Stylish Chica

Hannah went on and on telling me what she did and didn't like about the outfits she saw on an ad she pulled out of one of my shopping bags. :) She seriously goes on forever.

Our Memorable Christmas

The best way I can describe Christmas 2009 is "memorable". Hannah got her two front teeth -- no lie. And lets just say everything revolved around this event.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed. It was our first Christmas with our little girl so I had a few hopes and expectations. Like I imagined that we would wake up early on Christmas Day and watch Hannah open her presents under the tree. Of course, I fully expected her to want nothing to do with those presents but want only to play with the boxes, bows and paper. We'd then spend the rest of the day making the usual rounds at our family's houses and just adding Hannah into the mix. I had even started making her a red corduroy dress that she would wear Christmas Day.  None of that happened and that dress is still unfinished.

My expectations weren't met at all. But in a surprising way, they were exceeded. My too-busy-to-snuggle little girl wanted nothing more in the world than her Mama. And for three days straight, Hannah clung to me like a baby koala bear. It's hard being a working mom because I feel like I miss out on some very important bonding time (though I have to say I think we have the next best arrangement thanks to my Memaw, mine and Chris' moms and the wonderful ladies at PDO). So I'd have to say that the greatest Christmas present I could've received this year was some serious bonding time with my little girl. And I got it.

Once we got her fever managed Christmas morning, we did open presents. We did make it to our parents' houses. I didn't finish that dress, but it'll make a great Valentine's Day dress! Here are a few pictures from our day:

Christmas at Home

Christmas with The Freemans

Grammy and my two beautiful nieces

My awesome nephew desperate for some water

Christmas with The Teagues and Fambroughs

My Dad always passes out the gifts

 

No matter how lousy you feel, who can resist a maraca? Not this quarter-Tejana! She and Grandma proceeded to shake it like a polaroid picture.

My sister laughing at the really cool, witty thing I said.

O Holy Night

I once heard Christmas described as war. It marks the day that our Savior entered the world through flesh to wreak havoc on the oppressor and rescue the oppressed. No other hymn better expresses this thought than my favorite, O Holy Night:

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of Our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world In sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd And the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Truly He taught us To love one another;

His law is love And His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;

And in His name All oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us Praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory Evermore proclaim.

His power and glory Evermore proclaim.

Some Family Pictures

Every year for Christmas we make photo albums of our nieces and nephew to give as gifts. This year we were so glad to add Hannah to the mix. Here are a few pictures we took of the cousins together and then a few of just our family:

Andrew, Kayden, Sydney and Hannah

Chris humored me and allowed the bow for one picture.

Our family of three.

My Calling in Life

I feel called to be the kind of wife and mom that loves and extends grace always. It’s my hope that I point my family to the person of Jesus by the way I live my life, so that they subsequently experience intimacy with God and enjoy a full life.

I feel called to be honest and real, never feigning goodness derived of my own efforts.

I am strongly compelled to show mercy to those who hurt and long for peace despite the extent of their depravity. I refuse to believe that anyone is “too far gone”, and I will gladly introduce anyone to a just and merciful God who believes likewise.

I am passionate about equipping people with tools to help them become debt-free. The seemingly everlasting shroud of debt looming over the Freeman household (written with every ounce of drama I can muster) is beginning to lift, and I want others to experience the sensation of freedom we are beginning to enjoy.

I long to see the Church revived, and I feel called to be a part of developing the next generation of leaders, beginning with college students.

I am particularly passionate about guiding college-aged women in making decisions for their independent adult lives.

Professionally, I feel called to do the best I can possibly do no matter the task.

I feel called to submit every aspect of my life to God. About ten years ago, I declared myself His servant. I’ll go wherever He calls me to whatever He wants me to do.

Graduation Day

Today was a big day for Hannah Riley! After only 8 1/2 weeks, she completed treatment in the DOC Band and now has a round head. We are so pleased with how well and quickly treatment went and hope that Hannah will someday appreciate her symmetrical head! We are so grateful to Cranial Technologies in Dallas and especially to Hannah's physical therapist, Robin, who is holding Hannah. You are all so wonderful!

