Happy 3rd Birthday Taegan!!!

My 3 year old Princess!!!

Taegan-

I can't believe that 3 years ago today(at about this time) I was at the hospital in labor with you having no idea what the future would hold. Daddy and I were so eager to meet you and finally have you here with us...good thing labor was short! However, that day didn't quite go like we planned and you were a sick little girl for about 8 days. Then we got to take you home and we haven't looked back yet. What a joy it has been watching you change, grow, learn, and become your own person over the last three years. I honestly can't believe it has been that long and I am wondering where the rewind/pause button is for you?!?!

You are so independent and love to do things on your own terms. If Daddy or I suggest something for you to do you won't do it-until you come up with the idea. As much as this drives us crazy we are so glad you can do it on your own. We are amazed at your intelligence and knowledge that you have everyday. We are in awe of some of the stuff you just know and can do without us showing or helping you. I will admit there are days that I want to cry because you don't need my help-although I would never hold you back from doing things just for my own sake.

We are eager to watch you become a BIG SISTER here very soon!!! We are glad however that so far he has decided that he doesn't want to share the day with you and will wait to have his own day. I know that life is going to change and turn your world upside down, but please always remember that we love you SOOO MUCH and you will always be our princess. I know you will love Laekan and take such great care of him whenever he gets here.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of the little girl you have already become, we can't wait to watch you grow more this next year. We love you forever and ever!!!

37 weeks...

How far along: 37 weeks

Size of the baby: He is about 6.5 pounds.

Gender: Boy-Laekan Harper

Movement: For the most part he is still active. He is starting to slow down and run out of room I think. He still likes night time to get active!

Sleep: Awful!!! I am not sleeping much at all...so I supposed I am getting ready for him. Justin has moved to the couch to see if that will help me sleep. Some nights it does, others it doesn't matter.

What I miss: Playing with my little girl and doing normal stuff around here and everywhere. This rest stuff is hard and I will be ready to feel like a team player versus a person watching:(

Cravings: Nothing-I am actually not eating a lot right now.

Symptoms: I hate to complain-but I am pretty miserable right now. I was up from 1:30-6:30 last night and was for sure I was headed to the hospital to have a baby. The contractions are picking up. I am glad to be full term and ready for little man to join us. I'm really not sure I can make it another 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!! But I will if that is what is best for Laekan.

Easter Day

Easter morning we headed to church!!! I was so excited because since I have been on rest we haven't gone because it is so much to get us all ready and get there. We decided that we were going on Easter no matter what. I will say about halfway through standing up and singing I was starting to hurt and worry what if my water broke:) Oh that would have been a story to tell!!! It didn't and we were just fine. After church on Easter we usually head to St. Joseph to do Easter with Justin's family. This year I couldn't travel so we did it with my parents that day(usually we do it the day before). Mom was excited to be able to see Taegan all dressed up...

What a pretty girl.

She gave her an Easter basket filled with goodies and a new movie "Tangled". Taegan was over the moon to get this movie. As I am typing she is watching the movie, but having a hard time with the "bad guy" in the movie so she leaves for parts of it.

Her new movie.

After opening her basket we headed out back to do our Easter egg hunt. She found all 10 super fast and headed in to open them and see what was in them!!! We then had lunch and spent some time with Great Papa and Velva as well. She just loves Velva and had a great time doing a seek and find with her while the rest of us just relaxed.

We headed home for nap and Justin and my dad worked on finishing the patio. They put up new ceiling fans, lights, and it looks great!!! I am excited to be out there this summer and fall-the patio is one of my favorite places of this house. So relaxing and a great place to hang out with friends and family.

We had a great Easter and missed Justin's family...

Our Easter...

We did our Easter egg hunt on Saturday here at our house with us three and then let her open her basket on Sunday morning. We had a busy day planned for Sunday so we knew that getting the egg hunt in early might be a challenge. It was also supposed to rain all day Sunday so we went ahead and did it Saturday!

Here is her basket of goodies!
Here are all the eggs we hid outside for her!!! 22 to be exact. She found them all:)

Running to find the next egg.

She was so good at finding them all over the yard.

Opening all the eggs and dividing out what she got.

One happy girl after opening all her eggs.

