10-weeks!

After traveling all over Texas, out west and then down south, we finally made it back home last week. We had a great Thanksgiving with Trey's family and Haley had fun with her Nanny, Papaw, aunts, uncles and cousins all week. Trey and are either the worst or the smartest parents around because we have always had Haley in her nursery since coming home from the hospital. I know that it was a long walk in the middle of the night, but that is just how we did things. Thanksgiving week Haley slept in our room. I got up with every sound she made, or didn't make. Haley caught a cold and was snoring worse than Trey all week. When she would stop snoring, I would jump up to make sure she was still breathing. Not fun! She is back to normal and I am back to sleeping a little better. Now I walk across the house to check on her. We went to the beach one night for pictures and to eat. Haley LOVED the beach! She was fussy and when we got outside, so stopped crying and started laughing.

Gus learned how to swim when we were at Nanny and Papaw's house. Fun for the cousins included throwing all of his toys in the pool. The first couple of times he fell in trying to get a toy that was out of reach. After that I think that he started "falling in" on purpose. Gus loves the beach, too. Uncle Brandon also taught him how to pick out his frisbee from all his other toys. We have a very smart dog!

Haley had her 2 month appointment last week and is now 10 lbs. and 22.8" long. She is in the 25% for weight and 75% for height. So we still have a long and skinny baby. She does have a couple rolls on her legs and has a fun double chin. She also got 4 shots at her appointment. Daddy stood in the corner resisting the urge to grab her and run away to keep her from needles. Mommy was strong and started crying with her after the first shot. Amy, the shot nurse, was awesome and all was over in about 30 seconds. It was hard for mommy to watch Haley's blue eyes get as big as saucers and have real tears in them... Haley loves to laugh and kick around and has started "talking" to us.

With a heavy heart mommy returned to work last week. Tuesday was horrible for her and she cried most of the day. Wednesday was easier, but mommy had a fun time this weekend and had another rough day today. Mema was nice and took care of her last week and this week she went to childcare. I know that it doesn't faze Haley that I am not with her, but it sure does come across mommy's mind, constantly!

On a brighter note, we went to see Santa last week. I am posting the photo to warm up your day!

8 Weeks

So, I have been a total slacker with blogging as of late. I won't bore you with excuses, but will get to the good stuff...

Trey has been working up a storm on different projects and has been out of town for a couple weeks. He went to Temple (the city not the place of worship) a couple weeks ago for a one day job. It turned into a 4 day nightmare of a job. He finally got home at 2 am Friday night (he was supposed to get home on Wednesday afternoon.) Of course Haley started doing a modified version of a laugh. She loves to be tickled on her tummy and for you to talk in a high pitch. This was milestone #1 that Trey missed. Danielle's parents sacrificed their time to come help me out when Trey was gone. I know that they hated every moment...not really. Gus loved having Otis, my parent's dog, around. He also got to take morning and afternoon walks.

Haley is growing like a weed and a week ago we made the transition to size 1 diapers. Mommy cried because she was leaving the newborn size behind. Of course, it took her 7 weeks to get out of newborn diapers. According to her doctor, she is going to be tall and skinny.

We are in San Angelo this week visiting Mema and Papa and enjoying the wonderful 70 degree fall weather. Gus got to go to The Farm and run around on Saturday. He had the best time running, jumping in the water and chasing insects, etc. Haley took her first trip to the farm in stride and slept the entire time in the truck. We hope that in the years to come she will have as much fun at the farm as Mommy and Uncle Shawn did growing up.

Haley was 8 weeks old yesterday...my how the time has flown. She is starting to reach out for things and almost play a little bit. She doesn't sleep all the time which is fun! She loves mirrors and looking at herself in them. Trey is already scared about how much he is going to have to spend on her!

Danielle's birthday is this week and mema and papa got Trey and Danielle a Wii and Wii Fit for a joint birthday gift. I am sure that we will have a great time using it!

I could only upload photos from my mom's camera. Here are a couple of Otis and Gus, Haley at 7 weeks and Haley getting ready for gameday..She does have Baylor wear, but her pics are on mommy's camera.

1 Month

I can't believe that it has been almost 5 weeks since Haley came along. We have been busy getting into the parental routine. Mema and Papa came back to see Haley on Sunday. We went to the doctor today for her 1 month check up and she is now 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 20.8" long. She is in the 25-50% in each measurement. The doctor said that we have a petite baby. I guess that we will be wearing 0-3 month clothes for a while. We went to a costume party on Sunday night and Haley was a puppy. Of course her costume was too big.