Hannah and Her Pops

Jim and Chris have been carpooling while we're waiting to get a rental car. That means Hannah gets to ride along with her Daddy and her Pops in the morning.

An Unfortunate, Eventful Weekend

While you can be prepared for emergencies, you can never really plan for them. However, you would have thought we had planned for a car accident on Saturday the way everything worked out as we were in a four car pile up in Dallas. Everyone is safe and sound, with only me experiencing a bit of whiplash and bruising. But considering that my family is perfectly OK, I can't complain one bit. In fact, I can't overcome this sense of shock as I consider all of the coulda-shoulda-woulda's and seeing God's hand in it all. It could've been really bad, but I'm just thankful that He desires for me, Chris and Hannah to live our lives before Him on earth right now.

I truly believe that God goes before us and comes behind us, forging our paths and protecting us from all sides. Just this last week we had decided to take Sunday off and go to Dallas since Chris was not needed to lead the praise band. Chris and I made all of the arrangements to go, including getting a substitute for my Sunday school class. We had decided to take Chris' dad's truck since my Jeep could not carry the furniture we were buying, and Chris' truck did not have climate control. It was even nice to know that Jim had his brakes checked this past week, too. While Chris initially put Hannah's car seat behind the passenger seat, leaving me practically sitting on top of the dashboard, we decided moments before we left to move her to the middle seat to give me more leg room and to ensure that her seat was as level as it could be. We packed up warm clothes, and being the overly-prepared new mom that I can be sometimes, I went ahead and packed up a day's worth of meals for Hannah, though we planned to be back early afternoon. That obviously didn't happen.

I'm so thankful that we were not in the Jeep as I'm sure my car probably wouldn't have fared as well as Jim's big Chevy truck. And I'm sure I wouldn't have felt so great had I been any closer to the dashboard than I was. I'm also grateful that David and Laura were in town, along with their parents, to help pick us up from the scene of the accident and get us home! It was also nice that our Sunday morning responsibilities were taken care of that we could take it easy the following day.

We're not sure what insurance is going to do or what's going to happen with Jim's truck. But for now, all we can do is praise God we're all OK.

Toasty Warm Baby

What Hannah's Getting For Christmas

We got surprising news at Hannah’s seven week checkup at Cranial Technologies. Her physical therapist, Robin, said that Hannah’s head was basically corrected and that she would graduate from her band at her next appointment! Robin adjusted Hannah's band one last time, and Chris and I are expecting her to outgrow it in the next two weeks.

We've been really amazed at how quickly her treatment has gone. In fact, Hannah will have only been in the band eight-and-a-half weeks by the time she graduates. And since we were fully expecting her to be in it the full estimated 12 weeks, this is a nice surprise. Robin said that it makes a huge difference when babies are treated as early as possible since they are constantly growing, which has most definitely been the case for Hannah. We're very grateful we did this sooner than later.

So here is a list of some of the things I'm looking forward to post-treatment:
• washing Hannah's hair with smelly-good shampoo again
• kissing my baby's smelly-good head without a stinky band in the way
• snuggling with Hannah without a big, hard helmet in my face
• showing off Hannah's beautifully round head

Merry Christmas, Hannah! Mom and Dad got you a round head.

(By the way, Hannah's wearing a stocking on her head not because she's about to go rob a covenient store. It is actually used to smooth her hair down for us to get a better look at her head. Her hair has grown a lot lately and it's looking reddish!)

We're Half Way There

We just finished Hannah’s fifth week of treatment in the DOC Band. My mom got to go with us for this week’s appointment since Chris was out of town. So she got to see for herself a model of the way Hannah’s head looked prior to treatment compared to her round head today. The transformation is incredible!

This appointment went well, as they all do. Hannah’s doing great considering she’s been in the band such a short time. The average Joe can barely detect any flatness now! I’m so anxious for treatment to be over and done with and to see Hannah’s perfectly round head.

