7 months

Adelyn is 7 months old!!

She weighs 15 lbs, 3 oz.  She learned to crawl around June 16, cut her first tooth on June 22, and learned to wave on June 27. She is growing up!!!

She is sitting up on her own much better yet still prefers to be "standing" with other people's assistance. When we were at my mom's house she refused to sit for her baths! She would go stiff as a board.  It was hilarious-- took one of us to hold her and another to wash her!

She can get where she wants to go for the most part, which means my job just got a little tougher.  She is slow but determined.  She does the cutest baby planks when she wants to crawl.

She is such a pleasant baby who usually has a smile on her face.  It was interesting to watch her around my family these past few weeks.  She would smile a hesitant smile around new people that looked like she was trying to decide whether to laugh or cry.  Sometimes she would cry.  But as she got more used to the "new" people the crying stopped.  For the most part, she is happy & cheerful.

Adelyn caught a virus somewhere along our travels and is still struggling a little bit with it.  Today is day 7 of fever, more sleepiness and less appetite.  We are hoping it goes away soon!  The doc has told us to keep doing what we are doing and if she still has fever tomorrow we will be heading back to see her.







I have been blown away by her development this month.  She is still so small (15th (ish) percentile!), but it is fun to watch someone so little maneuver around.  She is such a joy.

Mother's Day & Father's Day 2012

We are so blessed to  be called "Mommy" and "Daddy."  Here is a picture from Mother's Day this year.  It was a wonderful day where I felt so loved by my whole family.

 Here is a picture from today.  We celebrated by having a date yesterday afternoon to the Tap House and by a family lunch to Olive Garden today.

Both fun days to celebrate the joy of parenthood!

He is 3.

"Mommy I want my birthday to come back!" Hunter said as I struggled to get my eyes to focus.  "I want it to be my birthday AGAIN."  I couldn't think of a better way to wake up this morning.

"Oh sweetie, I am so glad you enjoyed your birthday.  Those only come once a year.  So glad yours was special,"  I told him.

Then I gathered him up, along with his brown blanket, paci and water cup and scooped him in to my bed.  He is a wonderful little cuddler.  He chatted this morning all about how much he loved his birthday and how, now that he is 3, he is big like daddy.   I wish I could have had a video camera because he was being so sweet and funny.  My heart is absolutely full.

On the morning of his birthday, I awoke to the sound of tissue paper.  I knew immediately that Hunter had found his presents and was helping himself!  I jumped out of bed and found him right where I thought he would be-- except he wasn't opening the presents.  He hadn't even tried.  He was touching one over and over and his eyes were as big as I had ever seen them.  He said, "Mommy, it's my birthday!  I am just sitting here checking out my presents!"  I laughed and told him I could see that.  He said, "Mommy, I didn't open them, I am just looking at them."  I told him that took great self-control and that I was proud of him for waiting for mommy & daddy.  Then I said, "Hunter did you see all of the decorations for your birthday?"  He said with awe in his eyes (I am not joking!), "Thank you, mommy!!!"  Oh my goodness I just about fell over.  He is the sweetest.

We then went together and woke up daddy (it was a little before 6 a.m. mind you!).  We all talked a bit and then decided Hunter should watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we got ready.  He loved that idea.  Then I asked him if he wanted pancakes for breakfast, but he said he wanted his regular: peanut butter toast.  A good choice.

After breakfast, we let Hunter open his presents.  He got excited about every little thing and
since we gave him accessories for his new play kitchen, that was a lot of little things to get excited about.  We enjoyed suckers together as a family and played like we were calling each other with Hunter's new phones.  It was a magical time and though he may not always remember it, I will treasure that memory for years to come.

Daddy had class all day, so Hunter & Mommy got to play together all day!  We skyped with Grancie (My mom), watched Sesame Street, and then got ready to meet our friends at the Botanical Gardens.  Hunter officially needed a ticket this time!  Hunter had a great time with Anna and her brother Micah and I really enjoyed chatting with Rebekah.  We stayed for a long time.  Hunter's favorite was playing in a huge sand pit.  He dug in that thing for nearly an hour!

On the way home, both he and Adelyn fell asleep.  So when we got to our apartment, I sat outside on a park bench for about an hour.  It was great reading time for me & it was such a beautiful day.

