Hannah playing on her play mat

Hannah with Cousin Esther and Great-Grandma!

Hannah being cute!

Hanging out in our swing!

Our Weekend

Stuart and I used to spend our weekends going out to dinner, going out with friends, etc. Now, we spend them cooking and going to bed early. That's pretty much how our weekend went this weekend too. Saturday though, we went to a wedding shower for our friend Brittany. We had so much fun being able to see our friends Brandon, Kimberly, and their little boy Jackson who is about 6 and half months old. He is really funny! Brandon and Stuart were roommates together in Dallas and in Midland before Stuart got married. We were able to bring Hannah with us but she slept the whole time. Saturday afternoon, Stuart got a massage that I had given him for Valentines Day and I worked on a school. Sunday was a gorgeous day! Not windy, and very warm! Our Internet, cable, and phone (all with Suddenlink) were not working!!! So, I took Hannah on her first walk. We had a really good time! (The dogs were heartbroken that I went on a walk without them!). I had also planned on updating our blog this weekend, and because the internet was down, I didn't get the chance. I did however, add some new pictures to the computer! Hope you enjoy!

Mommy goes back to work

In exactly 2 months from yesterday, I will graduate from UT Medical Branch with a Masters in Nursing and will be a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (once I take a huge board exam!). I am currently enrolled in 2 courses, one being my final pediatric clinical course. I was really fortunate to be able to accrue extra hours last semester by doing extra days at the Kelsey Seybold clinic in the Woodlands. I am not sure what would of been easier now, doing clincals while I was 9 months pregnant and huge/tired/waddling etc, or now with a newborn at home. I started yesterday at Hannah's pediatrician's office working with a wonderful very experienced PNP who is a really great role-model and mentor for a novice like myself. The clinic is actually in our neighborhood and right around the corner from our house! It was REALLY tough leaving Hannah for the whole day and I missed her so much! She stayed at my mom's all day and did great! I am soooo thankful that my mom lives here and happily takes care of Hannah so I can finish school. This is such a relief and if I didn't have her help, I am not sure I would of been able to finish school this Spring. Although I missed Hannah, I had a really good time being back in the clinical setting and saw several patients that I know! I either know the patients from the hospital or just from being from Midland, and this was something that I really missed while I was doing my rotations in Houston. I was really exhausted when I got home and couldn't wait for mom to bring Hannah back! ( I have to change and bathe first so that I don't bring home any germs to Hannah!) For the next 6 weeks, I will be doing clinicals on Mondays and Wednesdays and leaving Hannah with Grandmommy.

Visiting Daddy at work

Hannah loves her mommy!

For about the past week Hannah has been sleeping through the night! Literally! We have been going to bed around 11:30pm and she goes right to sleep. She has been sleeping anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00. I am so proud of her! She must have realized that her mom needs her sleep. This is especially good because on Monday I start my last clinical rotation which means, we can no longer sleep in until noon. I am excited about starting clinicals but sad to have to be away from Hannah during the day. It is only 2 days a week and my mom will be keeping her. But this will be my first time away from her for more than just a few hours. I do plan on coming home and nursing her at lunch. Hopefully, the busy season of pediatrics will have started to level off. It has been over 2 months now since I have been in the clincal setting.

We hope that everyone enjoyed their Valentines Day! We left Hannah with Mimi and Stuart and I went to Luigis with Austen and Sara! It was really nice to go out and dinner was wonderful! I did miss Hannah though :) Mimi said that she did great with her. Stuart and I are really lucky to have our families here to babysit!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

and

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Tonight for Valentines Day, Stuart and I are going on a date! Our first since Hannah was born. It will also be nice to enjoy a meal without a baby on my lap :) I hope that everyone else has a nice Valentines Day!

We Love You! Jennifer, Stuart, and Hannah

So cool in my shades!

Six weeks old and trip to Dallas

Saturday Hannah was 6 weeks old! Since I kept her inside for 6 weeks, we decided to celebrate our new found freedom by taking a road trip to Dallas. Actually, we went to Dallas to celebrate my Grandmother's 84th birthday. My family is spread out from coast to coast literally with family in Oregan, New York, and Florida. The family meets yearly in Dallas to celebrate Grandma's birthdays. This year everyone came and Hannah was able to meet 3 Great Aunts and 3 Great Uncles, 6 of her 2nd cousins plus 3 of their significant others, and she was able to see Aunt Susie and meet her boyfriend Jason. Hannah did great being passed around for everyone to see and touch. She also did great on the drive there and back. My mom drove with me and Hannah there on Friday. Although she did great and slept the majority of the time, a five hour drive turned into a seven hour drive because we stopped twice to feed and change, each taking about an hour. The ride back took just as long but was easier because Stuart drove and I was able to feed Hannah a bottle in the backseat. This being one of my first experiences even taking Hannah out was a little bit much for me. I was exhausted!

