Lyla is 2!

I knew I hadn't written in a while, but I didn't realize that my last post was the day before I went back to work.  Wow.  I guess that proves just how busy my life is right now!  It's actually been great... I enjoy having a routine; the past four weeks at work have been just fine.  My class is awesome; I really love my students, so that has helped make my transition a little easier.  Hagen has been doing great at daycare. He is such a fun, sweet baby!  I love his little coo's and the way he looks at me when I hold him.  I sure do miss my sweet babies all day... only two more weeks until summer, though!
Lyla Grace turned two years old on Saturday, May 26.  She had a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party.  She enjoyed opening presents and eating cake!  I can't believe she's already 2.  Life is flying by... I can't wait to savor every second with my cuties this summer!
Enough talk... here are some recent photos!

One. More. Day.

   Tomorrow is my last day of maternity leave.  I've been sitting here trying to think of something really fun to do with Lyla tomorrow... I will really miss her for the next six weeks until summer!  Today my (90 year old) grandma took Lyla for a walk around the block (ONE BLOCK) and it took them one hour... that's because Lyla has to stop after every step to talk about something!  But I think that might have been right on pace with my Grandma, she's gotten a little slow these days.  That's another person I'll miss when I go back to work- Lyla, Hagen, and I visit 'Nana' almost everyday.  I love that lady!  I know she will miss us too! 
   Part of me is a little excited about going back to work.  Even though I love my freedom, it will be nice to have some sort of schedule again.  Lyla has been spoiling me lately because she sleeps until 9 or 9:30... it will be rough to set that alarm again.  Hagen is no where near sleeping through the night so I know I will be a very tired teacher until I get used to it. 
   Hagen turned 6 weeks yesterday... he is growing so fast!  Here are my cuties!

The Boyle's Visit!

I was very excited for the Boyle family to come visit with us! Mrs. Boyle is my Room Mother and Matthew (yellow shirt) is in my class. His sister, Krista, and brother, Graham, came along too. Lyla and I enjoyed their company!

A Little Set-Back

   Saturday night, my family went over to our friends, the Stanford's, for a Pot-Luckin' good time!  I started to feel bad at her house- I had chills and was freezing!  Unfortunately, I had to cut the night a little short because I was starting to feel worse by the minute.  That night and Sunday were HORRIBLE... I had Mastitis.  I had a fever, chills, sweats, headache, and aches and pains like I had the flu.  I could not move- I did not move! 
   It hit at a really bad time, I had SO much to do!  We were supposed to move our refrigerator on Sunday and I was in such a good de-cluttering groove for my house.  I had gotten a LOT done on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Our house was supposed to go up for sale on Monday but I wasn't able to get everything ready so we had to change the date.  :(  I ended up going to the doctor on Monday to get some antibiotics since I still had a fever and pain and finally started to feel more like myself by Tuesday.
   On another note, I have one more week at home with my sweet children!  In addition to missing them, I am also going to miss watching soap opera's, shopping at any time of the day, getting lunch from wherever I want, and spending a lot of time outside. May 7th is going to be a very sad day but at least there are only 6 more weeks of school left- I can do it! :) 
  Here are a few recent pictures of them!!!

This is the life...

Hagen turned 4 weeks old two days ago... which means I'll be heading back to work in about 2 weeks.  This makes for a really sad mommy!  I am so grateful for the time off I have had with the kids and in only about six weeks, I'll be off for summer... so I can't complain too much.  And I REALLY do miss my students! 
Hagen is still eating every 2-3 hours and sleeping all the time.  He is a very strong baby, he lifts his head really well during tummy time.
Lyla is almost one month shy of turning 2 years old.  I am in the process of planning her birthday party which will have a Minnie Mouse theme!  I tried to think of the things she likes- which bascially only includes Elmo and Barney... and my sister just had an Elmo party for Zoey and I can promise you I will NEVER host a Barney party... so I figured I'd go with number three on Lyla's list: Minnie Mouse!  So far, I've found a bunch of cute ideas for a Minnie Mouse themed party.  I'm excited! :)
The construction on our house is finally finished and our realtor is coming to talk with me today.  It's been CRAZY trying to get this house ready to be put up for sale.  We seriously have WAY too much stuff for this little house.  (A big thank you to my sister for always cleaning my house... and especially for helping me with this big task!)  The house still isn't ready for anyone to come in and look at it.  I think we just have to go ahead and pack things up to put in storage so that it doesn't look so cluttered.  So, that's my task today and probably this weekend.  After I make my way to the shower, I'm going to head out in search of boxes.  The main thing is Lyla's toys... she has TOO many toys... and we're coming upon another birthday- what am I going to do?  AND throughout my stay at home with her I have realized that she doesn't even play with her toys... her main interests are electrical sockets, computers, baby's swing, baby wipes, and desitin.  Why can't my child just sit down and play with toys?  I hope she outgrows this soon... I mean, don't get me wrong... there is a time (about 5 minutes out of the day) when she rides her bicycle, pulls her wagon, or pushes her doll in a stroller... but this definitely does not outweigh the time she spends playing with things she shouldn't be playing with.  Good thing she's so stinkin' cute! :)  I also really just need to get good at throwing things away.  (Good thing my husband doesn't read this, he would know I'm coming to terms with my weaknesses!)  Maybe I need help?  Am I borderline hoarder?  I don't think it's that bad... but I really need to let go of the things that I constantly say, "I'm going to need this one day".  If I need something again another day, I'll just go out and buy it... chances are I won't be able to find it in the house anyway. 
Here are a few recent pictures... look at these cute faces I have to send to daycare soon :(

