the hayes family: July 2011

Pregnancy

Johnnie has been ready for baby #2 for quite a while now. Me - not so much. I finally decided I was ready and thought it would be nice to have baby #2 in the spring of next year. I loved the time of year that I was pregnant with Olivia. Olivia was conceived at the end of June and born in March. I didn't want to wait until then to start trying in case it took longer to get pregnant this time around. So I thought about it and decided the earliest month I would want to have a baby is December and the latest is May. So we started trying in April - it worked - and I was given a due date of December 28th! My first doctor's appt was May 5th (I was 6 wks) and my due date was changed to January 3rd. Let's back up to when I took the pregnancy tests - I bought a pack of 3. I took the first one on Tuesday April 19th. I needed to make a dentist appt for an exam, xrays and a cleaning so I thought I should make sure I wasn't pregnant before I called to make the appt. The test was negative so I called to make the appt and they said someone had just cancelled and I could come in the next day. I took the second test the next morning before I went to the dentist. Negative again. So I went to the dentist and they did all that stuff. I cried and was super emotional during the exam because the hygienist told me she loved my necklace and asked me where I got it. It was a Christmas present that I had received this past Christmas. My mom got it for me and put it under the tree with a tag that it was from my brother. It's really pretty and has a sparkly bird on the front of the charm and on the other side it says "fly free." I had no idea why but as soon as she mentioned my necklace my eyes welled up with tears and I told her it was from my brother and that he had passed away. She probably thought I was such a freak. And I was! Normally when someone comments on the necklace they just say - I like your necklace and I say thank you. But she just kept going on and on about it and it just got me all upset and I couldn't quit thinking about how much I missed my brother and it was really weird. I was a mess but tried my best to suck it up and think about something else. She was really cool about it and changed the subject and we moved on to the x-rays and then the cleaning. I got a little upset during the cleaning also because my mouth is TINY and I was so uncomfortable. I didn't cry but I just got tears in my eyes and she could tell I was DONE. It was just a really weird experience and I couldn't wait to just go home and take a nap and forget about it. OH - but after the cleaning she asked me, "You aren't pregnant are you?" I said, "nope, just took a test this morning to make sure." Then she squirted some sort of anti-microbial mouthwash into my mouth. I immediately thought - what if the test was wrong or its just too early to tell so when she gave me the little sucking thing and told me to suck that stuff out I SURE DID. I made sure I ingested as little as possible of that stuff. So the next morning I get up and take that third pregnancy test. Positive - are you kidding me?!?! I just had x-rays the day before and that anti-microbial stuff! So I immediately called the dentist to get the name of that stuff. Then I called my OB to tell them what happened. UGH! No WONDER I was such a weirdo at the dentist. My hormones were obviously all out of whack! The nurse asked me if my belly was covered for the x-rays, I said yes and she told me to not worry. Then she asked me if I swallowed or sucked out the mouthwash. She said I would've had to ingested a pretty good amount of it for it to harm the baby. Whew! So at my first doc appt on May 5th I was only 6wks and all the sonogram showed was that I was pregnant. It was too early to see a heartbeat. So we went back two weeks later on May 19th. My due date was changed to January 3rd. My doctor is not going by the first day of my last period since I was using an ovulation predictor and I knew exactly what day I had ovulated. She is using that day because it makes the most sense with the baby's measurements and is obviously more accurate. It did not take long for me to start getting morning sickness. Then afternoon sickness, evening sickness, middle of the night sickness, etc... I did not get sick when I was pregnant with Olivia so this was all new to me. I also started feeling pressure down below early on and worried that something could be wrong but my doctor assured me that it was normal for a second pregnancy. So I've been feeling like I did when I was 7-9 months pregnant with Olivia since around month 2 which took some getting used to. My belly got bigger sooner and I had so much pressure and fatigue and I kept thinking, "omg this is obviously not going to get better, it will get continually worse as the days, weeks and months go by - yikes." Fortunately and surprisingly it did get better. It took quite a while but I do not have that pressure every day, just some days. And I don't feel tired all day every day like I was thinking I would. Today I am 28 weeks and feeling great! When I think back on all the things that have happened since I got pregnant it makes me feel like I've been pregnant forever. Which just means I will be having this baby SOON! Right after we found out we celebrated Easter, have gone to a ton of kids' birthday parties, did the Firemens 5K for the 2nd anniversary of Zach's accident, spent several weekends at the lake house with Nana and Paw Paw, spent lots of time trying to keep cool by swimming at friends houses or at Hawaiian Falls, went to Colorado with my parents, found out we are having a BOY (Zachary Ross Hayes) and the biggest thing of all - my baby girl started PRESCHOOL!!! I'm sure I left something out but I have a terrible memory these days and also have not picked up the camera much over the past several months. I'm hoping that will change soon. I love taking pics of Olivia in the fall at all the pumpkin patches and at my parents house outside when the weather is cool. I'm hoping the weather will get much cooler than it has been soon so we can spend more time outside. I LOVE fall decorations and Halloween decorations and have been slowly dragging them all out so hopefully by the end of the week it will look like fall threw up all over my home - inside and out :)

May 28th

May 28, 2009 was the worst day ever. I lost my brother, one of my best friends, that day and my life will never be the same. Zach loved life and loved having fun. We decided instead of moping around and being sad on May 28th every year we would honor Zach by being together and having fun. Last year we didn't really plan anything but several of Zach's friends asked my parents if they could come over and just hang out so we could all be together. My dad cooked ribs and my mom and I made some sides and everyone had a nice time. This year we decided to think ahead and plan something. My parents get a monthly newsletter from Compassionate Friends which is a grief support group for parents who have lost a child. My dad was looking at the newsletter one day and it was talking about their biggest fundraiser of the year, the Firemen's 5K. He thought it might be a good thing to do to give back to Compassionate Friends and then he saw when it was - May 28th. He thought that was a sign that we should do it as a family in honor of Zach. I thought that was a great idea and thought it would be fun to have some shirts made for "Team Zach" and see if I could get more of our family and friends to do it with us. I told our family, my friends and Zach's friends and we ended up with about 45 people that day. It was awesome!

