The Becomings of Baby Garrett

Christmas Snow 2009

2009-12-19T11:49:00.004-05:00

:)

2009-11-30T22:47:00.001-05:00

:(

2009-10-27T22:48:00.001-04:00

"Daddy"

2009-10-08T10:11:00.001-04:00

First Steps

2009-10-01T11:13:00.002-04:00

Hannah has been standing on her own and taking her first steps this week! Oh my goodness, my little lady is growing up. :) I feel like she tends to accomplish her milestones when she's in new places. She started crawling when she stayed with the grandparents in July while Daniel and I were in Michigan (so yes, that means we missed it. Oh well). Now that we've moved, she's getting brave and wanting to walk (I guess so she can explore?). She crawled all the way down the stairs backwards by herself yesterday, which is very exciting.

Speaking of moving, I should have some pictures soon. We're slowing getting things set up and put away. Now it's just a matter of motivating myself to take the pictures and then upload them to my computer. :)

Anyway, just wanted to share that Hannah is starting to walk!

Happy Birthday and Closing

2009-09-23T19:58:00.006-04:00

So, Hannah's birthday was on the 5th of September.... I know.... a while ago, but I'm just now getting an opportunity to upload some pictures. Both sets of her grandparents came up for the day, which was awesome! And, Abigail, David, and Ava came as well to see their little niece. We also had a few friends from town come... Tim, Jim, Craig, and Kim and their new little girl Camryn. It was a lot of fun and very nice to see everyone. Hannah got some great presents that have been keeping her very busy. :) Below is her cake:

It was an icecream cake, so she didn't have much of a chance to get messy. Sorry. :)

Daniel and Ava:

Ava and Hannah playing with one of her new presents... a Little People house. She loves this thing!

The birthday girl, again in her high chair, with not much of a mess. She's trying to figure out how to feed herself with a spoon.

With regard to more Hannah updates, she now crawls over to the window whenever someone leaves, peers up over the top, and waves goodbye. Very cute. She did her best to sound out the words "monkey" and "chicken" the other day. She got the first syllable of each word out, so I think that's good enough for now. Her first lateral incisor has broken through, so I'm just waiting for the other one on the bottom to poke out. At her well baby check-up, the doctor said that he could see her molars bulging, so he figured those would be in within a month or two. Grrreeeeat. The teething never stops. Hannah is getting very good at figuring out how to get down the stairs, and she's becoming a pro at cruising. I do believe she'll be walking fairly soon, for better or for worse. :) We also got her a forward-facing car seat, which she seems to like more than the infant carrier.

Daniel and I close on our house TOMORROW!!!!! Ahhh I can't believe it. Seven months in the making, and we're finally here! Praise the Lord!

On another note, we're starting Hannah on cloth diapers very soon. I've ordered a few BumGenius diapers, and some other kind off ebay, which I am very excited about. Cloth diapers have come a looooooong way in the last 20 years. I am hoping that Hannah will potty train quickly with these bad boys, whenever it comes time for that. Plus, it just makes me sick to my stomach when I think about how many disposables we go through in a week and that it just sits in a landfill somewhere. Yuck. I shall keep you posted on how the cloth diapering goes.

That is all for now! Hopefully we'll have some pictures to post of our new house and its progress soon!

Watch Out

2009-09-15T08:07:00.002-04:00

T-minus 6 days and counting until we make the move into the long awaited house we have been building. Everything has gone very smoothly despite a few setbacks. Calie and I were not crazy about the placement of the thermostat and doorbell on the wall in the pick below so they move them to the right ever so slightly to make them easier to get to. I start the pictures below with the things that have annoyed us the most about the new house building flaws. I guess it is safe to say that I snuck in there this afternoon and took some pics with my cell phone (sorry for the quality). The first thing is the window in the spare room; kind of close to the wall don't you think? The second picture is one the builder doesn't know I am going to complain about, but the tiles in the kitchen floor have a line that is off-color compared to the rest and it is a eye sore even though the picture does not do it justice. The rest are just some pics of the house in the final stages. Enjoy! (and yes the house next door is for sale; want to be our neighbors?)

A Few Pictures

2009-09-09T22:45:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures from Labor Day. Haven't received any pictures from Hannah's first birthday party, but when I do, I'll post those with a synopsis of her big day. Enjoy these pics! (and thanks SO much to Sarah for taking them!!)

Quick Update

2009-09-04T11:25:00.002-04:00

So, I don't have any pictures to post and I have a few videos, but not on my computer, so this will just be a quick update. Sorry. :)

Hannah turns one tomorrow. Holy cow! I can't believe it. I've really noticed over the last few weeks that she's definitely maturing and changing quickly. She's developing some great problem solving skills, walking with her little push-walker thing, imitating everything perfectly (did I mention she's a perfectionist?), starting to actually "play" with her toys, loves putting things in their proper location, and has started to be able to play by herself really well. We have a corner in our living room that's basically a stack of books and a bunch of toys, and she crawls over there and pulls out what she wants to play with and just goes to town.

We have this little farm animal puzzle that she really enjoys. Her favorite animal is the duck (one of her first words). She'll pick up the duck off of the puzzle, looks at it, babbles for a second, and then daintily places it back on the puzzle (not in the correct location, but she understands that you put the pieces back in the puzzle). And then she looks up at me with a huge, proud smile on her face, waiting for my applause. Once that ensues, she manages to applaud her self. :)

She has a very cute sense of humor. She says, "Hi", and does her pageant wave with both hands. She's a social butterfly, loves Tim and Jim, loves to play with other babies, and hates it when I pick her up from a social place. Hannah is a rather compliant child--she knows what "no" means, and only occasionally tries to push our buttons. But if we're consistent in not letting her get away with stuff and strategically stern, she responds very desirably. We've had to pop her a few times for copping at attitude and being deliberately testy. The two times I've done it have straightened her out real quick--she lets out a few crocodile tears, but is an angel once she's calmed down. It's amazing how much a change of tone really makes a difference.

I've also noticed that I can get kinda schizophrenic on her--what I mean is that I'll have the meanest tone when I'm reprimanding her for something (but I'm really not mad, just making a point), and then 2 seconds later, back to lovey mommy. Crazy. But, like I said before, she responds to it, so I guess that works?

This week, I tried going to one nap a day to see if that would help her sleep better and longer. Well, she slept longer at night, but when she would finally go down for a nap during the day, she'd only sleep an hour at a time. So, I'd try to get her to go back to sleep however I could, and eventually she'd go back to sleep. But she was so exhausted that I think we'll wait a few months to see if maybe we can make it happen. My concern was that she was only sleeping 10 - 11 hours at night with 2 naps a day, so I didn't know if she was sleeping too much during the day or what. But, she fell asleep on the way home from ACAC this morning, and has been asleep for about an hour and a half or so, so I guess she needed it!

We're looking forward to celebrating her birthday tomorrow with family coming into town. Yay! We'll have some pictures, possibly some videos to post from her celebration, I'm sure. :) 'Til then!

Laila

2009-08-31T13:02:00.002-04:00

I also wanted to share that I just found out one of my friends from college had her baby on Saturday as well! Congrats and welcome to Ms. Laila Patrice. Can't wait to see her and get all the gory details!

Camryn

2009-08-29T21:24:00.005-04:00

I just wanted to say that Hannah's pre-determined best friend was born this afternoon! Ms. Camryn Nicole was born at 3:57pm, 9 lbs. 10oz. (??!!!). Congratulations Craig and Kim!

Drywall, Brick, and So Much More...

2009-08-25T16:40:00.012-04:00

Ok so here is the lowdown on the house. We are closing on September 24, 2009 and we have to be out of our apt. on Sept 26, 2009. Ouch...2 days to move. If you wanna help let us know. Here are the most recent pics; yes I did break the rules and go into the house to snag some pics. Drywall went up in a matter of days...amazing or mediocre work? We'll see...

House Progress and Farrah Update

2009-08-06T19:41:00.013-04:00

So the house is taking shape. The latest news is shingles are on the roof ready to be put in place!

Farrah is now 8 weeks old and ready for adoption, but unfortunately we have to wait a few more weeks till the house is done :( Just a note, that is not my facial hair in the shots. I wish.

Word # 5 - and crying it out :(

2009-07-27T20:03:00.003-04:00

So today, I caught Hannah pointing at things and saying, "Look!" Very cute :)

As for some not-so-cuteness, I'm having to let her cry it out tonight......... breaks my heart. She's been fighting going to sleep (at night and for naps). She'll find anything to keep from going to sleep. Once she figures out that she's falling asleep, she starts scrambling for something else--tonight, her decoy was finding a book to read. Welp, we looked through the book, sang through a song a few times, and I put her in her crib, kissed her goodnight, and walked out. That was about 40 minutes ago. Still going strong.

I went in after she cried--no, wailed, really--for 20 minutes and reassured her that I was still here by kissing her on her head (she's standing up in her crib) and quickly patting her back. So, if she's not asleep in another 10 minutes, I'll go do the same. It sounds like she's getting tired, though, but who knows. Hopefully it doesn't take too many nights of this to sink in.

Word # 4

2009-07-26T16:22:00.002-04:00

Today, I caught Hannah holding a little stuffed yellow toy with an orange beak, saying, "Duck!"

First Words

2009-07-23T23:51:00.001-04:00

Hannah has 3 words in her vocabulary so far. You ready?

1. "clock"

2. "cat"

3. "Gypsy" (our cat's name)

Talk about picking difficult words to say first!

Hannah Updates

2009-07-21T23:16:00.004-04:00

Our little girl is getting all growed up. :)

First of all, she has let the crawling cat out of the bag. I would say in the last week she has really figured it out. So she's scooting pretty quickly around the house. She loves chasing Gypsy or having me chase her, which is super cute. She also climbed her way all the way up the stairs today! (with me spotting, of course) Along with crawling, she's pulling up on things and cruising. She gets better and better at cruising every day, which is very neat to watch.

She also gives kisses. We got video of that yesterday, and one of these days when I've got more than 3 minutes, I'll get that uploaded for you to see. Hannah likes for you to tell her what things are called. When she knows what something is called, she smiles when you say its name. She really likes when you say, "clock." She mimics your intonation when you say things... you can tell that she's really trying to say what you're saying.

She's still a peanut (imagine that). Someone asked us today if "he" was 4 - 5 months old. HAH! Try 10??? Oh well. Who cares. :)

And finally, the latest picture!

The House and Farrah Update

2009-07-10T12:20:00.015-04:00

Well...the house is coming along as you can see below and it seems as though this takes the longest (the foundation that is). We also are continually blown away by how fast Farrah is growing. It is amazing how much she changes in one week.

[I uploaded all new pictures to their previous picasa albums (Farrah and House), so they are updated. They can be viewed here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jumpuva ]

A Day at the Elms

2009-07-03T12:07:00.017-04:00

Our good friends, Mike and Eva Elm, invited Calie and I over to the their house for dinner on Thursday night. They are a great family with loving hearts and Eva isn't a half-bad Swedish cook. She made a delicious dinner while Calie did piano lessons with Jasmine, their daughter. Meanwhile I took some photos of Hannah and Farrah and the Elm family. The Iranian guy in the pictures is Mike, a man after God's own heart. I enjoyed talking to him in depth about his conversion experience from Islam to Christianity--God is Awesome. Mike also has a hobby of keeping and breeding Iranian pidgeons. I took some pics of them in flight against God's canvas. The little boy in the pictures is their son, Michael, and the little girl is Katherine, their foster child.

Some New Videos!

2009-06-26T17:48:00.009-04:00

Here are a few videos from over the past week or so. Enjoy!!

This is from a few weeks ago when the Broussards came to visit:

This is from our pool trip with Lina and David:

New videos of Farrah's growth:

Hannah was about to pass out in the car so I decided to make her laugh:

September 7, 2009 is estimated date of move in:

A few nine month pics to hold you over...

2009-06-12T10:36:00.004-04:00

More pics of new puppy

2009-06-12T10:13:00.008-04:00

The little one is growing quick. She has almost doubled in size in a week. Her colors are also starting to come in. I also added a picture of puppy's papa in the previous post.

