Hannah Hurd and The NewCastle Background Singers

A few weeks before Christmas we attended Hannah's preschool Holiday Concert. It was the cutest/funniest thing I have ever seen!I was impressed with how many songs they taught the kids. There were many classic songs, but also many that I had never heard. They were very diverse in their songs also, singing "Feliz Navidad" and another you might recognize...

Hannah was in her element. She was the loudest singer by far! The teachers had signs that they would hold up to remind the kids to sing louder. The one child who sang louder every time the sign went up was the one that didn't really need to...Hannah! Here is a video clip showing the increasing volume to her singing.

I was laughing so hard I was crying! Here is another video of her cuteness!

We were very proud of our little singer!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas has totally snuck up on me this year. I was thinking there was one more whole week before the Christmas week, but I was mistaken, so we bought our tree a little late this year. We enjoyed decorating it together. Chad did all of the lights (which is my least favorite part) and Hannah and I did the decorations. Grace slept! Too bad we won't be here for Santa to put our presents under our beautiful tree! We are in Rexburg with Chad's family (and missing my parents, it is weird being in Rexburg without seeing them, especially at Christmas)! We hope you all have a great Christmas and enjoy your trees and gifts!

For Your Christmas Eve Entertainment

Hannah performed a cute dance at her Christmas Recital to the song, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." It was so fun! Her costume was adorable and she did really well!Not sure what that dance pose is called!

Isn't she such a beautiful girl?!!? I love the little hat!

Here is a short clip....

Too Much of a Good Thing?

When my sister, Mandy, was here for a visit she purchased a Christmas advent calender for Hannah. We were both excited-Hannah for the chocolate and me because my grandma would buy an advent calender for us each year when I was young. One countdown is fun and great.

Then Hannah decided to make her own countdown. With this one she adds a drawing to her paper every day to make a Christmas scene. Two countdowns are a little much, but still fun.

When we opened the box full of our Christmas decorations we found another countdown to Christmas that was never made the previous year. Hannah said we just HAD to make it and use it this year! Three is a little excessive, if you ask me!

In our house there is no doubt about how many days are left until Christmas!

A De"light"ful FHE

For Family Home Evening a few weeks ago we loaded up in the van and drove to Thanksgiving Point to see the Christmas lights. They were really fun and it was enjoyable to stay in our nice warm van and listen to Christmas music.I fed Grace while we were driving through the park, so I sat in the back and Hannah was able to sit in the front! She thought that was pretty great!

There were even real reindeer to see and feed.

As you can see, Grace really enjoyed the lights too!

One of Those Days

Some days with a new baby you feel a little out of control. With little sleep and weather too cold to play outside it can sometimes make you a little crazy! Hannah and I have had a few moments like this the past week!

My Big Helper

Hannah has been a big help since she became a big sister. Sometimes her "help" is more distracting and more work for me, but the other night she folded all of the towels in the laundry basket!

It was very helpful and cute to watch her learn this new skill. She was so proud of herself once all of the towels were folded, and so was I!!

Bath Time

Hannah was dying to help us give Grace a bath! We had given her a couple of baths since being home, but they were all when Hannah was sleeping. She was excited to help, until the crying started. After that she was a little reluctant to help and once Grace peed all over Chad's hand Hannah was done! She didn't want anything to do with helping until Grace had a diaper on and was wrapped up in a warm towel.

The Past 2 Weeks

I can not believe that our little baby is two weeks old! This has been a very busy, but uneventful two weeks. We are all adjusting to living as a family of four. The past two weeks has been full of hugs and kisses (My sister and niece came for a weekend after Thanksgiving. Thanks to Kate for entertaining Hannah and thanks to Mandy for keeping me sane!), pictures, feedings (no pictures of that...you're welcome!), and of course diaper changes!

We are adjusting well and loving life. Grace is a really sweet and easy baby. She rarely cries and will sleep for 4-5 hour stints on most nights. She really is a sweet addition to our family!

Grace's Birth Story

Here is just a quick recap of the birth of Grace. We got a call from the hospital at 5:30am on Sunday, November 22, 2009. They told us to be at the hospital by 7:30 to start the induction. We arrived right on time.

They got me all set up with an I.V. and checked me. I was dilated to a 3. The doctor said that if they weren't inducing me that morning I would have most likely gone into labor on my own that night.

