Just one for now, taken by her daddy at the hospital. :) She is having her first of millions of photo sessions today. More to come very soon I promise. :) Thank you to everyone for all of the kind support and meals. We are so blessed.

Guess who came to visit?!

She's here!!! I am going to be in so much trouble since I don't have pictures to post yet....well, I do have pictures (of course) just not my card reader to upload them to the computer. :) She came Monday at 1:46AM, and is amazing and beautiful and perfect. 7lbs 2oz, 20.5 inches and every bit of beautiful a girl should be. I will be back later to post pictures of her and at some point to share the chaos of my delivery. It was interesting. :) Hope you are all doing well!

Induction date

We had our 36 week (actually 36weeks 5 days but who's counting???) appointment and sono today. :) Everything went very well. We knew we would be talking about induction, and it would be based on the baby's size. She measured perfectly, estimated to be about 6lbs. 4oz.! Which is a great size, and luckily smaller than Mason was at that stage. We didn't want to have a larger baby than Mason so that we could make sure I could deliver her on my own. Mason was 8lbs 4oz 2 weeks early!!! So, she is a great size which is excellent news. She was so precious on the sono you could see her pouting her little lips, and sticking out her tongue. It was beautiful. So, since she isn't too big we will be induced at 39 weeks if we make it. My scheduled induction is June 4th! That's a maximum of 18 more days left!!! We are so excited. A week ago if you asked us, we would have been hoping for a sooner induction. But this is it for us, and we want to enjoy every last minute. And we have come this far, 18 more days is nothing! But there is still the possibility, especially since I have had so many problems, that she could still come sooner. I was 1-2 cm dilated, and he said really ready for delivery. I'll keep you all posted!!!

Nothing fun to report today, but I thought this was funny...
http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

I go to the dr tomorrow and we will have a sono and set an induction date if she doesn't come on her own sooner. SO, tomorrow I will have news. :) Hope you are all having a great day!

What a weekend!!!

