Showing posts with label Hayley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hayley. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Christmas

This Christmas was awesome, but a bit different than others we've had. First, I've been really busy with work. That threatened early on to invade on my vacation time a little, but then I had a final call on my last "half day" (in quotes because I worked 8 hours) that made me basically turn off my work cell, and just be with my family.

Once we got going, it was a good time. Pretty quickly, poor Mikey got croup worse than he ever has, and we had many sleepless nights with that. He then got strep throat and the flu at the same time immediately after the croup, so he was also exhausted on Christmas. We took 3 hours in the morning to open 4 presents, then Mikey took a nap. When he woke up, he was more interested in opening stuff and getting all the paper ripped up, but it was a very low key day. Jared and Liz visited to see Mikey's toys (their blogs are linked, but they don't blog anymore, and Jared's is private, so I can't even see it myself anymore), and he loved playing with cousins up to the point where he decided to just lay flat out on the floor, hands tucked under his tummy, and watch Bradley play with cars and trains. It was cute.

My mom and dad visited, too, and brought McKay and Sindi along. We had a nice visit and a tasty meal with them. Earlier, a 4-pack of Martinelli's fell out of the back of our car and only two bottles survived, so we only had the two to share. The steaks made up for that, I think.

During the two weeks I was off work, we stayed inside mostly, but Mikey and I played in the snow all bundled up (see my last post), and made snow angels and a snowman. Once Mikey got sick, going out wasn't really an option, but we went driving to see Christmas lights around the neighborhood and he LOVED it. We even found a house that had a whole thing going with music. Here's a little clip of that:



You can hear the music (they had the radio station to tune into shown on their lawn), and you start to hear the camera noise when Hayley started taking pictures. Mikey hears that, and starts saying, "Cheese!!" Man, is he cute.

We also had to make sure we kept Hayley resting and off of salt. I think it was a little rough for her, but we will probably make up for it in January when the baby is here.

During Christmas is when it really started to become a real thing that Henry was going to actually be here. We looked at old pictures of Mikey, talked about all the stuff he did as a tiny baby, and even about what next Christmas might be like with him here. How crazy will that be!

Anyway, hope you had a great Christmas, too!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

I feel like I should blog

I guess this happens about once every year. I don't have anything specific to blog about, but I haven't blogged in like seven months, so I should do something, right? Here's some stuff. You likely already know this, but hey, it's for posterity or whatever.
  • I totally didn't do NaNoWriMo this year. I'm ok with that. I don't know if I'll ever do it. I got the emails and stuff from the Salt Lake group, but didn't even read them
  • Hayley is pregnant. It's a boy, and he'll be named Henry. He'll show up in January
  • I'm pretty sure everyone I follow on google reader still follows me. It's just easier to not unsubscribe, amirite? You should all blog more often, too. If you don't follow me anymore, well, "sucks to your assmar."
  • I'm super into putting links in this post
  • Work is very busy. Not travel busy, but work busy. And I'm not particularly fond of this project I'm on
  • Speaking of work, everyone is leaving! My boss is leaving, my bosses boss already left, and another manager I liked on my bosses level left
  • Again, speaking of work, I'm going to try to get my bosses job. Maybe I'll blog about that another time
  • Mikey talks a ton. He mimics everything, so watch your mouth. And pay attention to the kind of TV you watch when he's in the room
  • I'm excited for the holidays. I love Christmas
  • I may or may not have teared up watching a video where a flash mob choir sing carols in a mall, especially at the part where they sang Oh, Holy Night, and got to the line, "Fall on your knees; oh hear the angel voices" and everyone singing knelt down in front of people dressed as the holy family
That's about it for now. I'll try to blog more. You guys do it more, too, ok?

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This is how our Thanksgiving started (sort of).

It was a very pretty start to the day, but by the end, I was pretty tired, and ready to see what tomorrow  had in store. But I get ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

Mikey woke up at 2:00 a.m. He has a raging diaper rash, and also has diarrhea, which then irritates his little bum even worse. So when he woke up at two, it was because he had pooped, his bum was hurting, and he needed a new diaper. Changing the diapers when his bum is so bad (seriously, it's got bleeding sores and blotchy redness all over) is quite and ordeal. We use sensitive wipes, then cloth wipes with soap to really clean it all off, then a cloth wipe with just water to rinse it all off, then either air dry or use Hayley's hair dryer to get it good and dry, then put on the diaper, then some Nistatin cream, then this concoction made of plain yogurt (to help get rid of yeast that is making the rash worse) and Malox (to help get rid of the acid that is eating away at his bum).

