Here's more Hannah pics. She has learned a new trick: holding up her pacifier. It is very useful to us when we are changing her diaper. :)
3.25.2009
The First Week
Steve and I want to thank everyone for the visits, meals, phone calls, and emails. We REALLY appreciate everything. We want to especially thank our parents for helping set up the nursery and cleaning our house. With Hannah arriving earlier than expected, we weren't quite prepared. Having them help us out made all the difference in the world. I also don't know what I would have done without my girlfriends who already have kids. They have given me lots of extra supplies, tips, and encouragement. We feel very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family....and a healthy baby, too! Here are some pictures from the week.
3.22.2009
Congratulations Emails From My Students
Mrs. Kerr,
How's Hannah doing? Please respond.She's so little. Wow!
It's sooo cute.....oh Hannah just like Hannah Montana!
Mrs.Kerr I can't believe you had your baby a so early! I want to babysit her so badly if i can we i get older? She's so cute.I 'am going to miss you so much! Will you bring Hannah to school and show her to everyone?Everyone will be surprised! When will you get back? I hope everything is going well,I will see you when you get back. Take good care of the baby! ................... Ps. if you need any questions or need help with the baby email my mom. We will email you on my mom and dad's computer , if you would like you can email us too!
Dear Mrs.Kerr,
I hope that Hannah Rose is a good little girl. I think she is cute!!!!! I can't wait to meet her.
A few of the pictures do not look like you. One, has black hair. You haveblonde hair. You have nothing alike yet.
How's Hannah doing? Please respond.She's so little. Wow!
It's sooo cute.....oh Hannah just like Hannah Montana!
Mrs.Kerr I can't believe you had your baby a so early! I want to babysit her so badly if i can we i get older? She's so cute.I 'am going to miss you so much! Will you bring Hannah to school and show her to everyone?Everyone will be surprised! When will you get back? I hope everything is going well,I will see you when you get back. Take good care of the baby! ................... Ps. if you need any questions or need help with the baby email my mom. We will email you on my mom and dad's computer , if you would like you can email us too!
Dear Mrs.Kerr,
I hope that Hannah Rose is a good little girl. I think she is cute!!!!! I can't wait to meet her.
A few of the pictures do not look like you. One, has black hair. You haveblonde hair. You have nothing alike yet.
3.21.2009
3.19.2009
She's Here!
Hannah Rose Kerr
5 lbs. 9 oz.
19 inches long
born March 18 at 7:12 pm
So I woke up early Wednesday morning thinking my water broke. It didn't, but I still felt different somehow and thought maybe today was baby day. Although that was crazy because it was early (I was only 37.5 weeks) and firstborns usually come late. Plus we had already informed the baby that she was an April baby. I picked up some things at the grocery store and then headed to school to finish up my 3rd quarter grades. I'm on spring break right now, but I still hadn't finished my grades or made plans for the sub for my maternity leave. I pretty much worked on grades and lesson plans all day long only stopping for lunch. I was determined to get them done before I left so that I would have it crossed off my list. All day long I was also having contractions. They weren't really that painful or regular, though. I just figured it was false labor and pretty much ignored them. Around 4:30 I finally finished everything and drove myself home. By this time the contractions were getting painful. I couldn't wait to get home and soak in the bathtub. I thought that would make them go away. Steve got home around 5:00 and I suggested maybe he shouldn't go running. I got in the bath, and it made me feel better for about 10 minutes... then the contractions were back. By this time Steve had started packing (the hospital bag was on the list of things to do for Thursday!) and we were trying to time contractions. They were about 3 minutes apart and I decided that I should go to the hospital immediately. By the time we got in the car I knew I definitely needed to go to the hospital. The contractions were getting really bad and I felt like pushing. We got to the hospital around 6:45, I changed into a gown, and we asked to be prepped for an epidural. I was pretty tired of the contractions. They got my hand ready for the IV and then found out that I was already fully dilated and it was time to push. For those of you that aren't knowledgeable about babies, it is pretty unheard of to arrive at the hospital fully dilated for your first kid. Usually labor takes hours or days. She was out by 7:12...with no pain medication! I never thought I would do that. The whole thing was pretty shocking. Also, we barely had time to call our parents and tell them that we were in the hospital and then 30 minutes later to say we had a baby...and then our cell phone died. Of course. So then we couldn't call anyone. It was definitely not the way we thought it would be, but we feel really lucky that the hard part went by fast and now we have Hannah. Now it's the fun part. :)
About her name:
In 2nd grade Steve and I both remember reading the story "Hannah is a Palindrome". In the story, her teacher wrote that on the chalkboard and all the other kids teased Hannah until the teacher finally told them what it meant...and then they all thought she was really cool and wanted to be a palindrome, too. We talked about a lot of different names, but in the end we thought Hannah was good because it was pretty, classic, and a palindrome.
We chose Rose for her middle name after Steve's paternal grandmother: Velma Rose Kerr. Steve has always identified with Grandma Velma because she likes math (she was a math teacher) and she is athletic (she took a big bike trip in New England... even cooler than our bike trip across Missouri). Besides those things she has lots of qualities that I admire as well. We are hoping that our little Hannah Rose grows up to be just as amazing as her great-grandma.
5 lbs. 9 oz.
19 inches long
born March 18 at 7:12 pm
So I woke up early Wednesday morning thinking my water broke. It didn't, but I still felt different somehow and thought maybe today was baby day. Although that was crazy because it was early (I was only 37.5 weeks) and firstborns usually come late. Plus we had already informed the baby that she was an April baby. I picked up some things at the grocery store and then headed to school to finish up my 3rd quarter grades. I'm on spring break right now, but I still hadn't finished my grades or made plans for the sub for my maternity leave. I pretty much worked on grades and lesson plans all day long only stopping for lunch. I was determined to get them done before I left so that I would have it crossed off my list. All day long I was also having contractions. They weren't really that painful or regular, though. I just figured it was false labor and pretty much ignored them. Around 4:30 I finally finished everything and drove myself home. By this time the contractions were getting painful. I couldn't wait to get home and soak in the bathtub. I thought that would make them go away. Steve got home around 5:00 and I suggested maybe he shouldn't go running. I got in the bath, and it made me feel better for about 10 minutes... then the contractions were back. By this time Steve had started packing (the hospital bag was on the list of things to do for Thursday!) and we were trying to time contractions. They were about 3 minutes apart and I decided that I should go to the hospital immediately. By the time we got in the car I knew I definitely needed to go to the hospital. The contractions were getting really bad and I felt like pushing. We got to the hospital around 6:45, I changed into a gown, and we asked to be prepped for an epidural. I was pretty tired of the contractions. They got my hand ready for the IV and then found out that I was already fully dilated and it was time to push. For those of you that aren't knowledgeable about babies, it is pretty unheard of to arrive at the hospital fully dilated for your first kid. Usually labor takes hours or days. She was out by 7:12...with no pain medication! I never thought I would do that. The whole thing was pretty shocking. Also, we barely had time to call our parents and tell them that we were in the hospital and then 30 minutes later to say we had a baby...and then our cell phone died. Of course. So then we couldn't call anyone. It was definitely not the way we thought it would be, but we feel really lucky that the hard part went by fast and now we have Hannah. Now it's the fun part. :)
About her name:
In 2nd grade Steve and I both remember reading the story "Hannah is a Palindrome". In the story, her teacher wrote that on the chalkboard and all the other kids teased Hannah until the teacher finally told them what it meant...and then they all thought she was really cool and wanted to be a palindrome, too. We talked about a lot of different names, but in the end we thought Hannah was good because it was pretty, classic, and a palindrome.
We chose Rose for her middle name after Steve's paternal grandmother: Velma Rose Kerr. Steve has always identified with Grandma Velma because she likes math (she was a math teacher) and she is athletic (she took a big bike trip in New England... even cooler than our bike trip across Missouri). Besides those things she has lots of qualities that I admire as well. We are hoping that our little Hannah Rose grows up to be just as amazing as her great-grandma.
3.16.2009
School Baby Shower #2
3.11.2009
School Baby Shower #1
On Friday my students and their parents hosted a baby shower for me. The kids were very excited about it. They decorated the room with a banner and balloons over lunch and couldn't wait for me to see it. It was very cute. They played the game where you have to cut off a piece of string that will fit around my belly. I've played it before at baby showers and I wasn't half as good as they were. We had 5 winners that matched up with my belly string exactly! I guess if nothing else I have taught them good estimation skills. :) They went together on the class gift to buy the crib bedding and some books and toys. Then there were a few individual gifts from kids, too. My favorite gift was an advice book that they made. Here are some of their answers (I left out the repeats).
The best way to entertain a baby is:
* make it laugh by making funny faces
* with a rattle
* playing with their feet
* tickle her and say her name in a cute voice
* dancing
* play with it
* blow on its tummy
* play peek-a-boo with the baby
* throw her up into the air and catch her
The best way to get a baby to sleep is:
* that's so easy- give them a crib, sing a lullaby, and give them some corn milk
* read a bedtime story
* sing Rock-a-bye Baby
* rock the baby, feed her milk, and sing to her
* play music
* put her to bed and leave her alone
I know Mrs. Kerr will be a wonderful mom because:
* she likes kids
* she's nice and she has a soft voice
* she's nice, intelligent, playful, responsible, and cuddly
* Mrs. Kerr is nice, respectful, caring, helpful, sweet, and smart
* she is gentle
* she is very patient
* she has a kind spirit
* Mrs. Kerr is nice to children and adults
* she is a good teacher
My best parenting advice for Mr. and Mrs. Kerr is:
* feed the baby
* kiss the baby a lot, go on vacation, keep the baby healthy
* give the baby a good name
* don't forget about her
* don't spoil her or let her watch too much TV
* Mrs. Kerr should play with her baby
* don't give a baby peanuts before they are four
* you can take naps when the baby sleeps
* the baby might get into mischief so be careful
* don't make the baby scream
* bake cookies
* make sure if it cries in the middle of the night you come downstairs and put it back to sleep
* give your baby lots of kisses and hugs
* keep the TV on an educational baby show
* love her, obviously
3.10.2009
Portland
Steve had a work trip to Portland for four days. He should really be the one to blog about it, but he didn't want to do it. I'm very jealous that he gets to fly to places he's never been before while I am basically confined to the metro area until I have the baby. His only comment: "It was very green there."
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