Snow Day 3 - A Record!

Wow, three days off due to snow/ice!  I cannot believe it!  Today is a little warmer, 19 degrees outside (wind chill 4 degrees)!  We're going a little stir crazy today, since we haven't been out of the house since Monday night...I think I may even have to break out the Play-Doh for Abigail!  (Gasp!) 

To burn off a little energy, we bundled up Abigail (socks, leggings, blue jeans, long sleeve onesie, sweatshirt, lined jacket, fuzzy hat, mittens, and boots) and sent her outside for about 15 minutes of play time.  We didn't let her stay out any longer because her nose and cheeks were getting rosy red!  We put on Chance's jacket, too, and het got to run around a little bit.  Robby had fun chasing them on the ice; the snow that we did get (only about 1" and it doesn't even cover all of the yard) has frozen solid into an ice block, so it was very slippery! 

While they were outside, Hailey and I spent a little alone time together, and she was "talking" up a storm!  Of course, every time I tried to take a picture, it didn't come out right to show her really talking.  Sigh.  In time, I guess.

Look at all that fuzzy hair!  I love it!

Snow Day 2

Another day off!  The roads were still icy today and last night (wind chill -12 degrees last night!), so we got to spend today staying home, staying warm, and staying safe.  The energy consumption in Texas has been at an all time high, so they've had to initate rolling blackouts throughout the state.  Rolling blackouts in 12 degree weather = brrr cold.  We've had to bundle up for sure!  Luckily, we've only had one blackout so far today, and it has been light enough outside that it wasn't dark in our house.  The only thing we can really do today is nap again!  (Oh darn!)

Here's a picture of the girls "hibernating."

Snow Day - Slow Day

We've had the day off due to inclement weather - a snow/ice storm! - and all we've been doing today is catching up on our sleep.  It's nice to have a day just to lounge around and recharge our batteries!

Here's a picture of Abby putting Daddy down for a nap!  Whenever he puts her down for a nap or to bed, he lies down with her and always ends up falling asleep, too!

  

Of course when I went in to get a picture of sweet Hailey Kay snoozing, she was wide awake! She didn't make a peep! She's such a sweetie!

Time to Catch Up

Wow, things have been busy these past few months.  Our family of three has joyously turned into a family of four, and we have spent the past few months getting to know our new daughter, Hailey Kay Roden.  Now that Hailey is 12 weeks old (a silent, amazed "ALREADY?!" has just escaped my mouth), I figure it is time I get back to updating my blog.

I'll be posting entries about everything in between 28 weeks pregnant and an almost 3 month old baby, so new posts will be a mix of old and new.  It'll be confusing for a while, but I really don't want to miss any of the details I remember about those precious few months.  I plan on turning this blog into a book one day, and I want it all there!

It's (Semi) Official

Hailey Kay

The decision.  After months and months of debate, we have finally settled on a name!  We made the decision on September 6, 2010, on our way to the dog park!  Ha.  Sounds like a trivial decision, but believe me, it wasn't.  I was tired of calling the baby "Baby" or Hannah-slash-Hailey, and when my mom said, "We'll just call her Slash," that was the end of that!  I needed a name.  Even though it took nearly 7 months to decide, and it was always between Hailey and Hannah, it came down to Hailey! 

Robby really preferred Hailey over Hannah, and to get me to finalize my vote, he kept mentioning Hannah Montana, the teen pop star. I guess that finally got to me when I was talking to a few people and said something about I want to paint the baby's room blue, not pink, but I didn't really think that went well with "Hannah" and someone said, "Hannah Montana loves blue!" For Robby to make the connection is one thing, but for someone else to...well, that was enough for me!  I don't want that attachment to her name for her whole life...or even the childhood/teenage years.

Her middle name is a family name - my mom's middle name in fact. Once again, I preferred another, but Robby picked this one, and I just couldn't argue, could I? Ha. I told him he was just trying to get a good Christmas present! (Joking, of course!)

The meaning.  One of the reasons it took me so long to decide on what to call her is the meaning of the names.  We have been prety sure since about July that her initials would be HKR, no matter what we decided, but we didn't know which way we'd go.  Hannah = gracious/from the grace of God, has Hebrew etymology (like Abigail) and is Biblical (also like Abigail);  Hailey = from the hay meadow and is of English origin.  It wasn't until Robby found an alternative meaning "Natural" that I could accept it as an option.  I just put too much emphasis on words!  When I think of "natural" and all that could imply, I like it.  I'll just pray that she has a generous and loving soul, and that should take care of that!  Kate = Pure;  Kay = joyous, both of which I like. 

