Category Archives: Photos

A Letter: Three Months

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Dear Hadley,
Today you turn three months old. That’s a quarter of a year. How is that even possible? A year always seems like such a long stretch of time, but we’ve blown through a fourth of it already! It’s been so much fun spending time with you. You are full of smiles and love to coo and squeal. We have some very entertaining “conversations” where I alternate talking to you and listening to you babble on in your own little baby language. I always love to hear what you have to say.



You are such a happy girl and are more than willing to just go with the flow. Our schedule is quiet full, and let’s be honest, a little hectic, but you are always mellow and happy to check out the myriad of entertaining places we go, whether it’s play dates with our friends, out to dinner, or just driving around running errands. I love looking back in the “baby mirror” in my car to see you gazing out the window, just enjoying the world around you.


Earlier in the month you developed a new “skill” of bringing your fist directly to your eye and then dragging it down your face to get it to your mouth. But now, in a matter of days after practicing that skill, you are now able to bring your hands straight to your mouth. Just like that. BAM. Hands to mouth? Mastered. It’s amazing how quickly you are able to figure things out. Now you are working on using your hands to bring other things to your mouth, such as your clothes, Ana’s hair, and just about anything else within your reach. Needless to say, I have to really be on top of trimming your nails because those little things are sharp and grow like you wouldn’t believe! So we have a standing manicure date every Monday to trim your nails. Anything I can do to make hitting those developmental milestones as painless as possible!


While I stay home with you during the day, there are often times when I need to leave you with your Dad at night so we have had to experiment with giving you a bottled of my (pumped) milk. The first time you were NOT a fan (and threw it up all over your poor Daddy). We understand there is often a learning curve to things like this, so we tried a few more times and the past couple times you have started to get the hang of it. But you still clearly prefer your milk directly from Mama… and that is just fine with me!

(Once you were better at taking a bottle we let Ana help feed you. She was SO excited to get to be involved in the feeding process.)

Bath time is easily your favorite time of day. We recently let you take a bath in the big bathtub with Ana. Sure, Daddy had to hold on to you the whole time (rather than letting you rest in your little baby hammock in the little tub) but you loved splashing in the water along with your big sister. In fact it was hard to tell who was enjoying sharing their bath more, you or Ana!



Well, my little sweet pea, it’s been another amazing month. I love watching you grow and can’t help but imagine the person you are going to become. You have your whole life ahead of you and I want to help you to have every opportunity you could ever want. I can’t wait to hold your hand along the way, stand behind you when you need someone to have your back, and be the first to hug you whenever you need me. Until then, I’m going to practice by holding your tiny hands in mine, soothe you by rubbing your back, and hugging you as much as possible.

All my love,
Mama

The Best Big Sister

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Ana is an amazing big sister. Not that I ever doubted she would be, but that doesn’t change the fact that she continues to blow me away each and every day. She loves her little sister like you would not believe. She is always willing to help out any way she can. Ana loves picking out Hadley’s clothes each morning or keeping her happy in her crib until someone can pick her up. But more than the tasks I ask her to do (which she does without ever complaining), are the things she does all on her own.

Playing with her sister

The other day I was holding Hadley and she started making her hungry cry. I asked if anyone had seen the Boppy pillow and Ana happily volunteered to go get it for me so I could feed her sister. When she walked back into the room she said, “I grabbed the swaddle blanket too just in case Hadley gets tired and wants to go to sleep.”

Two Smiling Sisters

Then last night I was feeding Hadley at the kitchen table (yes, I can nurse and eat at the dinner table at the same time) when Hadley started throwing up. I tried to contain as much of the vomit as I could with my own body and clothes. Once Hadley stopped puking, Sim scooped her up and took her over to the kitchen sink to start rinsing her off. Ana vanished and I assumed it was just to get away from all the puke when all of a sudden she returned to the room with a baby wipe in her hands and said, “Don’t worry guys, I got this!” and she started cleaning up the few drips of puke on the floor.

Sisters

I don’t know what I did to get so lucky with my amazing daughters, but I’m not going to question it. I am just going to enjoy every minute I can with my precious babies.

