Back to the Grind

I've been back at school over the last 3 weeks, and I've learned some things about myself..... Here they are in no particular order.

1. I crave routine. This is why I'm sure that it will be difficult at first to be a stay at home mom. I'm just going to have to figure out a routine for each day down to the exact time. We'll be going and doing most days, and I'm sure the kids will love it. I'll be frazzled, but it would be worse for me to just be at home all the time. I think I'd go crazy!

2. I have to know the date. I don't know why it matters, but it does. I like having the date written on the board at school. Then I never forget and don't have to think if I have to sign and date something or write a check or something like that.

3. I like to be around adults. I need adult conversation. That is why I'll have to have some moms to hang out with. I have a few in mind. Any other takers??? This will be starting June 2008!

4. I think it's important for Maggie to always be exposed to other children. I plan to do this by joining play groups, hanging out with my sister and her kiddos and by putting Maggie in "school" for probably two days a week once she is three. There are certain values that can only be learned when she is around other children. I simply can't provide everything.

5. I like to go and hang out with the girls. This is definitely something that I need. My friend Kelli has been planning some girl nights lately, and they are fun. Plus, I *might* be able to catch up on my movie-watching at some point! I also play bunco with the girls from school and plan to keep doing this even after I am not teaching anymore. That will help me still feel in the loop!

6. I feel absolutely so blessed to have not struggled to have children. I have some friends that I really love that are having some hard times with this. I pray for them every day...and every day I hope is the day they tell me they're pregnant!

So, there's my list for now...and here's some pics for your viewing pleasure!
Maggie had a tea party dressed like a princess (Thanks Howells!!)

You just can't catch Riley with a smile. They're gone in a second. This is pretty much her look most of the time. Look at those cheeks! Remind you of anyone??? Riley is finally starting to round out some....Sweet family picture...minus me, of course. Now if only we could get Maggie to smile on command. It just doesn't happen! She's so stubborn!
Maggie, Riley, and the cousins Briannah and Cadence. I can just see the excitement on Riley's face.
I totally forgot about Riley's 2 month stats. Here they are....

Weight 9 lbs. 14 oz. 10-25%
Length 23 in. 50-75%
Head 15 and ??? This wasn't written down, so we're not sure.

New pics!

Pink is my signature color....
Packed up and ready to go
Sweet Riley being held by Tiffani
How could anyone resist this face??!

Twinkies!

The first picture is Maggie at about a month. The second is Riley. Sure, Riley is a lot skinnier in that picture, but I know that I see the resemblance. Anyone else??

A lot going on....

It's been a while since I've posted. It's just been crazy around here. First Aaron's mother was here. Then his dad and stepmom were here. It's always so fun to have family around, but it stressful at the same time. Anyway, now Aaron has gone back to work, and it's just me.

About Riley: Many of you know that she had some issues with gaining weight. Those issues are no more, and she's around 8 lbs. at a month old. Sure, it's not big, but it's a gain of about 2 lbs. We go for her cardiologist appointment tomorrow to check on her VSD. I'll post when I know more.

About Maggie: She's doing really well with Riley. She's not gentle, but she really wants to love on her. She also seems to be very concerned about us leaving her alone at home. Crazy girl! There are LOTS of questions about where "Baby Riley" is and what is "Baby Riley" doing. I tend to think that she's kind of bored here at home with just her momma, so we may look into daycare for February instead of her staying home when the next set of relatives are here.

I'll try to do better on posting. I do have SOME time here and there around taking care of the 2 kiddos and trying to keep a nice house. Ha ha!

Merry Christmas II!!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!!!!!!!

We are home...

We wanted to let all know we are home and doing great. I must say that it has been quite a change having two ladies around the house instead of one.

The doctors discovered a heart murmur in Riley on Wednesday. She had a series of test run and has a ventricular septal defect (VSD). In short, she has a small hole in her septum between her two ventricles. A cardiologist came by Wednesday afternoon and stated that she won't die, have a heart attack, etc. from this defect. The hole won't get bigger and should heal on its own. In month the same test will be completed, so please pray that her heart has healed itself by then.

Maggie had a great time with her grandparents and is loving being home with her new baby sister. She has shared tons of kisses, went and got diapers, blankets and more. They are going to be best of friends.

Mommy and Riley update...