Clapping and a New Toy

2009-06-07T17:07:00.004-04:00

We are pleased to announce that Hannah has learned how to clap! She kinda did it last weekend, but she clapped for Gypsy this morning, unprompted, and we caught it on video this afternoon, so I believe it is an official skill now. :)

Hannah's top teeth are almost through. The one all the way to the left is the only one that's erupted, but the one next to that is sooooo close to popping through. The other two are very close as well. Hannah's been much happier these days, which is SO nice. She's also been on more of a predictable routine, which probably adds to her good moods. Typically she nurses when she gets up for the day, then eats breakfast 2 hours later and goes down for a nap within an hour of that. She'll usually nurse when she wakes up, then eats lunch approx. 2 hours after that. She nurses between 3 and 4, then eats dinner between 5 and 6, is in the bath by 7, has a bottle of breastmilk or formula, and is asleep by 8 usually. She also will eat an occasional snack and drink a sippy-cup full of juice throughout the day... Not that all of you really cared what her schedule is, down to the hour. :) Anyways.. it's very nice to be on a more predictable schedule, though we're definitely flexible when need be.

Daniel is going in for a work day tomorrow, but otherwise is finished with school. Yay!! And we've decided to go to Rob Bell's Poets, Prophets, and Preachers conference in July with a few friends of ours. Can't wait! I'm excited not only to hear what the guys have to say at the conference, but am also excited to spend that time with these particular friends that we're going with--and to see what comes out of it. That'll also give the grandparents an opportunity to babysit for a few days--fun! Then, in August, we'll head down to VB for a weekend to spend some time with Keagan and Laura, since they'll be up for a friend's wedding.

Finally, here's a video of a new toy that Grandma Garrett got for Ms. Hannah. She LOVES it, and we use it almost every day! 'Til next time :)

As if life wasn't cazy enough...

2009-06-04T23:17:00.013-04:00

So Calie and I decided to really complete the "American Dream" by continuing the sequence of cliche American cultural family norms: Marriage-->Apartment-->Cat-->Child-->Rented Townhouse-->Purchased House-->Puppy-->?????

Here is a picture of our newest addition that we will be getting in about 8 weeks. Her tentative name is Farrah (Yes pronounced like Farrah Faucet). It is Old English for "beautiful." She is the runt of a litter of 6 Cocker Spaniels (she has two brothers and three sisters). They are all black and white like mom but we got lucky and she has "black and tan" markings. I will show a picture of her below and possibly what she may look like later on (based on pics from another litter from her momma) as well as a picture of papa dog. We will keep you posted on the chaos this addition to our family may bring. Maybe she and Hannah will tear up our brand new house together like a dynamic duo of destruction.

Hannah and David

2009-06-04T21:19:00.002-04:00

A little glimpse of their nap while taking a walk.

Teething......

2009-05-24T20:48:00.002-04:00

My poor little lady.... :( I think she is cutting her top front 4 teeth all at one time. One has already popped through--not the center left one, but the second one over. She has been so inconsolable the last few days, but now I definitely understand why. Ouchie. Along with that one popping through, I could see the slight whiteness under her gums for the other 3 teeth. There is defintiely a reason why babies don't remember being babies. Pray that this is over soon!

A few videos

2009-05-22T20:40:00.004-04:00

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few videos I'd like to share. The first was taken yesterday--it's of Hannah and her "boyfriend", David. David spent some time at our house so his momma could have a little birthday time to herself. :) Can you believe these two are only 2 weeks apart??? Also, notice that David is sucking on Hannah's pacifier and doing the body roll...

The second video is just a video of Hannah playing with daddy. He really gets her going this time! Enjoy!

The Update of all Updates

2009-05-18T21:56:00.005-04:00

Wooooooo!!! Well, it's been a while, and lots of things have happened! I also have a few videos to post, so stay tuned for those. :)

First thing is that Hannah has learned to chew. She is now eating solid food 3 times a day and nursing 4 - 5 times a day, with lots of juice and water in between. She's a pro at using her sippy cup. She'll only use the Nuby kind that has the soft spout. In order to get the liquid to come out, she has to actually bite the spout and then suck. The regular sippy cups (with valves) require a little too much sucking power. I suppose I could take the valve out, but then if we tipped the cup over, stuff would come out. And we don't want that!

Hannah also knows how to wave, though she doesn't do it very often. The following video is of her playing with a toy, and then getting excited when she sees that I have the camera on her (I'm guessing she likes the spotlight??). She kinda waves here, but it's more of both arms going crazy because she's so excited.

Hannah is not exactly interested in crawling. I think she'll get there slowly, but surely. She now will get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, but she still gets upset whenever we put her on the floor on her tummy. A few times we've hung out with families with babies that are crawling, and she watches very closely and intently. Sometimes she musters up the courage to try, but again, she gets frustrated and upset rather quickly, so we'll just keep trying.

The next video is one of us on our front porch this past weekend. She's learned to "cluck" her tongue, which you'll see. You'll also see a little bit of evidence that she is now interested in EVERYTHING. I'm actually glad that she's not crawling yet, because I wouldn't be able to keep her out of anything. She is already one stubborn little girl (and already has a bit of a 'tude sometimes... wonder who she got that from?). :)

I'm trying to think of anything else to share... Daniel is in the final countdown of school, yay! His last day is June 5th--can't wait for that! I'm looking forward to him being able to spend lots of time with us this summer, as well as doing a bit of babysitting so I can get some hours in at the office. That'll be SO nice.

And, while we're on that subject, we've been thinking about putting Hannah in daycare for 2 mornings a week once the school year picks back up again. That way, I'd be able to get some work done at the office a few mornings a week and really be able to streamline things a bit more. I'm thinking that that would really help get Hannah on a more normal schedule and make things a little more predictable for her, which would be a good thing. Right now, every day is completely different, and I think that takes a toll on her.

What we have started doing is a friend of mine, Lina, has a son (David, who we consider Hannah's "boyfriend") that is 2 weeks older than Hannah, and she's started watching Hannah and David on Tuesday mornings so that I can go to my staff meeting hands-free. It was SOOOOO nice last week, and Hannah and David seemed to have a great time! They play so well together and love the company, so it makes sense that they would be well-behaved. :) If only we could get the kids to behave that well when they're without the company!

In new house news, it looks like our house is still on schedule to be built and finished by early August, so that's super exciting! I hope that we get to move in before the weekend of August 15th because we're planning to head to Va Beach to hang out with our families (including Keagan and Laura, YAY!). Also, Daniel starts school the following week, so I'd like to have everything out of the way before then. We will definitely keep you all posted.

And finally, I'll close this out with a video that I think will make you all laugh. Hopefully you've made it this far, because I think this video is the funniest of them all. Enjoy!

A Few Things

2009-04-22T22:20:00.005-04:00

Hey there ladies and gents. I have a few videos I thought I'd share with you all.

The first is of Hannah sitting up and spinning a toy that she has. My little girl is all grown up!!

The second is Daniel's prayer of blessing over Hannah during her dedication this past Sunday. I cry every time I watch it. :) God's hand is all over that little girl.

Visit to Va Beach

2009-04-19T21:18:00.005-04:00

Well, just got back from a visit to Va Beach for the weekend. It was a blast! We got Hannah dedicated this morning at Daniel's dad's church, which was very moving. Daniel and I also led the worship at church this morning. It was a nice change. :)

Hannah got to spend lots of time with her cousin Ava, who just turned 2 earlier this month. I think in a few years, they'll be great playmates. I think Ava felt like Hannah was invading her space a little bit (at least at first), but it got better throughout the weekend. It was neat to see them play together. Daniel and I stayed at his parents' house this time, which was pretty cool. We've always stayed with my parents ever since Hannah was born, but I thought it would be neat to stay with his parents this time. I'm glad we did!

Below are a few videos from the weekend. One is of Hannah and Ava playing together, another is of Hannah's very first trip to the beach, and the other one is during our car trip back to Charlottesville--you guys will like that one :)

Enjoy!

Easter Photos

2009-04-12T17:59:00.008-04:00

Here are some Easter pictures from today. Enjoy!! :)

>:o

2009-03-31T15:48:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to say that Hannah bit me with her brand new razor blade teeth--twice this morning while nursing.

That is all.

Teeth!

2009-03-28T21:17:00.002-04:00

Just as an update, I thought I'd let you all know that Hannah's front two bottom teeth have erupted! Things were not so good the few days leading up to it, but she's much better now that they've arrived on the scene. They feel like little razor blades in her mouth. Ouch! Hopefully she won't bite me when she's nursing :)

Other than that.... I'll be 24 in 2 weeks. Sweet.

Daniel's Birthday Gift

2009-03-21T23:43:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone, it's late so I am going to make this quick. Love you all and thank you for my birthday and gifts! You made my day very special!

--Daniel

6-Month Check-Up

2009-03-12T21:03:00.002-04:00

Well, we had our 6-month check-up visit yesterday, and Hannah's doing really well! She weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs, 5 oz (25%) and is 25 1/2" long (48%). Her head is in the 42nd percentile. So, moral of the story is that she's average height and skinny. Our doctor was SO pleased with how she's doing. He said she's hitting every developmental milestone, so she's right on time. I always thought she might be a little behind because she was born 3 weeks early, but evidently not. So, way to go Hannah!

The nurse that took her vitals was so funny--Hannah is somewhat of a social butterfly, and the nurse said, "You're gonna have to lock her up!" I would agree. Hannah especially loves other babies (and herself in the mirror). While she was laying on the little examination table, she kept trying to crinkle and eat the paper she was laying on. She does that in the nursery at church--she always tries to eat the paper on the changing table. I ended up having to tear the paper off the roll so that she wouldn't ruin anymore than she had to. She soaked and crinkled that whole roll of paper and was flailing it around in the air. Pretty hilarious. :)

She also has a new thing for Gypsy.... anytime she's close by, Hannah tries to grab her face. Not a good idea. I'm waiting for Gypsy to actually bite her... which of course I hope doesn't happen, but it won't surprise me when it does. I wonder how long it'll take Hannah to learn what "gentle" means, and how to actually pet her without ripping the fur out of her skin.

Also, I didn't know that 6-month olds could throw fits. Evidently so. There have been a few instances where Hannah gets angry and cries either when she drops a toy or I take something from her. Every time it happens, I always say something to the effect of, "Unfortunately, you were born to the wrong parents to be throwing a fit about something like that. Drop it." I know, it sounds mean, but we're not going to tolerate that--even if she is only 6 months old. Gotta teach 'em early. :)

Alrighty--have a great weekend! Stay warm and dry!

How Much Has Hannah Grown?

2009-03-09T22:58:00.004-04:00

THIS MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

Right after she was born...

Six months later...

Amazing, isn't it?

Giggles and a New Home

2009-03-08T19:39:00.003-04:00

Above is a video of Hannah giggling yesterday. We've found that she loves when you do jumping jacks. She just thinks that's the most hilarious thing in the world! So, enjoy :)

Secondly, many of you know that we bought a house! We should find out this week if we got approved for the loan--I doubt that it would be a problem, but you have to go through all those hoops to get approved these days (which is a VERY good thing). Daniel took some pictures of the model home, so I'll have him upload those at some point. We went out and bought some fabric so that I can make valances for the kitchen and living room yesterday. It's my first ever sewing project, so it should be quite interesting! I think it'll be fun, though--and hopefully not too frustrating. :)

Alrighty, well, enjoy the video!

Serious Update (sorry for the delay)

2009-03-01T21:45:00.017-05:00

Hey guys. Sorry for taking forever to update! I can't believe that Hannah will be 6 months old on Thursday--wow!! Lots of things have been happening in the last 2 months as you can imagine, so I'll try to update you on as many of them as I can in a short amount of time. I'm tired. Imagine that. :)

Wes Wu, this one's for you. Hannah LOOOoooOOves bath time. Right when we get her into her bathroom and she sees her bright blue shower curtain, she goes nuts. I'm not sure what it is about bath time but she loves it. She also loves getting her diaper changed. Go figure. So here you go, Wes...

One afternoon, Daniel put Hannah on my shoulders, and she decided she wanted to eat my hair. It all ended up to be a slobbery mess. It was pretty funny though. :) Basically, my point is that she's getting much more coordinated with her hands. Everything goes to her mouth these days.

