Hailey's Surgery

Today Hailey had her surgery to get her skin tag removed. She was born with it and the doctors wanted to wait until close to a year old to get it removed because she would go under anesthesia. We could have tied it off when she was born (which is pretty common), but Hailey's pediatrician strongly recommended having it surgically removed because that guarantees all the cartilage to be removed. So we agreed and decided to wait until a year old. 

So today was the day. We had instructions that Hailey couldn't eat anything after 2 am this morning, so we woke her up at 1:30 and gave her a bottle. We figured it'd help lessen her hunger before the surgery. We went to the hospital at 7:00 this morning. They did a quick physical and we changed Hailey into the tiniest hospital gown I have ever seen. That was definitely my favorite part!

 

After we talked to the surgeon and anesthesiologist, it was time for Hailey to head into surgery. Travis gave her a Priesthood blessing before we left, which definitely helped me feel a little calmer.

 It was so hard to see her go. I had to fight the tears. The doctor said she didn't even shed a tear the whole time! She's so brave!

 

 Travis and I went into the waiting room. It was full of parents waiting for their precious child to be done with surgery. I was feeling pretty weepy at first (no tears though...suprisingly) until I realized Hailey's surgery was very minor compared to what these other parents might be going through. It was a hard place to sit. I tried to distract myself by searching through Facebook, Instagram, etc. Travis was smart and brought a book. We were only waiting for about 30 minutes when the doctor came in and told us it went very well and she did great. What a relief! Now we just had to wait for her to wake up. She told us it could take up to 45 minutes. It's different for everyone. Literally five minutes later a nurse came and got us and told us she was awake. Yipeee! We followed her back into the recovery area where some nurses were holding our crying baby. She had an IV in her hand and they were trying to feed her sugar water to test her swallowing. And she was NOT having it.

I took Hailey and gave her some milk. She was starving since last time she ate was 1:30 am. 

The IV in her arm was really bothering her. She was SO hungry, but couldn't eat for very long without taking a break to whine and cry. It was so sad. All I could do was give kisses and cuddles.

After they took the IV out and gave her some pain meds, she was feeling much better.

They discharged us and we left around 9:15. So the whole thing only took 2 hours and 15 minutes! Awesome!! We headed over to Walmart to pick up her prescription pain meds. She was pretty loopy, but happy, as we walked around Walmart.

So we're home. She already napped and is feeling great. We feel so blessed. So many people were praying and thinking of us during Hailey's surgery. We felt it. And it helped me stay strong. I know this surgery was pretty minor, but it's still hard to see your baby go through that. Thank you for all your support!

Don't worry. That's a smile.

 

Venturing out for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day (a week ago)! We had a really fun Valentine's Day here at the Simmons' household. Hailey got a new teddy bear, I got flowers and a new necklace (which I already lost... wah wah wah!!!!), and Travis got some Duck Dynasty playing cards (he loved them... haha). 

We went to Outback Steakhouse for lunch. We NEVER go there, so it was so yummy. 

 

She was in the middle of saying something very important.

 After our scrumptious lunch, we went to the mall. We visited the Disney Store (of course!) and dreamed of everything we'll get for our children some day. Then, for the first time, Hailey got to play in the kids' play place. She had SOOO much fun. 

Doesn't she look like such a BIG GIRL?!

She's finally at the age where she notices other kids and wants to play. 

Spot the baby!

 

And THEN Hailey rode the Merry-Go-Round with Travis. At first, she wasn't too sure about it, but after a few times going around it, she began to get excited and have fun.

 

 

It was a great Valentine's Day!

"Sew" Awesome!

I got a sewing machine for my birthday back in October. I have been doing projects here and there. I'm having tons of fun and am constantly thinking of what I should tackle next. Here's a few things I have done recently.

1. Decorating Onesies
A LONG time ago, my friend Brielle and I decorated some onesies. It was so easy and sooo fun! I didn't finish them until recently, so I thought I'd do a blog post about it since some of you asked about them (like 3 months ago...).

First of all, I followed this tutorial.She gives great step by step instructions.

All you need is onesies, fabric, the iron-on paper, and your sewing supplies. Easy and cheap! Especially with JoAnn's coupons.

It was fun thinking of different designs that I wanted to put on onesies. And I even did one little t-shirt for Hailey too. So really, the possibilities are endless! I searched and searched for a picture of the shirt, but I failed to take a picture when she wore it. Oh well.