Hadley and Ana

Fun in the Snow

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Sim and Ana are obsessed with snow. Obsessed. Since the first flake of the season fell, they have been talking about going to the mountain. Well last weekend they finally seized the day and drove up to Mt. Hood. They did some tubing at Ski Bowl and some sledding at Trillium Lake (while Hadley and I stayed in town and went to see the new Harry Potter movie). That very evening Ana asked her dad, “Was that the only time we get to do that? Or can we go back to the mountain again?” When Sim said they could, Ana promptly followed up with, “So it’s five days til it’s weekend again, right?”

Since Ana proved she could handle a day in the snow, Sim decided to try and add to her winter recreation repertoire. Ultimately he would like Ana to be his snowboarding buddy, but since she is still a little young for shredding (ski lessons start at 4, while snow boarding lessons aren’t until 7) he wanted to get her up on the skis. We borrowed a pair of beginner skis from our friends (thanks, Cyndie!) and let Ana try them out on the carpet. She had a lot of fun “skiing” around our living room.


Ana’s only complaint about their last snow trip was that Hadley and I weren’t there to enjoy it with them. So this time we all went as a family. (Hadley and I watched them play from the comfort of the warm car, while listening to an audio book.) When we got to the mountain, Sim and I decided it would be best for Ana to start with skiing since it would take more energy and patience. Sim strapped on her skis and let Ana get a feel for them in the snow.


Next they added the poles…


And she was off…



And then she was down.


She did several quick runs, but having more of a “need for speed” Ana decided she wanted to take a break from skiing and hopped on our new sled.




Then she gave our old disc sled a few tries.



Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Sim hopped on the large sled with Ana.


A day in the snow just isn’t complete without a little wrestling!


As our day of winter fun was coming to a close, we bundled up Hadley and brought her out to get a couple family shots out in the snow.


You can see all the pictures from our day at the mountain here.

A Letter: Two Months

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Dear Hadley,
Yesterday you turned two months old. You have been an amazingly well behaved and easy going baby. For that I am eternally grateful, and don’t think for a minute that I don’t truly appreciate it! It has made the transition to having two children a whole lot easier to handle. Your personality is pretty laid back, and allowing you the occasional scream session when you are strapped into your car seat but you would much rather be held (and who could blame you for THAT?!), you are incredibly portable. I can take you just about anywhere and you are happy to go with the flow. As long as you have a clean diaper and access to boob, you are one happy camper. So much in fact that we took you up to Mt. Hood for the first time today. You father and sister are obsessed with the snow and really wanted you to come along on the adventure. It was a nice quick trip and you did amazingly well. Even when we covered you in layers of fleece and made you pose for pictures in the snow.



Your sweet, mellow personality is very comforting. So much in fact, that everyone wants to be around you. Where ever you are, so are we. Your parents, your sister, even our pets. The dogs and cats have even taken to curling up in your room while you nap. The cats sleep on the rug or behind the chair and the dogs surround your crib. Two months old and you already have groupies.


Hadley's Guards
The only thing about you that isn’t particularly easy or fun is when you throw up. The quantity that you are able to expel from your body is quite impressive. I wouldn’t believe it was possible if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. Quite frequently. The nice thing about it (if we must find a silver lining) is that it doesn’t seem to bother you in the slightest. You don’t fuss or cry. Or make any noise at all really. You just open your mouth and projectile vomit. Then look at us like, “Huh. So that’s why I was feeling a little weird.” Then calmly watch us while we frantically strip you (and often us) of the now soiled clothing and plop you straight in to the bath tub. And you loooove the bath. We joke that you just keep throwing up as an excuse to take another bath. If that is really the case, please know that I can give you a bath WITHOUT you puking first. I assure you.


The only one in our household not phased by the puking is Ana. (Probably because she has yet to be puked ON, but I digress…) I don’t think there is anything you could do for her to look at you with anything less than pure adoration. She loves you with every fiber of her being. Ana wants to be next to you, hugging you, kissing you, or tickling you at every waking moment. And you love it. You are constantly searching the room for your sister, offering up the smiles you save just for her. The bond between sisters is a special connection and I am so happy you have that with Ana.



