32 Week Belly Pic

Alli snapped these pictures of me and my growing belly on Tuesday; I cannot believe how big this little boy is getting! I told Shaun that I am actually scared to see how much bigger my belly is going to get over the next seven to eight weeks!

Oh my, how things are different the second time around. Shaun took this picture when I was 35 weeks pregnant with Lillian. And to think that I thought I was BIG then! I am pretty sure that I am TEN times that size now at 32 weeks with Whitten. I remember people telling me that you show quicker with your second, but maybe they should have said something about you get MUCH bigger with your second.

Our Little AU Fan

I am guessing that it isn't just Shaun and I who are counting down the days until September 4....

She had been obsessed with her AU hat all night, and when it came time to go to sleep I let her wear it while we read our books, said our prayers and cuddled. But before I left her room I told her that she had to take it off. She didn't seem to have a problem with that and handed it to me, and I laid it on the nightstand next to her bed. I guess she must have gotten up and grabbed it after I laid her down, because when I went back to check on her an hour later she had it on her head!

32 Week Check-Up

Yesterday Lillian and I went to my OB for my 32 weeks check up, and like always things looked great. Whitten's heart rate was 155, which is the highest it has been in a while. It usually is 140-145, so I guess he was a little excited yesterday. My stomach measured 30 weeks, and thank goodness I had no weight gain! That in it's self is a miracle considering I feel like every time I turn around I am putting some kind of sweet treat in my mouth.

Lillian was bouncing off the walls in the waiting room, and there was one point in time while we were waiting that I thought that we were going to have to abandon my doctor's appointment and head for the nearest park. Luckily she settled down and I told her that if she sat still than we could go play with Eli after seeing the doctor (I always bribe her with Eli). When we did finally leave she started crying because she apparently thought that Whitten was coming home with us yesterday. I think she is starting to feel like I am, "okay, you guys have been talking about this baby brother growing in Mommy's tummy....but now I am done talking and am ready to see that baby". I try to reassure her that her Baby Brother will be her before we know it!

Whitten~

It will not be long before your Daddy and I are holding you in our arms and kissing your sweet face. We cannot wait to meet you and see who you look like. So many people are anticipating your arrival, and it is such a wonderful feeling as your parents to know how much you are already loved by our friends and family. You are your big sister Lillian's favorite subject and she constantly asks me to talk about you.

Whitten, we will be moving in the next three weeks so please stay put as long as you can. Otherwise you might have to ride home from the  hospital in a U Haul truck!  I am very nervous about having things ready for you, but your Daddy has reassured me that your new room in our new home will be ready to go by the time you get here. We love you precious boy and are praying for you and your safe delivery! We cannot wait to see how God will use your sweet little life! I love you!

Love~  Mommy

Happy Birthday Bailey

Yesterday we went to Pump It Up to celebrate our niece Bailey's birthday! It is still hard for me to believe that she is SIX years old today!! Every time I see her I cannot get over how tall she is getting and what a beautiful young girl she is becoming. Lillian had a great time at the birthday party running around all over the place. She didn't like the moon walks or the slides, but I think that there was a little too much going on for her with all of the bigger kids running around. And of course I think it is safe to say that the birthday cake and ice cream was Miss Lillian's favorite part of the whole party. But after cake, ice cream and presents the party was over for Lillian. I was impressed that she made it as long as she did considering our busy morning leading up to the birthday party. We got her home and let her catch a quick nap before dinner and then after eating basically put her right back to bed for the night. She was exhausted to say the least.

Shaun got this little bear out of a game machine and Lillian loved it!

Meme and Wyatt

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

I am pretty sure it is safe to say that the grown-ups had a pretty good time too! I love Ryan's face in this picture.

Travis sliding with Bailey and her cousin

Lillian feeding Wyatt a little snack...I am not sure he was all that hungry but Lillian was determined for him "drink milk". She is such a mommy already.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Shaun and his brother Ryan. Both of them trying to get a picture of the kids having fun. They are such good Daddys!

Lillian loving on Wyatt

he is so stinking cute!

Shaun and Wyatt!

Bailey's monkey cake...it was very cute!

as you can tell we had a very tired little girl by the end of the day.

Happy Birthday Bailey! We Love you!

Lunch With MeMe

Earlier this week Lillian and I drove out to Shaun's office and picked him up to go eat lunch with MeMe! Lillian LOVES her MeMe and gets so excited every time we see her. On this particular day Lillian stayed asleep the first five or ten minutes we were at the restaurant, but when she finally woke-up her face lit up when she look over the table and Tina was sitting there. It brings Shaun and I such joy to see how much Tina loves Lillian, and just how much Lillian loves her MeMe. We cannot wait to see the special relationship that they will develop over the years. Thanks for our very yummy lunch MeMe!!

BIG Changes To Come

A week ago my neighbor showed up at our door and asked me how low I was willing to go on the price of our house. I told her that obviously I could not even say a number without talking to Shaun first, but what I really wanted to say was give me five dollars and we will be out of here tomorrow! She asked me to talk to Shaun and give her call to see if we could work something out. As soon as she left I called Shaun and he came home in between work and class to talk to our neighbor. An offer was made and one week later....WE ARE MOVING!! After a year and a half of having our house on the market and only having eleven showings, we have finally sold our house!


Last October I told Shaun that I felt desperate. Desperate to get pregnant, desperate for Shaun to find a new job, desperate to sell our house. Turns out that God knew what he was doing all along; when does He not? God gave us all of these things in the order that He knew was best for us. In December Shaun started a new job that he loves. On December 29 Shaun and I got pregnant after more than a year of trying. And now in July of 2010 we have sold our house! God could not be more at work in our lives, and Shaun and I are doing our best to let each one of these events glorify Him in every way.

