Merry Christmas!

This blog post is out of order but for good reason.  Please excuse the quality, as these are scans and our scanner apparently needs to be cleaned.

Our card this year...

And our picture with Santa.  Yes, Mom and Dad had to be in the pic if we wanted a picture of happy Tate.  Notice, David is between Tate and Santa.

And here are the Santa pictures for the past 2 years just for kicks. 



2008



2009



These boots were made for walking...

Tate's Granddaddy and Mana (David's parents) got Tate some hiking boots so I decided instead of just taking a few snapshots around the house of him wearing them, I would take him to the park for a photo shoot. (Was that a run-on sentence?)  So here Tate is looking handsome in his new hiking boots.  Instead of giving you a slide show, I'm going to upload them individually so you can gaze at them as long as you wish.  :)

Flashback to Halloween

Time to catch up on the blogging now that I've had my Christmas dinner and a nap.  :)  And I have some serious catching up to do.  I'm a little on the anal retentive side and cannot just skip the past few months and go ahead with Christmas blogs.  I have to do them all, and in order!  They are going to be short, but sweet, and heavy with pics.  So, here we go.....

We thought we were going to be in Orlando for Halloween because we would be down there for the shuttle launch, but by Halloween, it had been moved to early Nov. so we were able to do our usual thing with David's sister's family.  There was no hay ride this year b/c it was stolen.  (Nice, huh?)  We had fun regardless!  I was so afraid Tate would be his usual shy self and resist knocking on any doors for candy but he totally shocked us!  He went right up to the doors and said trick-or-treat!  He also had no problem taking candy from peoples' bowls while they were handing out candy to other kids.  He's a sneaky fella.  Here are some pics from that night...

A Week of Great Loss

Sorry for the absence of blogging, but I just didn't know how to write this post.  October 14-21 was a sad week for the Hartleys.  On October 14th, our suspicions were confirmed that I was no longer pregnant.  I know what some of you are thinking..."I didn't even know you were pregnant."  That's because I was "only" 7 weeks when I miscarried. 

Things were sketchy from the start...at our first (5 week) ultrasound, the doctor told us I was measuring about a week smaller than I suspected.  I thought that was strange, but he said it was normal.  We went back for the 6-week ultrasound and actually saw a heartbeat (but barely, it was so small).  Then things started to change.  I started losing my pregnancy symptoms a few days after the ultrasound.  I was no longer unbearably nauseated.  I tried to tell myself I got lucky this time and that my nausea went away soon (I was sick with Tate for at least 6 months), but as it got less and less, I demanded to go back to the doctor.  At 7 weeks, we had another ultrasound that confirmed, even though it had grown just a bit, the baby no longer had a heartbeat.  Of course we were heartbroken.

Unfortunately, there are way too many miscarriages in this world.  Once you have gone through it, others who have experienced the same thing start to come out of the woodwork.  My doctor called it a "club"...one I wish I wasn't a member of.  While it is heart wrenching, I know it is part of God's plan.  I know it was not because I did anything wrong.  And I know God will continue carry us through it.  If someone reading this has any questions about it, feel free to contact me.  I am an open book and will be glad to share more of my experience.  Sometimes when healing, it helps to hear you are not alone.

Seven days later, on October 21, my mom called to tell me that my dear "Granny" (Gracie Pearl Fox Farmer) had passed away.  She had been battling Alzheimer's for 7 years and her body had finally given in.  When I first heard the news, I had tears of joy because I knew she had a new body and a new mind, and was elated to be in heaven.  She was a godly woman, reading her Bible every morning with her cup of coffee.  She was a remarkable grandmother (after all, I was the only grandchild she had so I got lots of attention).  She made me awesome birthday cakes in whatever shape I wanted.  She was also one of the kindest people I know, with a great sense of humor and she will be greatly missed.  Below are a couple of pics of Granny.  And yes, that is me with the Mickey Mouse cake. :)

Go, Mary Grace, Go!

Last Thursday we went to see our niece Mary Grace run in her cross country meet.  She is only in 7th grade, but she gets to run with Pelham High School because she is so good!  :)  She had a big following that day, including her parents, brother and sister, 2 aunts, 1 uncle, 2 cousins and 4 grandparents.  What can we say?  We're a supportive group!  This Thursday (tomorrow) she runs again and hopes to qualify for the state meet.  Go Mary Grace!  Here are some pics from the meet.  (I didn't get any pics of the adults...I guess they are not as interesting. :)

Tate and his buddy/cousin, Sam.

This picture cracks us up because Tate's sunglasses are practically sideways, but he doesn't care!  He's just happy to be playing with his cousin.

Mary Grace and teammate in sync.

Katie and Claudia waiting for the runners to pass.

The motley crew entertaining themselves.



