Haydn Grace is 2 months old

Two months is so fun. OH...she is SO SWEET!
She is smiling and cooing all the time. She especially coos and talks in the morning. I guess she will be a morning person and a talker like her brother! We went to the doctor today for shots (yuck) and her check up. She is 22 3/4 inches long, 10 lbs 13 oz. and her head is 15 1/4 inches. She is 50th percentile on everything. I'm amazed at how fast she is growing considering she only nurses on one side for 7-10 minutes. She is a crazy, fast eater. She is sleeping better. She goes to bed around 7pm and gets up (on average) at 2am then again at 5-6. She's up for the morning around 8 or so. She's getting there. Night feedings are sweet, though. I know I will sleep again and that's all that matters! Plus, some mornings her wonderful father lets me sleep in with her and takes care of Luke for me. She has a wonderful daddy!

I adore her open mouth smiles!

Luke at 2 months

Haydn at 1 month
I think they look pretty similar, but she is definitely her own person!

Luke loves his baby sister. From time to time you will see the wheels turning in his head about how she eats. The other day he said, "Mama, does lunch come out of my nipples, too?"
David and I could not quit laughing.

Jack's Bday

David's brother, sister-in-law and the 'cuzins' came in town last week to meet Haydn. It just so happened to be cuzin Jack's birthday! It was so great to celebrate with them! Happy Birthday, Jack!

Jack LOVED his spin art machine...

...so did Luke!

Touch a Truck

Last Saturday we went to a benefit at a near by high school. It was called 'Touch a Truck'. Luke was in heaven!

Of course, he LOVED the pink limo!

Haydn Grace is 6 weeks old

WOW! I cannot believe that she is already 6 weeks old. I remember the first 2 weeks of Luke's life just creeping by. It felt like his week 6 would never come. Haydn's first 6 weeks has FLOWN by!
She is such a sweet and easy going baby. She only cries when she is hungry or tired (or when someone is messing with her - the doctor). She has silent reflux that is exasperated when I eat dairy or soy. Nice. Yes, I will be thin, but at the cost of not having my favorite triple chocolate chunk ice cream for a year! She is worth it! Already high maintenance, but worth it!

She is starting to smile at us, rolled over from her tummy to her back twice today, and loves to talk/coo after she eats. Speaking of eating...she is a CHAMP! Seriously, she is done in 5-7 minutes. She's efficient, for sure! No doddling with this one! Sleep, on the other hand, was challenging at first, but I think she is figuring it out. She literally was awake one afternoon from 1pm to 9pm. I realized that I cannot get her to sleep like I did with her brother. She is going to be Ms. Independent and do it on her own. I do not like the 'crying it out' method, but nothing else worked. No bouncing, swinging, singing, swaddling, shhhing, holding, wearing...NOTHING! We decided that the Lord would have to take care of her emotionally because she has to cry it out. Her physical need for sleep at this point trumps my concerns for her emotional well being.
She likes to be asleep 45-50 minutes after she wakes up and because she is so efficient at eating she actually has some play time with us before putting her back in bed. It seemed like Luke would eat for 30 minutes and only be up for a little while before going back to sleep. He was so easy to sooth, too. Not our princess, though! NOPE! She won't stay asleep anywhere but her bed because if she's up...she wants to stay awake and up with the action...life of the party...I can already see it!

Other than the sleep and silent reflux, she's been a peach! We are so blessed to have her.

One Week Old

Two Weeks Old

Three Weeks Old

Three Weeks Old (How she got out of her shirt, I'll never know.)


First 'real bath' at 3 weeks (no cord)

Sweet One Month Picture


1 Month/Week 5

Six Week Smile!

My Birthday

My birthday this year was fabulous. David returned from his work 'vacation' (it's a vacation when you get a full night of sleep for 3 days in a row!) and Grandpa Jim and Nana were here to help me. Boy, were they a help! I was really sad to see them go. The company was nice but the best part was the fact that Grandpa Jim and David are made from the same cloth...they always have to be cleaning or doing something. It is really nice to have the dishes done when I return from taking Luke to school...just an example! Nana was a great help with Haydn and Luke. Plus, I had a girl in the house to talk to for a change! That night, we went to a 'fancy restaurant', as Luke would say. Luke did fairly well for being out so late and Haydn slept the first half of dinner, but was quiet in our arms the rest of the night.
Thanks for coming in, guys, and for a terrific birthday! We love you!

Nana with Haydn

Luke loved the tongs!

This is Luke's 'new face' and I LOVE IT! It makes me laugh when he flashes it at me!

Daddy and deliriously tired boy!

Nana holding Haydn

Grandpa Jim is an iPhone addict!

