Baby Pie!

Hi Baby Pie! Tomorrow will be your ten month birthday! You have encountered so many firsts in these ten months. Your first Mother's Day holiday, your first Independence Day, your first Labor Day, your first Halloween and coming up on your first Thanksgiving and Christmas! Mommy got you a little turkey shirt that has your name on it! You have 2 new teeth with 2 others trying to come in any day. You can crawl all over and stand by yourself. You are so good at entertaining  yourself and will play with about anything you have near you. The only time you are fussy is when you have to go to bed, because you don't like leaving your people:( You are so much fun to play with, fun to bathe,swing and read to. You love all the stimulus. You have learned to cover your face and then rapidly uncover it and this is your adorable way of playing peek a boo with us! Aunt Lyndi and I took you to the park to swing and you loved it. We love every second that we get to be with you and can hardly wait one more week to see you! We love you so much and have lots of exciting plans for you. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving on your very first Thanksgiving, I know I am so thankful for you!
All my love, Mimsi

Seven Months Old!

Dear Hadley Elise, Today you are seven months old! What a blessing you have been to us! Every time we see you, you smile and giggle. It is so much fun to hold you and play with you. You enjoy your toys and books so much! It is a blast to be around you. You are very cuddly, huggable and kissable.You are such a little people person-you love to look at everyone in the room until you have their attention and then you smile your charming little smile! Everyone always comments on how beautiful you are. You are a busy little helper to your mommy and are moving all about your home now. We had so much fun with you on vacation and you learned how to wear sunscreen and play in the big swimming pool. You liked the outdoor pool much better and even smiled when grandpa floated you around in your little pool chair. You are enjoying all your food very much and are so helpful with opening your little mouth for bites. Your mommy said when you got your latest round of inoculations you hardly cried at all-that is GOOD! Grandma hates to see you ever cry! I hope you are having lots of fun every day and gma looks forward to seeing you soon-All my love, Mimsi

One Half!

Dear Hadley, Happy one half year birthday! Today you are six months old! It's hard to believe you have been here for one half a year already! You are such a happy little girl! You smile and giggle so often. You are crawling like crazy and have been for several weeks. It's so funny to see you moving all over your living room! You respond greatly to books and giggle when your mommy makes the sounds of the animals in the book. As far as I know, you don't have any teeth yet, but your pediatrician says it won't be long:) We are very excited to come see you soon and see all the changes and give you lots of hugs and play and read! All my love, Mimsi

Five Months Old!!

Dear Hadley Elise, Gma can hardly believe the changes in you over the last 5 months. It has been so special to have you close and see so many firsts-quite  a gift from God! I look back to the first weeks and months and I can hardly believe that tiny, helpless infant is this big girl who is eating cereal and fruit, who recognizes her name and loves standing, rolling and moving. You are such a happy little girl and you love to play. You love to stand on my lap, hang over my shoulder and sing a little sweet song, one that I call your Dino song! Because we watched Dino Train on Public TV and you liked singing and moving to the theme song. Besides the eating, the thing that astounds me most is your vocalization and communication. You use one voice for chew toys and mobiles, and quite another for soft toys. You have become so much fun to play with and at many a nap time, I stroked your beautiful little head while singing the Meow Mix song in a kitty voice. Of course, before you were tired enough to sleep,you had to roll this way and that, and scootch forth and back. You and I giggled and sang. I tickled your tummy and legs and you giggled and cooed. Then you would turn into me and I knew it was time for you to go to sleep. So I patted your back and you snuggled in close and it was such a precious time to Gma. It was with great fun to watch you take your first bites of food. I have never seen anyone embrace anything with such unbridled joy! You smiled, flailed your hands and legs into the air and inhaled happy little shrieks! You devoured each bite with gusto and embraced the experience with such excitement-it was absolutely precious! You are now residing in your new home with mommy and daddy and seem to be adjusting very well. You like your pretty room and crib. You are growing by leaps and bounds and bypassed sizes 3 and 6 months, now you are on 9 months and moving quickly into 12 months. You are very tall and it is amazing seeing pictures of you in the car seat-that is shrinking!!You become afraid during stormy weather, and since it is summer, there are plenty of thunderstorms. You love books, and some favorites on TVlike Curious George and of course, Dino Train! Gma keeps finding things for you, so the Postal Service will be busy for awhile. I love looking at the pictures and videos of you and look so forward to when I can see you, hug you and play with you again. Until then, have fun with mommy and daddy and seeing all the new things that surround you right now. All my love, Mimsi

Little Sugie!

