Saturday, July 26, 2008

Hailey Nicole Hammerling







Hailey Nicole Hammerling was born on July 19th 2008 at 8:18am. Hailey was born a whopping 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19 inches long. I was a bit surprised because I was expecting to have a 7 1/2-8 pound child. She came a week early. She has a very mild mannered demeanor (unless she's hungry) and is strong. She lifts her head when she's on her stomach and really likes to grab onto your finger. She came out holding her umbilical cord, which almost put me into a cesection because her heart rate kept declining. Overall, I had a great labor, delivery, and so far my recovery has gone well. I have to thank the person who created the epidural, because that drug is amazing. I praise any women who had a natural delivery with out any help for the pain. So far I've learned that swaddling is very effective in getting an infant to sleep longer. I'm very excited to be a parent and feel blessed to have this opportunity. Having a child is such a miracle!


Sunday, July 6, 2008

Influencial Adults

I'm a pretty indecisive person! So I often look to others for advice, suggestions, and feedback when it comes to making different decisions. However, that doesn't mean I will always listen. I don't believe that I got this way on my own so I would like to introduce you to adults in my life that have helped me become who I am.



Meet my "Pops!" Beyond all his crazy adventures in life, he's a very traditional man. He's always worked very hard and believes in earning what you want in life. I feel I have adopted my father's heart and soul. He's very sensitive, caring, and empathetic. My dad knows what it's like to be the oldest. He is one of 11 sibs!




Meet my dearest mother, Ms. Debby Beachy! Anyone that can have seven children and look the way she looks is amazing and has some good genes. Unfortunately, I didn't get those specific genes! She is very passionate about everything she does. She's extremely creative and when she wants to do something and sets her mind to it she will succeed at it. She's determined and this is probably the one thing that I've taken from her!


Here is my grandma Pletcher and her pup, Henry! I have a lot of my grandmother's attributes; same eyes and body structure. I spent a lot of time with my grandma growing up. She has a special place in my heart. She's always encouraged me to be who I wanted to be and the one the led me to be a social worker. Her faith in God is evident in everything she does through out her life. She is a strong-willed(very similar to my mother) individual and about the only one I know at her age that has kept up with our technological world and taught herself how to use the computer!




Brian's Parents: Mird(Pat) and Dird(Harry). They've adopted me as their daughter from the moment that Brian and I have been together (It will be about 11 years in August). They've always been supportive of our relationship and have always valued family coming first. They gave me Brian!

I come from a large extended family so their are many other individuals who have also played an important role in my life some way, some how. The hardest part of getting married was knowing that I no longer would have the "Winkelman" name. Being a Winkelman is something to be proud of because of the history. I have two step-parents, Nina and Tim, who took on the challenge of adopting seven kids into their life! Crazy, but somehow they've managed being successful with this challenge. Now I'm a Hammerling and I have the best In-Laws I could ever ask for! So, I see it as a "win-win" situation :)