The Hahns

2010-04-09T21:18:00.001-04:00

My smart little man!

Picture time

2010-04-09T21:07:00.003-04:00

A classic Palmer look! Professional 3 month photo shoot.Another professional 3 month photo.

Here's my little stud in his ducky bath. He LOVES bath time! Palmer was being mischievious one morning in his Bumbo. He leaned over, picked up the remote, changed the channel, then looked up at me and laughed. It was hilarious!

Growing up so fast!

2010-04-09T20:46:00.003-04:00

So, first off, I'm awarding myself the Worst Blogger award! Yikes! It's been almost 3 months since I've updated this. Life just gets so crazy and exhausting.

Currently, Palmer and I both are under the weather. My dad took him to the doctor yesterday where we found out Palmer has an ear infection and a sore throat. Poor guy! He's on meds now to fight the infection, but it's been a long week with a sick baby. I'm self diagnosing, but I think I am just fighting allergies and sinuses. My ears have been hurting, along with my throat and head, and yesterday, I started losing my voice. Just when I think I'm out of the woods, something else gets me! Ah!

Despite all the crazy days, I love being a mom. I've learned so much patience and selfless love. I know people say it all the time, but I never knew I would love my son as much as I do. It is an indescribable feeling. I look forward to each milestone ahead, but at the same time cant believe how fast he is growing up! I've been staying on top of Palmer's photo albums and am just baffled by how big he is getting.

At almost 5 1/2 months old, here's what Palmer is up to:

-Rolling over both ways...belly to back at 12 days old! Back to belly at 4 months and 5 days.
-Laughing...DEEP belly laughs. I'll have to post a video soon!
-Eating avocado, sweet potatoes, pears, green beans, bananas, apples, and carrots. He tried peas, but it is a no go. That's the only thing I cant get him to eat. Avocados and bananas are his favorite, with pears close behind. He's great with sweet potatoes and carrots though too!]

I keep expecting him to crawl ANY day now. He had the positioning down just not the coordination. He's going to be a little mover and shaker pretty soon!

I'll post pictures in my next post. Enjoy!

Catching up!

2010-01-16T22:10:00.004-05:00

Wow. I have not posted ANYTHING in so long! My apologies. Since my last entry, we have had Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, New Year's, and first day back to work. A lot has happened!

Our first round of holidays with Palmer went great. Thanksgiving was easy. We celebrated with Andy's mom and step dad a couple of weeks before the big day and saw my parents the afternoon of Thanksgiving. On Black Friday, I got up early and went to my mom's to pick her and Shauna (my little sister) up to go shopping. Andy was left to his own devices with Palmer for the morning. I was gone for about 5 hours total and came back to an exhausted husband. He touched my heart when he told me he has a new appreciation for what I do everyday. Apparently Palmer was a little fussy :).

The Christmas season was a whirlwind. We spent Christmas Eve with the Howells, Christmas morning at our house, Christmas Day with the Darlands, and the Sunday after with the Hahns. Palmer got so many great gifts! We are still having so much fun playing with everything.

The Sunday after Christmas took a turn for the worse though. Really long story short, Andy ended up taking me to the ER with severe abdominal pains where I was admitted for colitis. I had to stay until Tuesday night, but probably should have stayed a little longer. I had a rough few days, but didnt want to be in the hospital on my birthday so I insisted on being discharged. I was on a liquid diet all week...talk about baby weight just melting away! That was the only good side effect of the whole situation.

After that, Andy got a severe sinus infection, I came down with strep and an inner ear infection, and now, Palmer has a little cold! We've had a tough time in the Hahn house! I think everything is starting to slow back down though. I'm back to work with a flexible schedule and Palmer stays with my parents during the day. I dont know how people leave their kids at daycare. It is hard enough having to take him to my mom's! No one does things just like mommy does :).

Enough rambling...here are some pictures from the last couple of months. The little man is growing up! Here he is in his Christmas outfit.

My college roommate, Becca, brought her son, Malakai to visit. Malakai wasnt too sure about Palmer!