Dear Hadley, Happy 4 month old milestone today! Your cognitive skills have jumped into warp speed just in the last several weeks! You have found your voice, and you use it a lot! You love to gurgle, coo and giggle! You have also learned how to squeal and shriek in delight! You smile so much of your awake time.Your tiny hands can now grasp objects and bring them up to your mouth. You love to chew on your hands and have discovered the wonder of your feet and toes. You roll around like crazy and push off with your feet and scootch forward. We can't leave you alone for a second. Of course, you prefer being around people and get quite sad when you are alone. You are so much fun to play with, read books to, sing to and play hand rhymes with, and you love it all! You wore yellow today and it really showed off your pretty red hair! You make a little hungry sound when it is time to eat, and you rub your eyes when you are tired. Most of the rest of the time you are ready to play, smile and laugh out loud. As you get more active your bath and bedtime gets ever earlier. You sleep 9-12 hours at night, which we think is very thoughtful and nice of you! Keep learning, playing and growing! All my love, Mimsi

Baby Pie!

A few milestones to talk about, even though you are not quite yet four months old! Your fine motor skills are ever evolving, and it is amazing to Gma how you can bring your little hands together now and pull things toward you! Gma got you some new books. One is about food and has little lift up flaps to see the food in a different form. You bring your little hands together and try very hard to touch the pictures and lift the flaps-you even lifted one this week! Gma was VERY impressed! You love the outdoors and would spend as much time as you could out there. You love bath time and love to kick your legs and move your arms! You don't really like laying down so much anymore. You like to sit up like a big girl and be a part of the socializing. Here is Gma's favorite thing, though: when you smile, it's not just the corners of your mouth that turn up. When you smile, your whole face lights up like a sunbeam. Your mouth opens wide and your eyes shine, the dimples in your cheeks show and it is such a beautiful smile-a treasure beyond words to us! You seem greatly interested in foods and drinks we consume and you have your own little special cry when you are hungry. When you are getting ready to eat, you jump a little and kick your legs and flail your arms, as if to say "Ok, I'm ready!" You love to be on Gpa's shoulder and walk around with him. You love seeing your aunts' faces. When you hear daddy's voice, you turn toward him. You always give Gma big smiles. But the person you love best is your mommy, you look at her with such love in  your expressive eyes and stare so eagerly toward her. You have become very good at pulling toys from your toy bars toward your face. You can make beads bounce, birds dance and teethers come close to your mouth. Every day you get a little more amazing and a little more beautiful. We are all so blessed to have you in our lives and we couldn't love you more! Your mommy told me today I have been calling you Baby Pie quite a lot lately-I didn't even realize it, but you are my little baby pie! All my love, Mimsi

Baby Bird

Baby Bird, tomorrow you will officially be three months old! What an amazing three months it has been, for you, your parents and our family! You were born so beautiful, and I got to see you so soon after being born. I can't explain or describe the strong bond I felt to you while you were lying in that incubator under the lights. You came to visit us when you were one week old. We were all a little afraid to touch you, but it didn't take us very long to learn how to hold, rock, cradle, burp and change you. In your second month you really began to thrive and gained some weight. We found we couldn't live very long without seeing you! We bought you outfits and toys, we talked to you and rocked you. In this third month, you have gained weight. You have started playing with the toys we got you. You LAUGHED OUT LOUD for us and that has prompted us to yell peek-a-boo, a-choo, and dance silly. You love it all! Your expressions and attempts at communication reinforce to us that you are a precious and unique little individual. It's so cute to see you raise your eyebrows and trying to "talk" to us. You love the gentle breezes that come across your face and Gma thinks it's especially cute how you close your eyes and smile, like the world is your amusement park, and God has sent that breeze just to entertain you! You are growing and passing through baby sizes like crazy. Everybody thinks you look like them! (Of course, you and I know who you REALLY look like;) But we will let everyone voice their opinions, because time will tell the truth. In the sunlight your hair and eyebrows look very red. Hmm! Your skin is getting very fair. Hmm! Your eyes are definitely blue. Hmm! You hate being hot. Hmm! You love being around your people and think it is infinitely more fun than being alone. When you wake up and I am beside you, you smile and go back to sleep. When you wake up alone in your crib, you don't like it and you holler till one of us runs to get you. We try to share holding you, even though we all want to hold and rock you! Even Gpa can't wait to get his hands on you! He's nowhere when I am changing you, but the minute you are all buttoned up and I pick you up, guess who's right by my side, ready to take you? I admit you do love bouncing around on Gpa's shoulder and him and Aunt Lyndi know just the right way to bounce you. I have to look at your pictures and videos every night and I fall asleep looking at your wallpaper. The happiest days are when you are coming, and when you leave, well...Gma looks forward to when she can see you soon;) Today you have to get a vaccination and we all hope that goes well for you and doesn't hurt you at all:( You are getting to be so big and it is amazing to see you starting to enjoy your life! Your mommy and daddy love you so much and take such good care of you. They have lots of energy to keep up with you and that is a very great thing! As you get older and your motor skills keep developing you will enjoy all your toys more and more. It has been so great of your posse to keep you entertained and you love Lion, Tiger, and Zebra! Gma is really looking forward to when you can come back and play, until then-All my love, Mimsi

