Where's Mom?

Yesterday, my mother went missing.
She was driving from her home to ours.
She left Maryland around 1:30pm... and nobody heard from her the rest of the day.


All afternoon and evening, the girls were waiting for her, so excited to see their Yoma, hyper, jumping all around, asking me hundreds of times when she'd get here. They couldn't wait to play with my mom.


It usually takes five hours to make the drive. She should have arrived around 6:30pm.
At 8:30 I called my dad to let him know she wasn't here yet. He hadn't heard from her either.
We called her, texted her, left messages. Her phone would ring 6 times then go to voicemail.
Her phone was on, it was fully charged, and she had a full tank of gas when she left home.
What happened? Where could she be?!?


Mom always calls or texts me when she gets to North Carolina, or when she is about an hour away. I had the feeling that she hadn't gotten that far, that she was somewhere in Virginia. By 10pm I was imagining her laying in a ditch somewhere. At 10:30pm I called her cell phone one more time. No answer, just voicemail. I tried my best not to worry, and had some quiet Bible-reading time.


We tried thinking of ways to track Mom. Her cell phone is too old and outdated to track by GPS.
I suggested looking at cell phone records to see if she'd made any outgoing calls today after 1:30pm. She hadn't. I asked dad to check their bank record to see if any transactions had shown up. The account showed that she'd stopped at a grocery store on her way out of town, about 10 minutes south of my parents house. Nothing else.


Mike suggested going for a drive to look for her, but I vetoed the idea. It was too dark and too late. There was no way one of us would be able to cover 250 miles of highway single-handedly.


Dad asked a police friend for advice. The friend told him to start calling each state police barracks location between southern Maryland and Raleigh. I said "OK Dad, where do we start? Give me a list, I'll make some calls." He said no, he would do it. Again I said "I'll help! Tell me what I can do" but he wouldn't let me. He felt it was his responsibility to find her. I reluctantly went to bed and fell asleep a little after midnight. Meanwhile, Dad continued calling police stations.

At 1am Dad called again. I don't remember hearing the phone ring, or picking it up, all I know is that I heard his voice on the other end: "Well, I found her. She is safe." I was confused, disoriented from sleep. Where is she, Dad? How did you find her? "She's safe all right... locked up. She's in jail."


My mind was still fuzzy. What?!?
I asked a string of questions, to which I got no answer.
How did you find out? Do you know where she is?
Where is she? What happened???


"South Hill, Virginia. That's where she is.... South Hills. She didn't quite make it to North Carolina, but she almost did. She's staying in jail overnight. I don't know any other details." I told him to get some sleep. Then I tossed and turned all night.


I slept horribly. I got out of bed at 5am and have been trying to distract my mind with other things, but it hasn't been working very well. Dad said something about trying to "bail her out" later today. I still have absolutely no idea what happened. Speeding tickets, moving violation, previous record? Traffic stop gone wrong? Drinking and driving? Reckless endangerment?


Don't you get to make a phone call when you are arrested?
Why wasn't anyone contacted?!?

"You're a great mom"

Tonight I ran into someone I hadn't seen all summer. I thought I was wearing what was, to me, an obvious maternity shirt, but she was so excited to see me that apparently she didn't notice my "Eating for Two" shirt, or my growing belly. When she asked about my girls and I mentioned that we were having #3 in November, she was genuinely surprised. But what she said was so sweet. "You're such a great mom. I'm so glad to hear that you're having another baby! I know you'll do a really good job." Then after some baby-talk, she went on to say "...Are the girls excited? What's new with Hannah?" ect. and we continued to talk for a few more minutes. I'm really glad that I saw her tonight.

There are a lot of days when I don't feel like a good mommy, when I feel like a failure, when I get tired and frustrated, or feel like I am not doing my best. But what she said was really nice and encouraging. And it helps to know that she isn't the only one who thinks more highly of me than I do of myself.

Day 8 in the hospital

Hi all. I would have loved to update earlier, but with everything that happened yesterday, I didnt have computer access. Sorry!