Day 12-The Rollover

2009-11-21T16:02:00.000-05:00

I just love these two pictures! I took Palmer to Andy's work yesterday dressed in his cute golfer outfit. He is such a stud :). This morning he decided he didnt want to take a nap but instead wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV. Believe me when I say he WANTED to sit on the couch. I tried his bouncy seat, swing, pack and play, and crib and nothing was satisfiying him. He's been so active lately! I dont mind though as long as it wears him out for the night time!

I have tried to upload a video of our little muffin ROLLING OVER, but I cant seem to get blogger to cooperate. When he was 12 days old, Palmer rolled over for the first time from belly to back. Andy and I were getting dinner ready and Andy put Palmer in his pack and play on his belly. He looked up and said, "He just rolled over!". I didnt believe him and Palmer wouldnt do it again. However, the next day, I was getting my lunch ready and I had just laid Palmer on his belly in his pack and play when I looked back over and he was on his back. I grabbed the camera and put him back on his belly. I waited a second and he rolled over...this time I caught it on video! If I get it to work, I'll post it on here. What a little over-achiever!

Aunt Lisa (my old college roomie) came to visit today. We were so happy to spend some time with her and she even gave Palmer a manicure. I'm too afraid of cutting his little fingers so I havent tried the clippers yet. Lisa, the veteran mommy, jumped right in and got the job done. Thanks Lis!

Pictures Galore

2009-11-13T20:51:00.001-05:00

Here are some random pictures of Palmer. He LOVED his first bath and each one thereafter. They seem to calm and relax him.

We are learning more and more about our little guy's personality as it begins to develop. He is such a calm baby, but definitely a boy who loves his food. He is wearing me out to the point of tears when it comes to breast feeding. I'm trying to stick with it, but I may not be able to keep up. We already have to supplement with formula for the vitamin D benefits, and because I am just in pain! I'm trying to stay relaxed and know that I'm doing my best and if I'm stressing out so much then it is not worth it. We'll see how long I can make it :).

Besides getting a little stir crazy now and then, I love being home with our son and my days just fly by as I take care of him and the household chores. My maternity leave ends after the holidays...which is coming too fast! I cant believe Palmer is already 2 weeks old! Ahh!

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers...and gifts! What an amazing ride this has been already!

Welcome Palmer Mitchell Hahn

2009-11-05T15:58:00.001-05:00

So in love with our little man!

Labor and Delivery

2009-11-05T15:32:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to hop on here and get some updates of our little one's arrival in the blogosphere. He's napping now, so I'll give it my best.

Last Monday, October 26th, I had a routine doctor's appointment for my 39 week check up. The doctor stripped my membranes again and stretched me to 3 cm and I was about 75% effaced. The doctor said he would call the hospital to get a date for inducing me that week, if I didnt go on my own. Andy and I were so excited to hear that one way or another, we would have a baby within the week! I think it was exactly what I needed...a light at the end of the tunnel!

I called the doctor twice on Monday to see if they had a date set for induction, but I never got a solid response, just that they were working on it. I went to bed Monday so excited and anxious. I slept in a little on Tuesday and stayed busy around the house. When I finally checked my phone at about 11:15am or so, there was a message from the doctor telling me to call them as they had set a date and time for my induction. I called right away and was told they wanted me at the hospital THAT NIGHT! I was to check in at 6:00pm! I hung up the phone and told Andy the news. Anxiety, nerves, excitement, happiness...all hit at once.

We went to the hospital that Tuesday evening, October 27th, to start a drug called Cytotech. This made my contractions come every minute to a minute and a half all night long. It was miserable. I didnt get any sleep and was in a lot of pain for over 9 hours. By 6:00am on Wednesday, I was defeated, ready to talk pain meds, but scared to deviate from my initial plan of a natural birth. The nurse gave me the pros and cons of Nubane and I decided to give it a try to buy me some time to decide if I wanted to take the epidural. She told me Nubane would give me a couple of hours to get some rest and decide, but for me, it only gave me 45 minutes. I was done...exhausted beyond belief and ready for some help.

The doctor came in to do the epidural and I knew what the procedure entailed so I wasnt too scared. My blood pressure dropped really fast though so they had to check the dosage, push some extra drug to regulate me and lay me down with my feet elevated. Let the scares begin! Once the dosage was right and everything was in place, I felt pretty good. I was able to relax, accept some visitors and let labor progress more easily. They began the Pitocin at this point to kick labor into high gear.