Anyway, so he wakes up, we change him, I snuggle him back to sleep, then he starts crying half an hour later, we check, he pooped AGAIN, we change the diaper again, and this time he's way less inclined to sleep. I had to sit and rock him for another half hour, and at abut 3:30 a.m., I went back to sleep. Then, he woke up a little before 6:00 a.m., and we had to do another diaper change. Hayley and I tag team these diapers, because it's nice to have someone go get the soapy wipe, warm water wipe, and yogurt/Malox concoction while the other starts getting him out of pajamas to change the diaper, do the wiping, etc. The 6:00 a.m. wake up time wouldn't have been so bad, except for the issue of being up from 2-3:30 the same morning. We were tired, but still looking forward to the day!

While Mikey was up, Hayley made her super awesome green bean dish (having already made deviled eggs and a killer cheese cake the night before), and I made mashed potatoes. Sometime between Mikey's 6:00 a.m. diaper change and starting to make the food, Hayley said something to the effect of "Let's make sure we have a really good day today, ok?" To which I responded with a smile and whole-hearted agreement. My mashed potatoes were awesome, by the way.

Later, Mikey wouldn't take his nap at 9:00 a.m. like he usually does, even though at 8:30 he was beside himself, he was so tired. We wanted him to wake up at 11:00 a.m. so we could head to Tiffanie's for Thanksgiving. Well, he finally went down at about 10:30, and slept until we woke him up at noon. Because there is a huge ordeal with diaper changes, we had all sorts of stuff to take with us, and because he's getting a cold on top of the horrid diaper rash, we took the pack-n-play thinger so he would have somewhere to take a nap, so he wouldn't be such a monster all day. That totally worked and he took a great afternoon nap.

The meal at Tiff's was awesome. The turkey was great, the stuffing was great, the sweet potatoes were great, the green beans were great, the appetizers were great. It was all great. The deserts... everything! The semi-nap on the couch while watching movies and TV was good, too. Mikey started fading at about 6:30 p.m., so we started packing up all our baby things, and somehow left with more food than we brought. At home, we unpacked, then started getting Mikey ready for bed.

As I was changing his clothes, I was greeted with a treat. Mikey had a blow out. There was poop everywhere. Hayley came to help, we got him, his clothes, and the changing table cleaned up, put in the wash, gave him a bath, and got him ready for bed. After I got his diaper on, I noticed that the cotton balls that we used to dab on the yogurt/Malox had fallen behind his bed, so I bent down to get them, and while reaching under the bed, I knocked the stand that was holding the yogurt/Malox concoction, and it fell on the floor. So I had Hayley help me again with wet rags so I could clean that up, too. Then, we FINALLY got Mikey to bed!

While I was getting Mikey ready for bed (and spilling yogurt/Malox on the floor, then cleaning it up), Hayley was reclaiming the kitchen. We had left dishes from all our cooking endeavors in the sink, and the kitchen wasn't it's cleanest; not a TOTAL wreck, but not clean. Hayley was on a roll from helping with the blow out, getting things in the laundry, putting things away from the Thanksgiving visit, so she kept being productive in the kitchen. She also decided the microwave needed to be cleaned. She did this little trick where you microwave a little water with lemon oil, which helps break up all the junk in your microwave. After she had wiped down most of the microwave, she asked me to get the back wall of it, because doing so was hurting her back. I happily jumped in on the productive measures, and wiped it down. We decided that because the microwave was so gross, we'd do the little trick with the water and lemon oil again, and do a final wipe down. Well, after the stuff had been in the microwave for about 30 seconds, the door opened, the glass tray jumped, and the water and oil spilled. It scared me to death! I may or may not have cursed, and wanted toss out the thing right then and there.

