8 month update

So I'm not a very good blogger. I read some of these REAL blogs and I'm just amazed! But there are a few people that aren't on Facebook (I know, crazy) that enjoy reading updates on us Hearns so I'll keep at it. Plus it's still a great way for me to document everything since I'm apparently never going to get a single scrapbook finished! :-)

Catherine turned 8 months old on December 5th and here's what's new with her:

1) She is sitting up all by herself and actually enjoys it now. Now we just have to figure out how to get out of the sitting position gracefully, lol. Right now it's more of a fall over and that scares Mommy a little.

2) No crawling yet, but we just keep saying any day now. She rocks on her knees and pushes a little. She can get anywhere and everywhere rolling so we think she's content with that for now. We aren't rushing it....it's hard enough to keep up with her now!!!

3) She's said her first word which wasn't mommy or daddy it was GUH which is apparently what she is going to call Pudge. We say Pudge's name A LOT so this should have been expected. She makes the funniest, cutest sounds and is VERY vocal....hmmmm...I wonder why?

4) She loves her feet, pulling off her socks, and eating her shoes. Sid blames this on me because I didn't teach her to like socks (because I hate socks). This is a problem when its 6 degrees outside and she's pulling off her shoes when we are out and about. She's so proud of herself when she does it though that we have to laugh a little!

5) She is eating a few finger foods (i.e. puffs). She is such a good baby I'm honestly scared to try a lot of new things but it's obviously inevitable. If we actually ate dinner (a healthy dinner) I would give her some table food. We'll see how that goes. I'm not in any big hurry for that. She seems fine with milk and baby food for now!

6) She officially has 5 teeth that have cut through. Three on the bottom and get this 2 on top but only one of the two is the front tooth. lol The other front tooth will cut through any day now though. The last 3 have pretty much all come at the same time. Other than a little drool and some occasional fussiness she has handled teething VERY well (knock on wood!).

7) Finally, she is just SO much fun right now. We can actually sit and play with her and work on learning things. She just laughs and laughs and we have a big time. She LOVES her bouncer and spends a lot of time there but every night we get in the floor and play and this is our most favorite time of day.

It just keeps getting better and better. The top picture is my profile pic on FB and I just love it. The bottom pic is one I took trying to get some shots for a Christmas card. You can see the snow in the background! It really portrays her cute personality right now. We leave in the morning for Tennessee to celebrate the holidays with the Richardson clan. I'm excited for C to get to meet great Aunts and Uncles and cousins for the first time.

Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday season with your families. I know this will be one to remember for us.

Happy Halloween!!

We hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween! Our community is celebrating Halloween tonight instead of tomorrow. Looking forward to having trick or treaters for the first time in years!! Catherine is a strawberry.....definitely the cutest strawberry on the block! Made my first taco soup pot of the season, football on the TV, and feet propped up....it's going to be a good day!!

Until next time.....

Hearn happenings!

Where did October go? What a fast month! It has also been a busy month at the Hearn house. So I thought I'd share some of what's been going on!

1. We are the proud Aunt and Uncle of our new niece, Reagan Mackenzie Hearn. She arrived 6 weeks early but thankfully is doing fabulous! This is when being away from family is hard because we wish we could be there to help Paul and Sarah and to love on this sweet girl! How fun that Catherine and Reagan will only be 6 months apart! Hearn family gatherings are going to be a blast. Here's Miss Reagan:

2. Rolling....lots and lots of rolling....all over the place. Catherine is now spending lots of time in her exersaucer/bouncer and her pack and play (aka jail). Only a matter of time before the REAL fun begins (crawling). In this picture, I had put her on her play mat and this is where she wound up. About 5 minutes later, she was half way across the living room floor. Like I said, lots of rolling!

3. Sitting up...well, most of the time. Catherine CAN sit up, she just prefers not too. Can we say strong willed? She is so interested in everything going on that she doesn't want to stay in one place. She does better when she has a toy or something to focus on. We practice sitting up everyday so hopefully she'll "prefer" to sit up soon!

