Fans in Heaven

Ok, so I've decided that there must be ceiling fans in Heaven, as every time Austin sees the fan, he smiles so big he laughs. He LOVES the fan - not even the moving fan - just the still fan. He stares at it and coos and laughs. We thought he was just noticing the contrast, but as much as he smiles and laughs, we think there must be some place he's seen them before. The first picture is Austin dressed up for a pass by the neigbor's birthday party. Isn't he precious?!

6 weeks old...lots of smiles!

Austin is just over 6 weeks old now, and he smiles all the time now!!! He's such a happy baby, so here are some cute photos!

5 weeks old...growth spurt

We've done some comparisons to baby pictures...below are some of the people we think Austin might look like (me not being one of them)...let us know what you think. The top first two are my older brother, Chris. The next is my younger brother, John, and the last is Kristopher. Obviously the last three pictures are Austin.





So, Austin had a growth spurt at 3 weeks. He wanted to eat only 1.5 hours after his last feeding. He would start crying, and we were unable to console him. Finally by the afternoon, we figured out that he was having a growth spurt and needed to eat to catch my milk supply up to his needs. So, 1.5 hours might not seem like alot unless you realize that that's from start to start - as in I start feeding him at 7, he eats for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, then at 8:30 he wants to eat again!

Well, you would think I would have learned my lesson and figured out what was happening yesterday when Austin (now exactly 5 weeks old) could not be consoled. Is it gas?? Nope, gas drops not working...maybe he's tired?? Nope, eyes wide open. He was STARVING! So, today he's been eating around the clock - ahead of the curve and seeming to have his 6 week growth spurt a little early. He ate 4 times between 5am and 11am! So, I am loving on my sweet little man as it seems our little baby boy will be 12 pounds before we know it!

Meanwhile, I'm off to try to get something to eat before baby boy wants to eat again! Love and miss everyone!

Lately...

"Great Nana" Gale, Kristen, and "Great Auntie Marilyn"

Ceci, Mommy, and Buzzy

Dips, Peyton, Preston, and Grammy

Preston, Austin, and Peyton

Passed out after eating

1 month old

Loving my bath! Look how relaxed I am

My first Easter

Our Family

So, I know it's been a while, and you're all sitting at the edge of your seat waiting for a post!!

Well, our baby boy made 1 month old yesterday. He went to the doctor and weighed in at a whopping 9lbs, 5 oz - that is +2lbs, 2oz from his birth weight and he gained that in the last two weeks since he had dropped down so much before we left the hospital. He weighed 7lbs, 6oz two weeks ago at his 2 week appointment. He is ahead of the curve in his development - he can focus on objects and people, track things with his eyes, hold his head up quite well, and recognize Mommy and Daddy. He's also starting to coo and smile alot more. He did have to have a shot and was a bit out of sorts for the day. It made Mommy very, very sad when he got his shot and cried a REAL TEAR! Good thing Daddy was there to comfort Mommy!

Our steady stream of visitors has stopped now. We had my mom (Ceci) here for three weeks after Austin was born, then my Dad (Buzzy) flew up to meet her and visit as well. In between, we had Great Nana Gale, Great Auntie Marilyn, and Kristen come in as well. Kristopher's family (Grammy, Dips, Nanaan, Uncle Adam, Preston, and Peyton) came up for Easter. Of course, we've had a lot of local friends come to see Austin as well. We really appreciate all the visits, and we know Austin enjoys seeing all of his family and friends!

Here are some pictures from all of our visitors, a few fun moments from this past month, and Austin's first Easter. Thank you to all the great Aunts and family who sent gifts for Austin's first Easter. We love and miss everyone, and we wish you all were closer to be able to get some of all this sweet snuggling that our baby offers!

Baby Austin

Austin Michael Haydel made his entrance into the world at 5:33am on Monday, March 28, 2011. He weighed in at 7lbs, 3oz and was 19.75 inches long.

So, scheduled c-section or not, our son, Austin Michael, decided he would come on his own terms anyway! He stayed breech right until the end. My water broke at around midnight Sunday night, and we made our way to the hospital. Since my labor was not painful, they let the doctor wait and come in at 5am to do the c-section. I guess Baby Austin wanted me to know what labor was like. I had great plans of waltzing into the hospital early on Friday, April 1st with my makeup done and ready to welcome my baby into the world (and look great for the pictures too). However, he had other plans. We also had lots of family planning to come in toward the end of the week to await the debut - their plans changed too! So, drive all night is what the grandparents did to arrive around 10am to welcome Austin with us.

As I have posted before, Kristopher was sure that this baby was going to be a girl! As we waited between contractions, we were discussing boy names, as we still had none and there was still a very strong possibility that this baby could be a boy! Once in surgery, as the doctor pulled that sweet baby out (feet first) Kristopher got the first picture and peeked around the curtain at me with a big smirk on his face - we have a BOY! Needless to say, he didn't officially have a name until Tuesday!

He is the sweetest gift in the world, and we are so blessed. We are all home now and doing great!

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, and messages.

Here are just a few of the pictures that Kristopher took of our sweet boy!

37 Weeks, Maternity Pictures

So, we crossed the 37 week mark. Big surprise...the baby is still breech! Despite my efforts to put myself into every yoga position possible, not to mention all the pelvic tilts and silly old wives' tales I've attempted, this baby just does not want to be upside-down. At this point, I'm not sure it can go head-down without alot of pain for Mommy!

All is well otherwise with Mom and Baby. Blood pressure and heart rate good and strong, and baby is growing right along. This weekend we went to Grapevine Botanical Gardens to take some maternity pictures and some "family pictures" before our family grows by one. My favorite photographer took these with the help of his tripod for those of us together. You can check out more of his work at www.modrefphoto.com. You can look forward to many, many pictures once Baby Haydel actually arrives.

We are now in the single digits of days until we are parents! In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers for a safe and successful c-section and a healthy baby!

36 Weeks, Anniversary, and Breech

So, now that we are 36 weeks along, the baby is still breech!

We are scheduled to have a c-section on April 1st (no fooling around) if the baby doesn't turn in the meantime. So, that means one less week to prepare!

We are so excited and in full-on nesting mode getting ready for the arrival of our new little bundle.

I'm sure this was good news for those who will be traveling in for baby Haydel's arrival; however, not exactly the way I had anticipated this going. The baby is diagonal across my belly (head at 1:00 and feet at 7:00).

Tomorrow we celebrate our anniversary - 2 years of bliss with my wonderful hubby. We can't wait to start this next chapter in our lives. We are truly blessed in so many ways.

And the bets keep coming in for the gender...Kristopher is still feeling girl, while the votes seem to be split about 50/50 from all of our family and friends.

Either way, we are less than 3 weeks away from meeting our baby!

Keep checking in for the latest, and soon enough we will have BABY pictures to share!