Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Doodle Party

Last Thursday we had Hannah's Doodle Birthday Party. I am very pleased with the way it all turned out. We had an awesome crowd of Hannah's friends as well as some friends of mine and DJ's. The Doodlebops did a great job (scared a few kids too) and looked great. We were unable to buy costumes or patterns for the outfits. So Sheila (Deedee Doodle) made the patterns from newspapers and all we had to look at was one show and a picture. Hannah had a great time playing with her friends and family. She didn't throw one fit the whole night! That was amazing in itself! I think the Doodle party was fun and the friend that showed up had a great time, but I don't think I will be trying to do a party like this again. There was a lot of preparation to get it pulled off (and not to mention I am 34 1/2 weeks pregnant)! Next year will be a small quiet party for Hannah. Here are some pictures. When I figure out how to put the video on the computer I will post it too. I don't think that will be on for a while though!

The Doodlebops: Jonathan aka Rooney Doodle (my brother's friend), Sheila aka Deedee Doodle (my step mom) and Matt aka Moe Doodle (my brother). Thank you guys for doing this!
Hannah kissing her cousin Iva. She just loves her!

Hannah with The Doodlebops!

Monday, February 16, 2009

We have set a date...unofficially!

Unofficially we have set an induction date for Trey's delivery. I went to the doctor today for my 34th week appointment. Everything checked out! I have only gained 2 lbs. since last visit, which is what I should be gaining according to my doctor. Even though it is normal I hate seeing the scale go up every time I visit him. :(

At the end of the visit he asked if we have scheduled the delivery date yet. WHAT? NO! Why would I want to do that? Shouldn't we let him come on his own? I guess not. My doctor was pretty persistent on scheduling a date to induce. So, we scheduled one for March 23rd. Now that is not official with my husband yet. We are still deciding if there is a better date that will work with DJ's schedule at Walgreen's. But for the doctors sake, I went ahead and picked that date. Now mind you it is only 5 days early of my due date. And as long as he is healthy, I don't mind having him early. Hannah was 2 1/2 weeks early, so I am thinking Trey will probably not wait that long to come anyway. We will see.

I will let you know if we change the date. Oh, my doctor also informed me that he will for sure be out of town the night of the 20th through the 22nd. Great, hope I don't go into labor during that time!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Valentine!

Today is Hannah's 3rd birthday. I cannot believe she is already 3 years old. We have been talking about her birthday and b-day party all week. She has been pretty excited. Today her MiMi, Papaw and Uncle Matt took her to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and then to the store to pick out her present. She ended up picking out a golfing toy. Her daddy would be so proud! When DJ gets off work we are going to have a small celebration with just the 3 of us. I bought a little individual size cake for us to share and we will give her the gifts we got her. The big party is on Thursday! It has sneaked up on us. There are still things I have to do for the party and things to do before the party. I hope it all goes well and Hannah has a great time. I think she just might when the Doodlebops show up to meet her and wish her a Happy Birthday. I will post all about it! For now, Happy Birthday Hannah. Mommy and Daddy loves you!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Cake Update

I just wanted to thank everyone for the encouragement and wonderful comments about the cake. I am going to make it again for the party. There are some things I am going to do a little different and some ideas you all gave will come into play! Thank you all! I am getting so excited about it now.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Doodlebop Cake

For Hannah's birthday party this year we are doing The Doodlebops. I wanted her cake to look like Deedee Doodle's keytar. I didn't want to pay to have it done since it would be so expensive. This year we are trying to do things as inexpensive as possible. So I got the bright idea to make it myself. (Not sure what I was thinking) Hannah received a toy keytar like Deedee's for her birthday last year. This was my inspiration for the cake. It was just the right size to fit a 1/4 sheet cake, or a regular birthday cake!

Here are the pictures I took during the progress. I started about 2:30 this afternoon and with many breaks finished around midnight. I have done most of the work while Hannah was sleeping. I didn't really need a 3 year old's help! :)

I know that some of the colors and details need to be adjusted and worked on, but here is the test run. Let me know what you think. Should I do it again for her party or leave the cake decorating to the professionals?


Monday, February 2, 2009

Baby News

(Sorry this is long, I got carried away!)

Today I had another check-up for the baby. Everything looks good according to the doctor. The heart beat is still strong. A couple of nights ago I woke up at 4:30 with back labor. Contractions every 5 minutes apart. They stopped around 7am and I finally went back to sleep for a few hours before it was time to get up. But other than that there have been no real signs of early labor or false labor. Now some of you know the story of Hannah's delivery, but most of you probably haven't heard it in full. So I am about to tell it again just so we can compare the two for when Trey does decide to make his appearance. (And hopefully he will wait until I am closer to the due date!)

