White Lily MT

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

First of all, I want to say how very proud I was of our baby girl this past weekend.  We had some friends that were getting married  and decided to make the trek back up to Michigan to attend the wedding.  I was so worried how she would handle the drive up there.  It was supposed to be about 6-1/2 hours according to Google Maps, but we had to make some extra stops with Hannah so she could eat and to change some diapers.  The trip ended up taking us right at 8 hours.  I have to say, she handled the car ride remarkably well.  She never got fussy until we were about 1-1/2 hours away.  For that last part of the trip she was entertained by the awesome Ipad.  What would we do without Pocket Pond?  I have to say this is a great app for babies.  The app pretty much is just like watching a koi pond.  There are many different brightly colored fish with lily pads and bugs flying over, but when you touch the screen, it makes noises like you are splashing in the pond.  For the last month or so, this has been one of her favorite toys.  I’ll have to post some pictures of her playing with it soon.  They are quite hysterical.  It is just so amazing to me how a baby so young can be so intrigued with the Ipad.

Anyway,  we left our house around 11 AM Friday morning after a rocky start with last minute packing and got to the hotel around 7 PM.  I knew we weren’t staying in a 5-star hotel by the price that the hotel gave us (It was discounted since we were with the wedding), but at least it was clean.  The funny part was that our room had what we all called a “pick-a-boo” shower and whirlpool.  I had never seen anything like it before.  You could take a bath or shower and watch TV all at the same time through a large octagon opening between the bedroom and bathroom.  This came in handy while showering.  I could just leave Hannah in her pack and play and still keep an eye on her but not so much if you needed privacy in the bathroom.  This became the running joke the entire weekend.  I felt like we had taken a trip back in time to the 70’s.

The wedding was Saturday at 2 PM.  The bride is a veterinarian that I worked with in Michigan and her maid of honor was the practice manager at the same clinic.  It was great getting to see them again.  This was the first time they had met Hannah in person.  Of course they have seen lots of pictures though.  We woke up early Saturday morning and had the “lovely” free continental breakfast the hotel provided.  All I have to say is we would have been much better off running down to McD’s.  After that, we went back to the room and I helped the bride and maid of honor get dressed.  When we finally arrived at the wedding site (It was at a golf course and outside), I was so worried about Hannah getting too cold.  Good thing my husband was thinking when we packed the car and packed the stroller too!!  That way we could have her completely covered.  The weather was in the 50s and was threatening to rain.  Oh and did I mention it was right off Lake Michigan, which made the air feel even cooler.  The ceremony was very interesting.  It was officiated by a minister in the Mexican Indigenous Church.  Thank goodness Hannah slept through the entire ceremony, waking up only once with applause.  She even slept through the drums!  We unfortunately couldn’t stay at the reception long.  I was just too worried about the temperature.  We went back to the hotel and hung out there for the rest of the evening.  We were back on the road again Sunday morning after a great breakfast at Perkin’s.  It was so awesome to see friends again and I want to wish Paula and Chuck all the best!!

Oh boy, has this last year been a busy one!  On the home front, this past October my husband got a new a job, which meant we had to move.  As much as I loved our home in Michigan, we so badly needed a change, and the economy in Michigan is not exactly at it’s high point.  Under normal circumstances, moving would not have been a huge deal, but I was about 7 months pregnant!  So, that caused some extra complications.  Not only was I emotional about moving, but the physical limitations of being pregnant and moving added a new challenge.  I had to pretty much sit back and watch while my family did all the heavy lifting and packing. To some degree that was great since I had the perfect excuse not do any work, but it was difficult to watch all my stuff get packed up and I couldn’t help.  When we finally got to our new place of residence (I’m still struggling with calling it our home yet!), I realized why I felt like I needed to do the packing myself.  Everything was everywhere.  I found boxes that were labeled “random” thanks to my sister-in-law (love ya!), and they definitely held random items from all over the house.  There are still some things that I haven’t found yet, but that might be because not all the boxes are unpacked yet.  We just don’t have enough room here for everything.  The garage, the place where the cars are supposed to go, is acting like a storage unit at the moment.  Oh, and did I mention I was trying to work full time during all of this?

After getting moved and somewhat settled, things didn’t settle down at all.  The holidays came and went, and before we knew it, it was February.  We were so excited!  My due date was February 1st, but that day came and went.  At my last 2 doctors appointments, my obstetrician was very optimistic that I would go into labor at anytime.  Well, not so much.  On February 7th, I was instructed to report to the labor and delivery floor at the hospital to be induced, and on February 8, 2011 we welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Hannah Miriam, into our lives.  She was 8 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches long with TONS of dark brown hair! She arrived by cesarean section at 10:17 p.m.  It was love at first sight or should I say first cry.  The whole family was anxiously waiting in the waiting room to meet her.

After coming home, I was certain that I was going to return to work in 4 weeks.  That quickly became a joke.  Not only was I recovering from the C-section but 2 weeks after Hannah’s arrival I had to have my gallbladder removed as well.  So I put off my return to work for another 2 weeks and by then still didn’t want to go back.  Working full time and taking care of a newborn have proven to be the hardest things I have ever done but wouldn’t give it up for the world!

Hannah at 2 days old!

Mommy and Hannah at 3 months old.  Look how much she’s grown!!