First, I hope you all had a fantastic Mother's Day! Being a mom is truly my biggest and best accomplishment, so it was good to be with my family and enjoy my boys this weekend. But it was quite a chaotic weekend. So, since it was so eventful I thought I would fill everyone in. And before you wonder, no baby yet....but she did cause some drama. :) So, now that I am off "house arrest" I am feeling a little more free, but then there is the on going problem of non-stop contractions which really restrict what I do with my new found free time. But I was bound and determined to get out and about for the first time in over 3 weeks. My sister in law came in town, so we went and did a little shopping. I of course was tired in no time, but it was nice to get out and about. So after a few hours of being out of the house, we decided it was time to head home so she could get herself back home and so I could rest. We came home, and of course the contractions started. After over an hour of contractions every 2-3 minutes apart I decided maybe I should call the dr office since I have quick babies just to see what they wanted to do. They had me take one of my pain meds I was prescribed to see if that would relax me enough to slow things down. After another hour we decided it was time to go in. I spent several hours in the hospital on Saturday night being monitored. They gave me plenty of fluids just in case and also a sedative to try to slow my body down. They can't give me the meds that will stop labor but since she would still be 4 weeks early they were going to aggressively try to at least stop me from dilating. And they did. :) After several hours I hadn't changed, but unfortunately the contractions just wouldn't let up. So, I was sent home on the sedative and a couple ambien to knock me out. And they did, after I made my poor husband cook me pancakes at 1am and had some interesting hallucinations. I don't do well with medication. It just does funky things to my body. Yesterday I spent majority of my day in bed, in pain and completely pooped from the nights events. My darling husband brought me breakfast in bed and roses and had wonderful gifts for me from the boys. And a card from each of the children, including Brooklynne. :) Have I mentioned I am the luckiest girl alive??? He makes it all ok, and takes such amazing care of us during all of this mess. But I am so ready to have this little one. The great news is, if I haven't had her on my own I will be induced at 39 weeks which is just under 3 weeks away. So, at the very longest I have to endure the nonsense of my silly body is 3 weeks....and that is exciting! Ok, so on to part 2 of my interesting weekend. We had made reservations during in the week to eat dinner early Sunday evening at Buca di Bepo. Yum. I had been so excited all week, I love Buca. And as exhausted as I was I am trying to live as normally as possible for the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy so I was not going to skip a yummy dinner and time with my family. It was the whole family, me and my crew, my parents, brother and sisters, etc. So, we get to Buca and start enjoying our evening. My poor children have been through the ringer over the past few weeks, they after all have been on house arrest along with me. It's been rough. And bless my mom for helping us out and taking them to the park or just outside when she has taken care of them. They were used to me doing those things with them, and now it's been so boring around here for them when all I can do is just sit and watch them. So, we are sitting down and my sister got there a bit late with my nephew. My older son and her son had to of course sit next to each other so they could talk about things a 4 and 6 year old talk about. Mason, my youngest needed to be part of that action. Well, things didn't go exactly as Mason had planned so he got upset. Mind you, his whole routine had been thrown off from the weekend. Saturday he didn't get in a good nap, just a small one in the car then Saturday night when we were in the hospital he didn't fall asleep for my mom till midnight. So, he was tired and cranky, not to mention just getting over an ear infection and strep earlier in the week. He was just off, and who is to blame him...he's a 2 year old with so much of his little world changing. And probably it would have been easier for us to have something at someone's house, but we certainly didn't know our weekend would end up so crazy. Anyways, so now that we all know why he was in a mood (hehe with the most important factor being that he is 2!!!!) back to the story. So, Mason gets upset and didn't want to sit down, he wanted to play. Our food comes out and my husband tries to get him to sit down and eat some noodles. Nope, he wasn't having it. He was crying and just upset, not like he was throwing a fit...he was genuinely upset. So, my husband was going to take him outside but my mom beat him to it. I am feeling major emotional and upset at that moment and ask my husband to go take care of him so my mom can sit down on mother's day. So off he goes, just then my older sister storms out as well, and I had NOOO clue why. I burst into tears feeling overwhelmed and wishing things had gone differently. My mom comes back in and says why don't we just leave our time is already ruined, which left me freaking out thinking no it's gonna be ok, Mason will calm down. Then she says "what table is it that said something?" I was so confused at this point and asked what she was talking about. Well.......what I hadn't heard in the process of getting Mason out of the restaurant is someone at another table across the room yell "You need to get your crying kid out of here". So, as soon as I hear about this I am just crushed. Are you freaking kidding me??? My child was CRYING. Not as if he was having a hissy fit, he was crying. And we swooped him out of there within 2 minutes of it starting to get him happy. And you are yelling across the room for me to remove my "kid"???? I was so upset, it really just hurt my heart. Never have I had someone insult me in regards to my children, and there was no greater pain at that moment. I was just devastated. What kind of insensitive human being would say something like that? Have they no compassion or even understanding of children in general, much less a child that has been put through many rough changes lately he DIDN'T ask for??? So, I was just majorly upset at that point as was my whole family at the rudeness of these people. So, we ask for boxes and the check (without any of us even having the chance to eat) and get everything packed up to leave. I have always enjoyed Buca di Bepo and had amazing service there, and last night was no exception. They certainly were not at fault for the actions of another patron, but they were so compassionate to the way we had been treated by those other patrons they did not let us pay. They apologized for SOMEONE ELSE'S actions, and wished us a wonderful Mother's Day. I learned of this after we left, and will be writing them a letter with the utmost gratitude. They didn't need to do that, our encounter with their staff and restaurant was great...it was someone else's actions that hurt but they did what they could. So, as we were leaving I just couldn't bite my tongue. I walked over to the table and said, "Hi, I'm the mom of the child you suggested should go home" when the man interrupts me with just the rudest look, voice, everything and starts attacking me with his words. He said to me that he didn't say we needed to leave, but we needed to get our kid under control. I told him to stop and told him he is 2 and tired and having a bad day, and gave him more of an explanation about my poor child's circumstances than he deserved to know. Because you know what, even IF we didn't have all this going on, is it completely unheard of for a 2 year old to have a bad day? He was just so mean, and snooty. And hurtful. I cried the whole way home, then decided he would not ruin MY day with my family. Everyone came over here, I dried my face and we started fresh and had a good time. I learned that you just never know what people are going through. You just never know what someone's circumstances are, nor do they matter. I try to live everyday treating everyone as I would want to be treated, and yesterday was a good reminder why that is so important. A group of people hurt my heart, and made me sad. They broke my spirit and made things worse, but only for a minute. Gosh, I so wish I could have said so many other things to them. But why? Instead I will pray for them. Clearly they do not know the love and compassion I know from my Father who helps me to see the world differently and love a little more or maybe just like Mason, they were having a bad day. I don't know their circumstances either, and so I will just pray.