So, yesterday afternoon, we were released from the PICU!
THANK YOU GOD! Goodbye, intensive care!
Our room here on the children's recovery floor is much more private, has its own bathroom, and I get to sleep in one of those pull-out couch beds, instead of a rocking chair. I'd say that is a big improvement over last week.

Welcome to Day 8. Aliah is doing well. They are continuing to lower her oxygen level. Right now it is varying between .4 and .2 Ls. She needs more oxygen support when she sleeps. Doctors said that as soon as she's breathing on her own, then we'll get to go HOME for good! I would guess that might happen on Weds, at the earliest. We'll see. The most important thing is that she is continuing to get better, and grow stronger. Im trying to convince her to eat more often, because she still isnt eating as mocu as she used to, and is having some trouble latching on correctly.

My mom left today, shes driving back to Maryland right now. We'll all miss her, Hannah most of all.

Mike & Hannah were visiting us this afternoon. It was the first time that Hannah got to hold her baby sister in the last eight days! She was so excited, and so proud. We were really proud of her too, for wearing the gloves, gown and face mask without omplaining! (Yes, we still have to get all suited up to be in the same room as Aliah. It's a small price to pay for her health.)
I walked out to the car with them, while Aliah was sleeping soundly in her bed (but I felt guilty for leaving her in the hospital while I stepped outside for 10 mins!). Then I felt incredibly sad because Hannah had a huge meltdown and screamed "Dont leave, Mommy! NOOOO! Dont leave me! Come home with me!" in the middle of the parking garage. It was so sad!!! I was in tears as I walked back into the building.
I am really torn between here and home. This ordeal has been hard on all of us.
I want to go home soon. I want to sleep in my own bed.
I know there is an end in sight. and Im so so happy that she's getting better - it's just hard to go through this.

I just realied that Im supposed to have my 6-week postparden check-up in the morning - but Im going to have to rescheulde it - there's just no way that I can leave Aliah here for 3 hours by herself tomorrow. Compound that with the fact that my car is not here at the hospital, and its just not happening.

I'll let you know if anything changes tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Twelve days old.

Baby's first walk. Hannah was so happy to help push the stroller up and down the street!

Close-up of Aliah. Look at those big chubby cheeks! Don't you just want to touch them?!

Proud big sister holding the baby - this is what Hannah wants to do every morning as soon as she wakes up. It is really sweet, how much Hannah loves her baby sister.



I am no longer sick. Thank you God for antibiotics! :)

Aliah is doing well. Last night we woke up every 3 hours to eat, but other than that she slept just fine. Mike, on the other hand, stayed up until 5am for no apparent reason...

Right now Aliah is strapped onto me, sleeping in the Snugli. I love that I have both hands free and can still carry her around! The Snugli is my newest favorite piece of baby gear. Baby Hannah hated all forms of wraps and carriers, but I think this is quite convenient.

My mother misses us so much that she is coming back to visit again this weekend. She is actually coming in order to avoid spending yet another week with my dad's mother. Mike has been saying "My mother-in-law is visiting us in order to avoid her mother-in-law", but when put that way, usually people just don't get it.
Mom just left her house about an hour ago, so she should arrive at our house sometime between dinner and bedtime tonight.

Mike's last day off is January 26th. He goes back to work on the 27th.
That will be a hard adjustment for all of us.

Hannah thinks that today is opposite day. I just asked her to out on her shoes so we can play outside, and instead she put her socks and shoes onto her hands!
Listening and obeying have been huge battles in our house lately.

One week old today! Family drama.

Can you believe that Aliah will be one week old today, as of 3pm?

That's right, one week ago today, I was in labor. It's kind of crazy, to think of it like that.

And a new year has come around already! Im excited for 2009.
Hannah is super-duper excited to get to be a big sister. She has been a really good helper - except when she flat-out says "NO." Her daddy says that she is reverting back to her terrible twos.

