Father's Day 2012

Today was Andrew's first Father's Day and we actually got to spend it together!! I love watching Zoe and Andrew together. The way she looks at him and smiles every time he walks into the room just reminds me of the love I shared with my dad. Oh, how I wish he was here to love on her!
My mom and Granny left this morning after our breakfast at IHOP, and then we were off to church. I think Zoe has more teeth coming through so she has made us earn our keep today! Whew! She's finally asleep so I took the chance to get some housework done so I can give her my full attention tomorrow.

This week Zoe has done so well with her signing. We've been doing sign language with her pretty much ever since she was born, and she is finally catching on! Just this week she has done Mommy, Daddy, more, and milk. She is so smart! I don't know where she gets it! ha.

Here's a pic of Z signing Daddy. Perfect Father's day present!

Attention prayer warriors...

My heart is braking for a precious 2 year old boy named Copeland and his parents. We met them while we lived in AZ and they moved to GA the year before we moved to OK. We still keep in touch and last week Copeland's heart stopped. God chose to bring him back but he is in critical care in the hospital while the professionals are trying to figure out why this happened. He had surgery yesterday where they placed a defibrillator in his tiny chest. His parents are STRONG believers and it is so inspiring to read his daddy's blog. They are prepared to live and to rejoice in whatever the outcome. They still don't know if any brain damage occurred but they have had glimpses of hope that he's going to wake up and be his normal self. Please help me pray for this little boy and his parents. I cannot, nor do I want to imagine what they're going through. Whatever God's will, He has already received the glory. Thank you Jesus for the precious life of our babies. May we not take one second for granted.

Ranch Recipe

I figured out the best ranch dressing recipe today and I just had to share. You can customize this to your own taste but this is what I used...
(I don't measure so I estimated it)

2-2 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1-2 Tbsp mayo
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp fresh chives
1 Tbsp fresh dill
1/2 package Ranch seasoning mix
dash of Franks hot sauce

Mix all together and store in fridge covered. I used a mason jar!
You've GOT to try this!

A Day in the Life: Day 2

June 2, 2012: Zoe did NOT sleep very well and ended up in the bed with us all night. We got up around 7:45 and right after I had my coffee we began painting Zoe's room!

  

 After I taped off the room I fed Zoe her breakfast which consisted of berries and cereal! And of coarse, bananas!!

Zoe is 9 months old today!! I can't believe it! She is such a joy!

 

Daddy and Zoe went out for a little walk while I finished rinsing out paint brushes from the ceiling paint.

 

For dinner I made Dijon crusted Salmon, green beans and corn on the cob. It was yummo!!

 

Never mind my fancy china;)

 

After dinner we all hung out and watched...the office! What else?! We were waiting for Zoe to go to bed so we could finish painting. At this point we had only finished priming and painting the ceiling. We still had to paint the color which is "dusky lilac" with "urban sunrise" stripes on one wall. 

We THOUGHT we were in the clear around 8 when I laid Zoe down...wrong!!! As soon as I told Andrew to get the paint ready and right before we opened the paint we heard this little cry coming from our bedroom. Needless to say, we didn't finish painting tonight:( bummer! Z decided she was going to fight us all night so after I had done my share of fighting Andrew was tagged in. Around 11 she finally was asleep and by then Andrew had me into this movie on TV so it was a late night! WHEW!

A Day in the Life: Day 1

So I thought I would get back to my blogging this month by doing "a day in the life." So June 1, here we go!

Zoe slept til 5 something which is way better than usual! After putting her back in the bed with us she slept til 7:30-ish. We then got up and started our day! Zoe played while I worked on my newest side gig...online garage sale! Our community has an online garage sale on fb and lately I've been busy with buying/selling! We had breakfast then played some more! Zoe took her morning nap in the truck while I was out meeting some fellow fb garage sale members. I got these fabulous frames that I'm in love with! I can't wait to hang them up! I will let you know what I decide to do with them!

For lunch today we tried a new food...Spinach! Zoe loved it! And, of course no meal is complete for her without bananas!

While cleaning the kitchen, I realized that child proofing is in our near future...

 

If the TV is on during the day and Mickey Mouse clubhouse isn't on, then this is! I love me some Food Network. I could watch people cook all day! It soothes me!

                                                            

                                                               4:45- Daddy's home!!

After a quick nap for Z, I had to go meet another fb member, then we went to Lowe's for some paint! Zoe helped pick out her new bedroom color!

                                                       This girl loves to shop!...anywhere!

We got home around 7:30 and Zoe got a bath. After wrestling for about an hour she finally went to sleep!

Our evening ritual is usually "the office." Skip to 10:30-ish and a few episodes later it was lights out for the Hays family:)

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, I've been a little preoccupied! The last 10 weeks have been great! Zoe is doing wonderfully! She is growing fast and just when I think she can's get any prettier, she does!

We're in OKC now looking for a house. We'll be here for another week and hopefully we will have a house before we leave! Please say a prayer! Then we're headed back to Phoenix just to pack up our house and leave again, this time for good!! Can't wait to start our life in Oklahoma!

Zoe is Here!

September 2, 2011 at 4:34pm, miss Zoe Blair Hays made her debut into the world. I started having contractions on Thursday afternoon around 2 and by 6 or so that evening we were on our way to the hospital. I still wasn't sure if I was in real labor or not so it didn't really sink in that we were having a baby just yet. We got to triage and I was 4 cm dilated. An hour later I was at 5 cm so they decided to keep me. We got set up in the room and shortly after that the epidural was in place and we were ready! Zoe, on the other hand, wasn't quite ready yet! I stopped progressing after the epidural and was stuck at 6 cm for several hours. My doctor came in around 7:30 Friday morning to see me and I was still at 6 cm. Fast forward to around 1-ish...still at 6. My doctor decided to start an internal monitor to monitor my contractions better and see if we needed an alternate route. We prayed and prayed for progress and about 30 minutes later my doctor came in to check before putting the monitor in and I had progressed to 9 cm!! Praise the Lord! No internal monitor needed, it was almost time to start pushing! They started prepping the room and my nurse began teaching me how to push. I started pushing on Friday around 2:30pm and at 4:34pm Zoe was born! It was the hardest workout of my life, for which I am still recovering, but I would do it all over again to have that sweet baby in my arms! She is so precious to us! She weighed in at 9lb 4oz and was 21in long. We are two very proud and excited parents!

Thank you to all our family and friends who were praying and thinking about us during this time. I'm so glad to be home and although I'm not quite back to normal yet, I'm loving being Zoe's mom. And for those wondering, Andrew has been great! He never left my side through the whole thing and he even changed all the diapers while we were in the hospital. This little girl has him wrapped for sure!!! I love it!