Faces of Hayley

Really, Hayley, is a natural-looking smile too much to ask for?

Jinxed or Momma No Likey the Sicky

We've had sickness around our house the last week. It could have been Jeremy's fault, since he was the one who said, "We've had a pretty good Winter. No one's really been sick." My response? "Don't say that out loud! You'll jinx us!" Sure enough, Jackson woke up coughy and boogery a few days later. I think Hayley may have been the carrier, bringing it home from preschool or somewhere. The first thing she does when she gets in the car is say hi to her brother and hold his hand. Which is sweet, but then the first thing he does after that is sticks his hand in his mouth. Great way to spread the germies.

So, Jackson has had a sneezy, boogery, coughy cold. He was just starting to get over it, when BAM! Hayley starts the hacking cough and I start the runny nose. Perfect. In an effort for Jackson to not re-catch the cold he just got over, the kids have pretty much been on quarantine from each other. It's killin' Hayley. She's all, " I just want to touch my baby. I just love my baby." Finally, I told her if she went and washed her hands really well, she could hold his hand while he was in his crib. So she washed, and then went into Jackson's room. Seeing her holding his little hand, and saying to him, "I'm sorry you're sick, Baby. I have sickness too. I love you Baby. You love me too, don't you Baby?" in her cutesy little girl voice is seriously one of the sweetest moments I've witnessed between my children. I tried to get it on video, but Hayley gets a little self conscious with an audience, let alone a camera.

Anyway, here's to hoping that Hayley and I get over The Gombu soon, that Jackson doesn't recatch it, and that at least Jeremy doesn't join the Secret Sickness Club. Stealing some wording from Hayley pretty much sums it up: this Momma no likey the sicky.

Could be worse though. Here's a shout out to you Kimi, just for making it through the day.

Party for a Princess

Hayley started out with Family Parties, complete with Snow White, Barbie, Light Bright, a Curious George cake, and a balloon crown.

A few days later, she had her first Friend Party.

We started out making our Party Masks, which turned out really cute!

Then we moved on to a Prize Walk.

(Like a Cake Walk, but with Dollar Store Prizes.)

After that we hit the pinata.

To my amazement, no kids were harmed in the breaking of the castle,

although there were a few close calls!

Note to Self: Contrary to popular belief, bats and children don't always mix.

Then on to Princess and the Frog cake and presents.

(My camera was out of available memory, hence the lack of present-opening pictures. Grrr.)

A really fun party, that was actually worth all the stress and preparation. :)

Happy 4th Birthday Princess Hayley!

P.S. Click on any picture collage to make it bigger.

I may be a little out of control with the documentation of the birthday.

I can't help it with a kid this cute and crazy!

The Proof

Can you see them?

No? How 'bout now?

Now?

Yep, we're up to two cute teeth!

Torn Between

Sometimes I'm kind of jealous of my husband.

Because he's home three days during the week

(and the other two mornings, before he goes in to work)

with the kids.

And I'm not.

He's the one doing the little girl's ponytail,

And deciding which cute clothes to put on the little boy.

He's the one that gets to lay in bed and watch cartoons with the kiddos,

while I get to get up early and head off to work.

While I stand by my statement

that I would never want to be a full time stay at home,

I can't help but feel left out sometimes.

While I like my job

and have fun while I am there,

I can't help but wonder throughout the day

what the fam up to.

Who's being good, who's being naughty,

what they're having for lunch,

what they're doing for fun.

Of course, I could call

and check in

(and I do)

but it's just not the same.

I can't help feeling like sometimes I'm missing out.

I love him.

I came across this pic in the files, and while it was take a while ago.

I love it.

Because it's us.

Well, duh, of course it's us.

What I mean is, it's us.
This picture captures the essence of a lot of who we are as a couple.

#1 It was taken at Lake Powell while boating.

Which Jeremy doesn't love, but he knows I love it, so we go.

It's all about give and take.

#2 It was taken mid laugh.

I can tell because Jeremy is smiling a big smile that you

just don't get in pictures of him when they're posed.

We do laugh together a lot.

#3 See how I'm holding his hand down?

That's because he's a fan of giving me a nice pair of rabbit ears.