Mommy and daddy had a night out on Saturday night to attend a wedding. Mommy felt like she was missing something. Aunt Kellie had a fun time with Haley and volunteered to keep her again. We are taking her up on her offer!

Haley and I went to the Arboretum on Wednesday with some other friends from church. Haley and mommy took a couple photos, but it is hard to pose a 1 month old on a pumpkin. A cold front came through when we were there and it was got a little cold. Rosemary and Avery went with us. We had a fun day!!

I am posting photos of her Halloween costume, her big smile after church- she only smiles with her eyes closed, crying girl, playing with Gus, what Haley looks like when she sleeps, a pic with Haley's Aunt Amy and meeting Summer at Mapleshade dinner.

Crazy Day

I know what y'all are thinking, two posts in one week. What is going on...We had an eventful day. My coworkers gave us a jogging stroller that Haley loves to ride around in. We like to walk with her because it tends to calm her down when she is having a rough time. It is also a fun family activity time. We loaded Haley up and put Gus on his leash and set out for a fun walk around the block. It had been raining off and on, but we felt like the rain wouldn't be a problem. Boy, were we wrong!! The bottom dropped out about a half mile from our house. We were a couple houses away from our friends Coby and Sally's house and took refuge on the front doorstep while Trey and Gus ran home to get the car. We scared Sally because she thought that someone left a baby on her doorstep. Of course it stopped raining a couple minutes later and we were able to load Haley into the car and head home.

We gave Haley a bath last night. She cried the entire time until we wrapped her up in her fun pink chicken towel. She calmed down and seemed to enjoy after bath time better. She looked really cute, so I am posting photos of this time. Of course Gus was right in the middle of the action to help.

3 Weeks

I can't believe that 3 weeks ago Haley came into our lives. Time has flown by! This week has been a good, but challenging week. Trey and I have amazing parents!! We had help from them until Friday and now we are on our own. We are settling in and learning as we go. Haley tends to stay awake until 12:30 am after her 11:00 feeding and lately has stayed up until 5:30 am after her 3:30 am feeding. I guess that we have a little night owl on our hands. I kept reading that after giving birth I would randomly cry because of hormone levels adjusting. I went for over a week without crying and it has now hit me. Poor Trey...I cry over random things. I cried in Walgreens because I couldn't find the make-up I was looking for.

We did have a fun Saturday with football watching and then Haley got to go meet a new friend, Evan. He is an answer to prayers for our friends. Evan was born on Saturday weighing over 10 lbs. Haley hasn't made it to 8 lbs. and she is 3 weeks old. Everyone at the hospital looked at me funny when I was trying to find a place to feed Haley. I think that they thought that I was trying to take her since she does look like a newborn!

We also went to Bible Fellowship on Sunday. Haley was great...she slept the entire time. Yesterday I went to the grocery store while Trey watched Haley. I felt like I was missing something!

I am attaching photos of Haley at 3 weeks; our new family (with Haley and Gus); Trey & Haley with Evan & Dave; I hate tummy time photo; first trip to church photo; and milk drunk baby photo. Is it sad that most photos have Haley crying? She is a little camera shy.

2 Weeks!

So alot has happened in two weeks. Haley is now 7 lbs. 6 oz.(25%) and 20.3" long (75%). So our little baby girl is tall and skinny. Mema and Papa (Danielle's parents) stayed with us for a week and on Friday Nanny and Papaw (Trey's parents) came to visit for a week. Nanny and Mema have taken the "night shift" and I just get up to feed Haley. Last night Haley decided to stay up all night long. Nanny took the 10:00 to 2:30 shift and I took the 2:30 to 6:30 shift. We tried everything: swing, bouncy chair and even a stroller ride around the house.

We love our little girl and can't believe how wonderful she is and how even though I didn't get much sleep last night, I love hanging out with her. We kept thinking that we were going to have a "Mitchell sized" baby and not the small girl that we have. I am trying to find clothes that fit her. I get excited when something fits! She has a lot of growing to do!! Gus loves his little sister and loves to sit next to my feet when I am feeding her. He does not like it when she cries. I am glad that she likes his little sister!

I am attaching photos from the past couple weeks.The pics include: Haley sleeping, Haley giving daddy kisses, 3 generations of Bookters, Haley looking at herself in the mirror and Haley coming home from the hospital. The dress she is wearing was my first Easter dress.

Yeah, she's amazing. We can't wait for yall to meet her.