After the microwave explosion, Hayley said, "What a night!" But even with the early morning wake ups, struggling naps, messy kitchen, diaper blow out, and microwave explosion, we had a great day. I had a good time with Hayley and Mikey, Tiffanie was a great hostess, and visiting with her, her family, my mom and dad, and McKay was nice. Mikey loved Tiff's dogs and hanging out with Nana and Papa, a fellow red-headed cousin, and some aunts and uncles. We had some great food. And we were thankful. It was a full day, but a great day. It goes to show that if you decide you want a nice day, you can have one. It was a really good day. Hope you had a good one, too!!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Quick tip No. 10

When using eye drops (or having someone else put them in because you can't bring yourself to put drops in your own eyes) it is probably best not to close your eyes so tight your lashes can barely be seen, or to shake your head back and forth so your eyes are inaccessible.

Hayley does this. It's kinda funny. But she has pink eye, the poor thing, so I have to put eye drops in her eyes 4 times a day. I seem to have to remind her a few times that I don't even have the lid off of the dropper.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day, Hayley!

I just love ya! You're the best Momma for Mikey boy that could ever be. You love him so much, it's palpable at times. Just the mere thought of him can make you cry, laugh, or just smile. You love him, smile at him, play with him, feed him, change him, and protect him. You let him nap on you, play with you (even when he gets rough and goes for the face), and you can tell how much he loves you. You don't need to do anything but walk in the room and that little guy lights up, smiles, laughs, and gets so excited he can't help but get those hands and feet going.

We love you so much and hope you have a great day today!

Love,

Your boys.





And here's one of my favorite videos of all time. 

Saturday, March 19, 2011

What would you title this playlist?

Hayley made this playlist, and it's really good music. She has a great name for the playlist, but I wanted to see what other folks might call it. So, if you can guess what Hayley named it, or if we like your choice enough to change the name Hayley already gave it, you get a prize. Seriously. If you win, I'll ask for your address and send you a prize. Because I'm all about prizes and giveaways on my blog. Anyway, here are the songs:
  • Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri
  • Secrets - OneRepublic
  • Chasing Pavements - Adele
  • Parachute - Ingrid Michaelson
  • Fallin' - Alicia Keys
  • You and Me - Dave Matthews Band
  • Forget You - Cee Lo Green
  • Holding Us Back - Katie Herzig
  • Turn to Stone - Ingrid Michaelson
  • No One - Alicia Keys
  • Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
  • If I Were A Boy - Beyonce
  • Skinny Love - Bon Iver
  • What Can I Say - Brandy Carlile
  • Warning Sign - Coldplay
  • Put Me Down - The Cranberries
  • I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie
  • The Sound of Settling - Death Cab For Cutie
  • Shadowboxer - Fiona Apple
  • Paper Bag - Fiona Apple
  • Dog Days Are Over - Florence & The Machine
  • Cosmic Love - Florence & The Machine
  • Cryinig Shame - Jack Johnson
  • Star Mile - Joshua Radin
  • Sky - Joshua Radin
  • Unlike Me - Kate Havnevik
  • Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
  • Because of You - Kelly Clarkson
  • Save You - Mathew Perryman Jones
  • All About Your Heart - Mindy Gledhill
  • Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
  • The Cave - Mumford & Sons
  • So What - P!nk
  • Nightswimming - R.E.M.
  • Australia - The Shins
  • Silent All These Years - Tori Amos
  • Confessions Part II - Usher
  • Gotta Have You - The Weepies
There ya go. What would you name this playlist? And maybe, what would you add to it?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Happy birthday, Hayley!

I tend to get long winded. So here are the main things I want to say, in a bulleted list. Because bullets calm me down and make what I have to say a little less wordy.
  • I hope you have the best birthday you could ever have. 
  • You're my favorite person and you deserve a great birthday!
  • I love you so much! 
  • I can be exactly myself with you, and you love me back. 
  • We are best friends, and can do anything together. 
  • Even just sit and do nothing.
  • You're my baby mama! 
  • You brought Mikey to us, and you are the best mother in the world to him. 
  • How much you love him and care for him just builds up how much I love you! 
  • I love our little family!
I love ya, Hayley. Here's to many more birthdays together. :)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Fun with neti pots

Before seeing an episode of Cougar Town, I didn't even know what a neti pot was. Bobby was a little skeptic at first, but then finally tried it out. See?



(The "Hero" song playing in the background makes more sense if you watch the full episode...)

