Spoiled by her Enid Fam

I've racked up quite the list of posts to catch up on. This one is ridiculously overdue. So overdue that I'm not even sure when some of the pictures were taken or what was going on. But I'm gonna give it a go and might have to do some guessing.

 

For example, this picture. I'm not sure why Hal was at Aunt B and Uncle Spencer's house but she looks really happy. See....

 

Okay, now it's all coming back to me. She was in Enid while Riley and I were in New Mexico. In January. See, way behind here. From the pictures I received on an hourly basis she was highly entertained and plenty spoiled during her visit.

Is this picture a keeper or what?!?! ;)

While she was there she jumped from house to house just soaking up all the love. First was Aunt B's house followed by some quality fun time at Lisa, David and Dara's and then she finished up the weekend with Gman and Meg flying kites, eating ice cream, playing at the park and going to church.

My favorite times for Hal to visit Enid is when I'm right alongside her of course. Nothin' better than a little family time! This particular weekend that we went for a visit she was more than ready to head out of town that Friday morning....

Aunt B spent the afternoon with us eating frozen yogurt, playing at the park, picking up our favorite cookies, watching Frozen and just relaxing....

Whoops!

We all had dinner with Gman and Meg that evening downtown. Hal was feeling extra lovey dovey apparently....

My sweet Heather was able to join us for dinner! Extra added bonus! She's basically part of the fam!

Hal had to get a cavity filled earlier that week (not blog worthy in my eyes since I don't think it's really something I want to have happen again) and she made sure to show everyone her bright pink filling that she chose. Side note: she went back with the dentist all alone like a big girl and picked out her filling color. I think boring ol white should be the only choice because now lil girl thinks she needs all of her teeth to have pretty pink in them. Oy!

Swinging and piggy back rides back at Gman's that evening...

These two red heads are two of a kind....

She moved right on to her other favorite red head....Aunt Wisa's lap was a comfy spot for the part of the night...

Dara and Hal can be found making funny faces and taking selfies about 90% of the time they are together....

Jake and Slugger kept princess Hal company as she winded down for the evening with some cartoons...

She spoiling continued into the next day with her run of the television, a couple of train rides at the mall, lunch with all the girls and plenty of love and extra attention....

 

These two make me smile

 

The girl doesn't even know how lucky she has it....but I know someday soon she will. ;)

 Blessed to have the family we do.

32 Week Bumpdate

I'm very thankful to be typing 32. Four weeks since my little trek down the preterm contraction road. Weeks 28 and 29 were not fun AT ALL. I spent five straight days mainly in bed watching Netflix, crafting and wondering when the contractions would stop. The meds that doc sent me home on helped tremendously but I was still very limited in what I could tolerate. I started back to work after those days of rest and tried my best to do "part time" work. Ha! More days than not I found myself hurrying home to get my feet up, take a pill and sit still for the remainder of the evening. God bless Riley, Nanny, my boss, coworkers and many friends who helped me out on a daily basis until I finally got my energy and stamina back. So many delicious meals were dropped off which kept us fed for a week straight. Nanny picked up Hallie after work for nearly two weeks straight so that I had some time to come home and rest before my ball of energy gave me a run for my money in the evenings. Many, many blessings got me through those two weeks. I'm so excited to say that my stamina has finally returned and I'm back to full time work again. This, however, won't last long because school is almost out for the summer which means my workload is nearly cut in half. What a blessing it will be to spend some priceless quality time with my sweet Hal before her sister arrives. I'm ready to cherish these last few weeks of "alone time" with our first born. I foresee lots of picnics at the park, snocones, waterpark trips and afternoons in the sprinkler. Anything to keep cool in this recent heat....my feet are rebelling against the hot temps! HUGE!!!!!!!!! Elephant feet.

