the day you were born, Henley Mayes

NOTE: This account has so many point of view changes, one minute I'm talking to Henley, one minute, I'm talking to others. Sorry. It's too much work to make the changes. I mean, it's not really. I'm just lazy.

I have such a horrible memory that I know bit by bit the details of the day Henley was born will float away. I wanted to document them here. During the time you were born, we lived in Boerne. My school was in Pipe Creek and the drs office and hospital were in New Braunfels. We were driving an hour and a half once a week to see Dr. Blair, but he was so great and we wanted him to deliver you.

Your official due date was December 15, 2009. I went to school on Monday, December 13, but was pretty slow. I remember wearing one of Mamie's snowman sweatshirts since I didn't have any holiday garb. We had a Christmas concert and I definitely sat down in the back and was feeling pretty much huge and pregnant and uncomfortable. I left early that day to go to the doctor, but was determined to come back the next morning, as my kids had their Christmas party on Wednesday and I wanted to be get the room cleaned up and ready for the party. When I went to Dr. Blair, he said I wasn't very far along, dilated but not too close. I think he did a little something so that I would progress more rapidly but I don't really remember. Scraping something. Gross- TMI. (Well, if that's TMI, don't read more.)

When I got home, I decided to make banana bread for my teammates for their gift: banana bread, homemade jerky and a big block of cheese. As I made the bread, I kept having to sit down because I was having contractions. Finally, the bread was finished and I went home. I laid in bed and tried to time my contractions to see how far apart they were. Part of my worry was that we lived 45 minutes from the hospital and I definitely wanted to be there in plenty of time. Well, I waited as long as I could and made Davey drive me to the hospital, leaving around 5:00. I remember calling Mrs. Burns, my teaching partner and saying, "We're on the way!" And she was like, "Yay! No problem, we'll get everything taken care of!" Thank goodness to not worry about that. We got to the hospital and they hooked the fetal monitor up to measure my contractions and guess what- go back home and wait longer. I was pretty embarrassed. Molly had even started her drive home from Houston and didn't want to turn around and tell her school- false alarm.

So I went home and laid around most of the day. I guess the contractions weren't terrible. But I wasn't getting very much accomplished around the house. I downloaded a contraction app and tried to use that, in case it was more accurate. I kept falling asleep so it wasn't. Finally, I thought I couldn't stand it anymore. I woke up David and told him I wanted to leave. And then he fell back asleep while I got ready. Thanks, honey. I got a little freaked because I had started bleeding- not bad but enough to make David move much faster. We left pretty early this time, maybe 4:00 and drove in silence there both worrying, wondering. We went into the emergency room and it was empty. I waddled to the desk, "I'm here to have a baby and I'm bleeding!" I was freaking out at that point. My wheelchair wheeled me up to the delivery room and nurses calmed me down and helped me get all ready. We met with Dr. Blair who came along, checked me out, said "Yep, today's the day!", broke my water and said he'd be back later. We called all the family and said "Get your motors running, Henley's coming today!" Or something like that. David made the calls.

I had a wonderful nurse named Florence all day. She was pretty quiet, matter of fact and all around great. I got an epidural around 1 o'clock and then things were much happier for all involved. People trickled in to say hi and we'll be listening to your screams from the waiting room. David's boss, Keenon, even came in. Kinda weird to be in a hospital gown having contractions with the ole boss man. Eventually, the big pushing part came and Florence, David and mom helped me as I pushed for about an hour. It was HARD and I know I thought I would give up and finally, after some good screams, this cutest little girl pops out. Everyone in the room teared up, especially David. For some reason, I kept looking at these beautiful long fingers with fingernails!! It was amazing this little beauty was perfectly formed inside of my belly, just waiting to come into this world.

After you were born, I was starving and we ate Chik-fil-a. Just like I had after every dr. appt. You were BORN for those little nuggets, lady! You had a little bit of jaundice and we were worried we wouldn't be able to leave- we were so excited to get out and get back home and show you off.