I've only tried reading to her a few times. Usually by the time we're putting her to bed, she is soooo tired and hungry and cranky that it's kind of a futile effort. I may try to fit it in right when she wakes up in the mornings, because she's very calm then. She has really enjoyed the books I've read to her so far--especially when they have bright and colorful pictures!

Perhaps the biggest update is that Hannah has started eating solid foods. We started around 4 1/2 months feeding her food. I tried the rice cereal, but I honestly think it was WAY too bland for her and she hated it. Once we gave her apples, she was sold on solid food. So now, she's been promoted to level 2 food, which includes apples with blueberries, peach banana brown rice, country turkey dinner with carrots, and the like. She really enjoys the sweet stuff, and the only thing she has clearly disliked so far was called chicken tomato pastini. I don't blame her. Wasn't very good. :) But anyway, she's quite the hefty eater, and I'm sure it's made her put on some serious weight. I'll find out next week how much she weighs/how long she is, so remind me and I'll update you.

Hannah in her jumperoo thingy. It's a Baby Einstein contraption that's basically an exersaucer mixed with a jumperoo. She's getting better and better in it every day... except she gets upset when she tries to pull the frog into her mouth but it doesn't budge because it's stationary...

Speaking of Baby Einstein, Hannah's getting more and more interested in Baby Einstein videos, which is fantastic. It buys me 20-30 minutes during the day.

And below is a cute picture of the lady with her daddy.

Next we have two videos. The first is of Hannah rolling over! Yay! I recorded it one morning this past week right when she woke up. The next video I took this morning of Hannah and her "boyfriend" David. David is two weeks older than she is, and his mom and I have become pretty good friends since we were both pregnant. David's a monster compared to Hannah (in size, that is). I think he's like in the 90th percentile for height and weight! Anyway, Lina and I had them in the nursery at church this morning and they were babbling at each other.

I think that's good for now. Hope you have a great evening!

Christmas and such

2009-01-05T20:54:00.008-05:00

So... It's 2009. Already. Hannah is 4 months old today. She is growing and growing fast! Christmas was good--busy, somewhat crazy, but good. :) We did lots of running around and visited lots of family and friends, and Hannah was given tons and tons of presents. There's a picture at the bottom of the post to show you what we had to purchase so that we could keep track of all of them...

Here's Hannah on Christmas morning:

Trying to entertain Hannah while we open presents:

Granddaddy and baby girl:

Okay, so Hannah has this new obsession with her tongue....
when she gets excited, she sticks it out just like her Uncle Keagan:

It finally fits! Can't tell you how many comments (both positive and negative) we heard about this hat while strolling through the mall. People must think we're deaf, because we hear everything they say when we walk by:

Learning to use those hands:

And finally, the ottoman we purchased from Target. It's serving as a toy chest and extra seating for when we have people over. It also really helps us keep our house somewhat clean:

Hannah is going to the doctor on Wednesday for her 4-month appointment, so we'll get an update on how she's progressing... as well as a few more vaccines. Yay. I need to ask about her pooping, because she hasn't been regular for the last week and a half. We've been having to give her suppositories to get her to poop, cuz she gets craaaaanky. Anyway, hopefully I'll have some good news to share after our appointment! Hope you have a great night. I'm watching The Bachelor, and that's stealing my attention right now. :)

Pictures!

2008-12-13T23:11:00.009-05:00

As promised, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Teething and More Shots

2008-12-11T22:28:00.003-05:00

This week has been rough. Hannah's started teething, which is not exactly fun. She's clearly in pain, but when she's taken some Tylenol, she's happy. She's been drooling like crazy, trying to gum her fist and pacifier (or whatever else she can get in her mouth), had a runny nose (still), and isn't sleeping well. I also think she's going through a growth spurt at the same time because she's constantly eating, is cranky, and is acting very similarly to her growth spurt at 6 weeks. Needless to say, it's been a trying week. It's been tough because she's been off her sleeping routine since we went home for Thanksgiving. And I believe that pattern is going to continue since we'll be heading home for Christmas next weekend. Yay.

To make it even better, I have to take her back to the doctor to get her other 2 shots that she didn't get last month. I've already cried once tonight thinking about it........ I am really not looking forward to it. She was so upset last time (so was I). Hopefully it'll get easier as the process goes along. My friend Darlene is going to come with me to the doctor's office tomorrow because I don't want to go by myself again.

Sorry this post is rather depressing. I'm sad about tomorrow. Next time should be a bit more cheery...

Thanksgiving, Runny Noses, and Blow Outs

2008-12-06T21:57:00.002-05:00

First of all, before you read any further, I am not including any pictures in this post because I am too lazy to get up and get them off our camera. :) Sorry. Maybe next time!

So. Thanksgiving. Well, let me begin by saying that I had a blast hanging out with Keagan and Laura for a few days. I think that was the highlight of the whole week for me. I'm not sure when the next time we'll see them will be, but hopefully it won't be too far from now. Time with family was good. It was a pretty exhausting week. It's already difficult when your baby gets a little off schedule. What made it even more difficult was what I like to call "baby passing." There were only one or two occasions where this took place, but the nights after that happened were especially rough with Ms. Hannah. I mean, it's tough..... because when you go to see family and half of them haven't seen the baby, they all want to hold her and pass her around. So, what ends up happening is that Hannah gets 2 minutes with each person, each one holding her in a different position (most positions are ones that she has come to hate, mind you). So she gets over-stimulated, and as a result, sleeping is pretty difficult when it comes time for her to go to bed/stay asleep. She had gotten the point where she was sleeping 7 or 8 hours at night, which was awesome! But while we were home, she wasn't sleeping well at all. Oh well.... I guess that's what Grandma is for. :)

Also, while we were home, Daniel, Keagan, my dad, and myself went to the batting cage! It was lots o' fun! I got a chance to get back in the cage and hit a little bit. It had probably been 6 years since I've really tried, but I did well! And I also got to pitch a little bit to my dad, which was neat (but left me very sore). I didn't do as well pitching--my wrist muscles are especially out of shape, which made it hard to pitch with the right technique. I still have all the mechanics down, it's just a matter of having toned muscles. Oh well. Aaaaand my mom got my brother and I Wii Fit, so I'm watching Daniel kick some Wii Fit butt right now. If you've never tried that game, you really should. It's very, very cool!

I had a great time hanging out with Daniel's parents and his sister's family while we were home. Ava is growing so fast! Soon she and Hannah will be able to play together--that'll be lots of fun. Ava wasn't very happy about Abigail holding Hannah, though. Guess she doesn't want her mommy having anything to do with other babies. :)

Unfortunately, Hannah woke up with nasal congestion the morning after we got back from our trip to Va Beach, and she's been somewhat congested all week. It was kinda sad, because babies are obligate nose breathers for a while (Hannah still is), so she woke up and was having trouble breathing, which was obviously upsetting for her. I couldn't do much for her, though, cuz it was dry. But, once she sneezed two or three times, and popped out some huge green boogers, she could breathe. So we've been fighting that all week long. It seems like things are clearing up, finally. I'm glad it wasn't any worse than just a little congestion.

And on the subject of blow outs... We have found that the Pampers Baby Dry diapers are the only ones that keep her from blowing poop out of her diapers. I used to really like the Pampers Swaddlers diapers, but they just aren't keeping that poop in anymore. Kinda strange. Hannah is also starting to hate wet/dirty diapers. She used to just sit in them and not care, but now, she can't stand it. Of course, that's not a bad thing--keeps diaper rash away because it helps us be more aware of when she needs her diaper changed aside from normal feeding changes.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I promise I'll have pictures for you soon. :)

Quick Update

2008-11-21T18:48:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to fill you guys in on a few quick things.

First, acac is awesome! I have loved having the ability to go workout and have 2 hours of childcare! I am working with a personal trainer who has me using some Free Motion machines to build my strength back up. It's been really nice to be working out regularly again.

Secondly, Hannah has been consistently sleeping 6 - 7 hours at night. Last night she slept 7 1/2 hours! We figured out that she was getting really sleepy around 9, so now the routine is to bathe her and have her fed and in the crib around 9. Been working so far!

That's all for now. More to come next week!

Cute videos

2008-11-13T19:36:00.004-05:00

Today was fun! Hannah and I headed over to our friend Lina's house to visit her and her little boy David, who is 2 weeks older than Hannah. David was all smiles today! Very cute. :) Lina and I always joke that they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Also, Daniel and I will be joining acac tomorrow (a fitness and wellness center in Cville), and Lina also has a membership there, so hopefully we can go work out together! The neat thing about acac is that unlimited childcare will be included (up to 2 hours and 15 minutes at a time), so I am SUPER excited about that.

Then Hannah and I headed to our friend Michelle's house to visit her and her little boy Micah who is 7 weeks older than Hannah. He is a big boy! We put Hannah and Micah in the crib together, so here's a video of the two of them:

And below is a video of Hannah in her bouncy seat, which she loves. Laura's mom and dad got this little seat for Hannah. It makes doing my hair and getting ready in the morning a breeze!

Big Day

2008-11-10T21:22:00.003-05:00

Today was a big day--a bittersweet one for Ms. Hannah.

We went to the doctor for her 2 month well-baby check-up. She was a little over 9 1/2 pounds and was 22 1/2 inches long! So she gained 3 pounds and grew 3 inches in the last month--wow! She went from being below the 5th percentile in height and weight to being in the 50th for height and 25th for weight. Way to go, girl! She's very healthy, very alert, and our doctor was very pleased with how she's doing.

She was scheduled to get 4 vaccines today, but I only opted for 2. She got DTaP and HiB. My heart broke into a million pieces when those needles got stuck into her thighs.... I cried. I had never heard her cry quite like that. It was really really sad. She's been really sleepy and weepy for the rest of the day. I can imagine--rough afternoon! I'm tired too.... I think it was pretty rough on me as well.

As a "reward" for how well she did with her shots (because she totally understands that concept now...), Daniel and I went out to get her a bumbo chair! Yay! Below is a little video Daniel shot with my phone--very cute. :)

In other news, Daniel passed his sickness on to me--thanks, bud. I've since lost my voice, which is really stinky because I'm supposed to lead worship at an all-campus worship night at U.Va. on Wednesday evening. Thankfully, I only have a few songs that I'll be singing. But, it never proves to fail: every semester I lose my voice the week of Seek. Go figure. Be praying for that, though! I am anticipating that God's going to do some really neat things on Wednesday night and beyond.

Hannah has been sleeping 5 hours for her first stretch at night pretty consistently now. I haven't decided if I like that yet :) I find that I'm more tired when she does that, because she doesn't sleep as well once she wakes up from that first stretch of sleep. Oh well--that means we're on to bigger and better sleep stretches!

Welp, enjoy this little video of Hannah in her bumbo chair!

Election Perspective

2008-11-05T17:49:00.002-05:00

I've been reading a lot of conservative Christian responses to the results of yesterday's election, and I have to say that I am both disappointed and rather disgusted. Here's why...

First of all, have we forgotten that God is always sovereign and always on His throne? Have we lost trust in His perfect will? Do we really believe that one person is going to cause the demise of one of the strongest nations on earth? Seriously--do people really believe that??

I understand that Obama has a very liberal platform and that he has the most liberal voting record in the Senate. I also understand that the Democrats have control of Congress. But honestly, I don't think that yesterday's outcome is about policies or about political party preferences. It's about a nation that is continuing to overcome racial oppression, prejudice, and misconception.

I am so proud of the United States of America. I am so excited about what kind of healing is going to come from this election. I am ecstatic that my daughter's first memory of the President of the United States is going to be an African American. As I watched Obama give his acceptance speech last night, I was overjoyed to the point of tears. As I listened to him list off events in our nation's history where the American people joined together to make huge steps forward, I couldn't help but rejoice in the unity of blacks, whites, latinos, and every other ethnicity to see something like this take place. We did it, America. You've proven to me that we truly are in this together.

And for the record, no, I didn't vote for Obama. But that doesn't mean I can't rejoice in his victory.

Uncle Keagan and Aunt Laura

2008-10-29T10:12:00.010-04:00

Uncle Keagan and Aunt Laura came and paid a visit to our little one this past weekend! We had a blast with them here. Check out Hannah's new hat!