It has been such an amazing month with you. You are smiling all the time now. You even smile with such enthusiasm and the cutest little gurgles that it almost, almost, could be considered giggling. I know you are going to be a talker because we are already having some intense “conversations” of coos and squeaks. I am trying not to look forward to all the things you WILL do, but enjoy the things you ARE doing. I know you will only be this small, this young, this innocent for a short time and I want to savor every minute of it. You have already changed so much in such a short time. Every day I wrap you in my arms, kiss the top of your head, breathe in your heavenly smell and tell you that I love you. So. Much. And I promise I will do that every day… for as long as you let me.

All my love,
Mama

Doctor’s Appointment Report

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I had my six-week postpartum doctors appointment today (it’s actually been seven weeks, but my doctor was off last week for Christmas) and have this to report back:

Weight: down 20 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight
Blood Pressure: 110/70

She checked me over and said everything looks great. I was given the all clear to start working out again! Stroller Strides, here I come! I’m motivated by my pregnancy weight loss and don’t want to lose my edge. Not to mention the 500 calories I burn a day just by nursing Miss Hadley! Now I just need to tone things up and keep up my energy.

I have to do a two-hour glucose test later this week to check my blood sugars. Apparently about 10% of women who had gestational diabetes develop regular diabetes, so it’s important to check my postpartum levels and do a check each year thereafter as well.

Otherwise, I’m looking good and feeling great. If I weren’t carrying around this new little person, you’d never know I recently had a baby. And isn’t she just the cutest thing you ever did see?

Seven weeks old already.

A Letter: Four Years

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Dear Ana,
A few days ago you turned four. You were a little confused by the fact that your birthday and your birthday party were not the same day. People kept asking you when your birthday was and you would hesitate and say, “my birthday is today, but my real birthday is on Saturday.” Apparently your birthday is not REAL unless you are surrounded by family, friends, presents, and cake. I guess that’s fair. So I delayed writing this letter until after your birthday party so I could include your “real birthday” in the recap.


For your birthday this year we had a carnival party. You are obsessed with having your face painted, so we found a face painter and decided on a carnival theme. We also had Penny’s Puppet’s come and she put on a fantastic puppet show about Myrna the Mermaid. You were in pure heaven. And then to top it off, you got to have cupcakes with sprinkles (another favorite of yours) and all your generous friends showered you with gifts. You, being the amazingly sweet girl that you are, made comments like “Oh this is just what I’ve always wanted!” and “I love it so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” with each gift you opened.



Aside from your birthday, the big news around here is that you are finally a Big Sister. A title you have adopted with nothing but pride and enthusiasm. You could not be more in love with Hadley. You are always checking on her, kissing her, hugging her, and asking if you can hold her. It is the sweetest thing ever. I am so happy that you have made the transition smoothly from being an only child to having to share everything with your little sister. Instead of feeling threatened or jealous, you share with her willingly and totally understand that you have to wait your turn from time to time. I am so proud of you and it’s made things really easy for all of us.


While your obsession with babies has now been focused exclusively on your little sister, the rest of your interests haven’t changed much over the last year. You are still in love with dance. So much, in fact, that I now have you in two classes a week. One class is “Pre-Ballet” and the other class is “Shuffle, Point, Swing” which covers tap, ballet, and jazz. I held out for as long as possible on introducing you to tap because I wasn’t excited about shoes with the exclusive purpose of making you louder, but we talked about it and you understand that you are only allowed to wear your tap shoes during class. Simple solution. And watching you dance is so cute, I’m glad I finally gave in and let you experience the different genres of dance.



You are also still obsessed with horses. We have done several horse related activities this year and each time I am more and more convinced that your horse fixation is going to be around for quite some time. After our last horse encounter, naturally you asked if you could have your own horse. Not wanting to give you an immediate, “NO!” and crush all your hopes and dreams, we decided to make a deal. When you are six, if you are still interested, you can start taking riding lessons. Then after several years of lessons, if you are still interested, we can look into leasing or possibly getting you a horse. It has held you over for now and that’s all I can ask. We’ve got to give you something to look forward to, right?