---

My dad and brothers came to visit this weekend, and they wore me out! It hurts me to laugh. and we did a lot of that. I think they were a good distraction for Mike and Hannah though. I really appreciate how well our families get along.
We also did a lot of walking around on Saturday, which I shouldnt have done - I dont know if my stitches are healing properly. And my milk has come in, that is pretty painful too. I could barely sleep last night because my chest hurt so much! I have to wake up Aliah for her to eat, so that I can get some relief. In fact, it's about time to feed her again.

My mom just left this morning. We will all miss her. She has been such a HUGE help! Especially with Hannah! Mom has been here eight days, and she has to go back to work tomorrow. I wrote her a sweet poem yesterday, as a way to say thank you for helping us out.

My relatives (my grandparents, primarily) are hounding me about coming to visit soon, before Mike has to go back to work at the end of the month. But his mom is coming to help us out the week that he goes back to work, and I just dont think it's feasible for us to travel that much at 3 weeks post-pardum.
I am being honest and telling them that I am just not up for it. Im having enough trouble feeding the baby every 2 or 3 hours and getting in meals and sleep myself, much less take a shower or look presentable. I cannot imagine sitting in a car with Mike, Hannah, and a newborn for 6 hours. At this point, it hurts me just to sit still for ONE hour! Heck, I cant even drive yet!
When Hannah was an infan,t we waited until she was about four months old before we went on "vacation" to meet all the relatives. Even then, it was because of a wedding, and still, she was no where near sleeping through the night, so it was absolutely exhausting. I am just notready to go through all that right now.
Maybe when Aliah is a little older, we'll go visit. For now, they can come to us. And I have put my foot down.

My brother, the older one, (we'll call him "A") is moving away to California on Wednesday. He is also turning 21 this week. I hope this move is good for him - my parents dont know how to straighten him out and have run out of patience. Maybe living with my aunt and uncle in LA will be a good change for him.
At least, we are hoping so.

The birth story.

Here are all the knitty-gritty details of Aliah's birth...

