Father's Day 2012

Today was Andrew's first Father's Day and we actually got to spend it together!! I love watching Zoe and Andrew together. The way she looks at him and smiles every time he walks into the room just reminds me of the love I shared with my dad. Oh, how I wish he was here to love on her!
My mom and Granny left this morning after our breakfast at IHOP, and then we were off to church. I think Zoe has more teeth coming through so she has made us earn our keep today! Whew! She's finally asleep so I took the chance to get some housework done so I can give her my full attention tomorrow.

This week Zoe has done so well with her signing. We've been doing sign language with her pretty much ever since she was born, and she is finally catching on! Just this week she has done Mommy, Daddy, more, and milk. She is so smart! I don't know where she gets it! ha.

Here's a pic of Z signing Daddy. Perfect Father's day present!

Attention prayer warriors...

My heart is braking for a precious 2 year old boy named Copeland and his parents. We met them while we lived in AZ and they moved to GA the year before we moved to OK. We still keep in touch and last week Copeland's heart stopped. God chose to bring him back but he is in critical care in the hospital while the professionals are trying to figure out why this happened. He had surgery yesterday where they placed a defibrillator in his tiny chest. His parents are STRONG believers and it is so inspiring to read his daddy's blog. They are prepared to live and to rejoice in whatever the outcome. They still don't know if any brain damage occurred but they have had glimpses of hope that he's going to wake up and be his normal self. Please help me pray for this little boy and his parents. I cannot, nor do I want to imagine what they're going through. Whatever God's will, He has already received the glory. Thank you Jesus for the precious life of our babies. May we not take one second for granted.

Ranch Recipe

I figured out the best ranch dressing recipe today and I just had to share. You can customize this to your own taste but this is what I used...
(I don't measure so I estimated it)

2-2 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1-2 Tbsp mayo
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp fresh chives
1 Tbsp fresh dill
1/2 package Ranch seasoning mix
dash of Franks hot sauce

Mix all together and store in fridge covered. I used a mason jar!
You've GOT to try this!

A Day in the Life: Day 2

June 2, 2012: Zoe did NOT sleep very well and ended up in the bed with us all night. We got up around 7:45 and right after I had my coffee we began painting Zoe's room!

  

 After I taped off the room I fed Zoe her breakfast which consisted of berries and cereal! And of coarse, bananas!!

Zoe is 9 months old today!! I can't believe it! She is such a joy!

 

Daddy and Zoe went out for a little walk while I finished rinsing out paint brushes from the ceiling paint.

 

For dinner I made Dijon crusted Salmon, green beans and corn on the cob. It was yummo!!

 

Never mind my fancy china;)

 

After dinner we all hung out and watched...the office! What else?! We were waiting for Zoe to go to bed so we could finish painting. At this point we had only finished priming and painting the ceiling. We still had to paint the color which is "dusky lilac" with "urban sunrise" stripes on one wall. 

We THOUGHT we were in the clear around 8 when I laid Zoe down...wrong!!! As soon as I told Andrew to get the paint ready and right before we opened the paint we heard this little cry coming from our bedroom. Needless to say, we didn't finish painting tonight:( bummer! Z decided she was going to fight us all night so after I had done my share of fighting Andrew was tagged in. Around 11 she finally was asleep and by then Andrew had me into this movie on TV so it was a late night! WHEW!

A Day in the Life: Day 1

So I thought I would get back to my blogging this month by doing "a day in the life." So June 1, here we go!

Zoe slept til 5 something which is way better than usual! After putting her back in the bed with us she slept til 7:30-ish. We then got up and started our day! Zoe played while I worked on my newest side gig...online garage sale! Our community has an online garage sale on fb and lately I've been busy with buying/selling! We had breakfast then played some more! Zoe took her morning nap in the truck while I was out meeting some fellow fb garage sale members. I got these fabulous frames that I'm in love with! I can't wait to hang them up! I will let you know what I decide to do with them!

