Birthday Card Photo Shoot

When trying to choose a theme for Hartleigh's first birthday party I was at a loss. I mean she couldn't tell me what she wants her party to be and she's not really into anything. But then I saw the ladybugs and I knew that was it because I have called her Hartleigh bug from day one. So that was the theme. I wanted her to have a ladybug outfit to wear to her party and to take pictures in so I found her a red outfit and my Grandmother added the black dots. I made her some antennas but she didn't care for them at all. She would jerk them off as soon as I put them on. It took a couple of shoots before I got one that I wanted to put on the invitations. But there were a lot of cute ones. I thought I would share them with yall! Enjoy!

Hartleigh and Pop

It is so much fun to watch these two. Pop, Hartleigh's great grandfather, is one of those men that grew up in the way that men are supposed to be rough, mean, and have no affections. So he has always put up this front of being a harda**. But anyone who knows him knows that he has the heart of a teddy bear. Not many people can bring that out in him but Hartleigh sure can. Whenever he and Granny are coming from Columbus from a doctors appointment he just has to stop by and see her. Poor Pops who is very ill and has very little energy is always able to muster up the strength to come visit her and give her some love. And Hartleigh who is always a bundle of energy seems to know that he can't handle much so she seems to tone it down just for him. She sits in his lap so sweetly.
There for awhile we didn't think that he would live long enough to see her born but God saw fit for him to be here to see her. I hope that he sees fit for him to stay around a little longer to watch her grow up and for her to get to know him like I did! We love you Pop!
This is my favorite picture of the two of them! So Sweet!!!

Cecil's First Father's Day

This was Cecil's first Father's Day and since he is such a wonderful father and husband I wanted it to be special. So I cooked him breakfast and tried to make him take it easy for the day. But most of all getting to spend the day with Hartleigh made it extra special for him I think. He just loves that girl with all of his heart and she loves him with all of his. A girl couldn't ask for a better father and I hope she knows how lucky she is to have a father that loves and cares for her as much as he does. In fact, I make it my mission to make sure she knows and appreciates him, because so many children are not as lucky and as blessed as she is! We love you Daddy! Thank you for being such a kind and wonderful man!

Cecil's First Father's Day!

Hartleigh was showing Daddy how she "loves" her puppy dog.



Daddy showing Hartleigh how he "loves" her.
Aww! She loves her Daddy so much!

Supervising

Daddy and Jonas were outside working on the house so Hartleigh had to supervise and make sure that they were doing everything to suit her. No really she was chasing bugs, trying to eat leaves, and just being so dang cute!

Snoozing

There is not really a story to tell here except that one afternoon Mom was trying to rock Hartleigh for her afternoon nap but Hartleigh kept wallowing all over and tossing and turning until she finally ended up in this position in which she fell fast asleep. But I wanted to post these pictures anyway because she's so dang cute in them and she looks so BIG!

Loving Uno!

We have told Hartleigh to be sweet to poor Uno and she's getting better about not pulling her fur but her idea of being sweet is what we call "loving" her. She leans her head on her and pretty much just lays down on her with all her weight. We find it funny and cute. Uno, however, doesn't think its quite so funny or so cute! But she does tolerate it most of the time! Uno is a pretty good kitty cat!

Cool Chick

The Sandbox

We had some leftover sand from the brick job so I suggested that Hartleigh needed a sandbox. So Cec made her one. She loved it and took to it like she does almost everything she's experienced so far. She just dug right in! Literally! She would get two fistfuls of sand and lift her hands over her head and pour the sand down over her head. I was so afraid that she would get some in her eyes but somehow she managed to avoid that. She had the best time but what a mess to clean up! Yuck!

Hartleigh and Dixie

Hartleigh loves the outdoors so I try to take her out as much as possible. This particular time was her first time to experience grass. As you can see she didn't really like the way it felt on her knees so she did this crazy kind of crawl where she would only put one knee down on the ground at a time. It was so funny to watch. I had her a blanket down but she would not stay on it. She had to go and play with the puppy dogs.

Now I am about to tell some very sad sad news so brace yourselves. This was also one of the last times that Hartleigh got to play with Dixie. On June 30, 2009 we lost Dixie. She was hit by a car. She was such a good dog! She played good with Hartleigh. She was never too rough and was very patient with Hartleigh when she was too rough with her. She and Doogie got along really well and Doogie misses his roommate. He was nice enough to welcome her into his life although we got her while he was missing in action.

We don't understand how it happened. She had never gotten close to the highway. The bad thing about it is that Cecil was just walking out the door to go put them in their pen after they got through with their bones. His timing was so bad that he heard it when it happened. We really miss our baby. We had many good times with her and were looking forward to having many more with her while she and Hartleigh grew up together. R.I. P. Dixie baby! We love you and miss you! Sniffles and Tears!!!