Hannah is 6 months old!

Sometime during the blur of the last 2 weeks Hannah celebrated her first half birthday! Yes, we normally celebrate half birthdays in my family. Because of everything else going on, we were not able to celebrate, but Hannah turning 6 months old, did not go un-noticed. Hannah is thriving as a 6 month old! She is sitting up on her own, grabbing everything in sight, taking solids, and even getting up on all fours. (Mommy is not quite ready for her to start crawling yet.) Hannah is also exhibiting separation anxiety and does not like it when you leave her alone. We had an interruption in our food introduction schedule, but we are getting back on track. So far, Hannah will not eat any green vegetables. She will eat carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, and these Gerber Graduate snacks. She is quite the eater. Apples and the Gerber snacks are her favorites. Like her mommy, she wants nothing to do with peas or green beans. Due to the stress and my milk not letting down, I am having to supplement with formula. I am still trying to nurse as often as I can but its not quite enough. I was really hoping to solely nurse until she started whole milk but I am not sure with the stress that I am under that I will be able to continue. On Monday, I took Hannah to her well check and she got to see Miss Teri (Miss Teri is kind of like my mentor/role model). Everything is great and she weighs 17 pounds 8 ounces and is 25 and 3/4 inches long. She is in the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height.

I am going to back track a little bit right now since I was not able to blog about my trip to Vegas. After studying so hard and then taking (and passing) my certification exam, I left for Vegas for the weekend sans Hannah and Stuart. It was my first time away from Hannah. Daddy did an excellent job taking care of her but I missed her like crazy. This trip had been planned for a long time (years!) and we were finally able to go. My dad, mom, sister, and I met my aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins out in Vegas for the weekend. Now, looking back on the trip it was such a blessing that we were able to spend the weekend as a family and Susie was able to spend the weekend with mom. (For those of you who don't know, Susie lives in New York). We had a wonderful weekend and those memories I will cherish forever. We saw Jersey Boys (a must see!) and "O" and we ate, shopped, and spent time with our cousins. My mom told my dad that it was a "trip of a lifetime!"

The past week and a half have been the most difficult time of my life. We are grieving and hurting deeply over this tragedy. I have this ache in my heart that will not go away. Part of me just keeps thinking that this is impossible and I wonder how on earth something like this could happen. I have also been amazed by the out-pouring of support we have received, phone calls from old friends, cards, letters, flowers, meals, and prayers. It was also wonderful to see some of my oldest and dearest friends who flew into Midland last week to be with me. Friends like Meryl, Maggie, Robin, and Allison (and those of you who wished you could of been here but could not), I am truly thankful to have you in my life and I really love you guys! I am in awe over how many people have reached out to us and how many lives my mom had touched. Although our lives have to go on, there is a long hard road ahead of us as we deal with this tremendous void in our lives.

Tomorrow is Hannah's first Fourth of July, and our first holiday without Mom. Over the next two weeks several of our friends will be giving birth and we cannot wait to meet Hannah's new friends. I will try and take some new pictures of Hannah and post them soon. Until then, please have a SAFE holiday weekend.