For lunch today we tried a new food...Spinach! Zoe loved it! And, of course no meal is complete for her without bananas!

While cleaning the kitchen, I realized that child proofing is in our near future...

 

If the TV is on during the day and Mickey Mouse clubhouse isn't on, then this is! I love me some Food Network. I could watch people cook all day! It soothes me!

                                                            

                                                               4:45- Daddy's home!!

After a quick nap for Z, I had to go meet another fb member, then we went to Lowe's for some paint! Zoe helped pick out her new bedroom color!

                                                       This girl loves to shop!...anywhere!

We got home around 7:30 and Zoe got a bath. After wrestling for about an hour she finally went to sleep!

Our evening ritual is usually "the office." Skip to 10:30-ish and a few episodes later it was lights out for the Hays family:)

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, I've been a little preoccupied! The last 10 weeks have been great! Zoe is doing wonderfully! She is growing fast and just when I think she can's get any prettier, she does!

We're in OKC now looking for a house. We'll be here for another week and hopefully we will have a house before we leave! Please say a prayer! Then we're headed back to Phoenix just to pack up our house and leave again, this time for good!! Can't wait to start our life in Oklahoma!

Zoe is Here!

September 2, 2011 at 4:34pm, miss Zoe Blair Hays made her debut into the world. I started having contractions on Thursday afternoon around 2 and by 6 or so that evening we were on our way to the hospital. I still wasn't sure if I was in real labor or not so it didn't really sink in that we were having a baby just yet. We got to triage and I was 4 cm dilated. An hour later I was at 5 cm so they decided to keep me. We got set up in the room and shortly after that the epidural was in place and we were ready! Zoe, on the other hand, wasn't quite ready yet! I stopped progressing after the epidural and was stuck at 6 cm for several hours. My doctor came in around 7:30 Friday morning to see me and I was still at 6 cm. Fast forward to around 1-ish...still at 6. My doctor decided to start an internal monitor to monitor my contractions better and see if we needed an alternate route. We prayed and prayed for progress and about 30 minutes later my doctor came in to check before putting the monitor in and I had progressed to 9 cm!! Praise the Lord! No internal monitor needed, it was almost time to start pushing! They started prepping the room and my nurse began teaching me how to push. I started pushing on Friday around 2:30pm and at 4:34pm Zoe was born! It was the hardest workout of my life, for which I am still recovering, but I would do it all over again to have that sweet baby in my arms! She is so precious to us! She weighed in at 9lb 4oz and was 21in long. We are two very proud and excited parents!

Thank you to all our family and friends who were praying and thinking about us during this time. I'm so glad to be home and although I'm not quite back to normal yet, I'm loving being Zoe's mom. And for those wondering, Andrew has been great! He never left my side through the whole thing and he even changed all the diapers while we were in the hospital. This little girl has him wrapped for sure!!! I love it!

Coming soon...

I went to the Dr. yesterday (Wednesday) and he said I was 3cm and almost completely thinned out. He went ahead and stripped my membranes. For those of you who aren't sure what that term means, he pretty much seperated the amniotic sac from the uterus and it also releases hormones that are supposed to stimulate contractions. It's to help things move along a little faster. If it doesn't work and Zoe decides she is too comfy to come on her own, I am scheduled for an induction sometime early next week. So, we should have a baby real soon! I am claiming an easy delivery for both me, Zoe, AND andrew with no complications!

Andrew is planning to live stream a video on a website, www.ustream.com. You can search for "Zoe's big day" to see any videos that he posts.
Also, we are planning on bringing the computer to skype. So, depending on the hospital's connection, we can skype from there.
Of course, we will call/text all of you when labor starts! And I'm sure updates and pictures will be on facebook.

AZ Baby Shower

My friends from church gave us a baby shower on Saturday. I'm so blessed to have found great friends here in the desert! I think we now have everything we need to keep Zoe happy... for a few months at least!