We are SO excited about Halloween this year. Catherine's costume is a surprise for Sid....it has been a big topic of discussion around our house. LOL. I finally decided on a costume and thought surprising him would be more fun! We are going to the Marian Band costume party Friday night and look forward to lots of kids coming to trick or treat on Saturday! Life is just WAY more fun with children.....we are having the time of our life!

Until next time....

6 months already!

We celebrated Catherine's 6 month birthday this past week. Although, Sid said it's not really a birthday, lol. I can't believe she is already 6 months and I'm sure before I know it i'll be saying, I can't believe she's already 16! Scary!

With family and friends being so far away I decided to make a montage, video/slideshow of pictures from Catherine's first six months of life...complete with cheesy music. I thought I'd share with my blogger friends.

Click here: Catherine 6 month video

Sid and I enjoyed a weekend away, actually our first weekend away from C. Sid judged a marching contest but we were able to spend some quality time together as well. It was much needed and we had a great time!

Until next time.....

Life is Short

Those of you who are mom's know the anxiety that you feel often about things happening to you or your little one. Well, being a new mom all of these feelings had been new (and quite vivid at times) and were finally starting to subside until recently.

It seems every time I get on Facebook someone is posting asking for prayers for a sick loved one or posting about a tragedy. I have been personally impacted by two tragedies recently. One of the students in my theory class (an older, non-traditional student) lost his ex-girlfriend and 2 yr. old daughter in an apartment fire. I don't know all of the details but do know that it was arson, so someone deliberately and thoughtfully planned to set the fire. He missed a week of class but has returned and seems to be doing exceptionally well considering the circumstances.

The other tragedy effected many people I know and love. If you are in the Birmingham area you probably heard about a family (dad, mom, and daughter) killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. Many of my Hueytown friends went to church with this sweet family and I had the privilege of getting to know Malorie when I co-directed the school musicals. I also helped Mrs. Howerton advise her on dating during lunch many times, lol. Malorie was a beautiful girl on the inside and out and SUPER talented. She was going to make something of herself. But God had a different plan. I lost a good friend in high school and know how traumatic it can be for the students and teachers, as well. Some good WILL come of this awful situation....time will tell and heal.

I don't mention these events to put a damper on your day but it has definitely put things into perspective for me. LIFE IS SHORT people!! I'm holding Catherine and Sid a little closer and making sure to live every day to its fullest. Most importantly, I thank God every day for the chance to live and hopefully, make an impact on someone's life. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow....make the best of today! Love you all!

Catherine's New Tricks

Catherine is now 5 1/2 months old. Her development is moving at warp speed right now which makes each day at our house new and exciting. I thought I would update everyone on her latest "tricks"!

1. She's rolling over. Yay for reaching milestones. However, she's a tummy sleeper and she can only roll from her tummy to her back so we wind up going in her room and turning her back over 3-4 times so she'll sleep. What's funny is she just has a BALL in her crib when she's on her back. At least she doesn't cry, right? Video to come soon, of me catching her on her back!

2. She is SO vocal. She's making the funniest sounds and has discovered her tongue. She's constantly rolling and moving her tongue to figure out new sounds. Our favorite is the shriek she makes when she's super excited.

3. She is inundated with Pudge. She watches her closely and reaches out to touch her. We are trying to teach her to PET her instead of grab as much fur as you can and squeeze really hard. Pudge is a good sport!

4. She is eating big girl food. Well, not really but the next step to big girl food. Rice and various fruits. So far she hates apples and pears. She likes bananas but #5 trick has postponed bananas for now. Videos to come of this as well......she's gags and makes the funniest face when she doesn't like something. Just like her momma.