A new obsession this year is with your friend, Owen. While he has been your friend since birth (a lovely benefit of your mothers being such great friends), in the last few months you have decided that you are going to marry Owen. Thankfully, Owen is willing to go along with this plan. I think his willingness to do anything you say is part of the appeal of choosing him to be your future husband (a characteristic I wholeheartedly believe a husband should possess). While I think it’s adorable, you almost made your Grandpa Larry fall out of his chair when you introduced him to Owen saying, “Grandpa, this is Owen. I’m going to marry him some day.”


I have to take a moment to mention what a kind and thoughtful person you have become. You are so generous it often astounds me. Now I’m not talking about sharing toys (Don’t even get me started on the TWO play dates–with TWO different boys– that have ended in tears because we only have one damn Thomas train…that you NEVER play with.) because, let’s be honest, you are FOUR. No, I’m talking about always thinking of others. Like when there is one cookie left, you offer to split it with your daddy. And you always, ALWAYS give him the bigger piece. Kids your age just don’t think that way. They are way more likely to shove the entire cookie in their mouth without even thinking about it and barely grunting out so much as a “thank you” in return. But you are always polite, respectful, and considerate of those around you.


While the majority of the time you are sweet and wonderful, you do have a stubborn streak. Your dad just told me a story about what happened the other night when he was trying to get you to try some mashed potatoes. You kept insisting that you did not like them. He eventually said, “That’s fine, you don’t have to have any on your plate. But I just want you to try them.” You took a bite of his potatoes and said, “Yep, I don’t like mashed potatoes.” Later in the meal your dad had to get up from the table at which point you snuck over to his plate and started eating his potatoes. He came back to the table and caught you eating large spoonfuls of the very thing you just proclaimed to hate. He said, “I thought you didn’t like them.” And you, sticking to your guns, simply said, “I don’t.”


Well, my little love bug, it has been another fantastic year. I know I always say that the stage you are at right NOW is my favorite and that continues to be true. Every moment with you is better than the one before. I look forward to each and every day with honest enthusiasm because I know it’s another day I get to spend with you. I do not want to take anything for granted and I want to make sure we enjoy every day to the very fullest. Whether that’s spending the day in our pajamas curled up together on the couch watching episodes of iCarly or driving all over Portland looking for the next “hot spot” for kids. As long as we do it together, it will be perfect. I love seeing the world through your eyes. Not only because it keeps me young, but because everything is beautiful, fresh, and fascinating. Just like you.


All my love,
Mama

A Letter: One Month

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Dear Hadley,
Today you are one month old. And it has been an amazing month. I’ve loved you from the moment I found out I was having you, but on the day you were born I swear my heart doubled in size. I had no idea it was possible to love you even more than I did already. Just to be able to hold you in my arms and look into your eyes made it one of the best days of my life.

My beautiful bright eyed daughter
Adding you to our family has been one of the best things we ever did. Suddenly everything is perfect. And not only because I have a thing for even numbers (having TWO girls is just bonus!) but because you make everyone around you so happy. Your big sister, Ana, in particular. From the moment she met you in the hospital it was love at first sight. Sure, she loved you while you were in my tummy, but that was a little surreal for a four year old. She tells me almost everyday, “Mom, I am so glad Hadley is here in real life.”



You are an amazingly easy going baby. You eat, sleep, and poop like a pro. And you are the Best. Snuggler. EVER. Your favorite thing to do is fall asleep snuggled up against my chest. To be honest, it’s one of my favorite things to do with you. I can feel your warm breath on my neck, rub my cheek along the smooth hair on top of your head, and surround myself with your amazing baby smell. Hands down the best thing about having a baby is that I get those cuddles every single day.


