01 02 03 The Dayton Houghs: Another in double digits!!! Happy Birthday Hannah! 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Another in double digits!!! Happy Birthday Hannah!

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Well, tomorrow, Friday September 13th, is Miss Hannah Therese's 10th birthday. As each kid's birthday rolls around, I inevitably think of their birth (or the moment when I became their mom). But with Hannah, I go all the way back, back to when I found out that I was expecting her. Brian and I had been married for a little over two years. The twins were in first grade, Jake had started kindergarten and Isaac was a brand new baby. He was just 4 months old when we found out that we were expecting again. I went through every emotion that you can think of. Shocked, ecstatic, petrified, thrilled... You name it, I felt it. It had taken us a year to get pregnant with Isaac, so we figured that we would just leave it up to God when we would conceive again. I never really thought that it would happen so quickly. But as usual, God knew better than we did. Isaac was one of those babies that didn't sleep unless I was holding him. He could be sound asleep and the second that I tried to lay him down, he would wake up. I very vividly remember sitting at the foot of our bed at about 2 in the morning, sobbing. Isaac would not go to sleep, and being 6 months pregnant, I was exhausted. I was convinced that I would never sleep again. Isaac had not only been a bad sleeper, but he was a pretty bad nurser too. It was probably because he had a very unprepared, inexperienced nursing mother, but it did not go well. I remember feeling guilty when I was pregnant because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take care of two babies. How in the world would I take care of Isaac and a newborn? What if I couldn't give the new baby the attention that she needed? What about DJ, Coley and Jake? Basically, I was a mess. But again, God knew just what I needed. I needed Hannah Therese.

I remember the afternoon before my due date, I felt like labor might be starting. I was sure that I was imagining things, because who actually has a baby on their due date? Isaac was 10 days late, so I never thought that Hannah would come on her due date. From the very beginning Hannah did things her way. By the middle of the night, I was sure that I was actually in labor and we headed to the hospital. My Ob/Gyn was out of town for her brother's wedding. The doctor on call walked into the room introduced himself and then promptly broke my water. Ummm hello! Nice to meet you too!?  He asked me if I wanted an epidural. After recalling Isaac's 36 hours of terrible labor, I was very sure that I wanted one. It all went fairly smoothly. I got my epidural and Brian and I were sitting there talking and then I felt it, a contraction. And then another one. And another and another. Each one was getting more intense and more painful. I looked at Brian and said, "Why am I feeling these?!" The doctor came back in and said that it was time to push. I freaked out minorly because by this point I was feeling everything. I was not happy about that. I had wanted an epidural for a reason. I didn't want to feel anything! I may have over-reacted a bit. It certainly wasn't fun, but once she was out, I have to admit, I felt great. The doctor laid her on my chest and she just looked at me. She was beautiful. She snuggled right up to me and started to nurse right away. And then, miracle of miracles...she slept! She was such a sweet baby. She was content and happy. She was so giggly and smiley. I was in love...again.


Seriously, look at those cheeks! She was such a chubby baby. Just beautiful!


She has loved her big sissy from the beginning.


She is number 5 of nine. I guess that makes her our middlest (?) child. She has always been independent. I remember going to a baby shower for a friend from college. Everyone there had one or two babies and I already had 5. The other babies all wanted to be held, while Hannah sat there happily playing with a book. When she was born, I was so worried about her and Isaac being so close in age. They are only 13 months apart. But everything that I was worried about, turned out to be a positive instead of a negative. Because I was not able to sit and hold either one of them all day, they were both able to play well by themselves. They had to entertain themselves. They were both very loved by their big brothers and sister. They watched everything that the three older kids did and tried to be just like them. Sometimes this got them into trouble, especially Hannah and Gia. They had built-in playmates. I had worried for nine months over nothing. Our family was growing exactly the way that God intended. 



Hannah on her 3rd birthday. This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Hannah.

Hannah has always had a very active imagination. She loves to dress up and act out little plays. She loves to have tea parties with Gianna. She loves to write stories and draw pictures. She loves to design clothes and has even done a little bit of sewing. She reads constantly. (She is just like her mother!) When we went to the library, she looked around and let out a wistful sigh. "I am in book heaven!" (She warms my heart.) She is so many wonderful things. 



