A little bit of fun

Today I'm sharing a give away from two of my favorite blogs...Shay from Mix and Match Family and Sheaffer from Pinterest Told Me To are giving away a $500 gift card to Nordstrom! 

I know, I know...I'm freaking out too.  I have blog stalked these two ladies for a few months now.  They make me laugh and keep me up to date on what I should be wearing and bars I should be baking. So go ahead and stalk look around their blogs.  I promise, they don't disappoint.

Happy Monday!

Mary

One Month

Hailey's first month was overwhelming, exciting, scary, and joyful.  Mike and I were typical new parents...totally clueless.  During that first month, we learned so much about each other and about our beautiful little miss.  We have a calendar that helps us track all of Hailey's major milestones (first smile, first doctor visit, etc.).  I love this because it helps me reflect on all of the wonderful firsts that we all experienced together.  Here are my top 10 moments from Hailey's first month.

 10. Coming home!

 As much as Mike and I loved our hospital, we were excited to get home.  All Mike and I could think about was introducing Hailey to her big fur brothers, Duke and Tucker.  The doctors and nurses were amazing and helped us out so much.  We were nervous to see how we would do at home without them.

9. Introducing our fur-babies to our baby

Throughout the pregnancy, Mike and I had wondered what it would be like with the boys once Hailey arrived.  Well...it went pretty much the way we thought it would.  As you can see, Duke was VERY interested in the toy baby we had brought home. He stared at her for awhile and then we took her out of her car seat...he sniffed it like crazy!  It was funny to watch.  Tucker was more excited to see us.  However, he became very anxious once he realized what we had brought home.  It was frustrating for this new momma, but eventually he would calm down.

8.  Meeting Dr. Sickler

Hi, my name is Mary and I am a procrastinator.  Mike and I took forever to decide on a pediatrician for Hailey.  It wasn't until the week we delivered that we finally decided to go with Dr. Sickler at Willow Bend Pediatrics.  She had come highly recommended by two families we are very close to.  We didn't get to meet her before having Hailey, or in the hospital, so we were very unsure about our decision.  Once we met her we knew we had picked the best of the best.  We wouldn't truly know how wonderful she is for a couple more months.

7.  Milk Drunk

As we all know, newborns do three things: eat, sleep, and poop.  Well, Hailey was a master at all of these!  I loved to watch her fall asleep after she was done eating.  She was a great eater!  She surpassed her birth weight in less than two weeks after dropping from 6 lbs 3 oz to 5lbs 12 oz in the hospital.  She always had the funniest faces while she slept.  I loved learning all of the new "milk drunk" looks she had every day. 

6. Watching my husband become a daddy

Mike took on the daddy role like a pro.  We celebrated his first Father's Day in the hospital.  It was such a fantastic day.  We were both well rested (him more than me), our family and friends were constantly dropping by to meet Little Miss, and he finally got to feel the connection I had been feeling for months to our daughter.  This connection grew so much that first month.  She is definitely her daddy's little girl.

5.  Breast-feeding
I never believed how much of a connection I would get from breast-feeding.  I'm so happy that it worked out for the both of us.  Every 2 1/2-3 hours was my time with my daughter.  If we had company, I could steal her away and have her all to myself.  I didn't wake Mike up for middle of the night feedings unless I needed help.  I remember it being so peaceful during that time.  I would wake her up by unwrapping her swaddle, get settled on the bed, and just watch her as she ate.  Those moments are some of the most beautiful moments we had together.

4. Smiles...

 

3. The Fourth of July
This was Hailey's first holiday.  It was a great day.  I made her a patriotic onsie to wear and we went to Jeff and Lauren's for a pool party. Hailey slept through the excitement, but it was fun to celebrate our first holiday as a family of 3.

 

 

2. Bath time

Needless to say, bath time started out rough...

