Alianna is three weeks old today!! (Sept. 20th) She was weighed today and was a whopping 7 lbs 1.9 oz! She peed all over the scale (and her mum), and so far has managed to go to the bathroom in the tub EVERY time she has a bath, and pretty consistently when her diaper is off. A girl of excellent timing! Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Nose to nose with daddy.

Look at that tummy! Oh so full...


We are continually amazed at the facial expressions she makes, especially when she is waking up!




She is well loved and watched over by Grammie and Arya!

So cute in the car seat and her little preemie outfit!

A random tomato from Nana's garden... is it Bob?

Alianna's First Week:




Bath Time!!


Meeting Great Grandpa Hope

Getting love from Nana and Papa


Meeting Aunt Alli
and her cousins, McKenzie and Brynn



Watched over faithfully by Arya

Watching Daddy wrestle with Brynn and Kenzie
Having dinner, thanks Ann! Is it possible to get so many funny faces in one picture?

I'd like to announce the birth of Alianna Edie Hope! (pronounced eh-lee-ah-na) She was born August 30th, 2007 at 8:15 a.m. after 32 hours of labor! She weighed 6lbs 12 oz and was 19.75 inches long. She is all healthy (and so is mom). For the full labor story you can check out the end- after the pics of the most beautiful and precious baby girl EVER!
Moments after birth...
Dad cutting the cord.






Proud Grandpa!
Loving daddy...
Happy, but tired Grammie, after flying madly to make the birth in time... and helping out- so NO sleep for about three days :)


Birth Story
My water broke at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Agust 29th. Full moon!! I was so excited I couldn't go back to sleep (Garrett did!). Instead I stayed up and wrote some more lesson plans to send off in the morning. "How exciting," I thought, "the baby will have August 29th, as a birthday!" HA HA HA- not to be! Contractions started at about 1:45 a.m. though they were inconsistent and not too strong. At 8:30 a.m. we called the doctor to let him know my water had broke and he told us to come in so he could check the "progress". I was only 2 cm dilated! He wanted to induce active labor right then, but we decided to wait- as "we weren't in a hurry!" By 4:00 p.m. that afternoon the contractions were finally consistent, about five minutes apart and 35 to 40 seconds long. By 9:45 p.m. the contractions were a minute long and 3 minutes apart- so we headed into the hospital!

Unfortunately, when checked at the hospital I was still only 2 cm dilated- after twenty hours of contractions! They went ahead and checked us in because my water had broke. Continued to labor... by two a.m. my contractions were averaging a minute and a half, VERY strong, and less than two minutes apart. I felt like I couldn't hardly get a breath between contractions, and was quickly losing control. After being checked and told at that point I was still only 4 cm dilated I was quite discouraged and so tired. SO... I begged and pleaded for an epidural and was given one about 2:45. Things progressed much more quickly after that as my body relaxed and I got out of the way.

In the next four hours I was able to dilate the last 6 cm and so was ready to push by 7:00 a.m. Thursday, August 30th, 2007. I pushed- she'd crown (the top of the head show), she'd go back in... I'd push, she'd crown, she'd go back in... and SO ON. Finally, at about 8:05 she started staying closer to the opening, and at 8:15 a.m. I gave one last push and she came out all in one big rush- head and body! The doctor caught her and quickly flipped her twice because the cord was wrapped around her neck twice and then laid her on me. She promptly peed all over and then started to cry and we got to meet!

I ripped with the last push, so my doctor sewed me up Garrett and I cuddled Alianna and she nursed for the first time- like a pro!
She is a cutie pie- quite calm, and eats and sleeps marvelously. She still has her days and nights flipped- but is quickly getting adjusted to life outside the watery womb.