Hallie's Happy Day

We have finally got to meet our little girl!  We started preparations for the hospital on Thursday night!  Chance sang Happy Birthday to Hallie before bedtime three times.  He would have kept going if we would have let him!  He calls any Big day a "Happy Day" and we were all so excited for Hallie's Happy Day! 

We had a morning at home before checking into the hospital at 10am.  I would like to say it was relaxing but believe it or not we were busy right up until we left. Katy was my nurse again and had everything ready for our arrival!  Katy is such an awesome friend and nurse and I am so thankful for her spending her last day at work before maternity leave herself taking care of my family!  Katy I cannot express how grateful I am to have you as my friend!!

The delivery was delayed a while due to Dr DLG running a little late so we didn't get taken back for anethesia until about 1pm.  My anesthesiologist and nurses were wonderful!  So....at 1:38pm Hallie Ray Hembree made her entrance into the world.  She was pretty non-responsive at first but pepped right up after some coaxing!  The first thing we noticed about her was how tiny she was!  She weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz and was 18 3/4 inches long!  She also has a pretty good head of dark hair.  Pops she has your hair! 

We stayed in recovery for a while and made it to our room around 5pm.  We got settled and Chance came to visit his sister around 6:30.  She "brought" him a few books, and he was very excited and wanted to read them to her!  Other than that he was content playing with the sleeping bag Ben brought.  He was excited to bring Mommy and Hallie flowers.  He was so proud he got upset when they were taken away! 

My sister surprised us by coming down on Saturday!  I have not gotten to see Harlan (her little boy) due to restrictions on traveling.  So her sister-in-law Katie drove them down.  I was shocked to say the least.  The two cousins got to meet each other in the hall and I finally got to hold my new nephew.  He is so sweet and has the most beautiful eyes. 

Fast forward a few days and we are waiting to go home in the morning.  This c-section has felt much better than Chance's.  Other than nausea it has not been bad at all!   Ben and I are falling in love with this little girl!  We can already see her Mommy's fiestyness when things do not happen right away!  Enjoy all the pictures!

Before we left the house.  Last as our family of three!

Best buddy Katy! Both 39 weeks with Hallie and Mason

Hubby and I in front of our welcome board

Here she is!

Mini version of Chance Russell:))

Seeing Mommy and getting his books from Hallie

Reading to Hallie

Our Family of Four!!

Aunt Stacy and Hallie

Aunt Megan and Harlan

Our little cupcake

Daddy and his girl

Kiddie Park

Friday Katy and I were both off work so we had one last horah with just the two boys before our babies come! We took them to Kiddie Park for the morning! They had so much fun riding the rides together! It is fun to see the boys interact and laugh at one another. It started cold but turned out to be a beautiful morning. Ben recalls having several birthday parties there as a kid! He even stopped by the say hello and ride the carousel with Chance. We had a great time with Katy and Tyler!!

Chance accompanied me to Dr DLG to check Hallie first thing in the morning. She is still very high and we anticipate her to stay put until we go get her this Friday!! Crazy!  We cannot wait to meet our little girl!

I included some pictures from a shower that our friends did for Katy and I!  We feel so blessed to have the friends we do! God has really been evident in the friendships we have made since moving back to San Antonio.  They did above and beyond to make us and our little Hallie feel special! 

Next post will be of the BIG day:))

Riding the helicopter! Luckily for us no quarters needed to have fun!

Fire Truck! 

Little buddies!

Daddy and Chance!

Our Hostesses (minus Laura who was sick:(()

37 weeks!  I definitely win the biggest contest! 

The day my water broke!

I wanted to write down a few things so I could remember them...

Funny story (but not at the time!):

The Day My Water Broke!:  Right before Christmas break I was at work about to go to lunch and I was sitting at my desk at the office.  I got up because I had one more patient to see for the morning.  As I got up I realized that both my pants and chair were soaking wet.  I gathered my thoughts for a second and thought OH CRAP my water has broke!  I looked around my office to see what it could possibly be..did I spill something, are the girls playing a cruel joke on an unsuspecting pregnant woman, what could it be!  I calmly called Katy (my expertise) to see what she thought!  We agreed that probably was my water that broke, but to go to the bathroom and then go home and rest and see if for sure that is what had happened. So as a responsible mother I of course finished my last patient (they were getting their braces off and I couldn't just leave right?!?)  I told my receptionist the news but reassured her not to reschedule the afternoon (once again responsible mother right?!?)  I called the OB and they said the same thing as the expert Katy so I went home to change.  I called Ben and broke down..the kind where you speak and nothing comes out. I had been calm up until this point.  Told him not to come home though I was fine.  I am sure he was in pure panic mode!  So I went home and started to change and realized much to my dismay and horror that the sweater I had worn to work that day had a tie that had unexpectedly dipped into the potty at work and I just so happen to sit on it perfectly to give the "illusion" that I had broke my water.  Very embarrassingly I call all parties involved and breathe a sigh of relief.  Not one of my best days!  Funny now!