The Pitocin started at 8:00am and then the doctor came in and broke my water. I started having strong contractions really fast. I requested the epidural around 10:000am. They had a difficult time getting it in. The anesthesiologist said that I had scar tissue from my chemo treatments that I got in my spine. He was worried about how well the drugs were going to work. It seemed to work well in my legs, but I was still feeling a TON of pressure.

They checked me around 11:15 and I was a 7. I was VERY uncomfortable and so the nurse asked the anesthesiologist to come in and give me some more medicine. Soon after I felt like I really needed to push. The nurse checked me again and said, "Oh. Yes you are...she is right there."

She called the doctor and after 3 short pushes little Grace made her appearance right at 12pm on the dot! It was a very fast and smooth labor. Our doctor and the nurses were so great. We were so happy that she was here and healthy.

Grace Lyn Hurd

She's here!! She was born Sunday @ 12p.m. on the dot! We are so happy that baby Grace made it here happy and healthy! We are both doing well. I will have to write more later about the birth because I can not sit on this hard chair for too long! I just wanted to get the pictures on here because I know some people (specifically my mom) are dying to see some pictures of this little cutie!

Right after birth. She is a tiny little one! 6 lbs and 6 oz. 20 inches long. Lots of dark hair!After her bath. Isn't that bink funny!?! It is almost the size of her head!Going home. I was hoping to go home on Monday, but they wanted us to stay one more night to monitor Grace. She is so ity bity in that huge carseat.Home at last! I have to tell you Hannah is one happy and excited big sister! I think that I am going to have a little mom on my hands! She is a great helper! The bottom right picture makes me laugh. She fell asleep covering her eyes!

Well, there she is! She is such a sweet little one! I will make an attempt to write more about the birth tomorrow and some more cute pictures!

Our Little Visitor

We have had a little visitor at our house this past week. I'll let Hannah tell you about him.

I think this is such a fun activity! I remember in 2nd grade we had a similar thing...it was a Corduroy Bear. We would take turns having him at our house and writing about our adventures together. I bet that Duso is someone Hannah will remember for years to come too!

If at First You Don't Succeed...

At Halloween time Hannah entered a coloring contest at a local grocery store. She did her very best coloring and was sure she was going to win. She didn't! I felt so bad. If she hadn't been standing right next to me when they told us the news, it is quite possible that I would have lied to her and told her she won! We were both disappointed, but she took the news better than I was expecting. Now the same grocery store is holding a Thanksgiving coloring contest and Hannah is determined to win this one! She definitely is not a quitter!

Politically Correct

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Hannah's class is talking all about the holiday and the things that go with it. She came home yesterday wearing this costume. I said to her, "Oh, Hannah! How fun! Did you guys talk all about Indians today?" She gave me a weird look and said, "Uh..Native Americans, mom!" Excuse me!

Let's Make Things a Little More Interesting

I thought it would be fun to make the waiting game for the baby a little more interesting. We are going to have a contest!

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment placing your bet of date and time of my baby's birth.

2. Betting will end Wednesday November 18th @ midnight or before (if the baby comes before
that).

3. The winner will be the person that comes the closest date and time, without going over.


4. The prize will be........I will name my child after you!

Just kidding!!! I am not sure of the prize yet, but it will probably not be that great, but at least you will have the privilage of being the coolest and winning!

So let the betting begin!! I am excited to see what people think!

Somebody Needs to See it!

Hannah's 1st Primary Program was last Sunday. She was so excited. She knew all the songs and had even memorized her part. Well, sadly she woke up Sunday morning at around 4 a.m. with a high fever and terrible cough! She had to miss the program. She was so sad and so was I!! We decided that somebody needed to see how well she knew her part and how cute she said it and if she can't do it at church the blog is the second best thing!

As you can tell she still has a bit of a cold, but she is feeling much better. She is so sweet and smart! We love her so much!

Where the Wild Things Are

Hannah's preschool class read the book Where the Wild Things Are. They made costumes and then acted out the book as the teacher read it to other classes. Hannah was one of the Wild Things. So cute!

Halloween Recap

I have been slacking so much!! I have been meaning to post these Halloween activities for a long time. Can I blame it on my big belly?!?! I have been hoping the nesting instinct will kick in, but my only instinct is to lay on the couch!

