If there was ever a doubt...

Caleb,

This week we quickly say goodbye to Week 20 and hello to Week 21. Its all downhill from here...time-wise that is. 19 more weeks to go til our bouncing baby boy enters this wonderful world of awaiting Star Wars toys, and a teddy bear named Patches McHugglesworth. And don't forget the countless aunts, uncles, cousins, two loving parents, 1 dog, and 4 cats. Oh, the names you will have to remember my son. Lets just hope, for my style choice, you are a Superman fan and not scared of Darth Vader. Your Mommy wouldn't agree to Anakin as a name, so you have her to thank for that. However, the low hum of a "lightsaber" awaits you as you wait out your time until you enter this world, not "a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." We'll see you very soon, Caleb. We love you!

Daddy

Dr's visits, an ultrasound, and a Blue cast.

Today was both a very tough and exciting day as well. After so much drama over the weekend with my foot and ankle, we scheduled a Dr's appointment for early Tuesday for the Orthopedist. Tammy and I were both off due to the day's events. So Tuesday morning, Tammy and I began the day with much hope of what the day might hold.
While in the "ortho" office, I had to get a few more X-rays. After a few more minutes, we found out "The Boot" wasn't quite helping out the way the Dr had expected and after a bit of discussion, we opted for a cast. Now was the time for our first big decision of the day. "What color would you like on your cast?", was the question up for debate. My options were pink, hot pink, blue, or black. Now personally, and if Tammy wouldn't have been there,I would have been the hot pink. But a minute later, I was told I would much rather like "Auburn" blue. So here I sit, foot and cast elevated in a nice blue cast.
After a bit of errands and some lunch, we FINALLY made it home for a little "R&R" before our biggest Dr visit yet.
With much anticipation, we met our dear driend Laurie at the Women's Center. After what felt like an eternity, our name was called and we excitedly hurried (as best I could with crutches) to the Ultrasound room. Our tech, Sonia, was super excited and we all had a great time while learning the sex of our dear "Little One"
Included with this post, you will see a couple of pictures of our baby laid back and resting comfortably. And the last picture will be evidence of what can be expected from the Hannah's when we come to visit. By the way, we also settled on a middle name for our little one. And wouldnt you know it, it wasn't even one of the ones we had posted in the poll. Go figure!!! Our baby isn't even born yet and already, we are being caught off guard.







Please join us in welcoming to the Hannah family our SON, Caleb Mackenzie Hannah.

Our Baby's Middle name, if a boy...

Please add your vote to the "Help us give Baby Hannah a middle name" poll. If its a boy that is. If you have other ideas for a middle name that aren't listed, use the other selection and send us your idea for that middle name in a comment to this post. We have settled on the first name Caleb and are stuck on the middle name. HELP!!!

Tammy and I enjoyed a great day yesterday in celebrating the "Mommy-to-be's" 35th birthday. We started out the day with lunch at the H.B. Japanese Steakhouse. They were very nice and even sang "Happy Birthday" to Tammy. We plan to take our family from Pennsylvania there when they come to visit Baby Hannah in March. They have never been to a Japanese Steakhouse before.


After lunch, we took a short drive to pick up a very dear friend, who I will introduce you to later. We spent the rest of the day shopping. Since my foot has been so swollen, she went and picked up a wheelchair, and we spent 4 hours or so hitting various shops at the Woodlands Mall.
I would now like to introduce you to a very dear friend of ours. Mr. Patches McHugglesworth was created with lots of love and hugs at the Woodlands branch of the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Tammy and I plan on introducing him to our little one some time in Feb. Mr. McHugglesworth has a special purple heart which Tammy and I kissed and inserted into "Patches" in the hopes of his becoming our baby's dearest and closest friend throughout childhood. The reason Patches is so special is because a $2 donation that was made in the purchase to help finance Childrens Cancer research $1 for the special "purple heart" and $1 for the bear.

