She's Here!

After 40 very long weeks, I am happy to announce that Emily Grace is here! She arrived on July 28 at 3:29am. She weighed in at 7lbs and 21in long.

Baby Garden

Mom has been here for a week now and we have been keeping very busy. She's helping me nest some more and get a bit more organized. Mom's know best, right? Our biggest task has been our outdoor atrium at the house. It hasn't been very organized or user friendly, but there were a few plants and Haley's play house out there.

It has now been transformed!! Mom calls it a little fairy garden. I think it is baby girl's garden because I have been working very hard on it (planting a tree and a few other things, with mom's help of course), hoping that maybe she'll decide to grace us with her presence.

Here is what we have been working so hard on.

I planted the tree on the right in the blue pot

My favorite new additions

Zach's replanted "man plant" (aka cactus)

Haley's rose plant (we got the day she was born)

Things for Tuesday

So this post doesn't have a particular theme or anything, but I feel like I've been a bit neglectful in updating, so here is a mess of things that have been going on.

~Haley is now 21 months old. Can't believe it. Everytime I look at her I see more and more of a little girl than a baby. It's just amazing how fast time flies. She loves to brush her teeth and is more than happy to point out your teeth for you. Sometimes she will even help me brush my teeth and she gets so excited to do it! It's the little things. She is still very helpful around the house. Haley helps put clothes in the wash, dryer, laundry basket; hands me dishes from the dishwasher (clean or dirty); puts trash in the trash can; sweeps; and the list could really go on and on.

~I am now 39 weeks pregnant and am pretty ready for baby girl to be here. As of my last doctor's appointment, I am 1cm dilated and he estimates that she is about 6lbs. I am starting to get a bit more uncomfortable, but I think that has a lot to do with the heat. I have also been having what I am pretty sure are braxton hicks contractions. It's not painful, mostly uncomfortable. Never had these with Haley, so this is a whole new experience. Sleeping has been a challenge for a while now and I can't wait to go back to sleeping on my stomach. Everything is ready to go and we are just waiting on little girl to let us know she's ready to be here!

~We have talked to Haley quite a bit to let her know that there is a baby coming. She knows all about babies- carries hers around with her and feeds it and points out other babies when she sees them. We have been slowly getting out all the baby stuff, like the swing, bouncer, and car seat. Haley has even practiced putting her baby in the car seat and then decided to get in herself. She is quite a bit bigger now than the last time she used it.

~Zach is out of town for the next few days. He is at a seminar for the week learning all about being a senior nco (non-commissioned officer). It is certainly not the best timing, but the class is only offered once a year, so it was best for him to go now. And should anything happen while he's gone, I will be lucky enough to have my mom here! She gets here this afternoon and I am so excited!! Sometimes a girl just needs her mom :)

I think that's just about it. We haven't really been up to anything super exciting, but have managed to stay pretty busy. On a final note, I'll leave you with a picture that makes me smile.

34 Weeks

Here we are....34 weeks later and only 6 more to go before we get to meet our second little girl. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like we just found out that we were going to be adding to our family. It's interesting to think about, but we weren't planning on a new addition quite so soon, but I already can't imagine our lives without her and she's not even here yet!

I've been feeling pretty good the entire time and have absolutely nothing to complain about. Except the heat outside. It's hot. We try not to spend too much time in the great outdoors, unless it's the pool or the beach.

I will say that this pregnancy has surprised me a little. I just assumed that I would feel the same way I did the first time around, but that hasn't really been the case. With Haley, my ankles swelled up like oranges around 5 months and lasted the remaining 4 months. This time I have barely had any swelling at all (which has been awesome!). I was also under the assumption that the second time around the belly popped out quicker and you got a little bit bigger. Not so much this time. You couldn't even tell I was pregnant until about 25 weeks or so and I still feel like I am pretty small. Haley moved around quite a bit, but nothing like this little one. #2 has moved and kicked so much more and I am pretty sure she is going to do the same thing once she gets here.

We have started getting everything ready for our little girl. We don't have enough rooms for each girl to have their own space, so they will be sharing (at least for the next 27 months we are here). We changed up the room a little bit- adding Haley's big girl bed, another dresser, and a few special things here and there. It is definitely a room for two adorable little girls. We do have a name picked out, but we are waiting until she gets here to share that with everyone. There has to be at least one surprise, right?

I have already started wondering how the girls will be different from each other. Will little girl have the same small curls in her hair that Haley has? Will she have Zach's gorgeous eyelashes like Haley does? Will she get my dimples? Only 6 more weeks to find out!

And speaking of Haley, she has done really well through out the pregnancy. We talk to her and let her know that she is going to be a big sister and that there is a baby coming. If you ask here where mommy's baby is she will point to my tummy and sometimes she even gives her baby sister a kiss. It has been so sweet. We even got her a book on being a big sister and she wants to read it all the time! She is going to be a wonderful big sister.

