6 Weeks

Well, Hayley turned 6 weeks today and I also had my 6 weeks postpartum check up with Dr. Byrd. Here is Hayley with Dr. Byrd and her staff.
Everything went well and all is good and fine. This outfit she is wearing today is so darn cute! I love those striped pants! Baby clothes are so adorable. Tomorrow I start my fitness regimen to get in shape. Wish me luck!

New Pictures

Here are some new pics of our sweet Hayley. She will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. I weighed her at my breastfeeding group yesterday and she was 11 lbs 7 oz. I know I know - she's a piggy...But she's still so darn cute. I have my 6 week postpartum check up tomorrow as well. This means I can finally start exercising. 2 months to get back my body before Chelsea's wedding. We'll see what happens...

This is actually a 3 month outfit. Can you believe she fits these already?
Hayley with her Auntie Antina...so adorable!!

I'm sending this picture in to Jon himself...

Hayley LOVES her swing. Clearly she sleeps well in it!

Grandpa Update

I forgot that I mentioned my Grandfather was in a bad accident a couple weeks ago and never followed up. My mom and I went to see him last week and he is in a rehab facility now. He looks great!!! Just like good ole Grandpa with a neck brace on basically. I was so afraid to go and see him look bad, but actually he looked fantastic and it was a huge relief. He is sure to recover well and probably go back home in a month or so.

Our Weekend

Well, what a long couple of days it has been for us! My birthday was on Friday and my Dad and Ann were here to visit Grandpa, so it worked out great. I went out to breakfast with my mom and Antina and then they decided to stay and hang out for the rest of the day, which was great for me to have company and they got to have bonding time with Hayley, too. Then Dave and I went out to dinner with Dad and Ann to Hibachi and it was a blast. Oh, I forgot to mention an important part...When I woke up and came downstairs, the kitchen table was full of gifts and cards. I got a card from Carol and a card and gift from Dave and Hayley, both. Very sweet! Carol gave me a giftcard to American Eagle so on Saturday I decided to go to the mall and use it to get an outfit for Chelsea's shower on Sunday. I did pretty well and got a skirt and top. Then on Sunday we went to Massachusetts for Chelsea's bridal shower and what a long day. We left at 9:30 in the morning and didn't get back until 6:45. I was exhausted and Hayley was cranky. I don't think it would have been so bad except for the fact that we got stuck in traffic on the Mass Pike for about 10 miles or so. Thank goodness my friend Laura was driving so I could entertain Hayley to the best of my ability. Unfortunately after we dropped Laura off at her house, I could no longer entertain her so she cried for the entire 20 minute ride home. It was the worst 20 minutes ever. It is so stressful to have a screaming baby in the backseat. There was just nothing I could do anymore. Ugh - it was so horrible. I guess every new mother experiences that though.

Well, I must run, I here my baby fussing in my mother's arms - Mommy to the rescue!

Hayley is a month old already!

Today Hayley Elizabeth turns one month old. She weighs 10 pounds and is 22 inches long. She changes everyday and watching her turn into this person with a personality is so amazing. I cherish every moment.

Hayley has had so many visitors, it is awesome. She has already met so many people from my big family, even Uncle Peter who lives in Colorado has been by. Dave's mother is here this week, and his family is much more spread out, so we're both so glad she was able to come up to spend time with us. Hopefully we'll see the rest of his family soon. Here is a picture of Hayley with my Aunt Betsy:

Hayley has really begun to be intrigued by lights and colors and sounds. We took out our baby einstein mobile mat and it has this cute star that plays music and lights up in all different colors to the beat of the song. She absolutely loves it and lays on her back and looks up at it. She stays there quite content for awhile.

We love to watch this baby sleep! She is just so precious! This picture shows her favorite position. She likes to have her arm under her head like that. It's so cute!
We looked at places this week to put Hayley into daycare when I go back to work in November. We actually looked at the new Little Acorns, now called Children's Lighthouse. But we then went to a place called Kiddie World. This place is much closer to our house - 2 miles and 5 minute drive. It is brand new and amazing. It is completely modern and we were so impressed and loved the place right away. Though neither of us want to send her to daycare at all, it is only for 2 days a week and seeing what a great place this is, we feel a bit better about it. I am still sad, but it'll be ok.

Having a baby is such a blessing and we just love every minute of it - no matter how hard or easy that minute is.

Keep coming back - I try to write as frequently as I can.

Hayley Update

Hayley had her one month appointment and she now weighs 10 pounds! She's so big already! Doctor says she is doing awesome and she is still just so perfect! Dave's mom is here this week from Miami and he's on vacation as well, so it's been nice having so much help around the house. Ok - off to the shower. More soon...

Hayley - 3 Weeks Old

Hayley turned 3 weeks old on Thursday, and she sure has accomplished some feats this week! The biggest deal and the cutest thing (in my opinion) is that she found her thumb. She was asleep in the bouncy seat and all of a sudden she was sucking on her thumb! It was so adorable! She hasn't done it since that one time, but it was a moment I was so happy I got to see. She also has decided she likes her pacifier, which is a relief, and she finally will stay in her swing without screaming. As she is getting older she is starting to like all these things I have for her, the Bjorn, the bouncy seat, the swing...which is great for me because I don't have to hold her every second to keep her content.

