We Survived!

We have survived our first set of shots and I have to say that it was not a good time. Hailey did wonderful at the doctors office on the 19th of July and was just smiling at the nurse and physician until she received all three shots. From that point on, we knew it was going to be a rough couple of days. Overall, she did very well, but we had a couple of days of her running a fever, really fussy and had a hard time sleeping at night. I felt so bad for her and I was probably more nervous about the appointment than she was seeing how she had no idea what she was in for. Thankfully we don't have to go back for another two months! Her measurements this appointment were: she is weighting 9lbs 13ounces and she is 22 3/4 inches long. She has gained some weight, but her length has slowed a little. Which is good because right now she is still wearing newborn pants and shorts, but her onesies are 0-3months since she is so long. But she is still looking cutier than ever!

Hailey's newest activities include playing on her playmate and kicking the little beach ball. I have a feeling we might have a soccer player on our hands because one of the first times she was playing on the mate, she was getting upset because the ball was going side to side and so she put both feet up there and trapped the ball. She actually held her legs off the ground and trapped the ball for a good minute. Then she started to kick it again and just laughed. She is really getting into books and she loves to read with mommy. Even though she stares at me while I am reading the book to her, she will occasionally look at the pages. We took our first walk with her brother Z outside in the Baby Bjorn, and she left the house awake, but came back asleep. It was nice to know she will like walking in the Bjorn and that way we know it will make our trip a lot easier on us. As you can see in one of the pictures her brother is making sure she is being watched over as he loves to lay right by her playmate and watch her. He is still jealous, but does love his sister.

We are in the process of getting ready for a family trip to Hilton Head Island and we are leaving on the 4th of August...we all are so excited and ready to be out in the sun and walking the beach. We truly have a wonderful time when we get a chance to go and we are so excited to take Hailey on her first vacation. Hopefully she will do well on the plane and will have a good time with her family. We will be sure to send pictures and put up new posts while we are away.

We hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to time spent together. Have a wonderful day and God bless you all!

Love,
The Andersons

Two Months

Well, Hailey is now almost nine weeks old and it is so hard to believe. She has grown so much, even though some people still consider her small. She is really starting to coo a lot more and she loves looking at her hands. She has not found her feet yet, but she is really moving around recently. We are starting to get into a pattern as far as her feeding, play time and then nap time. She still has some great nights of sleep where she is sleeping for 4-5 hours at a time. She has loved the opportunity to get to meet many of her family members, including her Uncle Joe who came in for the fourth of July and also her "Great" Aunt Nancy, Uncle Ron and cousin Kyle. So she has loved getting her pictures taken with all her family.

Hailey is really feeling better as we now have my diet under control and we can see such a huge change in her. She is hardly ever fussy after eating and that is such a blessing. Her gas pain is under control and she is doing so much better. She has never really been a "bad" baby, but she is really back to being content again. She has also survived her first injury....her brother (our dog Zachariah) was playing with his dog bone and he loves to throw it across the room and chase it. Well, he threw it and it hit Hailey in the head. She cried, but was pretty tough through it all. I think Z was more scared than she was as he followed her around the rest of the night and laid right by her side. He still is not playing with his bone.

John's job is going great as he is always busy with new patients on his schedule and almost always has a full schedule. He loves it when his daughter gets to come to work and eat lunch with him, even though a lot of the times she is usually sound asleep. He truly love showing her off! He has also been extremely blessed to be able to share his relationship with Christ to many of his patients. It has truly been an eye opener to know that in just about every conversation, he is able to talk about church or Christ in some way. We pray that he will continue to be able to share all that the Lord has done for him and allow his patients to see his relationship that he has with the Lord daily.

Well, that is about all that is new with the Andersons...we hope you all continue to enjoy the updates and we look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again to everyone who continue to pray daily for us and for our beautiful daughter Hailey Renee. God bless you all!

Love,
The Andersons

Meeting Family

Hailey is having a great time getting to meet all of her family members and meeting her new little cousins. Even though her cousins make her look even smaller than what she is, she still loves hanging out with them. We have been blessed that our grandparents, Hailey's great grandparents are in such good health and have been able to hold her and take many fourth generation pictures. (The picture posted is one of our fourth generation pictures that is on my dad's side of the family, The Wood family.)