About mid-day the epidural wasnt working anymore and I was in extreme pain. Andy called on our nurse and the doctor came in to increase the dosage in my epidural. Long story short, the dose was too high. I went numb up to my collar bone, felt like I couldnt breathe, couldnt move at all from my ribs down and ended up vomiting multiple times. They pushed Finnergan, an antinausea drug to help the vomiting and from that point on, I was a zombie. I dont remember a ton after that and have had to rely on Andy to put the pieces together for me.

Luckily, I remember the actual delivery part. I think adrenaline must have kicked in, praise the Lord. They had shut my epidural off prior to delivery, as it just wasnt working out, so I could feel the contractions and knew when to push on my own. I was actually glad for that, as I was still able to do a vaginal birth, which was the ultimate plan. I lost a lot of blood and had a rough and scary delivery, but I'm so thankful for our baby boy and would endure it all over again if I had to.

Palmer Mitchell Hahn came into the world on October 28, 2009 at 8:04pm, weighing in at 8 lbs 4 oz, 21 1/4 inches long.

The Little Big One

2009-10-23T23:36:00.000-04:00

I had an ultrasound yesterday where it was estimated that the baby is 8 pounds and 6 ounces...looking more like a 40 week 5 day baby than the 38 week baby that the calendar predicts.

I've spent my first week of maternity leave trying to naturally induce labor. Walking, eating spicey foods, cleaning, and all the other unmentionables...I've done them all! This baby seems to be comfortable where it is. I'm so anxious and excited to meet him/her that I can hardly stand it. I really dont want to be induced at the hospital as I have heard how much more painful and abrupt labor is with Pitocin. I'll keep trying my methods and pray that this baby comes before the doctor insists on hitting eject :).

Here's the latest ultrasound!

Tick-Tock

2009-10-05T16:08:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm 36 weeks down with just a few more to go. Time is flying, but also dragging on. I am so anxious for this baby to begin its arrival. I've started to really think through the actual delivery process and I'm getting nervous about that part. It'll all be well worth it once Baby Hahn finally arrives!

Here are some pictures of my 36 week belly:

As a belated post, my work girls threw me a shower a couple of weeks ago and I never put up the pictures. Take a look at some of the fun I had :). The girls started a pool on when Baby Hahn would make his/her big debut. They based their predictions on the size of the baby, thus the October 18th due date they hovered around. You'll also see a fabulous picture of me scarfing down a piece of pizza. My boss, Sarah, brought me a couple of slices from one of my favorite pizza places on the Circle. I dont eat "girly food" like chicken salad and veggies, so Sarah brought me pizza so I wouldnt starve. Oh how they know me well!

34 or 36...Hmmm...

2009-09-21T22:02:00.000-04:00

I had my 34 week check up this morning. The doctor reviewed the ultrasound I had last week and told me the baby is still measuring a little over 2 weeks ahead of schedule, looking more like 36 weeks. The ultrasound tech put my due date at October 18th, but my doctor said he's not going to change my due date. So, I'm working with a window of 2 weeks here. Not good for a planner like me! The doc thinks/says I am just growing a big baby...duh, tell me something I dont know! Either way, the countdown is on: one month...and then some :).

I'll get some new pics up here soon.

Almost 32 weeks!

2009-09-04T17:43:00.000-04:00

Here's my 31+ week belly shot. I'm just shy of the 32 week mark and this baby does NOT need any help in the weekly countdown :).

Baby's Room

2009-09-04T16:41:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of the baby's room in progress. The bedding we have picked out is a jungle theme (as you can tell by the valence I hung above one of the windows). My mom looked at the bedding and turned the baby's room into the cutest little jungle fantasy. I am so amazed at her talent!! I got the crafty gene but not the artistic and downright talented one.

My sisters are having a shower for us next weekend, so I'm sure I'll have lots of cute stuff to add to the room after that. I love seeing all this baby stuff start coming into the house and cant wait to welcome our little one home. I'm just about 32 weeks...and counting!