So how's my littlest lady doing? Bella seems to be doing just fabulous in this gigantic belly of mine. I am convinced that she takes up every last inch of her space in there...from top to bottom...side to side...I've even entertained the possibility that I will set a new Guiness world record for birthing the world's largest newborn. She already seems like a good snuggler. She really likes my ribs....they must be comfy because she can't seem to get enough time way up there. I spend about 90% of the day with my hand on top of my belly trying to coax her down. This is how I know she's just as stubborn as her big sis. Won't budge a bit. ;)-

How's daddy doing? He's a trooper. Boy, has he stepped up and helped me out tremendously going above and beyond to make life a little easier. He's knows when I'm being stubborn and orders me to the couch in the evenings. Then one day a voluntary foot massage happened. God knew what he was doing when he put that man in my life. ;)

How's big sister? Quite often I find her in Bella's rocker with her baby doll and a blankie. Be still my heart. She tickles my belly several hundred times a day and gives Bella hugs every night. She makes sure to look up to tell me "mommy, I am not hugging you, I'm hugging Bella when I do that." ;) We somehow end up with lots of extras in the basket while we are shopping whether it be a certain snack that Hallie claims Bella needs or an outfit or pair of shoes that "Bella will love." I pray that she loves her sissy in real life as much as she claims to already. ;) Oh...and just in case it gets brought up....Hal is good with the fact that Bella is going to escape through my belly button to come see us in June.

How's the grumpy 8 months pregnant momma doing? I'm making it. Literally counting down the days....every day....multiple times a day. With the nursery complete, clothing washed and folded, everything cleaned and ready for her to arrive I've been spending a lot of time mentally prepping for the unknown of having two sweet babes. To say that I'm not very nervous would be a lie. But as nervous as I may be I cannot wait to hold her in my arms and watch the way she just fits right into our family. PLUS I CANNOT WAIT for the pregnant comments to cease.....while I'm on the topic I ought to list my faves.....

"Are ya sure it's not twins in there?"
"Any day now, right?"
"Oh man, you're going to be miserable in the summer heat."
"She's gonna be a big girl by the looks of it!"
"Oh honey, you look so tired."



I'm writing a separate post about the beautiful baby shower that my amazing girlfriends
hosted for Bella and I this past month but I thought it fitting to include a few pictures on here....

Soooooooo..............Hallie arrived at 37 weeks. I keep repeating this really neat fact in my head. I know I should stop thinking about it. Because the odds of me getting that lucky again are probably slim to none. Someone please don't remind me that I mentioned all this when I hit the 41 week mark because I won't be liable for how I react. K? Thanks. ;)

Surprise! Aunt Lisa's 50th!

We sure do love our Aunt Lisa! So naturally we were giddy about helping surprise her for her 50th birthday. Hal and I made the trip to Enid to join the family for a night of fun. Dara and David planned the whole shindig and there was a huge crowd waiting by the time she arrived at her party. Hal was practicing her "being quiet" gig before the birthday girl got home....

She hid over by the door with Uncle David as Lisa and her friends walked up to the door.....

 

She opened the door sporting her "made in 1964...all original parts" shirt with her mouth hanging open....

Another surprise came when she opened up her gift from sweet Uncle Dave....

The grillmaster Dave smoked some chicken and we chowed down on an array of deliciousness. Anytime we get the whole fam together is a GOOD TIME!!

Now please tell me how this beautiful woman is 50?!?!?! More like 30!!!

There really aren't words to describe how much she means to me, how many times she has been there for me or how many fond memories I have growing up with her as my aunt but I sure am thankful to have her in my life. I think Hal would have to agree! She's one cool chick! 

 

Daddy's Little Girl

Bless his heart. It's no secret he was hoping our second child would be a little boy that he could take hunting, play catch with and watch from the football stadium seats one day. I've tried to convince him that softball, dance and cheerleading are going to be just as much fun to watch! ;) I get the biggest kick out of watching him shake his head when she runs away to chase a butterfly or complains about her heels and crown falling off while they are playing outside. You can take the girl away from her princess castles and dressup bin to play a little ball now and then but ya can't take the princess out of the girl. It comes right along with her......

She may be covered in jewelry, pink and tutus but she knows how to imitate her daddy's silly ways....

She may be more inclined to take a spin around her "dance floor" listening to Disney on Pandora but she's been giving outdoor activities a good stab lately with daddy as her coach.....

And anything that involves swinging for endless amounts of time is okay by her....especially when daddy is pretending to get kicked each time she swings toward him....

A huge daddy moment this past week was the day Hal purchased her first soccer ball. Girl's got some moves it turns out. They're just working on the whole "no hands" rule now. He sets up a "goal" (two bricks spread apart in the driveway) and they have a blast....

Softball is a BIG one. That's one he doesn't have to twist her arm to play. Somedays she wants to use her tee stand and others she wants to do it all on her own. At the rate they've been practicing lately she'll be ready for coach pitch in no time! 