Right now our plans are to rent a townhouse in Vestavia, at least until December when Shaun will be done with grad school. The townhouse we want to move into is currently being renovated, so as soon as it is done we will be moving in. They said we could be looking at three to four weeks until it is done, so Shaun and I are just praying that we are able to get in there sooner than later. Whitten is kicking and flipping around right now reminding me that he will be here in just six to seven weeks, so we really want to be somewhat settled by the time he makes his arrival.

The Hays family has a few big changes ahead of us in the upcoming months. Lillian is starting Parent's Day Out Augest 10- I am going to need pregnancy safe prozac just to drop her off. Shaun will be starting his LAST semester of grad school in Augest. We will be moving just as soon as we have somewhere to live. And of course lets not forget that we will be welcoming our sweet baby boy, John Whitten, no later than September 16! It is going to be a crazy couple of months, but Shaun and I could not feel more blessed and are so excited to see what God has instore for our family.

Lillian's COMPLETED Big Girl Bed

A couple of months ago we turned Lillian's toddler bed/crib into her big girl bed, but could not complete it because we had to order the conversion kit (the rails) from Babies R US and it took 13 weeks for two planks of wood to come in. But while we were in Nashville we got the call that the rails had finally come in and so had the matching nightstand. Shaun went a head and went to pick them up Sunday when we got home; he is so busy these days that it was really the only time he had to do it. Anyway, I could not be more happy with how the bed turned out. It is really high though, and I worry about Lillian falling out even though we have guard rails for her. We even went a head and got rid of the changing pad that was on top of her dresser, it looks like such a big girl room now. Of course I cried a little just realizing that my baby is no longer a baby. I kept asking Shaun, "when did this happen? I spend everyday with her...how did I miss her growing up?". I know that I didn't really miss anything, but I am shocked at how quickly these last two years of her sweet life have flown by.

Shaun did suggest that we go ahead and move the baby monitor out of her room sense we really don't need it anymore. Now Lillian just shows up in our room when she wakes up, there is nothing to really monitor any more so to speak. But I shut him down quickly with that suggestion. I am just not ready to take everything baby out of her room. Not to mention that I would miss the constant glow of the montior beside my bed at night. Shaun says that we could never have a video montior because I would never go to sleep, and he is probably right. I already have to go into Lillian's room multiple times after we have put her down at night just to look at her once more before I go to bed. Her sweet little face never gets old. And honestly that is one of the reasons we haven't let her spend the night somewhere yet. I can't get past the fact that I would not be able to kiss her goodnight, or look at her just one more time before I go to bed. But I guess I will have to get over that sooner than later seeing how Brookwood Hospital does not let you children spend the night with you in the maternity ward.

notice anything...no changing pad!

Our Nashville Weekend

This past weekend Shaun, Lillian and I went to Nashville, TN to spend time with my older brother Johnny and his wife Emily. The weather got so bad driving up that we actually had to pull over a couple of times, but eventually we made it to their house around 6:00 and headed out to eat dinner. Saturday morning Lillian woke up bright and early (her usual 5:30 wake up call) and immediately started asking to go to the pool. I tried to explain to her that the pool didn't open for a few hours, but unfortunately this meant nothing to my impatient two year old. After all the poor girl had ridden up in the car in her bathing suit so that she would be ready to jump in the second we pulled into Johnny's drive way. We did get to go to the pool but only stayed for about an hour and a half because it was over casted a little chilly. This turned out to be a good thing because Lillian got to take an early nap and we were able to go to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. It was amazing! They currently have two great exhibits going on, The Golden Age Of Couture and Chihuly At The Frist. Dale Chihuly is an amazing artist who does glass blowing sculptures. If you ever get the opportunity to see one of his exhibitions you should!! Anyway, they also had a place for kids that was all about interactive art. Lillian had a great time running around and exploring all of the different stations and they actually had to kick us out at closing. Afterwards we headed to eat dinner at Chuy's-I have been wanting to eat at the new one in Birmingham- and then home to try get Lillian to bed at a decent time. Shaun, Johnny, Emily and I stayed up to almost 1:00 in the morning just talking. It was so good to be with them and catch up on the little things in our lives. This morning we went to Johnny and Emily's church, Brentwood Baptist, and really enjoyed our worship experience there. Well, at least what we got to experience anyway. Shortly after the praise and worship part of the service Lillian has a MAJOR melt down and Shaun and I eventually had to just put her in the car and leave. We had already packed up the car so we just decided to head back to Birmingham. 

I know this has been a long post, but we really just had such a good time this past weekend and are so grateful for Johnny and Emily. Shaun and I love both of them so much and Miss Lillian is obsessed with both of them, and actually cried tonight for Emily when she went to bed.
  
                           

Shaun snapped a quick picture of me and Whitten before going to the pool

 

this dog was made completely out of crayons

Lillian and her new FAVORITE person in the world...She was obsessed with Emily all weekend!

Shaun making a movie, forget grad school he is the next Spielberg

Johnny tracing Lillian's hand

she wanted Emily to trace her face...

and Mommy's face for that matter.

This was of course Lillian's favorite station; the girl loves to paint.

Shaun and Johnny

Johnny, Emily and Lillian

waiting to eat dinner at Chuy's ...it was very good

*Thanks again Johnny and Emily for having us this weekend. We had such a great time and love you guys more than you will ever know! We will most likely see you agian in a few weeks, but if not we will be seeing you when Whitten is born!