Then, a day or so ago, one of my friends on facebook said how glad she was she had a neti pot, or what a life saver it was or something. So I had to ask if it really worked. She said it was great. Didn't take away your cold if you have one, but it lets you breathe for while.

I did a little online research (consisting of googling "neti pot," visiting two sites, and watching one online instructional video) and found out people have been using them for a long time, and they can help clear sinuses when you have allergies, too. So I asked Hayley if she's ever used one, and she looked at me like I was crazy, then composed herself a little more and said, "No, but Heather and her family use one." Now I was more intrigued. So when I went to get milk last night, I checked out the neti pot isle, and decided to try it out.

It definitely feels weird the first time or two, but you can breathe after! With this cold I've had since getting home from my last work trip, I've been trying to keep my voice and be able to breathe. This little pot totally helps. If you were skeptic before (or had never heard of the thing like me), come on over and I'll let you try it out.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is me trying it out for the first time. I was pretty sure it needed to be documented and shared on the interwebs.



Oh, and I made Hayley do it, too. And I recorded it. :)



Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!


I love you, Hayley! I love that we can spend so much time together, and have fun.


I think we sat in Mikey's room switching out his small clothes for ones that fit for like an hour, and it was time well spent together.

I'm grateful to have you in my life, and watch how great you are with Mikey. I just love you! Mikey loves you, too. He told me so.

Hope you have a wonderful day today!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

Today was a great day

Lots happened today. First, happy anniversary to Hayley!! Two years has flown by. It has been the best two years of my life, and while I'm inclined to say it couldn't get better, I really know it will. We will continue to love each other, watch Mikey grow, watch our family grow, and wonder where the time went. All the while, I get to spend every day with my best friend in the whole world, and enjoy every moment. Thanks, Hayley, for being the best thing that ever happened to me.

I don't want to detract from how much I love Hayley and how happy this two years has been, so the rest will be a bulleted list. And one picture I really want to share.
  • We went to get "jammie pictures" with Mikey's cousins.
  • We went to Chili's for a little anniversary lunch.
  • We went to a movie. In the movie theater!
  • We came home and relaxed. Hayley got a little back rub, Mikey slept lots, and we just hung out.
  • It was reaffirmed to me that while Mikey is my little "mini-me," he has some of his momma's tendencies.
Regarding that last bullet, Hayley sometimes sleeps with her eyes open. IT FREAKS ME OUT. It makes me do the silent scream. You know, where something is creepy, so you have to react accordingly, but you oddly don't want the creepiness to end, so you don't want to startle it away. Well, Mikey sometimes does the same thing. And I do the silent scream when he does it, too. Mostly because he's actually asleep and I don't want to wake him up (or face Hayley's wrath were I to wake him), so the appropriate response is silent screams.

Lately, zombies have been something we've talked about a lot for various reason. (this is a related statement, I swear. Just wait for it.) Today, Mikey did the scary eyes-open-while-sleeping trick, and I did the silent scream. I also told Hayley, "If anyone in this family has a natural immunity to the zombie virus, it's me, because you two don't have a hope! You've already got crazy zombie eyes!" Check out Mikey's picture of the day:
He's asleep. Out cold. The open eyes looking at me while I hold him are a little creepy. Am I the only one that thinks so? Other than that, he's a-freakin'-dorable... and actually, because it's like his momma, I still think it's adorable.

But back to today. Happy anniversary, Hayley. I love you, and I love our little life.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Surviving the zombie apocalypse

So the blizzard coming has got everyone all riled up. Not unnecessarily so, but there is definitely a lot of talk about it--ok, mostly lots on the news and on facebook, but what else is there?

The blizzard had Hayley worried, and again, rightly so. At one point today, she even said to me something like, "I'm getting ready for the blizzard to come, and to live like I Am Legend is real!" Which made me laugh and say something snarky like, "Yes, we should definitely prepare for the zombie apocalypse!" Which lead to various facebook statuses and comments, and now this blog post (Hayley is also doing a post, but I'm not going to read it until I've written mine, just to keep our opinions unaffected.)