*Just don't forget to sew along the edges. I didn't read that part in the tutorial and when I washed the onesies, everything came apart. Boooo. I had to redo them. But they're easy, so no biggie.

  I cut out all these letters and carefully ironed them on. I didn't think about the sewing part, so I ended up hand sewing the letters on. Took forever! So I wouldn't recommend that. haha.

  

I made this Mario one for my friend Brielle's new little baby boy (Jenson). Jenson's dad has countless Mario shirts, so I thought Jenson should match his dad. :)

Isn't he cute?!

2. Sock Pants
What the heck is sock pants you ask? Well... it's baby leggings made from adult socks! Is your mind blown? This is by far the EASIEST thing I've sewn. I wanna make them all the time. I'm constantly looking at socks and thinking, "Wow, those would make such cute pants for Hailey!" haha. 

Here's the tutorial. I promise it's easy.

All you need is adult socks, elastic, and sewing supplies. CHEAP CHEAP PANTS!

I made Hailey some Christmas leggings, and some grey and white polka dot ones. LOVE THEM!!

 

 

 

3. Apron
This was my most challenging project yet. It stretched me to the limits and challenged my patience. But I was so proud of myself for how the apron came out. My mom asked me to make an apron for her for Christmas, and I willingly accepted the challenge.

You can find the tutorial here.

All you need is Material, the pattern, and sewing supplies.

So there are some projects I've tackled recently. I enjoy learning new things and testing my sewing abilities. I'm still new to sewing, so I love trying new things. I think I would constantly be sewing if fabric wasn't so expensive!

Eleven Months

I'm in denial. No doubt about it. There's no way Hailey is going to be ONE in 28 days. Nope. Not happening. She's still my little newborn baby. 

I WISH.

Isn't growing up supposed to be a happy thing? I do love all the things she's doing now. She's so fun. I feel like this first year flew by. I've never felt so happy and sad at the same time.I decided that growing up should be illegal.

But I guess I'll update you on how much Hailey has changed in the last month.

 -Hailey has always loved the bath. But now she loves playing with a cup in bathtub more than toys. It's so funny.

-Hailey can do "hooray" and claps for "If You're Happy and You Know it". It's pretty much adorable.

-She graduated from headbands to ponytails!

 

-She started to carry her lovey around all day. When she wakes up, she stands up in crib with her lovey in-hand, ready to get out.
-Hailey can point to mom and dad's nose, mouth, and ear on demand. Just not her own yet. 

-Hailey LOVES noodles. Anything with noodles.

 -I've created a monster. Hailey is OBSESSED with books. She brings them to me all day long.

-Hailey started to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT! She sleeps from 7-7.

-She runs away from us when we chase her (and when we don't). She thinks it's a game.

-My big girl says "mama", "dada", and "ba" (ball). She's said "mama" and "dada" for a while, but now she's really using them correctly.

-Hailey has one tooth. That's it. haha. But that doesn't stop her from eating everything we eat. She puts those gums into overdrive and they work hard chomping her food.

 Don't see it? Here's a close up.

There it is!!

-She's still working on her smile. But I'm in love with her "cheese" face. So I hope she never figures it out. haha.

 

 

She's growing up so fast. I know I say that every month. But it's true. I'm so grateful that I can be her "mama". I love watching her learn and grow (even if it is going by too quickly). She brightens my everyday with her sweet personality. She's so beautiful, inside and out.

 

 

Snooooow!

We haven't had much snow fall this winter here in Kansas. Little bits here and there, but nothing too big. So when the snow starting coming down today I got super excited. I was looking forward to taking Hailey outside to experience snow for the first time. 

So we got all bundled up in our mittens, hats, scarves, coats, boots, and snow pants.

 

 And we headed outside.

 And of course, right when Travis put Hailey down, she face-plants. She experienced getting a "white wash" early in life.

 Luckily, she recovered quickly and thought the snow was pretty interesting.

 Until she remembered her embarrassing face-plant.

 So then I tried to get a picture with her, and this is her "are we done?" face.

Overall, it was a fun 2 minutes of our lives. haha. She didn't want to be out there very long. I look forward to the day when we can go sledding and build snowmen together. But until then, we'll just watch the snow fall from inside our warm home.