They brought a big stocking on your bassinet and wrapped you up in a Christmas blankie. Our stay was pretty good- just learning the ropes of nursing and pooping. Your first poopy diaper was terrifying. There happened to be a nurse in the room and we asked her if she would change it. She said, NOPE. And so we were left to try to figure it out, while simultaneously trying to be sooo careful. Also terrifying was putting your outfit on to leave the hospital. It was a pink ruffly nightgown from Miss Val. You were so teeny and it seemed like we were hurting you. And it didn't help that you were hollering up a storm. On the day we were going home, we realized the car seat was at home and your daddy had to go buy a new one from Target. He rushed to assemble it and we drove out of there with me hunched over you all the way home. I was so worried about this teeny one in our giant car on a fast highway. The first of many, many worries!

You are such a wonder to me, little girl. You are so smart and curious and fascinated with so many things. You are so full of joy that people smile at you as you sing and bounce walking around. You changed my life, little lady. I hope you know you are loved by many, especially your daddy and me.

happiness

happiness today:

(in no particular order)

* reading a great book (why I'm like this, by Cynthia Kaplan)
* finding a typo in the above mentioned book (he liked it more then the other)
* the delicious smell of Davey's chili on the stove
* anticipation of the coooold front on the way (possible freeze tonight- yahoo!)
* new shelves in the entry way, more organized and less cluttered!(thanks, dad!)
* happy girls, playing in their room with mr. potato head and then napping for 2 hours to jewel's lullaby album
* a day to run errands alone yesterday and feeling more productive today as a result
* cuuuute halloween costumes for my chickies (pictures to come)
* lunch of peppercorn turkey, cheddar cheese, wheat thins and grapes
* pumpkin patch pictures




*

and send it soaring!

A cool front blew in this morning. Thought we should take advantage of the 30 mph winds with our kite.

































I could have stayed out there all day. Unfortunately, Henley would rather let go of the string and I ended up running across the field to get the kite before it was gone forever. In flipflops. And through thistles. And into an armadillo hole. Pretty sure that didn't happen in Mary Poppins.

two of a kind

sisters... hen is first, mia second. a lot alike. a lot different.

lucky to have this man

I'm lucky. I know this.

I married a great guy. He's smart, funny, kind, old fashioned, patient. But one of his greatest qualities.... that man CAN COOK!!

Here are some pictures I just found on my phone of recent culinary delights. (Yes, we take pictures of our food. Doesn't everyone?)












Baby back ribs- that is brown sugar glaze.... YUM.






Gigantic tray of fried shrimp, hush puppies, waffle and sweet potato fries.

















If he were gone, this is the kind of meal the girls and I would be splurging on.







Yes, that is a fancy tray of cut up turkey, cheese, oranges, grapes and wheat thins.











We might lose a little weight, though.

instagram

Why did I wait so long to download Instagram?? I seriously love the beautiful end results to my boring iPhone pics.

A couple lately.

cute baby pumpkins

You can mark "pumpkin patch" off our fall list.

Hen has been talking about the "cute baby pumpkins" [not to be confused with cute baby HoHo, cute baby moon, cute baby yellow car, cute baby Mia, cute baby french fry, you get the picture] when we drive by the square. So we went and picked up a few. Pretty cute to see her running from pumpkin to pumpkin, all excited. And kids are so NOT PICKY when choosing the pumpkin. Hers was all lumpy and spotty. And you might think I'm about to teach you a little life lesson here about how we're all different, yada yada. I'm not. I wanted a pretty pumpkin and she didn't. So there.

We'll go back for more (better) pictures. Maybe.




More things on the list:

* trick-or-treat
* play in the leaves
* family pictures
* carve a pumpkin
* football game (yeah, probably ain't gonna happen, but I LOVE bundling up in blankies at a cold football game)
* hot chocolate
* meet friends at a park to play

I'm not listing much. We've just been enjoying the weather too much to get much accomplished. ;)

pretzels

A beautiful afternoon with the chickies.

85 degrees, sunny and breezy. THIS is what we've all be hoping for after this summer's recordbreaking heat.









Pretzels outside.













Henley- minus the skirt with shoes on the wrong feet.








Check out how Mia's balancing and pulling up on EVERYTHING! Makes me think walking is coming sooner than I thought.












And it wouldn't be complete without a little tantrum. ;)