Sighs

She's the prettiest thing I've ever seen. I keep losing myself just staring at her. She's perfect. A little high maintenence, but hey :) she's a girl - what do you expect?

Quick word about the boys...

I can't imagine how women give birth without Ian. He is a rock. Awfully nice of him not to shout "quit screaming in my ear woman!" while I was hanging on him, screaming and digging my nails into him. Lovely husband, that one! Man I wish my wedding ring would fit back on my finger!

And Clark. What a little gentleman to be so kind to this little attention hog! He loves her to death, turns her into a Newt several times a day, asks to "Hote? (hold it.)" every time she's awake. He's nice about just rolling with it when she gets over cranky and while he is very fascinated by the fact that there ARE still binkies in the house(!!), he has been very good about not having one... even though I know it's a struggle for him.

Nice Catch, Dad!

Hannah Renae is here! What a lovely little friend! She was born May 17 at 9:25, was 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 19 3/4 inches. A little icing on the cake is that she was born at home and Ian got to catch her! Nice catch, Hon! Mind if I keep the game ball?

Happy Mudders Day

Well... we have a Mother's Day post for the Mums, but unfortunately, I don't remember to bring things with me when we leave our house. So... in the meantime... here is what we think Hank will be like from the indications she's given. We were pretty much right on with our predictions for Clark... down to his favorite color being green!!

Hanners is a spunky little thing. Fiesty and particular about posture and diet. She's a lacto-ovo-vegetarian who could really do without the ovo part. She's very health concious and doesn't want anything near her (or Mom's!) body that could be anything less than good for it. - Especially sugar or white flour! Banish the thought!
She loves browns and neutrals just like her mommy, but she loves some pinks and greens. - And she likes yellows. One can't appropriately be called Hannah-Banana without dressing in some yellow.
She is a VERY good baby! She turned and put her head and bum right where they should be well before she needed too, and she goes out of her way to make sure I know EXACTLY where she is at all times! I won't have to worry about where she's going or who she is with when she is older. I'm sure I'll be very informed. And she will never want to go anywhere I don't want her to go. She's very sweet about limiting her time on the bladder or in my ribs. She'll be the one coloring on the walls though. She is extremely artistic. You should (NOT!!) see what she's done with her womb! Daddy has told her he appreciates how beautifully she draws, but there are better places to do it than on Mommy's belly.
She wants to fit in with Nana and Ant Bee and keeps asking me to make sure she has pink chuckies as soon as she is born. She'll poke her little foot out and wait very patiently for me to size it. She's just an itty bitty little thing (about 6 lbs!) right now though, so I haven't been able to find any for her. Besides! Babies in shoes HURT! I'm thinking of putting her brother back in robeeze just to save my own little toes!
I've seen her suck her thumb on ultrasound and highly suspect she loses it and wiggles around asking "thumb... has anyone seen a thumb?" It frustrates her greatly. She wishes she could be born and nurse.
And finally, she is a Newt.

Well, that's Hank in a nutshell. I can't wait until this nutshell can give birth and see her beautiful little face!

Dumb Joke

"You don't get down from an elephant - you get down from a duck!"

I never understood this one as a child. Still didn't get it when my Mom told it to my little sister the other-day-ago. (Love ya Dad!!) I was standing there thinking "you're still telling that dumb joke!??! It makes no SENSE!!"

Yeah... it's not the joke that's dumb.

...it's my MOM!

Clarky Python

Clark turned Hank into a Newt!! Thankfully, she got better.

I'm not entirely sure how this got started, but Clark digs his chin into something and proclaims "NEWT!" So everyone around gets appalled and exclaims "he turned me into a Newt!!" and then Clark says "betta," and we get better. There are a LOT of Newts around my house. All his stuffed animals are Newts and I get turned into a Newt so frequently that I'm wondering if there are any lasting side effects to such treatment. Poor Hannah! She is his favorite person to turn into a Newt. The only person who isn't susceptible is his father, who is Newt-proof. Clark is Newt-proof too, so they have Newt-offs and try to turn each other into Newts. -- Until Clark remembers that poor innocent little Hankie is not Newt-proof and is extremely susceptible and turns her into a Newt. I sure hope she gets "betta" before she's born. I don't know anything about mothering a Newt. Apparently nobody else does either since I couldn't find a single copy of "Newtwise" or "The Happiest Newt on the Block."

Save Your Breath

Here is a recent phone conversation with my mom. Is it any wonder I call her ALL the time!?

Mom: You're blowing up balloons!?!
Me: YEP!! I'm going to cover the kitchen floor with them!!
Mom: You can't blow up balloons -- you're pregnant!
Me: Of all the preggy-books I've read, not ONE says "don't blow up balloons."
Mom: That's because they don't have to. It's just common sense.
Me: Then why do they put "don't drink" and "don't do drugs?"
Mom: Probably because that's what they would do to celebrate.
Me: They just don't know how much fun balloons can be!
Mom: Well stop! You're stealing all of Hank's oxegyn!
Me: I'm not filling them with oxegyn. I'm using carbon dioxide.
Mom: Yes, but you're converting it too quickly and not giving Hannah a chance to use that oxegyn.
Me: What happens when you make me laugh so hard I can't breathe?
Mom: That's different. Stop blowing up balloons or I'm going over there.

At this point, I really thought about blowing up another balloon just because I like seeing her and would have loved for her to come over, but her voice had such a tone to it that I didn't know if she would come over and take me across her knee (good luck on that one, itty bitty!) or pop all my balloons. I didn't dare.

Make Believe Baby

Doh. I look suspicious. I'm not really pregnant. I just want to have a little girl so badly I stuff a watermelon up my shirt whenever I go somewhere so people will think I'm pregnant. I didn't think it was so obvious I was pretending until I saw pictures from Clark's friend's birthday party. This would have to be the most built up April fools stunt ever.

Which do you think I used this time?

Watermelon?

Basketball?

Birthday Balloon?