Yeah for sleep. As much as I miss my bed I must say that I love being in the hospital with so many caring people looking after us. Mommy, Riley and I were able to get a fair amount of sleep last night. Becky was able to eat some solids and is on her way to a full recovery. Below are some additional pictures, including one with Mommy and Maggie who was enjoying the automatic bed.

Riley Faith Hood is here...

The surgery was a success and mom is doing great. Riley was born at 7:59 AM is 19 1/2 inches long, weights 7.58 pounds and has a full head of hair (no this isn't her hair in the picture). We are all safe and happy in the room and will post more later. Thank you all for your prayers.

Tomorrow's the big day....

Miss Riley will be making her grand appearance tomorrow morning. I'll post when I can....

First broken bone

On Friday I had a workshop to go to in a different town. About 10:30 I got a call from daycare.....NEVER a good thing. I listened to my messages. It seems that some other child managed to pull down a shelf, and it landed on Maggie's foot. It bruised and was swelling. They applied ice for a little bit, but she seemed(in the beginning) to be okay. Then she started limping around on it a bit. The daycare was in touch with Aaron, and he was planning to come and get her after nap time. So he got a doctor's appointment and went and got her. It didn't look so great, so they sent her to a sports doctor where they could do x-rays and then give her a cast if necessary. Well, it was necessary, so our sweet baby now has a lovely pink cast. She has a fracture on the top of her foot. Normally they probably wouldn't have put a cast on it, but it's not like she'd leave on one of those boot things. I felt so terrible that I wasn't in town even though it ultimately wouldn't have mad a difference. Thank goodness that Aaron was able to leave, get her an appointment and get it taken care of. If not, it would not have been a fun weekend. She's walking around on it, and she's getting faster and faster. In two weeks they'll take it off and check it out. Here's some pics......Yes, she's eating guacamole in the last picture. Gross!

Here a link for some pics....

Shutterfly pictures

Almost 19 months!

Well, we finally go around to taking Maggie in for her 18 months well check. She's almost 19 months, but whatever.... Her daddy took her in, and that made me happy. She only had to get one shot though, so I probably would have been okay. Here are her stats....

Weight 25 lbs. 3 oz. 55%
Height 32 3/4 in. 75%

I guess they don't do head circumference anymore. That's just another thing that means that my baby is growing up. We should have some new pics next week as Halloween is right around the corner.Isn't that lovely??!!

Where does the time go???

I'd like to say that I've just been super busy, but that's really not true. This year has been going okay. I like my kids. I'm excited about having Miss Riley in December. Maggie is doing great and growing so much. Everything is just fine. However, nothing out of the ordinary is much going on. Aaron has started getting Maggie's new room ready. It's going to look great. He's such a worker. Once he decides on a time frame for something, it gets done. I wish that I was more like that. He won't let me help at all. That's nice, but it's not really necessary. I can help in well-ventilated areas. I secretly figure he thinks he'll just get it done faster. :o) I'm perfectly okay with that. Now on to some pics.... We went to a wedding in Georgia in early August. That's some of the pics. The others are just from here and there.....

First day of daycare
Oma came to visit
Our happy family!!!!

Go Team Pink!!!

We found out today that we are having another girl. Yay!! Two girls and we'll have our complete family of four(plus Puck, of course). We're excited, and everything seemed fine. She weighs about 8 oz. right now. She was so wiggly too. It was fun.

Maggie is 15 months!

So, it was time for our 15 month appointment. I was sad to have to take Maggie to this one. That usually gets to be her daddy's job. I know. I'm mean. Anyway, all is good. Maggie REALLY hates it when her ped looks in her ears, but other than that was fine with the exam. However, the THREE shots did not go over well. Really big scream!!!! I always feel so bad, and I am glad that she's so small that she won't remember the shots later....well, I say that anyway. It was so funny to watch her watch the nurse put her gloves on. It was like she knew bad things were coming. We took off her band-aids together this afternoon, and all is well. She doesn't even get a fever, or a red spot or anything. She is a seriously good shot taker.

Here are her stats:

Height 31 3/4 inches--75-90% (she is seriously Aaron's child here)
Weight 23 lbs.--50%
Head--75%....I don't know the actual measurement

I'll add pics later.

Something new in the oven....

