Hayden's Here!!!!!

HAYDEN DAVID BANKS

July 5, 2009

5:33pm

7lb 6oz - 19.5" long

Ok, so I know that I've neglected the heck out of this blog... but now that he's here I'm hoping to get back to updating it WAY more often!!! Starting with this post... which will contain more than you ever wanted to know about my delivery day!!!! Here we go :-)

5:00am - checked in and got everything signed
6:00am - liquid labor begins (love that term!)

I started out 1cm dilated, so I was hoping for fast results!!

6:30am - dilated 1.5cm
9:00am - dilated 2 cm
1:00pm - dilated 3 cm

3:30pm - dilated 3 cm... this is when she breaks out the news that she thinks we should consider a c-section if I don't dilate any more by 5:00. JOYFUL, exactly what I didn't want. I'm a big chicken, and that just freaks me out. So of course I have my cry, and Josh and Me decide we will do whatever the doc thinks is best since she does this way more than we do, and since she pretty much saved his little life back in January.

5:05pm - dilated 3cm... and she says she's starting to feel a little swelling on his head where he'd pretty much been "hitting a brick wall" for like the past 11 hours. Said it was still up to us, but she was worried he would go into distress soon. So I say yes and then the circus began. I swear people were in my room prepping me before she shut the door. I think she knew more than she was letting on about him being in distress, cause by 5:33 he was delivered and that's just damn fast if you ask me!

So now we're home, one big happy family!!!! The doc told me it would have ended in a c-section no matter what my decision was that last time she came in. She said my birth canal was just way too small and even a tiny baby would have never fit through... which I'm assuming means if I ever want to have a 2nd child, that one will arrive to us by c-section too, but at least I know that going in!

So here's some pics for you of our little man!!!!

Big Bro Kujeaux protecting his Lil Bro

Checking everything out
So sweet when he sleeps

We start 'em off young here! GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Chillin out in Mommy's arms

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!!

If Hayden's not here before July 5th...

she will induce me early that morning!!!!

WAHOO!!!

Baby Shower Pics

Ok, so these are a little overdue... but better late than never!!!

Hayden's Room...

... is COMPLETE!!!! Well, almost complete. It's decorated and AMAZING thanks to the wonderful talents of MOMMA!!! Now we just need Hayden and then it will be complete :-) Here's some pics for your viewing pleasure!

THANK YOU MOMMA FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!!

A Loving Husband...

There is Hope!!!

Yesterday I watched a friend's little girl, Isabelle. She's almost 9 months old, and I figured it would be a good test for Kujeaux... He passed with flying colors!!!! He was smacked (repeatedly, which was supposed to be petting I'm sure), his tail was pulled to the extent that she had a hand full of hair, and he never once snipped at her. Now on the tail pull he did growl, but never snipped! I was so proud of him!!! And once she fell asleep and I laid her down for her nap, this it what happened...
... and he stayed there the whole nap! Of course he napped too, but it was like he was her little watch dog :-) Too cute, and definitely reassuring to me as to what he will do once Hayden gets here!

Hayden in 4D!!!

I know I've been neglecting my blog lately... and for that I apologize. I guess I'm in a slump... I'm letting myself get there - I just need to get out of it and all should be better...

On a much more fun note - this past Saturday Josh's Dad treated us to a 4D Ultrasound of our little man!!!! It was at this place called Angel Prints in Baton Rouge, and it ROCKED!!! We got to see him... and he's SO DAMN CUTE! He has my nose, but looks like he's getting everything else from Josh, which is fine by me! Here's some pics for you to check out!!!

This one is my absolute favorite!!!

This is Josh's Mom's favorite - she said it looks just like him!
SOOOO SWEET!!!!

My momma likes this one - little fingers & toes!

BIG YAWN!

My poor little man is out of room...

He kept kicking himself in the face :-(

Now I can't wait to see him in person!!! Not too soon though... he needs to cook a little longer!

Rent it...

AMAZING...

I can't wait for this...