And because I've learned from experience,

his hand gets held down.

#4 No kids in sight.

Even more so as life gets busier, dates are still important.

What we actually do for the date is not as important.

I love being married.

I love being married to my husband.

I love that I think I may love it more and more as time goes on.

I love the comfort level we've attained.

I love the home we have.

I love our children.

I love my life.

I love you, Jeremy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 8th, 2006

I woke up this morning and thought, "Four years?! Can it possibly have been that long since Hayley's debut into this world?" But it has been. And since I never really recorded her birth story, that's what you get for a post today.

Her story really begins the day before, on February 7th, 2006, three weeks before her actual due date of February 22nd. Being the responsible teacher that I am, I scheduled my Parent Teacher Conferences early, as to not have them interfere with the birth of my child. So, February 7th, I had my last conference with parents, and then headed to my 37 week routine doctor appointment. It didn't really turn out to be that routine.

On the way there I got pulled over for speeding. I admit it. I have a lead foot. He asked me where I was going and I told him I was pregnant and headed to the doctor. He asked me in a condescending voice, "Well, are you in labor?" I said no, but I so should have said yes. It wouldn't even have been that much of a lie, it turns out. I got off with a warning. Which is typical. I get warned a lot for speeding, but not ticketed. It drives Jeremy nuts.

Anyway, warning behind me, and I'm on my way. I get to the doctor's office only to be told that my doctor is not there, he's delivering a baby. So I meet with the nurse, who tells me my blood pressure is high and my ankles are ugly-swollen. (Okay, I might have said that one. But she didn't disagree.) She's also not feeling a lot of movement from the baby (I'm thinking duh, there's not a lot of room left in there) so she decides to send me up to the hospital for more monitoring.

So up I go to LDS Hospital, calling Jeremy at work on the way. I think I was in denial a little, because when he asked me, "Do you want me to come up?" I told him no, and that I'd probably be home in a couple of hours. (Or a couple of days, as it turns out...) I get to the hospital and get hooked up to all their gizmos and gadgets, and a couple hours turns into the whole evening. My thoughts, "Guess I'm missing my 'New Parent' class tonight. Crap, I missed American Idol too!" Finally my doctor comes in to see me with these introductory words, "How do you feel about having a baby?!"

Me: "Um, actually today's not good."

Him: "Wha... Why not?" (Obviously not the response that he usually gets.)

Me: "How about tomorrow after school? I go off track tomorrow."

Him: "I really think you should stay here. You could have a seizure with what your blood pressure is at." (Not true, actually. Since my pressures were just as high, and actually higher, with Jackson. But way to scare the new soon-to-be mommy.)

We argued back and forth for twenty minutes or so, and eventually he won out. Because he had some good points, and by then I was excited to have a baby!

So Jeremy came up, and I got some Cytotec to get things started down there over the night. When the doctor came back in to check on me later, I was writing sub plans. In my hospital bed. While being induced into labor. He thought I was a little crazy, and I didn't care. Because it was his fault (okay, his idea, Hayley's fault) to throw all my careful planning and calendaring out the window. I also blame it on him that I didn't have a fresh pedicure for all that pushing with my feet up in the air, but I'm not bitter or anything...

Anyway, by the next morning the Cytotec had worked it's magic, and they hooked me up with some Pitocin at about 8:00 a.m. to get the contractions going. By about 10:00 a.m. I was wimpering through my contractions, and decided to get hit up with that epidural.

It was pretty funny when the anestehologist came in. He was like, "So what are you dialated to?" Me: "One." He looked at me like I was a total wimp. And maybe I was, but labor pain is so much different from any other kind of pain, and even just having a taste of it dialated to a one, I didn't want to feel any of it when it got a whole bunch worse. Now, just some background, I was actually more scared of the epidural than I was of any of the pregnancy or birth. And it was just as bad as I thought it would be going in. It hurt. Like. HELL. It hurt more that anything in my life up to that point. (Possibly because at that point I'd never experienced a natural childbirth...) But, it was really a love/hate relationship. Because was it totally worth it? Oh, YES!