37w/6d


After the shower we were able to skype for Britany and Patrick's wedding. I'm so glad I was able to "attend." It's so hard being this far away when important things are going on at home. Just a few more months and we'll be close enough to drive home for these things. Oklahoma, here we come!

36w, 5d

I finally got my camera back from the "Geek Squad." No more cell phone pics! Only a few more weeks left then we can finally meet our little girl! I can't wait! My mom is getting here tomorrow, yay, I'm ready for some company during the day since I've been off work for a week now. My Dr. appointment is on Monday and we will see then if we've made any progress. I'll be 37 weeks then so hopefully we will have good news!

The bedding is complete! So is the rest of her room. Now all we need is Zoe!

Skype Anyone?

Do any of you have skype? I miss my family and I want to see you!!! If you don't have it, it's totally free all you have to do is download it. My username is kjhays812, you can send me a contact request. You also have to have a webcam for the video to work:)

We're also planning on skyping from the hospital so for those of you who cannot be here physically, you can be here via modern day technology!

33 wks

So my camera is broken and being repaired by the geek squad. I had to use my cell phone for this weeks update:) Hope you don't mind!

Zoe @ 32 wks!

San Diego Trip

I hope everyone had a great 4th!! We spent ours traveling back to this place we like to call "Aliento del de Ablo" (sp?), translation, Devil's Breath! We had an amazing trip to San Diego this weekend. We spent most of our time at the pool. We also did some walking around Old Town and Gaslamp but walking long distances and being 7 1/2 months pregnant is not a great combination! The weather was beautiful! 20-30 degrees cooler than Phoenix. Needless to say, we did NOT want to leave!

Lots going on...

We leave tomorrow for San Diego!! I'm soooo excited to get away for the weekend! I guess you can call this our "babymoon" since it will be our last little outing before this little creature takes over our lives! ha. We're leaving this 116 degree weather and going to a nice 75! Can't wait! I will post pictures and maybe even a video! Come back soon to see!
Baby update: I went to the Dr. last week and everything is going as planned. Her head is down and her feet are, just as I suspected, in my sternum! The Dr. said, "she's all stretched out!" No kidding! We go back next week and then we have our birth class next Saturday then our 3D/4D ultrasound is scheduled for the 11th. Lots of excitement coming! I will keep you updated on all of it!

29 weeks

It's hard to believe we only have about 10 more weeks til Zoe arrives! With her camping out in my ribcage lately, I don't know how I'm gonna make it! I don't feel like my belly can stretch much more!

26 candles...

Today was my birthday and even though I had to work it was a pretty good day. I woke up early this morning, not by choice of course. I had to get up for the 4th time to empty my ever shrinking bladder and I couldn't go back to sleep. I spent the morning with Andrew before we both had to leave for work. He gave me a pandora bracelet that I have been wanting. He did very good! Then, tonight we went to Cheesecake Factory with some friends. Now I'm lying in bed, exhausted! So I'll post a few pics then I'm calling it a day!
Thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday! I love you and am very thankful to have you in my life!

This is 28 weeks.

Weekend in B'ham

Last weekend was very exciting! Andrew & I got to go to Birmingham and visit for a few days. While we were there I had a baby shower for Zoe and my cousin, Mark, got married! I'm so glad I got to be there for his big day! Everything was beautiful! Andrew & I also celebrated our 2 year anniversary the day we left. We were planning on leaving Sunday but our flight got cancelled which put us traveling all day on our anniversary. At least we spent it together!
I love being at home and spending time with my friends and family.

Here are a few pictures of the weekend. I was almost 25 weeks at the time.

24 weeks

This is us at 24 weeks! Zoe is getting bigger everyday and so is mama!



My mom came to visit! We have been sewing up a storm with all the bedding. We've finished the curtains and the crib skirt. We still have the bumpers, quilt and pillow to go. It's been fun and a little frustrating dealing with all the fabric, measurements, etc. At one point I wanted to give up and set it all on fire, but I didn't. And I'm glad because so far it looks really cute! I will post pics a little later of the progress.