Happy Half Birthday!!!

Dear Hannah,

I can't believe 6 months ago today we were in the delivery room waiting for your arrival. I was told we would meet you by the time the lunch hour rolled around. Then, your stupid mommy listened to the nurse about how I would probably prefer to have the epidural when I started pushing. I was doing just fine on my own. I made it to 6 cm with you and just started to really feel the contractions and then of course, came the decision of pain medication. Never again will I let a nurse scare me in to taking meds because then of course, you took your dear little time, and it stopped our labor. Mommy is totally blaming herself for this one, little girl. But then 2:00 p.m. rolled around, and it was time to get you out. The epidural had been out for about 2 hours now and was entirely worn off except for the right leg, and you were charging through at this point. After 2 hours of pushing, we met our dear, sweet little girl! You were such a blessing to see for the first time! We loved you from the moment we saw you inside the womb. Daddy and I have enjoyed watching you grow and develop these past 6 months! We look forward to many years with you! We promise to give you a brother or sister to play with in the future, but for now you have me and daddy, and we will always be here for you! Happy half birthday to my Hanney-poo! We love you!

Wedding Shower Weekend Fun.....

Okay, so as I was saying in my last post, we had a busy weekend of wedding showers for my sister Kelsey who is getting married on April 24th. The first shower was held at her future mother-in-laws house. This one was a rather fun event because I did not have to do one thing in it except enjoy the wonderful food and games!

Then, of course, came the lingerie shower that I threw Kelsey. Since I am the MOH (maid of honor for those who did not know), I was in charge of basically everything. Throwing a party on top of working full time, being a full time mommy the rest of the time, and pulling off a wedding of the century is pretty tough to do all at the same time. Needless to say, I am exhausted, but I am having fun re-living wedding things all over again! I am excited about doing the things I would have done or changed about my wedding. But I never knew how much work went in to being an MOH. Honestly, I probably bring most of the work upon myself. I know my wedding coordinator for my wedding (AKA: Ashley Davis) would say so. I just have a hard time letting people do things. My personality comes with the mentality of "If I don't do it, it won't get done right or it won't get done on time, etc". Sorry Ashley. You did so well putting up with me that day, seriously. I tell myself constantly that I just need to let go and let people take certain responsibilities from me, and they will all work themselves out. I am asking God for more of a "care-free personality" just until the wedding is over. I think I am going to kill myself in the process of all the chaos, but my family is doing a good job of handling me (family being: my husband, Hannah, my mom, and sisters). Thank you too for putting up with me, and it is not even my wedding! I promise I will be back to my normal self after the event is over! I have some pictures posted of the showers for you to enjoy.


Me and Hannah at Kelsey's first bridal shower


Kelsey opening her gift from Jordan, Hannah, and I


The yummy food at the lingerie shower.


My lovely sisters at the lingerie shower! Thank you Keli so much for all your help!

Funny Stuff....

I thought a few of these commercials were so funny that I had to post them! Have a great weekend folks! Mine is going to be super busy and a blog to follow this later!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC7uJKdrgYk

needing a vacation....

nuff said!

I'm Dreaming of a Smokey Mountain Christmas....

Yes, we are going to Gatlinburg!! Jordan and I have just planned our family vacation this year. I know most people plan a summer vacation to the beach, but Jordan and I decided the beach would not be too fun this year with Hannah being at the most 8 months old. I would have to constantly be washing sand out of her mouth because the moment she has a hold of anything these days, it goes straight to the mouth. She wouldn't be able to walk yet, and let's face it sand is hard to walk in anyway as an adult much less being an infant. We figured she would have a much more fun time at the mountains around Christmas time because she will be walking by then, she will be 14 months old, and hopefully be eating some table food! December is a big month in the Bankston house due to our wedding anniversary being the 15th, Christmas is the 25th, and my birthday is the 31st so we just decided to do one big blowout of all those gift giving days. Of course, Hannah will still get individual presents from us on Christmas, but Jordan and I have decided to forgo the big Christmas gifts to each other and do the vacation instead.