So I give you, How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse (with comments on what my zombie survival rules really mean)

  1. Make sure you have plenty of food (With Thanksgiving coming, Mikey is still not able to travel very far in a car without screaming his guts out, so we're not going to be able to travel to Richfield with my family. Instead, we're going to crash the Williams's Thanksgiving and have it with Hayley's sister's family. And we're bringing a couple food items, so Hayley had to get them before the storm came in.)
  2. Prepare for power outages (Hayley did so by doing 4 loads of laundry, doing the dishes, and vacuuming the floors. Because if we don't have power, we'll still need clothes, dishes, and clean floors.)
  3. Make sure your car has gas -- you may need to make a quick escape, and full tank will ensure you get where you're going (In case we lost power and heat, and needed to get somewhere where there is heat [family or friends around], we needed a full tank. Hayley went to get it before the storm came in, to be safe. Oh, as an added bonus, she mentioned if we lost power, we could put our frozen goods outside to keep them frozen. She thinks of everything!)
  4. Board up your windows! You don't want the zombies getting in (We actually got some of those plastic, shrink-wrap window insulators for Mikey's room, because it is the coldest in the house. The windows are drafty, and we now don't have to worry that he catches his death in his own room at night.)
  5. Make sure you have a year supply of candles and batteries (Hayley got a little worried that if we lost power, we didn't have any candles because we have Scentsy. I reminded her that I still had a zillion votives from when I proposed. We have a couple flashlights and plenty of batteries. After we had been talking about zombies for a while, she told me she picked up a year supply.)
  6. In case of power outages, make sure you have a method for cooking food (After letting me know we could put our frozen goods out on the lawn, Hayley said we could bring the grill inside and cook with that if need be. And she even picked out a place in the kitchen where we'd put it, because on the carpet just would not do.)
  7. Check in on your friends (Hayely kept calling and checking on a few friends that are travelling today and tomorrow. She kept saying to one in particular, "Why am I so worried about you! Just be safe, ok?" 
And that should do ya. Well, if it's the ACTUAL zombie apocalypse, you'll need a shotgun and plenty of shells, too. But these seven rules should keep you safe.

Love you, Hayley. :)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Bullets

I haven't posted in a while, so here is a bulleted list of things crossing my mind lately.
  • Mikey was 8 weeks old on November 6th, 60 days old on November 9th, and 2 months old on November 11th. Aren't 8 weeks, 60 days, and 2 months all supposed to be the same thing?
  • Mikey keeps changing. Every now and then, I'll really notice it. I'm excited to find out how much he's grown after his 2 month check-up today.
  • I really love Hayley.
  • We haven't been to a movie in so long, I don't even remember what the last one was. It was before Mikey was born, but probably weeks or months before that, even. That's a long time for movie lovers not to see a movie. Thank goodness for NetFlix! (I'm fairly certain we'll be in the theater for the new Harry Potter movie, however.)
  • We finally got all of our leftovers eaten. We had lots of soup, salad, sandwiches, cake, jambalaya, and more for a while. I get a little sad when we waste good food. After last night, we now  have a pan of enchiladas as leftovers. I'm excited for those.
  • Thanks to my friend, Jason, I'm going to try to be thankful. But you don't get to know what I'm thankful for until Thanksgiving day. The rules were to keep track of one thing I am thankful for starting on October 31 all the way to Thanksgiving day. I may not write something every day, but I'll have enough items for each day.
  • I might be growing a beard. I've never done that. Partly because it itches my face off, and partly because I have not been able to do so. I still have tiny little spots where the mustache doesn't really meet up with my chin scruff, but I might see how this goes. For a little while, anyway.
  • I often want to blog, but don't.
  • I'm watching Avatar tonight (right now, actually) with Hayley.

Monday, September 27, 2010

What the snarf?

This is an actual conversation Hayley and I had, while wrapping Mikey up and getting ready to go on a walk:

Garrett: Should I wrap him up real good, or just put the blanket around him?
Hayley: Just put the blanket around him... [Garrett proceeds to wrap the baby up] don't snarf him.
G: Uh... ok.
H:... You know what I mean... what word am I thinking?
G: I have no idea what you're even talking about. [both start laughing] He's snarffed up real good, though.
H: [can barely keep her pee in, she's laughing so hard]
G: [to Mikey] You're mom's gone snarffin' mad!
H: [now trying to hold the pee in, by bracing herself on the counter and squatting a little]

Monday, September 13, 2010

Quck baby update

This is the email I sent to my manager this morning. I have been trying to figure out when I would have time to blog, but sleep and baby visits are taking precident over most other activities. While writing this email, though, I thought it would be a perfect little update to the folks that read my blog. So here goes (with a few additions and changes for the blogging community):

After trying to write a brief summary, I realized you might be too busy to read the whole thing. Brevity seems to be a thing I lack when writing about my baby boy, or when writing at 3:00 a.m. on very little sleep. In case you do want to read the whole thing, both the short version and long version of the last few days’ events are included.

