Photo A Day in January

Photo a Day list created by FatMumSlim

 

1. Lunch

 

2. Begins with G -  Garlic. Yum.

 

3. My town - as viewed from our bedroom window.

 

4. Word to live by -  LOVE :)

 

5. Found - My mom found this perfect dress for my baby's blessing.

 

6. Happens everyday - My baby sleeps in an adorable position. I call this one the bow & arrow. 

 

7. Upside down

 

8. Lucky number - 26.

 

9. Natural - Baby's natural hairdo in the back. Hee hee.

 

10. Man-made - Heels are definitely not found in nature.

 

11. Looking down

 

12. Colorful

 

13. Makes me smile

 

14. 3 things - the things we use for Baby's tube feedings

 

15. Black & White

 

16. Sun

 

17. Tiny

 

18. Happy place - with my Hubby & Baby

 

19. Breakfast

 

20. To do list

 

21. Blue

 

22. Nice - I love my very nice external hard drive. True.

 

23. Bedtime

 

24. My space

 

25. A taste of winter

 

26. Fun stuff

 

27. We bought this!!!

 

28. Dinner

 

29. Window

 

30. Best invention ever

 

31. Polka dots

 I love doing photo a day!!! There is a new list each month - check it out. :)

I hope January was great - mine was. And I hope February is even better!

The Second Month

Our baby is two months old. If the first month flew by, the second month all but disappeared with one blink of my wide-eyes.

I never dreamed that I could be so in love. I can hardly believe the size my heart has expanded to hold the love I have for this wee child and her daddy. Can you tell I love my kid? I will never tire of saying it to any who will listen. She is the most incredible bundle of joy and I am so grateful for her wonderful spirit. She is always happy (except when she isn't) and loves just hanging out with us. Like in the picture below when her daddy was doing laundry when I was out of the house and I came home to find her propped up like so:

Dads. Sheesh. ;)

This month - halfway through - Hannalyn had a growth spurt and we finally could fit her in her 0-3 month clothes. Up until 6 weeks, she was still in newborn clothes. It was extremely exciting to open up the drawer with her 0-3 month clothes and have all sorts of new dress-up opportunities. Like her rockin' Cold Stone shirt from her Grandpa Pearson and her snowsuit that makes her a cuddly little bear. I mean, seriously, dress up with a baby is the best.

And of course we have pictures of her sleeping because I think she is the stinkin cutest thing when she sleeps, which doesn't happen as often as it used to. She is more and more active every day with smiles and half-laugh/coo things that pop out once in a while and gets huge reactions from whomever is listening.

We had a return trip to Salt Lake City and Primary Children's Medical Center this month where we got to take out Hannalyn's feeding tube. It was the most exciting thing ever. She is doing amazing and we are so proud and so grateful. We know we have been blessed by the faith and love of our family and friends. 

Hannalyn is beautiful and strong. She is happy and opinionated. She loves sounds and lights. She likes tummy time if no one talks to or interacts with her. She doesn't like burping or having poop in her diaper and tells us so - very loudly. She is very social and gets very excited when meeting new people. She also gets excited when seeing people she knows and recognizes voices. We love our sweet sweet baby and are so grateful to be where we are and that she is where she is. The first two months have not really gone the way I thought they would, but I wouldn't change them for anything. I have learned so much about myself and being a mom and loving someone unconditionally. I have grown closer to Husband and to God through my experiences and, while I don't want to go through them again, I am grateful for what I learned.

Happy two months, my darling Hannalyn. I love you!

Hannalyn's First Weekend Trip

Isn't this little basket adorable? It is was Hannalyn slept in while we visited my grandparents in Draper. Too cute.

Last week, we went out to Salt Lake City for an appointment at Primary Children's. Hannalyn had a swallow test & an appointment with the ENT who operated on her throat. Both went exceptionally well. She passed the swallow test and the ENT says she looks great and wants to see her for a follow-up at the end of April.

Because she passed the swallow test, we took out her feeding tube. We waited for a couple of days to make sure she was getting enough to eat while she was nursing, and she appears to be doing great, so we took it out. Yay! Now we just pray that she continues to do amazingly.