We love the egg hunt tradition we have started with her and can't wait to share it with Laekan...who will be here before we know it:)

Coloring Easter Eggs

On Friday we decided to give coloring eggs a try for the first time with Taegan. She was very excited to help and really wanted to decorate them with the stickers. I wasn't the smartest mom and didn't put down paper under the food coloring bowls. Luckily it came off the counter with some scrubbing!! She had such a fun time and I can't wait for her to get even more into it next year. I will be a little more prepared for it next year and let her help more. She has since eaten all the eggs that we made as well:)

Dropping an egg into the color.
Helping get it all covered.

Smiling like a big girl.

Our finished eggs:)

Kelly Easter Egg Hunt

Today we had a family get together on my Mom's side. I rested for the day and then we headed over around 3 for the egg hunt and some family time. Taegan was super excited to find eggs and did an awesome job. She had 5 to find and was the first one done finding her 5. She was set to find more, but got sidetracked(thank goodness) with the candy inside the eggs. Once the hunt was over we all sat around and hung out for a while.

Found one on the deck. Making sure she got all 5 of them.

Checking out what was inside.

Sitting down to dig into the candy!!!

After the egg hunt we met up with Garret, Kendra, Ayla, Becky, and Greg to eat dinner together at KiKu!!! Oh my wow-it was SOOOO yummy! I think I could eat there everyday right now, that is the most and best I have eaten since I got pregnant. Super good and we were so appreciative that Garret took us there! I miss watching Ayla during the week, but I have to keep getting my rest....

35 weeks

How far along: 35 weeks...I am so thankful I made it through another week.

Size of the baby:Laekan is the size of a honeydew.

Gender: BOY-Laekan Harper

Movement: He is still very active at night. His moves now are causing some pain because he is getting so big! Kicks are more like shoves and pushes that can cause me to lose my breath!!! I can't wait to hold this little guy.

Sleep: I am having awful pain and pressure still that seem to get much more awful as I try to sleep. Justin has had to sleep on the basement couch the last couple of nights just so I can get comfortable and get some rest. I feel awful, but at least we are both getting sleep(he LOVES the couch!).

What I miss: Since I am on modified rest, I am really missing doing the everyday tasks that I took for granted before. I feel lazy and worthless-although it is what i need to do to keep him safe for right now. I miss playing with Taegan and holding her...she will always be my little girl.

Cravings: Nothing-haven't had much of an appetite lately.

Symptoms: The pains and pressure have gotten better and I just finished my meds for the bladder infection-which I believe is much better. I still get very uncomfortable and start having contractions if I do too much. I am having back labor off and on...this little guy needs to stay put for another week!!!

A trip to labor and delivery

NO I haven't had Laekan yet-but he is being a stinker! I have been doing my best to be on house rest and take it easy. Even with my parents over here working on my yard and to do list last weekend, I still didn't do much. Saturday I woke up feeling a bit strange and it kept getting worse throughout the day. I was having some serious back pain and contractions were starting later in the day. I couldn't get a good time on them, but I knew that the back pain could be back labor and I was getting worried. Mom and Dad left and we decided to go meet Di for some dinner right here close to home. I was having a hard time during dinner with the pain and discomfort...so after dinner we decided to just drop off Taegan with my parents and head up to the hospital to get it all checked out. I wanted to be sure he was still doing okay and see what they could do for my pain. After checking in and changing into a gown I gave a urine sample and it all went downhill from there. I had a bladder infection, was dehydrated, and it had glucose in it! So 3 pitchers of water later and another sample I still was showing a bladder infection, but they wanted to wait to give me meds until the culture came back on Monday. I was told to keep on rest, drink tons of water, and call the Dr. Monday. She called me out some meds yesterday and I am hoping they kick in soon. The back pains have lessened some, but not a ton and the contractions have slowed. I am still taking it easy as best I can and we will hope this helps some of the pain. I am so glad we went and I could get peace of mind that Laekan is doing okay and I am doing what is best for him!!!

34 weeks...

How far along: 34 weeks

Size of the baby: Laekan is about 4.5 pounds

Weight Gain: 26 pounds

Gender: BOY-Laekan Harper

Movement: He is still moving a ton and in the last couple of weeks has turned head down!! What a relief that he is head down and ready-no c-section because of that:)

Sleep: I am sleeping off and on. Not long runs of sleep, but sleep nonetheless. Just getting me ready for when he comes I suppose. My worst complaint with sleep is the uncomfort on my sides and the pressure on my pelvis-WOW!

