Oh, CRAP!

So I know that I haven't updated this blog in ages... trust me, I am reminded daily. I have a pretty good reason though... believe it or not, I am loving being a mom and I have chosen to dedicate all of my time to Madeline rather than being on my laptop. Things were CRAZY the first couple of months and I am just starting to feel like I can slow down enough to consistently update this thing... just in time for school to start back. Awesome.

I really don't think I could possibly updated everyone on our lives in one post so I think I will spread it out through a couple of updates.
 I'm going to try and keep this post short and sweet.... and crappy.

Okay, so in the first 3 months of Madeline's life, her absolute favorite thing to do was take a bath. If she was grouchy, sad, or just too much to handle rest assured, we could give her a bath and she would calm down. Well, around month 3 all of that changed. Bathing her was a total NIGHTMARE. I swear you would think I was dipping her in acid. I would have been better off bathing a cat (Maybe even a lion). Ever since then I have been trying to come up with ways to make bath time more enjoyable tolerable for her. Recently I have been filling the bathtub with a little bit of water, and setting her in her bath chair and hopping in with her... it seems to help. Every time I do this, Mike always comments that he "wishes she would poop on me." Well, today while Mike was at work, Madeline spit up all over herself and covered her beautiful (reddish) hair with crust spit up. Clearly a bath was needed. Just as I had gotten in the tub and placed her in her bath chair I heard a very long, drawn out grunt. "Oh, no!" I thought, I knew exactly what that noise meant, she was granting Mike's wish. "That little monster baby is taking a poop!"Sure enough, she was. Before I had time to do anything the bath tub QUICKLY filled with her crap. I think I started to panic, and everything kind of went blank. (Okay it wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't enjoyable) I felt trapped, and really dirty. She must have thought the sight of me panicking was funny because she started to laugh (which almost made taking a poop bath worth it). After cleaning her up and cleaning the bath tub, it was time to try again. Luckily this time she was pooped (literally) and didn't fuss or fight bath time. I even got her to play in the water and splash around a bit.

I love her more than anything. Poop and all.

ONE month

It's crazy to think that our girl is already ONE MONTH old... (one month down, 17 years and 11 months to go!)

... but then again it's not THAT hard to believe; between the sleep deprivation and my newfound bad hygiene it has been a long month. At the same time, it seems to have flown by. It is crazy to think that a month ago we were in the hospital, just getting used to being a little family.

I am so bad at updating this blog, and I was dumb to think that I would have more time to update it once she was here... HAHA. I am lucky if I have time to wash the spit up out of my clothes or just get a shower in. Mike went back to work when she was almost 2 weeks old, and I had plans to go back to school. After trying to go to school and juggle being a new mom, we decided that it would be best for our family if I took the semester off. At first it was really hard for me to not return to school, but now I have accepted it, and I am loving all of my time with Madeline! Mike is jealous. He shouldn't be though, because she absolutely adores him. It's so obvious she is going to be a daddy's girl. It REALLY pisses me off! I mean, I destroyed my body and went through "torture" for her... and that's how she is going to repay me? Ungrateful. Oh and can we talk about how all outfits for little girls are like "I love daddy" or "Daddy's girl", but then the outfits for mom's just say "Mommy loves me". Why can't they say "I love mommy"?! So unfair! With all joking aside, I LOVE how sweet they are together.

They both have the same facial expression

Mommy and Madeline just hanging out...

She got to meet her great grandma!

Over the past month we have watched Madeline become much more alert and responsive. She is such a strong little baby, and can't stay still for a second. However, she is still tiny. At her doctors appointment on Friday she was 21 1/2 inches and weighed 7 lbs 8 oz. Who would have thought that at a month old she would still be in newborn diapers? We really underestimated how many newborn sized diapers we would need. She is also getting better at sleeping at night, last night she slept for 6 hours! That's my girl! I could go on forever, but I think it's safe to say that we are LOVING her to death.

Oh BABY!

So BIG NEWS! Madeline Grace Hayes was born exactly a week ago on December 28th at 5:31 p.m.