The short version:
  • Mom is good and recovering from c-section
  • Baby is ok, in ICU, weaning off an IV and antibiotics before we can take him home
  • He had a scary ambulance ride to a children’s hospital to take a dye test, which ruled out any bad problems (thank goodness!!)
  • I’m quite tired, and not going to do much by way of work today or tomorrow
The long version:

Baby Michael is here, but there have been a few little scares. When he was first born, he went to the NICU because he had a little cough that indicated he was working harder than normal to get his lungs open. Almost as soon as they hooked up the monitors, he didn’t have the cough anymore, so only had to stay there about an hour. Later, however, he spit up some green, mucus-y stuff, which worried the doctors, and they wanted to do a dye test to check his GI track. The hospital we are at didn’t have anyone who could perform this test on him here (those that could had clocked out for the weekend), so he had to be transferred to Primary Children’s Hospital. I followed the ambulance there, and my poor wife stayed behind because she was still recovering from the C-section.

Luckily, the worst problems were ruled out (of course I can’t remember the names of anything… but it had to do with twisted intestines and so forth... started with a V... volvulous or something similar), and it looks like he has some reflux, and his stomach takes a long time to pass its contents on to the intestine. They transferred him back to our hospital and now have the little guy on an IV (which is now attached to a vein on his head—more scary looking than bad. The nurses were quick to tell us it was a normal place for an IV because babies tend to grab, wiggle, and pull out IVs in hands and legs), and we are trying to wean him off of it so his mom can just feed him. Also unfortunately, he is going to be on a series of antibiotics, so he’ll be here probably a day longer than mom. (UPDATE: The doc said this morning that because Hayley had a C section and the baby is in the ICU, there is no rush to get her out of here and will probably have her stay until Wednesday. We may get to take him home with us after all!)

So instead of having him come to the room every three hours to try to feed, we head down to the NICU, mom feeds him, he takes a little formula, and if he does a good job, they lower the IV dosage and we get closer to taking the little rascal home! Otherwise, his vitals are excellent and if the green puke never happened, he might still be upstairs with us rather than in the NICU, but we’re glad the reflux was caught and the larger intestinal problems were ruled out.

Just wanted to give you a heads up on things. I’m just getting back from his 2:00 a.m. feeding and thought I’d better drop a line. I’ll probably not do much work-related activity today. We’ll keep working on getting this kid off the IV and back upstairs in mom’s room.

Thanks for your understanding! And I’m sorry if this doesn’t make sense entirely… Those first few days only allowed for about 4 hours of total sleep…

And finally, while it is probably cheesy to send pictures of my baby to my manager, he’s so stinkin’ adorable it’s hard not to share at least the one where he’s sticking his tongue out! He’s about 30 minutes old in that picture. :)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

right round, right round, right round....... right round.

I have a habit of making posts last too long, so I'm going to try to keep this short...

While Hayley was putting lotion on her belly this morning, she made very wide and roundy motions, and said, "I wonder if this makes the baby dizzy." I chuckled, but then she starts singing the chorus of the song, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" but with her own little twist. No other words but right round. So according to Hayley, the chorus goes, "You spin me right round, right round, right round, right round... right round.... right round...."

When I started laughing, she thought it was for the late couple of "right rounds" she did, so she says, "What? I didn't know how many 'right rounds' there were!" To which, I laughed even more, and when I could talk, I said, "Right. and no 'baby' or 'like a record' at all either, huh?" To which she responded with more laughter.

She's funny. And even funnier with the pregnancy forgetfulness. It really makes me smile a lot.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is the actual music video! Which is quite awful as far as music videos go, but I had to play the song for her after we stopped laughing about the "right round, right round, right round..." and so forth. And yes, I changed the words when I sang to Hayley's new and improved chorus. Enjoy!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Baby's first hic-ups!