Working on her smile:

Gettin' some lovin':

Group Shot!

Pose with Granddaddy:

All ready for Halloween/Thanksgiving with her little pumpkin outfit:

Family Shot:

Exercising her muscles:

We will get to see Keagan and Laura again for Thanksgiving. Hannah will probably look so much different, and it's only a few weeks away! I take her back to the doctor for her 2-month visit on November 10th. Then, the doctor and I will talk about vaccines and how we want to do all that (I think giving a small baby 5 shots in one day is a ridiculous idea). I am back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. Except that my butt is a different shape, so they're a little harder to get into. But that's okay. Now the only thing we have to wait for is my tummy skin to tighten back up. How long does that take? I've been walking/running around the little circle that we live on--a little over a mile each time I go--so that's really helped with feeling even more normal than I was feeling before. It's all a process!

Hike with Granddad

2008-10-23T21:42:00.008-04:00

Dad and I took a trip down to Crabtree Falls today and it was beautiful!!! (as you can see above) Below are a few more pictures we took while on our little nature extravaganza. Enjoy!

Just about everyone we passed on the trail were enamored with Hannah. :)

Preeettttttyyyy.....

OOOoooooooooo:

Keagan and Laura will be here Saturday morning! Yay! We'll have more pictures to post from that. And to finish, here's a cute picture of Ms. Hannah. Hopefully we'll catch her smile soon!

Cute Video

2008-10-21T21:22:00.002-04:00

Here's a cute video of Hannah napping. Enjoy all the facial expressions!

Growth Spurts

2008-10-19T16:25:00.002-04:00

All I have to say about this past week, as far as Hannah's progress is concerned, is that it's OVEERRRRRRRR. As you can most likely surmise, she went through a growth spurt this past week (which is normal around week 6), and we were miserable. Boo. She was squirmy and cranky, couldn't sleep well, wanted to eat every hour and a half (including at night), wasn't digesting her food well, was gassy, uncomfortable, ...... on and on we could go. So, she made life miserable for me as well. The worst night was Wednesday night, on into Thursday. Rough. But! Hallelujah, it's over. :) She's been so happy and pleasant the past day or two that it's been amazing that she is the same baby!

Today I started back at cfa. It was so nice to be back! Hannah did beautifully during the services--I had Daniel show up to church with her about 15 minutes before the first service started, and then they headed out after worship in the second service. That way she wouldn't be there all day long. And I had a few "designated baby holders" that were a huge help during both services, so thanks Dan & Robin and Rachel! I'll be back at cfa in the office this week, and Hannah and I will be takin' care of bidniss.

Welp, here's a cute picture to end this with. I would write more (Daniel's parents and his aunt and uncle came to visit yesterday), but Daniel wants me to take her from him. So, more later :)

Apple Picking!

2008-10-11T22:45:00.008-04:00

Well, the Garrett family made their way to Carter Mountain Orchard today with our friends Luke and Rachel. We had a great time picking some Granny Smith apples and eating apple cider donuts, which I highly recommend! Then we came home and I (Calie) made an apple cinnamon cake while Rachel and Luke made an apple pie and chicken and dumplings. MMMMmmmmmmmmmm.

Here's the easterly view from the top of the mountain:

Calie and Rachel (Hannah's buried in the sling somewhere)!

Daniel and Luke...
(don't ask... but do ask about the other incriminating pictures we have)

This was from a lazy Sunday afternoon where I was attempting to multi-task by holding Hannah and playing on the computer at the same time:

So, one day this past week was 80's day at Daniel's school. Here was his outfit. To say the least, he is now one of the most popular teachers among the students. :)

Hannah sporting the mullet, rocking out:

Hannah is now 5 weeks old! Can't believe it. Tomorrow is my last Sunday on maternity leave. It's exciting and sad at the same time. I've really enjoyed being able to sleep in and not have any responsibilities on Sunday morning, but at the same time, I'm itching to get back to work. Hannah's been going a little bit longer between feedings, which has been nice. So, that'll be a luxury until we hit a growth spurt. :) I'm trying to think if there's anything else to share... I don't think so. Have a great day!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

2008-10-09T10:31:00.002-04:00

We definitely slept in heavenly peace last night! Hannah slept for 4 hours! WOOOoooohoo that felt good. :) I actually woke up at 2:30 waiting to hear her cry, cuz that should've been about the time that she would wake up. But I fell back asleep and didn't hear her cry until 4. So I got up and fed her, and then she slept from 5 - 8 this morning. So I got a total of 7 hours of sleep last night. Awesome.

And THEN, to top it all off, when I went in her room at 8 this morning to feed her, she half-smiled at me when I picked her up. Yay! So cute. :)

Anyway, that is all. Hopefully today will continue in this manner!

Pictures!

2008-10-04T18:37:00.012-04:00

Sleepy baby :) She sleeps with her mouth open, just like her daddy.

Photo shoot with Grandma Broussard:

RAT TAIL! Yikes. We need to cut that off...

Visit from Uncle Matt and Aunt Becky:

Uncle David and Aunt Abigail:

Ava! Hannah's first cousin:

Cute cousin picture:

We've found a bath method that works!

"Hmm.... let me think about that one..."

"Umm.... you're weird." This really looks like a Calie face:

Hannah will be officially one month old tomorrow! Woohoo! Enjoy these pictures :)

Major Update

2008-10-03T22:11:00.003-04:00

Wow! Sorry for being so bad at updating this last week and a half. I haven't really been motivated to update because we can't get any pictures off our camera. So, updating isn't quite as exciting wtihout pictures. :)

Okay, so Daniel's mom came up this past Saturday and stayed until Tuesday. She was such a huge help around the house--cooking, doing laundry, keeping things organized, watching Hannah so I could get out and do a few things. I really appreciated having her here. Also, Daniel's sister and her husband and 18-month old came and visited on Saturday. It was very neat to see them! Ava is growing so fast! We have some cute pictures of her, so maybe when our picture-uploading capabilities are fixed I can post some.

Hannah went for her one-month appointment today. I can't believe it's been 4 weeks already!! She is now 6 lbs, 5 oz., and 19 1/8 inches long. So she's grown almost a half inch and has gained almost 1 1/2 pounds from her lowest weight measurement. She's still very petite, but doing well! Nights have been interesting. Either we have good nights where she is willing to go right back to sleep after eating, or we have terrible nights (like last night) where it's 3am and she isn't interested in going back to sleep at all. So last night I was up with her downstairs to keep her from waking Daniel up. Not fun. But, we're working on it. Thankfully we don't have that problem every night.

I also went for my post-partum check-up today. I only need to lose 6 more pounds to be at my pre-pregnancy weight. Woohoo! Although, my doctor was like, "You know, I'd like to see you down to 125 pounds." My response? "Umm......... I haven't been that weight since I was in the eighth grade!" HAH!!! Very funny. But, I guess it's something worth shooting for. I really think the only way I could lose more than about 10 pounds would be running--and I HATE running. But I'm seriously thinking about it. We'll see. I'll also be starting this special birth control for breast-feeding moms. It's called POPs. It's only got progestin in it, as opposed to normal hormonal birth control pills. I'm kind of bummed, though, because I was on the NuvaRing before, which was awesome (cuz I didn't have to remember to take a pill at the same time every day). You just pop it in one day, take it out three weeks later, and then pop a new one in the next week. Easy. I'm not so good at taking medicine, so we'll see how this goes. My doctor said that my ability to remember to take the pills will depend on how badly I don't want to get pregnant. :) True, I guess.

Anything else? In breastfeeding progress, Hannah can now latch onto the left side without the shield, which is great! She still fights with the right side, so that'll probably take a bit longer, but that's okay. She doesn't always cooperate with the left side, but at least I know that she's more than capable.

Alrighty, you guys take care. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon!

Evenings with Hannah

2008-09-23T21:48:00.002-04:00

Hannah's growing fast! We have her sleeping in her crib at nights now, which has actually made way for more sleep on her part and on our part! She is also a tummy sleeper. I don't care what everyone says about SIDS risk factors--if a baby likes sleeping on their stomach, they should be able to sleep on their stomach and not be forced to sleep in a way that's not comfortable for them. Because if they're miserable, so are mom and dad.

In the evenings, Daniel and I bathe her sometime between 9:30 and 10:30, depending on when she's going to eat. Then, when she's ready to eat, I'll nurse her and then put her to bed. Then I go to bed too! That'll give me around 2 hours of sleep before her first middle-of-the-night feeding. I usually feed her two or three times in the middle of the night--always around 2 and 4:30, and sometimes there's a feeding before 2. All depends on what time she goes to bed and how much she ate. So, we're making progress!

Having my mom around for the last few days has been absolutely awesome. She's really helped me get on somewhat of a routine with Hannah, especially at night, which has been huge. It's amazing how much Daniel and I don't know about being parents of a newborn (really, there's not much we know about parenting in general). So she's been able to show me a lot about soothing Hannah, how to keep her occupied and happy during the day, and some little adjustments we can make with her to keep her content. So, thanks mom for all of your help!!!!

Mom and I went outside with Hannah for a little while today and I got some cute pictures of my little girl--too bad I can't upload any to show you. :) When I can, I will. Sorry that I can't right now! I'll update again when I have more to talk about!

Hannah's Progress

2008-09-20T16:37:00.002-04:00

We went to the doctor yesterday to have Hannah weighed, just to make sure she was gaining weight--she hadn't gained any weight since our hospital discharge at her one-week appointment. Well, in the last week, she gained 8 ounces, which is awesome!!! Our doctor told us that they like the babies to gain at a minimum an averageof 20 grams a day, and her average was 32 grams. Way to go, girl. Now, the consequence for that is that she eats ALL THE TIME. Last night, she ate every hour and 45 minutes. So mom didn't get much sleep last night, to say the least. Oh well.

In other news, my mom is visiting for a few days. She got here yesterday, and it's been great so far. She'll be here especially to help me out the first few days that Daniel goes back to work (starting Monday), so that should be huge.

Also, I'm not sure when I'll be able to post pictures for a little while. We somehow managed to break our CF card reader, so we can't get pics off the camera for now. Boo.

'Til next time!

Week Two

2008-09-17T14:40:00.006-04:00

Well, here we are in week 2 of Hannah's life! Things are going well. Nights aren't too sleepless, and we've managed to find a system that allows at least one of us to get good sleep. Below is Hannah's favorite sleeping position. As long as she's in the boppy, she'll sleep anywhere--provided that she's well-fed. :)

And again, here's our little beauty sleeping:

Last Saturday, Daniel's mom and his two grandmothers came to visit! That was very neat, and I'm glad that his Grandmas got to come and meet Hannah (since I don't know when the next trip home is going to be). They only stayed for a few hours, but it was a good visit.
Here's Grandma Nee Nee:

And Grandma Garrett:

And we can't forget about little Gypsy! She has been so good since we brought Hannah home. I was expecting her to go nuts and be super territorial and mean, but she's done well. It's obvious that she gets lonely and misses all the attention that she used to get, but we're trying to spend more time with her. I guess this is good practice for when child number 2 comes around. :)

A common occurrence in the Garrett household can be seen below :) And understandably so!

We head back to the doctor on Friday to see if Hannah is gaining any weight. Let's hope she is!! Also, my mom is going to be coming up on Friday to stay until Monday or Tuesday. Daniel goes back to work on Monday, so I definitely would like to have my mom here for that first night/day to see how that goes. I guess that'll be the real test, because Daniel's going to need to get some good sleep and I'll be with Hannah all day long. I'll let you know if I lose my sanity :)

I'm trying to think if anything special happened this week.... Umm.... I went for my first work-out post-partum today, which was super nice. It was good to be moving around again. I look forward to more of that in the coming weeks! Okay, nap time!