It all started the week before Hannah was born. I had my first third trimester pelvic exam (which was painful at 36 1/2 weeks). The doctor said I was in the process of effacing but no dilation. I had already had my bags packed (everyone thought I was crazy and did this too early) so I was ready anytime. The appointment was sometime mid week. That Sunday night (Feb. 12th) I lost my mucus plug and remembered the birthing instructor from my class said labor usually is within two weeks of loosing your plug. Not thinking I would be in labor soon, I didn't worry much about it. I went to bed that night and woke up in the middle of the night (around 4pm) with my back hurting. I realized that the pain was coming and going every 5 minutes. Very regular! I had DJ time them with me and we decided to go to the hospital because my birthing instructor told us to do so when the contractions were every 5 minutes. So we get there only to find out I am dilated to 1 and for the next 4 hours I did not progress. I was in False Labor. I was sent home with the instructions to not come back unless the contractions are closer and more painful (and they said these can last for several weeks). I was also given the day off from work to rest.

I slept most of Monday (13th) and the contractions stopped sometime that night while I was sleeping. I was getting ready for work (Tuesday the 14th) when my boss called and said to take another day off to rest. OK! The pain of back labor started back at 10am that morning but were just the same as before. I figured I was still in false labor and didn't worry about it. DJ had the day off from Walgreen's but was going to Conway to umpire a college base ball game. I was fine with him leaving since the nurses told me this could happen and not to come back unless they were more painful and closer (which they were not). The only thing I was worried about was the fact I could not reach him if I needed to. They are not allowed to wear cell phones on the field. I also didn't know which college he would be at.

I started having a lot of pressure, but again didn't think I was in labor. Around 2 or 3 pm I couldn't take anymore of the pain (not painful contractions, but painful pressure) and asked my step mom to take me to the doctor to be checked to see if I had dilated any. We get there around 4 and one of my doctor's colleges checks me. While doing so he accidentally breaks my water (which is not something you can do with just your hand) and informs me I am dilated to 6. (For ones who don't know when you get to ten you start pushing!) That my water was just waiting to pop and I should get to the hospital if I want an epidural.

I started to freak out a little since DJ was in Conway, I was in No. Little Rock in labor and there was no way to get a hold of him. I got to the hospital and received my epidural and all my family arrived within the hour. They were all calling around to find DJ and where he was. They reached him finally as he was in the 7th inning at Henderson. The athletic coach came out on the field and told him his wife was in labor. He said he knows and its ok. (guess he was thinking I was still in false labor.) The director told him I was dilated to a 7 and the baby was on its way. So, DJ (in the middle of the inning) leaves the game to fight his way to NLR. The traffic on the freeway was backed up 2 miles from construction and so he drove VERY fast on the shoulder most of the way. He made about 30 minutes before I started pushing. He was dressed in all his gear from umpiring behind home plate, complete with Henderson's baseballs still in his ball bag around his waist. It was a sight! I pushed for about an hour and then there was a beautiful baby girl!

Hannah was born 2 1/2 weeks early on Feb. 14th, St. Valentine's Day. She was born the day after the full moon which apparently is not an uncommon thing. I have heard the full moon brings on the babies. Trey is due on the 28th of March. The full moon in March is on the 11th. That is just by chance 2 1/2 weeks before his due date. Maybe we will have the same experience and he will come a little early. As long as he is healthy I have no objections to that. I just want to have a normal labor experience this time and not have to worry about DJ missing the delivery of his son. He is going to umpire a little this spring, but I told him he was not allowed to umpire the whole month of March. He reluctantly agreed. The problem now is that he works in Hot Springs and that is a farther drive than Conway to No. Little Rock. Maybe I will actually know I am in labor this time around!!!

Weekend Fun

This past week has been all about gearing up for the weekend, more specifically Super Bowl Sunday. We hosted our Sunday School's Super Bowl Party at our house again. This time we had a little bit of a smaller crowd than last year. I was more relaxed this year too, despite being 32 weeks pregnant. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Hannah didn't act out as much this year, which was one reason I was a less stressed. Last year she had a total meltdown in front our our 30+ guest. I was a nervous wreck at that point. I guess I have come a long way on the road of hosting and now I am used to having a lot of people in my house at once. Here are some pictures of last night.


The kids playing in the room. They did really well with minor supervision!
The group in the living room watching the game/commercials.
A lot of attention was spend on the Statton twins, Avery and Alexis. They are so cute and getting so big.
This was taken on Saturday. I was busy cleaning the house while DJ helped entertained Hannah for me when he wasn't busy helping clean. The weather was so beautiful on Saturday it was hard for me to stay inside. Hannah actually got to wear some Capri pants and short sleeved shirt. When she wanted to go outside and ride her trike I did make her wear a jacket. She is getting better at riding the trike every time she gets on. Here are some pictures of her riding along side DJ and probably on her way to Mimi's house.
Concentrating hard on getting the pedals to do what she wanted them to do.

This picture is from one of the days before the party. She loves her new vacuum cleaner she got from her Uncle Taylor for Christmas. Its home is in the hall closet right beside mine. Anytime I am cleaning she will go get her vacuum and help clean. This picture is of her "fixing" her vacuum cleaner. It obviously doesn't suck up anything. I think she saw me cleaning my vacuum's brushes one day and so she thought if she would got down to clean hers it would work better. When she was through she said "that's better" and got up to finish vacuuming the floor. Too cute!