Tea party


Our little scarecrow. 



The American Girl Tea dressed as their favorite princesses. 



Here she was being the Llama Princess...don't ask. Just laugh.

She loves animals, especially cats. The boys always say that they will never go and visit her when she has her own house. They joke that she will have 30 cats. They might be on to something. She is the cat whisperer of our house. Even our old grumpy cat Sonny (who detested EVERYONE!) loved Hannah. He would curl up with her every afternoon at nap time. 


Her shirt says "I love my cat!" She made Louie a sign that said, "I love my human!"



Her is Hannah fishing at the CMF picnic. She loved it!

My little girl, is growing into a young lady. She has the same bright blue eyes and sweet smile, but her soft rounded little girl face is thinning out. Her once short, chubby legs have stretched out, becoming long and slender. (That she gets from her dad.) She is every bit as beautiful as she was the first time that I held her. But now instead of wondering what she will be like, I have been blessed to actually know. She is funny and smart. She is kind and a good friend. She chooses to be comfortable over fashionable. (She would pick jeans and a t-shirt over tights and a dress everyday.) She is messy. (Just ask her sisters who share a room with her!) She loves to swim and dance and play soccer. She is easily distracted and kind of lazy. (If I send her to her room to put her clean clothes away, she will still be back there an hour later reading or drawing, beside her pile of laundry.) The worst punishment is to take her kindle or her books off of her. (She is usually reading at least 2 or 3 books at a time. And she keeps them tucked away in different spots so that she always has one within reach.) She always has two spare books in her book bag. When I asked her why, she replied that you never know when you will finish the book that you are reading and you never want to be without a book to read. (Amen baby girl, amen.) She loves to talk and talk and talk. She loves to paint her nails and do her own hair. But she also likes to jump on the trampoline and play house. She is amazing and fearless. She is a little girl and a young lady all rolled up into one fabulous package. 


Hannah at her joint birthday party with Isaac.


Happy Birthday Hannah Therese! 

Yep, God knew what I needed 10 years ago, and he gave me Hannah. Thank You God!
35 36 37 38 The Dayton Houghs: Another in double digits!!! Happy Birthday Hannah!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Another in double digits!!! Happy Birthday Hannah!

Well, tomorrow, Friday September 13th, is Miss Hannah Therese's 10th birthday. As each kid's birthday rolls around, I inevitably think of their birth (or the moment when I became their mom). But with Hannah, I go all the way back, back to when I found out that I was expecting her. Brian and I had been married for a little over two years. The twins were in first grade, Jake had started kindergarten and Isaac was a brand new baby. He was just 4 months old when we found out that we were expecting again. I went through every emotion that you can think of. Shocked, ecstatic, petrified, thrilled... You name it, I felt it. It had taken us a year to get pregnant with Isaac, so we figured that we would just leave it up to God when we would conceive again. I never really thought that it would happen so quickly. But as usual, God knew better than we did. Isaac was one of those babies that didn't sleep unless I was holding him. He could be sound asleep and the second that I tried to lay him down, he would wake up. I very vividly remember sitting at the foot of our bed at about 2 in the morning, sobbing. Isaac would not go to sleep, and being 6 months pregnant, I was exhausted. I was convinced that I would never sleep again. Isaac had not only been a bad sleeper, but he was a pretty bad nurser too. It was probably because he had a very unprepared, inexperienced nursing mother, but it did not go well. I remember feeling guilty when I was pregnant because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take care of two babies. How in the world would I take care of Isaac and a newborn? What if I couldn't give the new baby the attention that she needed? What about DJ, Coley and Jake? Basically, I was a mess. But again, God knew just what I needed. I needed Hannah Therese.

