hannah and mommy a year ago

i think this was my 39-week belly shot. my date settings weren't set on my camera, but based on the proximity to hospital pictures and the size of my belly, this should be the last belly shot taken before her birth....

here is an excerpt from my journal, written on the 24th of October of 2005:
I'm sitting in the nursery, looking at what will soon be hannah's home. I can't believe how quickly the 9 months have passed! The next time I prop my boppy pillow on my lap, it will be to help hold our precious little girl.

I'm experiencing a mix of emotions right now. Excitement at the thought of seeing and touching this precious child who is fearfully and wonderfully made by her Creator. Fear of the unknown- labor is unlike any other experience. It is a pain that ultimately brings forth new life. I don't know what to expect, but I know that every birth experience is unique. I am trying not to feel guilty fpr scheduling what should come naturally into our life. Why should I, when it will allow her to meet and spend time with her Daddy? I pray that she is ready, that she is perfectly healthy.

I wonder if she will have her Daddy's waves and curls, if she will have dark brown eyes like her parents, and if other traits from previous generations will be apparent?

This entry was followed by a letter to Hannah, which I will keep private. I do remember crying tears of anticipation as this was written. At 6:30 a.m. the next day, we were at the hospital, and Hannah's birthday had begun.
*****

3/7/07
if you are here for the photo tag, i've posted more belly shots on my other blog... awanderingheart.blogspot.com

Photos and Thoughts

if mommy had put the christmas ornaments away, i wouldn't have this boo-boo.

yummy pasta (and our bib replacement)

chowing down on her first soft taco actually in a shell

breaking in the clean sheets (this is the outfit she picked out herself after naptime, by the way)

"mommy, take a picture!"
(story time in her favorite nightgown)

"cheese!!!" (i know it looks like peek-a-boo. but that's not what she was saying.)


One of the most exciting things for me is that I think on some level, she understands there is a baby in my belly. Tonight she pointed to her framed ultrasound photos on the wall above her bed, and she said, "in mommy's tummy!" She occasionally talks about her brother or sister, or sometimes brother AND sister, and last night after she kicked me in the stomach as I tried to get her to settle down at bedtime, she became very apologetic, lifted up my shirt, and kissed my belly. "I'm sorry Mama. Baby so sweet." I almost felt bad for scolding her for kicking me and not settling down. Almost, but only for a fleeting moment.

motherly instincts already?

We went out to eat tonight. Hannah pulled my shirt up enough to see my belly and stuck her dinner roll against it.

"I feeding brother!" she said, matter-of-factly.

silliness

Upon viewing photos of the animals on the Halleyville ranch, Hannah exclaimed...
"puppy's inside mommy's belly!"

oh, dear...

Cute Quips

Upon waking up this morning, I told Hannah today was Mommy's birthday.
"We need cake and we need a party!"

Upon waking up from her nap, Hannah hugged my belly with both hands and exclaimed, "Brandon, you need to come out today!"

As Joel put my cake onto a plate that was passed down from Grandma Helen, because even a guy knows you can't put candles in a birthday cake while still in a plastic container from the store, I told Hannah my age and asked her if that sounded very old.
"No," she responded. "Mommy is so cute. Great Gramma is very old!" (The cake was very yummy, by the way.)

Bear's new ride and other anecdotes

Daddy put together the new stroller tonight, and it's a hit! Bear loves the "big kid" bench seat in the back, and I am so glad we opted to go for the pretty sage green instead of blah black. It steers well, is lightweight, and is actually not much longer than our old single stroller. Granted, it doesn't have the huge storage compartment underneath that Em used as her tandem seat from time to time when the single stroller was theirs, but the basket it has will be sufficient for most of our uses. Harley, the cabbage patch doll, will have to relinquish her seat to the new baby fairly soon.
******
Before my check-up today:
"Mommy, you go to the doctor and pee in a cup!"

After check-up:
Hannah lifts up my shirt and sticks the toy stethoscope against my belly. "I check Brandon's heartbeat!"

buddy's 2!!!!

Our little man is already TWO years old!  We were not able to have any family join us to celebrate.  But some of our new friends here came over for pizza and cake, and we had a GREAT time hanging out.  Their kids are essentially the same ages and developmental stages as ours. Plus, while the kids and Moms get together on occasion, the Dads had not hung out since our guest helped us moved in.  He chose a "Cars" cake with Lighting McQueen and Mater, his main toy (among several smaller gifts) from Mommy and Daddy was a car ramp, and Grandma and Papa provided a big boy bedding set with all sorts of vehicles on it.

I haven't taken him in for his 2 year check-up yet.  No rush.  (I'm not a first time mom.)  However, he does know his basic body parts, he's saying so many words I've lost count, and last week he said his first phraseas Sissy left the room:  "Bye, bye, have fun!"   If something is broken, he calls it "hurt."

He is sleeping in his big boy bed, skipping the toddler stage of his convertible bed all together since we have an extra twin bed in his room.

 Oh, and it goes perfectly with the other odds-and-ends bedroom accessories. 