I have started pumping this week to get ready for the dreaded day when I have to go back to work, and though it will only be 3 days of work, it breaks my heart that I will be missing 3 whole days of her life every week. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but right now the thought makes me so sad. I am enjoying every moment I have with her now. I am also extremely lucky my company is letting me stay home for 3 months. So I am thankful for that. Well, Hayley wasn't at first too happy about the bottle, she screamed at Dave everytime he tried to give it to her. So off to Babies R Us I went to try to find a better bottle for her, and last night, my mom gave her the new nipple, and voila! she took it. It was such a relief for us all.

Dave has been back to work now for 2 weeks and I can't wait for him to be on vacation again. His mom comes on Wednesday, and Dave is taking the whole time she is here off of work. It will be so nice to have his help again. Though I do have to say, my mom has been a huge help. She seems to be the only one who can get Hayley to sleep for her morning nap. But hey, I learned from the best - I sit here at 8:30 in the morning and got her to sleep on my own.

Hmm...what else? I went to a breastfeeding group on Tuesday at the hospital. This is a free group that new mom's go to and I already met so many new mothers like me that all live around here. The biggest thing I think I will get out of the class, since nursing has come quite easy for me, is that I will make some friends and be able to have play dates and such for Hayley. Dave and I are also looking forward to meeting some couples that have kids like us. Also, I went to TopCoder on Thursday with Hayley and got to show her off. It was so much fun! I am sure I will visit again, but the first one was a success. Many people got to hold her and she was in a great mood. I wish I had taken a picture of Mess holding Hayley to show to his new bride...He definitely needs to get in some practice!

Here are some cute pics of my little one I thought I'd share...


On a side note, not about Hayley, my 93-year-old grandfather, Grandpa Oakes, was in a severe car accident on Monday afternoon. It was all over the news here because it shut down I-95 and he had to be airlifted to Yale New Haven Hospital. He hit a tractor trailer truck and kind of went underneath it. They used the jaws of life to cut him out. I saw his car on the news report and it is a miracle he survived. He cut his neck really bad - including his jugular vein and a ligament. He also has cracked some vertebrae in his neck. He is not paralyzed, but will have to be in a neck brace for the next 6 months. Please pray for his quick recovery.

So Cute!

Hayley looked so cute today in this outfit I thought we'd have a little photo session!

She actually rolled herself over for this one...

Thanks to The Mess's (a.k.a. Dave and Amy) for the blanket.

Hayley and Lena Meet!

Christina Bloch and I went to nursery school together all the way through junior high. We were best friends and did everything together when we were kids. She was a huge part of my childhood. We both ended up changing high schools our sophomore year and sort of got out of touch. We saw each other during high school a bit, but I hadn't seen her since we graduated. Thank goodness for MySpace because we found each other again and soon rekindled our friendship. And we soon discovered we were both pregnant. Then we soon discovered we were having girls! Christina had Lena on June 5 and I had Hayley 6 weeks later. Since she lives in New York, we only spoke in email until this Sunday, I went to her in-law's house in Killingworth. It is so awesome to have her as a friend again and we both are so excited and hope our daughters can be best friends - just like their mothers.

Here are a couple pictures we got to capture this moment! I can't wait for us to get together again!

Two weeks old already

Yesterday Hayley had her 2 weeks check up at the doctor. Well, all those new mom worries about her not getting enough milk are gone. She now weighs 8 pounds, 10 ounces, which is almost a whole pound over her original birth weight, and a pound and half over what she weighed at her last appointment 10 days ago. What a piggy! She also has grown 1 1/4 inches in length, so she's just getting bigger all around.

I have mixed emotions about her getting bigger, though I look forward to the nights of a regular sleeping schedule I cherish every moment of her existence and don't want to miss a second of her.

As far as our attempt at our first outing, my mom and I decided to go to lunch after the appointment. Well, Hayley started to cry in the seat - and I mean really cry - and I had mom pull over. I took her out of the seat and held her until she calmed down. As soon as I put her back in the seat, she began to cry again. Too stressed out, I had to return home, without our lunch. Fortunately, Dave convinced me to try again for dinner last night and we went to Chili's. She slept the entire time we were there, from the car ride to the car ride, so it was much more peaceful. Inside I was pretty stressed out, but managed to have a good time anyway. More hopes for better outings in the future as well.

I have been waking up in the middle of the night - even when Hayley is not - and can't help thinking about what my life was like only 13 months ago. June 14th, 2007, Dave proposed to me. 4 Months later we were married, pregnant, and now, 9 months later, we have a beautiful child. I can't believe this has all happened and how lucky we have been. It has been a great year!

On that note, here are a couple new pics of Hayley taken this week: