Splish Splash

Hayes had his first bath, and he was not a fan!

More Pictures from Hayes' Birth Day

Hayes with the other Thompson boys

Hayes with his great-grandparents

Hayes with Aunt Lauren, Aunt Meagan, and LeLe

Hayes with Aunt Erin

Hayes with Aunt Kristi (getting some practice in before Hayes' buddy Grayson gets here!)

Is There Anything More Precious . . .

than a four day old (sleeping!) baby boy?

Coming Home

After a two day stay at Washington Regional, we headed home with our sweet boy.  Loading him into the car seat was a little nerve-wracking for me - I think I checked every buckle at least three times - and driving home with our new precious cargo made Trent more than a little nervous!  But we made it and Aunt Jen was there to document Hayes' first glimpse of his new home.

Given the fact that Hayes surprised us, I of course had no clothes to bring him home in.  For Lucy, I had packed a gorgeous pink and white sweater outfit, but that obviously would not do for our boy!  Luckily, Aunt Jen was able to swing by Bella Jack's while we were still in the hospital and exchange it for a blue and white outfit that wouldn't embarrass Hayes.  However, we didn't think about socks!  So, I had to put him in these Converse socks that someone brought us as a gift.  Not a perfectly coordinated outfit, but he looked pretty cute regardless!

Here is Hayes all buckled up in his carseat, waiting to head home!  You don't catch him being this peaceful in his carseat very often.  He has decided that he does not like being in the seat unless we are actually moving and playing really loud music.   

Hayes Walker Thompson

On December 8, 2009, we welcomed our sweet baby boy Hayes Walker.  It was quite a day - one that we will never forget!

The week before, at my 38 week check-up, my doctor very casually - like it was just no big deal - said "well, we can induce next Tuesday if you want to."  I immediately started sweating!  I mean, I knew the baby was coming at some point in the next couple of weeks, but when she put a date on it, I got very nervous.  After interviewing all of my friends who have been induced and hearing mostly positive things, we decided to go for it. 

Here I am the morning we went in to have Baby Lucy - 39 weeks pregnant.

We arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. and got set up in our room.  We were the only people having a baby that day, and we got a lot of attention with all of our pink stuff - the pink boppy, pink diaper bag, and wreath made of pink ornaments to hang on our door (so that everyone could easily locate our room).  The first nurse I had was definitely not my favorite.  First she offered some scary statistics associated with induction, then she told me I needed to wait to get my epidural until I couldn't handle my contractions anymore (which was so not what I was planning!), and then she did a terrible job with my IV.  Luckily, her shift ended an hour after we checked in.  My day nurses were terrific.  They told me I could go ahead and get my epidural without slowing down my labor, so we went ahead and did it.  By 8 a.m. they had started the pitocin drip and we were officially in labor.

Our last picture as non-parents!

Our families arrived around 9, except for my dad, who being the early bird that he is, arrived around 6:30 or 7.  I was feeling pretty relaxed from something they gave me along with my epidural, so I had a fun time just visiting with everyone.

Me with Dr. Smith

Me and Aunt Jen

With my mom and grandma

I made faster progress than we expected, and by 2:00, I was dilated to 10 centimeters and ready to start pushing!

Apparently, the baby was face down, instead of face up, and the head was not moving under my pelvic arch (whatever that is!).  I pushed for about an hour just to get the baby under the arch.  After that, I pushed twice more and our baby was born!  The nurses waited to call the doctor until the very end and the baby came out really quickly, so she didn't quite make it for the birth.  Luckily, I had great nurses who handled the delivery very well.

The baby was born at 3:10 pm, the exact same time as Trent.

Baby's first picture.

About the time that Jen took this picture, I looked down at the baby and noticed that her bottom didn't look like what I thought it was going to, even though I had been warned in our childcare class that it would be pretty swollen right after birth.  My confusion was quickly cleared up when the pediatric nurse said, "What a beautiful baby boy!"  At that point, I went from being confused to being in shock.  Although I was still pretty relaxed from the medication they had given me, my mind immediately went to the very girly (and carefully planned out) nursery we had waiting at home, as well as the complete girl's wardrobe with a bow to match every outfit.  Although I was so happy to have a healthy baby, I was sad that I wasn't going to get to do all of the girl things I had been thinking about for the past five months, nervous about raising a boy (the first boy in my family in a couple of generations), and sad that I hadn't been able to plan for him like I had for Lucy.  He didn't have a nursery and he didn't have any clothes!  I just remember my sister, who was in the room with us for the delivery, going over and taking pictures of the baby and looking back at me saying, "It's going to be okay - he's really cute!"  I'm sure she knew the thoughts going through my head.

My first good look at our baby boy!

 He weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

We had to figure out how to break the news to our families who were outside in the waiting room.  We  knew they wouldn't believe it if just Jen went out to tell them, so Trent went with her.  My dad had ordered shirts that said "I Love Lucy" for everyone to wear after Lucy arrived, so we went with the same concept to announce our surprise.  Jen sacrificed her white T-shirt and luckily, there was a dry erase marker in the room.  Needless to say, everyone else was just as shocked as we were.  Luckily, we had discussed boy names before we had our 20 week ultrasound, so we were able to pretty quickly on a name for our sweet boy - Hayes Walker.  I think it will serve him well as he grows up (and I love that I got to use my maiden name!).

Walker family photo op

 Hayes' first close-up - what a cute boy!

 Erin and Kristi came (bearing "Lucy Campbell" cookies) as soon as they heard Hayes had arrived.  These two honorary aunts were just as stunned as everyone else.  We ate the cookies anyway!

Hayes with his grandpa - we're still not sure what his "grandpa name" is going to be - but I'm pretty sure he's pumped to finally have a little baseball player!

