Every Single Month

The Hartley Four sure love summer! What a convivial summer! We’ve been to the mountains, a lake, numerous beaches, and bunches of backyard barbecues. At 15 months, you two have sure learned a ton in such a short amount of time. Gone are the babies we knew, and here are the pre-toddlers, full of penguin-style walking, oopses, getting into mischief, and whole new reasons to giggle. It seems like you two will laugh at anything I do. I put a rubber ducky on my head, you laugh. I throw a ball, you laugh. I jump, you laugh. And I cherish this so much, because I know I won’t always be the source of your laughter, so I’m soaking it in this month. You two have also made your mommy and I laugh this month. Mommy was brave and fed you some messy foods (black beans, and another time, spaghetti). And because mommy loves to take photos, we now have photographic evidences of these messes to show your boyfriends when you turn 5,000 months old. But back to month 15…

GWEN: You LOVE the ocean. You get that from your mom. She loves it too. You were caught eating toilet paper this month (not used TP thank goodness). You love to wave at strangers, and love chasing the older kids when we’re at get-togethers. You’re very curious, and you may or may not have a hoarding issue developing. You’ll hold every toy ever made if you had the hands for it! It’s super cute…for now. You and your sister also say dog-dog to Toby, Sophie, and your puppy stuffed animals. Speaking of puppy stuffed animals, you lost Dog-Dog (mommy’s old animal from her childhood). But we found a lamb (affectionately known as Mimi), and all is good in the stuffed animal world.

GRACEN: You HATE the ocean. You get that from your dad. He hates it too. You just love to take puzzles apart and read books. You’re so smart, and mommy and I can tell that you’re going to be quite the reader one day. You have started to mimic us when we clap, wave, or make specific noises. You’re also doing this crazy cute thing where you smile and your nose wrinkles all the up to your eyes.  You also love to roll and throw plastic balls everywhere. You also love to give kisses to us, including your sister! You have such a calm and chill demeanor, and I just love that about you. You crack up at the littlest things, like riding in Costco carts. You think it’s the greatest! I wish I can be as content as you sometimes.

Girls, I absolutely love being your daddy. And I can’t wait to introduce you to your Heavenly Dad one day too. God loves you even more than mommy or I do, and that’s a whole lot! We pray all the time that you’ll fall right in love with Him very soon.