 When Hunter woke up, we went upstairs to find another gift had been delivered!  Grancie & PaPaw got Hunter his first bicycle.  Daddy got home about this time and so we all went and enjoyed some time at the playground & seeing Hunter learn to ride his bike.

For dinner, we took Hunter to Chick-Fil-A (his favorite!).  Daddy & Hunter played Hide-N-Seek in the play area until way past bed time.  We let Hunter get as much out of his birthday as he possibly could! ;)

 Birthdays as a kid are so much fun.  But birthdays as a parent are so much fun, too!  I didn't know how much I could enjoy celebrating another human being.  I am starting to understand what delight is.  God Delights in his children and I get a little taste of what that is like with Hunter.  I loved seeing his eyes light up and his mind start to comprehend how he gets to do special things on his birthday.  What an honor and a privilege to be a part of his life.

When I put him to bed, I thanked God for the three years we have had with our little boy.  And I asked for many, many more.

Hunter's 3rd Birthday Party

Hunter had a Barn Yard birthday party this weekend to celebrate his 3rd birthday!  It was so fun to throw him a party this year.  He was so adorable and absolutely loved it.  We had it outside on campus so that morning Josh & I took turns setting it up and decorating it.  When it was time to take Hunter out there he was so cute.  He got really excited when he saw all the balloons and said, "hooray! It's my birthday!"  

We had several families come to the party and lots of kids.  Apparently, at one point Hunter looked around and then said, "Daddy!  I have TWENTY friends!!"  I think that is the biggest number he could think of.  He felt very loved!!

We started the party by making barn "prize" sacks.  I had drawn barns on the bags for everyone and they could color them and add stickers.

Hunter had requested that we sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" as well as "B-I-N-G-O" and "The Hokey Pokey."  We did that and we also played Duck, Duck, Goose.  Some of the kids were a bit young for it but they all enjoyed trying.  Hunter kept picking me as the goose!  So incredibly cute.  It was fun to see him laugh and squeal.

 After the songs, the kids played in the ball pit and took turns fishing.  There was also a little game of Simon Says.  All of the activities went better than I thought they would.  For lunch, we had pigs in a blanket with carrots and hummus, grapes, mac-n-cheese, animal crackers and funfetti dip, and chicken nuggets.  There was also popcorn and goldfish.  Basically it was a meal of all of Hunter's favorite things.

 After lunch, we gathered everyone to sing happy birthday.  I put Hunter at the table and told him that we were all going to sing to him.  Then he promptly started singing Happy Birthday to all of us!  It was so cute and so sweet.  When we sang to him, he looked a little confused, but not as confused as last year.  The next day he told me he didn't like it when everyone sang to him.  I couldn't understand why he didn't like it, but he had a reason.

Then the party moved toward bubble chasing, running around, playing on the playground, and general chaos.  Just as a childhood birthday party should be.  It was great fun.

As we were leaving the party, Hunter turned around and said, "Goodbye birthday!"  Melt.My.Heart.

I love that child and it was such a privilege to throw him a party.  It was a lot of work and a lot of planning, but totally worth it to see his little face light up.  And now he talks about it so affectionately.  I know it meant a lot to him.

6 months

Adelyn is 6 months old.  The sweetie is still such a happy baby who just loves being with people.  She is very easy going and pleasant.

This has been a big month for her!  She began rolling over and now she just rolls and rolls everywhere.  It is really cute.  Occasionally she will get stuck in an awkward position but for the most part she is able to maneuver her little body on her own.  She isn't quite sitting up on her own yet but I don't think that is too far away.  She can balance for a few seconds on her own.

She also started to eat solids!  She had her first bite of rice cereal on May 17.  She wasn't a fan.  We waited a few days and then started again.  Now she gets sweet potato in her rice cereal for dinner every night.  She loves to play with the spoon and if I get it aimed at her mouth, she will put it in herself.  She makes the cutest, most confused faces when she eats cereal!

Another huge change: she is being weaned from breastfeeding to bottles.  We are doing this really slowly but it is going well.  The first week we gave her one bottle a day and she screamed her head off.  She was not.a.fan.  Josh kept working with her and now she takes a bottle well--- even from me.  This week we added in a second bottle, so she has 3 nursing sessions and 2 bottles every day.