I got it!

So, today I got my custom made diaper bag from Sassy Satchels and have to say I am in LOOOOOVE. My bag is fantastic, way cuter than what I had envisioned in my head. I knew it would be cute for sure, but seeing it in person is so much cooler! I just took a couple really quick snaps with Mason hanging on my leg, so they aren't the best. I am going to take it in the studio to take a couple to show all the details. It's awesome, and was so much fun to go through the design process! Ok, I sound like an infomercial. Sorry, but I am such a bag kind of girl this is so up my alley. :) Have a fantastic weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day!!! I will be eating yummy food and enjoying my new freedom and waiting for a baby to come!

Sassy Satchels

Have you guys checked out Sassy Satchels yet??? I am so silly excited about my bag! I was taking portraits a few weekends ago and noticed my client had the cutest diaper bag. So, of course I had to know where she got it and guess what she makes them! I was so excited cause I hadn't gotten a bag because I don't like traditional diaper bags at all. So, I had been on the hunt for something that would really fit ME. So, we started designing one and it was such an awesome process! I got to pick my fabrics, with her help because I stink at that type of thing. Anyways, I just wanted to post for those who may be in the market for a cute diaper bag, purse, or burp cloths. Her bags are awesome and affordable! I get mine this week, so I will post pictures of it when it's here. Here is a sample of what the general idea is. After you look at how stinking adorable my bag is going to be get right over to http://www.sassysatchels.blogspot.com/ . You won't regret it!!!

Ohhh the drama!

I don't think I came properly equipped for child bearing. Each one of my pregnancies brings new events, new challenges, new drama. And as most of you know Brooklynne has been the Drama Queen since we found out she was there. Wednesday I went in to the Dr for my 34 week appointment, and everything was looking good. I have an ultrasound at 36 weeks and we will see how big she is and how I am doing to determine if we should induce sooner than 39 weeks if she doesn't come on her own before that. Thursday night we went and got some of the last minute stuff since we knew that at 35 weeks they would not stop her from coming. I was told to stay on my house arrest for one more week, so we would at least make it to 35 and a half. Well, my body thought perhaps we should just have a dry run to see how things would go down in the real event. Thursday night I felt a little different, Friday morning I called to let them know and they said just to watch it and let them know. Well, at 10:30 the contractions started. Nothing new for me. I start contracting like a mad woman at around 15 weeks each time, it's lame. So, nothing new...I went about my business but was feeling yuck. Decided I should lay down after about 45 minutes of consistent contractions. A couple hours later we decided I should be checked. So, off we went on the dry run. My mom took the boys, Joseph came all the way home from work and we headed downtown. In the 30 minute drive I had 6 contractions, so they were moving closer together. They checked me and I am still 1cm dilated, which is good news - the contractions were not dilating me. They monitored me and by that point I was contracting pretty good about every 2-3 minutes apart. We decided either I could go to the hospital and sit and see what happens or I could come home, take some pain pills to help relax my muscles and rest. I took option #2, and guess what happened?!?! Nothing. No baby (which is good cause I am still finishing up some work). Basically, my body is all talk at this point. Stupid body. Thank the good Lord this is it for me. And the lovely women who stayed at my Dr's office on a Friday afternoon to wait for me to come in for nothing - bless you. I seriously LOVE my Dr and all of his nurses, they rock. They put up with me, so they have to be extra special. :) I'll keep you all posted to the never ending saga of my final weeks of pregnancy and my lame body.