Baby Overachiever

2009-08-13T18:43:00.000-04:00

I went in for my 28 week check up this past Monday, only to discover I measured 31 weeks. Whoopsy. Perhaps my math IS off! My doctor sent me in for an ultrasound on Tuesday to check the baby's measurements and we do have an overachiever on our hands here. The baby weighed in at 3 pounds 2 ounces, 30 weeks and 2 days old. I'm not sure what that means as far as my delivery goes, but I'm excited to know this baby may come early on its own!

Here are some pictures:

The Third Trimester!

2009-08-04T21:46:00.001-04:00

Here's a picture of my 27 week belly. I cant believe I am in the third trimester already! It is so crazy how fast time is flying now. My back pain is crippling by late afternoon and I usually end my work day on the couch with a heating pad on my back, trying to balance my laptop.

I had a scary day last week when the doctor ordered me to the hospital for fetal monitoring. With the back pain and some follow up questions, the doc was concerned about my and the baby's kidneys, as well as preterm labor (I have been having some relatively severe Braxton-Hicks contractions). Our shy/stubborn baby lightened the mood by kicking the monitors and hiding from the heart beat reading. It was really funny. I am so amused by this child already!

Everything turned out ok with the tests. Baby seems to be thriving and I am in good health. I have a regular check up next Wednesday and will let you all know about the baby's pending arrival...whether we are looking at earlier in October or sticking with November 1st. Either way, just few short months more!!

Baby Malakai Kinsey

2009-07-13T21:21:00.000-04:00

My amazing college roommate (one of them!) traveled back to the midwest from Atlanta this past weekend. I drove out to Illinois to see her and her handsome baby boy. I had seen a lot of pictures of Malakai but they did not do him justice! Malakai is gorgeous! He was such a good baby, too! He ate and slept nearly all day. He didnt even mind that we went on an impromptu shopping trip for maternity clothes and baby shoes. What a sport!

The Nursery Furniture

2009-07-13T21:02:00.000-04:00

So, the nursery furniture DID get put together last week. The room is in disarray since my mom is still finishing the mural on the wall, but here are some pictures of the guys putting the baby's crib and hutch together. The funniest part was, that they got the crib all put together in the living room while mom painted in the nursery. When it was totally done, they went to carry it down the hall and into the room and it wouldnt fit through the doorway! Oopsy! They had to take it back to the living room to disassemble and reassemble in the baby's room. The second time around went so much faster than the first! Ha! Here you see Michael (my brother), Andy and my dad getting to work!

On another note, I went to the doctor today for my 24 week check up. The baby kicked the doppler as usual, but the heartbeat sounded great. Mid 140s. The only change is that my fundal height was measuring at 27 weeks, instead of the 24 that I am actually in. So, either my math is off, which isnt likely, or I am carrying a big baby. The doctor said if I am measuring large next month that he will order another ultrasound to check the baby's size and set a new due date. He began to plant the seed of a C-section or being induced. I'll take the Pit drip first before we schedule a C.

Symptoms as of late are almost null and void, the only major pregnancy symptom is terrible back pain. I'm taking Tylenol and putting heat on it, but there's not much else I can do. Feeling the baby stirring around in there makes it all worth it :).

Finally, a BELLY!

2009-07-07T20:10:00.000-04:00

Wow. When I look at these pictures I cant believe I have a belly! For so long, when I felt so awful, all I wanted was to be showing so that people would at least be able to see why I felt so crummy. Now, people are actually noticing that I am expecting a baby. I see strangers looking at my belly and some ask when I am due. I tell them I am already 5 months and most are shocked that I'm already this far along. I was getting a complex for awhile, thinking I wasn't gaining enough weight, but the doctor isn't showing any concern, so I'm not either.

My dad, brother, and Andy are all over at our house right now, putting together the baby's crib! I'll post pictures once it is all put together. The hutch might be assembled tonight too, if I can convince the help to keep going. Ha! We'll see.

Here's my 23 week belly shot. I'm feeling great. I've had a lot of back pain, heartburn, and breathing is becoming a challenge when I slouch too much. The baby has been so fun though. I sit in my office and just laugh because the baby kicks all the time. It is such an indescribable feeling!

21 weeks and tired!