Luckily, it turned out to be one of Hailey's favorite things.  We definitely had a water baby :)

 

1. Meeting her bear wubba nub.

 

Mike and I had been told to wait on the paci and bottle so that nipple confusion didn't happen.  One night I broke down and gave her the paci a couple of days early.  Hailey didn't have any problems taking the paci.  She liked having the wubba to help her fall asleep and she would spit it out once she was out.  I am so happy I made the decision to give her a paci.  That little bear became more special to her and to me than I could ever imagine.

 

 

Hailey's first month was a whirlwind.  She made lots of new friends and became such a joy in so many of their lives.  Most importantly, she made Mike and I a mommy and daddy. 

 

Thank you for sticking through this extremely long post.  I hope you enjoyed getting to know my favorite moments of Hailey's first month :)

 

Love,

Mary

 

 

Hailey Rae

June 15, 2013.  The day that, hands-down, is the best day of my life. 

 I call life up to this day, B.H., Before Hailey.  The life I had was wonderful.  It consisted of living in my cozy, little home with my wonderful husband and our two fur babies.  It was bliss.  I woke up everyday and went to the best job in the world.  I came home to snuggle on the couch and watch tv with my favorite person in the world.  Life couldn't get any better...so I thought.

We found out we were pregnant the day after Halloween.  I had spent the past couple of weeks positive that I had caught a stomach bug from one of my crazies kiddos.  Anyone who has ever worked with kids knows that Fall begins cold and flu season.  Hubs and I weren't planning on starting a family yet.  We had a plan...we would start trying after our 5 year wedding anniversary in 2013.  Well, as we should have expected, God had a different plan.

Flash forward 9 months and we arrive at Hailey Day!  We had planned on going in the 15th.  Let me just tell you, I have the best doctor who wanted to keep this momma happy, so he agreed to induce me that day.  We picked this day because it is smack in the middle of hub's and my birthday.  His the 18th and mine the 12th.  It was perfect.  Every year we would have a HUGE party for the three of us. 

The day was perfect.  It's nothing like you see in the movies.  I was calm, slept a lot, played some Candy Crush, and had all of my favorite people surrounding me.   We arrived that morning at 7:30am and our precious baby was born 12 hours later at 7:43pm.  Our family was complete and our fairytale started a new chapter.

Check out that cone head!!

 

 

 

Our little family of three.

 

 

After two, blissful days in the hospital we came home to our newest normal.  It was three days that will forever be filled with the happiest of memories for me and my family.

A New Normal

That is what everyone calls it.  Honestly, it's the best way to describe it.  What is this "it" that I'm talking about?  My life.  My journey. His plan for me.

You go through life always hearing about horrible things happening to others.  You pray that He protects you and the ones you love.  All of a sudden...WHAM! He hits you with it.  For me, this "wham moment" was at 4:09pm on September 26th.  It is a time that will forever stand still in my life.  At that moment, He laid the ground work for my new normal.

This blog is going to act as my journal, a release of all my emotions.  At times, it may be difficult to read, but I hope that in some way this space becomes a get away for myself and others who are struggling on their own journey. 

I promise to not be all doom and gloom.  My life isn't all that.  I am lifted up every day by my awesome hubby, my supportive family, and a group of friends who can make me laugh until I pee (this may or may not have happened...).  I love my job and have some pretty hilarious stories to share.  I am a blog stalker and I have always wanted to participate in one of those chain post thingys.  I have an love addiction for Pinterest and will share all of my successes and failures on all of my Pinterest attempts. 

So grab a comfy blanket, your favorite beverage, a yummy snack, and possibly a tissue or two.    Maybe something will stick with you.  Maybe something will make you smile.  That's one thing I've learned from stalking following the 243,785,459 blogs I follow...something, somewhere can make a difference.  Even if it is just a "must-have" scarf or yummy looking cookie that adds 5 lbs just by looking at it. 

Come along with me on my journey.  I look forward to sharing it with you.

Mary