ft. worth stock show

if you know me or my family, you know that we like cows.

i have several around my house that remind me of good ol' sulphur springs. 

when i was a little girl, my dad (who was always doing something fun) bought us a calf.
it started out it's life in our back yard. we lived in town.

once she was big enough to live with the other cows she moved out to our land in the country.

we were always living life on the edge.

dwight, or papa d, is a big time cow man.
he had dairy cows for years and now he raises beef cattle.

every year, he and my mom go to the ft. worth stock show.

this year we were very excited to take perry!

so we started off the visit to the stock show with a trip to the pancake house!

papa d taught us about the sweet baby calves

we were very excited to get to visit aunt cynthia's & uncle rex's goats!

i have to say that in the absence of my dad, i am glad that papa d is here to teach perry about the cows.  i know that my dad would be proud that she is learning about all of the farm animals that he taught us about!

perry girl had a wonderful time and was worn smooth out!

such a fun visit to the ft. worth stock show.

can't wait until next year when perry and benton can go together!

cereal

at perry's 4 month appointment, we were given the go ahead to start on cereal!

we hadn't planned to do it until she was 6 months so this was a big surprise.

we started off with a small amount.

she wasn't a fan at first

and even after a few tries she still didn't like it

she's starting to come around though!

special thanks to jess & june for letting us borrow the bouncy chair!

what we've been up to...

perry's been trying a lot of new tricks lately!

she has been working on sitting up,

learning (and loving) to bounce,

playing with fishies,

making ponytails, :)

snuggling in bed,

chewing on sophie,

and rolling over!

my personal favorite is the one with the "ponytail". it's hilarious and she needs a bit more hair to make it work! haha

the weekend is almost here! have a fabulous one!

xoxo

little baby hatcher

this post is so overdue!

 i uploaded the pictures a while back, wrote the post and then somehow lost it all.

but it's SO SO important!

around june 4th my sweet baby sister is going to have her own little baby.

kaleigh is so creative.

she and kevin announced it in the most adorable way over Christmas.

on Christmas Eve, kaleigh passed out "baby bingo" for us all to play. she called out names for us to cross out until we got 5 in a row.

as you can see below

BENTON DAVID HATCHER - BOY

will be joining us very soon!

love his adorable name - david was my daddy's name

uncle jo and aunt mo won the game and got lots of fun prizes!

we can't wait to meet benton.

i'm so happy perry will have a precious cousin to grow up with.

we already love you sweet little boy!

our fourth month!

perry

our little love

i can't believe that the fourth month of your sweet life is here.

you seem to be growing so quickly... didn't i just post your 1 month photos?!

you have accomplished so much!

at your 4 month check up, you had grown quite a bit!

you weighed 12.5 lbs

and had grown to 23.5 inches!

you have moved up to size medium in cloth diapers.

i have to brag on chelle really quickly, she sewed all of your medium diapers.

so proud of her! 

our appointment went very well. the doctor said that we could try CEREAL!

you are still nursing very well. 5-6 times a day, every 2-3 hours.

you are officially sleeping through the night in your own crib.

naps aren't really your thing; we are doing good if you go down for over an hour.

without crying. (when you cry it makes mama so sad!) 

we're going to keep working on that.

i think i'm more ready for you to roll over than you are.

you're taking your sweet, precious time.

(it seems like you may take after your daddy in that area, you're both pretty laid back!)

i'm okay with that baby girl. whenever you are ready.

but you are very, very close.

speaking of your daddy... you are thrilled to see him every day. when he comes in the door, your face lights up.

it's darling.

you love to listen to us sing and whistle.

you love it when mama and daddy dance around and act like fools.

you also love the singing puppy that you got for Christmas from papa jim and gigi!

you are holding yourself up very nicely during tummy time.

you are also sitting up with the tiniest bit of support from mama or the bumbo.

maybe you'll be sitting before you roll over.

your big eyes are following everything now!

you watch your toys, the puppies, and even the tv when it is on (oops!)

you love a little snail toy that your aunt kk & uncle coach got you for Christmas.

you move it and look in the little mirror!

you also love anything that rattles or squeaks.

and i'm pretty sure you like to give kisses.

with your mouth wide open.

using your tongue.

you really like to kiss sophie the giraffe. it's so funny!

mama and daddy can't remember what our lives were like before you arrived. you are truly the sweetest little blessing from above.

perry's big girl bed

a few weeks ago, mr. b and i noticed that perry was falling asleep much earlier than when we were putting her to bed. she would fall asleep in my arms and wake at the smallest sounds. she was also outgrowing her bassinet.
we decided that she was ready to sleep in her nursery.

it was one of the saddest nights, i cried myself to sleep!
but our little girl is a champ.
i haven't mentioned this much, but perry has been sleeping through the night for quite sometime. once andrew and i were ready for bed, perry would go into her bassinet and sleep for 7-8 hours. perfection.
then, one night, (or rather, early one morning) she started waking herself up. she was throwing her arms out to the side of her bassinet and waking herself up! it was kinda cute but a little wearing at 5 am.
so we made the big decision and put her in her own bed one night.
and it worked like a charm.
it was like she was supposed to be there!

so our little precious one is sleeping soundly from 7:30 till 5:30 - 6.
most of the time. except for a few nights ago when she woke up at 3 and didn't want to go back to sleep. ;)
we're so proud!

we're also check this like crazy!

hope your weekend is richly blessed!

Perry's first Christmas part 2

on the day before Christmas eve, we loaded up the 4 runner and traveled to sulphur springs.

 perry with uncle joel and aunt molly

 perry was so awake and happy while opening gifts. it was so much fun. she didn't know what we were doing but she LOVED being the center of attention!

joel really enjoyed cruising around the house with her! he showed her the piano...

 

and santa clause. he was hysterical. she loved hanging out with all of her aunts and uncles!

perry also enjoyed teaching uncle coach about babies. coach and aunt kk announced that they will be having a BOY in june. i plan to update on that very soon! 

 my little family

perry and her chelle spent the majority of their time together just like this!

uncle collin & aunt jessica

we were super excited about perry's new wagon!

we finished up Christmas eve by reading "twas the night before Christmas" to perry and putting her to bed. we decided that we wanted to start a fun new family tradition every year - reading that and the story of the birth of Jesus. i can't wait to teach our sweet girl the true meaning of Christmas!

after little miss was put to bed, we all enjoyed a few games of mexican train while waiting on santa to come!

such a special weekend spent with some of my favorite people! Christmas is truly the best time of the year!

Perry's first Christmas part 1

this year we spent perry's first Christmas with mr. b's family the weekend before.

we switch every other holiday every year so this year we were in sulphur springs for Christmas.

on sunday evening we headed over to the belcher home. as we arrived, we were greeted by this sweet bunch!

a group from the southern hills youth group came by to bring a poinsettia and sing a Christmas carol to us. it was such a fun surprise and we all enjoyed singing along.

after the group left we opened gifts. perry and lillian didn't understand what we were doing but they were both alert and enjoyed all of the attention!

perry's first gift was this adorable leapfrog interactive dog. she loves it. she already laughs at it when it sings to her. it's such a fun gift!

both girls also got these honey bee rockers. they're really neat - they have buttons that play learning music.

love our sweet lillian!

perry girl is really starting to enjoy the play mat. she spent some time there keeping us all entertained with her fun sounds and shrieks!

she's wearing a pinterest creation!

afterwards, we went home and read the night before Christmas. it is the special hallmark recordable version. papa jim andrew's dad, narrated it. such a special gift to perry!

our sweet little girl is the light of our lives!

i seriously don't know how we lived without this precious baby!