Haley Marie

Well, Haley was born on Sept 23rd at 6:30 am. I've said that because we have 9 nephews and nieces all under 6 years old, we have this baby thing figured out. We don't have a clue... This is awesome, though. God has blessed us in such an amazing way.

I tried the best I could to be the supportive, helpful husband during Haley's birth. And I did ok, except for the part where I fell asleep and stayed asleep while the nurses dealt with fluctuating heart rates and blood pressure. I'm a looser but Danielle has everything under control. I don't suppose that will surprise any of you.

Now, all we have to do is figure out when we're going to get to sleep over the next year.

9 month baby bump

Yes, I am standing next to cupcakes and I will not tell you how many I ate. The photo is from my work shower last week. Still no photos of the nursery. I hope to have them posted tonight or tomorrow night.

Still hanging in there...

We finished Haley's nursery with the help of my parents this weekend. I will try to post photos tonight or tomorrow. It is nice to have it finished. We officially have 2 weeks until baby Haley is due. 2 weeks, that isn't long!! I am planning on working until I have the baby, so my co-workers are a little nervous. I am sure that it will be fine. I am posting photos of Gus that were taken a couple weeks ago. He is still growing and is confused about all of the little things that have been coming into our house. Hopefully, I will post photos of the nursery tonight!

Haley's Nursery

We finally have the nursery almost finished. We still need a add a couple finishing touches like decorations, etc. We have everything put up now and are getting ready for her arrival! Today's countdown is 28 days! Yikes! I went into hyper nesting mode this weekend where I couldn't stop cleaning, washing, etc. I have all of Haley's clothes washed and ironed...yes, that is right I said ironed. if you know me well, you know that I hate to iron. I usually say that sitting in the car caused the wrinkles...not my lack of ironing. I will post more pics when the nursery is finally finished!

Lessons Learned

I have to brag on Gus...he goes to the door when he needs to go outside, he sleeps in (thank you Patrick and Sara!), and he loves to snuggle when you can get him to stop moving around. Another thing he is developing a love for is chewing on things. My arm, his bone, his rope, my toes, his bed, and his favorite thing so far...my work security badge. I didn't think anything of it yesterday when he got a hold of one of the corners of the badge. Turns out, that corner contains the chip that activates the badge. I had no access to the building, no access to my cafeteria money, etc. The guys in security got a kick out of it yesterday. Imagine how silly I felt this morning having to turn in my badge for a second day in a row with the chip chewed up again. My lesson learned...don't leave your work bag on the floor!!

The heat has been difficult on my feet and hands this week. I bring flip flops to work to change into after lunch because shoes don't seem to fit anymore. I can still wear my wedding band, but the engagement ring had to come off last Sunday. I have begun a new game where I make the people that are only 4 months along and park in the expectant mothers parking spaces feel guilty as I walk from the back of the parking lot at 8 months. I might have to start fighting a little harder for the spots!

Trey and I went to childbirth class last Sunday and were surprisingly the youngest people in our class. One couple was in their mid-40s and had been married for 22 years. I know that I am older, but the thought that they got married when I was in the 5th grade and we are having a baby at the same time makes me laugh. I did learn that if they show you a needle, Trey will still freak out, but if he takes Gus to the vet to get shots he is fine....

We hope to finish the nursery next week and post photos!

Hurricane Dolly

Well, we're down in Harlingen where Hurricane Dolly came ashore. We went to the island, yesterday, and were the only people on the beach. We had to get permission from the Federal Marshals to get onto the island. That was interesting. We've been hanging out at my parents' house a lot because it's one of the few houses that has electricity... and a/c in town. Most of the streets had turned into rivers and farm land was 4 ft deep in water. It's kind of weird to see a truck driving one direction and a boat pass it going the other.

Crazy Week

Trey and I had a crazy, but exciting week. We are still learning how to be dog parents and all the fun that goes with it. Gus has minimized the accidents in the house and we have fun playing with him. It is dangerous to go to PetSmart because we tend to buy him more toys and more treats,etc. You can see from the photo that Gus had a little trouble figuring out the frisbee at first. I heard him banging something against the wall and looked over to see his frisbee become a necklace. Being the good mom that I am, I took a picture before getting him out of the frisbee.

My mom was put in the hospital with what they thought was a heart attack. She is a diabetic and was only experiencing a malfunctioning insulin pump. I started realizing how thankful I was for her health. She has had diabetes for 42 years and has fully functioning kidneys, heart and has good circulation to her feet and hands. She did miss my Dallas baby shower, which was horrible for her, but I am glad that she is on the mend.

