I would have thought that being on bed rest would mean I'd have more time to blog, but I was WRONG! That's okay though, I have thoroughly been enjoying my time. I started having contractions around 23 weeks and my OB at the time really shrugged me off, even though he knew my history with Hadley arriving so early and being on bed rest during the last pregnancy. I had a bad feeling about him and switched to the wonderful Dr. Klomp and have been so happy. He's actually our stake's patriarch and he gave Levi his amazing patriarchal blessing this summer. When I met with him in his office, I told him how we were surprised in Levi's blessing that he said we would have more children. I told him that at the time, we were "on hold" and were convinced we weren't going to be able to conceive again and it was later that month that I got pregnant. He seemed genuinely touched by this and said he was going to write that down in his journal. Anyway, Dr. Klomp agreed that me being on my feet, running around, lifting heavy books and tables, and bending up and down for 9 hours a day wasn't the best thing and placed me on bed rest. I've been very careful, not lifting Hadley too much and getting plenty of time off my feet and I can feel the difference. I think this pregnancy will go longer than the last one...I just hope it doesn't go TOO long!
Levi has been so busy at work. January and February were slower months, as they are in his industry, but he was still busy. This month has been nuts and he works 11-12 hour days and often goes in on Saturdays to do even more. His work ethic blows me away. He truly loves working and gets a high out of seeing a job well done. I am so proud of him. He's getting to a point where he may be able to bring on even more help. When he started a year and half ago, it was only him. Now it's him, his full time guy Matt (who is so awesome), and his stepbrother Seth helping part time. We are so blessed. Sometimes I think we can't be any more blessed and then we are.
Hadley finished up with her infant/toddler therapy this month because she turned three. She was accepted to the developmental preschool and started that this last week. She only went to 2 days because of spring break starting, but the teachers said she did wonderful and is going to fit right in. There were tears on both of our parts, but we got over it quickly. I'm hesitant about sending her on the bus, but I can see that after the baby comes it will be tricky trying to get her there and back within three hours in the morning. Hadley cried for about three minutes on both of the days, but was quick to recover once the teachers brought her to the room. The teachers take pics throughout the day and once a week they update a blog so we can see what the little ones are up to. So sweet! I'm trying to decide what to do about Hadley's speech/occupational therapy through the private place we take her too. I'm starting to lose my enthusiasm for the way they handle it--basically they let her play with stuff for an hour...stuff I could do at home...and it costs a fortune. Maybe I'll have a meeting to reevaluate our goals.
We had Hadley meet with a nice pediatrician in Meridian (and we also have an appointment set up with a developmental pediatrician on the 31st of this month) and the Meridian pediatrician said he definitely saw some things in Hadley that would make him lean towards getting her evaluated for autism. Since they don't really use the term Aspergers anymore, he let us know that she would probably land in the "high functioning" autism range and not to worry too much. I'm honestly not worried. If this is meant to be our struggle, so be it. The funny thing about Autism, is people think that it's overdiagnosed because it's so common these days, but what they don't realize is that it's ALWAYS been around, it's only now that we're able to identify and diagnosis it so quick. All those guys working at NASA in the 50s? Probably autistic. All the best engineers at Micron near our home? Probably the same thing. We are so excited to see how we can help her give her all the tools to succeed.
One of the best things that I've decided in these last couple of months is to let go of all expectations regarding Hadley and it has been a very calming thing. I start to think things like, "Okay, in a few months I need to get her signed up for Irish dance" and then I remember that she may not be able to handle something like that and to just go with the flow. It's my role to give her the love she needs to understand that we are here for her and want her to be as happy as possible.
At the end of February, my sister and my aunt threw me a great baby shower in Utah. We had so much fun spending the weekend eating, playing, and relaxing. The shower was awesome and we got completely spoiled with great gifts, most of them adorable little baby clothes that I can't wait to see our guy wear. It was fun seeing all my cousins and aunts and I was touched at how close our family is, even with it being 200 members strong!
I didn't get any pics of my shower except this one and a couple of blurry shots.
On March 4th, my sweet Grandpa Allen passed away and we came down for the funeral. When my Grandma Allen passed away in June 2011, I thought my Grandpa would quickly follow her, as their 67 year marriage was so full of love and we couldn't imagine him away from her. He held on though and kept a good attitude, despite desperately missing his love. Finally last month he started to have his health decline and when he got a bout of pneumonia we knew he was probably nearing the end of his 90 years. He passed away peacefully and I get emotional thinking about him joining my sweet Grandma, as well as the savior, and starting his next mission in the afterlife. I am so lucky that I knew these two. My Grandma and Grandpa were incredible. Their biographies are something I can't wait to show my kids and if I only end up a tenth as successful in being a mother and member of the church as they were, I'll be happy!
Hadley turned three on March 19th and we had such a fun party for her the following Saturday. Levi's family and my family came over for pizza and cake and ice cream and we just had a good time. Hadley loves the attention she gets from everyone and was in full show-off mode. She received so many great gifts and is still on a high. I love how close our families are and I hope Hadley never forgets how loved she is by everyone.
Pretty much the only thing we bought her was this bubble gun. She loves it! Besides, she was totally spoiled by everyone else!
We are anxious and excited for the birth of our little boy. I don't feel like I'm ready, but does anyone ever feel "ready"? We don't have a name picked out and I fear this guy may go a couple of days without one until we figure it out. His nursery is 75% done and I just need to round up a few essential things, but other than that I think we'll be ok. I am terrified at how Hadley will react, but we will just pray that she will love him and will not feel left out or anxious. I love her so much that I can't imagine being able to love a second child that much, but everyone tells me that my heart will double. I can't even remember what it felt like to not have a child. I know I was happy, but the love that I feel when I look at her is unreal. It also makes me love Levi so much more. He is an amazing dad and I seriously don't know why he puts up with me.
Getting the little guy's room ready.
Well, this was longer than I thought it'd be so I'll wrap up by saying that things are good, we are happy, we are hopeful, and we are blessed.
Love you all!
Oh yeah, Levi had a birthday too! Funny how much our own birthdays fall by the wayside once we have kids...
