Introducing Haylie Anne!

So our baby girl has arrived! She made her appearance Thursday, April 8th at 12:33pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 11oz and was 21 inches long. The birthing experience was beautiful... the doctor actually allowed me to pull her out of me and lay her on my stomach. The moment is one that I'll forever cherish and was more than I could have ever hoped for. Thank you to everyone who sent up your prayers on our behalf so that we could have an experience that wasn't traumatic like Braeden's birth had been.

If you want to see some beautiful pictures from Haylie's newborn photo shoot please go to www.ashleytownsendphotography.com. The moments captured are phenomenal. Thank you so much Ashley for your beautiful work! I'll post some of my home photos at a later date.

Haylie is truly a joy in our home. I have been waiting some time to be able to see Haylie and Braeden interact as brother and sister and it's the greatest blessing. Braeden showers his baby sister with kisses and always refers to her as "my Haylie!!!". I love my babies and my family is everything to me. My heart is so full and I have to thank my Heavenly Father for this precious gift. We are so blessed...

Feast Your Eyes on These Puppies!

Yes, these feet belong to me... brave right? I imagine most of you are probably cringing, wincing and maybe even throwing up a little in your mouth. My response? You're telling me!!! Okay, so I'm starting to feel the swelling begin in my legs, ankles and feet and I pulled this picture out to remind me how bad it really was when I was pregnant with Braeden. So awful and so... NOT... cute! My swelling with Braeden began at 6 months and I'm much further along than that now so I'm holding out hope... but every time I see this picture an involuntary tear falls from my eye as I contemplate what may be in my future... can I have a moment of silence please?

Baby's Name, Room & Contractions!!!

We have chosen the name for our little girl! Those of you who have been with us on this journey to picking a name know that it got a little heated so I'm happy to announce the winner - Haylie Anne. This name has great significance to us. "Haylie" is the name we had chosen for the little girl we miscarried at 11 weeks (the pregnancy just prior to Braeden's). And "Anne" is the name of my beautiful, angel cousin who passed at about the same time I learned I was pregnant (after trying for over a year) making our daughter a little ray of sunshine during a sad time for my family. My cousin, Anne, has a beautiful story she shared through her journey in life that you can read about on her blog: http://wardandannecreager.blogspot.com/.

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!

Our gorgeous little girl...

So if you're as unlucky as me and have the anatomy that requires you to see an ultrasound specialist twice a month (in addition to your monthly visits to the ob/gyn), you know that the perk to this is being able to see your baby all the time! So without further adieu, here's our gorgeous little girl at 23 weeks...

Precious face:

Baby yawning:
Baby smiling:)

Now for a couple videos of this gorgeous girl in action... Enjoy!!

Birthdays, Getaways, Halloween & Big News!

Well, you guys know how it goes with my blog. You may not hear from me for a few months, but I'll get you caught up! Buckle up! Here we go...

Now I know my last post was dedicated to Braeden's 2nd birthday, but here are some pictures from his actual birthday party. It was a small family get together that ended up being a lot of fun and very special. Poor kid lives in AZ with a July birthday so there is no better way to celebrate than in the water! Thanks again to Randy and Jenn for hosting since we don't have a pool!

We also had the opportunity to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday at PF Chang's. And nope, that's not a typo people... the big 7-0! Just teasing, Dad. I love you!

Cameron and I had the opportunity to go on a little get-away together for the very first time since we had Braeden! We decided to go to the mountains (Greer) and stayed in their Honeymoon suite at the Red Setter Inn Bed and Breakfast. It was a great time and we were so thankful that Cameron's parents (Papa & Grandma Mia) were willing to watch our little man while we were away! Our room had a wall of windows ceiling to floor and the first picture below is of our view from the suite. It was gorgeous having the river just below and to fall asleep to.

And of course, there's Halloween! Braeden's had a growing love for pirates (for whatever reason) and so he was more than excited to be one for Halloween. This was the first Halloween where he really started to grasp the whole experience. We also watched as he grew VERY much in love with all things Halloween... even the scary stuff. We had a hard time getting him to keep moving whenever we passed a house with spiders, webs, a witch, jack-o-lantern, monster, skeleton and more. He just wanted to hang out for hours and ask the witch hanging from the tree what she was doing up there? Or the skeleton coming out of his grave if he was okay. haha. Never imagined he would be such a lover of the holiday, but it really made it fun for us.

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.

Happy Birthday Braeden!!!

Thursday, July 23rd, our little man turned two years old! I felt nostalgic but excited for him at the same time. I can't even begin to articulate the joy Braeden brings into our lives. He is a crack up yet also very tender, sweet and loving. Here is a list of our precious two-year-old's favorite things, stats and stories for those that haven't had the opportunity to get to know him:

COLOR: Blue, Yellow ("yeh-yoh")

FOOD: Anything with cheese (or even resembles cheese, like white rice)

DRINK: Water, Water, Water... and chocolate milk
(which he calls, "juice")

TAG LINES: "I do it!", "Stop it!", "All doooone!", "Ssshhhh!", "Ooooooh, man!", "So sorry" (Ever since we taught him to say "sorry", he's always said it this way. We think it's adorable and hope he never stops!), "Mm-mm-mm!" (He does this while shaking his hips side to side, priceless!).

MOVIE: Hands down, Cars! He watches this daily and wakes up asking for it.

