One Month

Dear Baby Catherine,

One month ago, you entered our world.  We’d eagerly anticipated your arrival for more than 9 months.  Those last 42 hours were some of the most exciting and nerve-wracking of the whole wait, but they were so worth it.  What a joy to finally see your face and hold you in our arms!

We spent those first few days in the hospital introducing you to family and friends and loving on you.  How great it was to spend all that time together.  I loved every moment of it, but I think I loved the overnight hours the best.  At those times, it was just you and me.  We spent hours, when we should have been sleeping, just staring at each other and wondering what our lives would be like now that we’d finally met each other.

We brought you home on a chilly Saturday afternoon.  Grandma Colby was there and took lots of pictures and made a yummy dinner for us.  She stayed with us for the first week that you were home to help us adjust to our new routines.  She always offered to get up in the middle of the night to help take care of you, but I always let her sleep—that was our time to eat, talk, and be together, just Mommy and Baby.

Catherine, you eat so well.  You also eat so often!  Every time I feed you, I tell you how happy I am that we can spend that time together, just the two of us.  You hold on to one of my fingers as you watch me and I rub your feet and your back and continue telling you stories.  Tonight Grandma Hawley weighed you for us and you are up to 8 pounds, 7 ounces.  That was with your clothes and diaper on, so we have to say you weigh a bit less, but you are growing!  Your aunts say you are starting to fill out, especially in your cheeks.  We all can see how you are changing each day.

You also sleep very well.  It is very difficult to get you to sleep in your bassinette or the swing or your chair, but when you are in our arms or on our chest or stomach if we are lying down, you can sleep for hours.  I like this time, and I know Daddy does too. 

You are anxious to hold your head up and be a part of everything that’s happening around you.  From the first time I held you, you’ve done your best to hold your head up on your own.  One day soon, you’ll have it!  You are also so alert.  When you are awake, you want to see everything that is going on around you.  You track our movements if we go slow enough and you can sit for hours and take in the sights.  You especially love looking at lights or out the window.  Tonight, you enjoyed time in front of a Christmas tree.  I could see you thinking, “Look at all those lights!” as you sat in front of it.

I am so thankful that I’ve been able to spend every day with you.  I know sometimes Daddy will come home and wonder what I’ve been up to all day.  Some days I can only say that I spent the day staring at you.  You are so beautiful and you are growing so much.  I don’t want to miss a moment. 

I can hardly believe you’ve been here for a month already.  It seems like just yesterday that we brought you home, and it also seems that you’ve been here forever.  You fit into our lives so perfectly.

At one month, you:

* love to be held as much as possible
* sleep about 4 hours at a time and only wake up once during the night
* like to be swaddled in your ‘monkey suit’ when you sleep
* are very alert and love to watch movement
* can hold your head up a little longer each day
* like to hang your head back whenever you can
* have the hiccups multiple times every day
* enjoy classical music, especially in the car
* love to be jiggled by your Daddy
* can smile!

 

 

 

 

 

What would we do without you?  Happy one-month day, Baby.

Welcome Catherine!

Dear Baby Catherine,

What a joy it is to be able to say that.  I have tears in my eyes as I write this and think about the moment I first saw you.  I have waited for you my whole life, even though I didn’t always know I was waiting.  It already seems as though you’ve been a part of us forever and I can’t imagine life without you.  In the days to come I will write much more about my thoughts and feelings and the experience of your birth, but for now I just want to tell you how happy we are that you are finally here.

Welcome to the family baby, we love you so much!

Trial post - slideshow

Slideshow of belly pictures

32 Weeks

Dear Baby Hawley,

It's been a busy week for you and me.  You don't like when I sit down to do homework.  You'd much rather I stretch out on the couch or in bed so you can have more space.  You are still flipping a lot--sometimes you are vertical and sometimes you lie horizontal.  My tummy looks pretty funny when you do that, but you seem comfortable.

This weekend we went to a wedding on Saturday and a reception on Sunday in addition to all our regular weekend activities.  We still walk or swim every morning, and I'm starting to slow down.  Neither of us like walking fast anymore.