How it all started: Early on Sunday morning I woke up at 3am, went to the bathroom, and realized that I was having mild contractions. They were coming about every five minutes. My first thought was “YES! Let’s get this over with!” I was so excited to finally end this pregnancy and have a baby in my arms.
Too excited to go back to sleep, I got up and made sure my hospital bag was ready, packed up the camera bag, and wrote out directions for my mother to get to the hospital. Took care of some bills and things on the computer, then at 4:30 am I woke up Mike. I shook his arm: “Honey, wake up”, but he didn’t move. Louder, I said “Wake up, we need to go the hospital soon, I’m having contractions!” He didn’t believe me; he mumbled something like “No you’re not. You’re kidding, you’re lying to me. Go back to sleep.” Finally he got up and stumbled to the kitchen, made some coffee.
I called the midwife to let her know that we’d be coming soon. She said “You sound too cheerful and friendly on the phone”, and didn’t believe that I was in real labor! She told me to take a walk for 20 or 30 minutes and call me back. So, at 5 am, there I was, walking around our neighborhood in the dark, by myself, completely alone (I did take my cell phone, just in case). The only other living thing I saw out there was a deer. I just enjoyed the early morning quiet. I spent some time praying. I walked about two miles.
When I got back to the house, I called back to confirm that I was indeed having contraction, coming ever 3 or 4 minutes now, and she agreed to meet me at the hospital. We got there around 6am, parked, and found our way to L&D. The sun was still down. Everything was very quiet and surreal.
By the time I finished signing consent forms and got into triage, it was 6:30. The midwife examined me at 7am and I was 6cm dilated. Nice! I was excited! They admitted me to a room, we got settled in, and took some more laps around the hospital.
Nothing much happened for the next 4 or 5 hours. I was still having contractions every 3 minutes, but they weren’t really getting stronger. We made jokes about how boring it was to wait around the hospital for the baby to come. The nurse and midwife kept saying “I can’t believe you’re in labor, you’re so calm and happy!” Mike watched a marathon of “HOUSE” on tv. I remember hearing another woman laboring in the next room, and shortly after, the cries of a newborn baby.
When we checked at 12:30pm I was still only 7 cm dilated. I was anxious to get things going, and at that point I was getting tired of just sitting and waiting for things to get moving, so we decided to break my water around 1pm. And from then on, it got very intense.
Contractions got much longer and harder and faster. Everything went really quickly. Tried a birthing ball but it didn’t feel right. For a little while I was walking around the room, leaning onto things for support, rocking my hips back and forth and panting through the pressure. But after maybe 20 minutes of that, my legs and feet were getting really tired, walking around so much, and it just wasn’t comfortable. After that, I mostly labored sitting up in bed. I sat up, with my back straight up, cross-legged on the bed, and each time a contraction would hit, I would push up on my hands, rock back and forth with my hips, and let gravity take over.
It took a very short time to go from 8cm to fully dilated. Soon I started moaning and groaning and growling, and I knew that it was time to start pushing. I had a VERY STRONG urge to push, but they made me wait through a few more contractions. The midwife helped push back a small bit of my cervix, and immediately, I was determined to get that baby out.
It was very empowering, to labor with no medical interventions, no pain meds, nothing hindering me. The only people in the room besides Mike and I were the midwife and a nurse. The atmosphere was very calm and serene. I couldn’t have been more pleased about this birth experience. I started pushing a little after 2:30pm, and our baby was born at 2:57 pm. And it was a girl! Mike couldn’t have been more surprised! He had us all convinced that we were having a boy, and when the baby came out and Meg held it up, he said “It’s a girl? We have a girl?” We weren't disappointed though!
ALIAH GRACE HUMMEL entered the world!
Mike cut the umbilical cord. There was a true knot in the cord. Another anomaly was that she came out sideways. She has a small bump on her head from trying to come out sideways. She was head-up, facing her daddy.
Four minutes after she was born, out came the placenta. I had a second-degree tear somewhere internally, so they spent a little while stitching me up.
She is such a miracle baby. We are just so thankful that she is healthy and well! She weighed 8lbs, 10.9 oz and was 21 ¼ inches long. (And with a 14 inch head, no wonder I’m so sore!) This was no small baby!
Hannah got the news right away, and was absolutely ecstatic that she now has a baby sister. She jumped up and down and said “IT’S A GIRL! I WAS RIGHT!” Must have been so cute, I’m sorry that I missed it!
Hannah and my mother were our first visitors. They arrived at the hospital about half an hour after the baby was born, and big sister Hannah got to help push the new baby in the bassinette, into the new hospital room. They weighed her again when we were moved into a recovery room, and she had somehow gained an ounce!
Mom and Baby had to stay in the hospital for 24 hours because there was some meconium, and they just wanted to make sure that everything was fine. At 3pm the next day, they did a hearing test and a newborn screening test with all kinds of blood draws, and finally let us go home.
It is very nice to be home, and we are all adjustong pretty well to being a family of four. Aliah is a good little eater, sleeps all the time, and seems to be a very content baby. My mom is here with us this week, and she has been a tremendous help.

I will post more pictures in a few days.

Have a very happy New Year!

My mom is driving to our house today! She'll be here before bedtime. Now I don't have to worry about chidcare for Hannah when I go into labor! We'll celebrate Christmas with her, and she'll stay until after New Baby is born.... whenever that happens.

When will this baby hurry up and get here?!

I'm still not sleeping well. I'm always tired.
My head was in a funny position last night and I hurt some muscles in my neck.

I am constantly losing my patience with Hannah. I am very tired of trying to keep her entertained. Yet I feel guilty that I'm not giving her my full attention all the time. She and I both got scrapbooking supplies in our Christmas stockings, so we spent an hour making scrapbook pages last night, and that was cute. I also watched some home movies with her from 2007, and she loved seeing herself as a younger child.

Mike has also been getting on my nerves! He has spent an extravagant amount of money since he's been on vacation over the last two weeks. Then yesterday he got mad at me for putting "too much money" in our savings account! I think we're all getting restless and impatient.

