I Survived

Well, I survived my first day back at work and so did the kids. While I did cry last night in the middle of the night when I nursed Hailey, I managed not to cry this morning. There were definitely tears in my eyes halfway to work, but they never fell. Miles was a bit bummed out-he thought Hailey was going to be in his room and didn't understand that she would have her own room with her own teacher. He said "But Miss Ada has to hold her!". It was pretty cute and sad at the same time. He wanted to be with his baby sister!

I had a warm welcome at work. They brought bagels and had balloons in my office and gave me flowers. Very sweet! I brought them Grandma Cookies. We were all happy! I only called once to check on Hailey and that was mainly to see if she'd eaten at all. The teacher was at lunch, but the report I got was that she managed to get a few ounces in Hailey. That was good.

When I picked up Hailey, it turns out she did really well! They said she was happy and smiling all day, only crying once. She took the bottle well! She took 4 ounces in the morning, then another 3 ounces and then 3 1/2 ounces. They used an extra small nipple, probably a premie nipple, and she did well with it. They said it took about 1/2 an hour to feed her, but she did take it. Now, sleeping on the other hand didn't go well. She napped twice-once for 45 minutes and once for just under 2 hours. The teacher said that she had several new babies and two of them cried all day and were pretty loud, so that's why Hailey didn't sleep. However, she said that Hailey was going to be "her girl" because she was so good and another teacher said she walked her in the halls and Hailey just smiled away. That's my girl!

Once we left daycare, she was asleep before we got out of the parking lot and she slept until we were home and settled. Then Ahmad held her and then I, when she wanted to nurse. She's been asleep ever since. I hope she wakes up soon! Or I might just have to hold her while she sleeps. I'm sure she'll settle into her routine and will hopefully sleep better at daycare once she's used to it.

Back to work tomorrow.

Back to Work

This last week was my last week of maternity leave and I really tried to make the most of it and savor every moment! I did get to a point where I didn't cry every time I thought about going back, so that much is good. It's not the work I mind, I actually like my job, I just hate the thought of leaving Miles and especially now Hailey at daycare all day every day. She's so little and doesn't understand that I'll be back at the end of the day. I haven't been away from her for more than an hour for 12 weeks. Now I'll be gone all day and I don't want her to think I've left her. It makes me so sad to think of her not knowing where I am or if I'm coming back to get her. I've enjoyed being a "stay at home mom" more than I even thought I would. I got to do so many fun things with Miles, even just the little things like discovering the library and new books, finding a new park to play in, and seeing his new discoveries and thought processes coming together. He seems to have grown so much since Hailey was born. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too. It's been so awesome to see this transformation and help mold this transformation. And bonding with Hailey has been amazing. I have loved being home with her everyday and seeing the little changes in her, learning her cries, and seeing her smiles. They both melt my heart. I know going back to work isn't the end of being their mom. I know I will still get to see all these wonderful things in my children. I know daycare is wonderful for them to build relationships with other adults and make friends of their own. I know they learn and grow there in ways I couldn't provide. I know it gets easier as the days pass. It's just hard right now. It just sucks.

Turkey Lips

This last week was good! We got word last weekend that Ahmad's Aunt Cheryl (and mine now too!) would be in Bloomington receiving an award on Tuesday and she invited us down. We couldn't attend the banquet, but were able to come into town for the day. We stopped off at Andre and Emily's first and got to spend a short time with them and their daughter, Evelyn. Then we went off to lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which Ahmad had never been to. Then we tried to get onto the court at Assembly Hall, but all the doors were locked. So we just walked the halls and looked at all the trophies and history there. It was neat. We finally were able to meet with Cheryl and had a great little visit. We also got to hear some amazing music from some students there and Miles had a blast.



We also went to the library this week and Friday I took Miles to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and playing since it was raining outside and it was officially our last day of being home together during my leave. He didn't know it was a celebration of sorts, but it was for me. I also spent my two days alone with Hailey while Miles was at daycare snuggling her and loving on her all day long. We were able to take a nice long nap together on Thursday and that was wonderful!


I've been trying to prepare Miles for going to school more often. I haven't talked about it a ton, but have mentioned it a few times. I think he will do just fine and won't really notice too much. However, he does tell me he doesn't want to go to school more and will stay home alone. :)

It was funny on the way home from Chick-Fil-A, Miles kept telling me that Hailey was telling him she wanted to go to the park. I told him it was raining and we couldn't. Then he would tell Hailey that he was sorry, but it was raining and we couldn't go and to not be sad, we'd go when it stopped. It was really cute. He's also into her eating/not eating these days. The other day, he told her "Baby Hailey, you can't eat my broccoli, you don't have any teeth! When you get big, then you can eat my broccoli." It was pretty funny!