Although it took a little while to adjust to being the parents of a boy, we have fallen in love with little Hayes and are looking forward to baseball games, frogs in his pockets, and lots of other little boy adventures!

2009 In Review (Part 2)

In October, my friends gave me a fabulous shower in Fayetteville. We got even more great stuff for the baby! I have the best party-planning friends ever! The food was great and the decorations were so super-cute!

The nursery started coming together - we put together the crib and my friend Pam painted an old buffet for me to use as a changing table. It was the most gorgeous lavender color!

Our friends Scott and Ashley hosted a Halloween party. Trent and I went as Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. I thought our costumes were hilarious; Trent, not so much! He was just mad because someone asked him where his costume was!

In November, we helped host a shower for Scott and Ashley. It was a fun time and they got tons of great baby boy things!  I also helped with a shower for Kristi. Grayson is a very lucky young man - he received some attire worthy of a trip to Aspen next winter!



Each of our offices hosted a shower for us! Trent had so much fun opening baby gifts for the first time!

The first week of December, my doctor informed me that she was willing to induce me on December 8. Trent and I spent much time discussing the pros and cons of the induction and after doing some informal interviews of all of my friends who have been induced, we decided to go for it, mainly because it let us, with our Type-A personalities, have some control over the birth. Little did we know the surprise that lay in store for us! After seven hours of labor, I delivered a baby BOY! After all of our planning for a girl named Lucy Campbell, God blessed us with a boy we named Hayes Walker.

We celebrated Christmas with both of our families, and Hayes was the center of attention, of course! He wore his Christmas jammies and looked so cute.

(cuddling with his Aunt Jen)

He also surprised his daddy with his first fraternity T-shirt! This was Trent's favorite of the gifts that Hayes received.

We finished out 2009 with a party at Erin and Dennis' house. Hayes went with us and behaved himself fairly well, although he did get a little demanding around his dinner time! We didn't quite make it to midnight - how a baby changes everything!

2009 in Review (Part 1)

Despite my lack of posts, 2009 was an eventful year for the Thompsons.

In January, we survived The Ice Storm, which left many of our friends and family without power for nearly a week. Luckily, ours stayed on and Marty came to stay for a few days! We all enjoyed a few snow days. The Ice Storm convinced Trent and I that we needed a new 4-wheel drive vehicle. So we traded in the Jeep that accompanied me through law school and our first years of marriage for a new Jeep. It's the fanciest car I've ever had! To say I was excited is an understatement.

In February, Erin, Kristi, and I headed to Tulsa for a cooking class at The Savory Chef.  We learned to make amazing meatballs!  We were slightly disappointed to be paired up with a random old guy who was a little bossy for our liking, but the class was really fun.

March was not very exciting.  I worked a ton; therefore, we didn't do much of anything fun to write about!

In April, we found out that our family would grow by one in mid-December.  Tiny Thompson was on the way!  We decided to keep it a secret from everyone except the doctor until I was through the first trimester, which turned out to be a little tricky once the morning sickness (or in my case, all-day sickness!) hit around week 6.  I was also in a fashion show benefiting Peace at Home Family Shelter, which had its grand opening in April as well.

In May, Jen graduated with her master's degree in teaching and entered the world of a working woman.  Well, not so much a working woman, since it was summer break, but she did receive a job offer before the month was up.  She was a hot commodity among the Springdale principals! 

I blew a blood vessel in each eye, as a result of Tiny making its presence known!  Now, the secret was really in jeopardy!  I did not take any pictures to commemorate that event.

In June, my best friend Kayla gave birth to the most precious little girl, Ireland!  I was standing with my ear to the door when Miss Ireland made her entrance into the world, and I couldn't have been more excited!  I knew that she and Tiny would be fast friends.  Also, we were finally able to share our exciting news.  We gave each of our parents and grandparents a picture of Tiny (via ultrasound) in a cute frame. 

I spelled the news out for Kristi on petit fours.  Erin couldn't make our lunch date, so she recevied the photo below via e-mail.  She was sad to miss getting the news in person but pumped to find out that she would be an aunt (not biologically, but she holds the title just the same!).

In July, the Walkers went on our first family vacation in several years.  Grandma came with us and we had a blast!  My belly popped out on the trip, and I finally started looking a little bit pregnant, instead of just a little bit fat!

I had my 20 week ultrasound, and Trent and I were informed that Tiny was a girl.  We settled on Lucy Campbell as her name.

The Shrewd Shoppers reunited for a trip to Austin.  I got to visit my old stomping grounds at UT Law, eat some delicious food, and shop until I dropped (which happened much more quickly than normal due to Tiny's presence).  On the trip, Kristi informed me that she was expecting a Tiny Farmer (Molly Kate or Grayson).  I was so excited to find out that Lucy would have a BFF just seven weeks younger than her!

All of our shopping bags!

In August, I returned to Austin and met up with my law school friends Pankti, Janine, and Erin.  Pankti and I were roommates, and Janine and Erin are also dear friends who got me through law school!  We had a fun time eating and shopping and are planning a repeat trip in Dallas for next summer!

In September, Lucy attended her first Razorback football game.  I wasn't that great of a fan this year - leaving several games early and not attending some at all - but things will be back to normal in 2010.  We have a new little Hog fan to introduce to the excitement! 

James and Kristi and our friends Scott and Ashley both found out they would be welcoming little boys - Grayson Pelham and Parker William, respectively - in early 2010.

I had my first showers, one given by my mother-in-law's friends and one given by her family.  We got lots of great stuff for the baby!  Trent was a little overwhelmed by all of it - particularly the amount of pink clothes we received!