She sleeps from about 9 p.m. until 7:30 or 8 a.m.  During the day she has one or two naps-- but not really at the same time everyday.  It is wild how much I have changed when it comes to scheduling.  It is mostly out of necessity-- having a 2-year-old to entertain doesn't lend itself to the most structure!  But I am glad she is still sleeping well at night.

She makes adorable sounds and has the sweetest smile.  When she is really focusing on something she puts both her arms out to the side and moves them quickly-- sort of like she is flying! ha!  She makes a sound that sounds like a high pitched, "HHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIII" quite often.

Adelyn loves her brother.  When he comes near she immediately starts laughing and cooing.  It is sweet to see so much love between the two of them.  Hunter loves to play with her and is still learning what she is able and not able to do.  I am glad he likes having her around.

So fun to have her little smiles and sweetness around here!

BTW: I have been taking LOTS of pictures, but I have no space on my computer to upload them.  I have got to edit some of the millions of pictures I have and then I will add her 6 months pictures to this post.

As for my postpartum recovery, I feel like I am almost completely back to myself.  This recovery has taken much longer than Hunter's did.  I think my incision healed faster this time but my hormones did not balance out as quickly as they did with Hunter.  It has been a little bit of an emotional roller coaster for me!  But just in the past week or so I have felt my body start to even out & I am feeling really good!  Hooray! 

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Hello my cherished readers!

For privacy reasons, I am about to switch this blog to "invite only."  This means that you will only be able to continue reading my blog if I send you an invitation.  I need the email address you would like the invite to be sent to if you would like to continue to read.  And I really hope you do!! ;)  Please put your email address in the comments section of this blog entry by June 9.  OR you can email me at: Kim  .  Hammans @ gmail . com.   After June 9 my blog will no longer be viewable without an invite.

Thanks so much for reading!  :)

turning 29

Tomorrow I will turn 29.

29!

I cannot believe I will be entering into the last year of my twenties.  In some ways I feel older than 29, and in lots of other ways I feel younger.  Even though this birthday is not a special milestone, I feel so excited for it.  I am giddy.  Like a child! Maybe having children is contributing to my giddiness.  I have been talking to Hunter for weeks about his 3rd birthday that is coming up.  We have been reading "Carl's Birthday" almost every night at bedtime for the past week or so.  I have been telling him all about the birthday cake he will have and balloons.  I am so excited to celebrate with him in a few weeks.  But now, it is my turn.

Thinking back, this is the first birthday in a long time that I have been free to do what I want.  Last year, I was pregnant and Josh was gone to his Army Training.  I had a wonderful party with my friends at a mexican restaurant but I had so much morning sickness I couldn't eat the yumminess in front of me.  My friends helped me to feel so loved.  But I was lonely for Josh.  The year before that I was actually traveling on my birthday.  I got to wake up to a lovely breakfast with my mom, brother and lots of family and then spend the day with both Josh & Hunter but it was in airports and on airplanes.  The year before that I was ginormously pregnant with Hunter.  I thought he would arrive on my birthday, which I really didn't want.  I celebrated with Josh at the Texas Roadhouse.

All of those birthdays have been special in their own ways, but I wasn't particularly excited about any of them.  I haven't been this excited about a birthday since my 24th... which was the birthday I was engaged to be married and Josh went over the top to celebrate with me.  He surprised me with pearls to wear on our wedding day.

A lot of my giddiness this year comes from what this birthday represents for me.  I worked hard to lose weight this Spring, and though I didn't meet my goal for my birthday, I came close and I did lose all the baby weight. Also, today marks the beginning of my last year of my graduate program.  As of today, I am officially an intern, which means I will be seeing clients as part of my studies this year.  This means a lot of things to me, but most significantly it means I am following my calling and I get the chance to live in my giftedness.  I view this birthday as a fresh start.  A new beginning.  I have been tasting a new level of freedom in my life in the recent weeks that has enabled me to enjoy being myself.  I have rekindled my love of crafting, decorating, and putting together outfits.  I am truly enjoying life and I long to get the most out of it as I can.

So this birthday means a lot of things to me.  I am so thankful for all that God has done to shape me to make me into who I am today.  I am so humbled as I think of all this next year has in store for me.  I am beyond grateful for my husband, my son, and my daughter.  I am abundantly blessed.