Now Hannah is asking me to play princesses again...
Wake me up when it's over, please!

Pumpkins & Pictures.

Had a really deep discussion with my mother last night about pregnancy and parenting. My parents have been through so many hardships, it sometimes amazes me that they are still together! And it's funny: the older I get, the more I understand and appreciate my mom. She has been so supportive of me, especially through my miscarriages, and I just can't thank her enough.

She's planning to come visit in a week and a half. I think we'll have an all-girls weekend: mom, me, and Hannah!




WHY do people say annoying/rude/insensitive things to pregnant women?! Yesterday I had 3 different people make comments on my size, and tell me that I didnt look big enough to be seven months pregnant. I replied with something like "Don't worry, I've gained plenty of weight, and my doctor says Im perfectly healthy."



Actually, it is funny they would say that, when I found out just last week that this baby is measuring at least a full week BIGGER than average! So there.




And now for some pictures of our pumpkin-carving fun:



Hannah didnt like the yucky, sticky insides of the pumpkin, but she watched us carve them. Surprise: She did enjoy eating the pumpkin seeds!




The finished products. Can you guess which pumpkin belongs to which person?




Mike and I also had a funny conversation last night about having more children.
He joked "Maybe you can be pregnant next year too!" Oh no, not likely, buddy!!!
Yes, we do want more children - just not immediately. That sounds like a bit much to me. I feel like for me, having kids much less than 2 years apart is really pushing it. How would I stay sane?!?

Sunday

Sunday Brunch:
After quite a hectic morning, including a rushed, lame breakfast of cold cereal, then a mad dash to church and Sunday school.... Hannah and I came home to a very quiet house (Mike was sleeping this afternoon, after working all night).
That's when I had the bright idea of "Why don't we make pancakes?"
So, she helped me gather the ingredients, we mixed up the whole wheat batter, and I even let her dump choclate chips in it, too. (They were healthy pancakes by default - I ran out of white flour today.) I added some yogurt and fruit salad to our plates, and we had an almost-balanced meal.

FUUNY MOMENT: Hannah actually FELL ASLEEP while I was cooking the pancakes on the stove! Crazy little girl!

Still, we had a fun day together. After lunch we rode bikes around the block and down the street... Hannah went almost a whole mile around the neighborhood!

Mike woke up around 3pm, and that's when things got even more fun: We carved our pumpkins! (The ones we bought at the pumpkin farm, in PA.) Hannah was scared to touch the yucky pumpkin insides. She screamed and yelled "NO!" whenever we waved our sticky, pulp-covered fingers at her. But she did play with the seeds. She even tasted them! She LIKES pumpkin seeds. Just not the orange, sticky, stringy stuff. I think her favorite part was placing them on the front porch, and putting a candle inside each one. She loved seeing the pumpkins all lit up like that.

I talked with my mom tonight, and she is planning to visit us in a week and a half. It is always fun when she visits. I think she will be the last one to stay here, in the "guest room", before it is officially turned back into a nursery again.

Our Miracle Baby

You know that sunday school song about Noah and the ark? Well, it's been stuck in my head all day long!!!

"Who built the ark? Noah, Noah! Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark!"
I don't know why it keeps floating around in my head; I haven't heard it in years. But it's getting to be downright annoying!

Ironically, "Noah" was the boy name that we picked out during my first pregnancy. I still love it, but Mike isn't so convinced anymore.

When my mom was here last week, she looked at my tummy and said "Look how big you are already. You're not gonna last another three months, that's for sure. And I think it's a boy. You're carrying differently than you did with Hannah." When she looked at the ultrasound pictures, she also declared "I really think this baby is a boy." Even though every single picture is from the waist up.

Meanwhile, my bellybutton is teetering on the edge between "innie" and "outie" these days. It wont be too long before it just pops!