Trunk-or-Treat, 2010

Every year our church, Hunter Street Baptist, has a "Trunk or Treat" dinner and festival on the Wednesday before Halloween.  It is usually held in the parking lot where different groups, Sunday school classes, etc. decorate their cars, tents or trailers and hand out candy.  Well......this year it was raining.  So, what did they do?  Held it inside the church in the tiny little halls (sans cars and trailers).  Let me tell you, it was HOT and crowded. See for yourself, here's a pic of one of the hallways...

After seeing how crowded it was, we went into survival mode, where our only goal was to make it to the car intact.  Therefore, Tate got maybe 5 pieces of candy.  :(  But he sure did look cute!

And I couldn't resist taking a picture of these adorable triplets.  They were being so patient.

OCD runs in the family.

He's got 'em lined up like his momma likes them. :)

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Typical Saturday

A common scene at the Hartley house.

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Pumpkin Patch 2010

After some sad news, we decided to take a day off and have some family time together and went to the pumpkin patch.  It was the perfect day with gorgeous weather and we had a really good day.  We got to go on a hayride out to the actual pumpkin patch and then another tractor ride just because we love tractors.

Tate and Dad on the ride out to find our pumpkin. Tate is looking cool in Dad's sunglasses because his broke. And yes they fit him way too well.

Out looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Still searching...

 Here's a man outstanding in his field. :)

Found it!

This is what we rode on to and from the pumpkin patch.

It got a bit windy while we were out there (as you can tell by the hair).  Tate sat with our perfect pumpkin.

Tate and Mom on the ride back.

It was much warmer this year.  We have a picture of Tate sitting here last year freezing and crying.

Much happier.  Typical silly Tate.

The sunflower field was pretty so we had to get their picture in front of it.

Tractor ride#2 that took us around the field in front.

Gameday

Put me in, Coach!

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Happy 2nd Birthday Tate!

As we begin October I am reminded of what a busy (but great September) in which we celebrated Tate's 2nd Birthday.  Yes, as usual, we are late blogging about this.  So with apologies out of the way here we go.

As Tate turns 2, we are reminded how quickly time goes by.  It seems like yesterday he was this tiny baby and now he is a big boy using sentences and running around on his own but still making us laugh all the time.  He still loves all things cars including various other vehicles.  He is a true Hartley asking for cookies every night after dinner.  He seems to get smarter every day (of course he is a genius, he's my kid).   He seems to really enjoy school (2 days a week of Mother's day out) and comes home talking about letters and "new class" as he calls it.  We are so proud of him and can't wait to watch him grow but also wish he could stay little forever. :)

For his birthday, we started by taking a trip to the Southern Museum of Flight out near the airport.  He has really been into space shuttles and airplanes lately so he liked walking around the airplanes and even sitting in a couple (only with Dad so it wasn't so scary of course).

Tate and I sitting in the airplane.  Yes, its the one we were allowed to be in, since we were instructed not to get in the rest.  They must have been warned about us Hartleys.

 Duck, Tate!

 

 Mandy painted this picture for Tate's Room and did an awesome job (David speaking of course).

 Tate and his BeBe.

 

Tate opening his presents and trying out the table for his train that Dad built.  Go ahead buddy, you could park a car on it and it should hold. :)

He started out slowly...

Then got the hang of it and dug in enthusiastically.

I love this picture...his face is genuine excitement.

This one makes me laugh too because he looks like he just can't believe he got another truck.  It's like the excitement is too much. :)

 The train table fully assembled with the wooden train set in full formation.  He ran the train around and around this table for hours with more focus than I have ever seen from a 2 year old (or him) ever before.

His talented Mom also made his cake.  It was 100% perfect but some dufas (that would be me) messed up the top with the box it was carried in. It still looked really good and had some of Tates favorites...stars and a rocket ship.  It was our traditional chocolate with chocolate icing and very tasty as well.

Tate eating his b-day dinner at a make shift picnic table just his size. 

Tate's cousins (Sam and Claudia) are always lots of fun and he has a blast chasing them around and giggling.

Katie watching over him and keeping him on task. 

Aunt Beth and Sam.

Along with the rocket theme, we had these "Stomp Rockets" that Mandy bought which were lots of fun.  I think the adults enjoyed them as much as the kids. 

 Sweaty boy.

 Birthday boy (boys since I guess mine is the day before his so it counts).  Tate wasn't much on blowing out the candles but that's ok.

The family picture.

Tate fleeing the scene.  Which is a smart thing to do when his cousin Sam is on the loose with rockets. :)

Overall, we all had a great time and thanks to everyone who made the day special.  We love you Tate!

*Mandy's blog addition*

For the record, the birthday party at the park was a joint party for Tate, David and Stephen (Claudia's daddy).  He neglected to mention this. I get accused of forgetting David's birthday so I wanted to get my 2 cents in.  :)  The stomp rockets were gifts for David and Stephen and provided us with endless entertainment.  It was a little stressful just before the party because, after not raining for two weeks, summer storms decided to pop up.  I remained positive and told everyone we were still going.  If we had to, we would just play under the pavillion.  When we got there, the rain had reduced to a sprinkle and by the time we finished dinner, it was sunny again!