Hurry up...and wait.

Yesterday was quite an interesting, nerve-wracking, and slightly disappointing day for us Slaydons. To tell you the truth, I'm pretty glad it's over! I'd begun having some painful contractions Wednesday evening, and they'd gotten worse by yesterday morning. (A few other pre-labor things had happened as well, which I will not mention in polite company! :)) I went on in to work, thinking I'd call the doctor when I got the chance. Apparently I "looked bad" when I got there, because I was promptly escorted home by two sweet, if terrified, co-workers. I called Dr. G on the way home, but service isn't that great (or existent) in our neck of the woods, so I didn't hear back for several hours. Meanwhile, I got some more cleaning and straightening done, loaded the suitcases, etc. And waited.

Finally, about 2 hours later, I heard from the nurse.

(Apparently they'd been trying to call back since I'd called the first time, but both phones went straight to voicemail. Thanks, Cameron and Centennial, way to be there.) Mrs. Karen instructed me to go straight to labor and delivery. I told her that I didn't want to come in for nothing and be sent home, so if all was fine, I'd just hang out at home. "No, come on in. She's not gonna send you home." To me, that meant a kid was coming, one way or another. After a few panicked phone calls and waiting on Justin to get home from work, we were on our way.

Only to be told after 3 hours at the hospital to go home. Gee, thanks.

Long story short, the contractions weren't exactly being productive, and since I won't be 38 weeks until Sunday, there was nothing the doctor could do to "hurry things up". So, feeling like an idiot, I headed back home. Having been induced with Abigail, I didn't have a lot of pre- or early labor stuff happening, so I wasn't exactly sure what I needed to wait for. Plus, we live almost an hour and a half from the hospital; plus I've heard that the second child generally comes faster...Either way, that's why I wanted to check with the doctor first, but oh, well.

It was basically a big letdown that we weren't able to meet our girl yesterday. I was a tad terrified at first, especially after going through a neat, successful induction the first time. But then I was just excited to hold and kiss this tiny thing that's been lodged in my left lung for the past few months. I just keep telling myself that she WILL come out when it's time, and that I don't want her to come before she's ready. And so we wait...

(But I'm totally waiting until she's halfway out before I call ANYBODY next time.)

We're still scheduled to induce on the 6th, if she doesn't decide to come before then.

Keep us in your prayers, please. We just want a healthy baby out of the deal!

Change of Plans!

Now y'all know that I'm a planner. I like to know the when, where, and how in plenty of time to be ready for whatever "it" is. I like to be prepared, have everything lined out, etc. It's just my nature. So when the doctor suggested inducing with Julianne, I was perfectly pleased. (It worked incredibly well with Abigail, so why not do it again?!) We scheduled the induction for July 11th about a month or so ago. Perfect. Plenty of time to do last minute stuff and get ready for baby.

Plus, Dr. Guidry was planning on being out of town the week before that, and we were both (well all 3 of us, including Justin) pretty adamant that only she would be "catching" Julianne when she was born!! So on we went with the plan. Until today.

Today she informs us that she is no longer going on vacation next week (Yay!), and that she'd like to induce on the 6th or the 7th. Um, okay. Change of plans. No biggie, I'm flexible, right?! Right?????

So, until further notice, Miss Julianne Kaye Slaydon will be making her debut on July 6!!

Which means Momma's gotta get busy!!

Whew!!

The first thing I want to say is Thank You, Lord!!

Thank You for loving us, forgiving us, providing for us, and protecting us.

It has been a rough few days in our little world, but once again, God has been with us through everything. I am exhausted, drained, but most of all, I'm thankful!

This past weekend we had a great time at the Read Reunion (or "meryoonyun", as Abigail called it!)!! She got to play with lots of her cousins and aunts and uncles, and of course, PawPaw Jerry! We enjoyed visiting and catching up, eating and laughing with everyone! It was a busy but fun weekend, and we're looking forward to next year already!!

And then we got home Sunday afternoon. It was 103.5 outside, and 94.3 in our living room.

Yep, the A/C went out.

I can't begin to tell you how hot it is in and around my body when it's 103.5 outside. YIKES!!!

Since no one wants to fix air conditioners (much less answer their phones) on a Sunday evening, we made do. Thankfully, we had one window unit for our bedroom, and Nana and PawPaw let us borrow theirs for the living room until we could come up with a more permanent solution.

Monday morning, the A/C man came and confirmed what we already suspected--the outside unit was shot. Fried. No good. Not fixable. Lovely.

Trying to make the best of a not-so-great situation, we began to get ready for a trip to Lake Charles for another doctor's appointment for Julianne.

Unfortunately for me, that included feeding Hopper some scraps.

Now, those of you who know me well (or know me any at all) know that I am not nearly as graceful as my Granny always wanted me to be. Long story short, I sort of fell off the back steps. But before I did that, I slammed into the side of the house a few times trying to catch myself. (Didn't work.) I didn't land on my belly, but I'm pretty sure Miss Priss was a tad shaken up in there. We went on to the doctor that afternoon at 1:00 for my regular appointment. She fussed at me for not coming in earlier, but then told me to monitor her movements and call if there were any changes or problems. When she didn't move for several hours Monday night and again Tuesday morning, I got pretty worried. We headed back to Lake Charles yesterday morning, and they put me on a monitor at the hospital for a few hours to make sure everything was okay. Everything looked good and she finally started moving like normal again--Praise the Lord!!