Hailey has a lot to say these days!

Hailey is talking a ton these days and getting close to rolling over, I think. She gets on her side often and is even sleeping that way a lot now. She does great on her tummy time, but isn't trying to roll as much when she's on her tummy, more when she's on her back, but that roll is harder, so we'll see. Her colds also seem to finally be clearing, so I'm glad about that. She's had some eye gook the last few days, but her runny nose and cough seem better. We'll keep an eye on it. She's also more focused on her toys and making efforts to grab them. She doesn't exactly grab the toys yet, but can get them up to her mouth to check them out! She is finally starting to take a bottle a bit better as well. We've been trying pretty much one a day for the last 6-7 weeks and she never took to it. This past week, she did take an ounce on two different days and probably would've taken more if there'd been more in the bottle (I didn't want to waste my milk, so we never had much in there). We're hoping she'll do ok at daycare next week! It's also neat to see her appearance changing. She's filling out more and her eyes light up when she sees us! Her hair is starting to curl a bit as well. Not everyday, but some days the ends are turning up and when it's wet, it's definitely curly. Today it was pretty curly all day. Maybe it was the rain!

We were honored this week when I got a call from my cousin Carrie. She asked me to do a reading at her and Chuck's wedding next May and also asked for Miles to be the ring-bearer. We are thrilled and honored to be a part of their special day!

Dad is still in the hospital this weekend. He went in about a week and a half ago with pneumonia, for the 4th time this year. It seems like it's starting to clear and hopefully he will be home sometime this coming week. We continue to pray for him and also for mom that they both will have strength and peace during this time of illness.

It's been pretty nice while I was off work-I got to spend a lot of extra time at my parent's home visiting with them and my brother. It was really nice and I'm going to miss seeing them so often. We only were able to make it to South Bend once while I was off because of Ahmad working (I went to my parent's house twice without him). I hope to be able to see everyone again soon!

Do We Eat....?

Miles cracks me up as he figures out this great big world. He's always asking questions and you never know what he will ask this time. He just asked me if we eat ponies. I said no. He asked if we ate marshmallows. I said yes. :) He does this all the time...We bite? We hit? We lock doors? We say shut up? He just reviews things and makes sure he has them right....if I tell him no, he'll often say well, a lion can eat ponies, or a lion can bite, or a lion can say shut up. Anything he's not supposed to do, a lion can do!

Three Year Old Thoughts

Miles was cracking me up tonight before bed when we were bug-bugging. He didn't want to play "wiggles" because he had scraped his elbow earlier today and it was too sore. He gave me various instructions on how to kiss it better and demonstrated each kiss that I should give him.

Then somehow, I began pretending that my hand was stuck in a fist. He spent about 5 minutes explaining and demonstrating to me how to unclench my fist and offered different ways of doing it (all at once in big spirit finger hands, or one by one counting 1-5). Then he told me if I did it, I would get a trophy, but I'd have to do it quickly and get my trophy before the lion came and ate it.

Lastly, he put his finger in his mouth and discovered "train tracks" on the bottom of his teeth!

He's too funny these days!!!

Batter Up!

Miles is really into baseball this spring and has been playing outside every chance he has. Ahmad caught him on video this morning and I had him running "bases" this evening. He loved it! You know, this tree to that tree to the mailbox and then into home plate. I think we'll have to catch an Indian's game or two this year!



Miles is also into firemen lately. I think it started when cousin Gavin was in town, who loves firemen, and has been propelled by a book we got from the library the other week. He now says he wants to be a fireman when he grows up and tonight was talking about eating a dragon so he could breathe fire! (the fireman book we have has a dragon in it...).

We went to the zoo this past week again and I couldn't believe Miles actually pet the sharks!

Hailey is doing so awesome these days! She really seems to have grown and filled out all the sudden. She "talks" all the time, loves to smile, and is getting a bit mobile. I'm not sure how she does it, but if I leave her on the floor for a minute, when I come back, she's in a new spot! She also has a bit of a cold again. She's coughing and has a runny nose. No fun!


Yesterday, we went over to Garfield Park to check out the Orchid show and have some fun in the sunken gardens. It was a nice day, but a bit chilly. It was still fun to see everything and give Miles an area to run around.


Now I'm planning on enjoying my last week of maternity leave! I can't believe it's already time to go back. I'm really sad to think of leaving the kids again....

A New Me

A new haircut
New Makeup
Down 12.2 pounds and counting!