I remember the afternoon before my due date, I felt like labor might be starting. I was sure that I was imagining things, because who actually has a baby on their due date? Isaac was 10 days late, so I never thought that Hannah would come on her due date. From the very beginning Hannah did things her way. By the middle of the night, I was sure that I was actually in labor and we headed to the hospital. My Ob/Gyn was out of town for her brother's wedding. The doctor on call walked into the room introduced himself and then promptly broke my water. Ummm hello! Nice to meet you too!?  He asked me if I wanted an epidural. After recalling Isaac's 36 hours of terrible labor, I was very sure that I wanted one. It all went fairly smoothly. I got my epidural and Brian and I were sitting there talking and then I felt it, a contraction. And then another one. And another and another. Each one was getting more intense and more painful. I looked at Brian and said, "Why am I feeling these?!" The doctor came back in and said that it was time to push. I freaked out minorly because by this point I was feeling everything. I was not happy about that. I had wanted an epidural for a reason. I didn't want to feel anything! I may have over-reacted a bit. It certainly wasn't fun, but once she was out, I have to admit, I felt great. The doctor laid her on my chest and she just looked at me. She was beautiful. She snuggled right up to me and started to nurse right away. And then, miracle of miracles...she slept! She was such a sweet baby. She was content and happy. She was so giggly and smiley. I was in love...again.


Seriously, look at those cheeks! She was such a chubby baby. Just beautiful!


She has loved her big sissy from the beginning.


She is number 5 of nine. I guess that makes her our middlest (?) child. She has always been independent. I remember going to a baby shower for a friend from college. Everyone there had one or two babies and I already had 5. The other babies all wanted to be held, while Hannah sat there happily playing with a book. When she was born, I was so worried about her and Isaac being so close in age. They are only 13 months apart. But everything that I was worried about, turned out to be a positive instead of a negative. Because I was not able to sit and hold either one of them all day, they were both able to play well by themselves. They had to entertain themselves. They were both very loved by their big brothers and sister. They watched everything that the three older kids did and tried to be just like them. Sometimes this got them into trouble, especially Hannah and Gia. They had built-in playmates. I had worried for nine months over nothing. Our family was growing exactly the way that God intended. 



Hannah on her 3rd birthday. This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Hannah.

Hannah has always had a very active imagination. She loves to dress up and act out little plays. She loves to have tea parties with Gianna. She loves to write stories and draw pictures. She loves to design clothes and has even done a little bit of sewing. She reads constantly. (She is just like her mother!) When we went to the library, she looked around and let out a wistful sigh. "I am in book heaven!" (She warms my heart.) She is so many wonderful things. 



Tea party


Our little scarecrow. 



The American Girl Tea dressed as their favorite princesses. 



Here she was being the Llama Princess...don't ask. Just laugh.

She loves animals, especially cats. The boys always say that they will never go and visit her when she has her own house. They joke that she will have 30 cats. They might be on to something. She is the cat whisperer of our house. Even our old grumpy cat Sonny (who detested EVERYONE!) loved Hannah. He would curl up with her every afternoon at nap time. 


Her shirt says "I love my cat!" She made Louie a sign that said, "I love my human!"



Her is Hannah fishing at the CMF picnic. She loved it!

My little girl, is growing into a young lady. She has the same bright blue eyes and sweet smile, but her soft rounded little girl face is thinning out. Her once short, chubby legs have stretched out, becoming long and slender. (That she gets from her dad.) She is every bit as beautiful as she was the first time that I held her. But now instead of wondering what she will be like, I have been blessed to actually know. She is funny and smart. She is kind and a good friend. She chooses to be comfortable over fashionable. (She would pick jeans and a t-shirt over tights and a dress everyday.) She is messy. (Just ask her sisters who share a room with her!) She loves to swim and dance and play soccer. She is easily distracted and kind of lazy. (If I send her to her room to put her clean clothes away, she will still be back there an hour later reading or drawing, beside her pile of laundry.) The worst punishment is to take her kindle or her books off of her. (She is usually reading at least 2 or 3 books at a time. And she keeps them tucked away in different spots so that she always has one within reach.) She always has two spare books in her book bag. When I asked her why, she replied that you never know when you will finish the book that you are reading and you never want to be without a book to read. (Amen baby girl, amen.) She loves to talk and talk and talk. She loves to paint her nails and do her own hair. But she also likes to jump on the trampoline and play house. She is amazing and fearless. She is a little girl and a young lady all rolled up into one fabulous package. 


Hannah at her joint birthday party with Isaac.


Happy Birthday Hannah Therese! 

Yep, God knew what I needed 10 years ago, and he gave me Hannah. Thank You God!

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