In the end, her name, Hailey Kay means Natural & Joyous!  I think she'll be a beautiful person, inside and out!

I am so happy to be able to call her by her name now, and we can get Abigail used to hearing it as well.  I know I'm now in the home stretch (yaaaay!), and it's finally getting real.  Just about 10 weeks until Hailey gets here!

Here's Hailey's "house" at 28 weeks 5 days!

24 Week Appointment

Today I had my 24 week appointment.  Everything looks great!  This time, I had no worries about the baby because it seems like she moves constantly.  She particularly loves bouncing on my bladder like a trampoline, and there have been a few times where I was worried I might not make it to the bathroom in time! 

It's neat to feel her move; several times it has felt like she's completely flipped sides or rolled all the way over from head down to head up or vice versa.  She's quite the acrobat.  Although she's pretty constant throughout the day, I can already detect a sort of schedule, and so far, it isn't too bad.  Abby was hardly up during the day (always up at 10am like clockwork, though.  I would know the time without looking at the clock), but she was up all night. 

This baby is up when I wake up, which is usually about 7am, then I really feel her get going at 11am, 3pm, 5pm, and from 8:30-10pm she is REALLY active.  I'd say that's her most active time of the day.  Of course, I've noticed her up at 3:30 am almost every morning (that seems to be my bladder's limit and I wake up to go to the rest room at that time almost every night).  I'm just happy that there's a lot of day time movement, since I learned that their schedule in the womb is often the schedule they'll have as newborns. 

At my next appointment, I'll do the glucose/diabetes test and get a SONOGRAM!  We're so excited to be able to see our baby again!  :) 

Showers in the Forecast

Babies, babies, everywhere!  This past Saturday and Sunday I attended two baby showers, one for Robby's aunt Shelli and a couples shower for my friend Sara. 

Shelli is having a little girl, her first, named Kennedi.  I wish that I would have gotten a picture of her because she is so cute pregnant - and tiny!  One of her friends at the shower said, "Um, when did this happen?"  When Shelli looked baffled, her friend said, "I just saw you last week, no bump, and now there's a bump!"  You expect this comment around 4-5 months, but Shelli is 8 weeks away from delivery!  That's just to give you an idea of how tiny her bump really is!  I've known all along that our baby has grown/shown much, much faster than I did with Abigail, but gosh, before we get pregnant with our third, I'm going to try really, really hard to lose both this baby's and Abigail's weight! 

I just hope I don't feel guilty - that's why I didn't really work out after Abigail.  I joined a gym, and the first time I took her to the gym daycare at 3 months, she got a double ear infection, so I felt guilty that she got sick because I wanted my own time.  Then, I waited until she was 6 months old to take her back (better immune system, I thought), but NOPE a week long cold/virus from that trip.  Sigh, I just felt awful because it was something that I chose to do, not something that I had to do (like work).  Plus, I hated, hated, hated having her at the sitter's all day while I worked, then picking her up and leaving her in someone else's care AGAIN.  It just made me feel like a bad mother!

I hope I get over that with the second child.  Hmmm.  We'll see.  The good news is that at the school where I will now be "housed" for my new position, there is an incredibly awesome Student Activity Center  with workout areas for teachers, so I plan to use that.  That way, when I get done with my day, I can go workout before picking up the kids.  I don't think I will feel as badly about that since it's not just jostling them from one care center to the next.  It's tough being a full time working mom.  At least I won't have papers to grade any more when I get home!  Hallelujah for that!

Okay, back to the forecasted showers, we also went to Sara's shower.  Sara has a daughter named Abigail, called Abby, and she had a friend named Abigail there, as well, so there were three Abigails total!  It was funny.  We already call Sara's Abby "Big A" and our Abby "Little A" when they're together, so it wasn't really too confusing to know who we were talking about/addressing. 

Well, Big A is expecting a little sister, going to be named Madison.  Sara and I are thrilled to have little girls only about one month apart!  (Secretly, neither Robby nor I think that she will make it to her due date - she's poppin out there for sure!  At Sara's last sonogram, her doctor said the baby should weigh about 2.5 pounds, but instead weighs about 4 pounds!) 

It was a fun couples shower - Robby had to drink beer from a bottle and they had really, really good food!  Sara and I were both wearing purple shirts, which seemed to be confusing for the men, because at one point, I walked up behind Shane who was sitting on the couch, and he reached up to grab me, but said, "Oh!  I just saw the belly and the purple and thought you were Sara!"  It was a good laugh for all. 

Two showers down and two more to go in the coming weeks!  It's baby season!