Trey and his dad painting the nursery on Friday and it looks great. Evidently they are two of the most exact and perfectionist painters around. I on the other hand need a large wall and plenty of room to drop the roller, etc. We are painting flowers on the wall and there is a photo attached with Trey's handy work. Gus and I stayed out of Trey's way and would go in the room when Trey needed us.

We are headed to Harlingen next week for a little R&R at the beach with Trey's family. Of course there is a hurricane headed that way, so we will see how everything goes!

The story of a man and his truck...

Just wanted to show a photo of Trey and his new truck. It made its first voyage to San Angelo and got great gas milage. Trey discovered that it got better gas milage at 70 than 75. Yes, Trey went the posted speed limit! I know...shocking!

Introducing Gus Mitchell

I wanted you guys to meet our new family member Gus Mitchell. His full name is Augustus McCrea Mitchell, but we call him Gus. Trey's favorite movie is Lonesome Dove and his favorite character is Gus played by Robert Duvall or Bobby as Trey calls him because they are on a first name basis. He is an 11 week old blue heeler that we brought back from San Angelo. We got to meet his parents and Gus looks like his mom. You will notice that he is inside of the house. Gus is actually my wedding present. We have been married for almost 2 1/2 years, but there is a little background as to why we waited so long to get a dog. Before Trey and I got married we had long discussions about dogs and if they can come inside the house or if they have to stay outside all of the time. In my family, we had dogs that stayed outside when we weren't home and stayed inside when we were home. So an inside/outside dog. Trey's family only had outside dogs. My wonderful husband has allowed Gus inside when we are home. It was cute this morning to watch Gus and Trey take the trash out. Blue heelers are very loyal dogs and stick like glue to their loved ones. We can take him in the front yard and he won't run off. The back yard has become his domain which has not made the rabbits that lived under our deck too happy!! Stay tuned for more Gus stories!

We had a great time in San Angelo and we had a great baby shower. It was so much fun to see old friends and ladies that made such an impact on my life growing up. Of course we forgot our camera, so when I get some of the photos from my mom, I will post them.

The fun project this week....fixing up the nursery! We got paint last night and both sets of parents are going to help. My dad has is the self-proclaimed "King of Cutting In", but last time he helped us dropped a full can of paint off of the ladder. I can't wait!!

Catching up...

I am pretty bad at this blogging thing...I kept waiting to make a post until we had a photo or something fun like that. Trey has the camera for work, so you are going to have to read without photos...

We had a fun weekend with Trey's family at Hyatt Lost Pines a couple weekends ago. Trey had to get golf shoes in order to play the course, so we headed to Academy to try to find some that weren't too expensive as playing golf isn't a regular thing for Trey. If you have played with him, I am sure that you can agree! I think that the shoes worked! He won the game between his dad and his brother. The pool was great and I had fun floating in the river. We were able to pick up our new truck in Austin and Trey is really proud.

Since I wasn't able to download the photo, you will need to visualize with me...the truck is charcoal grey with a black accent at the bottom, it is really tall and loud! Trey is in heaven! He has spent the last couple weeks modifying things to get better gas milage- I think that it just made the truck louder and that was the motivation. The truck is making its first voyage to San Angelo this weekend.

We had a great 4th of July relaxing and eating and eating! We found a great place to watch the fireworks in Frisco. If you pay, I will give you the location...hee hee There was a family that had 2 little kids that were letting them play with fireworks. All I know is that at one point the kid tried to throw a box of fireworks that were lit into the back of their van. Not cool. I did discover a new joy in shopping! Shopping for baby clothes is more fun than shopping for my clothes. Trey is nervous!!

Trey has been working early morning jobs this past week...like leaving the house at 5:45 am. It has been nice for me to not leave the house before he is awake! Trey did fall asleep yesterday during his lunch. He sat down with a plate of food at 1:15 and woke up with the plate still full of food at 2:15.

Be in prayer for the youth at our church as they head to Chicago this week for a mission trip. Trey and I got a sneak preview on Monday night. It made us really sad that we can't go, but we also felt good as a large group of students we got to know last year actually were excited to see us.

I will stop rambling and will post photos next week of our first baby shower in San Angelo!

