The day after Hadley was born, it rained for a month. Seriously, an ENTIRE month. After that came summer. We have been cooped up indoors for far too long! But now the weather is FINALLY beginning to be a little more pleasant around here! I'm no longer breaking  a sweat carrying Hadley's carseat 10 feet from the garage to the house. Yay! Time for some fall weather fun! 

On Monday, Lissie and I took Hadley to the Dallas Arboretum's "Autumn at the Arboretum" exhibit to visit the pumpkins - all 75,000 of them! I know, I know... we've already done one pumpkin photo shoot this season, but I mean really... is there a such thing as having too many baby/pumpkin pictures? I think not. 

​Hadley did not disappoint! I'm convinced that she is the most photogenic baby alive!

Yes, we had a little wardrobe change halfway through... Gotta get pictures in all those cute pumpkin outfits while we still can! :) The Arboretum was a lot of fun, and I will definitely try to make this an annual activity! 

Then today I decided we'd waited long enough to take our girl to the park! She's not quite sitting up on her own yet, but can sit up with support. Time to test out the swings! 

As you can see this was a huge success! She laughed until she gave herself the hiccups! :) YAY! I'm so glad we can start adding trips to the park into our weekly routine. 

And lastly, we tried carrots for the first time today... ​

Another win! Loving experiencing all of these firsts with Hadley! Can't wait for more fun times to come... and we haven't even hit the holiday season yet! :) :) :) 

Oh, happy day! 

Our sweet girl was baptized at our church this morning, surrounded by family, close friends, and lots of love!

She was lucky to have a beautiful family heirloom gown to wear on this special occasion that was worn by both her Uncle Connor and Aunt Claire at their baptisms. 

She did wonderful during the actual baptism ceremony!

She was doing great during the church service as well, until our minister made a funny joke, causing the congregation to burst out in laughter. Scared her to death! She immediately started bawling and so she and Mommy had to make a quick exit to the side wing and watch the rest of the sermon from a tv screen. Before that though, she was having a good time people watching and slamming her hand down on the pew over and over again. 

After church, we headed to The Rustic for a celebratory brunch!

The food was yummy, the company was great, and Hadley had fun playing with her new friend, Tess!

It was a great day! We are so blessed by the love of our friends and family and were happy to share this joyous occasion with them!

Hadley, we know that you are far to young to understand the significance of today, but hope that we are planting the seeds of the Christian faith so that you will come to know Jesus and through Him always be able to find peace and happiness. We love you so much sweet girl. You are the light in our lives!

TX/OU Weekend is a big deal in the Guinn household! OU is our biggest football rival and since the game is played in Dallas each year it is convenient and expected to join in on the festivities. So to prepare, I have been carefully selecting great burnt orange fashion pieces for Hadley since before she was born! 

Some UT friends of ours always throw an annual party at their house to kick off this rivalry weekend. Bevo is always in attendance. Even more motivation to find the perfect outfit for Hadley, because I mean you don't just go around meeting Bevo any ol' day! Unfortunately, the day before the party we received sad news that our beloved mascot was seriously ill. Nooooo!!! My photo shoot dreams  - ruined!!! But any great party planner always has a back up plan and as such, they were able to secure Bevo's cousin - who I lovingly named Steve. 

This actually turned out to be a pretty good turn of events ( no offense, Bevo)! We were able to take this great photo mounted atop a longhorn, without fear of being gored by Bevo's insanely long horns! We'll take it! ;) And Hadley did great at the party too! She loved watching everyone and even let us keep her up a little past bedtime without complaint - see she already knows how to rally for TX/OU weekend! :)

AND because of this we WON!!! YAY! What an exciting first TX/OU victory for Hadley! :) 

To celebrate our win - we introduced Hadley to her next solid food and in keeping with the theme of the weekend we chose something ORANGE. Sweet Potatoes! 

She was a pretty big fan! She is really starting to get the hang of this eating thing and barely makes a mess at all! Yay! Less clean up for Mom! :)

On Sunday we decided to do a little pinterest inspired Halloween themed photo shoot with our girl! Mommy & Daddy carved the pumpkin during nap time and when she awoke we drove over to White Rock Lake armed with bows in several colors and a camera! Oh. My Gosh! Soooo obsessed with these pictures!!!!

I mean if she isn't the most photogenic baby ever! 

Just drive out to the middle of nowhere, stick her naked, in a giant pumpkin and watch photography magic unfold... 

We're going to need a bigger house! How can I possibly pick and choose which pictures to display!?!

Well, that's a wrap on a fantastic weekend! We love you Hadley, our precious pumpkin!!!

Last night, our little family of three had a fun-filled evening at the State Fair of Texas! Hadley, of course, was a first timer. I grew up going to the State Fair each fall with my family and have many memories of corny dogs and walking around the car show with dear ol' Dad! Then once we became Longhorns, Mason and I each made many trips during college to the Cotton Bowl (located on the fairgrounds) for the annual TX/OU game. So we were very excited to create new memories here with Hadley!

