Haley's First Christmas

Hope everyone had as good a Christmas as we did. Just wanted to share a few pics of our holiday. Haley got so many new toys, she doesn't even know where to begin. Santa also brought me a new camera, a Canon Rebel....a really nice one!!! Now I just have to learn to use it, so bear with me, the quality will hopefully get better as I figure this thing out!!!

Here is Haley in front of the tree Christmas morning after Santa came.



Learning to ride her new walker/riding toy



Playing with Grandma and the "Very Hungry Catapiller"



And playing with Grams and her new cash register



With Uncle Moo and one of her most favorite new toys



We thought we would go to the mountains and enjoy some snow and skiing.....uh, maybe not....the weather was far from "wintery". This was our view from the condo on top of Sugar Mountain. We had fun anyway though, its hard not to have fun with Haley!!!





But we did manage to get some practice in with the new camera....its really hard to take a bad picture of this little baby!!!!





As usual, the rest of the pictures will be posted on Picasa....follow the link and enjoy!!!

A Girl and Her Cat

Haley just loves her kitties, but you wouldn't be able to tell by how she is treating Baxter in this video. He must really love his sister or he was just too lazy to protest.

Haley's New Hat

These were too cute not to post.....enjoy!!!

Here Comes Santa Claus

We took Haley to meet Santa Claus today at SouthPark. She wasn't too impressed, but then again, she doesn't yet realize that Santa will be bringing her gifts soon. I think once she figures that out, she will be more interested in him!! She did really well though, didn't cry at all when he held her. She did start to grab at his beard. The meet and greet abruptly ended once that started. Maybe next year she will be able to tell him what she wants for Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

I did a Christmas "photoshoot" the other day. We had to cut it short because Haley was wanting to eat the ornaments, probably not a good idea. Haley and I went to Will's work for their Christmas lunch and there was another little girl there about her age. They were so cute together. Haley doesn't spend much time with other kids her age, so it's neat to see her interact with her peers. At first it was a Mexican stand-off between the two, they weren't sure what to make of each other. Then the other baby started trying to take Haley's shoes off, then Haley started grabbing for her hairbow. Then they started telling each other about their "Da-da's" I wish I had video, it was priceless!!! Anyway, here are a few pics from the other day, I will load the rest on Picasa later. I think I have run out of space on dropshots, so I may just start posting pics to Picasa from now on. Enjoy!!!!

9 months old!!!

Where is the time going??? Haley is now 9 months old, what a big girl!!! She had her 9 month check up yesterday and now weighs 16 1/2 pounds and is 28 3/4 inches long, still long and lean. The doctor is still pretty pleased with her progress. She still isn't crawling or standing yet, but he said not to worry one bit about that. Some kids just aren't as motivated or are perfectly content to observe the world around them. Her fine motor skill are really good though. She can pick up things with her thumb and first finger (the pincher grasp), she can feed herself, and transfer objects from one hand to the other. In true Daddy's girl fashion, her first words were "da-da". She started saying that the day before Thanksgiving. She still calls me "bmmmmfffff", I guess that means Mama in her language. I think she is also trying to say "kitty", she squeaks something that sounds like "diddy" everytime she sees one of them. We are also finding that some of her favorite objects aren't toys at all. She has a strange fascination with keyboards, so we took an old one and ripped out the cord and gave it to her to play with. Do we have a future ITer?

The Fun of Feeding Yourself!!!

We've started letting Haley try to feed herself, and boy is that fun!!! We are also working with her eating some "real" food. So far she has fed herself chicken, lentils, lima beans, potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. In the pictures she is eating some Gerber puffs, she really likes those, but has a hard time with them because they stick to her hands and face when the get wet. I think more food ends up in the high chair and in the floor than in her mouth but she seems to be having fun, and Rhett sure does appreciate the snacks she leaves for him. She is also mastering how to use a sippy cup.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Here are some pics of Haley in her Halloween costume. She was supposed to be a spider, but ened up looking more like a swollen tick, but what a cute tick she was!!!!

She now has 4 teeth, 2 top and 2 bottom. I think she is on the verge of saying her first word. We can't quite tell if she is trying to say mama or dada, but its something close to that. As I'm typing right now, she is sitting on my lap and trying to bang on the keyboard. She is definately getting more curious about whatever I'm doing.