Mike said something really sweet the other day. We were comparing my first pregnancy with this one, talking about how clueless we were as first-time parents. And the nickname we gave to Hannah in utero, and as an infant, was "Baby Surprise". Well, in light of all the losses I went through last year, Mike dubbed this one "Baby Miracle". It was so sweet of him, to think of it like that. Because I know that this pregnancy truly is a miracle, an amazing gift from God! And I think that "Miracle Baby" is a much more fitting name than "number two" or "Baby H____" (our last name), or "acrobat" or "New Baby", which is what I've usually called him/her.

So, Miracle Baby, will you be a boy or a girl? Everyone wants to know!

Hannah really wants to have a baby sister.
I will be perfectly happy either way.
I'm just content in the fact that you and I are both healthy! :)


It's exciting, to think that we will be a family of four by the end of the year.

Hannah is sick

Mom was visiting is this weekend. She drove home yesterday. When she arrived back in Maryland, there were over 30 people at her house for dinner, for my father's birthday!


My dad has drastically changed his diet and has stopped drinking alcohol altogether. I'm really impressed with the changes he's made. He really wants to stay healthy for a long time to come.


Hannah has been congested and coughing a LOT. No fever, she just sounds horrible. Yesterday, cold medicine helped. But she woke up several times last night, having trouble breathing in her sleep. Now she's wheezing! This morning, I let her lay in bed until 10:30am (hey, I was tired too!).
I'm having trouble getting her a doctor's appointment; we might have to wait until tomorrow. That's what I get for procrastinating. I hope it's not pneumonia!


Mike started taking sleeping pills a few days ago, because he just can't sleep more than a few hours at a time. I feel so bad for him. His work schedule is really wearing him down. He worked 2 overtime shifts this weekend. He has already worked eight days in a row, and he won't get another day off until we leave for our beach trip on Saturday! I think these shift changes are really burning him out.

Sept 11. Mom visiting.

When we left our house on Sept 11th, the radio announced a "moment of silence" and we noticed all the flags flying at half-mast. Hannah was curious. So this is how I explained September 11th to my three year old: "Today we are remembering something sad that happened a long time ago, before you were born."
That's was the best way I could think of telling her without getting too political or detailed. I'm sure that as Hannah gets older, she will understand more, and have more questions. But I think that is sufficient for now.

Thursday was a looong day, I was running on just four hours of sleep, and we were babysitting for almost ten hours. Then Mike left his wallet at home, and at 7pm, when we were exhausted and hadnt even eaten dinner yet, we had to drive out to the ambulance base and deliver it to him. Then my mother drove down from Maryland, and got to our house just as we finished dinner.... at 9pm. Ugh.
I was so wiped out. I was just so drained that all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and cry until I fell asleep. But moms don't get to do things like that until everything else is finished and the kids are asleep.

We are having so much fun with YoMa here!

Tomorrow we have nursery duty at church, then lunch and a planning meeting for Awana, which starts next week. My MOPS group starts on Tuesday; I'm excited because I know that I wont be the only one there this time! Yay! Thank You God for mommy friends!

Nicole

Here we are, home again.

We got home from Maryland last night. Had to babysit for 2 hours, and all the kids were cranky. We'll be with them all day tomorrow.

My dad is doing just fine. He actually went to the gym with my mom yesterday, just to walk on a treadmill and lift 10 lb weights (due to dr's restcrictions). But he's feeling prefectly fine, and to look at him, you'd never know that there was anything wrong with him last week.

Lately, a lot of people have been mentioning homeschooling to me. Mike completely supports this idea. Ive been doing some online research and I really dont think it will be too hard.

Life is Good.

I woke up extra early this morning to help a friend move into their new house.
Now the pastor and his family are all moved in, just 2 miles away from us.
I joked that we were coming over for dinner tomorrow. He joked right back: "Yeah, and you can sit on a box. But whichever box you get, you have to open it and unpack it for us!" Hah.