CARTOON: Word World, Super Why!, Spongebob

BOOK: This changes by the week. Last week it was Fox in Socks and this week it seems to be The Giving Tree.

TOYS: Cars, anything and everything Cars & his oversized, yellow tonka truck.

CARS CHARACTERS: Mater, Red and Tractor

FRUIT: Bananas and strawberries

VEGGIE: Peas

SNACK: GoGurt

HEIGHT: Approx 36 inches (3 ft)

WEIGHT: 27 lbs

GAME: Elefun

TEMPERAMENT: Sensitive, loving, very helpful, goofy.

NEW-FOUND LOVE: Jumping!!!

LEARNING: Can recognize some words, all letters (upper and most lower case), recognize most numbers and colors.

BEST FRIENDS: Lincoln, Grady, Nico

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Repeats the last word you say when conversing, speaks phrases and simple sentences, walks downstairs like a big boy.

FUNNY QUIRKS:
Flip flops the pronunciation of words (i.e., "Dirty" is "Deeter"), and for fun and laughs he goes around walking like an old man bent over!

PASTIME:
Scribbling on paper and telling Mommy what letter it most resembles, swimming or being in the water, water colors, plays and plays and plays with his Cars and trucks (lining them up, stuffing smaller cars into bigger trucks, rearranging them, etc.).

GUILTY PLEASURE:
Chapstick, a.k.a. "whips" (lips). He loves to hold it, turn it up, put it on his "whips", close the cap (notice how he doesn't turn it back down? This creates problems). He could do this all day. Speaking of lips, he likes to pick at the middle part of his upper lip until it bleeds. He knows he's not allowed to so he waits until he's in bed alone (I can catch him on the monitor) or he'll just hide behind a couch and pick, pick, pick. It's a terrible habit. He also love, love, loves to drink ice water from an adult glass. He spills one just about daily...

MOMMY'S FAVORITE MOMENTS:
In the beginning of the Cars movie, Lightening McQueen says "Ooooh, yeah!". I caught him saying it on queue before and it was priceless! Last night when he said his first prayer with Mommy's help. Hearing him go into a fit of laughter where he can't stop. He's most goofy just before bed and absolutely anything is funny to him. I love his laugh; it's so contagious. When he comes to me and just sits in my lap or lays down next to me to cuddle. Singing to him at night and getting him to sing the word "Beam!" to the primary song, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam". And kisses, Mommy loves her some Braeden kisses!

DADDY'S FAVORITE MOMENT:
When he went up to Daddy and for the first time ever said, "Hug?" while stretching out his arms. He's never asked for a hug before. He's always just done it or we've initiated it. It was so precious.

Update from last blog... So I'm sure you all have been losing sleep over how Braeden has gone the last three months without a bath because of his paralyzing fear of poo poo living in the bathtub. Rest assured, Mommy found a way to ease him back into the process to a point where he now really enjoys his bath time again. All it took was explaining that it was impossible until I was blue in the face... eventually my explanation turned into a little song I created. The words go like this, "Poo poo in the potty! Bubbles in the bath!" (please appreciate the alliteration =). So I gave the boy bubbles, so many bubbles that there was no way he would noticed the tiniest speck on the floor of the tub and assume it was more poo poo! We have our set backs time and again; I'm always prepared for the sudden rush of fear of a slippery and wet little boy trying to make his way out of the tub asap! These days, he often jumps in the shower with either Mommy or Daddy. He likes to stay in there after we finish and just let the water run on his back.... but who doesn't?

Happy Birthday Braeden Lucas!

Scary Poo Poo

So, I turned the big 27... made me realize I'm now officially in my late twenties. To celebrate we went to Famous Dave's (my favorite BBQ place EVER!). It was great to reconnect with family. The picture you see above is the only picture we have to remember the day by and it was taken by the manager there and e-mailed to me. I guess restaurants are having to get creative these days to attract more business. I appreciated it because our camera is out of commission.

Cameron took Braeden on our church Father/Son camp out this past weekend. I asked him to take our camera (because it is capable of snapping at least three shots before it dies) and also the camcorder. He refused and said that Sam (our neighbor) had a camera and would e-mail them to us. I decided I would choose my battles (this not being one of them) and sent them off. Well, he came home and said our neighbor's wife forgot to pack batteries (like how the blame had been shifted there? Men...). So, I asked if he took any pictures with his cell phone (I already knew the answer because I'm a genius, I was just trying to prove a point here). So, we have not a single photo to capture my baby's first camp out which is beyond disappointing. sigh. Men...

Now to get to the point... my baby boy comes home filthy- truly filthy. Not that I expected anything different, but straight to the bath he went. Well, I had to drain the dirty bath water and refill it. After doing that, I stepped away to grab a towel only to come back to my son sitting among poop. Yep, he did it again (shivers). So I sucked it up and said very calmly, "Did you go poo poo? Oh no." Well, apparently Braeden was entirely oblivious that he had pooped and perhaps unaware that it came out of him. But when he saw it... OH MAN! You would've thought the Boogie-Man was staring right back at him because he FREAKED OUT! So now, he won't take a bath anymore. He bawls barely making out the words, "Poo Poo!" and clings to me and will crawl out of the tub. ugh. It's really the saddest sight, although still slightly humorous I'll admit. I used to have to drag him out of the tub, and now he won't touch it. So I guess in our home, we don't worry about monsters in the closet because we have scary poo poo in the bath tub. Go figure. =)