They do a growth adjustment at every appointment, which is now every other week. Basically what they do is adjust the size of the band, carving out some of the foam lining to allow her head to grow in specific areas. This controls the growth, helping her head to round out.

At this point, we can see where the foam is getting fairly thin in some areas and we’ve wondered how many more growth adjustments we have in this band before she outgrows it. Our physical therapist, Robin, said she guesses that she could do about three more adjustments before there’s nothing left to adjust. This would mean Hannah has about six more weeks in the band. Of course this all depends on how quickly or slowly Hannah is growing, so it’s definitely subject to change. The good news is that it doesn’t look like she’ll need a second band. So maybe Hannah will graduate from her band by Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Hannah! You’re getting a round head. : )

I Love My People

Here is a picture from our weekend. Chris is working on school stuff and Hannah is helping him. The best thing about this picture is how their legs are crossed alike.

I love my husband and my little girl. They are my favorite people.

Little Fraidy-Cat

So I have a little fraidy-cat on my hands!

Hannah was scooting all over her room, playing with her toys while I was putting away her laundry. At some point, I had her closet door open, and she immediately made a b line towards the door. Since it's not quite baby-proofed, I shut the door before she could make it there. She was easily distracted, though, by the springy door stopper. I thought since most kids like to play with door stoppers, it would be fun to watch her discover it for the first time.

Well, she tugged pretty hard on it and pulled the white stopper off of the spring, and of course the stopper made a huge noise. She looked back at me and let out this little wail as if she were saying, "Momma, come save me!"

So I went and sat in the floor behind her to show her there was nothing scary about it. She stopped whining and just stared intently at it as if she were expecting it to make another sound. After a few minutes, I got up to finish putting away the laundry. She started whining again, so I tried coaxing her away from the door to come play with her ball. She really wanted to play with her ball, so she turned to her belly and began scooting towards it. But she stopped after one scoot, turned and stared at the door stopper and whined at it. I would call her again, she'd scoot once, then turn again to the stopper and whine. This happened five or six times before finally I went and stood in front of the stopper so she couldn't see it, and she eventually made it to her ball and forgot all about the scary door stopper. :)

The end.

Hannah and I Made The News Yesterday

Hannah and I were interviewed yesterday by KLTV 7 regarding a new iPhone application's ability to decipher a baby's cry. Here is the clip from the show, which was actually one of their lead stories.

Hannah's Newly Designed DOC Band

Check out Hannah in her newly decorated DOC Band, courtesy of East Texas Engraving and Wrapz, Inc. It has been hard to get a good picture because this big girl is mobile!! So here are a few candid shots.

Hannah has gotten so many compliments on how awesome her new band looks. And I think it makes her a little more approachable. Since she started treatment, I noticed on occasion a few stares or quick glances from people who weren’t quite sure what to make of the big white helmet on her head. But now that it’s decorated and it even has her name on it, we’ve actually had a few folks smile at her and say, "Hi Hannah!"

We can’t thank you enough East Texas Engraving and Wrapz, Inc.! Kristie, the graphic designer, did such a great job! And Fernie did such a great job applying the wrap, having never before wrapped a band. Thanks to you all! We'll be sure and post better pictures when she sits still long enough! :)

Hannah's First Halloween

There is great pressure on how you should dress your child for their very first Halloween. Chris and I thought long and hard about how we should dress Hannah and I think we succeeded in coming up with a costume that tops all for a babies first Halloween. We also might have raised the bar so high that every other Halloween costume will be a complete let down. But we’ve got a year to plan!

So we decided along with our best friends, David and Laura, to dress our kids respectively as “Deb” and “Napoleon Dynamite” at their prom as pictured here:

And I think we pulled it off as you can see here:

"Napoleon" is sporting an authentic vintage suit from the 70s, passed down through generations of Ethridges. And "Deb" is sporting an altered Cinderella dress purchased for the sheer fact that it was covered in tulle and had sleeves that were "really big". “Deb” also temporarily wore a blue mum wrist corsage given to her by her date before she discovered how much more fun it was to eat than wear. The wagon donned pink streamers for that gaudy old school prom touch with a sign proudly promoting their dear friend “Pedro” for class president.