Also had a MOPS meeting today. It was good to see those women again. My friend Joanna, who has suffered through 2 miscarriages since January, is now pregnant for the third time this year. But an ultrasound last week showed a healthy baby in there! She just hit 13 weeks and is now starting to tell everyone the good news. HOORAY! Thank you God!!!

Nine more days until my next doctor's appointment! It won't be anything special, just check vitals and listen to the heartbeat - but it's nice to know that everything is progressing well. And after that, next Wednesday, Aug 27th, I have another ultrasound at the hospital, to see if the baby's brain cyst has cleared up yet.
I keep having dreams that this baby will be a boy, but I have no clue. I mean, it's a fifty/fifty chance... who knows?

MIL and my mom's bdays are both next week. I wonder what we should send them?

Have a good weekend!

Nicole

Surprise Reactions.

Hannah and I went on a long road trip this weekend. Here is a summary:

On Friday morning, we went to a really nice MOPS tea. All the moms made such yummy treats to eat! And even though I was reluctant to drink tea (I just don't like hot flavored water, sorry!), it wasn't too bad with lots of sugar in it.
After I read my speech, I don't think there was a dry eye in the entire room. It was am amazing experience. Then my friend JoAnna summed up the entire year beautifully, with her message about the fruits of the spirit, and being content with whatever God gives you.

We stayed overnight in Maryland. I announced my pregnancy by telling my mother "Oh by the way, we won't be able to visit for Christmas this year, because.... I'm due to have a baby on Christmas Eve!"
And do you know what her reaction was?
"OH NO, I hope you dont have another KYLA!!!"
(Kyla is my crazy/sweet/oddball sister; she was born on Christmas Eve in 1985.)

Saturday, we drove to PA. Had dinner with the in-laws. Hannah bonded with her great grandpap and uncles, while I introducted my MIL to the world of scrapbooking. She is now addicted!

Sunday was Mother's Day. After church, my FIL took us out for brunch. It was so yummy! I ate everything on my plate, and half of Hannah's blueberry pancakes! Then we visited some friends, took a nap in the afternoon, and let Hannah play in the hot tub before dinner.

I got to tell Mike's parents about my pregnancy too. My MIL was so overjoyed that she was practically weeping. She said "I've been hoping you would tell me that for months; I'm so happy for you!"

The only really bad part of our trip happened on Sunday night, when I smashed my finger in the door. It hurt SO MUCH, and I felt really embarrassed that I'd hurt myself like that in front of Hannah and all of Mike's family. My finger is very bruised and purple and sore, but thankfully not broken.

We spent Monday and Tuesday with our friends in Pittsburgh! We got to meet Ally's new baby boy, play with Aaron, one of Hannah's best friends, and just hang out and relax. On Tuesday afternoon we met up with some more college friends and their babies. The kids had so much fun together! I wish we could see them more often.

Wednesday, we left for home at 9:45am, and got to Durham exactly nine hours later. Not bad, especially since we took more than several potty breaks, and spent 30 mins at a West Virginia state park, to get some exercise.
If gas prices weren't so high, I'd love to do it all over again next month.

Mike really outdid himself while we were gone. He acted like he was just so tired and busy from work that he couldn't possibly bring himself to do anything around the house. But he fooled us!

The first thing that we saw when we parked our car in the driveway, was a brand-new swingset in the backyard! SURPRISE! Hannah was so thrilled that it took me an hour just to get her inside! And waiting in her room was her brand new big girl bed, complete with the sprakly purple butterfly bedding that has been hiding in her closet for over a month! No more baby crib for this girl!

For me, he cleaned the kitchen, scrubbed the floors, vaccumed the whole house, washed all our sheets and towels and dirt dishes... He also got me fiften roses! One dozen, plus three more for each year that I've been a mother. So sweet.

Hope you had a Happy Mother's Day!

And again, thank you all so much for your prayers!
They really mean a lot to me.

MOPS Conference.

Today, Mom took Hannah to the hot spots in town: the movies (she didn't like the scary bird in "Horton Hears a Who"), the mall, rode the carousel and jumped in the moonbounce, ate ice cream after lunch, and quite a few other little adventures.