We have been really working with Hailey to sleep through the night and we are pretty close. She is only eating twice now during the night and will usually sleep for a good 4-5 hours at a time. We have been stretching out her feeding time during the day and so that has helped a lot not only with her sleeping pattern, but also with her stomachaches. It has truly been an answer to prayer that we finally think we figured out what was causing her so much pain and discomfort. After I had been on antibotics for an extended period of time, we have finally stopped them and I am recovered now. However, we were still having some problems with her having stomache aches and things, and we found out she is lactos intolerance. We had two options of putting her on expensive formula or just take dairy out of my diet. We wanted to continue breast feeding her, so we decieded to take dairy out of my diet. I have to say that has been a huge adjustment and one that has been frustrating for me because of how much I love dairy. But we felt this was just so much better for her and she has really started to feel better all around. She is now back to her old self of being very content and just laughing all day. So we thank God for this answer to prayer and just pray it continues to improve.

While I sit and think about the sacrifices that mothers and fathers chose to do or are asked to do because of a health concern, it makes me think and appreciate even more all that Christ went through for us. Even though taking dairy out of your diet is a small sacrifice compared to what all Christ suffered, it is still a sacrifice and an expression of love that we are displaying to our child. I have to say that ever since I have become a mother, I am realizing all the sacrifices and ways that we are called to put ourselves second for your child and family. There is so much love that I have for Hailey and one that amazes me because of all the love that continues to grow with each day. Truly a wonderful expression of how the Lord loves all His children and are delighted when mothers and fathers chose to raise their child in the way of the Lord and allows Christ to be the head of their household.

Well, I have written all that time will allow as my child is ready to eat. We will continue to write more later. God bless you all!

Love,
John, Sue and Hailey

Growing too Quickly

Hailey is now 6 weeks old and she is changing so much. With each day we can see more development from her and continue to thank the Lord for her health. She is now taking a bottle once a day and daddy loves the opportunity to feed her. Even though there are times it seems like a struggle to get her to take the whole bottle without falling asleep, other than that she is doing great with bottle feeding. She is really starting to notice everyone voice and she loves to stare at you and smile. She is already lifting her head off our shoulder or chest. She went to the doctor yesterday and she has gained two pounds. She weighs 7lbs and 7ounces and is 22 inches long. Even Dr. Paula commented that she is going to be long and skinny....just like her daddy. She is in the 5th percentile for weight, and her length is in the 95th percentile, but is still very healthy and gaining weight. I still can't believe that it has been six weeks since she was born, it truly goes to show that time flies by so quickly. Mommy still loves being at home with her and we enjoy reading books and talking to each other. Even though she is not always taking many naps during the day, I still find time to get things done around the house. She still sleeps between 2-5 hours at night and on the occasion I get her to sleep 5 hours, I still get up to check on her to make sure she is okay. But she is really doing great! We continue to thank God daily for such a miracle of life and we pray that will be able to raise her in the way of the Lord. Thank you to everyone who keeps her in your prayers and for all the encouraging phone calls and conversations.

Well Hailey is over a month old. I apologize for not updating the blog since week 1. I guess you can say we have been pretty busy. The highlights of the last few weeks have been visits from lots of family members including all the Danielson's over Memorial Day weekend. Hailey was very well behaved and we had lots of fun. We also got to spend lots of time with Aunt Carrie, and cousins Danny and Mia. We have really enjoyed this last month with Hailey and she is such a miracle. We love you all.

1 Week Old

Today is Hailey's one week birthday!!! Today was our actual due date but we are glad that we had her last week. I asked Sue if she wanted to do all of this again this week and after giving me "the look" she said no. Hailey has been sleeping alright. She has varied between 2 and 5 hours at a time. Her favorite activities are still eating, sleeping and snuggling with mom, dad and many other people who have come to visit me. Sue is slowly starting to feel better. Hailey also met the other member of our family when Z came home. Z has really done well with her and is protective of his new little sister.

Home

Well we finally made it home. At 11 am we made the long trip home (only 2 miles). Hailey has made a good adjustment to life in her new house. Besides a 15 minute bout of hiccup induced screaming she has been happy as a clam. We really appreciated all the great nurses and doctors at HRH. They definitely went the extra mile. We have had lots of guests since Hailey has arrived. She has been held and photographed with many new friends and family members. Sue is feeling much better but is still sore. Overall, we are doing great. We can't wait to hear from and or see all of you.
Love,
The Andersons