The kids had a blast at the Fall Festival this year, and we were pretty proud that their costumes were such a hit! Just check out all of their admirers.

Hannah's Third Week in the DOC Band

The Mom, The Babe & The Tree

I was unloading Hannah from the car this evening when I noticed her eyes fixated on something behind me: it was a newly planted baby tree that was blowing in the fall wind. I unbuckled her from her seat and walked over to the tree where she actually started laughing every time a gust of cool wind would hit her in the face, all the while she was grabbing at the swaying thin branches. It actually made me think of a poem I stumbled across today:

Trees
by Alfred Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

I love to watch the delight on my child's face as she enjoys something for the first time. Sometimes I'm just too busy to notice and enjoy the simple things in life. But I find when I do slow down just for a bit, I find the worries of my day fade in comparison to how blessed I truly am.

God is so good to me. His faithfulness humbles me. And His greatness is displayed in even the simplest of things.

Decorating Hannah's DOC Band

We’re in the process of getting Hannah’s band decorated. There’s a business in town called East Texas Engraving and Wrapz, Inc., and they are going to apply a customized sticker to the outside of the band with a fun design. We wanted it done locally and inquired if they were even willing to do such a small job. And not only were they willing, they were so generous to do it for free. We didn’t expect that in the least, and we are so grateful! Now Hannah can get her “crooked little head” fixed and look cool in the process! Here’s what the design will look like:

Hannah Gets A New Hat

A month after her initial consultation and the week she turned 6 months, Hannah received her custom band. And just one week after wearing it, we have seen change already! It took her no time at all to adjust to wearing it. It’s as if she’s pretty unaware that she has something on her head. Here’s a video of her trying it on for the first time.

I do have to say that while I know it’s important to undergo this treatment, I’m ready for her to be out of it. She has to wear the band 23 hours a day, only taking it off long enough for bath time. First of all, it’s hard to snuggle to your sweet baby’s head when it’s wrapped in a hard shell. In fact, I have this new found fear of her busting me in the face and knocking out a tooth! And secondly, the band isn’t the most attractive piece of headwear I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s plain white. So it has this sterile, cold look to it. We’ve actually had a few stares from folks because they don’t know what to make of it. I have to be honest, though. I always wondered what they were, too.

Hopefully she won’t have to wear it for very long, though. Because infants are constantly growing, we expect rapid change in the shape of her head. Our clinician told us she should only have to wear the band as long as she still fits in it and her head is as round as it can be.

Hannah's Crooked Little Head

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, placing a child to sleep on their backs decreases their risk of SIDS. So of course when Hannah was born, we’d do exactly that. However, we knew that this sleeping position would also increase the chances of her head developing a flat spot, so we’d do our best to turn her often. But little Hannah always favored sleeping on her left cheek. And we found that her head began to flatten on the back left side of her head.

At each of her wellness check-ups, our pediatrician would instruct us to have Hannah spend more time on her tummy, not only to strengthen her upper body, but to help her head round out as she grew. Despite our efforts and all of the tummy time, it didn’t help. Her head just wouldn’t round out and she continued to favor sleeping on her left cheek. Honestly, we didn’t think much of it, believing it was something she would eventually grow out of.

At Hannah’s 4-month check-up, our pediatrician pointed out to us the effects of this flat spot -- it was causing slight asymmetry in her face. Being the adoring parent that we are, I can’t say that we had ever looked at her head objectively, looking for anything out of the ordinary. So when our doctor pointed this out to us, we were quite surprised and honestly a little skeptical. But when she told us that continued growth creates the possibility for the asymmetry to become even more apparent, we just imagined Hannah as a young woman, completely self-aware of any flaw and realizing it was something that had the potential to be corrected at some point. And we were convinced to explore what else we might be able to do to correct what I affectionately call her “crooked little head”.