But I Don't Want You To Be 1 Week Old!

I remember with Lyla, I was so excited about everything she was going to do... the wonderful things that time would bring. I said things like, "I can't wait until she..." With Hagen, it is making me sad to think of how fast they grow and I'm really trying to cherish each and every little moment. I actually cried today for Hagen's 1 week old day! (But remember, my hormones are still wacky!)
I am completely enjoying my time off with Lyla and Hagen. (And the thought of Hagen being 1 week old means that one of my weeks off from work is already GONE! :( :( :( maybe that's why I cried!)
Our first night at home was a rough one... I think I slept for a total of 2 hours that night. Hagen must have had his nights and days mixed up or either he was still fussy from the circumcision. Poor thing. Since that night, he has been a dream... he sleeps for 4-5 hours straight at night time and that makes for a really happy mommy! And, his umbilical cord fell off last night (3/27/12)... please stop growing up, Hagen!
Lyla has been doing pretty well. I do not think she's jealous or craving attention, I really just think she might be going through what's known as the DUN DUN DUN... terrible two's! My heart is breaking for her because even though I really think she loves having the baby around, it makes me sad to know how much attention she used to get and no longer does (to some extent). I honestly don't think it has phased her though. We have spent a couple days over at my Grandma's house which is good because Grandma holds the baby and I get to spend time with Lyla outside or playing with dolls. AND it's so weird how I thought she was so little and ever since we've been home from the hospital, Tommy and I continue to comment on how big she is... maybe it's because we were away from her for a couple of days.
Here is Hagen at 6 days old!

Here we are during our first trip to the grocery store as a family of 4! Yes- Lyla is in the cart eating grapes... which normally I do not allow, but Tommy said "Don't you pay for grapes by the weight?" "yes, yes you do!" "Then let her eat them!" haha :) Gotta love him!

Here's the proud big sister! She asks to hold him all the time and has proven to be a really big helper! :)

Here is Hagen at 1 week old! We were sitting outside at Nana's house soaking up some rays. He had a low level of jaundice when we left the hospital, but it went up after we left so we've been back and forth to Lab Corp checking the levels. I've been trying to get him in the natural light as much as possible.

Introducing Hagen Bo Heflebower

Hagen has finally officially entered our lives and we couldn't be more in love! He is so sweet. I went in to be induced on Wednesday, March 21, 2012- already dilated to 5cm and my contractions had started. It seems that March 21 would have been the day he joined us anyway- I'm glad we already had it planned to go to the hospital that day! We arrived to the hospital at 6:45am and they began giving me fluids. At 7:45, my doctor broke my water. By 8:30, since things were not progressing really quickly, I was given pitocin. And at about 8:45, I had the epidural. My nurse said they were sort of just going to let things work on their own for a little while (since everytime you have a contraction, the baby descends a little bit). I had been feeling pressure and knew he was getting pretty low. At about 1:30, the nurse came in and said she would let me start trying to push. In the middle of that first push, she said "STOP!", she ran into the hallway and yelled for the doctor to come in. The whole crew ran in, got suited, and prepared for delivery! I was then told to give one more slow push and there he was! Thank goodness for an easy, easy delivery and recovery so far! I wish my first experience would have been this great!

Hagen has been an excellent baby! We went in this morning for his pediatrican check-up and everything is perfect.

Lyla has been such a caring and helpful big sister. She loves to kiss on Hagen. She has adjusted really well so far... the biggest difficulty she is facing is that she doesn't understand why I can't pick her up. She has had lots of time in my lap though... only a few more days and hopefully everything will be back to normal for her.

39 weeks and counting!

