Adult halloween fun!

On October 29th we attended Hallowonka at the Parker house out in Temecula. Adam and I went as Glenda the good witch and the Tin Man. The Rodriguez's went as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Lion and the Trent's went as Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Jason and Kelly (in the picture with us) went as Hugh Hefner and a Playboy Bunny. We had a wonderful time at the party and it was so nice to have some adult time with our friends! Now the question is, what will we dress up as for next year's party??

Imagination

It still amazes me how much of a little boy Alec has turned into. It seems like just yesterday that he was as small as Aaron and was so needy. He is still needy of course, just in a different way now...mostly attention! :)

Alec's imagination has just exploded lately! I was watching Emeril the other day and he was cooking with mushrooms. Alec saw them on the tv, ran over to the tv and pretended to pick one off and eat it. I of course laughed and he loved the reaction so he has been doing it ever since any time food is on the tv.

Last night Alec was sitting on the floor by his toys and I was on the couch feeding Aaron. Alec looked down at the ground, pretended to pick something up, and brought the object over to me. When he got to me he put out his hand and said, "I picked you a flower Mommy!" I just about died!! It was SO sweet!! I of course "took" the flower, pretended to smell it and put it behind my ear. He thought this was SO funny and continued to bring me "flowers" all night long.

It is times like this that make me remember how lucky I am to have my boys and what a blessing they are in my life.

Happy Halloween!!

Yesterday, October 25th was not only my 30th birthday, but also our Halloween party at Alec's preschool class. I made Alec a Peter Pan costume and Aaron a Bear costume. Alec of course did not want to put the costume on at first but by the end of the morning he did not want to take it off. Adam and I went to the Grand Californian from Sunday to Monday to celebrate our 5th anniversary and when we were at Disneyland we got Alec a official Peter Pan hat to go with his costume. Alec did not want to wear it at first because he thought that the feather was a spider (?) but as soon as he got used to the hat he would not take it off his head.

Alec has been a total crack up to live with lately. He comes up with new phrases almost daily that make Adam and I just laugh hysterically. Some recent ones are, "No thanks, I'm just fine.","I can't believe you!", "Please can I have that? I asked nicely!!" and "Momma, you are foxy!" Thank you Adam for that last one. He has also become very interested into proclaming who is a boy or a girl based on whether or not they have boy genetalia. Again, thank you Adam.

Yesterday was also Aaron's 2 month birthday. He is such a joy in our lives and it is very strange to think that he has only been with us for two months...seems like forever! He is doing about the same as far as sleeping through the night. I have moved him permanately to his crib instead of the bassanette in our room. He seems to be quite comfortable there as I can put him down to bed fully awake and he will put himself to sleep with just a bit of fussyness. Aaron is smiling more and more now and also is starting to coo. I love sitting there and having conversations with him. At his two month appointment today Aaron weighed 11 lbs 5 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long. He also recieved his first shots which he did NOT like!!

Aaron at 6 weeks

Aaron is 6 weeks old!!

I can't believe that it has been 6 weeks already! Aaron is starting to smile (as shown in the picture) and is showing more and more personality each day. He continues to do very well with his feedings and is gaining weight like crazy. I LOVE his chubby arms and legs. Every once in a while he will sleep for about 5 to 6 hours a night, but not every night.

Alec has been an incredible big brother and enjoys "helping" me change Aaron's diaper by handing me wipes and soothing Aaron when he is crying by patting his head and saying, "It's OK Aaron Michael!" He even takes his favorite toys over to Aaron and puts them in his lap to "share" them with him. I really could not ever have imagined what a good big brother Alec would turn out to be. I can't wait till Aaron is old enough to play with Alec!

I am actually doing better than I thought with two kids. I really thought it would be harder than it is. It is amazing what a different perspective you have the second time around. Yes, it is still hard to get up in the middle of the night for numerous feedings, but this time I have the knowledge that before I know it this part of Aaron's life will end and he will be sleeping through the night. I am really cherishing each moment I have with this little guy since I know how fast the time goes.

Allie and Jason's wedding

On October 8th, 2005 Allison and Jason tied the knot!!

I was a bridesmaid, Adam a usher, and Alec and Aaron were ring bearers in the Carson-Young wedding. The day started out as a little overcast, but soon the sun came through and shined on the day! Alec was carried down the aisle by Daddy and Aaron was pulled in a red wagon by the flower girl, Tatum. We all had a wonderful time at the reception and Alec especially enjoyed running around, playing with the other kids, and dancing dancing dancing!!! We are so happy to have Jason as part of our family!

Aaron's Birth

I know this took a while for me to post, but I have been adjusting to life with two little boys in my house in addition to helping with my sister's upcoming wedding...more about all that stuff in another post to follow soon. First, here is Aaron's birth story...