Our Halloween festivities included:

A trip to Gardner Village for the Witch Days. It was fun to see all of the witches, fake and real, all around the village. Hannah was not a fan of the witches. She didn't want to get close to the fake ones and wouldn't even look at the real ones!!

Pumpkin carving! I always do a simple design. Hannah wanted to carve one this year instead of painting it like she usually does. Chad always does a really intricate time-consuming pumpkin that always looks awesome! He only finished half this year because he is so busy with homework and such, but it still turned out cool!

Halloween Howl Storytime at the library. There were tons of kids there and it was a little crazy, but Hannah loved that it was a witch telling the story. Interesting that she wasn't afraid of this witch!

Decorating sugar cookies. I was going to skip this tradition this year (sugar cookies are so much work), but after talking to people about them and seeing them on blogs my cravings outdid my laziness and we made them. They were yummy and we had fun decorating them. I am glad we made them!

Last, but certainly not least...Trick or Treating! We went to the mall first and then around our neighborhood. Hannah was loving it. The night was nice. It got a little cold toward the end, but Hannah didn't want to stop. She got so much candy! We didn't have one trick or treater at our house, so we had TONS of candy left over! There was a dentist in our town that was buying back Halloween candy for $1 a pound. We took our candy over and got $4! I couldn't believe we had that much candy. We went to the store and Hannah was able to buy a Littlest Pet Shop. She was happy to have the new toy and I was happy that the candy was gone, because let's be serious, I was going to eat a lot more of it than Hannah!!

We had a great Halloween. It seemed to go by so fast!

As Per Your Request

I have had several requests and hints (some more subtle than others) to see my ballooning belly! I have issues with pictures of myself in general so I tried to ignore the requests, but I decided since there are some people reading this blog (specifically those in far away countries) that will never see my belly in person, I would fold and post a couple pictures. I am due on Nov. 24th. We are hoping that the little lady will make her appearance before Thanksgiving! She is very active and loves to press on my ribs. We are very excted for her to come. Hannah is excited to be a big sister. I know she will be a big help! Well, there are the pictures! I hope you enjoy them!

Scarecrow Festival

After Hannah performed in the morning at the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point we were able to spend the day participating in free activities. I was happy because the cost to get in was pretty pricey, but since Hannah was performing we got in for free!

There were games to play...

A Train ride.....

A horse-pulled wagon ride...

A pony ride...

And tons of other fun things to do that I either didn't get a picture of (story time with witch) or Hannah didn't want anything to do with (bouncy houses and slides. I don't know what her deal is with those things, but she does not like them). It was a fun day! We stayed much longer than I thought we would and both of us were exhausted when we made it home!

Who Let The Ghosts Out?

Hannah's dance group preformed at the Scarecrow Festival on Saturday. They had three practices to learn the dance and I was surprised how well they did. Of course, it was a little chaotic, but Hannah knew the dance well!

Here is a little clip of the dance.

She looked so cute! Her favorite part was "they really blew it" and her scary pose at the end (shown below)!

We were able to spend the rest of the day doing other fun, free activities at the festival....check back tomorrow for those exciting pictures!

I Can't Believe I Finished the Whole Thing!

My kind mother-in-law purchased these cute wooden holiday (paint-it-yourself) decorations for me.......I am embarrassed to say about 4 years ago! It only took me 4 years to finally get them painted! I usually do not enjoy painting things, because I take FOREVER to do it and then I don't like the way they turn out. That probably had a lot to do with my prolonged procrastination! Well, this time was different! I really enjoyed painting them and I liked the way they turned out!

I even had a little helper. Hannah painted the little pumpkin in the picture below. It was fun. I don't know if I will become a crafter, but I think I will be more open to it!

Everything Taste Better on a Stick

During the summer Hannah participated in the summer reading program at the local library. She walked away from it with a new book and a handful of coupons. The other day I was looking through the stash and realized that it was the last day for the free cookie on a stick! We didn't want to miss out on that!

The cookie was huge! It was almost the size of Hannah's head, but that didn't stop her from downing it in 2 minutes! She loved it! I mean, who wouldn't love a huge sugar cookie on a stick?!?!