I went to the doctor for my 39 week appointment on Friday. She informed me that I am dilated to 4 cm! Wow! For the past month I've been saying that I did not really want to be induced just because I wanted to experience the whole "don't know where I'll be when I got into labor, gotta rush to the hospital" feeling. When I talked with my wonderful doctor about this, I got a little nervous! She really helped me realize that I'm almost half way through labor! She said that at the slightest ounce of pain, I needed to rush to the hospital. Not only do we not want to have a baby in the car, I also do not want to have a baby without an epidural. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but I really don't want to find out! So, needless to say, I'm scheduled for an induction on Wednesday, March 21. My doctor said I could pick any day, but Wednesday is the day she's working. Having an induction date has put me more at ease... there's a light at the end of the tunnel! I can walk into the hospital calmly and get the fluids I need and an epidural before my body reaches the 'point of no return'. Now that I have it all planned out, Hagen will probably come on his own before then! We are so excited to meet him!!!!!!

Lyla Grace is growing too fast! She continues to be the most fun person I know. She says such funny things and acts entirely too cute! I can't wait to see how she reacts with the new baby. Here are a couple recent photos of her:

This is her and cousin "Zozey" (she puts that extra Z in there which is adorable!). We took the kids to Bass Pro Shops for a kid day they had last weekend. Look at her pigtails!!!!!!!!

Here she is one morning after I got her dressed. Whenever I kneel down to take her picture, she kneels down too. :)

Here it is!

I'm 38 weeks and 2 days today. I decided maybe Hagen was waiting for me to document him inside the womb before he made his debut- so now I'm sharing it with all of you! :)

Go ahead and come on out now, Hagen! We can't wait to meet you!!!!!!!

Worth the wait!

Well, the full moon has come and gone and we're still waiting on baby Hagen to arrive! I know he will be worth the wait, so we're just enjoying every second of being a family of three until he makes his debut! When I went to the doctor at 37 weeks, I was almost 2 cm and almost all the way effaced. Now, at 38 weeks, I'm 3 cm and completely effaced. I went to the doctor on Friday and she again said she didn't think she would see me at the next weekly appointment... getting my hopes up! Since I had gone from 2cm to 3cm in a week, I figured Hagen might come this weekend... there's still time! :) The bags are packed in the car and everything is ready to go! Now that I've gotten everything ready in my classroom for a sub to walk on in, it makes me not want to go back! Although, it does make for easy days since everything is so neatly planned, organized, and copied... it makes it easier to walk out when the kids leave!

Big sister Lyla is talking about baby brother a lot. She repeats EVERYTHING and remembers it all! It is so cute to carry on a conversation with her. I wish I could freeze time! Lyla's fever a couple weeks ago was finally diagnosed as a Urinary Tract Infection... poor baby :(. Once the 10 day medicine is finished, we have to take her in to have an ultrasound of her Kidney's. I pray everything will be okay.

Sorry there aren't any pictures this time... my camera is staying at my mom's house until the baby comes just so that we can be sure it makes it to the hospital... that was my biggest concern! haha :) Hopefully there will be pictures to post of baby boy REALLY soon! :)

Snow and Sickness

I'm officially 36 1/2 weeks today! When I went to the doctor on Friday, she said I'm 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She says I won't make it to my due date (March 24). I hope she's right! There will be a full moon on March 8 so maybe that will be the big day! I have been working really hard at school trying to get everything in line for my sub. Hopefully tomorrow when I leave school, I will finally feel ready to not come back the next day. I go back to the doctor this Friday... I can't wait to hear if I've dilated anymore! :)

We finally had SNOW! Unfortunately, my baby girl had a stomach bug and wasn't really up for doing much playing. It was her first time having a yucky stomach sickness! She handled it really well. I took off Friday to spend with her, we ended up having a snow day on Monday, then I was feeling a little yucky myself on Tuesday, so I pretty much had a 5 day break. Lyla was back to normal for about a week and now she's sick again. :( Poor thing. This time she has a fever- hopefully it's just a virus but it could be a urinary tract infection- still waiting to hear back from the doctor. So anyway, back to the snow talk, here are a couple pictures of Lyla from that one snowy day... I actually do have snow boots for her but when I put them on her, she just cried and cried! So, we stuck to jeans and tennis shoes! :)

And for those of you who have heard me talk about our construction:

Can you imagine how dusty our house is from this?!?

Circus 2012

We had a great time at the Circus! The kids were really good and seemed to enjoy most of the show. They were getting tired at the end. Here are some cute photos from the night:

Hagen's Baby Shower

Today was such a great day! Thank you so much to all of my family and friends who came out to celebrate baby Hagen! (We missed those of you who couldn't make it!) We received such a wide variety of the necessities... it was great! (And some super cute clothes, too!) And how memorable that it snowed on Hagen's day- those were some huge snowflakes!

Many people asked about Hagen's room and I had to be honest about the room being no where near ready yet. We decided not to paint his room since we're planning to put our house up for sale soon. His room doesn't really have a theme- it's sort of funny because Tommy and I kept going back and forth about how we would decorate the room and now we're not really decorating it at all! Tommy, of course, wanted an Eagle's theme and I find something adorable about elephants. I think I will search for some cute elephant fabric and have my Grandma make curtains for his room. I didn't even get a bed set for Hagen- I guess you really realize things you NEED and don't need by the time that 2nd baby comes around!

