The many faces of Halle

We've just returned from all of our travels! Wow, it feels good to be home!! Halle gets cuter everyday. I spend a lot of time sitting with the camera trying to get her to smile. She is precious! But she hasn't pooped in 5 days- we've tried all the remedies! They don't work! Poor thing! Any ideas??

The Great State of MI!!!

Halle's second road trip= MI! We went back to Grand Haven for a few days for a wedding and to see many friends there! It felt like home again. It was so much fun and so great to be there and to show Halle off! One of my sorority sisters got married and it was so great to see a bunch of friends. Halle met many people who couldn't get their hands off of her. Grandma and Grandpa even made the drive to babysit!! They didn't mind a bit!




Looking like tourists in our old town!



Delphi's at Sarah's wedding



More girls



Girls from small group



All of our kiddos!



Lake Michigan- it doesn't get any better than that!

Halle's first road trip

We just got back from visiting Grandma and Grandpa! Halle loved being there and had soooo many visitors!! It was great to see so many friends and family. And of course, nice to have my parents help so much! Halle's first smile happened a few times at her grandma!! Bri and I are still waiting for our turn. Halle did such a good job in the car as we traveled and it seems that we are getting her reflux under control. She still has thrush- so we have been bottle feeding which is a pain, so that she doesn't give it back to me. Hopefully it will go away soon! Our 6 week check-up is Monday. She's getting so big!

Pics!

Here are some pics from our family get together. The 4 generations on my mom's side and Halle's new cousin Josiah

Visitors!!

Two of my best friends came to visit! One from MI, one from WA. It was so great to have them here. Very different to be with friends now that I have his huge priority in my life. It was so great to hang out with them and have them just blend into our life here. We took some fun pics- especially when it was bath time! Every baby has to have a butt shot! So now Halle and I are being treated for a yeast infection, which has been soooo incredibly painful and she also is on medicine for reflux. It seems like first one thing then the next. I could not have imagined all of these issues with a new baby. So it's been hard and I'm praying that these issues get better so that we can get more normal around here!

WHAT TO DO....

Ok, so here's the dilemma- what to do as a parent??? We've been trying to get Halle on a schedule. Well actually up until this point, it's mostly been- how do we survive. But I decided, it's time to get some regularity and attack some of our problems. So I talked to my lactation consultant and she gave me a few suggestions, and thinks I may have a yeast infection. SUCK!! So I'm going to try and work on that. She told me to let Halle eat whenever she wants. But this book that I have that everyone swears by, says basically the opposite- you as a parent set her schedule. I know it depends on your preference. But it's so hard to know what to do. So as I sit here, Halle is screaming in her crib and I'm just letting her cry. Brian keeps looking at me with this sad face like we're torturing her. I don't like it either. But I think we have to start to do something, bc I don't want to feed her every time she's fussy just so she'll sleep. And tips??!!

Happy Father's Day!

Brian is enjoying his first year as daddy! He was gone all day yesterday and surely missed his little girl. He is rocking her at the moment. I tried to capture her with her eyes open today playing, but she always closes them, or focuses so much that she looks silly. Her cheeks are getting so big!!! We were pushing her in the stroller the other night and were noticing her cheeks shaking! She's a good eater!

Thank you Grandma!!

So my mom is gone! It was the hugest blessing to have her here with us. She is such a servant! She cooked, cleaned, ran errands, helped with Halle, and just did whatever we needed. My mom is the very best about being respectful of me and space, and she just did her own thing, and I never felt like she was looking over my shoulder or anything!! She definitely knows how to balance the mom act. Yes, I cried when she left!! Thank you mom- we love you so much!!!

So now it's just the 3 of us. We are enjoying our time just us- learning how our family works. Brian is the best dad ever! He loves taking care of Halle, and holding her. I hope she's not spoiled already! It's been so amazing to see him as dad and how happy he is! I couldn't ask for more!