2009-06-23T20:04:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of my 21 week belly. This has been such a fun week already. The baby has been kicking a ton, to the point where you can see the kicks on the outside of my belly! Andy has been able to feel the baby moving really easily, and he even got kicked in the head last night when I was holding his head in my lap on the couch. It was funny!

My mom came over last week to start the mural in the baby's room. It is only at the sketching stage, but it already looks amazing! I cant wait for her to get the paint on the wall. The hutch/changing table arrived last week, but we havent set it up in the room yet. I'm trying to give mom as blank of a canvas as possible. I am so anxious for the crib to get delivered so we can really start setting up the nursery. I was just telling Andy we need to get a date on the calendar to go register for the baby stuff! I cant believe we are a week away from July already!!

I have really wanted chocolate this week. My sweet tooth seems to have resurfaced, but I am trying to watch my sugars, as I keep hearing how miserable the gestational diabetes test is. I still dont want lunch meat at all, but am getting back into cooking since smells dont bother me as much anymore.

Here's the 21 week belly. Please remember the title of this post...TIRED! I am so exhausted.

20 Week Progress

2009-06-16T20:58:00.000-04:00

Here's my belly shot at 20 weeks. Finally, it's becoming clear that I am not just pudgy but do in fact have a little baby in my belly! I'm still in regular pants for the most part, but none are buttoning and few are zipping...thank the Lord for Belly Bands! I feel a shopping trip approaching!

I have really wanted carbs lately...still pizza and mexican, but cereal and breads of any kind are the latest cravings. Also, I have been dying for donuts in the mornings! I havent partaken, but I wake up thinking of Long's Bakery chocolate covered yeast donuts. Yum!

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow where I will learn of the ultrasound results, if everything is on track, and weigh in. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Baby Hahn at 19 weeks and 3 days

2009-06-09T09:40:00.000-04:00

We just got back from our ultrasound appointment! Baby Hahn was pretty mellow this time. I made sure to say good morning to the ultrasound tech and then immediately followed that by, "We do NOT want to know the sex of the baby, so please dont tell us." She was very good at referring to our little one as "the baby" when talking us through the images, but there was one time she dropped a male pronoun. Hmmm...was that a slip or just the use of the generic?!

Andy's voting that the baby is a boy at this point, whereas I have thought the whole time that we are going to have a girl.

The ultrasound tech said the baby is measuring at 19 weeks and 3 days, right on par with my math, so we are back to a due date of Halloween, October 31, 2009!! This will be the official due date from this point forward, though I read somewhere that only 5% of women actually deliver on the official due date. Time will tell!

Cravings are still pizza and mexican these days with exhaustion and acid reflux being my main symptoms. I feel pretty great though! The dogs are getting used to me coming straight home and napping on the couch with them for an hour. No complaints here!

Take a look at Baby Hahn at 19 weeks and 3 days:

This first shot is a profile picture of the face, forehead at the top left, with the little eye and cheek to follow toward the right.

The second set of pictures is another profile picture followed by a great shot of the spine.

Absolutely in love with this baby already!

17 Week Belly shot

2009-05-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

Here's my 17 week belly picture. Depending on what I'm wearing, I actually think I look pregnant to other people. Still, most of the time, it just looks like too much pizza consumption. Two more weeks until the next ultrasound!!

Baby Hahn-16 week appointment

2009-05-21T20:19:00.000-04:00

I had a doctor's appointment this week where everything checked out great. My blood pressure was stellar, weight gain doing alright, and the baby's heartbeat was 144bpm. Doctor said 144 is "perfect" for 16 weeks.

Funny story about the Doppler reading. So I was laying on the scary table in the doctor's office and the nurse got out the Doppler to check the baby's heartbeat. She put the gel on the microphone part of the Doppler and then touched it to my belly. Right away we heard this big thump, like someone had taken their fingers and flicked the microphone at a sound check. I asked her what that was and she said the baby kicked the microphone! I guess this baby is like Daddy...needs his/her own time in the morning before being disturbed! ha! What a sweet sound when I finally got to hear that heartbeat though. Nothing can compare!

I have felt SO much better the past week and a half. The nausea is pretty much history, with my biggest symptoms being exhaustion and hunger, with some severe heart burn. I am not complaining about any of that though! I'll take any of those over nausea ANY day of the week!