Tomorrow we will start a new schedule--the I-64 bridge from Indiana to Louisville was closed because of structural damage and all the traffic from that road will join our road.  Daddy and I want to stay out of that traffic (who likes sitting in a car that's not moving?) so we will leave the house at 5am to make it to Louisville before everyone.  I bet I'll be pretty tired by the end of the day.

Here are some photos of you today--32 weeks and 3 days.

Keep growing, baby!

31 Weeks

Dear Baby Hawley,

We are celebrating Labor Day with a picnic at the Paris house.  The weather has finally turned cooler!

Here you are at 31 weeks, 4 days.

Joey loves Baby

Dear Baby Hawley,

Joey loves you a lot these days.  Well, I know he loves the fact that I sit down more, which means a warm lap for him.  Here he is snuggling with us this afternoon.

I wonder how he will feel about you when you arrive and make noise for him....and grab his tail.  I bet he won't cuddle up so often.

30 Weeks

Dear Baby Hawley,

School is in full-swing and we are busy.  You continue to grow well.  I passed the 'sugar test,' so we don't have to worry about gestational diabetes.  We still get lots of exercise and eat our vegetables every day, so you are growing strong.

People at school are starting to comment on the fact that suddenly I am getting bigger.  You really look like a baby to them now, and everyone is excited to meet you...most of all your daddy and me!

Here you are at 30 weeks, 3 days.

28 Weeks

Dear Baby Hawley,

Time is rushing by.  We've hit 28 weeks and 3 days.  School is starting tomorrow and we are busy!  You continue to grow every day.  I cannot wear very many of my regular shirts anymore--I've been out shopping a lot lately.  When we went to school to for meetings last week, people were so excited to see how big my stomach is getting.  I am too!  With every bit that you grow, it shows you are healthy and that much closer to joining us.

I love you.

26 weeks

Dear Baby Hawley,

Here you are at 26 weeks and 3 days.

You are definitely making your presence known...I'm stretching out all over and you move a lot!  Mornings are quiet and I sometimes think that my swimming or walking at the Y puts you to sleep.  Evenings are your active time, especially after dinner when I finally start to sit down.  You still love your daddy's voice--you start to kick more when he starts talking.

Lately it's been really hot so we've stayed in the house most of the time.  Since you are heating me from the inside already, I prefer not to be heated from the outside also.  We've found lots to do, though.  Your room is painted and clothes and diapers are in the closet, Grandma Colby was here last week and she, along with Auntie Lowie and Julia, tore the carpet out of the basement.  They want you to have a clean and safe floor to crawl on one day. We've been working on sewing projects and one day I hope to have a blanket finished for you.

Keep growing, baby!

25 weeks

Dear Baby Hawley,

We've made it 25 weeks and 3 days!  Here you are before we headed to Salem for the day.

Grandma Colby brought the little chair for you.  I remember using it when I was little.  Mostly, I put my dolls on it when I played, but I'm sure I used it as my own chair also.  In Barron, Gracie the cat loved to sit on it.  I wonder if Joey or Casey will claim it as theirs before you start to use it.

Keep up your kicking!

Minnesota Baby Shower

Dear Baby Hawley,

Crystal and Ellen hosted a shower for us this weekend.  They are really excited to become aunties!
Here are some pictures from the celebration.

Crystal had lots of fun decorating for this party.  She knows how much I love children's books and she went all out...look at all the books she bought and checked out from the library.  

The blue 'boy' outfit and the white dress that are hanging up have been in the family for a long time.  When you are big enough, you'll have a portrait made of you wearing one of those outfits.

Ellen made the cake and cupcakes to coordinate with the theme.  Notice the cake design - your aunties photoshopped the cover of the Lowly Worm Word Book to better fit with us.  This cover is even printed by Hawley House!

Lots of Minnesota Twins clothes.  We hope you are as big a fan as each of the rest of us are.

Grandma is trying on the bib that looks like a cat.

Lots of Minnesota and Wisconsin people who love you came to the party.  Grandma Elaine came with Anita and Maggie, Jeannie, Karin (with her friend Hedy), Yvonne (Bill's mom), Grandma Colby, Crystal, and Ellen all made it.  

We got lots of great presents - you are loved a lot by everyone.

Keep growing and kicking,