A Few Firsts

2008-09-11T12:14:00.007-04:00

There's our little beauty! Well, we've had a few firsts in the last 2 days or so, and I thought I'd share them with you. The first was our first official trip out of the house since being home. I didn't have many shirts that were conducive to nursing without having to take the entire thing off, so we went to Old Navy to see what kinds of things they had to offer. I got to use my sling for the first time, and it is awesome!!! It's going to take some practice getting Hannah in and out of there on my own--right now I really need Daniel's help. But she is so happy in there... I guess because she's bundled in very tightly and it reminds her of being in the womb. And of course, while in the store, we got lots of Oooohs and Aaahs over our little cutie. I do admit, she is pretty attractive. :) So, here's the sling in action! (This was our practice run before leaving the house)

My small group was having a social night out last night, so Hannah and I ventured to Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner while Daniel went and hung out with his small group guys at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was nice to get out and see everyone. I got to meet a friend of one of the girls in my small group named Kelly--she was really neat to talk to. Hannah also did well.... she slept in the carseat the entire time, so that was easy.

Next, Daniel and I decided to give her a bath last night....... umm.... bad idea? She did NOT like that at all. I think it made her really cold. But Daniel did a great job with her. Once we dried her off and got her clothes back on, she was happy. I think it cost us our sleep for the night, though, because she was not at all interested in sleeping until about 7:00 this morning. You can see just how happy she was below :) Again, once she was dry and clothed, she was happy. The last picture is Daniel with her once she was back to normal and the traumatic experience was over.

I also have to mention that Hannah HATES getting her diaper changed (Daniel's in the middle of changing a poopy diaper).... I don't think it's the actual changing of the diaper that she doesn't like. I think it's the removal of her clothes that makes her cold that she hates. Because once you put her clothes back on and she feels that body heat again, she's happy as she was before. Because she's so small, we dress her in a onesie, with a sleeper over top of that, swaddled in a blanket, with a hat. We have to make sure that we keep her body temperature up. So I think when it's diaper time, she gets super cold--and who likes that anyway?

We go to the doctor for our first visit tomorrow, and I'll let you all know how that goes. Hopefully she's gaining weight and staying healthy. I'll keep you posted!

Our First Few Days

2008-09-09T22:50:00.004-04:00

Hannah with her eyes open!

Here we are at home, being parents! Our first few days have really been enjoyable. Sure, sleeping is a little more difficult than before (Hannah is most alert around 4am), but it's been very cool. I'm recovering well, Daniel's doing an amazing job as a dad and with helping me out with making sure that I rest and am not overwhelmed, and Gypsy seems to be enjoying her new sister. We also have some amazing friends who've brought/cooked some amazing food for us--thank you guys!!!!!!!

As far as breastfeeding goes, my milk has come in, no doubt about it! Hannah has been eating well and peeing/pooping a lot, which is good! Because she was so small when she was born, there isn't much room for error as far as her weight is concerned, so I'm really glad that she's eating so well. Before my milk came in, we had to supplement with formula to make sure she didn't lose too much weight. But now that the milk is here, it's all systems go! Also, because she is so small, she has a hard time with proper latch, so we're using a silicone nipple shield that goes over the nipple to help her latch on there and eat well. Within a few weeks, we should have her off of the shield. I've also been pumping with a hospital grade pump to make sure that the milk is coming in well--it makes them feel much better afterwards. :) Engorgement hurts!

Hannah is a sweet, sweet baby. I can't tell much about her personality, but I can tell you that she's only upset when she's hungry and has a dirty diaper--or is about to have a dirty diaper. We can always tell when she's about to poop/pass gas... she gets squirmy and sometimes will whine, like her tummy hurts. We're going to start giving her Mylicon when we feed her for now... I think the nipple shield may contribute to gas. She also doesn't like to be by herself. At night, we're having to keep her in bed with us for now because she won't sleep alone in the pack n play. Daniel and I alternate who gets to sleep/who gets to stay up with her if she's alert. If she's ready to sleep at night, she sleeps in the crook of Daniel's arm. Very cute. :)

Here's a video of her with the hiccups. I think it's cute. Enjoy!

Welcome to Our World

2008-09-06T15:10:00.008-04:00

Hannah Meredith Garrett made her grand entrance into this world early Friday morning at 1:40am. She weighed 5 lbs, 9 oz. and is 18 3/4" long. She's a beauty :)

Here's the basic birth story. If you want a more humorous and detailed one, you'll have to chat with Daniel, haha.

I had been having mild contractions every evening starting on Sunday. They were usually about 7 minutes apart, and nothing serious. I went to the doctor on Tuesday, as you probably read, and he did an internal exam. He told me that I was 2 cm dilated, 80-90% effaced, and Hannah was at 0 station, so she was about ready to come out! He also told me that he anticipated that labor would be quick--and he was right!

Thursday morning I lost my mucous plug. But usually mucous plugs are just mucous with an occasional streak of blood... mine was like a big, large, nasty blood clot (sorry if that's too much information for you). Basically what that meant was that I was continuing to dilate. Once I saw that, I knew labor was coming soon. I was scheduled to get a reflexology pedicure to help bring on labor a little soon on Friday morning, but I rescheduled that to Thursday around lunch time because I was afraid I wasn't going to make it on Friday. So I got the pedicure, and the lady pushed on a few pressure points that can help your pituitary gland release oxytocin. Maybe it worked.... or at least helped. :)

Thursday afternoon, starting around 5 or 6, I started to having contractions every 5 minutes apart or so. They weren't horrible. I mean, they were intense enough that I couldn't ignore them, but it didn't stop me from doing anything. Believing that labor might be imminent, Daniel and I went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner, while still having contractions every 4 or 5 minutes. Then, we went to Kroger to get some groceries, because we didn't have hardly any food in our house and I didn't want to come home from the hospital with nothing in my fridge to eat. Contractions were still 4 - 5 minutes apart and relatively strong, but again, not enough to keep me from doin my thang. :)

After we got home, the contractions slowed down to about 6 or 7 minutes apart, but were getting slowly stronger. Around 11:10pm, I was having another contraction but was uncomfortable in the position I was in, and while trying to get comfortable, my water broke. It felt like a water balloon popped inside my body! It is quite possibly one of the weirdest sensations I have ever experienced! We called my doctor, and when he called us back, he asked me how I was feeling--whether or not I really wanted to go to the hospital. I told him I was fine, happy at home for now. So he told us to wait until contractions were 3 minutes apart, and then to call him and head to the hospital.

Well, the contractions started kicking up again about 15-20 minutes later. This time, though, they were 2 1/2 minutes apart and were very uncomfortable. Because my water had broken, I was kinda leaky (and by kinda, I mean extremely), so I went upstairs and sat in the bathtub. No, there wasn't any water in it. :) I just wanted somewhere to sit that I could leak and not have to worry about it. It was also nice because the angle of the bathtub put plenty of pressure on my lower back during contractions, which helped relieve some of the discomfort. After about 6 or 7 contractions like that, I told Daniel that we needed to go to the hospital... I couldn't sit at home any longer. It took probably 10 minutes to get out of the door and into the car because the contractions kept coming closer and closer together, and I would have to stop wherever I was during them and have Daniel drill his fist into my lower back (he did a wonderful job!). Daniel had the car all ready to go, including putting plastic bags down on the seat so that the amniotic fluid wouldn't ruin the seats.

We arrived at the hospital in about 5 minutes, and I got wheeled up to Labor and Delivery while Daniel parked the car. Once here, at 12:40am, the contractions would start about 30 seconds after the preceding one, and they were almost unbearable. They got me in the bed and had to take my blood pressure and put on a fetal monitor and some other things to see how everything was going. That was SOOOOOOOOO uncomfortable because I had to lay down on my back, which made every contraction worse. Finally, about 25 minutes after we arrived, Dr. Wolanski came in there and did an internal exam to see how far dilated I was. Guess what--10 cm! Time to push! I was like, "WHAT?!" So, when the next contraction came, he explained to me how he wanted me to push.

With each contraction, I would get 3 - 4 good pushes in. The only thing that kinda stunk was that the contractions were so strong and were so close together that I felt like my "break" in between them was rather small.... not much time to relax. But Daniel was very good at reminding me to relax even when I felt like I couldn't. About 30 minutes later, Hannah was born!!! That was the best feeling in the world, I tell ya. Aaahhhhhh she was out. :) And it's amazing, because once the baby is born, it's all over. So, she was out and she was beautiful!! Here are a few more pictures.

Goodbye Mucous Plug

2008-09-04T09:42:00.003-04:00

Welp, lost the mucous plug this morning (don't worry, I won't post any pictures, cuz it's pretty nasty...). We'll see what Daniel has to say about it.. I took a picture of it with my phone and sent it to him in a text message. :-D Hehehehehehehe....

So in the evenings, my contractions are about 7 minutes apart and last around 50 seconds. I have them for a few hours and then they go away. Hopefully we'll have some real labor soon so that baby can make her grand debut!

I was supposed to go get a reflexology pedicure tomorrow afternoon, but I suspect that I might not be able to make it to that, so I rescheduled it for today at 12:15. I'm very much looking forward to that. :)

If anything happens, I'll let you know!

Doctor's Appt. Update

2008-09-02T15:41:00.002-04:00

Here are my stats from today's appointment:

2 cm dilated

80-90% effaced

Baby is at 0 station

Guess she'll be coming soon! Dr. Wolanski said that based on what my body is doing and how she's positioned in my pelvis, he anticipates that we're going to have a "great delivery"--he anticipates labor will last about 12 hours and that I shouldn't have to push for very long. He said that she is sitting very nicely in my pelvis and was very pleased with the whole thing today. So that's exciting!

The only stinky thing is that I've been retaining a lot of fluid, and that has made my blood pressure go up. It's not high enough to be concerned, but definitely something to keep our eyes on. So I guess I shall go douse some more water and hope that the retention diminishes some.

there's the update! Yay!

Bathroom Break

2008-09-02T09:22:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to say...

That I got out of bed and went to the bathroom 5 times last night. FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all. If I have anything spectacular to write after my appointment today, I will do that.

Labor Day

2008-09-01T11:06:00.003-04:00

So... I experienced my first bout of "real" contractions last night! Clearly nothing productive came of them, but it was at least good to get a glimpse of what the sensation will be. It was weird because I started off just feeling bad... I don't know if I was dehydrated or what, but I got really nauseous. I felt like I needed to eat but the thought of food made me want to puke. I was pretty gassy too. Later, my stomach would tighten and I'd have what felt like a menstrual cramp in my lower back and lower abdomen. It would last for about 30 - 45 seconds or so, increasing in intensity until about the half-way point, then it would die down. I had a few episodes of that, but again, nothing productive and it only lasted about 30 - 45 minutes.

Daniel made the joke that it would be really funny if I went into labor on Labor Day--It would be a real Labor Day for me! But, so far, no laboring on Labor Day (and no shared birthdays either... Keagan's birthday is today).

I go back to the doctor tomorrow and I can ask him about my little episode when I'm there... I'm sure he'll just say it's my body gearing up for the real thing. I also get tested for Group B Strep tomorrow. I really hope it's a negative test, because if it's positive, it means they'll have to give me an IV during labor so they can give me antibiotics.... and I was kind of banking on not having an IV at all... actually, I was kind of banking on not getting to the hospital until about an hour or two before Hannah's born. We'll see. Pray that if I do have it, that it'll disappear within the next 24 hours. :) Does anyone know if there's another treatment for it besides antibiotics through an IV during labor?

Alrighty, well, today is my big return day from a bunch of stuff I've received from all my showers. I had my final shower yesterday afternoon, so I figured I would wait until that one was over to return the things that I need to return. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of people don't understand the concept of gift receipts, so I'm going to have to beg and plead for some of these stores to take their merchandise back... Hopefully they'll be gracious to a girl who's 9 months pregnant!

Continuous Expansion

2008-08-26T21:46:00.002-04:00

Okay people.... I am HUGE. My belly is officially in the way. It's amazing how much you take your abdominal muscles for granted.... but mine are basically out of commission until this baby squeezes her way out of the birth canal. It's definitely strange. Getting out of bed and especially out of chairs that sit low is quite a chore these days.

Now, I'm not uncomfortable, not miserable, not any of those things. Just...... odd. :) Also, I have slight stomach acne on the top half of my stomach. I read somewhere that it might be heat rash. They're definitely not stretch marks or anything connected with that. Just some little red dots on the top of my stomach. Again, not uncomfortable or miserable... just odd.