I go back to the doctor on June 9th for an ultrasound, where we COULD find out the sex of the baby...but we WONT :). I already told the doctor a million times that we wanted to wait until the birth to know whether we are having a boy or girl. I threatened to make a puffy paint shirt just to remind them during the ultrasound. Hopefully it wont come to that!

More to come!

Belly Shot...Reluctantly!

2009-05-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

Here's my 15 week belly shot. I post this reluctantly, as I think I look HORRIBLE in the pics. I still feel like I just look chunky instead of pregnant, but I have gotten multiple requests from out of town folks for the update, so here you go! Please pretend that I dont look as exhausted as I feel!

Baby Hahn due November 1st!!

2009-05-03T16:48:00.000-04:00

Here's Baby Hahn at 12 weeks and 1 day!

I'm pregnant!! Andy and I are ELATED to announce that we are expecting a baby this fall, November 1st to be exact. I hope to use this blog to update all of our family and friends on the progress of the baby and what's going on during this exciting time.

I'm just starting week 15 today and I have to say I have been looking forward to this point in the pregnancy. I was sick, dog sick, from week 6 until last week. I still have my moments, but the worst has passed for now. I havent had too weird of cravings...pot pie with honey on it was probably my craziest. These days I want a lot of pizza and last week I could not get enough Taco Bell. My only aversion is to lunch meats. I can barely stomach to watch a Subway commercial, let alone see or smell it. I do remember days back in week 7ish when I couldnt even turn on the TV. The restaurant commercials made me run to the bathroom to get sick! It was pretty bad. Now I have it pretty figured out where I have to avoid. I still cant cook much though. Having the smells linger in the house is too much for me at this point.

We arent going to find out the sex of the baby before he/she is born. Andy and I both want to be surprised. We are tossing around names and are pretty set on one boy name and one girl name, but the middle names are up in the air. Of course, those are a secret too! Sorry! I know, we are no fun.

I look forward to recording this journey and am ready to start enjoying this pregnancy...now that the nausea is subsiding. I'll post a belly shot soon, as there's not much to see right now. I just look a little chubby! :)

Have a great week everyone!

More Taflinger Pics

2009-02-01T19:04:00.001-05:00

Travis and Lisa's boys: Micah is the new baby and Caleb is the big brother.

Micah John Taflinger

2009-02-01T18:47:00.001-05:00

Andy and I went to see Lisa and Travis' baby, Micah, today. He was the world's best baby! He slept nearly the entire time and only cried once when Lisa was changing him. Andy and I already ordered one just like him :).

Here are some pictures!

Holiday Season

2009-01-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures I just downloaded from my camera. Better late than never, right?!

This is a picture of me and my best friend Angie. She hates having her picture taken, can you tell?!

This was taken at Buca di Beppo's on my 26th birthday (Dec. 30, 2008).

Left to Right: Shauna (my little sister), Andy, me, Shaelyn (my older sister), Jeremiah (Shaelyn's husband, my brother-in-law), Michael (my brother)...taken on Christmas morning at my parents.

I'm trying to get better at these blog updates! Have a great week!

Christmas Time!

2008-12-11T21:07:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I absolutely love this time of year. It is so busy and hectic, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I spent the afternoon doing some Christmas shopping and wrapping presents. I still have a few secret projects to finish before Christmas gets here, but I'm sure they'll come together in time.

Here are a couple pictures of our house decorated for Christmas! Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS

everyone!

1 Year Anniversary

2008-09-12T09:22:00.000-04:00

Andy and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary last week! We spent last Tuesday reflecting on all we have accomplished in a year, all the changes that have taken place, and celebrating our marriage. We went to Maggiano's in Keystone, one of my favorite restaurants, for dinner and wine. It was POURING down rain that night, left over from all the hurricanes, so it took us awhile to get to the restaurant. We were so glad the weather on September 2, 2007 was not like it was in 2008!

After dinner, we headed home to have cake an do the gift thing. The place we ordered our wedding cake from had a cool offer at the time we ordered for our wedding. They said they would bake us an anniversary cake for our 1 year so that we wouldnt have to worry about freezing the top layer and eating year-old cake. Sounded good to me, so we didnt freeze our wedding cake. Well, as luck would have it, the cake place went out of business about a month ago, so we didnt get our anniversary cake! Bummer! So, I ended up baking us a cake to celebrate. I put in little love messages under the icing that Andy had to find and open. Andy seemed to like the idea!

