So, I suddenly realized that the last time that I posted anything was back in December when I was 23 weeks along, and now I'm 34! There has been good reason for this. You see, starting January my nesting phase turned into a bit of a neurotic obsession. It was like I couldn't stop myself! I was working on dozens of projects around the house that I feared would never get completed if I didn't do it right that second! But most importantly, I felt very compelled to have our little Haylie's room ready and completed by the beginning of February. People would roll their eyes at me when I would tell them this goal and remind me I wasn't even due until April 21st giving me a nearly 3 month cushion. But I had this feeling inside I couldn't suppress telling me that I needed to have this prepared and ready, but I didn't know exactly why. When I would explain that to others, they first would say "you think she's going to come early?". Well, I didn't know at the time but I have my answer now.
I ended up not meeting my deadline of the beginning of February, but instead finished the middle of February beaming with pride and excitement. I had a week or so of soaking in my little Braeden who just loves on his mommy and baby sister all the time. Then suddenly like a switch was flipped, I was experiencing contraction after contraction... realizing that they were 3-5 minutes apart put me into tears as I called my doctor's office. Now to be clear, these weren't labor contractions but Braxton Hicks. However, I remember from a previous appointment that my doctor had specifically told me that any more than 6 in one hour was unhealthy and could put me into preterm labor. At 32 weeks, I was not ready to give this girl up!
The doctor's office told me "go to Labor & Delivery right now!". They were clearly less than pleased with me wanting to give it at least fifteen minutes to subside firmly insisting I not wait another second. So I did, crying the whole way there. For some reason, I thought by going to the hospital they would make this go away but that didn't end up being the case at all. Drugging me up with Terbutaline and monitoring the baby and the contractions, three hours later they let me go saying I was stable enough. But I was still having 6 contractions per hour! Thus, on bedrest I was put and remain (although bedrest is kind of a joke when you have a 2 year old at home!). At first, I could only keep my contractions at the max if I was laying down. Then soon that wasn't enough and 6 days later I found myself back in Labor & Delivery. I was promptly given a priesthood blessing following that experience and suddenly I could sit up and keep the contractions at bay. So that's where I stand at this point- 34 weeks, contractions on and off but last they checked my cervix was closed and not prepared for an arrival anytime soon.
Alas, you've survived my sob story and deserve a peek at our Haylie's room so here is the big reveal! I chose a purple and yellow Dragonfly theme, as I was strictly instructed by Cameron (who randomly decides to have a firm opinion on things of this nature) that he didn't want a pink room. :) Thanks to Jenn (my sister-in-law) for helping me paint the walls... also Gary (my father-in-law) and Cameron for installing the chair railing. If any of you want to try and duplicate anything you see or want to know where I purchased something, let me know and I'd be happy to share my secrets! ;)
Here's the big brother to be! Love this kid!
Picture of Christ
I was so excited when I found a Dragonfly set of hooks!
Who knew I had a creative bone in my body? :)
A look from a distance.
I even made the white knobs these are hanging on!
This was done by using a wall stencil.
Sooo tedious but loved the results!
Now here are some little moments captured over the past few months that put a smile on my face. I hope you enjoy them...
And lastly, for the Big News I promised... well, unless you're blind you can see below that I am pregnant with a baby girl! She is due April 21st which makes me about 18 weeks right now. We are so excited and feel exponentially blessed at this time. The Lord has provided for us in every way and we couldn't be more grateful.
Then there was Easter. Cameron's parents were here the week leading up to it and helped us build a swing set (among many other projects) for Braeden. It was quite the undertaking! It was so wonderful having Cameron's parents out to help with odds and ends around the house and especially to see our little man really get to know his grandparents better. He nicknamed his grandpa, "Papa" and loved to point out anything he thought belonged to his papa! He also LOVED his time with his Grandma Mia (we're still working on getting him to say "Mia")... he got lots of time reading books and going over his ABC's and 123's with his Grandma. We are so impressed with his fascination with the alphabet and numbers and he knows all of his letters but struggles with "W". He refers to it as "double-dub" when he's right, but usually thinks it's an "M". Not too shabby... It's so fun to indulge that passion and we hope he continues to love learning! 
Back to Easter, we only got one sad shot of our Easter with Braeden in his new little suit (courtesy of Papa and Grandma Mia) before our camera died. I was so disappointed. We really need to get that thing replaced. But he loved his Easter basket and looking for it (a tradition I had growing up), dying the eggs, looking for eggs and of course eating the candy!!! It was a great time together with family.