I get up 2 or 3 times each night to go to the bathroom now. There are a few things that are really funny to me about that. The first thing is that I can barely remember doing it the next day. So I guess that's good? Means I don't wake myself up too much? The second thing is that when I wake up, I just kinda lay there for a few minutes, thinking, wondering why I'm awake... and then I think to myself, "Maybe I have to go to the bathroom. I guess I should get up and go." Because, you see, I don't really feel the urge to go when I'm laying down. But, oh baby, when I stand up..... God forbid there be any obstacles in the way between the bed and the toilet, cuz I just might not make it. It's amazing how much pressure isn't there when I'm laying down, and how it magically appears, in full force, once gravity pulls Hannah down into my pelvis.

Also, I don't really sleep with the covers on anymore. I feel bad for Daniel because he gets cold really easily, and I'm always sweating and saying things like, "Is it hot in here or what?!"... and he just looks at me and shakes his head (as he's wrapped up in a blanket). Go figure. But it's workable. I'm still able to sleep, exercise, eat, get up and down, etc., so things are going well. Can't wait to have my little bundle of beauty in my arms!!

A Word from the Lord

2008-08-23T22:46:00.002-04:00

After spending some time in prayer together tonight, God spoke to both Daniel and I with the same words: Be patient and wait.

So... we are being patient and waiting. Though it would be nice to know what's next and exactly when and how and why and..... well, it's not like we really have the time or the energy to worry about anything right now other than his new school year and our newest addition to our family that's arriving so soon! God always knows best, and His timing is always perfect. Therefore, He has spoken and told us to be patient and to wait. So, we're doing that. With joyful, expectant, and believing hearts.

Also, I just want to reiterate a scripture that's been my theme verse for the past week or so... Deuteronomy 7:9 says "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." I think that's so beautiful.

Pray for us as we're patiently waiting. We can't wait to see what we're patiently waiting for. :)

Belly Pictures - 34 Weeks!

2008-08-14T20:38:00.007-04:00

My apologies for not posting pictures in a while... Daniel and I left our camera battery charger in Cancun, so we haven't had any way of taking pictures! So, here are some 34 week belly pictures so you can stay updated :)

Look at that belly button!!!

No baby belly from behind!

Daniel's version of baby belly :)

Things are going well. We're going back to the doctor for another appointment tomorrow afternoon. I think our next appointment will be two weeks after that, and then we'll start going weekly. It's hard to believe that we're only 6 weeks away from the due date! I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions lately... sometimes accompanied by tiny menstrual-feeling cramps in my belly or back, but nothing major. No trouble sleeping... Hannah is a quiet one. She squirms on occasion to let you know that all is well, but other than that, she's pretty quiet. I am pretty sleepy a lot of the time, but I guess that's because I have a big baby taking up all my energy! I've noticed the ligaments in my legs and hips loosening... especially after I sit down for a while, when I stand up, it's like my femurs are about to pop out of socket. Not painful, just catches me off guard sometimes.

I shall keep you all updated! If I have any news from the doctor to talk about, I will post again tomorrow!

Hospital Tour

2008-08-06T09:12:00.002-04:00

Okay... I don't have much time, but I wanted to fill you guys in on our tour of the labor and delivery unit of the hospital we'll be in.

So, can we say 5-star hotel??? I so wish I had pictures to show you. Each delivery room has hardwood floors, crown molding lining the vaulted ceilings, recessed lighting all on dimmers, private bathrooms with jacuzzi bathtubs/showers, and the rooms are pretty large. There's either a lazy boy for dad or a fold out bed, plus a rocking chair. It looks beautiful. They were saying that they remodeled this particular unit about 8 years ago, and you can definitely tell!

I was also impressed with the security measures they have in place to protect your family. Really, it's a great hospital. The nurses are awesome, very helpful, and they all seem to really love their unit. One of the managerial nurses goes to my church, so if she's working that day, I'll have to request her. :)

The recovery rooms weren't quite as impressive as the delivery rooms, but I guess having super-nice delivery rooms gets the point across that they really care about your delivery and want you to feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible. They start counting your admissions from the time of delivery, and we'll stay anywhere from 24 - 48 hours. When we were touring yesterday, there was a baby that had just been born about an hour before in the nursery, and the dad was standing next to her with this huge smile plastered on his face... he looked like such a goober, but it was cute. :) They were measuring her and doing some other things (she had been born via cesarean), and I don't think he was allowed to hold her since he didn't have gloves on, so he was just standing there staring at her. Very cute.

Well, off to Jazzercise I go, but I just wanted to let you all know about our tour! It was awesome! So as long as Hannah isn't more than 6 weeks early, we'll be able to deliver there--if she's any earlier, they'll put me in the U.Va. hospital so she can be in the NICU. Have a great day! And Happy Anniversary Keagan and Laura!

8 Weeks Left!

2008-07-30T16:38:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it--I will have a precious little one in about 2 months! Wow.... this pregnancy has gone by SO fast. I am getting more and more excited each day--I'm sure by the time delivery gets here, I'm going to be about to jump out of my skin. :)

And for those of you that are dying to ask (I've gotten this question many times already), no, I'm not ready for her to come out and have this pregnancy over with yet. She still needs to develop for a few more weeks, and THEN I'll be ready for her grand entrance. But, the reality is that I haven't been uncomfortable hardly at all. Sure, my belly gets in the way of things sometimes (such as painting my toenails), but it's not over-bearing or all-consuming by any stretch of the means. Sleeping isn't uncomfortable yet--I just wish we had a bigger bed so that my pillows wouldn't get in Daniel's space when I'm on my left side.... and then maybe my cat wouldn't take up half of my side of the bed. The only perpetual issues I have are being tired all the time and heartburn about 2 hours after I eat. But! I'm finding that a Tums a day keeps the heartburn away.

I have one more shower on Saturday, August 30th. There are only a few more things that I really need (including LOTS of diapers), and some winter clothes. If I get a whole lot of stuff, I have no idea where I'm going to put it!! So, if you're reading this and are wondering what we need, know that we need diapers!! Oh, and there's this sling at Target that I want to make sure I get, but I think it's going to have to be ordered online because they never have the right pattern in the store.

I'm going to have Daniel take a belly picture this weekend, so that you can see Hannah's outward progress. Daniel got to feel her kicking up a storm yesterday, which was neat because it's so rare that she moves that much. She's an otherwise very calm, tranquil baby. She squirms enough to let you know she's alive and well, but isn't a rambunctious soccer player or anything like that.

Okay, well, have a great evening!

Hannah's Room and Missions Trip

2008-07-23T08:57:00.007-04:00

So.... the missions trip was great! Everyone from our youth group was SO sad to leave South Carolina, and got really close with AYM, so they were upset to be leaving all those guys as well. They're ready to go on another one and bring our entire youth group with them! So, I'd say it was a success :)

Hannah's room is so close to being finished! I know, it's a little early to have it all finished, but what can I say? I like to have things done. So, below are some pictures of what's in her room... and a little surprise we found when we came home the other day.

The crib:

Changing table (with no pad yet):

You can see the dresser right next to the changing table.... it's full of clothes from birth to 6 months.... already.

Bookshelf:

The manual breast pump on the top shelf of the bookcase has become Daniel's new favorite toy. Imagine that. :)

And.... check out the little surprise we found the other day!

I think Gypsy knows something's up, since we spend so much time in that room. Daniel got a few cute pictures of her in the crib... so we have a furry baby for now :)

Missions Trip Update

2008-07-15T22:36:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to give you an update on how the trip is going....

Things are going very well--our cfa students are very happy to be here, and I've definitely noticed that they've all bonded as a group since we've been here. That makes me happy. :) They are also very appreciative of the other group that we're with, and have felt very welcome and part of the whole deal. For many of our students, it's their first missions trip, and it's been a great experience for them so far. It seems like they're already wanting to go on another one soon! Hopefully this will spur them on to be thinking about ways they can serve others in their lives... not just on special trips like this, but recognizing the needs of those around them in everyday life.

Just to give you an idea of our schedule, we leave the hotel at 7am every morning (?!!!), drive out to Norway, eat breakfast, have a little devotional time, and then head to the warehouse where VBS takes place. The kids normally start arriving around 9 and we get to play with them until we start around 9:30. VBS lasts until about 11:30, and then we break for lunch. The kids that we get to work with are so precious. They range from ages 4 through high school, and we've had around 50 or 60 kids the last 2 days. After lunch, we go to work on a lady's house who lives here in town. We are re-roofing her house, along with replacing a few pieces of rotted roof. We're also cleaning up the trash and brush in her backyard. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of video and pictures to show you. :) We'll even have some funny stories about snakes, septic tanks, and the like! In the evenings, we have a worship session back at the warehouse. Some of the teens from the community come and hang out with us.

After lunch today, before we started work on the house that we're re-roofing and cleaning up, I took our group and a few girls from the other group out to see where the kids are coming from that go to the VBS program. In Norway, it's about a 90% poverty rate (pretty hard to fathom, isn't it?), so it was pretty eye-opening for a lot of the kids to go out and see the condition that many of these little ones live in. Most of the families are fatherless here, and drugs, alcoholism, and teenage pregnancy are the biggest problems. But I'll tell you what--when you love on them, they just eat it up. They'll steal your heart very quickly.

VBS is going very well, and Daniel makes an excellent drill sergeant. The kids are hilarious when he walks in the room in costume... they straighten right up, and are always looking for him once the skit is over. :) I think those skits have been one of the biggest hits this week. Janelle is Private Annie Waire, and the kids think she is hilarious too (she's loud, obnoxious, and over-zealous). Private Hugh Meeh, played by Jeremy, is the "surfer-dude" kid, who always gets in trouble, and you should hear the kids anticipating the drill sergeant's wrath when Meeh says something stupid. ;-)

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know how things were going! We're having a great time, and it's been really neat to see God slowly working in the hearts of our kids. It's funny how we always think that we go on missions trip to "minister" to other people.... but God always shows up in bigger ways than we ever imagine--and it always provokes change in our own hearts and lives.

Beautiful Belly

2008-07-07T22:53:00.002-04:00

I love being pregnant :) Isn't pregnancy beautiful?

Major Update

2008-07-07T13:45:00.003-04:00

Man.... I am not very good at updating this thing. Okay, so Daniel and I have been SUPER busy!! Man.... we're finally just getting a little breathing room this week, and then we're off and on the road yet again.

Okay, so we went to Cancun with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. We had a great time! I don't get to see my bro and sis very often, so I always cherish those times that I get to spend with them. I know I promised pictures, but all the good ones are on my mom's computer at home. Hopefully we can get some posted soon.

Thennnn we came home and then Daniel got a KIDNEY STONE!!!!!!! I thought only people in their 40's and 50's got those things! Evidently not... Daniel learned through the whole process that dehydration is the main culprit for kidney stones, so you can bet that he's drinking a ton of water these days :) He passed the kidney stone a few days after it dropped into his bladder, so everything's back to normal. It was quite an experience though, I must say. From what I hear, it's comparable to childbirth (as far as the pain goes), but I prefer not to think of childbirth as pain. :)

Then we headed to Va Beach for a baby shower. Daniel's mom, sister, and friend put on an AWESOME shower for me--they really did a fantastic job. It was perfect! Not to mention I got all kinds of cool stuff! (so much that we couldn't fit it all in my car on the trip home...) So things are really starting to come together in our nursery! It's amazing how much stuff you need (and how expensive it all is). So, Donna, Abby, Megan, and Millie (and anyone else I'm not naming), thank you!

We've officially hired our new youth pastor at cfa--woohoo! I really think he's going to be great, and his wife is awesome too. Daniel and I really like both of them, and the kids seem to like them a whole lot as well. I am very happy about this new addition to our staff. :)

Yesterday, Mary and Megan put on a shower for me with some of my Cville/U.Va. friends. It was nice and intimate, which I definitely appreciated. And again, got lots of cute (and very useful) stuff! The games were especially fun :) So Mary and Megan--thank you, too!! Can't wait for this baby to be born so you all can see the fruit of all this hard work of preparation. She is going to be SO loved and SO blessed.

Umm........ Well, I don't feel like typing anymore, so I'm going to stop now. Hope you guys are doing well!!

A Word on Gas Prices...

2008-06-24T14:09:00.002-04:00

I'll post about Cancun when I get home and can upload pictures. But for now... can I just say something?

