3 months old!

Yesterday Hailey turned 3 months old! It was her second day with the babysitter, and when she got home she was so tired that there was no way we could get picture out of her, so here is her 3 months + 1 day picture!

And here she is hanging out with her new as-yet-unnamed friend.

My little cutie is getting so big!

First day back to work

Here I am almost at the end of my first day back to work after 14 weeks of maternity leave (yes, I'm blogging from work - shhh, don't tell!)

The morning was a little rough, but I'm doing a lot better than I expected I would (figured I would be crying all day!), and I've managed not to shed a single tear since I've been at work.

The hardest part was leaving her with the babysitter this morning. I actually had to wake her up to eat and she did NOT want to get up so early! But she was so cute and cuddly in her jammies, it was so hard to hand her off to Miss Sandy knowing that I wouldn't see her again until 5:30 tonight. I had a really good cry on my way to work, and I called Sandy a couple times throughout the day to check on her, but other than that I feel like I'm coping really well.

From what I can tell Hailey did really well at the babysitter's house. Everytime I called Sandy she was either napping (in the crib even!), or playing with her and the girls. Anthony got off early from work and picked her up about 3 p.m.; he was so excited to play with her and have some daddy/Hailey alone time, but she was so pooped that she passed out in her crib as soon as he got her home!

I've got to make it about 30 more minutes here at work then I'm going to race home so I can snuggle Hailey all night long!

Today wasn't fun, but I survived and I'm sure each day will get a little easier from here on out. And the best part is that I've been able to cut my work hours to 4 days a week, so I will be off every Wednesday to spend with Hailey, I'm so excited and grateful for this opportunity!

So now I know what it's like to be a working mom, and it looks like I CAN survive a whole 8 hours without seeing Hailey; I'm sure it will be really good for both of us and make the time we do spend together that much more special.

Letter to my daughter

Dear Hailey,

The past 3 months, the first 3 months of your life, have been some of the most special and unforgettable experiences of my 27 years of life. I know you won’t remember any of it, but I will always lovingly remember this special time we have spent together, as I have watched you change from a tiny little newborn, so helpless and needy, into a 3 month old baby who is so strong and already has such a personality.

I have also grown a lot over these three months. I started out as a new mommy with no experience and questioning every decision I made about you. Now I feel like a confident and proud mommy who knows everything about you and how to make you happy and healthy.

I was so lucky to have 14 weeks of maternity leave to spend so much time with you. We spent so many days cuddled in the recliner, both in our jammies, just making faces at each other or watching the Price is Right. I loved nothing more than to hold you all day long, even when you were sleeping I could hardly bear to put you down, even if the house needed cleaned or I was in desperate need of a nap. And during this time we were lucky enough to celebrate so many of your first holidays: first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas.

I still can’t believe how much you have changed in just your 3 short months of life. You were such a tiny little fragile thing when you first came home; daddy and I were scared to do too much with you because we were afraid you would break. Now not only do you look a lot different (your whole body is filling out – you have the cutest, most kissable chubby little cheeks – and I’m starting to see glimpses of what you will look like as a little girl), but you are not nearly as fragile as you used to be. Your head and neck are so strong and you love to look anywhere and everywhere as I hold you. The rest of your body is strong too and you try to kick and move away as you want to go play and explore the world already. Your personality is really started to emerge, as you get so excited sometimes, and have the cutest smiles and funniest little expressions.

On Monday mommy has to go back to work for the first time since you were born, and the thought of being away from you for over 8 hours is absolutely terrifying. Except for a few hours here and there, I’ve basically been with you every moment of your life and to think about being away from you for so long is heartbreaking; I think it will be much harder for me than it will be for you!

But I’m sure the time apart will be good for us both. It will make the time we do spend together that much more special, and I just can’t wait for the happy smiles and excitement I’m sure you’ll have when I come to pick you up after work.

Hailey, I know you’ve only been here a short 3 months, but I already can’t imagine my life without you and I am just so thankful for the amazing blessing I’ve been given by having such an amazing and beautiful daughter. You are such a good little baby and I feel like the luckiest mommy in the world. I never realized how much I could love a person until you came into my life, and my heart literally bursts with love every time I look at your sweet face.