We got a double jogging stroller when we found out we were having another babe. Until little Zachy gets here Brobee fills his spot :) The walk started at 8am so we got there at 7:30 which is EARLY for Olivia. And me.

I loved seeing all those orange shirts!!!

Team Zach!

Scott & Meredith

Lindsey and I

Stephanie & Jason (Zach's BFF)

Meredith & Brenda

Willie & Clay (Zach's other 2 BFF's and fellow diesel mechanics)

Jacob & Willie

my wonderful fam :)

After the walk there was a huge bus that shuttled everyone back to the starting point where all our cars were. We all stood around and talked for a little while and then Olivia got on the bus with my parents. Chris, Lara and Hayden did not walk since Lara was VERY pregnant but they were waiting for us at the finish line. So their car was there and we had a miscommunication about how we were getting back to our car. I thought Chris was driving Johnnie back to our car and then he would come pick me (and my giant stroller) up so I stayed with Lara and Hayden and so did Bridget. Then Chris, Johnnie and Dave pulled up in Lara's car. They had thought I had got on the bus. So me, Chris, Lara, Bridget, Hayden, Johnnie, Dave, a single stroller and a DOUBLE jogging stroller crammed into Lara's 4Runner. Good times. Since Johnnie and Dave are boyfriends they snuggled in the back together with the strollers.

I thought this was a cute pic that Johnnie took of Olivia following me to the car.

After the race we met Chris, Lara, Hayden, Dave & Bridget at Yogi's for brunch and then headed to Alvarado to help my parents. My dad smoked ribs and brisket again and my mom and I made some sides and we invited everyone at the race out for dinner. It was a HOT day so Olivia spent most of the day in her pool. She loved it when Poppy joined her!

I didn't take very many pics that evening but here are a few:

Richard & Alisha

Jacque & Layna

Kylie & Olivia

Mer & her dad (Kylie has always called him Papa Harse but Olivia calls him Pops) Pops makes the best homemade ice cream and he brought some out for us - YUM!

Sam, KC and Molly (She looks just like Zach's dog, Hank, b/c she is his mommy)

We had such a great time and thanks to all who did the walk with us and came out for dinner!

Oh Hail

One stormy evening in May, it hailed. Olivia was intrigued. She hadn't seen or even heard of hail before. Johnnie took her out onto the back porch so she could see all the hail on the deck and she picked some up and brought it in to show me. She thought it was the neatest thing. I must've been on weather.com a lot that evening checking the radar because now every time I go to weather.com Olivia asks if I'm looking for the hail - LOL!

Easter Sunday

There haven't been many Easter Sundays that I didn't spend with the rest of my dad's family at my grandparents house. We've always eaten lunch - usually fried chicken - and had an easter egg hunt. I was glad that Olivia got to run and hunt eggs there this year.

sitting on the porch with her new Easter bunny from my Aunt Tess and Uncle Terry

she's got her game face on

I think someone told Paxton to get his basket off of his head so Olivia thought - I wanna do that!

she's almost got it...

she was successful and we were able to convince her and Pax to both put their baskets down for a nice picture

Morgan, Paxton, Avery, Tate, Olivia and Abby

they are my cousins' kids but they are all very sweet and treat Olivia just like another cousin

running like the big kids to find some eggs!

she found one!

she sometimes wanted to go ahead and see what was inside :)

My Aunt Tess has an Easter bunny costume that she usually wears for the kids but she was having knee problems and wasn't able to wear it this year. I asked Johnnie if he would put it on so Olivia could see the Easter bunny. I didn't realize that the face was cut out....

Olivia said, "Ummmm, that's my daddy." She was not impressed. But I was. Johnnie is a trooper and will do anything for his baby girl :) Thanks babe!

Easter Egg Hunt

A few girls from playgroup were going to the Easter Egg Hunt at Bicentennial Park in Pantego so I thought it would be fun to take Olivia. Johnnie's parents went with us and Olivia had a lot of fun. What a difference a year makes!

this is her hunting eggs last year

and this year...

PawPaw & Nana

Olivia and I riding in the choo choo

she is too busy singing to smile for a pic

Daddy's Little Helper

Any task that we are doing, big or small, Olivia wants to help. Whether it is cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding King or Kitty - you can bet if she finds you doing something she will say, "I WANNA HELP!!!" And we usually let her. One day back in April Johnnie said he was going to go clean up the driveway because there had been a storm and our entire driveway was covered in leaves and tree limbs. Of course Olivia wanted to help! She got her own broom and helped sweep, she picked up limbs, leaves and sticks and put them in a pile, then she helped put it all in trash bags. She really is a great helper!