My Godchild (who is the cutest thing in the world, next to Hayden of course) was asked questions about his Mom at day care. Seeing as he's 3 - they wrote down his answers, and it's so cute that I must share it with all of you!!! The things he had to fill in/answer are in blue.

My Mom is 71 years old

My Mom weighs 71 pounds

My Mom is 10 feet tall

My Mom has brown hair and blue eyes

My Mom likes to homework

My Mom likes to wear LSU shirts

My Mom likes to cook all I want

My Mom's favorite TV show is racing

My Mom's favorite song is (no answer)

My Mom always tells me she loves me

It makes my Mom happy when I go potty

Her favorite household chore is to study

When Mom goes shopping she loves to buy toys for me

If Mom could go on vacation she would go to the beach

... and she would bring Me, Papa Jack, & Mimi 

(notice he didn't say Dad)

Here's a pic of Sheri (Mom) and Anthony

This is just too cute - I can't wait to get stuff like this from Hayden!!!

You Might Be A Redneck If...

... this is your ride!

I saw this in the Winn Dixie parking lot after work today, and I couldn't resist taking a picture! I must say this was a first for me. I've seen a lot of redneck things in my day, but this one just rocks!!!

N'awlins Air Show

So Josh's Mom & James came in this weekend... and we went to the N'awlins Air Show in Belle Chasse... IT ROCKED (Again... SO glad we're having a boy - I just don't like girly stuff)!!! Of course I have a ton of pictures, but I won't bore you with all of them... just a few!!!

James, Robin, & Josh

F22 (Present)- P51 (WWII) - F16 (Desert Storm)

Me & Josh

Blue Angels!!!

Hayden's first dog tag...
and if he's anything like his Daddy,
it won't be his last!

I'm going to try and figure out a way to take all the video clips I took and marry them into one file... and set it to some cool music! I have about 15 clips, but they're only about 10-15 seconds each. If anyone knows how to do this, please let me know!

He's Back!!!

Well, unless you had been to our house in Baton Rouge - then you've never seen this little guy. He was on our fence in Baton Rouge, and now that we've got our fence here in Covington... HE'S BACK!!!! Meet Bunny (I know, not a creative name right!)

My WONDERFUL Momma got him for me, and he's finally come out of storage and is happy to be gracing us with his presence at our new home! Isn't he just the cutest thing ever :-)

On another note, we had an OB checkup today. Everything is going GREAT still... had the blood glucose test, and I will get those results on Monday. Hopefully everything's good with that. The drink actually tasted pretty good (I had the fruit punch one) but the feeling it put in my stomach stayed with me for about 8 hours today, and that part was miserable! Dr. Steen seems to think that the rest of my pregnancy should be smooth. She did mention that since I'm so short, Hayden will start to run out of room here soon, and things will start getting uncomfortable, but just to remember how far we've come and all the bad we've overcome during this pregnancy. It will take time and patience, but I can't wait till I get to cuddle him, and hope things don't get too uncomfortable in the next few months! Good news... I'M OFFICIALLY OFF OF PELVIC REST! For those of you who know the whole story of this roller coaster ride I'm calling pregnancy, you know that I've been on pelvic rest since November... let's just say that we're VERY happy to get that news :-)

Other than that - we'll just continue to sail along and hope for the best of things to come. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, and I will keep you posted on everything like always!!!

Southern Belle

I'm posting this for Lindsey over at Learning to be a Wife!

She said she's a wanna-be Southern Girl...

So I wanted to let her know exactly what that entails!!!

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: A beautiful and charming woman from the Southern United States. A Southern Belle possesses an undeniable natural charm, has a warm and dazzling smile, and impeccable manners, calling each person she encounters 'sir' or 'ma'am' regardless of their age or position. A Southern Belle can be recognized by her unforgettable Southern drawl, unstinting hospitality and graciousness, and her recognition of LSU Football as a part of her religion. Southern Belles are recognized as one of God's greatest creations and continously overshadow women from Northern US States.

Fence Complete!!!

Well, the fence is complete!!!

Here's Chance... I think he knew Dad was going to make
him sleep outside when I took this picture.

