26 weeks and counting!

We are SOOOOO lucky! Hannah wasn't cooperative in her mid-pregnancy ultrasound so we were able to have another. It really is amazing to be able to see how much they grow and change in just a matter of weeks. They mainly needed better pictures of her heart, which they were able to get this time. Tim was able to come- thank goodness- because Hailey does not like it at all when mommy is up on the table at the drs office. I'm not sure if she's jealous because I'm up there and she's not or if she's just worried. At my other appointments I just pull her on the table with me and she's perfectly fine with that, but I the ultrasounds are much messier with all the goopy stuff they put on you. Anyways here's a pic of our adorable little girl who should be making her appearance in about 3 more months or so!

And here's an updated pic of my pregnancy so far at just over 26 weeks. Not the most flattering, but that's just what happens when you're trying to take it yourself. And I'm just getting nice and round and jolly and can't wait to start losing this weight in a few months here. Maybe one of these days I'll actually remember to bug Tim and get him to pick up the camera for a few.

It's all about learning...

Maybe I'm a bad mommy for not getting Hailey started on feeding herself earlier, but I guess I just haven't wanted to deal with the extra mess of it. I swear I can't keep my floors clean long as it is. I've known that she was ready to start to feed herself for a while now, but I kept forgetting to go and buy her some of her own toddler utensils. Well I finally did and she's been doing great.

Look at her concentration- and yes I know I put WAY too much milk in her cereal that morning. She's such an independent little stinker and doesn't even hardly want any help from me, but if I don't help her she doesn't get any food onto her spoon and takes bites but with no food there, lol! It's pretty funny to watch. She definitely has the personality of an "oldest" child. The hardest part is actually when I have to take away her bowl and spoon- she gets super mad and throws a giant fit, which I thought was supposed to be reserved until the child gets closer to the age of 2.... NEWS FLASH TO ME: temper tantrums come much earlier than 2!!

On a positive note Hailey has started to become really good at folding her arms for prayer and then saying Amen when we're finished. The really funny part though is when your prayer is longer than she thinks that it should be and she announces "Bah Beh", which is her version of Amen. It's hilarious and makes finishing your prayer quite difficult. I'm so thankful so have her in my life and I'm really looking forward to all of the years that we have together. Yes, she is an absolute handful most days, but once I'm able to remind myself that she is still just a toddler I'm able to fully see how much joy she brings to my days!

One week later

One week ago I got the call: the Shriner's had an opening for the next morning to do Hailey's surgery on her right hand to remove the webbing in between her middle and ring finger. Hailey was born with webbing on both her hands and feet, but we won't be getting her feet fixed because they consider that a cosmetic procedure now and the bones are separate. Anyways, we were placed on the short notice list because the waiting list is super long, we live close, and this baby is going to be here soon! Of course I jumped at the opportunity and went to the hospital to do pre-admit paperwork. Then we had to be back at 6:15 in the morning!! Yuck! I'm not a morning person in the least bit and usually don't get out of bed until at least 7, but duty called. They didn't take us to the pre operating room until about 7:45 and the rest of the time before that was spent doing another scrub down on her arm, vitals, paperwork, etc...

I was doing pretty darn good emotionally until they took her away and that's when I broke down. I mean come on- she's my baby! And I suppose the intense pregnancy hormones don't help at all either. I was so thankful that Tim took the day off of work to be there with us because that was the most crucial time to have him there. He was able to help me calm down a little bit and then we got a bite to eat and played some games until we got the word that her surgery was done and we could go see her.

We went back to our original room to find her just waking up from the anestesia and crying like crazy. Of course I went right to her and grabbed her up. Daddy and I took turns cuddling with her for the next few hours, but she mainly wanted me and all she wanted to do was to sleep on my chest. Luckily I was able to prop my feet up and take a nap, but boy did my back ache when I finally moved.

We were able to go home that afternoon about 1pm and she was ready to move and run in full force almost right away. The nurses tried to tell us to keep her calm and try to keep her less active- HAH! I don't think they have ever met my child before. It's amazing how young children bounce back from things like that. She pulled at her bandaged a lot the first day, which I should have expected. The kid won't even keep her socks, shoes, or hair bows on. That first day was really stressful for us because we didn't want her bandages coming off and risking infection so we were really cautious. In the end, we kept putting medical tape on the spots that kept coming updone. That worked for a few days and then I just ended up rewrapping it with supplies that they gave me.

We were able to take the bandages off after 5 days so we did Sunday morning before church. She was really weirded out by it and was very aware of her "Owie" on her hand so Tim decided to stay home with her while I went to teach. It ended up being a good idea because she was very fussy. Today she's doing great- still running wild like always.

Here she is playing on the couch- one of her new favorite spots because now she can follow the kitty all over and climb on the window sill.

And here she is pointing to her owie in between her fingers. It didn't really show up too well on this picture, but maybe I'll be able to get another later. There was another family in the waiting room with us from the tri-cities and their little boy was having the same thing done. They said that his fingers were looking really well after about 2 weeks!! We don't have her follow up appointment for another month and by then it should look pretty good. Hopefully at that appt they will put us back on the short notice list again and maybe we'll get lucky and get her next and last surgery done before baby arrives.