I get so irritated when I hear about people (American especially) complaining about gas prices. Why, you may ask? Sure, gas is getting expensive--and it'll only get more expensive as time continues to pass and oil becomes less and less abundant. But the price of gas is not the problem. The problem is that people are unwilling to make lifestyle changes to reduce the amount of gas that they consume. Perhaps we could drive less? Carpool? Ride a bike? Trade in 2 cars for one fuel-efficient vehicle? Get some freaking exercise, for crying out loud? Be more modest with the amenities in our homes? Buy locally grown food? There are so many different ways that mankind could be working towards relieving the problem--not the problem of the cost of fuel, but the problem of wasteful living. Sure, there are some people who are doing what they can, regardless of whether or not they think it's "cool" or "hip". Tree-hugger or not, at least they're doing something. Something that could really make a difference if mankind as a whole would catch on to the attitude and mindset behind it.

So unless our national and global community makes a move toward doing something productive instead of simply complaining, I don't want to hear about it anymore.

Fetch

2008-06-14T23:25:00.001-04:00

Here's Gypsy playing fetch!! Enjoy :)

It keeps growing, and growing, and growing...

2008-06-14T09:24:00.002-04:00

I'm going to get Daniel to take some pictures of me today, because I swear my stomach has exploded in the last week. My doctor was exactly right... he said that between weeks 20 and 30, your body really "figures out" that it's pregnant and starts to adjust a whole lot more than before, and here we are at week 25, and voila! There's the baby belly!

Well, we leave in 3.5 days for Cancun! I am very excited! A break will be super nice, and this will be our last hurrah before Hannah comes to life in our house. We're going with my mom and dad and my brother and sister-in-law, so I'm expecting that we should have a great time. I'll have pictures I'm sure when we get back!

I'm currently playing fetch with my cat, and I wish I had a video of it I could show you. I have some video on my phone, but I don't know how to upload that. Anyway, she likes to play fetch with hair ties. Daniel figured that out by accident when she was really little, and she still loves to play! She'd play for hours if you'll play with her for that long.

Well, we decide on a youth pastor tomorrow night! YAYYYY!!!!!!!! I can't wait. :) I'll keep you guys posted on all that as well. One of our candidates lives right here in Charlottesville and he was working at a restaurant that our office administrator and I went to for lunch the other day. And we were totally talking about the whole interview process when he comes outside with some food. I think he was just as surprised to see us as we were to see him! Kind of awkward, but that's okay. :) I hope he doesn't think that we've decided already. So Wes, if you happen to be reading this, don't worry--we're having our big meeting tomorrow and you'll probably be hearing from someone on Monday.

Alrighty, well, I'm going to take a shower and then go work out before worship practice. Gotta make sure that my body's expanding with the right stuff :)

Back Porch Critter

2008-06-05T20:37:00.010-04:00

A Daniel Post:

So...I have a new pet. I first noticed my little friend a few weeks ago when I was sitting at my computer and zoning out the window. He is a brave little guy and likes to come up to the trashcan even when we are all sitting at the table eating dinner. Even though he is a cute little pet, my dad has given me fair warning that they are nicknamed "little bears" for a reason. This one is really confident, and only spooks if I move really fast towards the door. Either he is fairly tame, or has the worst case of rabies in recent vermin history. Nonetheless, I feel perfectly safe on the other side of my kitchen door. I leave occasional table scraps too, so that when he is tearing into my leg some day, I will have some leverage I can throw at him: "Don't gnaw the leg that feeds you!"

The Bait--Baked Potato

Enter the Culprit

Climbin' the Post

Smellin' and lickin' the grease on the leaves

Makin' my way to bigger and better prizes

BOOYA!!!!

Miniature Update, I suppose (yeah right)

2008-06-02T16:12:00.003-04:00

Welp, I guess it's about time for an update, eh?

This weekend was super busy, but good! Daniel and I registered at Babies 'R Us on Thursday evening, which was pretty fun--long and exhausting, but still fun! It was hilarious cuz Daniel is more worried about our little girl as a teenager bringing boys home than he is about the baby stage. :) I guess that means he'll be a great dad! I don't really remember what we did Friday night.... I think Daniel was feeling pretty bad, so we just hung around the house.

Saturday morning, we went to look at some baby furniture I had seen on CraigsList. It was perfect! So, we paid the guy for it--a dresser, changing table, and bookcase. We ended up paying for the crib and mattress that went with it, even though we already had one, because we knew a ton of pregnant couples that could probably use it. So, lo and behold, we get in the car and start driving away, I call one of the couples we know, and they're in! We went and picked up all the furniture Saturday afternoon, then Lina and Matt came by to look at the crib, bought it, and took it home. That was easy. :) And I was also glad we got to sit and hang out with them for a little while... hopefully we'll get together soon and celebrate pregnancy with each other!

Also on Saturday, Matt and Amanda, some friends from church back in Va Beach, stopped by, which was really neat. They have a cute little girl... she's about 6 months old. They live in Lynchburg and were up visiting some friends, so they stopped by and we got to chat for a little while. I really enjoyed it! I think Daniel had more fun playing with their daughter than talking to them, haha. :) He ain't afraid of those babies, that's for sure.

Thennnn my parents came into town and stayed with us Saturday night and went to church with us Sunday morning. They were excited to see all the new baby furniture and to see my finally growing belly. Sunday morning at church was our focus on poverty... about flippin' time! There's a really neat opportunity that we'll get to partner with called the First Street Church Project that's going to be a day shelter for homeless people in Charlottesville. It looks like we're going to get people involved with soup kitchens and some other things as well, so that makes me really, really happy. I've struggled for a while with my church's lack of focus on outreach to our local community (and the world at large too)... which is odd, considering it's an AG church. Usually AG churches are ALL about missions and outreach. Oh well. I was talking to my dad about it and we both feel like a lot of it has to do with the mentality of the people in Charlottesville (it's VEERRRYYYY different than Va Beach). For some reason (I'm sure it's a conglomeration of reasons), the people here won't get involved in anything unless is nicely packaged, easy to access, a big production, with a pretty bow on top. Grassroots efforts just don't seem to do it, especially with those ages 35 - 55. It's just so weird to me. Grassroots efforts are more authentic and effective in the long-term look at things, but that's just not how people operate here. So now there's finally something nicely packaged regarding outreach to the poor of our community that our church can get involved in. I'm praying that it really opens people's hearts to reaching out and getting not only financially involved, but emotionally involved as well.

Okay, well, I'll stop ranting now. :) Daniel and I are headed to a cook-out with the pastoral team from church. We're finally down to the last 2 candidates for the Spiritual Formation Pastor position, so tonight we get to interview and hang out with one of them and his wife (along with our spouses). So I am definitely looking forward to it. Plus we get to be outside!!! And I made a white cake with cool whip and fruit. MMMMmmmmmm.... can't wait to get my hands on a piece of that yummy-ness!

It's a girl!!

2008-05-28T17:26:00.009-04:00

We had our first ultrasound today, and it's a girl! The doctor said that she's in the 47th percentile for growth, and that everything looks perfect and healthy! Below are some pics, and we'll probably upload the ultrasound video online sometime later tonight. Enjoy!

She's flicking us all off ;-)

Blood flowing to and from the heart:

The spine:

Her face:

And finally....

1 Year Anniversary

2008-05-26T21:29:00.015-04:00

Today marks one year of marriage for Daniel and I. :)

Here are some pictures from our celebratory day at Maymont Park in Richmond!

You can credit Daniel for many of these very artistic pictures. We spent a little while at the park today, then went to Short Pump, "shopped" for a little while (I think we spent 7 bucks), and then went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner (my FAVORITE!!!!!). It was a good day. :)

Also.... on Wednesday, we see our first ultra-sound! Hopefully I'll get some pictures or video from that to upload for you all to see. And maybe we'll get to see if it's a boy or girl! I'll update you later Wednesday night!

Gypsy.... and other things

2008-05-22T08:41:00.000-04:00

I need to show you all her new favorite position....

Yes, that's right, she likes to use my shoulder as a seat and hang her head and arms over the top of the chair. Go figure. I don't know why she does that.... tell you what though--she sure has a bony butt!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see her and my brother in a few weeks!! We are going to Cancun with my parents for about a week.... it'll be the last hurrah for Daniel and myself before the baby is born. Hopefully the food will be better this time than it was on our honeymoon :) Oh, and hopefully we don't get sick!

I'm doing a Beth Moore Bible study with the girls in my small group called "Jesus the One and Only." I actually am really enjoying it! It does take quite a bit of time each day, but it's been really neat so far. There were 2 really cool things this week that I realized in my study that I had never seen/thought about before. The first one is in Luke 4... for some reason, I had either never recognized the significance of this passage or had never read it. Either way, Jesus is in the temple one Sabbath doing his Sabbath service, and it was His turn to get up and read the scroll. Tradition was that someone would get up and read the scripture for the day and expound on it once they were finished reading. So Jesus gets up and reads from Isaiah 61:1-2, which is the passage basically describing the Messiah's job description. So, he finishes reading that and everyone's eyes are fixated on Him. I like to think of this as a special Holy Spirit moment. :) Then, he expounds on the passage by saying, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Whoah! Way to go, Jesus. I just thought that was so cool.

The next thing that really struck me is this. So, we're all familiar with the idea that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted, so that's nothing new. But did you know that the scriptures say that when Jesus comes out of that season in His life and returns to Nazareth, He returns "in the power of the Holy Spirit." (Luke 4:14) Think about it.... whenever we are faced with a season of temptations or serious trials in our lives, we're oftentimes totally defeated, miserable, and deflated human beings. Obviously I know Jesus is God in the flesh, but if you read the account of the temptation, He does exactly what we should do whenever we face "trials of many kinds"--revert back to God's Word. Find that victory and strength immediately in the Word of God. When Satan tempts Jesus, Jesus immediately quotes scripture to rebuke him. And in doing so, he comes out of that time of temptation in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. Tell you what man, I want to be that kind of person who can refute temptation and the attacks of the enemy with Scripture immediately.

So here's to a.) reading and studying that Scripture so that it can be hidden in our hearts and b.) calling that Scripture to mind immediately when things cross our paths.

Tummy pictures :)

2008-05-18T20:18:00.001-04:00

So..... I got a comment from someone ;-) who told me I don't update this enough, and that I need to include pictures. SoOOOOooooooo, here is an update with pictures!

First of all, uhh, Daniel's best friend came up and visited us this weekend. He's a really cool dude. We need to find him a woman!!! I was really glad they got to spend some time together.

I had a sleepover with the jr. high girls in the youth group Friday night (not at our house). That was pretty fun, and I hope that the girls had a good time and got to develop some good relationships. And can I just say how excited I was that they were all tired by 11?! :)

Also, I need to show you what my cat's doing right now:

This second picture is how my cat wakes me up every morning. She doesn't mess with Daniel. Ever. But, David got a nice taste of good ol' Gypsy Friday night... I think she was in his room messing with stuff and jumping all over the bed the whole night (cuz I wasn't there). Haha. But usually, at about 5:30, she comes in, purring and spreading her wet nose goop all over my face. She's hungry. So, she decides it's time for me to get up so I can feed her. Thanks, dear. :)

Okay, so here are some 21 week tummy pictures. Enjoy!

So there you have it! Later :)

Update!

2008-05-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

Welp, it's been a while. Sorry!

First, and biggest news! Daniel got to feel the baby kick for the first time last night. Very cool. :) He was pretty excited about it. Like.... it was the most exciting thing in the last year. So that was very neat. Right before we were going to go to sleep, he asked me if the baby was moving around at all, and I said, "No.. I think it's asleep." So he put his mouth right on my belly and said, loudly, "WAKE UP!!!!!!" And then..... I think he startled the baby, cuz it started moving! So, I had Daniel put his hand where I normally feel movement and push in pretty hard, and we felt movement. So now, it's definitely a reality for Daniel--there's actually something alive and moving around inside my tummy!

Speaking of tummy's.... I was at Curves the other day working out and one of the ladies asked how far along I was, and I told her I was 20 weeks. And she goes, "REALLY?! You just look like you ate a big lunch!" I thought that was pretty cute. I definitely have a bit more of a belly now though. It's like in the past 3 days I've started to poke out considerably more than before. I remember my doctor telling me that between weeks 20 and 30 is when your body really figures out it's pregnant and starts adjusting to it moreso than before, so maybe that's why?