This was Kujeaux right before his bath. We let him spend all day
outside with us, and it was reallllllly muddy - but he had a blast!

And finally, Dad & Kujeaux worn out from all their hard work!

I want to send another BIG THANK YOU
to my hubby for doing such an amazing job on our fence!
Kujeaux and Chance say thank you as well...
and one day Hayden will too! We all love you very much!!!

We The People Stimulus Package

This guy has hit the nail on the head! While I don't agree with all of his solutions, some of them are pretty darn good... This video is a little long (6:35) but well worth the listen!

Meet Chance!

Well, family... friends... and anyone else who happens to stop by and read this post... Please join me in welcoming the newest member of our family, Chance!

I have always told Josh once we got a fence he could get his lab... Well, we partially have a fence (it will be completed this weekend) and today we got the lab! As you can see, we didn't waste any time! And for all of you out there who are going to ask the following questions, let me go ahead and answer them for you now:

1. Are we crazy, we're going to have a newborn in a few months?
Yes, we are crazy, and we plan to love every minute of it!

2. What does Kujeaux think?
Well, he's not too thrilled. He played with him for a bit, then kinda looked at me saying "Ok mom, it's time for him to go home now." But he will still be master of his domain. As far as I'm concerned, Chance will never step foot (paw) in this house. A lab is an outside dog, and that's where he's gonna stay. (He's sleeping in the garage till the fence is complete!) So Kujeaux will be very pleased with that if nothing else!

Here's a few more pics from today of the new little man that I thought were too cute not to share!

Pulling out the driveway of his Mommy's house
This face broke my heart

But then about 15 minutes later he was all smiles
(I think that's a smile)

And just in case you're wondering about the name... it came compliments of our 4 year old neighbor Aidan. I asked what he thought I should name it, and he said Chance! We called him a couple different names for a few hours, but Chance just seemed to be the one that fit best!

Fence time!

Well, right now we have this...

... but hopefully by tomorrow we'll have A FENCE!!! Josh & Jared are building it tomorrow, and I'm beyond excited!!! Now Kujeaux will be able to play outside as much as he wants without one of us having to be outside with him... AND we won't have to chase him down the path when people come walking by - YAY!

And one more fun thing, we're getting a lab! Not sure when, but I'll keep you posted. I told Josh he either needs to get it now or like 6 months after Hayden is born. I can't deal with a newborn and a puppy in the house! So if anyone has any ideas on a COOL name for a black lab, please feel free to comment!

26 weeks 3 days

So I had a doctor's appointment today and everything is still going good! The blood clot is still resolved, and Hayden is growing like a weed - He weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces! His bones look good, as does his brain (thank goodness - lol) and his lips are formed without a split, which means no cleft pallet (I had to ask what that meant!) Here are some ultrasound pictures for you to enjoy!!!

THE Picture!!!!!

Ok, so if you remember from this post, my friend Melissa was working on a picture for me from Hayden's room... Well she gave it to me today, and it's beyond AMAZING!!!! Here it is!!!!

This is a cell phone pic, so it doesn't do it ANY justice...

And this is the poem on the bottom...

Mel actually found the whole song and the lyrics are written on the back!!!

The stars are wooden stars, so it has a kind of 3D effect, and the whole thing has texture to it... It's truly amazing!!! This was her very first painting and I think she'd picked a pretty darn good hobby! She's done a few more since and posted them on her blog, so if you want to check them out you can go here. When she gets to be a super famous artist, I can say that I have her first painting ever - and no one can beat that!!!!

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH MEL!!!! I can't wait to get home and hang this in Hayden's room... and then of course I will post a pic so you can see where I put it! LOVE YOU!!!!

Always there when I need him...

No, I'm not talking about my Hubby.

He's there for me way more than that!

I'm talking about

I have it saved on my DVR, and watch it all the time. Whenever I just need a laugh or I can't sleep (which is more often than not)... No matter how many times I watch them, these little guys always make me crack up laughing!!!

Here's a little clip from YouTube if you wanna check it out from the show... if you ever catch it on Comedy Central, you MUST tape it... it brightens any day... for a little while at least!