2 Months

Baby Bird, you are two months old now! How you are changing and growing! At first you were so tiny and mostly slept. Over the past 8 weeks though, you have begun staying awake more. You follow people with  your eyes. You have smiled. Tonight your mommy said you laughed out loud in your sleep! Your beautiful eyes are looking very blue. Grandma likes to think she can see some red in your hair in the sunlight. I guess we will see! It has made you really mad to stop eating and burp. Grandma thinks that is funny! You love getting your britches changed-you usually smile and coo as you stretch out. When you come to visit us, there are at any given time 4 of us wanting and waiting to hold you. You like to take little catnaps then wake up ready to socialize. You were in a routine and slept 7 hours at a time, but not sure you kept that up when you returned home. You are beginning to wear all the cute little outfits you have received as gifts. You look so pretty in all of them! You love to kick your legs, especially at bath time. We say that you are running and swimming. At your pediatrician appointment, you were showing off your kicking skills and your Doctor said you were very strong and good at exercising. Of course, we already knew you were very strong from holding your little head up and rearing it around! Your communication skills are wonderful, you respond to us and smile and try very hard to talk. Grandma bought you a toy for your car seat and you love looking at your friends, Tiger and Zebra. They are very entertaining! You have lots of fun in your bouncer seat and when you start your kicking, the seat goes crazy, which seems to make you extremely happy! Grandma is just amazed at how much you are growing and changing. You are 22 inches long and weigh over 10 pounds. We are really looking forward to the next time we can see you!  All my love, Mimsi

Hadley Elise Waugh

Dear Doodlebug, Happy One Month Birthday dear little Hadley Elise! It has been an extraordinary month! Your mama checked into the hospital on Monday, but you didn't come until Wednesday morning. It was a very exciting but intense time. Grandpa Schnelle and I were there for all of it. We saw you in your first minutes of life. You were so sweet and calm. Very alert. In the weeks since then, you have come to visit us once, and I have come to visit you.You are such a nice little girl. You only cry when you are startled or hungry. You are very strong and alert, you like to lift your little head and look around at everything. You know what your very favorite thing to look at is? Your photo on the wall! You also like watching videos of yourself! You take after your mama on that! You also look a lot like your mama, though sometimes I see your aunts, great aunts and cousins in you! You really love your parents. Whenever your daddy is around, your little eyes follow him and look at him the entire time! You also turn your head when you hear your mama's voice! Don't worry about your fashion, your parents have many, many beautiful clothes for you, and every day you wear some new fashion complete with leg warmers, booties and  hats or headbands! You have gained over a pound this first month and your eyes are getting very blue! Your daddy said you get  your blue eyes from Grandpa Albert, but I had to remind him Mimsi also has blue eyes:) Your family adores you and we are very excited for you to meet all your extended family, you just have to get a little bigger and stronger first-mimsi is very against any germs finding their way to you! I am so glad you are here safely and love watching you in your mommy and daddy's arms! Of all the babies in the world, we would choose you, so God knew just what He was doing in sending you to us! I love you, Mimsi

Doodlebug!!

One more week!! Seven short little days! Can you believe it? We first learned of you on Mothers Day, and that seemed like January would never arrive. Now here it is, within one week! We are so excited to meet you. I told your mommy we are at DefCom 3...we are ready to jump at a moments notice, although Mimsi is pretty sick right now:( So I am praying that I get well very soon enough that when you are ready to make your debut, I can be there to cheer you on! Praying for you and mommy, all my love-Mimsi