Our sweet girl weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces and 20 and 3/4 inches

It is safe to say that most of the weight I have been carrying around these past couple of months was not due to her.

This picture was taken while I was in labor and moments away from starting to push. As far as labor went, We went into the hospital at around 8pm on Tuesday night and spent the night there. The nurses monitored me and kept an eye on my blood pressure. At 5 am the nurse came into start prepping me for my induction, at 6:45 a.m I was given the pitocin and at 7 am my water broke. After being in labor for almost 10 hours, the doctor came in and decided it was time to push, after pushing for just around 30 minutes we were able to meet our beautiful daughter.

This is our first meeting. The moment was unreal. I couldn't believe that Mike and I had made something that seemed so perfect... and so hairy! We were both in love instantly and it was an extremely emotional moment for Mommy, Daddy, and Madeline. Our first meeting was pretty brief however, because Madeline's breathing was not exactly  perfect and she was whisked away to the NICU to be monitored. Luckily it was nothing major and we were reunited with our sweet girl about 4 LONG hours later. Both of our parents were able to be at the hospital and welcome Madeline into the world. 

As the week has progressed I have absolutely loved watching Mike interact with our daughter. It is unreal the amount of love he has for her. She has only been around for a 7 days and already has him wrapped so tightly around her tiny little fingers. I am so excited to see what an amazing dad he is going to be.

Finally around 8 p.m on Friday night our little family was released and we were able to go home and settle into our new life style... we are still settling in.

After spending a little time at home, it was time for Madeline to go to her first pediatrician visit. It didn't go so well. She was given a shot and also had to have blood drawn. Seeing her cry so much really upset me and I almost started crying, but I didn't. What stopped me from crying you ask? Well, our little girl started farting uncontrollably from crying so hard and it was too funny not to laugh. Don't worry, we hugged her and loved on her immediately after. The results came back from the doctor and her bilirubin levels were so high, so the doctors recommended that we keep her in a UV bed at all times unless she is feeding or being changed. This has been really hard for us, because it is almost impossible to look at this sweet little girl and not go over and sweep her up in your arms, but we are dealing with it. She will be in the bed until Friday and hopefully after that I can report that we have an extremely healthy and happy baby.

This past week has been a very emotional and rewarding week for us. As much as I hated being pregnant, I wouldn't take back a minute of it, because the love that I have for this little girl is unreal. I never knew I could love someone this much, and I never knew I could love Michael more than I did, but I do. We are so excited to see Madeline grow. We look forward to sharing this little journey with everyone else.

1 more day...

Wow. It has been a VERY long time since I have updated this thing. I guess the best excuse would be that I have been busy, but that is only half true. I have also been lazy. So where to start?

In the past 5 weeks I have had two wonderful baby showers, celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas, finished the school semester, and finished a nursery! Oh and most importantly, I have finished growing a baby! I feel like a real stud. You know what the most exciting thing about her being fully developed is? The fact that by Wednesday night, she will be in my arms! That's right people, if you haven't caught on yet, Mike and I are having a baby!

In the past couple of weeks I have been going to my doctor every week and have been making some progress. My most recent appointment was last Monday and I was "a good 2, maybe 3 cm dilated, and 80% effaced." How exciting... it's almost like my body is ready to get her out! Last Thursday I started having some very serious and very painful contractions... I was convinced I was about to start labor, but nothing ever evolved. They continued on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I was so convinced I would go into labor on Christmas eve and spend Christmas in the hospital. Seeing as how I absolutely did not want that to happen, I was convinced it would. That would have been so typical of our daughter to come on the only day that I didn't want her to. Luckily, she was obedient and stayed in. I'm not sure who she got the obedience from cause it's definitely not a trait that Mike and I carry.

Christmas was wonderful. We were able to spend it with Mikes family and my family... which really made it perfect. Santa must have also been convinced that Madeline would be here because he brought her some really nice gifts! She tricked everyone. (By Santa, I clearly mean the grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles.)

Mike was even nice enough to buy a big FAKE tree for us, since I am allergic to the real kind.

We also got a very nice camera for Christmas, so I am ALL about pictures... Which is great, that just means this blog is going to be overloaded with pictures of Madeline from here on out!