First Bath

Halle loved her first bath. She did not budge. Now she smells even better! Isn't it crazy how good babies smell. Halle's second night at home was much better than the first. I hope she continues to adjust to being at home. I am feeling better each day. Still moving slow, but feeling better as long as these pain pills work! I did not anticipate coming home and feeling so helpless with not being able to do much. But my husband is 100% a servant and my mom is wonderful. Sometimes it's hard for me to not be so independent. So I'm trying to let people serve me. But we're doing well, and are open to visitors this week!

Finally Home

Here are some new pics...we finally got home today at noon. YAY! We are very very tired but hanging in there. Shannon is doing ok but still doing the grandma shuffle around the house. Funny how Halle basically just poops, pees, sleeps, and eats. That is the extent of a 4 day old babies life!

Well today is Wednesday and we are still at the hospital. Halle is great, she's a little jaundiced, so they're watching that and still helping me feed her. I feel the best I've felt yet, so that is an answer to prayer! I have been up and around a lot. Halle had her first photo shoot with the photographer this morning. She was so cute- I swear she's the cutest baby!! She melts my heart. She is so cute with her eyes open, very alert and looking around. Brian is amazing with her. It's been so neat to see him step in and help and be eager to do the dad stuff. He has already changed many diapers and is very good at it. He is the best care taker ever! Here are some updated pics and you can go to www. mgh.net to see her professional pics under baby pics at the nursery link. She's so precious!

New News on Halle Anne

Here is the latest for ya'll...it has been going pretty well...everyone eventually left last night about 9pm and so for the first time, just the 3 Bradfords were together! Pretty cool...and a huge praise that my parents (Rev. C. V. and Dee Bradford) made it here yesterday at around 6pm! With the Gervels already there, both sets of grandparents were present...pretty amazing I think! Impressive for my parents was that they made a 900+ mile trip in less than 2 days...
Now, the challenge yesterday was trying to get Halle to breastfeed...I never dreamed it would be a challenge to start the baby eating in that way! Finally this morning it has started to come easier and Halle is taking to it a little better now...Keep praying for rest though as they wake Shan up every 2 hours or so to feed, thus keeping her quite tired.
Also, it has been such a blessing to have our church family here care for us...College Wesleyan has been so amazing at doing just that...loving on us!
Oh and I was able to sleep some last night here in the hospital room on a roll out single bed, so at least now we are coming to rest a little, which is a much needed change. Lastly, the nurse said the goal today is to get the magnesium drip, IV, and catheter out, so yay! Making Progress...but thanks again for praying! We will keep you all posted! Our Pediatrician is getting ready to come in and wake up my sleeping beauty wife so I am outta here.

Halle's here!

Ok after 16+ hours of labor, with 2 of those hours being hard labor, my wife finally delivered our first born by C-section at 6:40am this morning. Halle Anne Bradford is 8 lbs. 6 oz. and almost 21 inches long and 14 inches around her head. Thus, because the head was so big and she was facing up, she was delivered by C-section. Sorry this post may not be coherent but I have had 15 minutes sleep in the last 27 hours! But thanks especially to Marilyn Simons...we could not have done it without you being up here all night helping my wife every step of the way! So here are what pics we have so far.

Baby on the Way

Ok, this is not Shannon posting but her husband, Brian. We are sitting in Marion General Hospital right now in Marion, IN. It is 11;30pm and we came in at 1pm for what we thought would be a routine check. We were sitting in church today and right in the middle of Pastor Steve's message, Shan poked me and said she had blurry vision and was seeing spots. So we went ahead and left and called the doctor. Dr. Swan told us to go ahead and head to the hospital to have Shan's blood pressure check. Thus, that was now 10 hours ago. Needless to say, they decided to go ahead and induce her. She was in a ton of pain up and squeezing my hand to death during contractions but finally the miracle maker arrived...epidural! Anyway, she is dilated at 5-6 cm now and we are just waiting! Thanks to Pastor Steve, Dr. Judy, Emily Vermilya, The Mazellans, and the Purvis' for already coming up and checking in on us. Now, Shannon parents are here and mine are already north of Memphis and stopping for the night. Kinda cool too but Marilyn Simons, IWU nursing prof, is just hanging out up here at the hospital with us tonight in case we need anything! Thank you Marilyn. Anyway, here are some pics we have so far.