Thanksgiving 2014

This year was a little unusual in the Hayes house because for the first time ever, we were able to host a holiday in our home and celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma Husker.  It's been many years since we've celebrated a holiday with them on the real holiday - so long in fact that I don't think I can recall when it was (college maybe?!?) so this was a nice change.  Although I suppose it's not really hosting if Grandma still does all the cooking (minus Scott's famous grilled turkey) but we hosted in theory.  And I'm sure the ability to grill a turkey outside in a t-shirt was a nice treat for them as well.

Katie helped Grandma with the pumpkin pies (making AND eating)...

Grandpa and Scott held down the patio and watched football outside while the turkey was grilling...

Scott and his world famous grilled turkey...

This world famous grilled turkey presented Grandma with quite the gravy challenge.  She'd never made gravy like this before.  I actually heard her utter the words "I don't know if I can do this" right before I snapped this photo.

 And I am happy to report that her gravy turned out to be most EXCELLENT.

Bowling with Grandpa Huxter

After Auntie and Mommy took Natalie bowling earlier in the year, lil Miss Natalie started talking smack to her Grandpa.  So when he came to visit, we went bowling. This time she actually wore the bowling shoes!

Here goes Little Miss "I don't need any help!"

Well look at that -- she got em all!

High-fives from Grandpa!

39.5 weeks later, it's... ANOTHER girl!

After a false alarm trip to the hospital a week earlier followed by a full week of contractions, Eloise Ann Hayes was born on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 10:20am.  She weighed in at 8lbs, 12 oz and measured 20.5" long.

Hanging out in triage waiting for a room.

With the help of some fantastic nurses and doctors, we were surprised and delighted to welcome another baby girl into our family! She arrived healthy and was instantly happy to hear her daddy's voice.

 

When we were initially admitted to the hospital bright and early on Tuesday AM, the doctor on-call was one in the practice that I had not seen before.  She was great.  She took time to make us both aware of the risks associated with having what everyone believed would be an exceptionally large baby.  We decided to proceed with a natural birth despite the risks.  Before the doctor left at 7am, she came back into our room to chat and say goodbye.  Before she left, she came over to me and began squeezing and manipulating my belly.  She said "No. No. There's no way that's a 9lb baby.  That baby is 8lbs 12oz."  We all laughed but Scott was smart and wrote it down on the board in the room.  She introduced me to the doctor replacing her, wished us luck and went home.

A little more than three hours later we learned that she was right on the money: 8lb 12oz.

That afternoon, Grandpa Huxter and Grandma Becky came to the hospital with Natalie.  As I moved Eloise over on my lap to show her to Natalie, I asked if she was happy to meet her new sister.  She looked at me and with sad eyes and in a very serious, but quiet, voice she said "But mommy, I wanted a brother..."

 

We went home on Thursday afternoon to a very eager Grandpa and Grandma.

The pregnant (and laboring) brewer

On November 10, we headed to the hospital in the middle of the night.  Scott was reluctant to go (Have you ever tried to convince an engineer that you are in labor and need to go to the hospital in the middle of the night?!?!?  It's not easy.)  but between the doctor telling us to go and Grandma Becky telling him she was a nurse but doesn't deliver babies, he started grabbing his bags.

When we arrived, I was hooked up to monitors in triage and, after walking around the hospital for a few hours in the middle of the night, they sent us home with the following advice:  "You are dilated but not dilated enough.  You are having real contractions but they are not strong enough.  Come back when it really hurts."

I nearly cried.

Actually, I think I did.  It takes a brave person to utter those words to a woman who is 38-weeks pregnant with a baby that is measuring in the 97th percentile.  I know for sure that I pouted on my way out the door and all the way back out to the car and we rode home in complete silence.  I waited for the "told you so" to come but thankfully, it never did.

I began my unofficial maternity leave from work the next day and began walking around the neighborhood trying (desperately) to get the baby train rolling.  After all, I already had my babysitters in town ready and waiting to help out with the kids and new baby.  For the next week or so, I had contractions on and off and on and off but nothing happened.

November 15: a few days after being sent home.

The following Monday I had another doctor appointment.  Yup, still dilated.  Yup, baby is still big and healthy.  The doc predicted baby would arrive in 24-48 hours. I think I heard angels singing in the background on my way out the door.

Scott got home from work on Wednesday evening and suggests that we bottle the beer that was brewed nearly a month prior.  The beer is an amber.  It's based on the same recipe I use to brew the Poore Pumpkin Amber but without any of the pumpkin or spices. I had never brewed it before but figured if the pumpkin version I modified came out good then the unmodified version should be a solid amber.

So we begin to bottle our brew around 9pm.

Meanwhile, I had been having contractions that are 7-minutes apart for over an hour.  But are they enough to go back to the hospital?!?!  I decide they are probably not.

By the time we are done bottling, my contractions have intensified a bit and are now 5-minutes apart.  Everyone goes to bed except Scott who is awake at the computer.  I texted him every 4 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore.  We called the doctors and they said yes (again), so we packed it up and snuck out of the house around 1am and headed to the hospital.

Eloise Ann was born at 10:20 am.

What about the beer?  We named it the Eloise Annber.

NASCAR at Phoenix International Raceway

Scott won two tickets in a raffle at work to the NASCAR race at Phoenix International Raceway and he took Katie to the race with him.