Punkins

I had a rare free weekend off this past weekend, so we decided to go see Nana (Will's grandmother) and Grams (Will's mom) in Marion. While we were up there the Mountain Glory Festival was going on so we decided to walk around downtown Marion. Haley was so good, she really is a sweet little girl. She met all kinds of people, and she just smiled and enjoyed every minute of it. On our way home we stopped and picked out some pumpkins for Haley's first Halloween. I'm not sure what to do this Halloween. She will be too small, of course, to remember it and I have to work that night, so I will not get to enjoy dressing her up and taking her to see people. I haven't decided, I don't even know what to dress her as. So if I don't post dress up pictures of Halloween, don't be dissappointed......theres always next year right??? But here are some sort of Halloween-y pictures. (As always, there are more on Picasa and dropshots) Oh, and we officially have two teeth now, the bottom front two are coming in and they are SHARP!!!!!

Little Miss Muffet.....

Look who is starting to sit up on her own!!! She is still a little wobbly, but she can sit without help anywhere from a few seconds to almost a minute or two.

She is also starting to scoot a little bit while she's on her belly. Not enough to really get anywhere, more or less in a semi circle, but hey, its a start. Haley has been pretty cranky this morning and I think I figured out why. There is a little white spot on her bottom gumline, and when I felt it it was hard like a tooth ready to pop out!!!! She is also trying to talk to the cats and Rhett. The cats don't pay her much attention, but Rhett seems to be interested in what she has to say. He will come over and lick her hands or sniff her head and she just squeals. Its too cute!!!

Crazy faces

Sorry its been awhile since I've posted....busy, busy!!!! Thought you all would enjoy some new pics of funny faces.

Hair, Hair, Hair

I don't know what to do with this little girl's hair anymore. It is getting so long and thicker everyday. When it falls in her face it touches the bottom of her nose!!!! Her Papa Smith keeps telling us to cut it, but I think this is a much better option!

Haley meets Gannon

We had a very fun Labor Day weekend. Haley got to meet her Godparents, Brad and Lisa and their little boy Gannon. Here a some pics of our weekend. Haley also had her 6month pediatrician appointment on Tuesday. She weighs in at 15lbs and is 26 inches long. Both are just below the 50th percentile. The doctor was pleased, said she is long and lean!!!!

I'm 6 months old!!!!

Can you believe it.....1/2 a year old already. Where did the time go??? Haley has discovered the fun of blowing bubbles and is constantly doing it along with her usual babbling and sqeauling. We have also been experimenting with a few different foods. So far we have tried peaches, sweet potatoes and bananas. She likes everything so but makes some funny faces when she eats peaches. Haley's Godparents, Brad and Lisa are coming from DC to visit for Labor Day weekend. They have a 2 month old little boy named Gannon. Haley is very excited to meet him. I will post some pics later of our holiday weekend.

Fun with Photos

As promised, Haley and I did a little "photoshoot" today. Here is just a sample of what we did, the rest are on Picasa. Enjoy!!!!

Changing everyday!!!

It seems like Haley is doing something new everyday. She has rolled....purposefully....from her belly to her back several times since the last blog. She seems so pleased with her self since she has figured out how to do that!!! Haley has also discovered her feet, she especially likes to play with them during diaper changes. I imagine it won't be long until those feet are in her mouth. She is also becoming more and more content and I am getting better at predicting her "bad" times of day and how to deal with it. Although I'm sure just as soon as I master that skill she will change up her moods on me, kids always keep you on your toes right??? She really is becoming a "happy" baby. She smiles and laughs all the time, and is learning to have squealing conversations. I keep trying to catch these on video, but as soon as the camera comes out she is suddenly not in the mood to talk. She is also starting to figure out that she can grab (and promptly put into her mouth) all those pretty toys that I keep surrounding her with. I'm going to try to get some good pictures of her tomorrow, I will post them as soon as I can.

Fun at the Vet and Rolling Over

We had a pretty eventful day today. We made another trip to the vet with BOTH of the cats. I had my hands full! I carried Haley in the Bjorn carrier and the cats in their carriers, one in each hand....it was a sight!!!! Baxter, the smaller cat, has really taken to Haley and is very curious about her. He was pretty upset today at the vet and when they took him out of the cage, he headed straight for Haley and snuggled up next to her. His sister would protect him!!!!