Just picking up packages at the office was a present for the kids, especially when one arrived on his actual birthday.  I couldn't get them to look at me at the same time.:

So, more about my boy:
He tries to say some 3 syllable words: umbrella and elephant
He loves to sing.
He is a monkey.... loves climbing on myback.  And sliding down daddy's legs.  He can also hold his own in a wrestling match with big sis. Or jumping on furniture that I really should be teaching him to not jump on.
His laugh is infectious.  You can't stay mad at him or in a bad mood when he belly laughs.
When he sees steam or the oven is on, he says, "hot!" and sometimes "ouch!"
He LOVES to brush his teeth.  Or at least suck and chew on the toothbrush.  Future dentist?
He is very affectionate... loves to give and receive kisses, tickles and hugs.
He's a pickier eater than I remember Bear being at this age.  Sometimes he just won't eat.
He fills out size 2T tops pretty well, but can still wear some 18 month pants and shorts.  Most 2T pants are still a little long.  (He has his Daddy's "athletic" shoulders.  Funny, his daddy wasn't really an athlete but he wears an athletic cut suit coat.)
He still clings and fusses when we drop him off at the nursery, but eventually settles down to play.  Most of the time. At Bible study this summer, they put him in Bear's class to keep him happy.  It worked, and the teachers raved about how she is such a great big sister.  (Which she is.)
Another favorite phrase: ", Set, go !" (With or without the ready.)  He does this when launching his cars down their ramp, racing Sissy, or tackling a victim.

Height/weight stats to come... eventually...

Micah's 5 weeks old!

Ever since I became addicted to another site I have neglected my blogs.  Our sweet new addition arrived on July 5th.  He weighed in at 7 lb 7 oz and 20 inches long.

The first 2 weeks were rough, he became jaundiced and struggled to gain weight.  He was not back up to birth weight until week 3, after we switched gears with feeding and I started pumping and supplementing with some formula.  He's now doing great, and gets about half breastmilk and half formula per day.  Not too bad with just 3-5 pumping sessions!  I don't expected that to continue, but I am thankful to be able to give him some of the extra antibodies.

We've been able to tell that his diapers are getting smaller and legs and belly are getting bigger, but it was nice to take him in for his 1 month checkup and receive confirmation that he is indeed thriving.  9 lbs 2 ounces, 38 3/4 head circumference, and 21 1/2 inches long.  He was 7 lb 12 1/2 ounces 2 weeks ago at his last checkup, and it was so nice to have a break from dragging him in for weight and bilirubin checks!

Hannah and Brandon are adjusting well overall.  Hannah is our big helper.  Both love to love on their baby brother, sometimes a little too much.  They love to hold him and play with him on his play mat, or take the little ornamental stuffed puppies off his swing and lay them around his head while he naps.  Brandon is in the 4 year old boundary-testing stage anyway, but he definitely tries to get away with more when I am feeding the baby.

Our boy is really laid back overall, only fusses when something is wrong... soggy or soiled diaper, hungry, or gassy, etc....  We are so blessed to have 3 healthy children!

21 months

Can it be that our little girl is almost 2 years old? She is becoming more communicative every day. She will repeat just about anything we say, like a parrot, so we are REALLY trying to watch what comes out even more than usual. It's bad enough that she sounds like a sailor when she's just trying to say everyday words, but to have her copy her parents' slips-of-tongue? Ouch!

She likes climbing. Today she climbed onto the back of the grocery cart for the first time. I didn't let her stay there, and it wasn't moving. She can get into almost any chair or couch, but still likes help when she climbs down. She's made it up the 3-rug ladder at the playground, with just a little help from me to keep her from slipping.

Her chuckles and giggles will brighten anyone's glum mood.

She's taking after her Mommy- she has a long torso. even some 2T tops are a little small. The pants fit perfectly. It's so frustrating to dig into the hand-me-downs from Emmy and Maddie and realize some are already too small. She loves to eat fruits and veggies.

She also takes after her Daddy. She loves bread and meat. Last night she must have eaten 3 or 4 ounces of chicken for dinner.

She has not climbed out of her crib, and still sleeps well in it, so we're keeping it up.

She recognizes when she needs to go potty or has already gone, but 9 times out of ten will not sit on it voluntarily. She does like identifying the pictures on her cushy seat insert, though. And maybe when she sees her older cousins don't wear diapers anymore during our week together, she will want to be like the big kids. She will tear of TP and give it to me after I'm done.

She still takes a nap... usually just one.

She loves her evening routine of dinner-bath-stroll. In fact, she likes to go for a ride in her stroller just about any time.

She loves catching bubbles, and dipping the wand, though she has yet to successfully blow the bubbles herself.

While we were at Wal-mart today, she was counting all sorts of things. She skipped numbers here and there, but she pretty much as 1-10 memorized. She doesn't really count for the sake of saying the numbers, though, she usually counts objects.

She likes to help by putting scoops of sugar into the pitcher for sweet tea, stepping on the step ladder to throw dirty laundry into the washer, shoving wet laundry into the dryer, putting silverware in the drawer, putting pop cans in the fridge drawer, sweeping, vacuuming, putting her books away, wiping her tray when she's done eating. I really gotta take advantage of this interest in cleaning and keeping things neat before it goes away!