I guess it's kind of bad that we are taking our baby on our anniversary trip, but we really want to get away as a family and go on our first family vacation together. Now that I think about it, it is kind of funny that we are taking Hannah on our anniversary trip! Of course, when I go to the mountains at Christmas time, I have to visit the Dixie Stampede, and I know Hannah will enjoy that! She already likes horses so much now! I guess next year will be her big first beach trip!

Confession......

I must confess coffee is my new obsession. I have always liked coffee, but I have never had to have it on a daily basis until recently. I guess having a baby that is teething and wakes up in the middle of the night in pain and having to get up at 4:30 a.m. to go to work the next day will do that to you. I used to drink coffee just when I would go to Starbucks or some specialty place of the sort, but now I am keeping it stocked in my cabinet like it is going out of style. Turning on the coffee pot is the first thing I do in the mornings now, or when I get to work, I visit the coffee pot first thing. I just like a little bit of flavored creamer in it and nothing else. Just enough to make it sweet but still have a strong taste to it. Not only am I obsessed with this beverage, but it is a necessity as well. My body is so used to having it every morning that I almost fear not to have it because I might have a bad day or get a headache or something. I can see withdrawals happening in the near future if I ever decide to fast caffeine. I know my friend Ashley and some others in the blog world are avid coffee drinkers as well, and when they would talk about being dependent on their morning coffee, I would think to myself, "that is so crazy!" I now completely understand, Ashley, and you are no longer crazy (in a good way)...lol! I also read a blog where my friend Samantha wrote a personal note to her coffee maker when it died. I completely understand this note now too. I think I would have to do the same thing if my coffee maker ever died. I do ask my coffee maker not to die until my baby has at least made it to the two year mark when I am hopefully getting more sound sleep. Until next time, cheers to all you coffee drinkers!!!

Discovering Movie Quotes...

I absolutely love the movie My Girl!

I saw it for the first time in a long time yesterday, and it was so funny to me. I know some of you are thinking, "That movie is not funny at all...In fact, it is rather sad"! I would agree with you. It is a sad movie towards the end. However, I paid close attention to some quotes in the movie for the first time the other day. One quote that had me dying laughing was "I used to play with my Ken and Barbie dolls. Ken was my favorite. Then one Christmas I got them a camper, and all they wanted to do was hang out in it by themselves so I wasn't too upset when they took that wrong turn and went over the cliff." This quote still makes me laugh even today. I have heard that line so many times when watching the movie, but I guess it never dawned on me how funny it was. Another one of the quotes from the movie that hit me was "Feel my aura....I don't think I'm allowed to." LOL! I love it when I find new things in movies that I have seen over and over but have never discovered them!

Is Enough Not Enough?.....

So I read somewhere on the internet today that Michelle Duggar from "19 Kids and Counting" is still planning on having more children if the Lord allows them to do so. I would tell you where I read this, but I do not remember quite how I got there. You know how you click around a bunch of times and can't seem to remember how many times you clicked or where you clicked. Anyways, some of you may know Michelle went into pre-term labor at about 24 weeks on December 10, 2009. She was having some gallbladder pain and thought she was going in just to have some gallstones removed. Well her blood pressure got really elevated to the point of stroke level, and they decided to do an emergency c-section to get the baby out. She gave birth to her daughter Josie Brooklyn Duggar weighing in at 1 lb. 6 oz. She is still battling for her life as we speak.