What I miss: Everything this week. I went to the Dr. on Wednesday and we talked more about these pains I am having. She decided to check me and found me dilated to a 3 and believes the pains are high contractions. I am now on very strict limitations. No lifting, no exercise, pretty much stay at home with your feet up. WOW-that was a shock. I have a ton left to do before he gets here:(

Cravings: Nothing.

Symptoms: Lots of pains, contractions, and pressure. I am trying to take it easy, but this is VERY hard for me. I do so much throughout the day that sitting and doing nothing is one of the hardest things for me. I never think about all that I do, but now I am being forced to. I know that he is much safer with me and that is the part I am focusing on. Justin on the other hand is busy with this list!!! Please if you think about it pray that we can make it to 37 weeks with little man with me...he will then be welcome whenever he chooses!!!

Laekan's shower

On Saturday one of my best friends threw Laekan a "sprinkle". I was so honored that she wanted to throw this for him because from whatI know people usually don't get a shower for a second kiddo. I was super excited because we had nothing for a boy!!! Justin and I registered at Babies R Us and were blown away by what everyone got us. The shower was perfect in every detail and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and enjoying everyone's company.

The cake and cookie table:) The best cookies ever...Aunt T's cookies.

These napkins were perfect-monkeys!!!

The food table-she totally overdid herself!

The punch that Di and I just created as we went.

A super fun frame that has baby pictures of Justin, Taegan, and myself in with a spot for Laekan.

I stopped taking pictures once the shower started because my camera died. Di took more so when I get them I will put them on here. We are so blessed to have great family and friends that treated us so good. Laekan is one lucky little guy!!!

Busted lip

Last week while we were cleaning the salon on Thursday Taegan was running across the room to me and fell. This was the classic fast first all out sprawl on the ground fall. She immediately started screaming and sat up with blood on her face. At first glance I thought her tooth had gone through her lip, but luckily that was not the case. She has just smashed her lip on the ground. Took her a bit to settle down and she wanted nothing to do with holding ice/wash cloth on her lip. We had to finish cleaning and get her home. Once home she decided a popsicle would help and then wanted to read with Daddy in the chair to help it feel better!!! The lip got HUGE and she had trouble figuring out how to talk with this thing on her lip-it was actually quite funny!

Reading with Daddy all smiles. A close-up of the damage.

Side view as she was reading.

It is now back to normal and looks fine, but it was pretty black and blue for a few days. This is the first of many bumps and bruises we will have in this house!!! Especially with a boy on the way:)

Beauty Salon

A couple weeks ago Mom and I went to a consignment sale in KC and we found a vanity for Taegan to play with. I felt like I couldn't walk away from it because it was only 10 bucks and it was in great condition!!! I knew she would love it and I was right about that. We then headed to Walmart to find a set of hair things that she could play with on it with her dolls. Little did I know that this would turn into a nightly thing that she loves to do with Justin and I:) She adores doing our hair and telling us all about what she is doing. It really is pretty cute and I love how her mind works.

Trying it out for the first time with her baby. Grandma's turn.

Now Daddy.

Tip your head back Daddy!!!

The set we bought has a blow dryer, curling iron, flat iron, hair spray, perfume, lipstick, and a brush in it. When she does your hair she uses every piece!!!! Love it.

Disney on Ice...Toy Story Style

In late March Mom, Taegan, and I headed to KC Sprint Center to see Disney on Ice. We had taken her last year and she really loved it so I was super excited to take her again. This year the theme was Toy Story 3 and I knew she would know the characters so I felt okay going to it even though she wouldn't understand the whole story line. She was SUPER pumped and talked about it the whole way there.

This was her face to me when I asked her to smile:( Has her popcorn and is ready to go!

Major cheese with Grandma.

And with Mommy.

Hamm, one of her favorites.

Her new Buzz toy from the show.

The show lasted over 2 hours and at about the hour and 45 minute mark she looked at me and said she was ready to go. We left early and headed home. She did enjoy the show, but there was a lot of story line that went along with it that she had a hard time following. It was just above her. She also was hoping to see more of Minnie and Mickey and they weren't there. Overall, we had fun, but when she was done she was done!!!