To continue our celebration, we took a long weekend and went to DC. Andy had gotten us a West Wing tour at the White House, which was such a cool experience. I wont bore you with explanations...take a look at our pics!

The Whirlwind

2008-07-30T08:17:00.000-04:00

Where do I start? From my last post, you know that Andy and I were headed to Florida to go see his Grandpa Warren. Well, we got down to Florida on the 17th, arriving at the hospice center about 10pm or so. We got to see Warren, hold his hand, and talk to him, though Warren's eyes were closed and he was in and out of it. He did squeeze our hands a few times and seemed to know we were there. We left the hospice center a little after midnight and went to bed. Around 3:30am, hospice called and said he had passed away. How can you not see the Lord in a situation like that? We are so thankful to have gotten to say goodbye one last time.

We stayed in Florida for the services down there on the 23rd with plans to fly back on the 24th. I got really sick on the night of the 23rd and couldnt fly the next day as planned. With the Brickyard in town, we couldnt get a flight out until Saturday. So, I stayed in bed all day on Thursday and took some antibiotics I had called in.

We got back in town on Saturday night and were so glad to be back in our own bed for a good night's sleep. On Sunday, we went to go see my brother in the hospital since he had back surgery on the 25th, Friday. Back to work on Monday, then the viewing in Carmel (Indy) on Tuesday (yesterday) and the funeral today. Can you see why this post is titled "The Whirlwind"?! July has been pretty hectic. I hope August is a little calmer!

Love in our Lives

2008-07-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

As I sit here in my own little world, a smile comes to my face. Life is somewhat chaotic right now for us around the Hahn house, yet still I smile.

Andy and I are flying to Florida this Thursday as we rush to his Grandpa Warren's bedside, forced to say goodbye before we are ready. It's a really sad time, but one we must push through and face together. This will be a really tough weekend so we ask for your prayers.

Along the same lines, Angie, my best friend since childhood, has just rushed to the hospital to be by her grandpa's bedside, to say some goodbyes of her own. Her family is really in need of prayers as well.

Yet, through all this despair, I smile. Why? I have Angie's two precious girls asleep in my room. Her oldest is 2 and her youngest is 14 months. They make me laugh every time I am with them. Tonight's funny story involves Rylan, Angie's oldest. Angie and I were getting the girls ready for bed when we heard Rylan knocking on the bathroom door. Well, to set the scene, Angie and I were in the hall with Cally and Rylan was knocking because she was stuck in the bathroom. My house is really old and has the old style of keys that only fit one door, so the keys are not inter-changable. I bent down and asked Rylan to stand under the window by the "big girl potty" so that she would be away from the door. I jiggled it a little and nothing happened. I went to search for a key, not even knowing if one exists! No dice there. We tried to coach Rylan to unlock the door herself, but it was stuck. I tried pliers, a screwdriver...everything. This door was not opening. So I again looked under the bottom of the door to make sure Rylan was by the big girl potty, and I, with Angie's help, busted the door down. I went COPS on that door, but it worked. Wood pieces and the metal plate went flying, but the door came open. I waited for Rylan's reaction and she just looked at me and smiled that beautiful smile and said, "Simmer made a mess". It was so stinkin' funny I busted out laughing! I want a dozen just like her :).

More Flood Pictures

2008-07-01T21:16:00.001-04:00

A view from Angie's house of my lake house as the flood waters begin to receed.

This is the neighbor just to the west of us. His house, like ours, became an island.
Ben is standing on the edge of the normal shoreline. Take a look at the table and chairs to the right of the picture.
That rectangular image in the upper left is a boat lift. That usually sits several feet well above water.

Flood 2008

2008-07-01T20:42:00.000-04:00

Here is a neighbor's garage completely full of water.
Neighbor's house with flood damage.
Here's a view from our upstairs balcony. The front of the boatlift is usually at the waterline. That's our deck floating in the front yard.
Here's Angie's (my best friend) husband Ben kayaking in the front yard!
This picture is blurry, but that's our front patio, as the flood waters creep up.