5. With solid food comes FUN diapers. I'll spare you the gross details. But, a couple of days ago she sounded like she was hickuping and I quickly realized she was gasping for air. SCARY! This went on for a few minutes until she finally began to cry. Crying=breathing. Whew. Well, she had a super dirty diaper. Fast forward to today. Same thing TWICE. Gasping for air, coughing, and a super dirty diaper both times. So we went to see Dr. Hensley. She gave her an all clear and said that she is probably having to push and she's holding her breath. She asked if I kept a video camera handy.....DUH, lol. She told me to video her doing it. I figured a $20 copay is well worth the piece of mind. So now we are eating oatmeal and prunes to hopefully make going to the bathroom a little easier..... TMI? :-) Here's a pic of our first prune experience!

Three weeks from today we will travel to Birmingham to catch up with family and friends. I can't WAIT to see everyone and for you all to see Catherine's new tricks first hand!!

New Blog, New Adventures

It has been way too long since I last posted. SO much has happened in the last three months since my last post, hence the changing of the blog title. The most important thing obviously being our move from Birmingham to Indianapolis. Well, technically Avon, Indiana. As a kid, I remember "Hoosiers" being one of my dad's favorite movies. I just assumed that the Hoosiers were solely associated with Indiana University. WRONG! If you live in Indiana you are a Hoosier. So now we are southern transplants adjusting to living in the mid-west. A shout-out to my sister-in-law Sarah....didn't even realize I was using your title idea until it was done, lol! They are "southern yankees." Hoosiers sounded better than "mid-westerners", bleh.

Positives:

-AWESOME westher

-The Colts and other professional sports teams

-So much more to do and get involved in

-2 1/2 hours from Chicago, Cincinnati, and Louisville

-Culturally diverse and full of musical events and festivals

-Down to earth, hard working people just like us southerners

Negatives:

-Being away from family and friends

-Being away from family and friends

-Being away from family and friends.......get the point?? :-)

With that being said, I'm actually surprised at how content and happy I actually am considering I have no social life or friends to speak of....yet! I think that speaks highly of my marriage and how much I absolutely adore Catherine. I never get tired of spending time with her and her daddy. We started Kindermusik this week and there are some other moms my age that I'm hoping to befriend. Also, I think we have finally settled in on a church....but not 100% decided. Homewood was such a special place it makes finding a new church very difficult!

Finally, God answered many prayers about what exactly I was going to do with myself this year. I had decided to take a break from full-time teaching but after just a few weeks of staying home I quickly realized I missed teaching terribly. An opportunity came available for me to teach Music Theory as an adjunct instructor at Marian University where Sid works. This has been absolutely PERFECT for us. I teach 10:00-10:50, on MTWF. Sid stays home with her on MWF until I get home and she goes to a sitter on Tuesdays. PERFECT....LOVE IT! I'm also training to be a Kindermusik educator and will teach 2-4 classes in the spring. God is good and I feel so blessed to be able to do what I love (teaching music) while still having plenty of time to be a mommy to Catherine!

Whew....now we're caught up!! Check back for updates and to watch our sweet girl grow! Everyday she has a new trick, sound, or look. We take ridiculous amounts of pictures and videos to try and freeze each moment in time! We have extra beds and plenty of room so we expect visitors SOON! Happy football season ........in other words ROLL TIDE! :-)

Almost!

Catherine has been very routine in her night time feedings. She usually wakes up between 1:30-2:00 a.m. and then again at 4:30 -5:00 a.m. Well, last night 2:00 came and went and of course I woke up expecting her to be ready to eat. I quickly realized she was still asleep and got SOOOOO excited. Then about 10 minutes later I heard that sweet whimper. BUT, the good news is she didn't wake up again until her "first" feeding at 7:00 a.m. So we are getting closer to sleeping through the night! Although, I wonder how long it will take me to get used to it once she actually does it. I'll miss how cuddly and sweet she is during the middle of the night.

We are packing up today to go to Gatlinburg for a few days with the Richardson's. Looking forward to spending time with family but also for me and Sid to get to spend time together sans Catherine. Then we will travel back to Birmingham to make the big move (furniture and everything else) to Indianapolis. I'm so ready to get settled into our house and into the community. I'm definitely missing my family and friends badly but hope to make new acquaintances soon. Guess I need to come up with a new blog title.....any suggestions?