Abundant Blessing

Over the past few weeks, MANY friends have blessed us with dinner each night. It's truly amazing that Haydn will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and we have had food almost every night since we got home from the hospital....AND it's STILL coming! I am overwhelmed by the generosity, for sure. It is such a big help to not have to think about dinner. We are all getting pretty spoiled by it and Luke is always interested to see who is bringing food each night. He has to show them his baby sister and his big boy room. I guess he is expecting someone to bring food for every meal because this morning he said, "Mom, who brought us this oatmeal?" I laughed..."No one, honey...Mommy made it for you!"

THANK YOU to everyone who has blessed us with dinner! It has all been SO yummy!

Who does she look like??

Haydn 1 week


Me at 1 week

Luke at 1 week

I wish I had a picture of David, but we lost them all when my computer crashed. (All of his baby pictures are on slides and we spent a day taking pictures of the slides...we'll have to do it again next time we are at his Mom's house.)
Until then...what do you think? Does she look like her Mama or what? She definitely has my unfortunate cowlicks! They are actually a mirror image of mine! Poor girl! No pigtails for her...our hair just won't do it!

Luke's First Day of School

Just three days after baby sister was born, we had Luke's meet the teacher time at his new school. He will go to Mother's Day Out two days a week this year. His teachers are so sweet and he declared today that he loves them both very much.




So far we haven't had a day without tears, but he really talks about how much fun he has there and is excited to share his day with us. He told me that he cries because he doesn't like it when I leave and go home without him. Can you say, 'break my heart'? We are praying he does better in the coming weeks.

No longer a family of 3...

Haydn Grace is here!

Labor and Delivery
This labor and delivery story will not be near as long as Luke's story. It was pretty uneventful, really. I am VERY thankful that the Lord blessed us with such a good experience and a healthy, sweet baby girl.

I sent out an email on the 24th about being induced the morning of the 25th. I did not want to be induced and came really close to backing out at 10pm that night. There is just something with messing with God's timing that I wasn't comfortable with. Plus, I wanted the 'spontaneity' experience (or the movie experience). I didn't have that with Luke. However, after talking with Mom and David and praying about it, I knew that we needed to keep the appointment. The week prior I had two bouts of false labor and it was really tough on everyone. My mom came over at 4am one morning and skipped church the next time. Dealing with a toddler and making arrangements for him to be cared for makes it hard to be spontaneous...especially when the hospital is 45 minutes to an hour away. Looking back, I am thankful that I didn't have to bare the contractions in the car for an hour!

The evening of the 24th we spent the night at my Mom's house and kissed Luke goodnight as a family of 3 for the last time. We had to be at the hospital at 5am the following morning for our appointment. Knowing this would be out last night of good sleep for awhile, we should have gone to bed early, but no...11pm. We woke at 3:30 to get ready to leave. Arrived at the hospital at 5am on the dot, checked in and went to Labor and Delivery! They showed us to our room. Mary (the best nurse EVER...second to Staci (Luke's L&D Nurse), of course!) was ready for us! We talked with her for the next hour or so while she prepped me for Pitocin. Funny...she was from Wisconsin, so we had alot to discuss from our bout in MN. I was 'hooked up' and ready by 7am. Mary made the comment that she usually finishes prepping by 6:30, but she was enjoying talking with us so much that we didn't get 'started' until 7am. As I labored and contracted for the next 2 hours, I asked Mary (mother of 4...birthed naturally), if she would get an epidural if she could go back and do it again. Without hesitation, she said, "YES!" I asked why and she said that she spent the last 13 years in Labor and Delivery watching both natural and pain free deliveries. In her experience, pain free deliveries were more enjoyable and restful than natural. That's all I needed to hear! I had the 2 hour experience of pain and was ready for the epidural. Mary predicted that she would be born by noon (she was close!) and I didn't see the need to feel the pain for another 3 hours. She called the Anesthesiologist as soon as I said the word. I barely had time to go to the bathroom before he arrived and was smooth sailing by 9:30. He did a MUCH better job than the Doc in MN! For the next few hours, we laughed and talked...talked to a few people on the phone...and, yes, I updated my Facebook status:
8:57: Admitted, all hooked up and epidural started. Hoping to get some rest. I love my nurse!!
11:28: Dilated to an 8 already...nurse said she thinks we'll see her a little after noon. YAY!!
11:47: Getting ready to push...waiting on Dr. She'll be here soon!

Mary actually checked me at 11:30 and said, "Whew...don't push...she's ready!" We waited on Dr. MacD (nicknamed 'My Lucky Little Leprechaun'...seriously...he's about 5 feet tall, Irish, and such a great doctor! We love him!). He showed up at noon. I pushed 3 times and she was here! It was such a great experience! I cannot tell you!

