thanksgiving 2009.

adorable.

Wanna see some adorable pictures?

These were taken by a friend of ours, Click the link to view her website... Ashley Malena Photography.

coming home.

Coming Home... (I was feeling fine in this picture but it's hospital policy to have the mom in a wheelchair holding the cart seat on her lap...I was just glad to actually have this specific 'rite of passage'.)

The Chauffer...

 

Just so tiny!

 

Ready to come home!

 

Our Beautiful Girl!

 

Cutie...

 

After a bath.  Her hair is so fuzzy!  I love it!

 

Clean toes!

 

We were having to feed our baby girl formula to supplement.  But since she came home, she gained 10 oz in one week, so no more supplementing!  Here is Daddy giving her one of her nightly feedings.  Daddy loves to cuddle with his little girl!

 

Ready to go on a short car ride where we were hoping to get out of the house for a few minutes and go on a drive... but then realized that we forgot the diaper bag, and had to come home!

 

We are loving every minute with our little sweet Hannah!   I hope to update the blog more but I can't make any promises, this girl keeps us pretty busy!

hooray!

Hannah's coming home today!

Yesterday, Hannah was put in a regular hospital bassinet for 24 hours to see if she was able to maintain her temperature, weight, and regular feedings.  They told us that if she did these things for 24 hours, she would get to come home!  Today, we found out that she also passed her 45 minute car seat test and she gets to come home tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are super excited as we thought she would still be in the NICU for at least another week.  We are also a little nervous as having her in the NICU has made us super cautious and paranoid.  No more monitors is a relief, but also makes us a little nervous as there will be nothing to "BEEP" at us if something goes wrong.  We were joking that we would just take shifts all night watching her breathe.  (which is probably a bit too true)

I was feeling extra overwhelmed last night, but thanks to a blessing and lots of prayer I feel that our Hannah will be okay and that we can be confident that she will continue to be a healthy baby girl.

Here are some photos for my picture hungry family members. ;)

fake-baker.

Tonight at 8 PM the bili-lights come off!  They will check her jaundice levels again in the morning to see if her levels keep going down to a healthy level.  To celebrate, we are bringing a blanket from home to cover the top of her isolette and make her feel more "at-home".

We decided that she looks like she is laying in a little tanning bed...She's thinks she's cool with her futuristic sunglasses on. :)

We have only been able to hold her for feedings, which usually means not for more than 30-45 minutes at a time and normally she is nursing, so Daddy hasn't gotten that much snuggle time with his little girl and he is starting to try and sneak little bits of snuggle time here and there after she is done nursing with me, until the nurse comes and has to be the bad guy and tell Daddy "it's time to put her back, so she can get better."

So needless to say, we are both super-excited to have the lights come off.

We love you Hannah and can't wait to snuggle with you!

beautiful.

((HUGE HEAVING SIGH))

 I don't apologize for my lack of blogging.  :)

Here is a short update on how our little Hannah Mae is doing...

We left the hospital on Friday night, however, Hannah still needs to stay in the NICU.  She is breathing well, and beginning to breastfeed well.  She has a feeding tube, which was taken out today, but still needs to get more food down, so she may have to have it put back in.  It is hard for her right now, because she has jaundice and grows very tired after eating for more than 30 minutes or so.  She is under the bili-lights and wearing her little "sunglasses", hopefully it will help her get rid of all the yuckies in her system and she will be able to get stronger and gain more weight, eat better and eventually be able to come home.  It should still be a few weeks, but she is working really hard and making Mommy and Daddy very proud will all her little successes.  We love to hold her and cuddle and kiss her little tiny cheeks.  She is a wiggly little thing, but when she is being held she cuddles right up to our chest.  We just love to nuzzle our sweet girl.

We just ask that you keep her (and us) in your prayers as even though she is doing very well for being born early, she is still a preemie and needs lots of attention and monitoring.  Mommy worries about her so much and hates to leave her when we go home at night, but we know that she is in good hands.  Every little prayer helps and lets us feel more at peace about Hannah's situation.  We love her so much and can't wait to take her home and to be with her at all times.

I promise to share the whole story (excluding gory details) about the when, hows, whys, etc of Hannah coming early, but for right now, I am really tired, and need to get some sleep so I can recover fully and take good care of our little sweetie.  

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of our "sunshine", as Connel calls her. :)

  First family photo

Sticking out her tongue

My beautiful girl

Proud Papa

 Listening to Mommy sing.

she's here!!!!!!!!

Well, I'm not a blogger but I'll do my best.  Hannah Mae Petterson joined us on November 4, 2009 at 10:01 am.  She is 5 pounds 7 ounces and 18.5 inches long.  All is well.  Seems she was a pretty excited to get here as she came at 35 weeks!  But what can I say we're excited she's here.  Doc's say all is well.  She is healthy and doing great!  Can't ask for more.  She is at the NICU right now so they can watch her breathing as it was a little difficult for her.  She's doing great and has not needed any respiratory assistance.  Mostly they just want to keep an eye on her.  She should only be in there a few days!  We have been overwhelmed with blessings!  Here is our beautiful little girl, who has daddy wrapped around her little finger already!

(posted by Connel)

34/35 weeks

Here is the most recent baby bump picture...

...and I thought black was supposed to be slimming!

the season is beginning.

Even though Halloween is barely over and Thanksgiving has yet to come, the Christmas season has just started to unravel.  I'm sure if you go shopping today, you will see the Christmas trees in the JCPenney entry way and the holiday retailers on the loose! 

However, as much as we seem to whine about how the Christmas season is becoming commercialized, we all know how excited we are that the fun and festivities around the corner.  I do my own premature Christmas celebration as I stick to a tradition that was passed down from my family, the Christmas Albums are out the day after Halloween!  Connel's ears may be worn from the sounds of the holidays by Thanksgiving, however I can't say the same for me...

I love CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!  It's my favorite part of the holiday.

Here are some of my favorites of all time...

I love the Carpenters because of her beautiful enchanting voice, you can't listen to this album and not feel like you should look outside and see drifts of snow and a horse-drawn sleigh! 

The Virgin's Lullaby by Josh Gracin ( I don't have a link, sorry.) is just a beautiful sounding song that brings so much peace into my heart! (..it helps that his voice is super handsome sounding ;)

I'd love it if you'd share some of your favorites with me...what are your favorite Christmas Songs/Albums? Why do you like them?