 

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas!  Chance is understanding what Christmas is all about!  He knew that we were celebrating Jesus' birthday and could explain to you that it was "Happy Day!"  He really enjoyed telling people at church on Christmas Eve and Day what we were celebrating!  At first he was getting baby Jesus in his manger scene confused with baby Gray his cousin but soon figured out the difference.  We enjoyed Christmas morning at our house then headed out to Boerne to Ben's parents for the evening and next day!  He loved his new train table and according to him my "own boots!"  He requests to wear his new boots quite often even with sweatpants!  That is what little boys do right?!? 

Chance update (20 1/2 mos):
He is such a fun little boy, and he amazes Ben and I all the time with how much he knows!  He is a talker!  He pretty much speaks in sentences most times now!  He was helping Ben in Hallie's room and was playing with her toys and told one of her puppies (his old one) "Don't cry Puppy!"  I really think he is going to enjoy being a big brother very soon (as in 3 weeks soon YIKES!) He notices as we are getting all the stuff ready for Hallie and will tell you that that is "Hallie's!"  He has a very sweet heart and really wants to learn everything around him constantly asking you "is it?" for what something is.  He knows pretty much every big truck and can name them such as back how, bulldozer, dump truck, bobcat, trash truck (his favorite) and can pick out Mommy and Daddy's car even!  He loves to be outside playing with the dogs! He loves to boss them around and tell them to go outside.  He loves them and will just sit next to them and give them a hug and a kiss!   He loves to sing! Today at Costco he sang Jesus Loves Me all by himself quietly as we were going down the isle!  So very sweet to hear his little voice!  He loves Mickey Mouse and would watch it all day if I let him!  He will tell you all the characters and wants to do "Hot dog dance" multiple times a day! 

Our little family (mommy at 35 weeks)

He understood how to open his presents

Sitting with his cousin Gray

He actually wanted to hold him! (for a few seconds anyway!)

Opening "Daddy's truck" from Gran and Big Daddy

Look closely and you will see Sealy

With all the dogs! Ben's idea!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

We traveled to Lubbock to see my family for Thanksgiving this year!  We left Wednesday after work and made it home on Sunday afternoon.  We had a great time visiting with all our family, unfortunately my camera did not get taken out of the bag until Saturday so not many pictures:((  My Aunt Judy had us over for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful!  I LOVE the food on Thanksgiving!  I am sure the scale will not be too forgiving when it comes to my next weigh in for Hallie's next check.  Oh well!  We also got to see my dad's sisters and my brother's family.  Chance had so much fun with his cousins.  He loves to play with them and watch everything they do!  It was fun hearing him talk to them and say their names.  On Saturday we went to the Science Spectrum, it reminded me of our old Muleshoe field trip days!  They have a Children's Museum for the young children that Chance had so much fun playing in!  They had all different stations from bikes, air station, vet office, grocery store, classroom, and music room!  He just ran from station to station! It was great seeing him pretend and have so much fun.

Before we left for Lubbock I had Chance paint a picture for his Gran and BigDaddy who would not get to see him on Thanksgiving.  After we were finished I let him paint with water on the paper.  He thought he was such a big boy!

Painting!

Riding with Sealy

Examining the kitty!  Look out Dr Nichols you may have some competition:))

He was a big fan of the carrots and bananas, Unfortunately they didn't make it into the basket but on the floor

Music room,  They lit up when you would stomp on them!  This was one of his favorites!

Such concentration.  It helps to stick out your tongue!

Dog Pile on Ben:)) Poor Ben!

He loves his Uncle Barak!

Picture of Lauren missing her front tooth.  She is growing up too fast!

Vamanos Miami!

A couple weekends ago, Ben and I headed to Miami for Carmen's wedding!  Carmen was the only other girl in my residency of six at Baylor!  So needless to say we spent lots of time together so there was no way I could miss this day for her!  Chance got to spend the weekend with his Gran and Big Daddy and he didn't complain one bit!  He loves being with them which makes it easy for us to take a trip!  Ben took the day off on Friday so we left bright and early!  We stayed on Ft Lauderdale beach!  It was pretty cool and windy so no getting in the water for us!  We really enjoyed just hanging out together, site seeing and eating!  On Saturday we ventured down to South Beach!  If you look at the pictures closely you will be able to see what part of the beach we really ended up on!  Too Funny!  Miami was definitely a cultural experience!  Carmen's wedding was on Saturday night!  Carmen is from Venezuela and her groom I believe is Cuban.  The wedding invitation said 4pm to start little did I realize that that really means you start at 5:30!  They operate on a different time table than I do!  What a great wedding!  I have never been to a wedding quite like this!  From Carmen being brought in by a horse drawn carriage to a station rolling Nicaraguan cigars!  Very interesting!  I got to catch up with some old friends and of course got to talk "dental" which I always love to do!  We got to sleep in a few days and overall had a great time with the hubby!  We missed our buddy but we were really glad for some time away just the two of us before our family becomes four!

Ben kept saying it really felt like the video game "Grand Theft Auto"

Right outside our hotel

Walking by the water!

Dinner date

The part of South Beach we ended up on:))

View from our balcony on the 24th floor

All dressed up!  Pregnant at almost 30 weeks!

My buddy Carmen!  She looked amazing!

Old buddies!