Back to being a good eater; you are amazing. In fact, you were latched on and nursing within the first 10 minutes of your life. You pretty much consider any time you are awake and NOT eating, time wasted. Otherwise how would you keep up your massively chubby cheeks and multiple chins? You have gained weight like a champ and, while I could take some of the credit for the excessive milk production, it’s really all because my body has to keep up with you. Supply and demand, baby.


Your eating habits can only be rivaled by your strength. When you were in the womb, I knew you were going to be strong. You don’t kick so hard you take your mama’s breath away if you aren’t going to be one strong baby. You are already holding up your head with the skills of a baby double or even triple your age. We took you in to have your newborn photos taken when you were only eight days old and instead of slouching over in a typical newborn pose, you kept trying to lift your head up and look around the room. I can already tell that you are going to keep me on my toes, aren’t you?


Oh my sweet Hadley, we are going to have so much fun together. Having already been raising a little girl for the past four years, I am a pro at fairy tales and nursery rhymes, ballerinas and princesses, playing dress-up and restaurant. But I would be more than willing to improve my skills in any area of interest you desire. Whether it’s perfecting your soccer skills or learning about dinosaurs or playing piano. I would be happy to do it all alongside you. It’s our adventure, my dear, and it’s just getting started. I can’t wait to see where this amazing journey takes us. But you know what? It really doesn’t matter, as long as I’m with you.


Great big smiles for Mama!

All my love,
Mama

Adjusting To Two

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People keep asking me how we are doing now that we have two children. And I have to admit, we are doing great. Having TWO beautiful little girls? It’s pretty awesome. There were those people who gave me encouraging smiles while I was pregnant and said things like, “just wait until you have more than one” or “enjoy it. Because you won’t be able to do that once you have the baby.” But adding Little Miss Hadley to our family hasn’t slowed us down one bit. It’s not like having a baby somehow magically stops me from having an (almost) four year old. I still have to get Ana to ballet, tap, preschool, and play group. Now I just have to bring along the infant car seat (complete with said infant, of course) and a fully stocked diaper bag. I will admit, however, the diaper bag has taken some getting use to.



Not that my child is perfect (unlike Ana, this one actual spits up. Eww!) or sleeps through the night (like all new parents, I’m up every 3-4 hours. On. The. Dot.). It’s just that this time around I knew what to expect. And I was ready for it. BRING IT. Babies are cute, tiny, and highly portable. I may be singing a different tune when she starts rolling, crawling, and, God help me, walking. But I will have to deal with those obstacles as they come. And I will. And I will do it with a smile. Because that’s what moms do.


I’m not saying I don’t have any help either. Believe me, I do. I have an amazing husband and an incredible daughter who help me out whenever and however they can. As you guys know, Sim works from home so he is generally around to lend an extra hand. Like say, when Hadley blows out her diaper so ferociously that it leaks up the front AND the back of the onesie and the only way you can remove it without covering your daughters head in poop is with another person helping you out. He is also great at holding Hadley in the Baby Bjorn while he works away at his desk so I can get a shower.


Ana has been amazing as well. Everyone keeps asking her how she likes being a big sister and she often corrects them, saying, “I’m a big sister AND I’m a helper.” She likes helping with diaper changes (handing me wipes and putting the dirty diapers in the Diaper Champ), picking out what Hadley will wear each day, and she is the best at retrieving things I need while I’m nursing, like my water bottle, Chapstick, or the TiVo remote. She loves checking on her sister and covers her in kisses every chance she gets.



All in all, everyone is doing great. We have made the adjustment to life with a baby and it could not be going better. In fact, I feel guilty asking for anything for Christmas this year because I already feel like I have everything I could ever ask for and more. So much more.

2 Week Doctors Appt

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Hadley had her two-week doctors appointment today. It’s crazy to me that she has already been with us for two weeks. Yet at the same time, it seems like she has always here. Anyway, here are her stats from the appt:

Height: 21″ (75th percentile)
Weight: 9 lbs 5.5 oz (85th percentile)
Head: 36.6 cm (70th percentile)

The doctor came in to the room reading her chart and said, “So it looks like we have a good eater here. She has gained about a pound and a half since birth. Or about two ounces a day. I don’t think we are having any problems with your milk supply. You could probably feed, what, twins? Triplets?” I laughed (that was my joke he was stealing after all!) and stopped nursing my little piglet so we could get on with her appointment. Everything checked out fine and she is doing great. Then the doctor sent in the nurse and she did the routine PKU test on Hadley. Other than that, there was nothing else to report. Just one healthy little girl.