In other news, we had an "almost" roll today. Well, not so much of a roll, but just gravity pulling her big ol noggin to the floor. I had her on her belly up on her elbows really good and next thing i know....thump, her head is on the floor and she is on her back screaming. Poor baby!!!! No worries, she recovered in about 2.3 seconds. So, we have our first official roll....whether or not it was her doing or just the force of gravity....we will never know!!!

Ummmmm, Cereal

ok, here is my first attempt at posting video. Hopefully this will work. The video quality is kinda poor because I have to save it in a smaller file size than the original so that it will fit on the website. This was taken last week when we fed Haley rice cereal for the first time. She seemed to really get a kick out of it. I think she spent more time laughing than eating.

We Have Moved....

to a new site that is. We quickly out grew the old site. Hopefully this site will allow me to post more pictures and video, I'm leaving the old site up just to keep track of growth and milestones, but I will be actively blogging here. You can still access the picture sites through this website, just look under the picture heading on the left side of the screen. Haley is doing great, she is babbling her little head off and just about to roll over. She hates being on her tummy so she doesn't have much incentive to want to roll onto her belly. We have been swimming a few times and we started feeding her cereal. As soon as I figure out how to add video to this site, I have some cute video of her "trying" to eat....more like laughing at us while trying to feed her.

4 Month Check-up

Haley had her 4 month check up today. She now weighs in at 13lb 1oz which is in the 50th percentile and is 24 1/2 inches long, in the 75th percentile. She got 3 shots which, of course, she was none too happy about. The doctor said everything looks good, she is growing and developing wonderfully!!! Haley is definately much more interactive now. She is smiling and laughing a lot now at the slightest little thing. She still hasn't rolled over, but she is working on it. She likes to sit up in her Bumbo a lot, and enjoys looking at herself in the mirror.....she takes that after her daddy!!!! I'm trying to figure out how to put some videos up for everyone to see, so as soon as I figure out how to do that, I will update you with a link so you can see all the fun stuff Haley has been doing.

Happy (late) Father's Day

Haley wanted me to tell all the daddies out there "Happy Fathers Day!!!!" We had a good day yesterday. This was, of course, Will's first Fathers Day. He got cards from everyone, even the furbabies!!! Haley gave him a new golf club (like he needs more of those!) and a little "new dad" figurine. We spent the afternoon by the pool with the grandpas. There are a couple of pictures up on the photosites of our afternoon. Haley is getting bigger and bigger. I would guess that she is around 13-14 pounds. She is starting to roll up onto her side, but hasnt quite made it all the way over. She is starting to take notice of her toys and play with them a little bit. But boy does she have a temper!!!! If she doen't get her way right away, she will let you know about it. In general, she is a happy baby though, just don't cross her!!!! We go back to the doctor in a few weeks for more shots and a check up. I really dread those shots!!!!

Haley's New Favorite Hobby

Well, I think Haley is gonna be one of those children that has to put everything in their mouth. She has started this new thing of wadding up any dress that she has on, and cramming as much as she can in her mouth and chewing and slobbering all over it. Needless to say, any dress that she has on is perpetually soaked. I can't decide if she is just chewing on her dress for fun, or if she just enjoys showing off her little belly. It is so funny to watch

Nighttime Bliss

Haley has passed a very important milestone....sleeping through the night!!!! She has done fabulous since we moved her into her room. The other night, she slept for a total of 10 hours, I couldn't believe it. She has also discovered her thumbs. It is so funny, she'll be chewing on her thumb and then she'll move her arm and the thumb comes out of her mouth and she gets so mad at herself, like "where'd my thumb go, who took it??!!!" but then in a few seconds she will find it again. I'm sure I won't find this so cute when she is 10 years old and still sucking her thumb (hmmm, does that remind me of someone I know??? ) but for now it is cute!!!

Growing and Growing

Haley had her 2 month check up last week. She is now a whopping 11 pounds 5 ounces and 23 inches long. That puts her at around the 90th percentile for length and the 50th percentile for weight. Poor thing also got her first set of vaccines. She got one oral vaccine and then 3 shots. It was pretty pitiful and needless to say she was pretty grumpy for the rest of the day. She is just changing so much everyday. Tonight is our first attempt at letting her sleep in her room. We have been having pretty good nights lately. She sleeps about 7-8 hours a night fairly consistantly. We'll see how tonight goes though, I think it may be harder for me than it will be for her!!!!

