Baby Hailey is here!

Hello everyone!

I had a great weekend. Friday night I went over to Elaine and Gina’s house for dinner. mmmm pocket bread! The three of us played cards and later Kyle came over and we played ping pong in the basement which is always fun.

Saturday after I showered and ate some breakfast I drove to my friend Jess’ apartment in Sellwood to help her move. Jess and Mike just bought their first house and I’m so excited for them. Jess’ brother and some other friends were there to help also. We filled the moving truck and I filled my car with Jess’ many plants. We then caravanned over to their new house in northeast Portland. We unloaded everything then Mike and Josh went to load stuff from Mike’s house while Jess & I stayed behind and began unpacking. We ordered a pizza from Hot Lips for lunch and made remarkable progress with unpacking and organizing. Josh and Mike got there and we helped them unload the truck and again the house was full of boxes. I left Jess and Mike to continue making their new house their home. I’m so envious of their home ownership!

I had just gotten home and put on my fleece pj bottoms, ready to lie on the sofa and watch a movie when I got a message that Gina had been in a car accident. I was horrified as I read it but Elaine’s message ended by saying that she was okay. I immediately called Gina, who didn’t answer, then Elaine who gave me the rundown. It happened just a block away from their house. She was reaching to put on her seatbelt when a car suddenly turned in front of her. It was one of those Best Buy Geek Squad VW bugs so they definitely have insurance and it was solidly his fault as he just turned in front of her. He said to the police officer that “she blended in”. Hmmmm it was daylight. Her car was totaled. The worst part though was that Gina’s head hit the windshield (which broke) and while she wasn’t bleeding she had quite a bump. She was reluctant to go to the hospital so I drove over to her house, looked at her car, gave her a hug and talked to her, trying to convince her that she really should go to the hospital. She agreed and left with Scott to go get checked out. I stayed and hung out with Elaine and Fooqua for a while before heading back to my house where I ate dinner, did all my ironing and watched Babel. Shortly after midnight I got a message from Elaine. The baby was finally here. Our friends Erin & Terry had been patiently waiting for their daughter to be born. Her original due date, later determined to be incorrect, was March 11th. One previous attempt at inducing did not work but at exactly the stroke of midnight Saturday night Hailey was born. She’s a healthy baby girl at 9 lbs 10 oz. Elaine was in the delivery room!

Sunday morning I finished the book I was reading (Fahrenheit 451 which I’ve now read 3 times in my life). After I showered I went over to Gina’s house. She had messaged Terry to figure out a time to come meet the baby. They were getting some rest so we agreed to come to the hospital in the afternoon, everyone together, so they could rest after we all left. Gina and I drove down to Hawthorne to eat lunch at Cha Cha Cha (mmmm chimichangas!) before going back to their house. We stopped by Walgreens so Gina could fill some prescriptions, painkillers for her accident, then we were on our way to the hospital. Elaine & Gina’s parents met us there as did Melissa who had been at the hospital the night before. We walked up to the maternity ward and found Erin’s room. She had just taken a shower so was feeling better for that but she was still exhausted and on lots of painkillers. There were happy to have visitors and we were all so excited to meet Hailey. We each held her and took a zillion photos and ooohed and aaahed over her cute nose, her soft skin, her long fingers. She’s a beautiful baby and she’s gonna be LOVED! We realized that Hailey, at 15 hours old, already had more baby photos than all 6 adults in the room combined! We’re all so excited for our friends and their new daughter! We left the hospital grinning and amazed by the new little person in our world.

Elaine and I went to the grocery store while Gina picked up her prescriptions. We headed back to their house where we sat on the porch enjoying the sun then began prepping for dinner. Kyle and Fooqua came over and we sat outside while Elaine grilled up asparagus and flank steak. The mountain turned pink and we all went in to eat. Dinner was wonderful and after doing the dishes we went in the basement for some more ping pong. It was a great day and except for Gina’s accident (we’re all so relieved that she’s ok!) it was a great weekend also. Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to.

xoxo,
carolyn