Some more of that silly....

They play tricks on me, make up crazy songs.....and make my life complete. 

28 Week Bumpdate

Where to start with this one? I suppose I should start by saying that my judgment seems to be failing me lately. But before I explain that statement I must say that our Bella girl is 100% healthy, thriving and growing quite well in my belly despite some bumps (no pun intended) in the road. My idea of taking it easy was not quite working. I've been burning the candle at both ends and have been warned by numerous family and friends to please slow down my pace. I'd honestly tried to make some recent changes with my work schedule, the amount of strenuous type of work activities I was doing and keeping my feet up more at night. Problem was that keeping my feet up more at night usually meant collapsing on the couch around 10:00 and mentally prepping for the next day for about fifteen minutes before passing out in bed. That was if and when Hallie decided that she was going to cooperate with her bedtime routine. Throw in a four day phase of awful three-year-old behavior that had me wanting to pull my hair out and you get a very worn out, stressed out and maxed out momma. I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions off and on in the evenings for a couple of weeks but they only seemed to last a very short time and went away immediately upon me going to bed. I chalked it up to overdoing it with putting the nursery together and cleaning out the garage. I've been on a crazy mission to get ten boxes of baby clothes washed, sorted and put up. Mission accomplished. I went in for my OB checkup on Tuesday this past week and Riley went along with me to tattle on me for "overdoing it"....everything was fine that morning....until evening rolled around. I did my usual work routine and evening routine, went to a meeting and returned home to put Hallie to bed. As I was walking back to lay down myself I noticed things weren't quite right. Suddenly I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Stumbling tired and my eyes were bloodshot and my face looked white as a ghost. Off to bed I went hoping I'd wake up feeling like a new person for a busy work day on Wednesday. Instead I woke up at 1:30 with contractions (not painful, just obviously not going away) that kept me up and worried until 4:00. I woke up feeling terrible but showered and put my scrubs on anyway...but soon I knew I needed to go get checked out. I managed to get Hallie ready for school and dropped her off before calling Riley to tell him I'd gone and really overdone it this time. I met him at the ER and was immediately wheeled up to an OB room and hooked up to monitors. Riley and I sat there watching the screen for signs of contractions. I started to get a little panicky when I looked up to see a strip of strong contractions less than one minute apart at the bottom of the screen. Strange thing was that I wasn't feeling anything. Luckily my doc was rounding at the time and came in with a stern look on his face. The nurse must've seen the concern in my eyes and quickly told me that the screen I was seeing was for the woman next door to me who was in labor. Ah ha! That made much more sense. Whew (wipes brow)! I am so grateful for doc's concern and care that he's provided thus far. He ordered some IV fluids and antibiotics after receiving the results from my urine sample. Dehydration and a UTI. The plan was to rehydrate me to stop the contractions. In came the IV....one of my biggest fears...not bad at all. Next came the stingy shot in my arm to stop the contractions. Super stingy! Ouch! Then came the waiting. I stayed for a couple of hours while the IVs ran their course and then walked out to the car contraction free and feeling more at ease. I was sent home to the couch to rest and did just that....for 45 minutes....until the contractions started back up again....this time stronger. Not painful, just tighter and closer together. Riley came to pick me up and back to the ER we went. I found myself in the same OB room hooked up to the monitors again with an IV in the same spot and another shot in the other arm. This time in a gown because I was going to be spending the night. Of course due to the nature of the contractions they had to check to make sure I wasn't dilating at all. Fun times. :( But good news. Bella wanted to be there about as much as I did.....she was moving around so much that the nurse had to come in numerous times to reposition the monitors. The rest of the day was spent trying to stay calm. This is where some wonderful people stepped in to help with that. Lauren popped in with a hospital survival bag complete with a gossip mag, ear plugs, a Sonic drink and some lip balm. The nurse in her came out and she was trying to help make me more comfy in bed. Sarah brought some beautiful flowers by and stayed to chat for a bit. Nanny surprised me with a chocolate milkshake and made sure I had everything I needed.  Jai dropped dinner off with Riley and he brought up the deliciousness for the three of us to enjoy some time together. My thoughtful fella packed my hospital bag all on his own and brought everything and more that I needed....we cracked up when he pulled out my favorite tee...in two sizes...just to make sure I had options. Hal did not like the cords and IV hooked up to me. She was none too pleased that I had to stay and wear that ugly gown. Her words were "take dat stuff off momma." She eventually warmed up to the hospital scene and hopped up on my bed for some snuggles and books. Aunt Deedee kept me company for awhile and we laughed and laughed telling stories while Riley was gone for a bit. Kristen stopped in when she finished working up on the third floor and entertained Hal with some stories from her trip to Disney World. Then it was time for some sleep. Wellllllll...sort of. Poor Hal was all out of whack with her momma gone and made me cry when I said goodnight to her on the phone. The jitters had finally worn off from the shots they'd given me earlier and my heart rate had finally slowed to a normal pace. Just in time for a monumental headache to kick in from the Procardia pill I'd taken. Oh my! I was awake tossing and turning with small contractions, a throbbing head and found no way to get comfortable in the bed. And let's talk about how much fun it is when you already get up an average of four times a night to pee and then put three bags of fluid on top of that and tie yourself up to a few machines.....yeah.....that alone will keep me away from the hospital until it's time for baby to come. ;) I'm estimating a restless three hours of sleep occurred and I awoke when I heard the doctor and nurse walk in to check things out. I was released to go home to my own bed with instructions to not go back to work (which I'd planned on doing the next day). See what I mean about my judgment. It's failing.