Look What I Can Do

Haley is getting so big!!! She is starting to hold her head up on her own. She is also much more alert and interactive. She likes to look at her mobiles and do tummy time on the activity mat. Pretty soon she will be rolling over. She is about to pass another important milestone, sleeping through the night. She has always been pretty good at night, only waking up once to eat and get her diaper changed. For the last two nights she has skipped the 3am feeding. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will keep up the good work.

Houston, We Have a Bellybutton!!!

I didn't think we would ever get to see this little girls belly button, but the cord stump finally fell off this morning, and she has a cute little "outie". It's funny what excites me now!!!! Haley is doing well, she looks like she is gaining some weight, we'll find out how much at her appointment next week. She is sleep pretty good at night, usually only wakes up twice to eat and get a diaper change. We went on our first outing last weekend to SouthPark. She did really well there, loves to shop just like her mommy!!!!

Today's Doctor Appointment

Little Haley is starting to beef up!!! She has gained a pound since her last doctor's visit, she now weighs 7lbs 8ounces. The doctor is very pleased with her progress. We are doing better with the breastfeeding. She still does well at night too, gets up 2-3 times to eat and thats it. Will and I are doing pretty good too, we're not completely exhausted....yet.

One Week Old

I can't believe Haley has been with us for a week now, time is already flying!!! Her bilirubin level is coming down which is great news. She has been pretty good so far. She doesn't cry too much usually just when she is dirty or hungry. She is sleeping pretty well also, only waking up once or twice to eat. I keep wondering when that will change. She is just too sweet, I could just eat her up!!! FYI, I am starting up a new photo storage website. This one is easier to order prints from, you can order them online and have them printed pretty much anywhere like Walgreens or CVS. If you're interested, check it out. The link is: http://picasaweb.google.com/HaleyGrayBuchanan

Home Sweet Home

We've been home for 3 days now, and so far so good. Haley went to the pediatrician yesterday, and her weight is up 1/2 an ounce which is a good sign. Her bilirubin level (which is what causes jaundice) is still creeping up so we have to go tomorrow to have it recheck, but she is eating well and pooping a lot so that will help bring that bilirubin level down. She seems to be pretty content right now. She really only wakes up to eat, doesn't cry unless she's having her diaper changed, getting a bath, or changing clothes. She is just getting cuter and cuter everyday!!!

Haley Gray is Here!!!

Haley Gray Buchanan was born Friday 2-29-08 at 8:40pm, after almost 24 hours of labor. She has a head full of long black hair and the most beautiful eye lashes!!! She is a lot smaller than we ever thought she would be, weighing in at 7 pounds even and 21 inches long. So much for guesstimates on the ultrasounds. And her head is not gigantic like predicted either. She is just so beautiful!!! We are having to stay in the hospital one extra day than we had planned on because she is a little jaundiced, but she is doing fine otherwise. Mom is doing well also, just the typical postpartum aches and pains. You've probably heard or noticed that her name is a little different than our original name. When she came out she just looked like a Haley Gray instead of Grayce, so we decided to stick with Gray. We, of course have tons of pictures all ready, too many to fit on the website. So if you want to see more than what we have posted here, I will be uploading them onto http://www.dropshots.com/laurabs24# I can't wait for everyone to meet our little girl.

Eviction Notice has been Served!!!!

I had my LAST OB appointment today...YEAH!!!! Well, my blood pressure is still high, but Haley's nonstress test looked great. I am not at all dilated yet, so the doctor I saw today (which is different one than the one I saw last week) didn't really know my history or what has been going on the last couple of weeks, and suggested I go home, stop working, go on bedrest, and come back Monday. HELLO!!!! That is what I have been doing the last 2 weeks!!!! So I reminded her of that, and told her that the doctor last week wanted to induce me Friday or Monday if my BP was still up. Once she heard that, and saw how anxious I was to get the ball rolling, she agreed to induce me. So I will be admitted to L&D at 5pm today, and given a medicine Cytotec to "rippen" the cervix. This doesn't cause actual labor on its own. Hopefully by tomorrow morning my cervix will be "ripe" and I will be given Pitocin which will start contractions and labor and then..voila...baby. If only it were that easy!!!! So keep us in your prayers and I will update you with pictures once the guest of honor has arrived!!!