Fun Weekend with the Fam

So, we got back last Sunday and I am just now updating this. To say that it has been a busy week is an understatement! We had a great time with the Bookter clan at Hyatt Hill Country and are looking forward to some R&R with the Mitchell family next weekend. Hyatt Hill Country has a great pool and lazy river where we spent most of our time. Trey and my brother played an entertaining round of golf and evidently my dad is good at retrieving golf balls...other peoples golf balls. The girls had fun at the spa...I got to lay on my stomach with the help of a really cool pillow and my nieces got to go to "camp out school". I am attaching a couple fun photos. There is a group shot in front of the giant plant (that you can't see) the next one is Megan and Caroline feeling baby Haley kicking them. Both say that when she kicks them it is because she loves them. I agree!! The first photo is my dad's tribute to sorority poses everywhere. Our only Griswald moment happened on Saturday night when we went to go grab a bite to eat. Trey bragged about this restaurant called Jailhouse Cafe. We mentioned it and my sister-in-law chimed in that it had the best chicken fried steak. We load up the Bookter cruiser and head downtown. Both the yellow pages online and our GPS say the address and phone number of this place. We didn't really eat anything most of the day to get ready for dinner. We get to the "restaurant" and it is now Action Bail Bonds and a really scary guy greeted us at the door and let us know that the restaurant closed down 3 years ago. We were pretty sad about this turn of events. Oh well, we didn't need to eat chicken fried steak the size of a serving platter anyway! All in all we had a great weekend!

I guess that the sport of choice right now is baseball or softball. We got to go to a Rangers game on Wednesday night which by some luck of the draw was dollar hot dog night. Trey only spent $3 on dogs, but the man in front of us spent at least $10-15. Trey played a double header in softball on Thursday night that even went into extra innings. And the most important game we went to this weekend was our nephew Keaton's tee ball game. This is where most of the fun happens before the game when you get to roll down the hill. Keaton did great and had 4 RBIs.

In other Mitchell news, we are getting a new truck this week. Stay tuned for pics of the newest member of the Mitchell fleet. I guess that I have rambled on as long as you guys can stand it.

Things that Make you Go HMM!

I hope that you are singing the great song by C&C Music Factory right now like I am. Baby M officially has a name!

Haley Marie Mitchell

Haley- The only name that Trey and I both liked and agreed on!
Marie- My middle name, my paternal grandmother's middle name(Grandma Latham) and my niece Magan's middle name.
Mitchell- Our last name (hee hee)

I think that the Beckys (my mom and Trey's mom) along with Aunt Kellie are about to make a mad dash to the monogrammer!

Crazy few weeks!

I am going to be better about updating this! It has been a crazy few weeks for us. Trey has been working long hours on multiple jobs. He has been able to crawl around under buildings in poo and other fun things like that. He will have to give you the details because it made me sick to hear about his experiences.

On May 20, Trey collided with a high school kid running a red light. Thankfully, no one was injured!!! You can see what happened to the truck. After weeks of nagging the insurance company, we found out that the truck was totaled. We are getting a new truck, so stay tuned for more on that. I of couse got a little sentimental about the green truck because Trey asked me out for the first time in front of it, we had the ever important DTR in the green truck and even though it wasn't the car that we left the wedding in- it still got shoe polished on March 4, 2006. I guess the new truck will hold new, treasured memories.

We are about to start a summer of weekend trips instead of a big vacation. We head to Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio this weekend to have a fun-filled time with the Bookter family. We do have Griswald type experiences, so I hope to pass some along next week.

I am feeling great right now. I am at 25 weeks and am just now really starting to feel big pregnant. I don't think that the summer is going to be that much fun, but we will see. I can feel the baby moving around alot, she is quite fiesty! Trey can now feel her most of the time, so that is fun too. She likes his voice, but does not like his sneezes or the vaccum cleaner. I am also attaching a photo of me from last week.

Here it goes!

So I have been meaning to start this blog thing rolling since March when we got our first sonogram photo....it is now May. I am now over 5 months pregnant and we know that Baby M is now going to be Baby Girl M. Of course we had a name for a boy, so we are open for any suggestions for a girls name. Trey and I have been calling the baby "little baby girl" so maybe we can get this name thing figured out soon. My mom has a monogrammer standing by and is chomping at the bit to get something for the baby. It has been fun registering for baby stuff (much more fun than wedding stuff) and trying to decorate, etc.

Trey is trying to figure out how he can get little baby girl to like fishing and hunting. Our child had to listed to some fishing show the other morning in hopes that it will encourage her to like fishing. I hated fishing and hunting with my dad (I would yell at the animals to run away) so we will see if she takes after me or develops a love for dad's hobbies.

I am starting to ramble, so look for more posts and hopefully a better looking blog soon!