 

While in town, we dropped in on some friends. Cute Berlin is about 2 weeks old and the same size as Hannalyn. Crazy how that works out sometimes, huh. It was soooo good to see the Lindstroms. So good.

We also got this fantastic picture of Husband with his Grandma Jackson. We got to spend a few hours with her catching up and relaxing. I loved it - and Hannalyn loved meeting her great-grandma. She doesn't appear to be excited here because she was hungry & tired, but she really did love hanging out and getting held by Grandma. :)

Yay for weekend trips. It was extra great because Hannalyn loved the car rides. She slept the whole 3-hr drive there and back and was very well-behaved the entire time. A wonderful child she is and a super fun weekend it was.

Maybe we'll do it again sometime.

The day we took the tube out

Before:

 

After:

We are so so so excited to announce that we have taken out Hannalyn's feeding tube! Her face isn't quite so red anymore. That tape really irritated her skin there at the end. But now it's gone! Hopefully forever. :) There shouldn't be any problems unless for some reason she stops eating or the folds in her throat that were operated on grow back in a few months. Otherwise she is normal & healthy and always will be with no side-effects. No one will ever know - except her traumatized parents. ;) Perfect. We couldn't be more happy. We are so grateful for the faith and prayers of family and friends that have brought this miracle into our lives. Thank you thank you thank you.

Story Time

I love this picture for several reasons.

+ It shows my two favorite people in the world: Husband (aka Daddy) and Daughter.

+ It shows Husband reading to Daughter at bedtime. Cutest thing ever and a favorite memory from my childhood. I'm so glad it will happen with my children, too.

+ It shows Daughter watching Daddy read to her. Like she does the whole time he reads until she drifts to sleep.

+ It shows a glimpse of the back cover of their nighttime literature: The Lord of the Rings (Fellowship first, of course). We're starting her off right. ;)

Events

Cute pictures of my baby. The first is her Cold Stone shirt. She wore it Monday in the hopes that it would bring good luck to the progress of Cold Stone this week. Good news - it did! The plumber has been installing his pipes this week, the electrician put his wires into the trench, and there was a big meeting with Daniel, my dad (the owner), and the General Contractor. Decisions and progress were made and we're feeling more optimistic than we have in a while. We have our fingers crossed & are saying our prayers that things will keep up.

This picture was taken just for fun and sent as an early good morning to my parents. She's just stinkin' cute is really all I can say. And despite appearances, she doesn't have her binky in all the time. She is a really good baby and only takes her binky if she is really upset (read: poopy), hungry, or tired. Love it. She has started smiling and will greet me with a smile when I get her out of her bed in the mornings. It's the best. She also rolls over half-way. Whichever side we are sitting on, she will roll on her side to face us. We're working on tummy time - sometimes she loves it and sometimes she doesn't. *shrug* We'll keep working on it.

We return to Primary Children's in a week and are praying that everything will go just the way that it should. We feel good about where Hannalyn is and we hope that she has made good progress in her recovery from surgery. We are going to take a couple days to visit great-grandparents and make sure we have time to do all the things that we need to. It should be lots of fun.

In other news... Actually there really is no other news. :) We are happy & loving life. We hang out and love on our baby all day every day. It's a great and very blessed life that we lead.

Thanks for your love & support & prayers. We can really feel them and they keep us strong.
xoxo

Miracle Baby

A man that knows Daniel saw me at church yesterday and said hello. I had Hannalyn in my arms, and so he came over and asked, "Well, is this the miracle baby?"

My first thought was to make a comment about how all babies are miracles. I kept my wittiness to myself, however, and just told him yes. He offered his congratulations and we went our separate ways.

But his question & my initial response got me thinking. Miracle baby. Yes. All babies are miracles. Babies are sent here from God to families that love them and want nothing but the best for them. Babies are incredible creations that grow from the tiniest of tiny to full-grown beings with all the complexity of spirit, emotion, and mind that humans experience. It's fantastic and definitely proof - in my mind - that there is a God and He has a plan & design.

Every baby is a miracle. So does that lessen the miracle that my baby is? No. My baby is my own miracle sent to me by Heavenly Father to teach me and help me to grow. My baby is a miracle baby. Often that is said with a somewhat negative connotation, but I have chosen to look at it as the simple truth.

My baby is a miracle. And I am so grateful for her.