Feeling much better after my epidurhell, I continued to progress until my doctor came in at about noon and broke my water. That was fine with me, because I was feeling a bunch of nothin'. Kept on pluggin' along, until he came to check me at about 1:30, before he went to his office for a while to meet with patients. He was thinking he'd check me and come back later that evening when I was ready to deliver. He came in with his jacket on and everything, ready to go. Except that he took one look down there, and then his eyes got really big, and then he was like, "We're having a baby NOW!"

It's a little fuzzy in my memory (I blame the blood pressure medicine and anti seizure magnesium crap they were streamlining into my IV) but I know we had a head sensor on the baby and they had to use the forceps. But really it was a pretty easy birth. I think like four or five good pushes. Hayley Alyssa Bachman was born at 2:06 p.m. on February 8th, 2006. They had the NICU people all there, ready to go, but Hayley didn't need them. She was perfect. (Aside from a little jaundice, aka my arch nemesis, which also had little Hales in the hospital for another day after I got to go home. Sadness.) 6 lbs. 14 oz. 8 and 9 on her Apgar Scores.

Cracked me up that the doctor didn't even have time to take off his jacket.

After some bonding with that sweet little girl, they whisked her away for her first bath. That was okay, since there was some mending to attend to on me.

What a loved little girl. We were by no means the only ones that couldn't get enough of her.

(Notice how she's only crying in the picture with me? Nice.)

Amazing how that feeling of love and joy and pride just continue to grow.

More amazing how quickly that sweet baby turned into a sweet and sassy little girl.

Happy Birthday to you Hayley!

Thanks for changing our lives in the best way possible!

A Week of Firsts

Thursday, January 28th:

Hayley came up with a new quip: "What the heck, Mom?! Why are you making me clean the whole house?!" I wasn't, but seeing as how her messes are all over the house, I could see how she could come to that conclusion.

Friday, January 29th:

Jackson finally rolled his rolly polly body from his back to his tummy.

Saturday, January 30th:

Jackson discovered his feet. Though he can't get them to his mouth yet, he sure thinks they are fun to play with!

Sunday, January 31st:

Jackson got his first tooth!

Monday, February 1st:

Jackson had his first fall. After feeding him at 5:00 a.m. I wrapped him up and put him in his swing. I cracked the door to check on him at 7:00 and the swing was going, but he wasn't in it. He was on the floor face down, smiling away. Like, "Look what I did Mom!" Really, does nothing faze you, Kid?! (I know, I know. Buckles!)

Tuesday, February 2nd:

Hayley went to her new preschool, Miss Margene's Creative Classroom. It's working out much better!

Wednesday, February 3rd:

Hayley flooded the bathroom toilet. Maybe technically not a first, but definitely entertaining!

Thursday, February 4th:

Jackson has a new trick. If you stick out your tongue and blow (like a raspberry) he'll do it back. It's so cute!

Friday, February 5th:

Hayley fell down Grandma's concrete steps, because she was in too much of a hurry to hold the rail. She's fine. She's tough. She still didn't hold the rail the next time. (!)

Dearest children of mine, please stop being in such a hurry to grow up!

Catastrophe

This story was told to me by Jeremy, so I'm hoping I can relay the humor in the retelling.

While Jeremy was in the shower (with the door shut, of course) Hayley flooded the toliet in the hallway bathroom. By the time Jeremy heard her stressing out, the water was about an inch deep. Jeremy comes running out, with only a towel on. Hayley is freaking out at all the water, etc. coming out of the toilet. Jeremy, upon seeing all the water, etc. rips his towel off to begin soaking up the water. Hayley's attention is now diverted, as evidenced by her response of "What's that?" Nice. Jeremy's thought, "Oh crap, right, I'm naked." So he grabs a handtowel to cover his junk (The first time he told me this story he said "washcloth" which made it infinitely more funny, since I was picturing one of the baby-sized baby washcloths that are in that bathroom...) and sends Hayley to her room, mostly just to get her out of the way. She's still wondering aloud, "But what's under there?" as she is ushered to her room. Six bathtowels and a load of laundry later, all is well.

This story kind of made my afternoon.

Especially that Jeremy got to deal with it, and I just got to laugh about it.