I have uploaded the pictures from Hadley’s first two weeks here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Hadley’s Birth Story

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On Monday, November 8th I woke up at 4:30am to use the bathroom. Nothing unusual about that for a pregnant woman. However, I thought it was a little odd when I felt the need to pee again a half hour later. I got to the bathroom, barely sat down on the toilet and felt a gush of water. My water broke. It was seriously the most convenient water breaking in the history of, well, ever. It was so convenient I would have thought there was no possible way it could have been my water breaking if it weren’t for the fact that once the gush stopped, I was able to actually pee. I then promptly went back to my bed, turned on the light, and started checking my sheets to see if anything leaked. Nope, totally dry (Again, super convenient for this OCD mama). Sim woke up, asked what I was doing to which I replied, “I think my water just broke.” He was instantly up and wanting to take me to the hospital. I told him I wasn’t having any contractions so I was pretty sure we didn’t need to go anywhere. I climbed back in bed, grabbed my phone and Googled “water broke no contractions” and figured we had some time to kill.

A half hour later, at 5:30am, I finally had my first contraction.

So we had a nice leisurely morning. Ana and I cuddled in bed for awhile. I cooked us a nice breakfast of French toast and sausage. I had no idea when they would let me eat again and I knew I would need something to keep my energy up. I took my time getting ready, shaved my legs and finished packing my hospital bag. I arranged to have my good friend Cyndie pick up Ana for the day. Then when my doctors office finally opened I called and the advice nurse told me to come on in.

We arrived at the hospital about 9:30am. We walked into the maternity area and Sim commented that he didn’t remember any of this from when Ana was born. But it was all coming back to me. They checked me in to the maternity triage to make sure my water actually broke (it did) and after a series of medical questions, tests, and monitoring I was final admitted to the hospital and checked into my Labor and Delivery Room at 11am. We walked into room 322 and it was instant déjà vu. Sim said, “Now this part I remember.” To which I replied, “That’s because I am pretty sure this is the same room where we had Ana.” We checked the pictures from her birth on my blog and sure enough, everyone was wearing security badges with 322 on them. We were going to be having Hadley in the same room we had Ana. I decided that was a very good thing and instantly felt comfortable.

At this point my contractions were still really irregular and not painful, so it was clear that my labor was going to need a little assistance. But since I had tested positive for the Group B Strep, the doctor on call wanted to get in a round of antibiotics (about four hours) before starting the Pitocin. So Sim and I kicked back, watched some bad daytime television, and waited.

At 3:15pm they started the Pitocin. Initially it completely stopped my contractions and I was getting a little worried they might start talking c-section, but after continually upping the Pitocin my contractions started coming more frequently and started to really hurt. I was happy that my body was responding to the drug, but not too happy about the pain.


At 6pm they checked my cervix for the first time (since my water had broken AND I had the Strep B they wanted to check me as little as possible to prevent possible infection) and I was dilated to 3 cm. THREE. With the pain I was in, I was sure I was at least 7 cm. I could not believe I still had so far to go. The contractions were coming so close together and were so intense I was really shaky and light-headed. At this point, I made the decision to get the epidural. They called the anesthesiologist and by 7pm my epidural was in and I was one happy girl.


At 8pm the doctor checked me again and I was 8 cm. I was ecstatic! I am a firm believer that the epidural allowed me to finally relax enough that my body was able to progress. At 9:25pm the doctor wanted to check me again and I was 10 cm, 100% effaced and at zero station. The doctor and nurses got everything ready and at 9:30pm I started pushing. Hadley Elizabeth Bateman was born exactly eight minutes later at 9:38pm.