After reading that she and Jim Bob (her husband) were still wanting to have more children if the Lord permits them too, I immediately started forming an opinion. All my readers out there know how opinionated I am....hehe! Now, I know it is not my business, but I don't quite understand why you would even ponder having another baby at this point. I mean Michelle is along in her years as far as child bearing is concerned. I am not sure if the reasoning behind her blood pressure shooting up was due to her age, but it seems logical at this point that that may be the case. Josie is clearly going to have to be worked with one on one for a long time or possibly her whole life due to her under development and low birth weight. I just feel like there comes a point in time when you have to say, "We are not going to put myself or another baby in danger again". Michelle was at risk too during this emergency delivery. I know they have had 18 children that are perfectly healthy, and the Lord could very well heal Josie completely and even give them more healthy children. But could the Lord also have allowed this to happen to Josie to show them that it is time to call a quits? I understand they are looking at it from a point of view, "That God will not give us anymore children if He does not want us to have anymore". I totally agree with this statement, however, you are continuing to put yourself and possibly more children in danger by not preventing. I have not come to a conclusion of how I feel about this because I see their reasoning, but at the same time, I also know that the children they do have need their mother. I love watching the show because I am extremely intrigued of how they manage from day to day with 20 plus people in one house. But more so than that, I appreciate their Christian morals and values and how they have made them very known to the public. Some things I think they have taken to the extreme as far as morals and values are concerned like having long hair and wearing skirts all the time. But I am in agreeance on the Christian conservative values. I just think it is now time to just raise the children you do have and live a healthy, happy lifestyle.

Teething.....aaaahhhhh!!!

So we have officially started teething as of last night. We spiked a 101.8 fever, had diarrhea, loss of appetite, and fussiness. I knew Hannah was not sick because we had just gone to the doctor the day before for our 4 month check-up, and the doctor said her ears and lungs were clear. I was afraid maybe the RSV infection was still lingering behind, but after a few phone calls, I decided to check her mouth for swollen gums and little teethies. Well we have a winner....she is cutting 2 teeth on the right side of her mouth!!! I knew she was gnawing on her hand a lot on that particular side of her mouth a few days ago, but I did not think anything of it because she constantly has her hands in her mouth. But I did notice she has literally rubbed her hand raw from gnawing. Anyway, the doctor says, "It is about that time. 'Any time between 4 to 6 months we will see "knives coming through the gums'". I was thinking to myself, "Well we are 4 months on the dot". The doctor reminded me that little girls teethe faster or before some boys do. I guess that is part of the whole girls mature faster than boys. Poor baby, I just felt so helpless with trying to ease her pain. Thank the Lord for teething tablets and infant tylenol! We would have been lost without you guys last night.

When I think about Hannah teething, that Full House episode comes to mind when Michelle (as a baby) is teething. Danny Tanner said, "Imagine a knife cutting through your gum"! Joey Gladstone replies, "I say we buy her a pony!" My sentiments exactly....I think we should buy Hannah a pony!! After all, we have a whole mouth of these toofies to cut. My Poor Little Hannah:/

Baby Food......

So we have experienced baby food for the first time last night. The sweet potatoes are a hit!! I do have to say more came out than went in, but it was her first time eating from a spoon so she will get the hang of it eventually. She did have a good time in her high chair, figuring out what the heck was going on, and why daddy was taking so many pictures. Jordan tends to get camera happy when we hit milestones in Hannah's life. She is probably use to it by now. I have to say I was pretty excited myself about starting baby food. I was getting bored of the same ole' bottle feeding ordeal. I wanted a different routine too. I look forward to trying many more baby foods with you, Hannahbear! Here's some pictures of the wonderful event!

4 months old....

I just looked at the calendar and realized my little girl is 4 months old today!!! Happy Birthday Hanneypoo! It's hard to believe four months ago today I went into labor, my epidural did not work and stopped my labor, and I brought you into this world all naturally. I can't believe I was able to endure that. Fourteen hours later you were here, and you were entirely worth it. We love having you around! Mommy and Daddy love you, and you are growing up way too fast!

Twilight......

So I finally got around to seeing the first Twilight movie this weekend. I honestly would have sat down to watch it sooner, but I have never been interested in vampire/ sci-fi type movies. My sister (Keli) is not in to those types of movies either, but she said it caught her attention one day on her movie channel, and she talked me into renting it and watching it. I really liked it! I don't think you have to be into those types of movies to like Twilight. I am looking forward to New Moon coming out on video eventually. Now, I am not so obsessed to the point of going to catch the midnight showing opening day or anything when the third Twilight movie (I think it is called Eclipse) comes out. I really just wanted to rent the movie to see what all the hype was about. I have to say I liked it, but I am not in love with it like some people so I still say, "I don't know what all the hype is about"....hehe....sorry for all you Twilight readers out there.

