Introducing:

STELLA JANE HAFEN!

12.16.09

Major Catch Up!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hello to my 3 readers left! (Yeah, even my own mother stopped visiting... go figure!) ;)

Since I am being induced TOMORROW (!) I thought I better do a quick update of the last couple months. So hunker down and prepare for some disorganized randomness!

We found a crazy old turtle at the park. It was wandering around the parking lot and I was scared that it would end up road kill, so I decided to take it home ... (seriously Bree?!) Of course Luke loved it and named it "Master Oogway" (Kung Fu Panda is his recent fave...) Unfortunately, from the animal shelter to the ASPCA, NO ONE would help me, so we ended up just letting it go in a pond near our house.
Logan and Dave have been spending a lot of time in Dallas lately! (yay!) Dave is training for several weeks here, so I have been the lucky beneficiary of lots of sisterly love - and help! We took them to the Fort Worth Zoo one of the first weeks they were here:
Kindred spirits.Look at the freaky skinny antelope thingys. These were pretty amazing!Of course, in thousands of acres of amazing wildlife... the train is the most exciting part!
Not long after our zoo trip, I started having early labor pains. I went to the hospital and sure enough, I was having contractions. They put me on bed rest for two weeks so I could reach full term before any more action. (Sounds funny now that I'm 39 weeks and still hoofin' this belly around, doesn't it!) Luke and I watched a lot of movies!
I was waited on hand and (mostly) foot by my amazing mom and sister!
And Dan was, of course, the amazing husband. Here's one of the art projects he made with Luke (honestly, there was no coaching from me! I was asleep in our room this whole time!)
He also took Luke on a few rides to give me some quiet resting time. Whatta man.
The week I was back up and about, it actually snowed in Dallas! Luke was in hog heaven, whatever that means.
The launch...
The catch...
The eat!
The following week (still preggers...) I convinced Dan to go deer hunting with some co-workers - SURE Murphy's law would assure I went into labor the minute he left (ah well, it was worth a try.) Luke and I decided to brave the VERY cold and hit up Frisco's "Merry Main Street"
My little elf!
He's seen about 6 Santa's so far, but the novelty doesn't wear off. Too bad he's not a little more shy- I've had to endure some pretty nasty glares from other moms as my child plows everyone else down to get in the big guys lap. He's asking for the "sword game" this year (a.k.a. A Wii with the fencing game that he begs me 46 times a day to go play at Best Buy... The staff there now knows him by name.)

When I finally decided that this baby was never going to come, and stopped counting each contraction (which have been more or less constant for 4 weeks now...) I decided to just enjoy the last days that Luke would be my only child. We've spent the days doing all his favorite things- cooking, walks, parks, "Chicken Donalds" (McDonalds), Best Buy trips, cuddling to Kung Fu Panda, co-baths (yes, I know he's getting a little old,) mall trips, and lots of role playing. He's such a sweet boy, and I know I will miss these days of being alone together.
Most recently, ADA - the studio I teach at - presented their annual Nutcracker. Some close friends and I were thrilled to go Saturday night and see the show. They were beautiful, as always!
My little sweeties. These girls are the best! I asked them to touch my belly and try to transfer some ballerina energy into the womb. She. MUST. love. dance.

SO- HAPPY HOLIDAYS for now since - lets be honest - it may be a few months until my next post... and wish me luck. Little baby girl Hafen should be here within the next 2 days!

Happy Halloweener

Y'ALL

Pumpkins!

It finally cleared up enough for us to visit a (still very muddy) pumpkin patch.
My growing boy!
Can I hear a "CHOO CHOO!"?
Or a "BEEP BEEP!"?
I can't believe he didn't barf... There were bounce houses too, but I didn't get any good shots. It was the perfect practice arena for Luke's new Kung Fu moves (sorry Ben and Matt!)
I always knew he was a little ghoulish.
Luke's new favorite movie is Kung Fu Panda (hence the Kung Fu moves stated above^)
At home, I am always deemed "Master Tigress" and Luke is, of course, the Dragon Warrior. Too bad he can't use me for much practice... that's saved for when Daddy gets home at night.

(Photos courtesy HAFENSTATION!)
We carved with John and Brianne while the boys "helped"... hmmm, funny they don't seem to be anywhere around... they DID stick around for the scooping of the guts, however.

Well, as much as I wanted to paint my round tummy and BE a pumpkin for Halloween (NOT!) I decided to settle on carving a couple instead.

Yes, that's my 2-year-old son with a lighter.

Can't remember why he was shirtless, but I'm pretty sure he's the cutest pumpkin of all!

The best shot I got of the finished product. Promised Dan I wouldn't mention that he carved the middle one in honor of Edward and Bella. Oops.

Vote for Luke!

SO, I had the crazy idea to submit a few photos of Luke into the GAP CASTING CALL! Obviously I think he's the cutest boy to ever walk the earth... but who knows if they'll agree!

However, the child that gets the most fan favorite votes also gets some cool prizes. So VOTE FOR LUKE! (And I promise he'll do 'ya proud!) You can vote once each day. (The link may take a minute or two to work...)

By the way, for voting you can receive coupons for 20% off your entire purchase at any Gap store.

THANKS GUYS!

Singing the (no)Napping Blues...

(Dan and Luke enjoying the second session of conference!)

Calling all mom's!

I need some help. Luke is going through the ever dreaded transition out of naphood (dun dun DUN!) He's almost 3, so I guess it's not extremely early for this to happen... but much earlier than I would have allowed if given a choice.

I would customarily put him down right after lunchtime. About 2 months ago he really started fighting it and would not fall asleep until about 2:30 or 3:00. I learned quickly and pushed back nap time to 2:30 or 3:00 when I knew he would actually fall asleep. The only problem then is that he would wake up around 4:30 or 5:00pm and not be tired enough to go to sleep for the night until 10:00pm at the earliest!! Gah! We lived through that for a while because it was summer, Dan didn't get home until 7ish anyway, so having those extra hours at night was OK for the time being.

So, now I feel like I'd much rather him go to bed at 7:30pm-ish and wake up at 8:30am-ish - which is what happens if he doesn't take any sort of nap. There are two problems for which I need your expert advice:

1. I (we) still desperately need some sort of a break in the afternoon from him (each other.) We've tried a few unsuccessful quiet times-- I feel it's because he is just still too young to entertain himself in his room for a great stretch of time. We got a "quiet time timer" to set, and even some strictly "quiet time toys" which seemed to help a little... but still, about 10-15 minutes into it, he's banging at the door to come downstairs. I really don't want him in front of the TV for a long stretch of time every day, so I just don't know what to do!

2. If I give him no nap, about 4:30 he hits a wall and gets very cranky and tired. If we're in the car he'll just conk out. Some days that crankiness will last until bedtime at 7:30 or 8, and by then I want to hurt people - specifically him. Any thoughts?

Thanks for taking pity on a first-time mom. I would love to hear any ideas that worked for you!

How do you spell LUST?

M-A-D-S-E-N!

Aren't these darling?

Click on a pic for more info on their once-a-week giveaway!