Once inside the gates, we headed straight for Big Tex, because we wanted Hadley to meet the star of the show right away and do proper introductions. 

She was pretty unimpressed. Sorry, Big Guy...maybe next year! 

Next up! Time for a Fletcher's Corny Dog! 

Again... not very excited. Although, when you don't yet have teeth and aren't really into solids just yet, your hand can be just as appealing. 

While Mom & Dad, walked around the fair sampling fried foods such as "Fried Thanksgiving Dinner" and "Fried Sweet Texas" (a blend of pecan pie, buttermilk pie, peach cobbler & vanilla ice cream - yum!)... Hadley could not have been more bored. I was a little sad, because I really thought she'd be more into it. She just sat in her stroller impartial to everything that we walked by. 

That is until we hit the Midway!

She LOVED it! All of the noises & flashing lights were right up her alley! We also took her out of her stroller so she could look around a little more easily. 

That's when the real fun began! 

Almost made the cut! ;) Though she was still too small to go on any of the kiddie rides, we were able to ride the carousel together! Mommy's dream come true - riding the carousel with her daughter! ♡♡

Whoooooa, horsey slooow down! This ride definitely goes a little faster than I remember it... man I'm getting old! But I loved getting to take Hadley on her very first ride! 

All in all, it was a fantastic first trip. Hadley did great and we hope to make this a Guinn family tradition! ​'Til next year, Big Tex! :)

Hooray! Hadley is 5 months (...and 1 day) old! :) This month has been a fun one, but a tiresome one for sure. Well, for me at least. Hadley gained a lot more independence during the past month, being content to play on her own for longer stretches of time and moving downstairs to her own room. We also battled the 4 month sleep regression and had to do a little sleep training along the way. The good news is that we all survived and are enjoying watching our baby girl grow into a curious little person with her own unique and funny personality!

Happy 5 Months Hadley!!!

Here are a few of Hadley's favorites this month...

Yay! This was seriously a super proud moment for Daddy & I! We've been working on this for awhile! :)

Clothing/Diapers:
Wearing 3 month or 3-6 month clothing now. I had to box up all of your newborn clothing that doesn't fit you anymore to make room for some fall/winter clothes. Ugh, broke my heart! Also, we finally moved up to size 2 diapers! Getting so big! :( 

Sleeping:
There was lots of change with regards to sleep this month. We moved Hadley from our bedroom down to her very own room, 2 whole floors beneath us (don't worry...we have a very high tech video monitor that Mommy watches all night long)! She is finally out of the Rock n Play and into her crib for all naps and bedtime. We also got rid of the swaddle and replaced it with the "Baby Merlin Magic Sleepsuit". It gives her a little more freedom to chew on her hands and kick her feet, but it prevents her from rolling around and waking herself up! This was also around the time that the dreaded 4 month sleep regression took place! We went from mostly sleeping through the night to waking up every few hours! So... I finally had to buckle down with a little sleep training.

​One night when you woke up at around 11:30PM - I did my own version of the Ferber Method, letting you cry it out in short intervals and then coming back in after 5 minutes, then 7, then another 7, then 10 to pat on you and calm you down. It was definitely a hard thing to do, but guess what!? I only had to do it one night for about 40 minutes and now you are a great sleeper again! :) Currently you go to bed at 8PM, wake up at 3AM to nurse, back down til around 5 or 6AM at which point we bring you up to our bedroom to sleep for another hour or hour and a half! It's not perfect, but we all get enough sleep to survive! :) 

Favorite Toy(s):
Exersaucer, Jumperoo, "Peek-A-Boo" Light up book, O-Ball

Things Hadley hates:
Sitting in her carseat at restaurants! She wants to be in on the action... so that means sitting in Mommy's lap anywhere we go! We've also had to start pushing our plates and drinks away from her reach, because she is super interested in touching and grabbing EVERYTHING! Needless to say, going out to eat is beginning to be a little more difficult than it was in the early days...

Hidden Talents:
​Putting her foot in her mouth! Our flexible future kick line member! :) 

Hadley, here are a few things Mommy & Daddy love best about you this month...

♡♡♡♡ We love... ♡♡♡♡
*Going to get you in the morning when you wake up! You give us the happiest grin, letting us know that you are glad to see us! :)  Sooo heart melting!!

*Taking you with us places! We are so proud to show you off!

​*How you sometimes stop nursing to look around, smile, and then get back to business...repeat 30 times! Takes longer, but it is so cute!
​
*Figuring out ways to make you laugh - right now it is snorting at you, or looking at you, then looking away, then looking back really fast! You also laugh when we mimic your noises!

*When you bury your head into our shoulder when you are shy... or when you are sleepy....or anytime! It is the BEST THING EVER!  ♡

Hadley, you are quickly developing your very own personality and we love finding out what makes you laugh, what annoys you, and what bores you! You are always sure to let us know! ​5 months into it and we are beginning to forget what life was ever like without you! You definitely make each day better and brighter!

We love you so very much! We know that there is so much to look forward to during this next month! Can't wait!!
​
XOXO!!!