Upon our pediatrician’s referral, we took Hannah to Cranial Technologies in Dallas. There they did an evaluation of her head, taking pictures and measurements and asking questions. She was quite a trooper and smiled and talked to all of the staff, who was very nice. In our consultation, the clinicians concluded that Hannah preferred sleeping on her left cheek because she had torticollis -- stiffness of the neck muscles -- and her neck muscles had yet to be stretched out properly since birth. And as a result of this stiffness, she developed a condition called plagiocephaly, which is a common, treatable condition often caused by external forces applied to an infant’s soft skull. We learned that it ranges from mild to severe, causing effects such as skull deformation, facial asymmetry, misalignment of the ears and bulging of the forehead. Possible long term effects could affect more than just her appearance, but it could cause jaw and vision problems or make it difficult to fit her for a bike helmet or glasses. Hannah’s condition appeared to be mild to moderate.

So Cranial Technologies prescribed in-home physical therapy for us to stretch her neck daily. And within a day, we noticed increased mobility as it made it easier to flip back and forth from her backside to her tummy. Also, they determined that Hannah was a great candidate for orthotic treatment in which a device customized to her head would be placed on her head called the DOC Band.

The DOC band is a 6-ounce device consisting of an outer plastic shell with foam lining that looks quite similar to a helmet. It works by applying mild holding pressures to the prominent areas and encouraging growth in the flattened areas.

Because treatment can take a few months, Chris and I were uneasy about putting her in a helmet for that long. After talking it over and checking with our insurance company, though, we decided to move forward with treatment for Hannah. We knew that she would probably be fine without it, but if we were able to provide her with this option, we should do it.

So we scheduled a follow-up appointment to have her head measured for the band. Cranial Technologies uses a machine called Digital Surface Imaging® that takes a complete 3-D image of an infant’s head. Hannah did so well at this appointment. Before her head could be scanned, they put a mesh stocking on her head that covers her face. This enhances their capability to get a smooth 3-D image. We weren’t quite sure how she would take to the stocking. In fact, we had just heard a child scream bloody murder during his scan just because of the stocking. Yet, Hannah seemed to think it was the funniest thing ever. The scan was fast, and she charmed the pants off of all of the clinicians.

We're All Getting Old

Happy birthday to my 32-year-old baby daddy! While we didn’t celebrate too big on his actual birthday, we plan to do so as we rock out at the U2 concert next week! Every year we celebrate our October birthdays by going to a fall concert, and this year we’re going to the concert of all concerts. U2. Happy birthday to us!

We’re celebrating another milestone this week as Hannah turns 6 months! It's going by so fast!!! I truly feel like I just found out I was pregnant, and here she is, halfway to 1! And for those of you who have not seen her lately, she's quite the giant baby... obviously she didn't get that from me! She measures 20.5 pounds and 27.75 inches. Just to give you an idea of how big she is, she's the same size as a few 1-year-olds we know. But you better believe every ounce is filled with extraordinary personality and utter sweetness. We're so thankful to have a happy, healthy child. :)

Next week I celebrate turning 28. While it doesn’t sound as ancient as 32, it still sounds old. Where does the time go?

Tickle Fight

Grandpa's winning the tickle fight. But he's got it coming to him when she outgrows him. That'll be next year.

Hannah at Five Months

An Overdue Blog Update

I’m such a blog slacker.

I’ve been quite busy lately with a lot on my mind, making it hard for me to slow down and actually gather my thoughts. So to jump back into the blogging swing of things, I’ll start with a general update.

We’re alive and well and generally pretty happy. Hannah is growing into a giant child, soon to be as tall as me! She is certainly her father’s daughter in most every way. And if I do say so myself, she might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. Turns out Chris and I make cute people. :) She’s also doing all kinds of cool stuff, too, like talking loudly and rolling around. I can hardly believe that just a few short months ago she was completely helpless, and now she’s about to be 6 months! I’m afraid to blink - it’s going by so fast!