The End is in Sight

I had another OB appointment today. Good news, my blood pressure was better. Everything looked good on the ultrasound. Haley is measuring around 7 pounds 9 ounces. I am not dilated yet, but 70% effaced, which means my cervix is thinning out a little. The doctor doesn't want me to go until my due date, so she is considering inducing me next Friday, Leap Day!!! Induction depends on if my cervix is dilated at all at my appointment next Thursday, she wants me to be at least 2cm. If my blood pressure is still acting up and I have not dilated she will still induce me on Friday. But, if my blood pressure is fine, and there is no dilation, then she will wait until Monday the 3rd. She seems to think that I will have made some progress though by next Thursday. So lets keep our fingers crossed. I think a Leap Year baby would be fun....no matter what "Big Papa" says!!!

More Bedrest

I went to the OB again today. My blood pressure is still acting up. It's high when I'm up and active and normal when I'm lying down, so guess what that means.....more bedrest. One good thing that has happened because of bedrest is it helped me lose 4 pounds of water weight, so needless to say my feet and legs feet 100% better. Because my blood pressure is normal while lying down, they don't have any urgency to induce me...boohoo!!! I had another nonstress test, and Haley is doing perfectly. I'll be going to the OB twice a week from here on out, my next appointment is on Thursday, and I will have yet another ultrasound........good times!!!!!

Bed Rest

Well, I woke up Friday morning with some MAJOR swelling and I felt really bad. I had Will check my blood pressure and it was really high, so I went to the OB. I have been put on bedrest indefinately. When I'm up my blood pressure is anywhere from 145/100 to 165/100...not good. But when I'm laying down and resting its around 125/80...therefore, I am now chained to the couch or bed....fun stuff. Everything is fine with Haley, she doesn't seem to be affected by it, the danger in high blood pressure is mainly lies with me and increased risk of developing preeclampsia or eclampsia. I'm feeling a little better today, just bored to death!!! I'm actually surprised I haven't had BP problems until now, given my history with high blood pressure before pregnancy, so I've done really well until now. It's not too uncommon for this to happen in the last few weeks of pregnancy. I go back to the OB on Monday, and I imagine if I'm still having problems with my BP then they may talk about induction....I'll keep you posted!!!

CANKLES!!!!!

I went to the OB again yesterday. Everything looks good. The fetal nonstress test was normal, Haley was very active and kicking the monitors the whole time!!! I am, however, swelling like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon!!! My poor feet and lower legs are ridiculous, I will spare you the grotesque pictures The OB doesn't seem too concerned about it, my blood pressure is fine and I'm not having any other signs of preeclampsia.

31 Days and Counting!

I went to the OB again yesterday for another quick ultrasound. According to the measurements, she weighs between 6.5 and 7 pounds and still has a huge head!!! She was very active during the ultrasound and constantly kicking the ultrasound probe, guess she didn't like us making fun of her head. I start going to the OB every week now. They will also be doing fetal nonstress tests every week to measure her movements, heartrate, and how she reacts to contractions if I'm having any.

Let the Nesting Begin

Nesting syndrome is in full effect. I've been slowly trying to get things together. I got a TON of clothes (as you can see in the pic, those are just the dresses, the dresser is full on PJs and onsies!) from my cousin Carol. I'm starting to get things all washed up...now all we need is the baby!!! I've been feeling very pregnant lately, tired, swollen, lots of heartburn, backaches, and HUGE!!! Poor Will isn't feeling much better than me, apparently I keep him up at night with my snoring Only 5 1/2 more weeks until she is due!!!!

Baby Shower

My wonderful friends threw me the best baby shower yesterday. We had a lot of fun, and I got TONS of stuff. I posted some more pics of the shower in the photo albums. Thank you to all that came and gave gifts, Will and I are so lucky to have such great family and friends!!!! Now that Haley's room is filling up it is starting to seem more and more real!!!! Only 8 more weeks!!!!

Giant Baby!!!

I had another ultrasound today. Everything looks good. Haley is measuring in the 63rd percentile. The ultrasound tech kept measuring her head because it was measuring so big, and she finally said "I can't get the measurements any smaller, sorry you're baby has a huge head". Thats going to be fun in about 2 more months!!! The ultrasound estimates her to be around 4lb4oz already and measuring around 34 weeks. The OB isn't going to change my due date. Since I'm tall, she would expect the baby to measure on the bigger side. I go back for another ultrasound in 4 more weeks....any bets on how big she will be then?????

Where Did My Feet Go???!!

Its official, I can no longer see my feet when standing unless I lean over.....don't even ask if I can still reach them!!!!!