so do I)...he loves "find the object in the picture" books and he also enjoys his Highlights magazine that comes every month!

He's started memorizing songs more and he will sing us the songs from church--"I've got the joy, joy, joy...", "Big, big house", and "Our God is so big"... we love it!

He loves the beach and we've had so much fun going there often this summer. He's content to play by himself in the sand and he likes getting in the ocean.

He's still wearing pull ups at nap and at night. He's dry most days and every now and then at night. Maybe we'll stop using them soon?

He's still a great eater and his favorite foods these days are PB&J, squeeze yogurts, anything dipped in sour cream :), deviled eggs, and hot dogs.

He LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and doesn't request anything else these days. "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog..." is in our heads ALL the time :)

He is such a sweet big brother! He is very affectionate towards Hadley and likes to interact with her. We have good snuggle time together when Hadley and I go wake Tucker up from his nap and I don't know who likes it more!

Enjoy some pictures from this past month!

Tucker and Daddy enjoying TCBY!

Tucker still loves his "dee dee"...except now, it's "dee-dee's"... He now has a big blanket that he loves ("big dee-dee") and his small one that he's always had. But, the thing he likes most about his blankets are the tags, which he calls "the flags". He rubs the tag with one hand while sucking his two middle fingers on the other hand. He's become so obsessed with them that he'll find tags anywhere. I took this picture when I found him on the floor with the tags on Hadley's blanket...sweet :)

We had a fun day on the Lake this with my best friend's from college-Rebecca and Jen. Tucker loved the boat and in true Tucker-fashion, he just stared out at the water, taking it all in.

For July 4th, we went with some friends out to Birkdale. Tucker enjoyed the the balloons, the fountain, and hanging out with his buddies!

Tucker and Max

Tucker is a big help in the garden! He really seems to enjoy helping Brad and he loves to bring in the bucket to show me what they've picked!

Having a yummy chocolate doughnut and his buddy Emma's bday party!

This age is so much fun because of the ways that he communicates so well... we laugh all the time! But, we are also battling his ability to argue, say "no" and, and pitch a fit. We are in the throws of discipline and a lot of days, it wears me out! I'll leave you with a funny story... One night Tucker had to go to time out-during dinner. Brad went to get him out and asked him the usual question, 'Tucker, do you know why you had to come to time out?" Tucker looked at Brad in the eye, completely serious, and said, "Daddy, Jesus is alive!" :) This is definitely the stage of never knowing what's going to come out of their mouths next!

We love you Tucker boy!

Hadley Weekly!

Hadley is 25 weeks old!

This week was much better than the two weeks before. She's till rolling over during her naps but it's not taking as long to sooth her back to sleep. We are still holding out for her to roll back over on her own but she's not quite there yet.

Lots of blanket time...trying to teach her to roll back over :)

Hadley got her first tooth this week! It came in on the morning we were leaving Missouri and slowly made it's way to looking like a big girl tooth. She drooled a ton but didn't seem to be in too much pain.

Hadley loves to be held and is happy to fall asleep while doing so (Tucker never slept anywhere but his bed!). This past week, she took a nap on me on a boat, while we were hanging out at a friend's house, in church, and even in the pool! Since she is a second child, it is nice that she's flexible enough to sleep on the go. She's so cuddly!

Hadley had her first boat ride this week too! We had a great day on the Lake with two of my best friends from college-Jen and Rebecca. Hadley missed most of the ride since she was asleep in the sling but she was happy to ride the waves!

We love you Hadley girl!

Amy update

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my friend Amy...it means the world to me.

You can read her update on her caring bridge and her blog.

Please continue to pray for and her family!

Cupcakes!

Grandma asked Tucker to help decorate cupcakes... Tucker did not understand the concept of holding a cupcake without eating it :)

HAPPY BOY!

A lot of Grandmas and Grandpas!

Well, it's a little confusing in Missouri because there are "a lot of Grandmas and Grandpas" as Tucker likes to say. One night while saying his prayers with Grandma, he actually thanked God for just that--"all the Grandmas and Grandpas". :) Brad has 3 grandparents still living and all of them as well as his parents, are called "Grandpa" and "Grandma". It was funny to watch "his wheels turn" as he tried to figure this out. But, he had fun "entertaining " them all and by the end of the weekend, he was saying 'Grandma Seabaugh" which was really cute. I am pleasantly surprised that he seems content and even interested in hanging out with older people...he's not partial :) Everyone was happy to meet Hadley for the first time, of course, and we are grateful as always for more memories with these great-grandparents!

Great-Grandma Fiehler

Great-Grandpa Fiehler

Reading with both Great-Grandmas!

4 generations of Fiehler guys!

Playing play dough with Grandmas

Grandma Seabaugh