Happy 6 months Hattie Girl!

Hattie is 6 months! What a milestone in our book! I can't believe we are at the 6 month mark. And yet so incredibly excited to be at this point. On Hattie's 6 month birthday, we all headed down to San Antonio to visit Pappy for the first time since Hadlee's been born. Pappy was turning 89 on the 13th of October and we wanted to take the kids to Seaworld. It turned out to be an exhaustingly wonderful weekend. For Pappy's birthday, we got 2 cakes. One for Pappy's 89th, and one for Hattie's half birthday. It was perfect. We did a balloon release to send heavenly birthday wishes to Ainslee and my cousin Derek. My Aunt Nonnie, Derek's mom, was there too which was wonderful to see her and wrap my arms around her. My mom, brother, our family, my cousins, aunts and uncle all headed out to a Vietnamese dinner, followed by singing and birthday cake. The next day was Seaworld! Again...exhaustingly wonderful. I loved taking Adrian to such a special place. It's one of my favorites. And I was thankful to have taken Hadlee to another place she'd never been. It was great to be there as a family making new wonderful memories. Our Hadlee is such a little character. She is such a smiley baby. She loves to be held and she loves to laugh. Our little girl still isn't much of a sleeper. Only 3 30-45 minute naps a day, followed by an up and down night. I'm not sure what's bugging her to wake so much throughout the night, but it is so exhausting. We still have her in our room and yes we follow the same bed time routine EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. I am wired to have structure and stability, and my kids receive that in return. I'm no military boot camp, but I do try to provide scenarios in which our kids know what to expect. I tried rice cereal for about a week, but stopped it because Hadlee isn't very regular when it comes to going number 2 and I don't want to complicate things more. I've brought that up to the pediatrician and he says she must be absorbing all of my breast milk. She only goes every 4-5 days. Yes, I'm still pumping. I've tried to get her to latch on again the last couple weeks but she wants nothing to do with nursing itself, just loves her bottle. So, I am still pumping throughout the day and into the night. I don't have any milk stored up anymore at this point so I'm running low on the amount of milk. I am able to make just enough for her. But, if it comes to a point where she may want an extra ounce or two and I'm not expecting it, then I won't have any more breast milk for her. I am however extremely proud of myself for ensuring she's only had breast milk for her first 6 months. I think that is a huge accomplishment. Something I was really trying to achieve. At 6 months, Hadlee is a moving machine. She is rolling over both ways consistently and even getting on all fours. She will start to rock back and forth on all fours and then plop down on her tummy. I have started some foods with her and she's loving her peas and now squash. I'm taking foods slow. Tonight at dinner, she had 2 helpings of squash, then got ready for bed, and had a 3 1/2 ounce bottle. She is working on sitting up and has started to get her first tooth. Hadlee's eczema is pretty bad. I don't even know what to do to help her. I've tried aquaphor right after baths, oatmeal lotion, and nothing seems to help. I see her little skin getting broken down and wish I had a magical potion to help her and help her skin look better. Adrian and Hadlee are our world. And Hadlee thinks the absolute world of Adrian. We may be exhausted, I may be worried about her eczema, but all in all, we are blessed. We are making new happy memories and feeling so blessed to have another daughter to share them with. All the while, remembering our sweet Ainslee. Happy half birthday my Hadlee Hope. You are so loved.