Mike and I got a little carried away in the "nesting" phase, which is probably a good thing, because it allowed us to completely prepare ourselves for Madeline's arrival. We finally finished her nursery and we LOVE it! It seems a little bland because we weren't able to paint the walls... but it is perfect in person. So here it is...

This is just a little piece of "art" that I did, so her walls had a little more color.

We also added some photos and wrapped them in yarn...

I am totally obsessed with her crib and bedding... but my newest obsession is the canvas that "Ella" (Madeline's Cousin) made for Madeline. It is inspired from the book "Guess How Much I Love You" - also from "Ella"

Now that we have her nursery completely done and everything else ready for her, we can't wait for her to get here... Hopefully I will be able to update the blog by the end of the weekend and let everyone know how much Mike and I are enjoying life as parents. 

Hopefully everyone had a Merry Christmas!

So I know I complain a lot about being pregnant... frankly, just because it sucks, but the worst part about being pregnant isn't the whole "being a host" thing. It's the getting up every 2 minutes to pee that I have the real issue with! I am the size of a cow, clearly I just want to be lazy - and having to get up frequently is getting in the way of this mess.

So let's see ... 42 more days until Madeline is here! Mike and I would probably be a lot more excited about this but....

1.  We really haven't gotten entirely too much for her. We plan on getting it all after the baby showers, but still we feel like total slackers. Especially when I am getting friendly reminders from thebump.com to install my car seat..... What carseat?!
2. We are really not excited because we made a terrible, huge, mortifying mistake... and we REALLY regret it! Okay before you get worried that I am referring to Madeline, I am not. I am referring to the stupid decision we made to watch a view of a woman giving birth. It was disgusting. I have no clue why I suggested we do it. I guess out of curiosity. Regardless, watching the video has made me realize that Madeline is more than welcome to stay in the womb, forever.

On a better note, this semester is almost over! I have been extremely busy studying, writing papers, and doing a genetics project. I am supposed to create my own plasmid DNA... I don't really see the point, I mean I made an ENTIRE PERSON! I feel like I have more than earned an A in that class. 

These next few weeks will be really exciting though. This weekend Mike and I have a date night at the Aquarium for his work... did I mention that it is open bar? Ah, if only... Nonetheless I am really excited about going to the aquarium,, but i'm not too sure how I feel about being the largest mammal in the aquarium this time around. (Yes, including the whales).

This weekend Mikes mom is throwing us a baby shower, and I am very excited about that! Then the following week is Thanksgiving, and then another baby shower.... not to mention finals. So I should have PLENTY to update everyone on!

No Shave November!

I think it goes without saying, I am a slacker.... I really suck at keeping this blog updated. Things with school are so crazy right now that this isn't much of a priority. So lets see, I am 32 weeks pregnant! How am I feeling? Excited! Exhausted. Forgetful. Sick. It's crazy to think that in 8 weeks Mike and I will be parents. We are so not ready....

So I guess there is a lot to catch everyone up on... We are having twins!
Just kidding, but that's what everyone seems to think due to my large stomach. Mike and I went to the mall today and within 15 minutes about 10 different people had managed to come up to me and talk about the obvious fact that I am pregnant. Out of the 10 people, 8 of them had something very offensive to say. At this point, I have accepted the fact that I am one big pregnant lady, and I have gotten used to these comments. Mike however, has not. This was Mike's first time hearing the rude and inconsiderate things that some people have to say. He almost lost it! He finally decided he had had enough when a shoe saleswoman with a voice prosthesis stopped us and asked when I was due, I told her December 28th. She then responded oh wow, you are having twins! I just kind of laughed it off and told her that we were just having one... but Mike wasn't laughing. He was in shock, and extremely irritated. We left the mall immediately after... It really was funny though.

So here is a picture of me at 32 weeks: (pregnant with only one child!)

