Myah's Blessing

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

On Sunday Damon blessed Myah in Sacrament Meeting. She was a good girl and slept through the whole thing. My brother Paul, his wife Kim, and their daughter Rya were able to come from D.C. to be with us on this special day. Our good friends Shawn, Bren, Wes, and Adam also stood in the circle. Myah wore the same dress that Hannah was blessed in (although we couldn't get the top button done up-the neck hole on that dress is TINY and Myah is quite a bit bigger than Hannah was!) which is the same dress that I was blessed in. My Grana made the dress for me and my three sisters were also blessed in it. It was a very special day-one that I will always remember.

My brother Paul, his daughter Rya, Me, and Myah (Rya and Myah are rhyming cousins....Hannah has one too, Anna)

Paul with his beautiful wife Kim and sweet little Rya.

Hannah giving Myah kisses....Yikes!

Daddy and Mommy with Myah on her special day.


Myah waving to all of her fans.

I love Myah's face in this one. Aren't those shoes too cute?

This is a rare picture, all of us together and looking at the camera too!

Sweet little Myah. We love you so much!

Feast of the Assumption

This weekend Little Italy is celebrating the Feast of the Assumption. Yesterday a group of my friends and I gathered at Jessie's house in the heart of Little Italy to watch the procession of Mary (as she ascends into Heaven). I had never been before and was more or less expecting a parade. That was not what I got! I guess because I'm not Catholic I don't understand what this is all about (for more info on what this is click on Feast of the Assumption above). It was interesting to be sure. There was a band and a bunch of kids dressed up like angels and other things I didn't know. Then there were the priests and these guys (again, not being Catholic I don't know who these people are. Heck, maybe even the Catholics don't know who they are!)

But the climax of the whole procession is when Mary makes her way down the road all the while prayers (or something in Latin and Italian, I think) are being played on a loud speaker.

It was definitely not what I was expecting, but it was fun and a great cultural experience.

I think tonight we're going to head down to sample some of the delicious food! One thing about the Italians, they sure know how to cook! So if you see me tomorrow and I look 9 months pregnant again you'll know why! Bon appetit!

What?

What is wrong with this picture?

Oh! Daddy couldn't find your nightgown so he dressed you in Mommy's shirt. Nice! Whatever works right?

Last week of Freedom!

This week was Damon's last week before he has to go back to school so we tried to squeeze in a few more fun things. On Monday it was our friend Bren's birthday so we tagged along with him and his family and went to the beach at Lake Erie. I'm not sure we were the best company since Hannah hates the sand and water, we have a 1 month old baby, I'm not allowed to swim yet, and Damon didn't even get in his swim suit. Other than that we had a great time! No, we really did have a good time. Here are a few pictures.

Hannah digging in the sand

Eating a sucker covered in sand. Yummy!

Don't you love the sand all over her face? She was such a mess. I had to wash her hair like 3 times and she still had sand in it. Oh well, she had fun.

Bren was burying all of the kids. Here's Hannah with Brenna in the back ground. They thought it was great fun. Then they buried him...but I didn't get any pictures of it, darn it!

On Friday we went to the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center. It was pretty fun but Hannah was SOOOO TIRED!!! We tried to get her to take a nap before we left but she just wouldn't do it. We decided to brave it and go anyway. We had fun but she wasn't too interested in looking at anything. They had several live animal exhibits inside with different kinds of snakes, fish, turtles, and iguanas. Then outside they had a raccoon, several owls, an eagle, several hawks, some bunnies (Hannah calls them "Hop Hops"), a couple of foxes and a few other things. It was fun to get out and learn more about Lake Erie and the region where we live. The best thing about it was that it was FREE!!!

Inside they had a huge hollowed out log that the kids could climb in. Hannah saw some older kids reading books in there (they had a book vendor there selling books) so she thought she had to climb in too and asked me for a book once she crawled in.

Looking at the "Hop Hops"

Oh, I snapped this picture in the car on the way to the Nature Center. I love it! She's actually smiling! She has become such a stinker lately and HATES to have her picture taken. She refuses to look at the camera and won't smile so this picture is really rare!


Hannah loves to take walks around the block. Last night we were walking and Hannah started to trip (a very common occurrence with her) so she put her hands down to catch herself but her momentum kept her going and she fell on her head. She scraped up her upper lip, nose, and bonked her head pretty hard. Poor thing! Damon has been calling her Rudolph.



Today we went to the Cuyahoga County Fair. It was a lot smaller than we expected but we still had fun walking around seeing all of the booths, yummy food, and all of the weird people. The only thing I hate about places like this is all of the people smoking!!! It makes me so sick. After an hour or two of inhaling second hand smoke I get a major headache.

We enjoyed looking at all of the different animals. Hannah really enjoyed the "hop hops" but was scared of all of the crowing roosters and the huge draft horses. She seemed to like the cows though.

We got some yummy fair food (Good thing these things only happen once a year or we would be so fat!) but after Myah had a huge blowout (on my shorts of course!) we decided to head home.