As for Chris, he’s been plugging away at his school work, which hasn’t been easy for him lately. On top of managing a personal life AND kicking off the new school year with the college ministry AND working on his own school work, Chris’ body decided it was high time to have a kidney stone or two. Now, he gets a few every year and passes them like a rock star with no pain and no interruption to his life whatsoever. But for whatever reason, his body decided to wuss out on these two stones, sending him back and forth to the urgent care clinic and the emergency room over the past two weeks. I’ve never seen Chris in so much pain. It was awful. Anyway, the pain is past him, yet he’s still waiting on the last one to make its exit… in case you needed to know. :)

And me, I’m just working my butt off and trying to squeeze in every moment I can with the family. Since Hannah goes to bed fairly early, I rush home to spend as much time with her as possible. And since classes have started back at UT Tyler and TJC, Chris stays pretty busy with the college students. So I crave the evenings and weekends we’re all home!

There’s a lot more going on that I should blog about, but I’ll leave all of my many, many blog followers chomping at the bit for more as I promise to blog more this week!

Wake Up Sleepy Head

I’m feeling a little bit like Rip Van Winkle post-nap these days.

A little over a year ago I went into pregnancy hibernation. Morning sickness left me queasy all day with exhaustion I can’t even describe. And as I eventually moved past the icky feeling, I had what many women come to experience - a full-blown case of baby brain. Naturally, everything revolved around the growing little girl in my belly and few other things in the turning world mattered to me.

Much like my buddy Rip, it seems that I too am slowly waking out of a slumber, realizing that things are different! It’s taken a while, but I’ve grown accustomed to this smiling, eating, pooping, sleeping bundle of joy added to our home. Perhaps it’s that I’m actually getting consecutive full nights of sleep that I’m actually able to have clarity of mind. No less, I feel a little more awake these days.

So like I said, I’m waking up. And wow, things are so different! When did I have a baby? I mean, wasn’t I just pregnant? I feel like my life is flashing before my eyes. And I really feel like there’s no time to catch up on the moments that have past as I try to come up to speed on what’s happening in the now. So my prayer for today is that God would miraculously slow things down a bit because I really feel like the world is spinning faster than I can keep up with.

Check Out Those Paws

You know how you can typically determine a puppy's size based on the size of their paws? Well by the size of Hannah's hands, she might grow up to be taller than her Daddy!

At 4 months, Hannah weighs in at 17.5 pounds and measures 26.5 inches. To put it into perspective, she's in the 105th percentile in length and 98th percentile for weight compared to other children her age! She's even fitting into some clothes made for 9 month babies because she's so tall!

She's such a fun little girl and is doing such big kid things! Like she's sleeping completely through the night at a solid 12 hours, rolling around everywhere and beginning to eat cereal from a spoon. She has the best laugh in the world and we'll do just about anything to hear that sweet sound. We're having a blast with little Hannah Bo-Nana!

Hannah Cracking the Code

At four months, Hannah is one smart cookie. It took her no time at all to figure out her little spinny thing (official term) on her exersaucer. I believe we have a genius on our hands.

Tummy Time is the Bomb, Dad

Maebe Gets Her Butt Chewed Out

Good Morning!

So far, Hannah has been a morning person, very much unlike her mother! We hear her talking to herself every morning about 7:30 a.m. And the moment we peek our head over the side of the crib, she gets super excited. It makes me feel like a million bucks! Anyway, I took this video so she could say good morning to Chris since he's away. But I had to share the cuteness with the rest of the interested world! ;)

Happy Hannah in a High Chair

Oh man, Hannah had a blast the first time she sat in a high chair. Last night, she and I had supper at Grammy and Pops' (Chris' parents house), and we decided to see how she would like sitting at the dinner table. Well, you can certainly see for yourself just how much fun she thought it was. (And I'm so glad I was able to video it with my handy dandy new iPhone, too, so that I can send it to Chris since he's away on a 2-week mission trip to Guatemala.)