I was due on Monday, August 22, 2005 and according to my doctor's appointment the week before, I was already dilated to 3 cm. My due date came and went and ton Tuesday at my next doctor's appointment we asked the doctor about induction. At that appointment I was still dilated to 3 cm and Dr. Hughes (Dr. Henderson was on vacation) thought induction sounded fine. We set it up for me to be induced on Wednesday, August 24th at 8:00 a.m.

Since we knew we would be leaving for the hospital early the next morning we decided to have Alec sleep at my parent's house on Tuesday night so that they could bring him to the hospital the next day. Adam and I dropped him off and went out for our last date night for a while. Adam took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and we went and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We had such a pleasant evening and enjoyed a quiet night together.

We woke up at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and I hopped into the shower. When I was in the shower Adam got a phone call from St. Jude's Labor and Delivery Unit saying that they were very busy and asked us to not come at 8:00 but to call back at 10:00 to see if they were less busy. I of course was disappointed but understood the situation. We called back at 10:00 and they were still busy. They pushed us back to 12:00 and then to 2:00 p.m. We were getting restless sitting at home so we headed over to my parents house which was very close to the hospital to hang out with my parents and Alec. We called in again at 2:00 from my parents house and they said that they just had a room open up and for us to hurry up and come down. We rushed out the door!

We arrived at St. Jude around 2:15 and were shown to our room. They hooked me up to the monitors right away to get a baseline of where I was at. I was having contractions but they were very small and not very regular. They started my IV and my medication for Strep B. They wanted to get one dose of that in before they started the Pitosin. Finally around 5:00 p.m. they started the Pitosin drop on me. I started having stronger contractions but they were not incredibly painful. Around 6:30 my nurse (Nurse Umm) came in and encouraged me to get my epidural then so that she could increase my pitosin and get some good contractions going. I agreed and the anesthesiologist was in the room within a few minutes.

The epidural was more painful than I remember from last time, but then again, I was not in as much pain last time so I think I was able to focus more on what they were doing to me, not the contractions. Adam was holding me and supporting me while they were doing the procedure and he made the mistake of looking up just as the anesthesiologist was pulling out the big needle to stick in my back. He all of the sudden faded a bit and had to walk out of the room to avoid getting sick. Thankfully the nurse was right there and took his place supporting me. Adam still has not lived this down and will not for a while!!

The epidural took right away and my new nurse came in (Nurse Lolly, what is with these names??) for the new shift at 7:00 p.m. She put me on my side and positioned me with pillows to be comfortable. I asked her at this point if they would be breaking my water soon (like my doctor had done with Alec) and she said that they did not want to risk doing it too early. They still had not checked me at this point for dilation since I was just at the doctor the day before. They pretty much let me alone, with the exception of helping me move from side to side and checking my vitals, for a few hours to let the pitosin do its work.

At around 10:00 p.m. they finally checked my cervix and I was still only dilated to a 3!! Nurse Lolly did some work in there and was able to stretch me to a 4 and thought that might get things going for me. Adam went downstairs where all our family was waiting and told them to go home since I was not even close to delivering. All night long nothing really changed. I was uncomfortable as the epidural left one leg completely numb from my hip to my toes and the other with pretty much full feeling. I was not in pain, but my hips were killing me from the positions I was lying in.

At about 4:45 a.m. the nurse came in to check on me and my cervix. I could not believe it when she told me that I was still at 3 to 4 cm. She just made the comment that the baby would come when he was ready. When she left the room I looked at Adam and burst into tears!! I could not believe that I had made no progress the entire night. Just then I shifted my body a little bit and felt my water break. Adam went to track down the nurse to let her know what happened.

Almost immediately after my water broke I started to feel some pressure. The nurse came back in and checked me around 5:20 and I was already dilated to 6. By 5:50 I was feeling incredible pressure so the nurse checked me again. I was fully dilated and the head was right there. They quickly got the room ready and called the doctor to tell her to hurry. I pushed for about 15 minutes with the support of my wonderful hubby coaching me, and Aaron Michael Hawley entered the world at 6:11 a.m.

The thing that I found most surprising about this birthing experience, compared to when I had Alec, was the difference in emotions with both Adam and I. When we had Alec we both just stared at him in wonderment when he came out and were not sure what to do. When Aaron was placed on my chest we were both bawling our eyes out. I think that this time meant so much more because we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We were not just having a baby, we were having a child. A child that will need nighttime feedings, scream at the top of his lungs, throw up all over the place, test us countless times and much more. But we also know what he will add so much joy and love to our already family. I feel so blessed by the entire experience and can't wait to see what the future holds for this little boy.

Welcome Aaron Michael!

On Thrusday, August 25th, 2005 at 6:11 a.m. we welcomed Aaron Michael Hawley into our lives at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton. He weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz and was 19 inches long. We are very blessed!!

The Hawley Family

As a easy way to share picutres of our growing family with everyone near and far to us, I have decided to create this blog!

Please enjoy looking around at all the pictures of our family, and maybe you will find some amusement in my ramblings about being a wife and mom to my three boys!