Well, I figure that most of you have heard the news, but here it is if you haven't. Aaron and I are expecting another baby come December. Yep, it's true. It wasn't exactly in OUR plans, but apparently God had something else in mind. As of right now, we don't know a whole lot. I'm 15 weeks. I've gained plenty. Ha ha! The due date is December 17, but that will change if I decided to have a repeat c/s. So I'm not just hitting the twinkies hard or anything. I'm sure that pretty soon I'll look plenty pregnant. Don't plan on seeing any belly shots though. It isn't going to happen. However, I will post on here when we find out the sex, but that won't be for about another month. A Christmas baby...what a present!!

I've been tagged....by KELLI!

Six random facts about me....

1. Some people know this one, but I'll count it anyway. I am lactose intolerant. It stinks! I haven't had real ice cream in probably 10 years. It was the frosties from Wendy's that keyed me in to my problem, and I haven't gone back since. It's not like I've totally rid my diet of all dairy products, but no milk or ice cream for sure. This is why snowcones are my best friend!!!

2. I have a super neurotic cat named Puck. She's 16 years old and still going strong. She pulls out gobs of her own hair and has a gimpy foot because a very large dog chased her one time. She escaped but pulled a muscle in the process. The hair-pulling thing is the worst though.

3. I LOOOOOOOVE pickles. It's not just when I'm pregnant. It's all the time. Clausen pickles just make me happy. If I could live on pickles, I probably would. Of course, I only like sour ones. The other ones are nasty!

4. My husband thinks I ask too many questions. Whenever he tells me about stuff, I want him to explain it in great detail. I really do, and I really want to know. The problem is that I usually can't understand what he's talking about(take computers or cars for example). He knows that I won't understand even if he walks me all the way through it, so it drives him crazy. But I'll keep asking. One of these days I'll understand!

5. My husband and I bought a mini van on Ebay. We don't actually have it yet. Aaron is going to get it on Tuesday. After we get it, I'll let you know what we think. I just think it's crazy to bid like almost $20,000 on Ebay. Ha ha! I'm not sure that Aaron thought we would actually win.

6. Aaron and I are thinking about moving just to have a pool this summer. Yep, it's true. Texas is just too hot to do much else, so we're kind of starting the process. We'll see how it goes. There's a lot of stuff that would have to work out just right.

Okay, there you go. I'll try to post soon.....maybe with some news....

Becky

The Yellow Dog Adventure

Here's a story that's hard to believe, but it's ALL true. Two weeks ago Aaron, Maggie and I were in the car headed to Lancaster for my niece and nephew's swim party. Caitlin just turned 6, and JD is 3. We were quite on time and planned to grab a quick bite to eat before we got there. Traffic was pretty heavy but not too bad. We decided to take the HOV lane on the south side of Dallas. Those of you that have gone this way know this is kind of scary. It's completely closed in on both sides, and there are no exits for probably 5 miles. I mentioned seeing a yellow dog(AKA school bus) ahead of us because I was griping about how I don't think that buses should get to be in the HOV. We were probably 15 cars behind the bus. We're moving along at a relatively good pace when all of the sudden we come to a stop. We didn't just slow down. It was a complete and total, put on your parking brake stop. Lo and behold! What do I see? That yellow dog has broken down in the HOV lane ahead of us. There is NO WAY OUT! About 15 minutes into the ordeal, another bus comes in the northbound lane and stops with the help of a police car. All the kids get out, jump over the guardrail and get onto the other bus. So they're all free, but we're still stuck. Maggie starts to get pretty restless about this time, so we get her out and let her wander free in the car. There's not a whole lot to do though. We notice the couple in the car behind us has started playing cards. At least 2 different gentleman walk up the bus to try to render some type of aid. People get out of their cars and look around. I got out to see how many cars were behind us....as far as I could see down the HOV lane. Then I took some pics and got back into the car. After sitting for an HOUR AND A HALF, a tow truck finally comes to get the bus. We sat there for an HOUR AND A HALF with a baby with nothing to do. I can't say that I was in good humor the whole time, and I can promise that I will NEVER get into an enclosed HOV lane again. Yes, people, this too can happen to you.

She's 1!!!!

Maggie is 1!! We had a wonderful birthday party today. The weather was perfect. Maggie was in good humor. We were surrounded by wonderful family and friends. We couldn't ask for anything more. I just can't believe she's one. I'll post some pics later, but here's her stats.....

Weight: 21 lbs. 50%
Height: 29 1/2 in. 75%
Head: 17 3/4(I actually think they measured this wrong as this was the same as her 9 month checkup, but whatever) 75%

She got 2 shots at the doctor, and she took them like a pro. I'm so proud to be her mom. I just can't even explain it!!