Name Sake

(Haydn holding me at 6 months)

I am sure you figured out by now that we named her 'Haydn Grace'. I know we had a poll and Haydn was pretty low in popularity. As David and I discussed it, we decided that I would probably regret it if we didn't name her Haydn especially if this is our last child. My Grandfather, Haydn (spelled like the composer, Haydn...), was very instrumental in my life (and Donna's). He and Memonnie supported us when our parents divorced. We spent several weeks there each summer growing up. They encouraged us as we grew and loved us with an unconditional love that cannot be explained. They supported us through college and bought us both our first cars. I wouldn't be where I am today or who I am today without them. We went back and forth on the spelling, but realized that if we were going to name her after him, then we should spell it like he did. It will be hard for her and us, but naming her after him is worth a few misspellings....and gender mix ups!

In July, we went to visit Memonnie (Dedaddy/Haydn passed in 2000) and I emotionally thanked her for all she and Dedaddy did for us. She said, "I am so glad we did, because you would never have met David if we weren't there for you." I boo-hoo'd...she was right! I am so grateful! (Can you tell she LOVES David? She tells me that he reminds her of Dedaddy. He definitely helps out in the kitchen like Haydn did and has a similar demeanor about him. Maybe that's what drew me to him...)

Dedaddy was the main reason for the name. However, I also had a camper in my cabin one summer, Hayden. She was so cool and, at that point, I had never heard of a girl named Hayden. The wheels started turning and I told David that one day I wanted to name a girl Haydn after Dedaddy. Haydn is gaining popularity as a girl name and that helped our decision as well.

We named her Grace after the abundant grace that God gives us that we do not deserve. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and thank you for her!

Luke's Thoughts

The first thing Luke said when he came into the room on the day she was born:
Luke: Hi Mommy! Is baby sister out of your tummy?
Mom: Yes, she's here, look!
Luke: OK...can I get in there now? It's my turn!
Mom: NO! You had your turn 2 1/2 years ago, silly!

He is doing so well with her! He LOVES her! (See the pictures and video below!) We are so proud of our family and excited to be a family of 4 now! All of this makes me love the Lord, my husband, and my family so much more!
Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

Luke's Song to the tune of Brahm's Lullaby:
Haydn Grace
Haydn Grace
You are our baby girl.
Haydn Grace, Haydn Grace
Mommy, Daddy, Luke love you!

Lukeisms...

1. Saturday Luke said the prayer before lunch which is pretty customary. He used to pray for everything he saw, but lately it's been a 'short and sweet let me eat' prayer. We were very proud when he said,
"Dear Jesus,
Thank you for today. Thank you for this food. Thank you for the
bucket**. Thank you for spending time with Mommy and Daddy.
Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. Amen."
**(Our neighborhood pool has a huge bucket that dumps and he and David had just returned from there.)
We had a great Saturday together as a family and I guess he was thankful for the time spent with us. He knows baby sister will be here soon and has been a little anxious about it. I treasure these last few days as a family of 3....

2. We were on our way home from church on Saturday night. It was past his bed time, but we had to return a movie. While David was in the store, Luke and I were talking about all of the people going in and out. "Who is she, Mommy?" "What is that guy doing?" and on and on...
Out of the blue he said, "I know I miss Grandma." I said, "I know you do, Buddy, but you will see her later this week." THEN he said, "She was a great lady!" HUH?
(At this point, I'm calling Mom hoping that Luke didn't know something that I didn't know...making sure she was ok...I couldn't get a hold of her. No big deal. I knew she was fine.)
So, then I asked, "Luke, where do you think Grandma is?" "Home." Shew! "Yep, Luke, she's at home!"
*She did call me back later. She was in the shower...not dead. I felt better! It's so fun to watch how he is working on his verbiage. I love watching him learn!

Swimming Lessons

Luke took swimming lessons this summer at the indoor pool near our house! He did really well. I took him every Wednesday morning until I got too big. He had this annoying habit of crawling up my belly and standing on it....hello...not a step ladder! So, the last few weeks, we rescheduled him for a later class and David took him. We are so proud of his progress that we are keeping him in for the fall and possibly the spring sessions. It will be nice if he can swim by next summer when I need to tend to Haydn in the water. The pictures below are from one of the last sessions. I am amazed at his progress!

Swimming to get balls into the basket. I wouldn't move unless he was kicking his feet.

Jumping off the side was still a challenge. He always wanted to hold on to our hands.

David would let go and he would swim to him...

Crawling out...elbow, elbow, belly, knee...

Blowing bubbles

Floating on his back!

Swimming to the star fish!!

Got it!!

Floating on the duck....

Swimming to the steps at the end of the lesson...

We will update his progress later in the fall!