I guess she figured she'd give me a scare like I did to her on Monday. Little Stinker!!

It has been a very emotional few days here, and we've all been pretty stressed out, but we're so thankful that our littlest princess is just fine in there! Now, if she'll continue to cooperate, we'll get to meet her on July 11th!!

Making Room for Baby!

What a busy weekend we've had--and it's only the first in a series of several!!

We spent the better part of the weekend getting ready for what has apparently become our annual Memorial Day Picnic! We had over 30 people here for lunch yesterday and had a wonderful time! We are so blessed to have such a big, wonderful family! A big thanks to all who attended--it was a great day!!

We were also able to do some work in the girls' room this weekend to get it ready for Little Sister! It's a tad "full" in there, but we'll make it work for now! Abigail was pretty excited about her "new room", although it was hard to get furniture rearranged with her underfoot! She rediscovered some of her "favorite" toys that she hadn't seen in awhile, and decided to play with every last one of them. Here are a few pics of the redesigned room. Still have to hang pictures and stuff, but that's stuff I can do by myself!

We're waiting to "move" some of the toys out when Miss Priss isn't around. That's one battle I'm not willing to fight with her here.

It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. Now if I can rest up for a few days, we'll be all ready for the Read Reunion this weekend! Looking forward to good food and good times with the fam!!

Nesting...

Can anybody tell me why the "nesting phase" comes at the END of pregnancy??? I don't know about you, but I think that's completely backwards. It should hit at the beginning, when you're still able to do stuff, instead of when you're so big and uncomfortable that breathing is a challenge. When I take a notion to do something, I want to do it NOW, and not wait on someone else to help or do it for me. Patience is not one of my stronger virtues...

Since Julianne and Abigail will be sharing a room, at least for awhile, we're having to make room in the bedroom for 2 princesses...not an easy challenge when the first one has already staked her claim!! Space is somewhat at a premium, so we're having to be creative in the furniture placement. Right now, the room basically just looks like a bomb went off in there. And since Justin's at work and I've been forbidden to move furniture (I know, I know.), I can't do much about it right now. Hopefully when he and MyMy get here tomorrow, we can restore a little order.

And then we can get down all of the clothes and "baby stuff" out of the shed, so the fun can really begin! I can't believe that Abigail wore those teeny tiny clothes, and I really can't believe that we're gonna have such a big girl and such a little girl soon! In about 6 weeks, more or less, Miss Julianne will be here!! I'm so anxious to see what she will look like and what her little personality will be! It won't be much longer now!!

Still Here...Barely!

Sorry for not posting in awhile--we've been pretty busy lately, with no signs of things letting up anytime soon!! I guess this is just a small taste of the next 18-ish years!

This weekend, Granny Brown and I traveled to Ruston (along with the rest of the fam) to see MyMy graduate again--this time with her Masters of Science! We are so proud of her!! She has worked long and hard for this, and she's done a great job! We also got to celebrate Courtney's graduation from ULM later that evening. We're very proud of Aunt Courtney, too!!

And I can't begin to tell you how excited Abigail and I are that MyMy will be home for the summer before she heads off to learn more stuff in Oklahoma. I don't even want to think about her leaving in the fall, so we'll just focus on the summer for now...

Abigail has been working hard on her potty-training lately, and she's doing pretty well overall. She can totally go to the potty all by herself (for the most part), but she sometimes just doesn't want to stop what she's doing and take care of her business. She will have really good days and then not-so-good days. She is such a mess, though, and usually keeps us laughing at the crazy things she says! Right now, she's sitting in her Daddy's lap watching cartoons. Every now and then, she looks up at him and says, "Dad, you're killing me." Pretty sure she's getting that from me, 'cause I've been telling her that a lot lately...You really gotta watch what you say around that kid!! You can bet that she's gonna repeat it at some point or another!!

It won't be much longer until our newest Princess joins us! As of now, the plan is to induce on July 11, if she doesn't decide to come before then. We had another checkup today, and things are looking good. She is moving and wiggling around in there as I type! She is very active and is growing right on schedule! I've had some minor contractions, but they seem to be a result of me doing things I probably shouldn't be doing anymore. It's just different the second time, since I don't have the luxury of resting whenever I want. I'm not complaining though, it's just part of it!! I'm getting into the "nesting phase" I think, so we'll soon be ready for her arrival!! Did I mention that we're getting excited?!

It seems like there's something going on every weekend for the next several weeks until she gets here! Just hope I can get everything done before then!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Just want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the special women in our lives!

From Moms to Sisters, to Aunts and Cousins, Family Members and Friends, we are so blessed to have such wonderful examples of selflessness and love!

I want to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to my Momma in Heaven. I miss you everyday, but Mother's Day is not as sad as it would be if I had never had you as a Momma. Thank you for all you gave, for all you taught me, and for loving me always, no matter what. I can't wait for that first hug when I see you again--it's gonna be a good 'un!

And I want to say a special thank you my sweet husband--I wouldn't be a Momma without you!!

Thank you for giving me the most precious gifts I could ever have. I love you forever!

The best Mother's Day gift in the world--a beautiful, healthy, smart little girl!

And next year, my lap will still be full!

Happy Mother's Day to all, with love from the Slaydons!