I am in love with Fridays and the Weekends.....

I am so glad Friday is officially here. I live for Fridays. I guess because I know I get to be with my little Hannah bug all weekend long, and we get to sleep in because we do not have to be anywhere. Believe it or not, Hannah does sleep in until about 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. She would sleep in until then on the other days if it was not for me waking her up to leave for daycare.

In other news, I am particularly excited about this weekend because Hannah is being dedicated on Sunday along with her cousin Trenton. Trenton is, my sister, Keli's little boy, and he was born just 4 weeks before Hannah for the readers out there who did not know that. I cannot wait for her to wear her cute little dress we bought for this special day. I will of course post a picture of it later. I will go ahead and tell you, I am not too traditional when it comes to things like this so Hannah will not be wearing the traditional white christening gown. I guess I just know every other baby will be wearing the exact same outfit so Hannah is going to go up there styling in her red dress and leopard print shoes. Yes, we will probably stand out like a sore thumb, however, we will be remembered for it. I love to leave impressions....haha!! Pictures to come soon....

and We're Back.....

I know some of my readers out there probably thought I died since I have not posted a blog in such a long time. Well guess what? We are back. Hopefully I will blog more often than I did the last time we had a long hiatus. Well lots has happened since my last blog. Hannah is turning four months next Tuesday! She is getting so big. I cannot believe how fast she is growing. If I talk about it too much, I might start crying, or I will want to try for another baby. Jordan will not have this thought cross my mind at this point in time in our lives. Hannah truly is such a joy to be around. She has found her voice that is for sure. She constantly coos and ahhhs when she is awake. I have a feeling we are going to have a very talkative little one on our hands when she does actually start talking. I guess she is her “mother’s daughter” in that respect. We are working on rolling over right now. We have gotten to the point where we roll over to our side, but she does not seem to want to take the plunge to her stomach. She loves being on her side. She even likes to sleep on her side. However, she does not like to be on her tummy. She did roll all the way over to her tummy one time, and she went nuts because she could not get herself back over to her back…lol!! It was so funny. You hate to laugh at those things when they are frustrated with themselves and start screaming about it, but I honestly cannot help it sometimes. Maybe one day, she will forget about her bad experience rolling over to her tummy and just get the guts to do it again.


In other news, being a working mom completely sucks. Sorry for my bold statement, but that is how I truly feel right now. Jordan is working on getting me home as soon as possible, and I am so grateful for his effort in doing so. I am just so ready to be at home with my little girl. I need to be at home with her for my sake and hers. All I can do is think about her while I am working which results in not getting much done in the workplace. I think the hardest adjustment in going back to work other than leaving Hannah at daycare is I am extremely sleep deprived. Hannah does not go to bed until 10:30 p.m. every night. I have tried to change this schedule, but it is the only way she will sleep through the night and not get up earlier than I need her to. We have to leave by 6:30 a.m. every morning and no later in order for me to be at work on time and drop Hannah off at the daycare. I live an hour from where I work so if you’re wondering why so early….this is why. I have to be up by 4:30 a.m. in order to leave by 6:30 with getting Hannah in the car and getting everything she needs for the day in the car. So with going to bed at 11:00 p.m. and getting up at 4:30 a.m. you can imagine how exhausted I am. Then of course getting in the bed by 11:00 p.m. is not necessarily going to sleep at 11:00. My mind tends to wonder when I finally slow down for the day and lay down that I sometimes don’t get to sleep until 11:30 or a little after. So if you think of me, please pray for me and that God will provide Jordan with another well paying position soon. We are doing just fine right now with both of our paychecks, but I am personally needing something part time or nothing at all in order for me to function from day to day. I’m not sure how much longer I can physically do this working and mommy thing. Obviously, I am having to do it right now, but I am wearing down slowly. Being a mommy is absolutely wonderful, and I would not change that part for anything! I am truly blessed for such an amazing gift in my life. I love you Hannahbear!