Here are pics of Steve riding the motorized cart at Costco. What a pair we are. With me being pregnant, I cannot lift much, and Steve cannot walk. So we now have 3 cases of water in the car preparing for Tropical Storm Humberto. Neither one of us can bring them up the stairs. We will have to break them down. When it is time for a house, I really want a one story.

Welcome to the beginning of Week 18. At the last Dr. visit, we received some GREAT news. In 1 week, we will find out whether Baby Hannah will be "Daddy's Little Girl" or "Momma's Little Slugger". Make sure to check back next week for a picture and help us welcome our little one into the "gender" world.
Tammy had a little bit of trouble with her blood pressure again this visit and unfortunately this week, Steve hasn't been helping things in that department.
We started off Week 18 in the Emergency Room, getting X-rays of Steve's foot and ankle. *note to self* Next time you are coming downstairs from the loft, move the "baby/keep Rylee out of the catfood in the loft" gate instead of trying to climb over it...especially on the stairs. Steve's doing just fine with the exception of a sprained foot. No breaks! However, the use of "The Boot" will continue for the next two weeks. *sigh*
Tammy and Baby Hannah are doing well this week, with the exception of some very sleepy, early evenings. She began her "Fit for Two" class Monday at the YMCA, where she will learn all sorts of helpful things in preparing for our little arrival. Both of us have made promises to each other regarding the past weeks events. I, Steve, promise to not take stupid risks, such as climbing over a Baby Gate on the stairs, and potentially turning Tammy into a "widow" (her words). And Tammy promised to get her blood pressure down by frequenting the gym in the "Fit for Two" classes (three times a week),and some extracurricular activity in the YMCA. Please continue to pray for both of us, especially Tammy and Baby Hannah, throughout this pregnancy. See you next week with some wonderful news as well as pictures of our little one, provided he/she doesn't play the role of our little "SHY" one.

Week 16 and 17 Updates

The last 4 weeks have been something! It started out with a good OB appt because we got to see Baby Hannah. At that time Tammy had a sore throat, a bad sinus headache that turned into a full blown sinus infection, and pink eye. So for 10 days she had to take her horse pill-prenatal vitamin, a horrible antibiotic, Claritin-D and eye drops. What a loooong 10 days. She grilled the doctor and the pharmacist to make sure that all of these medications were safe. You always hear that you cannot take anything when you are pregnant. After finishing the eye drops, her eyes still did not look clear. Tammy went back to the doctor to have her eyes checked out and another sore throat from sinus drainage. The doctor said that it looked like this was all allergy related and said to start on a daily Claritin. That definitely helped with the sore throat and drainage. She is now seeing why they put this over the counter. It is pretty good stuff. She was very surprised when she had to use her drivers licence to purchase the Claritin-D from behind the pharmacy counter. We had no idea that it was restricted that much.


Today we are 17 weeks pregnant and had another routine OB appt. We got to hear the heartbeat in the office (148 bpm) and found out that Tammy had to have more blood drawn. We thought that the last screen was for all of the 1st trimester birth defects. It turns out, it was only for a portion. We will need to ask the doctor again what exactly the last blood tests were for. We know they checked the thickness of the neck via ultrasound and determined it was normal. The screen today is for neural tube defects.

We go back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound appointment in which we hope to see if the baby will be named Mackenzie Lynn - if she is a girl and Caleb ? if he is a boy. We are stuck on finding a middle name for a boy we both like. We are considering Caleb Ashton, Caleb Alexander and Caleb Stephen. Any ideas? Feel free to post a comment to help us out. Tammy's mom's advise was that we should remember the child will grow up with this name, have to live with it and have to learn how to spell it.

We spent Labor Day weekend with our family in Mobile, AL. We had a nice visit. Steve's Dad is doing better after the fall he took a few weeks ago. Can't wait to see Baby Hannah spend time with Mimi, Grandpa, Aunt Brandi, Uncle Chris and Cousin Carter.

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