I know the next few days and weeks will probably be hard on us both, but I promise after I’m done with work I will love and snuggle you so much you’ll never even remember I was gone.

It’s been a truly amazing 3 months, and I’m so excited for the next 3 months and more.

I love you always and forever,

Mommy

Hailey's first Christmas

Hailey, Anthony and I had a wonderful first Christmas together as a little family. Of course Hailey is too little to really understand or enjoy the holiday yet, but we had fun watching her see all her new toys and play with all the family that was around for the holidays. And of course it was an excuse for her to wear lots of cute clothes!

Here is Hailey's first Christmas in pictures:




And finally, Hailey showing us how she is the best Christmas present ever:

Next up, time to say "so long" to 2009 and "hello" to 2010!

Getting ready for Christmas

We are so excited to celebrate Hailey's first Christmas! Even though she won't remember any of it, we are enjoying the holiday season and the amazing blessing we've been given this year.

Since she won't remember this Christmas, I'm doing my best to capture it in pictures so we can show her later how wonderful her first Christmas was.

Here is a picture of the Coulter Christmas tree. Note that almost all of the presents are for Hailey, and no they are not wrapped because mommy is lazy and refuses to wrap presents when Hailey can't even unwrap them yet! Next Christmas will be so much fun with Hailey running around and tearing through wrapping paper!

And here is a picture of the Coulter family in front of Grandma & Grandpa Hefley's Christmas tree on mommy's 27th birthday.

And here are pictures of the silly girl showing us how excited she is for Christmas!

And finally, here is a picture of Hailey showing us how she will sleep peacefully on Christmas Eve so that Santa Claus will come to visit her!


Lots more pictures to come after Christmas!

Hailey's friends

At just 2 months old Hailey is lucky to already have 2 good friends. My best friend Krissy had baby girl Riley on July 4, 2009, so they are almost exactly 3 months apart in age. Here is a picture from when Hailey and Riley first met, when Hailey was about a week old. It's amazing how different they are even though just 3 months apart in age!

And here is a more recent picture of the two girls, who are sure to be best friends and grow up together!


About a week after I found out I was pregnant, my good friend at work, Tiffany, found out she was also pregnant, so it was very exciting for us to go through pregnancy together, to find out we were both having girls, and to know that they would end up being so close in age! Tiffany's baby girl Willow was born exactly one day after Hailey, on Oct. 6, so it will be so fun to see them both grow up since they are basically the same age.

Here is a picture of Hailey and Willow from a recent playdate:

I'm so grateful to have good friends that are in the same stage (baby, family) of life, and I'm just so excited to see all the girls grow up together. Little Hailey is already so popular and lucky to have good friends!

2 months old!

Hailey turned 2 months old a couple days ago, I can hardly believe the time is passing so quickly! She is getting so big and changing so much, definitely not a newborn anymore.

Today we had Hailey's 2 month check up with the pediatrician. She weighs 10 pounds 8 ounces and is 23.75 inches long. The pediatrician was so impressed by how alert, interactive and smily she is, she said if she didn't know better she would have thought Hailey was 4 months old! Mommy's little over-achiever already! Along with the check-up came her first round of shots. She got one in each thigh; she gave a pretty good wail after getting stuck, but calmed down pretty quickly and then promptly passed out for a nice long nap.

Hailey is starting to "talk" a bunch and make so many cute noises. Anthony says sometimes she sounds like a cat! My favorite thing is to sit her facing me on my lap, she loves to smile at me and talk away, cracks me up!

Here is a comparison pic of Hailey at 1 month and 2 months, you can definitely see how much she is changing!


Christmas is quickly approaching and we've already got the house and tree decorated. I feel like I've already got the best Christmas present imaginable, my sweet little daughter! But we are very much looking forward to Hailey's first Christmas, even if she won't remember much of it! She's going to get very spoiled of course, and Santa is getting her a high chair, a Laugh & Learn puppy, a jumperoo, and her very first Barbie!

Our Christmas photo shoot at JC Penney went very well, here is Hailey in her Christmas dress and another cute family picture we took!

Along with Christmas and the New Year comes the end of my maternity leave quickly approaching. I'm scheduled to return to work on Jan. 4, and my heart aches just thinking about leaving my little baby girl. But I think this subject calls for a whole other post...