She likes to brush her teeth by herself... or while Mommy or Daddy brush theirs. But do not try to help her, she's a big girl and can do it herself, thank you!

Height? Weight? Stats- what are THOSE?

• growing like a weed

• healthy weight, with a little belly pooch (ok, big after a good meal)

introducing our fishie

if you read my mommy's blog, you have already seen this. but mommy thought i should get to tell my friends that i'm going to be a big sister soon!

when mommy showed me the picture of the baby in her belly, i had two reactions. "fishie!" and ""oh, how cute!!!"


tonight, during story time, there was a baby in one of my picture books. i lifted up mommy's shirt and pat her tummy. "baby so sweet!"

my cuteness worked... mommy rocked me in the rocking chair an extra 30 minutes after bedtime tonight. she says i won't fit on her lap in a few months, so she's cuddling as much as she can now!

watch out, world, here comes our little man!

He's mastered the army crawl... He slides on his belly, gets wherever he needs to go... I can't wait til he figures out that he'll go faster with he tummy off the ground. Ok, yes I can....

6 weeks already?

6 weeks ago this morning, I finally went into labor at 40 weeks 5 days. Time is passing too quickly, as Brandon is waking up. Everyone comments on how alert he is during his wakeful periods.
Today, he activated the music and lights on his play mat by reaching for his toys. I'm not sure if he realizes the connection yet, or is just beginning to reach toward objects, but I still think it's pretty cool. Hannah loves to help, whether it's by bringing us his paci (and stuffing it in his mouth), a diaper for a change, or even wiping. As I was changing his diaper this morning, Hannah pointed to his boy "parts" and asked, "what's that?" I was wondering when she would ask. She is also still amazed that his umbilical cord fell off and left his belly button in place.

He's a pretty good sleeper... 2 4-hour stretches between feedings last night, and in the past week he has slept for 6 hours 3 times. During the day he is not as fond of sleeping, and prefers to be held. But I'll take sleep at night any day and cherish the cuddle times during the day... they will pass far too quickly! He also tends to spit up a lot, though after some feedings he doesn't very much, which leaves mommy confused. He smiles more every day, and the sounds of his "coos" change.

6 weeks- what are they looking at?

sometimes sissy comes on a bit too strong

playing "together"- Brandon 6 weeks, Hannah 35 1/2 months

to great-gramma's and back

baby bear and i just returned from accompanying gramma debbie to visit great gramma in the great cheese state. hannah did so well on the road. oh, the trip was lengthened by diaper changes at every stop, but we enjoyed the journey in spite of the circumstance.

hannah seemed to recognize great-gramma's house. she made herself at home, crawling wherever she could get to. people who had never seen her before thought she was mini-daddy, but those who had met her on previous visits (february and may) said she is starting to look like me, too. the first day, we set up her mini-pack and play in great-gramma's hospital room so we could wait during the surgery. hannah didn't think napping there was acceptable, and was particularly grouchy on saturday. gramma debbie tracked down great-gramma's car keys and drove separately so hannah wouldn't have to stay so long the rest of the week. i observed that hannah seemed to know not to tackle great-gramma like she tackles everyone else. perhaps it was the sterility of the hospital room, but she did not climb up on her shoulder, she crawled on he gingerly at first. she cruised furniture, attempted to escape the "prison" and go down the hallway, but she did not beat up our injured loved one. the nurses and staff loved her, and great-gramma loved having her there.

on tuesday, the change in great-gramma's surroundings from the hospital to the rehab room also seemed to affect or little socialite. perhaps it was the carpet, or the homey furnishings in the common areas, or the fact that great-gramma was in her own clothes instead of hospital gowns. whatever the reason, hannah seemed much more content. except when she couldn't push the wheelchair because the brakes were set.

when we arrived back in memphis last night, hannah was thrilled to find princess the cat waiting for her. princess would never admit it, and by this morning she was hissing so we had to separate the two of them. hannah chased that beige tabby-cat all over the living room, kitchen, and dining nook at daddy's parents' house. she giggled her deepest belly-laugh, and was overjoyed to be out of her carseat after 14 1/2 hours on the road.

after princess finally decided to hide, we bagan playing with her toys. "where's toy kitty?" i asked. she crawled and picked up the grey stuffed cat which aunt sara and uncle grant brought her on their very first visit to meet her. "where's baby doll?" again, she successfully identified the correct toy. "where's coon?" right again. perhaps it was by chance, but i like to think she really was answering my questions correctly.

hannah and daddy spent quality time together while i went to bunko and my jewelry show tonight. daddy said she's grown a lot and her hair is longer than it was a week ago. must be that wisconsin cheese.

the baby in mommy's belly....

our exercise balls....

i love her expression in this one!

slightly more cooperation

the past few times i've asked bear when her brother will come out, and listed the next few days up to sunday, she always replies, "sunday." but that could be because it's the last choice she was given.