Here I am on Saturday morning after a couple of days at home spent solely on the couch or bed. It's funny how my daydreams usually involve sitting on the couch doing nothing or taking endless naps at any time I please......not all it's cracked up to be....all I want to do is break loose and go go go. Contractions seem to want to come at night....but nothing regular by any means and the only thing that keeps me awake is worry. I've been taking a Procardia pill at home and haven't needed one since yesterday morning. PTL because did I mention the headaches they cause?!?!?! Oh yeah. Friends and family have been to my rescue since I've been out of my normal routine.....Steven saved the day and delivered my meds to the house along with a box of Cake Lady cookies, Jai offered to do some grocery shopping for me and kept me company for a bit, Lauren helped me out with dance day carpool, Nanny picked up Hal two evenings in a row and brought over a feast, my coworkers have stepped in and helped pick up some of my caseload to lighten my schedule, Paula watched Hallie on Friday while I rested, Lindsay and Andrew came over with a delicious dinner and provided me with laughs as usual, Katie offered to keep Hallie for a bit while Riley went to the gym and today Nanny is taking Hallie with her to Enid to spend some time with Gman, Meg and Aunt B while she and Papa are at the Corvette show. God has placed some amazing, giving and big hearted people in our lives since moving to Woodward and it's been an ongoing blessing.

Hallie girl has been doing pretty well with stepping it up and relying less on me. She's independent only when she wants to be....so it's been an adjustment but with the help of Riley who has stepped in and taken my place quite nicely things are going as smoothly as we could expect. This morning she was so excited for her trip to Enid that we didn't even realize she was awake until she strolled into the living room fully dressed with her toys ready and her coat on. Ha! My sweet girl has been asking a lot more questions about her lil sis but doesn't completely grasp why Bella has to stay in my tummy a lot longer...."but I can't wait to play with her" she said. "Is she going to cry?" "Mommy, babies can't talk for a long time and then they just say goo goo and gaga." Her words about baby are just food to my soul. So is all of the snuggle/movie time we've squeezed in over the past couple days.

So where to go from here? I received a message from the nurse (who by the way was amazing) telling me that doc would contact me this weekend to let me know when and if I'm cleared to return to work. School therapy is half of my workload and the year has almost come to an end which will cut work in half mid-May. My student sessions will have to be a LOT less active and strenuous.....no more lugging around my big bag of toys and the heavy pedal bike will have to be retired for now. "No" will have to be a new word in my vocab. Working on that one. ;)

In more exciting news, my beautiful friends are hosting a shower for Bella and I next weekend. I can't believe it's already here and I can't wait to see what all they've done. The nursery is coming along and we've got just a few things left to do. I really, really, really want to post pictures but I'm trying to wait until it's completely finished. It shant be long! Maternity pictures with dear Mandy are in a month and I'm so excited to see what creative ideas she has for our shoot. It'll just be a girl thing....Hal, Bella bump and I. Oh and Aunt B has agreed to tag along to help chase Hallie.

No belly bump picture this month....but I can tell you that it's big.

Wish me luck on this whole taking it easy thing....and a prayer or two wouldn't hurt.