Aside from me getting bigger by the minute, we have been doing a lot of other things. Mainly studying for me, and working for Mike, but we have managed to fit a few fun things in between all the hard work. Last weekend was Halloween and we went to our friends party. We told everyone we were parents from the show "Teen Mom" - clearly a far stretch from the truth, since I am 21! We also carved pumpkins, Michael took this extremely seriously. He made sure I did it correctly, but I guess it worked out for the best because here are our pumpkins:

I did Linus, and Mike did this crazy scary man. As his mom would put it, "A scary Homer Simpson". This probably explains why we didn't have any trick or treaters, but that's okay, because Madeline LOVES Halloween candy!

We have also been working pretty hard at getting the nursery ready for her, and when I say hard, I mean it! I bought a mobile kit off of Etsy, because I thought that it was the cutest thing in the world! Little did I know that it was going to be such a pain in the butt to put together... It took me a good two days and probably a total of 4 hours to get everything together, but it was totally worth it, because I LOVE it!

Aside from a few other things, we really haven't been up to much. I have been starting to feel a lot more pregnant lately though. Not to mention, that I am one of the lucky ladies who has developed stretch marks. Seriously, if you get lost in Atlanta, Call me, because I have what looks to be a map of Georgia growing across my stomach. Another major issue with being pregnant, I can't shave for the life of me... It feels like a very intense workout when I try, and then when I am done, it looks like I let a 4 year old take a razor to my legs. How. Embarrassing. Thankfully it is No-Shave-November, so I have an excuse to slack! In the next couple of weeks we have a lot of exciting things happening, like baby showers, Thanksgiving, and finals!

So I will have a lot of pictures and a lot to write about. I promise to be more consistent.

Sunday - Runday...

Ever heard of the term Sunday-Funday?!  Well if you haven't, I have taken the liberty of finding the urban dictionary definition for you:

1.	sunday funday	260 up, 32 down
	By celebrating the "Sunday Funday" you can extend your weekend festivities just a little longer before hanging up your party pants. This day typically starts out with mimosas or bloody marys aka hair of the dog. It then typically continues through out the day until you find yourself wasted by about 6:30ish. Since the "Funday" ends early enough, you can rest assured that you will go to bed aka pass out early enough to be perfectly refreshed for work on monday morning.

Basically Sunday funday is just an excuse for college students to have a little more fun on their weekend, some college students even think it is better than a Thursday night... I would agree. However, it has been so long, that I forgot what a REAL Sunday-funday is... but what the hell, I'll go ahead and brag about mine anyways!
This Sunday morning, Mike and I woke up completely (not) hungover, probably because we went to bed at 11 the night before. Yes, 11. Yes, on a Saturday night. Try not to judge though, because believe me, when you are pregnant, 11 feels like you've been partying all night! Mike clearly has no excuse.... After we managed to make our way out of bed at about 8:30, we made pancakes for breakfast. Then the fun really began! We decided to enjoy this beautiful fall day, and go to Chattahoochee National Park. I was feeling adventurous, so we decided to go hiking. Once we were done with the hike, we got back on the main trail with all of the other runners. It must have been something about watching a bunch of older out of shape people running, that made me feel compelled to also "run". It took me a few minutes to convince Mike to run with me, but he finally gave in. I don't think he has ever been more embarrassed in his life. First of all I looked ridiculous running with my giant belly. Secondly - Everyone was watching, waiting for Madeline to fall out with every strut, and third of all he probably looked like a real asshole for letting his pregnant wife run around. Oh, did I mention how slow my run was? Mike could power walk at my running pace.... That is a pretty tough pill to swallow, considering I was playing college soccer about 7 months ago. Talk about a wake up call... I am slowly transitioning from athlete - to cow - to mom.
After we got done "running", we went home and cleaned, I studied, and then we went grocery shopping and cooked dinner, then I returned to studying. Talk about a CRAZY sunday! We really live on the edge now days. I didn't even mention the most challenging and rigorous part of my day.... shaving. Wow talk about a work out. It is REALLY hard to do, when you have a giant belly in your way. Luckily, it is getting cooler, so I can slack on that.

On another note, only 8 more weeks until Madeline is FULLY developed and I can pop the little nugget out! I couldn't be more excited... A lot of women say that they love being pregnant. Well I love NOT being pregnant. Growing a baby is about as fun as ironing.