Noah’s First Haircut

Posted on April 30, 2014 by christinehartter

With family pictures on the horizon, Dave and I agreed that it was time for a “real” haircut for Noah. The past year or so we’ve strung together some good (and some bad) trims by yours truly to keep the hair out of Noah’s eyes and his “hockey hair” to a minimum. But it was getting too unruly, so with a coupon in hand, we hit up Snip-Its a kids-themed salon/barber-shop. He was a little shy and very serious at first, but he sat still the whole time and finally cracked a smile at the end. I know a certain Grandma in NY who is probably thrilled that he got a haircut… even if it was just cleaned up a bit. I requested… “not too short please, I like his long hair.”

One Month

Posted on April 30, 2014 by christinehartter

One month down for sweet Grace. She is growing like a champ and weighed in a 9 lbs., 5 oz. at her one month appointment — two pounds over her birth weight. I wasn’t too surprised given how much she likes to eat. During the day she eats every 2-3 hours and even closer together in the evenings. During the night she is up every three hours ON THE DOT — you could set a clock by it. We experienced one four and a half hour stretch a few nights ago and it was glorious! The great news is that she is sleeping in her crib at night. Most nights she goes right down around 9 pm … we all agree it’s much better than sharing our bed with her! During the day she takes a couple of long naps in the swing … and once we get Noah down, her and I usually take a cat nap on the couch together.

Grace is turing into a bit of a spit-up queen. I don’t think it’s quite as severe as Noah’s spit-up was though… Maybe I’m just more used to it this time. But I don’t seem to be changing my clothes or hers quite as much this time around. Grace loves to be outside and go for rides in the stroller, usually finding it quite relaxing. She rides up top, while Noah rides in the “special-big-brother seat” on our neighborhood walks and many trips to the bakery and grocery store.

Noah is a super big brother, bringing Grace her blanket or a diaper when he thinks she needs them. We still need to remind him to be gentle and he gets a bit frustrated when he can’t have exactly what he needs or all the attention he is used to, but in general he is very sweet to “baby.”

p.s. We’re keeping the tradition of the monthly pics alive with Jules the Bernese Mountain Dog.

Welcome Grace Edna

Posted on April 10, 2014 by christinehartter

Baby Grace Edna is here! She arrived on March 24, 2014 at 7:24 am and weighed in at 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. We are blessed with a healthy baby girl!

The birth experience could not have been more different than with Noah. I walked into the operating room just after 7 am, got my spinal and Grace was born soon after. No painful labor, non-working epidural, emergency c-section, and panicky parents and doctors. Everything went very smooth, we were thrilled (and I was shocked) when they said, “it’s a girl” and she was handed to Dave. Dave and Grace were able to be with me in the recovery room for a couple of hours, which was another nice change from last time. I fed her right away and we sent pictures around to our friends and family.

The pain was definitely there after the c-section, but was more manageable than last time. We took advantage of the nurses and sent Grace to the nursery at night so we could get some extra shut-eye before coming home. She had/has some slight jaundice so was super sleepy and I had to rouse her to eat and keep her awake during feedings.

Grandma and Grandpa H. took amazing care of Noah while we were in the hospital … taking him on all of his activities and bringing him to the hospital in the afternoons for visits. Noah is a bit young to understand the birth of his sister and how to be gentle with a baby. But we will get there. He says “baby, baby, baby” all the time and is learning to touch her feet very softly.

Right now Grace is basically just sleeping and eating, except not sleeping on her back, especially at night. She likes to sleep on my chest which definitely hinders my sleep at night, but it won’t last forever. Soon, we will have to kick her out of our room for her stint in the playroom/guest room, before her and Noah bunk up together for a few years.

And now on to some photos!