I am so thankful that Mom could be here this weekend, because it allowed me (and Esther) to go to the MOPS Ledership Conference in Raleigh! I was pleasantly surprised that, after picking up Esther, it only took THIRTY MINUTES for us to the get there! I thought it would be an hour. I guess there's no traffic at 8am on Saturday mornings?!


It was really refreshing and uplifting to spend the day with so many other area moms.
It was an amazing time of learning, fellowship, brainstorming and networking. I loved it! I got some new outreach ideas for my group, that I can't wait to implement. Plus I got to meet our new area coordinator, and my new blog-friend Heather :) Gigantic, yummy burritos and chips were donated by Chipotle, plus they had all kinds of other delicious snacks and brownies and good stuff.
Another bonus: I have never won anything before, but today I got a doorprize! 5 new Bibles and 5 bible study books that I can't wait to use at church!!!


Esther & family are moving in two weeks, so I've been trying to spend plenty of time with them before they go. Today was lots of quality time in the car together :) I Know I will miss things like that next month.
Her oldest son will be FIVE on Monday! He's getting so big, he's such a smart kid too. I'm sad that they are leaving, of course, but I know that Idaho is where God wants them to be right now. Their new job sounds like the perfect fit.

And now, I Have to try to remedy my closet situation.... Yesterday my closet shelves and clothes rack broke. It has now exploded all over our bedroom, leaving me no place to sleep! Where am I going to put all these clothes and boxes?! Our attic door broke last week, too!

COME HOME, Handy Husband! Please come home tomorrow and help me fix this mess!

Great Day!

We had a fun day.
It was perfect weather; it was actually very warm at our house!
Hannah and I even got pink noses and cheeks this afternon.
Got up early and dragged my mom and Hannah to a MOPS meeting. We talked about disclipline issues, vacations, and tips for traveling on long trips with toddlers. We also made really pretty bracelets at MOPS - they inspired me to buy more beads soon, so that I can keep playing with my new jewelry-making tools!

We met Mike for lunch at a new restaurant downtown (I didnt like the food too much, but hey, it was worth a try), and got some souvenirs for Mom in a few of the local shops. I would have loved to spend more time there, but we had to move on and go to Hannah's ballet class. She was such a cute little ballerina today! She did a great job dancing and learning new ballet positions, and she didnt even cry when I left the room. I'm so proud of her, of her independence.

When we got home from ballet, Hannah voluntarily put herself in bed!
While she was resting, mom and I worked on a sewing project that I've ben meaning to do for a loooong time. It finally got done today!
When Hannah got up, we ate dinner and she took a bath.

Somewhere in there, I also did 2 loads of laundry. Except, I couldn't really put it away properly, because somehow, in the middle of the night, my closet broke! We didn't hear a thing, but when I got up this morning, the metal rod was hanging halfway down to the floor, two of the bolts in the middle of the closet were completely missing, and all my clothes were heading towards a gigantic pile at the bottom of my closet. And one of the closet doors is broken as well.
Good luck fixing that one, Mike!

Ok so, after dinner, we let Hannah stay up late and watch 30 mins of a movie. Last week we started going through our home videos, and tonight we got all the way up to Christmas 2005. Hannah loves seeing and hearing the things she did when she was younger. She's constantly reminding us that she is not a baby anymore, but a big kid!
She has been accidnet-free this week!!!

Tomorrow I get to spend the whole day with ESTHER! I just packed up my essentials and took a shower. I'm all ready, I just have to roll out of bed and get in the car!

I'm Excited!

I got to talk with several far-away friends on the phone this afternoon.
It was like a breath of fresh air for me.
The MOPS conference on Saturday will be like a relaxing fresh-air retreat, too.

My mom is now here for the weekend!
She's such a big help, and always spoils Hannah like crazy.
We'll be busy this weekend, and have tons of fun!

Mike had an eye exam yesterday, and his vision is now 20/15! AWESOME!