Growing quickly

Well, 2 months have already flown by and Catherine is really starting to develop now. In those 2 months, we have also moved (kind of) to Indianapolis. Our family is finally back under one roof which has definitely been an adjustment for all of us, especially being in a tiny one bedroom apartment (poor Pudge).

Being a mom is everything I expected it to be and more. Tiring but oh so rewarding. Everyday is something new and I just love watching her grow and figure the world out.

Thought I'd share a video I took of her today. She just loves to sit and have chats with Mommy and especially Daddy. When he gets home she gets this HUGE grin on her face....priceless! Enjoy the video. (Ignore my very country sounding voice!).

Catherine Allyn Hearn

On Monday, April 5th, 2010 we welcomed Catherine Allyn Hearn into our world. She was born at 4:26 a.m., weighed 7 lbs. and 11 oz., and was 19 3/4 inches long. I was in labor around 8 hours and Dr. Wideman and all of the nurses at Brookwood made my birthing experience so comfortable (well, maybe that's not the best word but you get the point!).

So I guess I will be renaming the blog soon because it will probably turn into the Catherine show. It will be a great way to keep grandparents and friends up to date with Catherine's development. She has already changed so much and time seems to be flying by. When you are nursing and constantly watching the clock it makes the day go by so fast. She was a little jaundiced but after two sets of lab work on Friday and Monday, her levels are returning to normal. We quickly realized doctor visits are not going to be much fun and Daddy was so miserable he could stand to go back yesterday.

She is definitely a Daddy's girl already. Sid has been WONDERFUL with her. He has probably changed more diapers than I have.....seriously!! We are dreading him leaving in a few days. As sad as we are he's 100 times more sad though. This too shall pass....and it won't be long until we are all under one roof again!

That's all for now....off to nap while she is napping. I'm exhausted but it's worth every minute of it. She's a really good baby. I'm just praying that lasts for a while!! We feel so blessed and are humbled everytime we look at her or hold her.

Showered......literally!!

Do you want to feel loved and realize how extremely blessed you are?? Have a baby. Sid and I have been completely taken back by how gracious and giving people have been to help us prepare for baby Catherine. Over the last 4 weeks we have had 7, yes SEVEN, showers!! From HHS folks, to our amazing family, to our friends, we are more than ready to welcome Catherine into our home.

As mom and I finished unpacking the last of the baby stuff, Sunday night, I started having some pain in my abdomen and back. She made made me stop right then and pack a bag. It was at that point that this all became extremely real to me. If all goes as planned, we are scheduled to induce on the evening of Easter Sunday. I finally feel READY to meet her and know that the fun and the real journey are just beginning. It's truly amazing how God does everything in His time and takes care of His children. Enjoy some pictures from my showers! In reverse order:

Decatur Shower

Muscle Shoals Shower

HHS Choir Shower

Homewood COC Shower

Birmingham "Friends" Shower

HHS Shower

HHS Guard Shower

The next big thing

Following Thanksgiving my life went into overdrive. For choral directors, Christmas is a super busy time of year which is usually followed by a nice break and downtime until after Spring Break. Well, this year has been different and for the past 3 months I have constantly been preparing for the "next big thing." In December it was Dinner Theater. In January it was AMEA. Then started February with UAB Honor Choir, All-State auditions, and District all in a matter of a few days. Oh yeah, let's not forget winterguard rehearsals 2 days a week and 2 weekend competitions in Tennessee.

This morning I arrived home from my most recent "big thing", our choir trip to Orlando/Disney. It was a fantastic trip. I got on the bus every night exhausted, feet swollen, back hurting but so happy because I teach a truly wonderful group of kids. They were so sweet and worried about me being preggo and treking around Disney for 3 days. I also had a great group of friends who are also my colleagues who went above and beyond to take care of me and make sure that everything went smoothly. Even though it poured rain and was FREEZING they were troopers and survived another memorable and successful trip.