Doesn't she look like she's enjoying the horse? I don't blame her for being scared, these things are huge and tower over me. I can't imagine how scary it would be for her.


These last two pictures were taken last night. Damon was getting Myah ready for bed and was waiting for me to bring him her pajamas. I just couldn't stop laughing at my cute chubby baby when I saw her sitting there next to him. She looks like a sumo wrestler or something. So cute! She turned one month old yesterday. I can't believe it has already been a month since she joined our family. She's been a great baby and we sure love her!

More pictures please!

The Grandparents are asking for more pictures. Since I can't get enough of my beautiful girls I am happy to oblige! For those of you who don't really care to see tons of pictures (mostly of Myah) please skip this post and check back next week for something different...like more pictures maybe! Oh, and sorry for the lack of comments on your blogs, I've read them, just haven't had the time to comment on them all.

Cuddling with mom. I hope this baby stays cuddly because Hannah certainly is not a cuddly kid!

Sorry for the blurry picture. This is me with 2 kids! Yikes! Yes, this is why my mom came to stay for a week. Just think what I would have been like without her! Please note that although both girls are screaming I am not crying...I am laughing.

I'm so sad this one is blurry too...I just think Hannah's face is classic!

Myah actually awake and smiling (She usually only smiles in her sleep)

Love this face and the bow. Such a cutie!

We all went to the Zoo on Monday and this is how Myah spent her time...asleep! I think she slept the entire time. Maybe we'll try it again when she can see more than 8 inches of blur away.

Hanging out with Daddy

My mom came for a week to help out, and what a help she was. I don't know if Hannah has had so much attention in her life. Now she's back to being stuck with her boring mom. Myah with Grammy. I don't know how we'll make it without her! We miss you Grammy!

Spending some quality time with Dad.

What could we do?

Since Myah and I couldn't go to church yesterday and since Myah was awake and alert and happy what else could we do except...

Have a Photo Shoot!

Here are the results:

Myah has been such a sweet little thing so far. Can you tell we love her and think she's beautiful?

Thanks to everyone who have helped out so much since she was born, we couldn't have done it without you!

She's finally here!

I'm a few days late in posting this, but I have a great excuse!

Baby Myah is here!

Born: July 8, 2008

Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz (2 lbs heavier than Hannah)

Length: 19.5 inches

Hair: Dark black like Daddy's and TONS of it!

Result: Beautiful!

Everything went really well. I tested positive for Group B Strep at my 36 week appointment which basically means that I was supposed to receive an antibiotic 4 hours before Myah was born. I don't know a lot about the Group B Strep except that if it is untreated in the mother before the baby is born there is a very very small possibility of the baby getting it and it causing problems like pneumonia or meningitis. Because my labor progressed so quickly I received the antibiotic only 1 hour before Myah was born. This really isn't enough time for it to start working so the pediatricians were a little worried about her. As a result she had to stay in the hospital for the full 48 hours before being allowed to be released. She also had to have a few blood tests done to screen for any strep. Fortunately she is doing fine and shows no signs of having the strep.

I won't go into the details of labor and delivery for the sake of any readers of the male gender. I will say though that I was able to do a water birth and that it was a good experience.

Myah had a Dr. appointment to make sure everything was still okay with the strep and that she is gaining weight. She is a good eater and is just an ounce shy of her birth weight already!

Hannah seems to be adjusting okay to having a little sister, although I don't think she really knows what is going on. She loves to "hold" Myah and give her lots of loves and kisses. She also really likes to push Myah in her swing...yikes! I've had a lot of help from friends and church members who have watched Hannah for the last few days. I don't know what I would have done without them! I feel really badly about shipping Hannah off to someone else's house all day long but because of a lot of stitches (okay, I had to throw that detail in there, sorry menfolk) I am not able to lift her. I'm so glad that my Mom is coming on Tuesday to help out. Thanks Mom!

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for: THE PICTURES!

Right after she was born. She's still all covered in vernix, but she is still pretty cute. Or maybe it is the face that only a mother could love.

First picture with mom. I love her dark hair and how cuddly she is!

The proud Papa!

Meeting Hannah for the first time. Hannah thought she was neat for about 5 min. and then she wanted to go. She wasn't interested in seeing me at all. I feel so loved.




In her going home outfit. I was really worried she was going to be too big for it since she was so much bigger than Hannah, but as you can see it is still plenty big on her. I'm sure that will change quickly.

I love this face. Her cheeks are so chubby and her hair is so soft. I just can't help but kiss her and cuddle her all the time. What a good baby so far!

Hannah "holding" Myah. Myah didn't seem to enjoy it very much. Poor little thing is going to get mauled. Oh well, I guess she'll survive. All of us with older siblings did somehow.

I love the look on Myah's face, like "You let HER hold me?" I also love the way that Hannah is looking at her. She is going to be such a great little helper!

Well, sorry for the picture overload. I apologize in advance for the next few posts that I'm sure will be all about baby Myah, Hannah, and tons of pictures...but wait, aren't all of my posts about my kid(s)??? I guess that's what happens when you're a mom. This is my life and I love it!