Speaking Of Independence

We've had a fun holiday weekend with Hannah. She's growing so fast and she's doing some really cool big kid things. For instance, holding her own bottle all by herself. We also taught her to change her own diaper... OK, maybe not, but I wish. She really was holding her bottle though, which was pretty funny. She also purposely rolled on her side a number of times. She'll be a roly-poly in no time. And we've spent a lot of time laughing this weekend. We've discovered she has this definitive chuckle, and we'll do anything we can to elicit one out of her! So needless to say, we've had a happy 4th with our sweet girl.

Sleep Walking Mama

I think the lack of continuous sleep is starting to get to me. Last week, Chris said that while I was sleeping the other night, I whispered to him in that creepier than humanly natural kind of way, "Come heeeere", while coaxing him to me with my index finger. He was afraid to get up for fear that I might begin spewing pea soup or find Hannah walking on the ceiling. And then last night, I apparently slept walk. Chris said I got up to tend to our crying child, only after dragging my pillow into the living room and stuffing one of my shirts into its case. Next, I picked up one of the decorative couch pillows and put it in Hannah's crib. I then unswaddled her, changed her diaper and woke up as I put her in my confused husband's lap, who was waiting on the couch nearby in case I needed help.

What in the world??? I have absolutely, positively no recollection of any of this whatsoever. How insane am I?

I'm so ready for Hannah to start sleeping through the night so I can start sleeping through the night, if not for my own sanity but for Chris'. Since she was born, he's actually sent me back to bed a few times because apparently I can be pretty worthless in the middle of the night, sleeping on the couch while he does all the work. I have to say that at times, waking me is near impossible. He might as well have two babies to care for. My poor, sweet husband. Do I get any cred for growing and delivering her? Maybe?

I feel like she's on the brink of making it through the night, though. Sleep cometh soon!

Videos For Aunt Gina

We miss you, Aunt G! Come play soon.

Note To Self

I believe it when they say kids grow up so fast. The past ten weeks have been a blur! There are things I want to remember about this time with Hannah and Chris, and if I don’t write them down, they’ll escape my memory. I know there will be more to add, but here are a few that are at the top of my mind:

Every single time I burp Hannah during her feeding, I burp. It never fails.

She started mimicking me this past week. We go back and forth sticking our tongues out at each other and it entertains us both to no end.

On Sunday, I held her up to my shoulder and caught a whiff of something sour. As I ruled out old milk on her clothes, I narrowed my search to the deep crease in her neck where she was stowing away food for later. Bath time is about to get intense.

It’s cute to watch her become more coordinated as she’s learning to put toys in her mouth… that is, of course, when she can find her mouth. Sometimes the toy goes in her ear or in her neck or into her forehead, all the while her little expectant mouth remains wide open. A lot of times she makes it in, but it sure is fun watching her try.

She started grabbing Chris' beard this past week. It makes me laugh because it's getting a little long right now and I'm hoping it'll make him shave it down to a less than Grizzly Adams length. :)

Every morning around 4:30 a.m., Hannah wakes us up. She’s not hungry, so we usually just change her and try to get her peacefully back to sleep. Though we’re so tired, you can’t help but laugh when you walk up to her crib because she has this big smile on her face like, “Heeeey! I thought you’d never come. Let’s play already!”

Every night before she goes to sleep, Hannah and I say goodnight and pray for our family and best friends, and of course, their dogs. We list them off one by one, and we end by saying, “Thanks God for our big family.”

UPDATE: Little Sweet Heart

Today’s visit to the pediatric cardiologist went great and we received good news: Hannah’s heart is normal and healthy. It just makes a little noise. That’s it! Chances are the murmur will disappear as she grows older. But if it doesn’t, it will never develop into anything, and it’s nothing to ever monitor. It’s what is called an innocent heart murmur. So that’s the update!

On top of the good news, we had a great experience at the clinic. The staff was really nice and Hannah was in a great mood. Despite all of the manhandling by strangers, she was super happy, as you can see in the picture of her getting the EKG.

This worried Mama’s mind is at ease. I have to say that Chris is my rock. As I’ve said before, I’m a natural worrier. And he just speaks truth and holds me steady. Since our appointment last week, he has said over and over again that there’s nothing to worry about until there’s something to worry about. Was he ever right! Again, I’m reminded that Hannah is ours to care for, but we’re mere stewards. She belongs to the Lord and He will care for her as He sees fit.