Saturday was also Hannah's first trip to Nieman Marcus (my favorite lunch place!). We also did some shopping at the mall. Hannah was wide eyed and look around at everything. It amazes me at how many people stop to comment on her!

I will post pictures of the weekend as soon as someone sends me some that I can post. I didn't have a chance to take any. It was a wonderful weekend seeing everyone and I can't wait to do it again next year when Hannah will be walking! :)

I have lost my mind!

Friday I nearly burnt the house down... Today I tried to flood the house!

Our house is finally getting back to normal. The toxic plastic smell is faint and can be masked my good smelling candles. There is a film all over everything in our house from the smoke, but that can be cleaned. Just to keep things interesting, I thought today I would flood the house.

Hannah hasn't been eating that well since she is congested so I have been pumping after feeds to keep my milk supply up. After I pump I soak my supplies in hot soapy water until I either rinse them and set them out to dry or I use them again. This morning I pumped, turned on the water, put the supplies in the water, pull the plug, and left the room forgetting to turn off the water. I went into the kitchen where I loaded the dishwasher (with bottles, since I will not be boiling them anymore) cleaned the kitchen up, and then started putting away my Target groceries from yesterday. I had some things that needed to be put up in Hannah's room, so when I got to her room I noticed that her carpet was wet, the water was on, the sink was over-flowing, and there was about an inch of water on the floor the bathroom! Super! I turned off the water and called my wonderfully patient husband and told him that I had messed up again and I needed him to come home right now and clean up my mess. :(

What is going on with me? I am post-partum brain dead!!! Has anyone else gone through this? Please tell me it won't last much longer. Good thing I am not working right now. No telling what kind of damage I could do.

Look at me smile :)

Buddy Bear

Dear Aunt Susie,

I know that you love Buddy Bear, but now that I will be spending a lot of time at Grandmommy's house, Buddy Bear is now MINE!

Love, Hannah

FIRE!

Friday I nearly burnt the house down. Seriously. Hannah's pediatrician told me to make sure I boil all the bottles and nipples so she doesn't get thrush (thrush is a yeast infection that gets in her mouth, can cause a yeast diaper rash, and can be transfered back and forth during breastfeeding). So I was boiling some bottles on high on the stove and appearantly I just forgot about it. Absentmindedness I suppose, or just irresponsible. I had fed Hannah back in her room and been playing on the internet for a while when I decided to go put Hannah down in her bouncer in our bedroom. When I walked past I noticed the kitchen was filled with smoke and this terrible smell! (Our smoke alarms never went off!) The smoke was spreading into the living room. I put the baby and the dogs in my room and shut the door. I grabbed a blanket to cover my mouth and nose and ran into the utility room (I thought maybe the dryer was on fire!) I turned the dryer off and looked back into the kitchen and realized all the smoke was coming from the stove. I turned off the burner immediately and moved the buring pot. The plastic baby bottles, caps, and nipples had completely melted in the pot as the water evaporated and it smelled toxic. I opened the doors all over, opened the garage and took Hannah out the back yard and into the car and drove the car around the front to escape the smoke that was filling up the garage. We sat in the car for over and hour while Stuart rushed home and started airing out the house. He opened all the windows, turned on filters, fans, etc. The smoke was starting to clear out but there was a terrible toxic smell that gave you a headache instantly. I took Hannah and we went to my parents house. Later on at night Stuart went back to the house and determined that the smell was too strong for us to stay there. We were worried about it affecting the baby. We decided to stay at my parents house who happened to be out of town. Today, Saturday, the house still smells bad. We are continuing to air it out but felt that we (me, Stu, Hannah, and the doggies) should spend another night at my mom's. It has been sort of a mini-vacation and I think we have kind of enjoyed it. Stuart refused to sleep in my parents room so he is sleeping in Susie's room and me and Hannah are sleeping in my old room. I think the last time I slept here was the night before my wedding. I think the house should be better to return to tomorrow.

Hannah is still sick. She has lots of green mucos and is very congested. I listened to her lungs today and they are clear, no wheezing. That is good. I am continuing to keep her head elevated, suctioning her nose, and using the humidifier. Maybe she will feel better tomorrow. Tonight Stuart and I had dinner with his Uncle Ricky who is in town visiting Mema! We took him to Luigi's and since I didn't have a babysitter, we brought Hannah along to her first resteraunt. She got a little fussy, probably hungery, but did well. We kind of hid her under the table in her carseat... We had a great time visiting with Ricky!

The most exciting news of the weekend is our best friends Austen and Sara are expecting a girl! Austen and Stuart have been best friends since the 7th grade and were both eachothers Best Man at our weddings. We are so excited for them that they are expecting and we will have babies close in age, but we are just elated that they are having a girl like us. Hannah and Aubrey are going to be best friends!!! We can't wait to meet Aubrey Rose in early July!