So today, Hayley stopped me dead in my tracks and said, "I think the baby has hic-ups..." I stopped and watched her belly, and sure enough, you could even SEE the little rhythmic bumps he was making! It made me just want to squeeze him!

In addition to that, I wanted to share some videos. If you don't watch all of them, I won't feel bad. It may not be as cool to you as it is to me. But these videos are from the ultrasound when we found out that Mikey was a boy. Way back in February April, yes, but oh well. They're also not the greatest videos, but you can still see what's going on.

This first one shows his little profile. In the real video, you can see better that the little roundish spot above his head is his little fist.


This one shows his face, heart rate, and some measurements of his head.


This one shows his boy bits. It's at about 30 seconds that they make their debut... seems kinda weird that I'm telling you where to go to see that, but there it is... The video also shows some measurements of his legs and stuff, including another profile shot with ribs and spine.


And finally, just some last looks at the little guy. This one is only like 30 seconds long.


 And that's our baby boy! Can't wait to see him in real life!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Hayley's actual words to me this morning:

"For the record, I don't think your poops are super stinky..."

And those are words from a pregnant girl who can smell rain coming a day before anyone else, and can smell the neighbor's burned caserole. Just sayin'. :)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Time to brag up my Hayley girl

If you didn't know, Hayley is going to have a baby. Yeah, that's right. But with that, we are lucky enough that she will get to stay home with our baby boy when he gets here! That means this is her last year of teaching. After nine years of teaching. Hayley doesn't like to talk herself up as a teacher, but she's awesome at it. Just to give you an idea, here are a few things that have happened this week.
  • The principal cried when she turned in her  letter of resignation. The principal even knew she was quitting, but once it came time to actually give the notice that she wouldn't be back, the principal cried. She's that good. She's going to be a huge asset lost.
  • One family told Hayley they were postponing moving because they wanted their youngest kid to have her as a teacher. Their kid is in kindergarten this year. That means they were waiting at least two years in a place they don't like (they apparently hate where they live), just to have Hayley be their kid's teacher.
  • Another lady said they had to pray about it to come to peace with the idea that their next kid wouldn't be in Hayley's class. They know know it's what will be best for her, her baby, and her family... uh, thanks for the extra witness, but we already knew that. But how sweet is that? They really like her. It was devastating that she wouldn't be their kid's teacher.
There are more things that I don't know of, or that aren't big enough for a bullet, but there are lots of comments like "we'll miss you," and "I can't believe you're leaving," and "what will we do without you," and "our kids will never have as good a teacher as you."

And I know how good she is and how much everyone loves her. I know how great she is with kids, what a good teacher she is, and all that. I am so grateful. I am so lucky to never have to say anything like that. My kids will always get to have her as a teacher. And even better, they'll have her as a mom. Hayley, I know you're looking forward to being done with school, but I also know it's hard, too. I'm so glad you get to stay home with our little guy, and I'll be forever grateful that you have chosen to do so. I love you, Hayley girl!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Chicago Day 1

We arrived safe and sound in Chicago last night. This morning started with me helping get the network up and running with Mike and Marleen's new laptop. There was one point that I wasn't sure if I had ruined everything or not, but after a few pokes and prods, the network worked the way I told it to, and everyhing is good. As soon as the new desktop arrives next week, setup should be smooth and easy.

After the network was taken care of, breakfast eaten, and showers taken, we went to see all of the schools where Hayley went. There was some confusion on whether or not she went straight to high school after elementary, but as it turns out, she did it in order just like the rest of us. (Just kidding... we went to see her elementary, then the high school, THEN the junior high.) And her junior high doesn't look anything like it used to. It was cool to see all her schools. I kept smiling.

For lunch, we went to Portillo's and MAN was that good! New York dogs have NOTHING on a Chicago dog. At Portillo's, we took our first Chicago pictures. Take a look:

Mike and Marleen. We got some cheese sauce for the fries, and Marleen's salad looked mighty tasty!

This is me and Hayley enjoying lunch. Check out that hot dog. It had ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, and a giant pickle spear on it.

That's the day so far. I am very excited to be here! Everything just makes me smile. I think it's because I'm finally experiencing Hayley's town with her as my guide. I'm enjoying every minute!

I can't promise I'll blog every day, but I'll do my best.