In other news, I helped the drama dept. at Daniel's school this past weekend with their musical, Into the Woods. If you've never seen this musical, let me just say that it's probably one of the toughest musicals I have ever seen. Musically. It's SO rhythmically difficult. And the sad thing was that the chorus teacher at the school told the drama teacher that he wasn't going to help with the musical, so the students had been rehearsing for 3 months for this performance without any real musical help (?!!). So I get in there as a last-minute arrangement 2 weeks before opening night, and it was a nightmare... complete nightmare. Originally I was just supposed to play piano for them, but there was no way I could learn all the music and help them learn their parts at the same time. So I bought an accompaniment CD with most of the music on it, edited it, and that's what we used for the performance. In 2 weeks, the kids did an AMAZING job pulling everything together. I can't tell you how proud of them I am! They pulled it together and it was a totally different show this past weekend than when I first got to rehearsal 2 weeks before. If you aren't familiar with the musical, I encourage you to go onto You Tube and look it up... watch clips from the song "Your Fault." You'll see. :)

I've picked out crib bedding! Here's what I want to get for a girl and here's what I want to get for a boy. We'll find out 2 weeks from today if we're having a boy or a girl, so I can't wait! Once we figure that out, I'll register. So, any of you who have babies, please send me suggestions of things I should definitely register for! Cuz.... I have no idea :) Oh, and if it helps, I plan to breastfeed.

Daniel will take some pictures of my belly this weekend and I'll post them on Facebook, so we can keep up with the growth. Hope you have a great night!!!

...

2008-05-03T22:04:00.001-04:00

Can I just say that I am completely exhausted and in desperate need of a break?

Yes? Well, good, cuz I just did.

That is all. :)

Dr.'s Visit

2008-04-28T20:36:00.000-04:00

So, like I said, here's the update from my visit to my obstetrician today:

So, when they weighed me today, I was at -1 from my starting weight. My doctor comes in and goes, "I love you!!!" Now, you have to understand that my doctor has absolutely no personality. He's kind of awkward, odd, you name it. But you just have to love him. :) So, y'all may not think it's funny that he responded that way, but I wish you could've been there to experience it with me, cuz it was hilarious!

Then, he gave me the speech he gives me every visit about how you don't have to gain a lot of weight to have a good pregnancy, so no surprise there. He told me if I didn't gain any weight at all during the entire pregnancy (which would mean that I actually lost weight), that it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing because I was a little "heavy" to begin with (thanks doc ;-). He did emphasize that I need to not change anything about what I've been eating or how much I've been exercising. Evidently between weeks 20 and 30, your body really starts to figure out that it's pregnant, and it's really easy to let yourself go as far as diet and exercise are concerned during that time. So he prepared me for that and said that if I keep up with what I've been doing, I should be fine (can you tell that weight is a big deal for him???).

Daniel and I have been planning to take a trip to Cancun with my parents and Keagan and Laura in June, so I asked the doc about that, to make sure that would be okay. And he said, "Oh, that'll be the perfect time to go!" I asked if I would need written permission or any documentation from him so that I could fly on the plane, and he said no. He said, "People will hardly know you're pregnant. They won't be sure if you're actually pregnant or just a little chubby." :) The only thing he told me I couldn't do is scuba dive, which I can't do anyway due to ear problems I've had my entire life. And, wouldn't you know, he told me to be extra careful with sunscreen because my skin will burn faster. HAH. Sorry, doc, I figured that one out already. :) Oh! And we got to listen to the heartbeat again today, which he said sounded normal. We also heard some "swoosh" sounds, which he said was the baby moving. Evidently the baby was moving quite a bit! So I wonder what that means.... But, he said everything was normal and good, so we are moving along!

Let's see..... I think that was basically it. Next visit is May 29th, the day after our ultrasound to find out if we're having a boy or girl! Yay!!! I can't wait. :) I have a room for the baby now, but nothing to put in it! Also, Daniel just told me that his parents are coming up this weekend and his mom is going to help us out with the crib, which is going to be a huge, huge, HUGE blessing (cribs ain't cheap these days). So hopefully we'll have a good time picking out baby stuff.

Okay, well I think that is the official update from the appointment today! Hope you guys have had a wonderful day!

New Home

2008-04-28T12:20:00.000-04:00

So.... we just moved into our new place this weekend. It's about a mile down the road from our apt, so we didn't move far. And can I just say how annoying it is to have to pack up all your junk just to unpack it again? But I am very happy with our new townhouse so far, and am excited to live in a place that actually feels like a house! You'll have to come by and visit if you want to see. :)

I go to the doctor for my 18-week appt. in about an hour and a half. I guess I could've waited until I got home to update this, couldn't I? I guess that'll give me reason to update this again.

Last night, we took the youth group to see Switchfoot in concert--they were AWESOME!!!!!! They impress me more and more each time I see them live. So, way to go boys.

I'm trying to think if there's anything else interested to talk about..... umm... Daniel gets paid today. :) That's exciting! And other than that, I'll update later and let you know how my doctor's appointment goes. Hopefully he'll give me permission to go to Cancun in June! We'll see....

Passion, sunburns, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...

2008-04-19T09:54:00.001-04:00

Well hello! It has been a beautiful week here in Charlottesville, VA! Yesterday I laid out in the sun for about 2 hours and got BURNT! Ouch. I guess all the things I've read about being more prone to sunburns during pregnancy are true. :) But it'll tan nicely, I think, so I think I'll be fine. Also, I talked to my mom this morning and asked her if she ever got stretch marks--nope! So hopefully I'll have the same fortune. Someone told me yesterday that stretch marks actually stem from a zinc deficiency... so I may be going out and getting some zinc supplements here pretty soon.

Passion was AWESOME! Man, I am so glad I finally got the chance to go. And... let me just say... Chris Tomlin is the best worship leader I have ever seen--and I don't say that lightly at all. In fact, I was a little skeptical when we went, simply because of his mainstream popularity. But there's a reason for that mainstream popularity and it's because he is such an effective and sensitive leader. He's one of those people it's easy to worship with. And you know how there are some worship leaders who feel like they have to say something during every song or explain what we're singing all the time? Chris did that once, and the story he did share was so effective. But every other time, no words were needed. I don't really know how else to explain it. So, I hope I can be that effective one day--obviously not on my own accord, but my prayer is that God would use me that effectively in worship and that I would never be a distraction for others. Only an avenue through which God can sing, speak, display His beauty, and touch hearts and lives like only He can.

I was also very impressed with how much Passion was NOT a production. I mean, it had to be somewhat because there were 10,000 people there. But the way the lights were done, the video, the lyrics on the screen, the conduct of those leading worship, and the way the speakers spoke to us all testified to the fact that Passion is for the glory of God... that its vision is to raise up a generation of students eager to make Jesus famous in this world, instead of raising up a generation of self-serving students who ignore the needs and cries of the world around them. I can't tell you how impressed I was. Daniel and I both were just blown away. And the cool thing is that probably every time Louie Giglio got up to say something, he was always emphasizing the vision of Passion and the heart of Passion. So I don't think anyone left that place in the dark about what Passion is about. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Here's a picture of what the arena looked like... get ready for a taste of heaven :)

Let's see. In pregnancy news... I feel the baby a bit more regularly now, which is neat, and I am definitely starting to show. I guess I should take a picture, shouldn't I? Didn't I promise that a while ago? I can feel the top of the uterus right at my belly button now, so pretty soon there ain't gonna be anymore room for that to rise up, and it's going to have to start going out. Hah. Basically, when I'll full term, I'm going to look like I have a watermelon on its side under my skin. My doctor didn't put it to me that way, but I got the point. And current weight, as of either Tuesday or Thursday, I can't remember, is still in the negatives... -3 lbs. I go back to the doctor next Monday (the 28th), so then I can let you all know what the doc says about my progress and how I'm doing. Okay--off to worship practice. GET OUTSIDE TODAY!!!!!!!! :)

Looking Forward

2008-04-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

Sooooo we're going to the Passion Conference in Atlanta this weekend. I am very excited! I am hoping I'll get a chance to hang out with Tomlin or something like that, but I seriously doubt that'll happen. I'll let you know how everything goes when we get back. It'll be a nice little get-away/vacation sort of thing, though, so I am definitely looking forward to it!

Let's see.... in pregnancy news.... I am 16 weeks tomorrow, and have a net weight gain of -4.5 lbs. So I guess that's a net weight loss? I guess my new eating habits should be the next weight loss program, haha. I am ready to find out if we're having a boy or girl! I want to go register and start planning the room and looking at clothes and picking out stuff! I gotta wait til May 28th. Come on, people!

My birthday is tomorrow. I will be 23 years old. I can't believe I just typed that. 23 just looks old (the numbers on the page is what I'm referring to). I don't really know what else to say other than that. Old. I'm getting old. We were having worship practice the other day and I made a comment about how I was getting old, and my friend Luke goes, "you're not old!" And I said, "Luke. I'm married and I'm pregnant. I'm OLD!" So for all you married people with kids--you're old :)

We sold our couch yesterday, yay! Aaaand we bought a new couch and some end tables/a coffee table in Richmond on Tuesday. Those will come in when we move into our new place. Hooray for the Roomstore. Seriously, for those of you who live in Charlottesville, don't waste your time at the furniture stores here. Take the time and go to Richmond. You won't be disappointed.... AND the Roomstore delivers to Charlottesville. So there. Now you have no excuse.

Okay, well, one of these days I'll take some updated belly pictures and put them on Facebook. And when we get back from the Conference, I'll let you know how that went. Have a great evening and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the sunshine!!

Yay blogs!!!

2008-04-05T20:33:00.000-04:00

Okay so.... I have a lot of friends who are single or married and the concept of kids is SUPER far away. So, I figured I would give you all something to give you an idea of what it's like to be pregnant or to prepare for children. And I also know people who just want to keep up with how things are going. So, here's the perfect opportunity! :)

Let's see. Here's a basic overview of my pregnancy so far:

Currently, I'm 15 weeks pregnant, so the baby is about the length of a teaspoon. Cool! I had to go shopping for prego pants a little over a week ago. My pants all still fit, but the waistline was getting uncomfortable around my stomach, so I figured I should go ahead and buy some pants/shorts/capris so I'd be prepared when I really need them. I've felt the baby move a few times, which has been very neat! They movements are rather faint, but definitely there. As far as weight gain goes... I have a net weight gain of -2 pounds. My doctor has instructed me to not gain more than 2 pounds this month, so hopefully that shouldn't be too difficult. I have a bit of a belly... it looks more like I ate too much for dinner than the fact that I'm pregnant, but I do have one. :)

As far as my first trimester, I never really had any morning sickness (praise the Lord). I felt nauseous sometimes, especially in the mornings, but never threw up because of it. Now, a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to contract some sort of stomach flu, which reeaaallly sucked. I had both vomiting and diarrhea... eww. So I guess I was bound to puke sometime during the pregnancy. The worst part about it was that I felt sick when I ate, but then I would feel sick when I didn't eat... so... I didn't really have many options there. Oh well--we're back to normal now. :)

Today I came down with my first migraine. It was very strange.... my left peripheral vision got blurry and kinda flashy... then once that went away, the right side of my head was killing me. I'd never had a migraine before, so it was really scary. I called my OB doctor, and he told me that it's common for pregnant women to experience migraines, even when they've never had a headache in their life. Learn something new every day. I laid down on the couch and passed out for a little while, and the migraine went away slowly. Hopefully I won't get too many of those throughout the next few month

Daniel and I have had the great experience if listening to the baby's heartbeat! We got to hear it for the first time at our 10 wk. appointment, even though the doctor didn't think we were going to be able to hear it yet. It was funny because up until that point, being pregnant was still theoretical for me. I can't even describe what it's like to have the doctor put a doppler on your stomach, turn it on, and heart this little heartbeat coming from your belly. At my last appointment (14 weeks), I got to listen to the heartbeat again. We will find out at 22 weeks whether we're having a boy or girl!

Okeydokey, well, I'll post some more later when I have more to say. :) 'Til next time...