I know that this will be the last time I am pregnant, so I have tried to enjoy every moment. Zach and I decided a while back that a family of four is just perfect for us. I will miss the experience of pregnancy, but am looking forward even more to the experience of being a mommy to two beautiful little girls.

Baby Girl

It was only a few short days ago that we found out that our newest family member is going to be a girl. I have to say that in the days since, I am growing more and more excited.

Now let me be honest with you and tell you that since we found out I was pregnant, I was very positive that we were going to have a little boy. I had dreams about it and even my mom felt the same way. I had narrowed down a few boy names because I was so sure that this little baby was a boy. We had even been telling Haley that she was going to have a little brother.

Then came sonogram day. The woman who gave the sonogram was wonderful and was telling us what we were seeing on the monitor. Then she asked if we were ready to know. She told us "It's a girl!". "Are you sure??" I asked. This is what we saw on the monitor:

She told us if it were a boy, there would most definitely be a little something between those legs. I had to make sure and ask again because I had been so sure that it was going to be a boy. And again, she confirmed girl.

We have now corrected ourselves in telling Haley that she is going to have a little sister. We even rub my tummy and tell her that there is a baby in there.

I am in no way disappointed that we are having another little girl. It was just such a surprise that my mommy's intuition was so off. I think now that we know for sure I am even more excited than when I found out we were pregnant. It's such an amazing thought knowing that we are going to have two little girls! I think (and hope) of the two being best friends as they grow up.

Zach is going to have his work cut out for him :)

Catch Up

It's been a while since our last post and we've had quite a bit going on. Here's what's been going on.

Last week, Zach's parents (aka Grandpa and Grandma Hinten or Allan and Carolyn) came down to our little island for a visit. Unfortunately, Zach had to work two of the days they were here, but I think we all still managed to have a great time. Day 1 included a tour of Key West (which really doesn't take very long), walking around Duval St. and "downtown", and ended with a quiet dinner at home. Day 2 we toured the Little White House (where Harry S. Truman came) and were able to meet up with Zach for lunch. After lunch Haley decided to take a much needed nap, so Grandpa and Grandma opted to be dropped off "downtown" to wander around. I wasn't quite sure they were planning on coming back, so I called to check on them right as the rain started to come down in buckets. We spent another quiet evening at home. On Day 3 Zach was finally able to participate in all the excitement. We toured the USCGC Mohawk, which is a Coast Guard ship that is here in KW. Then we had a very nice lunch with a view of the beach (which Haley enjoyed quite a bit).

By the time we got home I think everyone was in need of a nap. Zach's parents were kind enough to watch Haley for the evening so that Zach and I could have a date. I can't even remember the last time we went on a date! We ended up going to the movies and it was great. On day 4 we took the grandparents to see Haley in action at Kindermusik. It was not our normal class and was full of older kids, so she didn't participate as much as normal. Then we went over to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, which was very neat. Our next stop was a surprise to Allan and Carolyn. We were going to find out the gender of Baby Hinten #2!

And the results are in! It's a Girl!

Hello World!

Just to make sure...it is a girl :)

We are all very excited to have another girl in the family, although Zach is probably starting to feel quite out-numbered.

The day ended perfectly...with a sunset.

It was a wonderful visit and we were sad to see the Hintens leave. But the good news is that we will see them again in only two months!

Baby Hinten #2

So here we are. I am now 15 weeks pregnant with Baby Hinten #2. The pregnancy seems to be flying by already. It seems like we just found out, but that was about 10 weeks ago.

Things are going well this time around, as they did with Haley. I don't know how to describe it, but this feels completely different from the first pregnancy. There's not been any major differences, but I just feel different. I have been very fortunate to not have any morning sickness or any food adversions. I have been craving salad (sounds pretty healthy until I tell you I smother it in ranch dressing) and fresh fruit. The main difference this time is that I'm not able to eat as much in one sitting. With Haley I ate all the time and however much I wanted. This time I'm eating smaller meals. I am sad to announce that I'm not able to eat as much chocolate either. Apparently my sugar tolerance goes down with pregnancy and I get raging headaches if I eat too much of it. So sadly my chocolate intake goes down, but it will be well worth it in the end.

I've read that in second pregnancies you can usually feel movement earlier than the first time. Haven't felt anything yet, but there's plenty of time. I also have a little bit of a bump so far. Nothing that would tell you I was actually pregnant. I can still fit in all my normal clothes, so far.

Zach and I are talking with Haley every so often to let her know that she has a sibling on the way. We're not sure how much she understands, but we're hoping that eventually she'll get it.

We won't know the sex of the baby until early March, but we'll make sure to let everyone know when we do.