When I got home from the shower with my car full of gifts, I decided to leave everything in the car until that room was READY! There's not enough time for me to drag my feet about it. It took me about 2 hours to clean everything out of the room- what was in the room you ask? Christmas decorations (it's a lot easier to throw things in that room than put them in the attic!), Tommy's hunting gear, all of my binders and educational books from grad school, workout equipment, etc. I was so excited when I could finally bring the gifts inside- unpacking and organizing everything is the BEST! Currently, I have a load of sweet baby boy clothes and other items in the dryer! And even though my back is killing me and I'm so tired from slaving in his room, I cannot wait to get those clothes folded and put away. We do not have NEAR as many clothes for this baby as we did for Lyla but I also had 4 showers for Lyla and I think it's a little different buying clothes for girls than for boys. BUT- don't get me wrong... we have PLENTY of boy clothes right now! :)

Thank you SOOOO much to my awesome sister who was in charge today... I know it's not very often that I give you control, but you did a great job, Stacey! The blue chocolate fountain was awesome! :)

Here are a few photos from the day:

H is for Hagen!!!! 6 more weeks! :)

The big sister :)

The cake!

Dear Hagen!

Baby boy's name will be Hagen, which is my maiden name- I love it! When we were pregnant with Lyla, Hagen was going to be our boy name. I didn't know how my dad would feel about the name since it's his last name so I asked him about his thoughts... he agreed that it's a really cool name. Actually, one day I was strolling the halls of St. Christopher's and saw a child's artwork hanging on the wall with the name "Hagen" on it... wonder where his parents got that name? Hagen's middle name will be Bo. 'Bo' is the name that my sweet husband, 'Luke', gave to his Grandfather. They drove around and hung out just like 'Bo' and 'Luke' from the Dukes of Hazard! Although I never had the opportunity to meet Bo, I completely understand how special Grandparents are and can still see the imprint Bo left on Tommy's heart. So, Hagen Bo it is! We've been calling him "HB" (his initials) which is also short for "heart-breaker" :). This pregnancy has been so very different from the first. I loved every minute of being pregnant with Lyla... I kept up with the measurements and knew exactly which fruit she was compared to each week. Now, I have to really think when people ask me how many weeks pregnant I am! Whoops. I titled this post, Dear Hagen!, because I want to apologize to him. I have a picture of my belly almost every week from when I was pregnant with Lyla but not ONE from this time. (And there won't be any) The second time is so different- you don't feel as "glowy". I know people say you carry boys different than you carry girls... and boy, do I think that's true! This baby is like a little basketball in my tummy. Tommy says he thinks I was bigger with Lyla- I don't know... I feel like my butt's gotten bigger this time! Hopefully everything will go back to normal as easy as last time! Hagen is SO active... he seriously moves almost all day long. I sit at the table teaching my reading group and wonder if my students notice that my belly is moving around all over the place... I can see it with my peripheral vision! It would probably really weird them out! Lyla was no where near as active- you would occasionally see her roll from one side to the other but never did she kick me all day long! And, Lyla had hiccups ALL the time- so cool... Hagen hasn't had any yet!

This pregnancy is different for me in other ways as well. Over the winter, I slipped on ice on our back deck. I fell flat on my back. Since then, I've had a pain in my back but never had it checked out because it sort of came and went... but now that I'm pregnant, the pain is more intense and frequent. I'm worried that something is a little messed up in my back but will have to wait until after Hagen's born to have x-rays. You're not going to hear me complain about the way I feel... people who see me everyday probably have no idea that I'm actually in pain when I'm walking down the hallway... but they don't need to know! Someone the other day actually said to me, "Do your feet hurt?" and I said 'no!' and they said "Oh, I always hear pregnant people complain about their feet hurting"... and I responded with, "pregnant people think they need to complain about everything." No! You don't need to complain, you don't need to eat for two, you don't need to post it on Facebook every time you feel your baby kick... that's silly! I would rather be more mindful of people who may be reading/listening and aren't able to have a baby of their own. I just feel so blessed.

On to another wonderful topic- Lyla Grace! I finally uploaded pictures from my new camera and realized there are some that are just too cute not to share. Lyla is growing so fast! The best thing she does right now is after she laughs, she'll wind down with, "oooooh, gosh" haha. You might need to hear me do this in person. It is TOO cute! I'm not sure where she got that from but it's hilarious when she does it!

Here she is after a bath:

And, on her new bike she got for Christmas:

And with her adorable bookbag she also got for Christmas with her name on it!:

And here she is playing at the Children's Museum in Short Pump:

If you don't think that little girl is cute, you're crazy! :) Thanks for reading!