So I'm sitting here today trying to recuperate from a long trip but excited because all of the other "big things" are over and I can FINALLY focus on the biggest thing......bringing Catherine into this world! I feel like I haven't truly been able to prepare for her because of so much going on at work but now my full attention is hers and making sure that we are prepared to bring her home. We have no crib, no changing table, no nursery decor and I feel so behind. But have no fear.....I'm in official baby mode. We are attending a birthing class next weekend and I think that's when it will really set in. We are also blessed to have great friends and family throwing us quite a few showers over the next few weeks so I'm looking forward to those as well.

Here's Catherine at 32 weeks....

Sigh......and smile.

I was at the ACDA Summer Celebration in July when I found out that my choir had been accepted to perform at the 2010 Alabama Music Educator's Association annual In-service Conference. I had mixed emotions that day because I knew what an honor it was to be invited to perform but it also scared the mess out of me knowing we would be performing for my colleagues and people who KNOW music.

Since then, I have spent a lot of time and energy into preparing my students to rise to the challenge of performing for this conference. There were days where I said to myself, "What was I thinking doing this?" or "There's no way we are going to be ready." My choir is young and the first few months of school I thought I had made a mistake in applying for this performance.

Well, on Friday, we performed. I have never felt such a since a rush of emotions all at one time like I did that day. I looked out in the audience and saw my family, my friends, my former students, parents of students, and colleagues and knew that I was about to share with them something so special, a part of my heart. This group of kids came together over the past few weeks to create some magical musical moments and I was so happy that we were able to recreate that on Friday. They sang with passion and a true understanding of what it was they were singing about. Those were our goals and they surpassed them.

I have put my heart and soul into building this program and Friday's performance is one that I will always remember. Through tear's, I told this to my students on Friday before we performed along with how proud I was of them and how blessed I was to be their teacher. From their reactions, it will be a performance that THEY will remember for years to come and that my friends, is why I teach.

Now it's on to get ready for district and Orlando!! No rest for the weary but there will definitely be a more relaxed feeling in the choir room at HHS this week!

If it wasn't for bad luck......

.....we'd have NO luck at all. We like to call it Hearn luck!

Sid's checking accounts were hacked by a certain "Arabic language news network." I'm afraid to say too much...don't want the FBI tracking my blogs! LOL. Needless to say, the timing could not have been worse. Thankfully, the bank says he'll get the money back and he caught it quickly so it could have been worse.

AND, school is cancelled tomorrow. Now normally I would be jumping with joy....however, I have only the BIGGEST performance in my 7 year career coming up in 2 weeks and we desperately needed all of the rehearsal time we could get. It better come a darn blizzard. It seems like there have been endless interruptions at school this entire year. Very frustrating but we'll hit the ground running on Friday.....assuming they don't cancel school Friday too......I'm not even going to think about that possibility.

I guess I'll try and enjoy my day "off"...... oh wait, the TIDE plays for a National Championship tomorrow...I'm suddenly feeling much better. ROLL TIDE!!!! :-)

Pregnancy Pics

So here are all of the ultrasound pics I have. Currently, I'm at 26 weeks and feeling GREAT!

26 weeks

21 weeks

16 weeks




12 weeks

Back to Blogging!

So apparently I'm a horrible blogger. Now that we are getting closer to the baby arriving I want to try to blog more often. Not that many people follow my blog so this is more a scrapbook of sorts of all of the exciting things that are going on in our life right now.

I had saved a few blogs regarding my pregnancy when we first found out, before we had told anyone. I'm going to publish those now and will update with new pictures as well. The old posts are on August 9th and September 11th. I enjoyed going back to read these and relive how I felt when I first found out I was pregnant!

We had a fantastic Christmas filled with lots of food, family, and friend time. I love getting time off during the holidays. Sid was able to come home for 2 weeks and we enjoyed spending lots of quality time catching up and reconnecting. We visited the Hearn's and Richardson's for a few days and enjoyed our time there as we always do.

For now it's back to work. January is going to be a SUPER busy month with AMEA, winterguard, and getting ready for baby. The countdown is on to meeting Catherine and to our family being reunited and living under one roof again. I can't wait!!!