Your Daily Mo

How sweet is this face?!

Who would have thought dinner could be so much fun?!

Not too small a thing

My life now is defined by the following -

loving my husband

loving my children

learning to be

sensible

pure

a worker at home

kind

submissive to my husband

So that -

the world of God will not be dishonored

Titus 2:4-5

It is not too small a thing, this being a stay at home mother. Wiping bottoms, making meals, drying tears, singing songs, reading books... the Lord has not tasked us with a menial task and there is nothing trivial about what we do each day.

"I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

3 John 1:4

Sweet Sarah

Sweet baby girl...

This little girl just keeps getting sweeter. She loves naps on mama, spending time in her bouncer and bath time. She could do without diaper changes and for some reason she fusses, fusses, fusses from about 7-10 each night. The little lady has no idea how blessed she is to have a daddy that loves to hang out with her during this time so mama can catch a couple hours of sleep. She is already growing out of her newborn clothes. Her fingers and toes are long and skinny and she really looks nothing like I thought she would.

It's amazing how different having a boy and having a girl has been. Moses loves trucks and wrestling. He's my little man. With Sarah, however, I want to protect her from the world! I nearly cried when her umbilical cord fell off.. then started thinking about her wedding day and her daddy giving her away. A little premature, yes, but I just can't help but want to keep her close to me forever. She is just so sweet!!

Your Daily Mo

It's garden time!

Look at this! Thank you, my sweet husband, for building the beds, preparing the soil and helping me plant!

Here it is in process!

Jeremiah and Moses also laid sod! Miah wasn't too keen on waiting for the seeds to grow. Here they are tamping the sod. Moses was quite the helper.

The beds are planted! Now we are going to bury that trash can in the far right corner and start composting!

Mo's new favorite play area. We spend A LOT of time out here!

This area will someday be home to a swing set for Moses and a clothes line for Mama!

Stinker. Stinker. Stinker. Literally. Here he is playing in where I had planted my basil.. in steer manure.

I can't wait to see things grow! This year we planted an herb garden (basil, chives, parsley, oregano, rosemary and thyme), tomatoes, strawberries, zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce, scallions, cantaloupe, grapes, and tomatoes!! Such a tense time! :) Will the seeds GROW?!!

Surviving the First Six Weeks.

Someday she is bound to ask me what is going on with her pants...

As these first few weeks unfold I thought I'd share what has helped make the one-to-two transition easier.

• Having meals prepared and in the freezer has been great. I have a list of what I have on hand on the side of the fridge and cross it off as I use it.
• I keep a running grocery list. People always ask what they can do and now I know how they can help! I just give them my grocery list :)
• Miah and I talk out each day the night before. I know what his expectations are, and he knows what I need. We also talked in the weeks before about how we would handle the hospital stay, his paternity leave, etc.
• Divide and conquer! Jeremiah takes one and I take the other! It works.
• We divvy up the night, too. We both need a lot of sleep (8-9 hours) and we've found a way to make it work and we are both really rested as a result. Well, as well rested as you can be with a 17 month old and a newborn!
• I'm easing into being alone with both kiddos. A couple hours here, a few hours there.. it has really been nice to try to figure it out!
• Chill out on the scheduling, Susan Hayes. Right now I TRY to have her nap in her crib at least once a day and sleep in her crib at night. However, she is pretty fussy from 9pm-12am, but does well in her bouncer during that time so we're going with it. We may need to train her out of it later, but for now Miah and I are both getting a few more hours of sleep and as a result are much happier parents!

More thoughts to come.. what are some things you all did to survive the early days??

Sometimes Daddy dresses me...

..and I'm still the cutest thing.

Toddlers are so much fun!!

Your Daily Mo... and Sarah

Siblings...

Great outfit, buddy...

Our Growing Family

Here are a few pictures Kat took this weekend. We are adjusting well to being a family of four. Sarah is so sweet. Long fingers and toes and beautiful blonde hair. It get's really curly when it's wet and reminds me of my dad's hair! She has been eating well and we've all been getting a remarkable amount of sleep. Life is good! Now I just have to figure out how to do this mom of two thing while flying solo! One day at a time, right?!

Before we went to the hospital.

Moses meeting Sarah ("Rah") for the first time.

Mo's cool outfit while hanging out with Grandma.

All of us home and getting to know each other.. on the kitchen floor.. but whatever works, right?!

Happy Mama!

Sarah Elizabeth Hayes

We are so blessed to introduce

Sarah Elizabeth Hayes

Friday, May 7th, 2010

10:59am

21.5 inches

7 pounds 14 ounces

Baby time!

Well, after a LONG DAY yesterday I decided to err on the side of caution and go in today to have the baby monitored. Her heart rate is usually in the 140's, but yesterday it was in the 130's and today in the 120's. She also isn't her normal active self. This could mean nothing, or it could be a sign somehting is wrong. So today at 4pm I'm headed to the Family Birthing Center in Durango to be induced. They are trying a low dose of prostoglandins tonight and if I need more help to get labor jump started they will do that in the morning. Please be praying! Inductions do scare me a bit, but God is in control. Hopefully tomorrow we will have sweet Sarah in our arms!

Your Daily Mo

Daddy got out the broom to kill a wasp and Moses thought it was HILARIOUS!

No matter what kind of day you've had the sound of your child laughing will make it all right!!

Due date, shmoo date.

This will be a quick little update. Yesterday I remembered that when I first had an ultrasound, they said my due date was May 10. Then it was moved to May 6th. Then somewhere in there it was moved up to May 2, but the midwives just decided to stick with April 30th. So maybe this little girl isn't late? Maybe I'm not actually due until May 10th?? Hmmm. I guess we will know more after the non-stress test on Friday!

Hayes Happenings

Pregnancy is Weird

(Warning, this update contains more info than you want to know.)

On Saturday I was standing in the kitchen making lunch and all of a sudden there was "water" all over the floor. Now, friends, just between you and I, I may have peed myself a little during this pregnancy. On occasion. This, however, was different. There was A LOT of water (or whatever). Our company had just left and both Moses and Jeremiah were napping when this happened. At first I was a bit taken back. Then I thought, "Oh man, I'm about to go into labor. This is really happening." I called the midwife; Mary Louise was on call, and she asked if I was still "leaking", but I wasn't. She said that there is another pocket of fluid that sometimes rests above your cervix, about 1 cup, and that if I did not continue to leak and I wasn't having contractions then that ruptured. I had never, ever heard this before. If it wasn't Mary Louise telling me this information I don't know if I would have believed her. And, well, I'm still pregnant so she must have been right. Pregnancy is weird. And a tease.

Paxson's

Our wonderful buddies, Stacey and Alex Paxson, came for a visit this weekend and it was so wonderful to spend time with them and their little people. Thank you guys for coming and distracting me from my lack of labor :) (Also, I forgot to mention that Stacey interviewed me on her blog last week! Click HERE if you're interested!)

Moses and Hope on a blanket ride.

The Back Yard

The good thing about my lack of labor was that we really made some headway on the back yard! We planted the grass seed and laid mulch along the back fence! We weren't able to start on the garden, but since it was supposed to SNOW on Sunday that's not too big of a deal!

The garden is going in the empty lot on the left. In time we will be able to put a swing set and a clothes line to the right of where we're hoping the grass will grow!

We were also able to plant our blueberry bushes and a few grape plants!

And, of course, the cutest little helper on the block!

Thank you, Grandma Kat, for playing with Moses so we could get so much done!

Moses

And as for a little Moses update, this guy is loving his cars, trucks, and trains. The sound effects are pretty great, too!!
Happy Monday! May my next update be telling you all about labor with #2!