As Hannah of the Old Testament dedicated her son Samuel, likewise, we entrust our Hannah's life to God:

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. For her whole life she will be given over to the Lord.
I Samuel 1:27-28

Little Sweet Heart

Well we took Hannah to her two month check-up yesterday, and as if you hadn't noticed, our little girl is growing so fast! Almost doubling her birth weight, she now weighs 13 pounds, 4 1/2 ounces and measures 23 inches long. Her pediatrician, Dr. Steeger, told us that she's in the 97th percentile for her weight and 85th for her height. She's definitely a big girl!

Hannah also got 3 shots yesterday and handled them like a champ. Her Mom didn't fair so well and winced at the sight of the needles. :)

Dr. Steeger checked Hannah out and said that she's developing normal with one exception - she hears a heart murmur. While this is very common in children, she is referring Hannah to a pediatric cardiologist just to play it safe. Kids typically outgrow innocent heart murmurs. If it is a serious heart murmur needing some type of intervention - which Dr. Steeger does not suspect Hannah has - the child does not grow well. Obviously, Hannah has no problem growing, which is why she isn't as concerned.

So we will not (or try not to) worry until we have something to worry about. It's easier said than done, but we just trust that God knows what He's up to and pray that He protects her. There's peace knowing that God cares for Hannah more than me and Chris do, and He has her best interest in mind for her little sweet heart.

Back To The Daily Grind

My first week back at work wasn't as hard as I expected, thanks to a lot of distraction, welcoming folks and moving into a new office. And the five days spent at work made the weekend that much sweeter with the hubs and baby girl. Now if only I could find a way to have large quantities of caffeine pumped through my system, that'd be fantastic!

My morning beverage of choice lately has been a delightful brew of Matévana tea, made by Teavana. Supposedly, Maté has a stimulant similar to caffeine but doesn't leave you all jittery like coffee can. And with Hannah's 4 a.m. wakings, I need all the help I can get. So far it's done the trick in keeping me from crawling up under my desk to sleep (makes me think of that Seinfeld episode where George's boss busts him for doing that very thing). Oh sleep, how I miss you.

Glimpses of the Second Month

Who's The Baby?

Hannah is now 8 weeks old. I can hardly believe how quickly the first two months have flown by. I have to say that of anything I've ever done in my life, being a parent is the hardest. I have never been drained quite so physically and emotionally as I have been these past several weeks. Nor have I ever experienced such intense happiness - I can't even describe it. Needless to say, the three of us are adjusting to each other and we're beginning to get the hang of things.

I go back to work on Monday. And while I'm grateful to have a good job, I'm not looking forward to spending most of my days apart from my daughter. It hit me today that I have not been away from Hannah for almost a year - nine months in utero and two months post-partum. And now I'll be spending nine hours away from her daily. I always thought it would just be sad to leave her, but I have to say that it's more than that. It's a little traumatic leaving a person that's literally been with you for so long. I know it sounds dramatic, but that's where I am. I expect I'll be a crying mess next week, but that's nothing new. :)

Yo Mama...

I was reminded the other day of another preggo story that I hadn't blogged about:

In the last month of pregnancy, I got up to pee every hour like clockwork. The urge would strike me throughout the night, and it was all I could do to stumble into the bathroom fast enough.

One particular night upon returning to bed, I quietly crept back into the bedroom so as not to wake my big sleeping bear of a husband. Without rustling the covers too much, I sat on the edge of the bed. But before I could even swing my kankles under the covers, I heard a huge crack and suddenly fell to the floor. Somehow I broke the bed. I got up and saw that the slats holding up my side of the bed had given way and the whole mattress tilted on its side... with my husband still in the bed. :)

We ended up fixing the bed - no big deal. But my final thought as I eventually fell asleep was that someday I would tell Hannah, "Yo Mama was so fat, when she was pregnant, she broke the bed."

Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat.