First Post-Baby Work Weekend

Engineer-work was pretty hectic there for awhile. It's been awhile since I've really done anything around the house let alone posted on here. Anyway, work eased up enough so that I could actually have a real work weekend on home stuff. Hannah is in a pretty good grove now too and even with me pulling night duty on the weekend (megan's mood change after a full night of sleep was pretty dramatic :o ) there was plenty of time to catch up with chores and get in my first outside stroller walk with Hannah and watch some terrible movies with Megan (last week she rented a Dane Cook movie - I don't know why - and this weekend we watched a Dixie Chicks documentary) and run errands around town.

pic of the bathtub plumbing that I had to redo. also a pic of what it looks like now. This weekend I finished up the drywall immediately around the tub. I still have mudding to do before cement board and tile starts going up.. but things are moving again at least.

I also made it down to Boulevard this morning to watch the UMR alumni guys start brew-to-brew 2009. It's a relay race 42 miles from Boulevard brewery to Free State brewery in Lawrence. Depending on the # of people each person ends up running about 2 legs of 5 miles each. Last year I talked the team into investing in and racing in beer bottle costumes. We're still pretty competitive (like top 5 out of 100ish) and no one matches our style :) Below is a pic of Dan starting Leg#1. I was pretty bummed not running this year but I couldn't commit since back in March we thought we'd be in the hospital this weekend!pic of Megan+Hannah napping in the afternoon. I don't know why. I'm the one that stayed up. Megan has no idea half the pics I take of her. :)I also mowed the yard and attempted to clean the deck. No pics. Use your imagination.

The Blanket Series

Long and tall Hannah...

Fencing Hannah...

Piglet Hannah...

More Hannah Pictures

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. :)

Hannah's Room

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.

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.

Hospital Photos

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.

School Baby Shower #2

The teachers threw a double baby shower on Tuesday (yes, I am behind on my posts!). Melissa is a fourth grade teacher and she is due 6 weeks after me. She doesn't want to find out if it is a boy or a girl, so that's why all of her packages are wrapped in yellow and green. Notice how pregnant girls love wearing black. I'm in my last month now and I feel like a whale. Not only is my stomach huge, but my feet, hands, and face are all fat, too! Oh well. My very generous co-workers got us our car seat and lots of cute things for the baby room. My mom came down this weekend to help set up all the things I got from the showers and get some more furniture for the room. We got the rocker and bookshelf and put it all together. I finally feel ready to have the baby. Only a few more weeks to go...

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