As most people know, central and southern Indiana had major flooding a few weeks ago. My family was unfortunate to experience the flooding first-hand. Our house had very minimal flooding in our basement, enough to have to pick up the boxes off the floor and get everything up onto tables and shelves. We also had water pouring in our dining room window. It was so weird the way it was just streaming down the wall. We couldn't even catch it in buckets as it was nearly flush with the wall. Come to find out, our gutter had separated from the house during the storms so the water was streaming down the roof and catching the lip of the window, so it just came right in the house. All we could do was throw towels at it!

My parents' houses were damaged more severely than ours. They live in Greenwood, just south of Indy, where flooding was major. Their basement had several inches of water, so furniture was damaged and carpet ruined (their basement is finished, whereas ours is unfinished). My parents also own a lake house on Lake Lemon in Brown County that had record-breaking flood damage.

The pictures above are from the lake. Those of you who have been down there can see how high the lake rose. It surrounded our house and then came inside, causing a lot of damage. The watermarks on the wall and the fireplace are several feet up. Thank goodness my best friend Angie and her family are living at the lake this summer so they were able to do some damage control for us, lessening the blow at least. At one point, Angie went in and our outlets were smoking due to electrical shorts, so her husband found the breaker and shut the power off. Had they not been there, our house could have easily caught fire. Scary thought.

Needless to say, these last few weekends have been filled with trips to the lake to work on the damage. Reconstruction is pretty much at a close, so hopefully this 4th of July will be a weekend full of boating and fun, instead of cleaning! Have a safe and happy 4th!

Updates, updates, updates!

2008-05-28T20:08:00.000-04:00

I was getting haggled today about not posting any updates, so here you go! First, Andy's Grandpa Warren is set to be transferred to a rehab facility today or tomorrow. Praise the Lord! He was so touch and go when we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago that we weren't sure if we were saying goodbye for good when we left for home. But alas, we get more time with Grandpa Warren. Take time today to count your blessings and tell your family that you love them!

Second, prayers have been answered again on my job front. I got my job at Emmis Radio!! I'll be the new Government Affairs Manager. I am so excited that words can't begin to describe my sentiment. I start on June 9th. I've been using this new opportunity as an excuse to "shop for new work clothes", which means I have some great new outfits coming in the door.

That's about it for now. I'll catch up with you all later. Have a great week!

Grandpa Warren

2008-05-15T16:43:00.000-04:00

This past Thursday, Andy and I flew to Florida in a hurry when we heard Andy's Grandpa Warren was not doing well after open heart surgery. The prognosis is not good, but Warren continues to hang on. It was very difficult for us to return to Indiana, but we had to get back to work. Please PRAY for Warren and the family!

Visit with the Taflingers

2008-05-06T22:39:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday, my old college roommate, Lisa, and her husband came over for lunch. Travis and Lisa have one of the cutest kids I've ever seen, Caleb. Andy and I had a great time showing them our new house and catching up on life. Though the Taflingers only live in Kokomo, which isnt THAT far away, we dont get to see them much. Caleb is at such a fun age! He was so curious about everything! As soon as I hooked him up with a pot and stirring spoon, he was good to go!

As most of you know, I am currently tutoring kids with autism, which has taught me a whole lot about myself and about the kind of mom I want to be someday. For some people, working with kids delays the yearning to have kids of your own, but such is not the case for me. Being with kids everyday, and then spending time with Caleb this past Sunday, only reinforces my strong yearning for kids of my own. Sappy, I know, but I am so baby crazy! I cant help it! ha! We're not planning for kids just yet, but hopefully next year we'll have news on that front.

Here I am holding Caleb. I need a tan! Wow. But Caleb looks so adorable!

Lisa, Caleb and me.

Our Home

2008-05-04T19:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to a preview of our new home! We are finally settled in and loving every minute of our life together. If I had the before pictures of what this place looked like before major renovations, I'd post them, but they are all on my mom's camera. We went from living in the 1960s, with layers of floral wallpaper and shag carpet to a modern bungalow. Take a look!

Love, Sember and Andy (and Liberty and Justice)