Kyle, Jenna... and two more make four!: Happy birthday Payton Marie!

Time has flown! It's already been 3 years since Kyle and I welcomed our daughter, miss Payton Marie Hall. Although the road of parenthood has had it's ups and downs, whenever I look at her I am amazed by how much she's grown and how smart she is. She is a funny, sweet, nurturing little girl, and I am extremely proud to be her mother. We had a party for her last weekend, which she was VERY excited about. She talked about it for like a week! For some reason she kept saying her presents were going to come under a Christmas tree... I think she was still in Christmas mode! No tree, but she didn't complain once she saw the pile of presents for her to open!

As always, a very lucky girl! Spoiled!

Birthday girl! I can't believe she's 3!

Having so much fun!

Princess Payton!

My love :)

The Hall Family! Payton on her new big girl bike!

It's not a party without cake!

It was a great day, much better than last year when she was so sick, poor girl. She's sick again this weekend, must be something about this time of year. Luckily not like last year, just a bad cough and she feels a little warm. She's not letting it get her down though! She's acting pretty normal, but I'm trying to make sure that she gets lots of sleep and drinks lots of fluids. I was planning on breaking the binkie habit this weekend, but decided to postpone it temporarily, thinking that may not be the best idea if she's not feeling well. I'm really not looking forward to it, but... I think it's time. Right now she's going through what I hope is a phase, because it's driving Kyle and I crazy... we've officially entered the defiant, disobedient, not listening stage (which I hear I was a pro at as a child... sorry mom). We sailed through the twos and are hitting the threes hard! If I ask her to come here, she will tell me she needs to do something else first and refuse to do it, or I'll ask her to please lower her voice and she'll say (even louder mind you) "I am NOT too loud!" *sigh* Especially since she and I are by ourselves so much in the mornings and evenings because Kyle has school, games and practices, it's really been stretching my patience. I can slowly feel my blood pressure start to rise when she talks back to me! I'm just trying to be consistent, and not tolerating it. It's so easy now to see how parents can lose their cool with their kids! I just try to take a deep breath, keep calm and carry on. Hopefully this too shall pass!

My parents, Chelsea and Richard came into town to stay with us this weekend, which was awesome as always. My parents even made a reservation at an RV park in Albany for July! They just bought an RV, and are planning on being here for a while after the baby is born. I am so excited for them to be able to spend so much time with us and their grandbabies! Such a blessing! Chels and Richard went home on Sunday afternoon, but my mom and dad stayed through until Monday so they could come to my screening ultrasound, which was Monday morning. Sue, Kyle and Payton went too. We had a little viewing party! Hard to believe, but I'm already more than halfway through this pregnancy. I've been feeling a lot of movement, which is fun. Much more than I did with Payton, but I think a lot of that has to do with where the placenta is. It was on the front of my uterus with her, which can make feeling movements harder, but this pregnancy it's on the back of my uterus, so right now I'm feeling lots of kicks and punches! I love it though. Every time Kyle has tried to feel him he stops moving though, which is exactly what his sister did. Little stinkers! We got some great pictures at my ultrasound, he was the most cooperative I've ever seen him!

Getting big!

Looking straight at us... hello!

Hopefully he will forgive me someday for posting this... boy parts!

Awww :)

Little arms covering the face

He looks so comfy in there!

He's really popped out in the last couple weeks! I've gained 8.2 pounds so far, I feel like it's all in my belly!

I had another doctor appointment on Tuesday, which is the first one that Kyle has been able to go to with me. He had to take the morning off from school and get a sub, but he was happy to do it because he knew how important it was. It was our official VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) appointment, where we talk to the surgeon about the risks of attempting a VBAC, discuss my specific odds of success, and answer any questions. She was very nice and didn't flinch when I opened up a piece of paper full of questions! My "official" percentage is 66%; however she said that about 80% of the mothers attempting VBAC's are successful. She was pretty encouraging, and when I told her that my biggest concern was not wanting to repeat my previous experience, she assured me there was pretty much no way that could happen. Due to the risk of my uterus rupturing (which is very small, but possible) I have to be monitored very closely, and she said they don't really tolerate any signs of distress from the baby. She also said that if I were to push for 45 minutes and not make any progress, then they would just go ahead and proceed with a c-section. Or, I could also call it at any time if I so chose. That information was comforting to me, because I do not want to push for 4 hours again! I'm willing and wanting to try, but if it's obviously not working, then just get him out safely. She said they will not induce labor on a VBAC patient, so if I make it to 41 or 42 weeks with no baby then I will automatically get a c-section. She also said that if I were to decide not to try the VBAC they will not schedule me for a c-section more than a week before my due date, which means I may go into labor on my own anyway (Payton was almost two weeks early... but every pregnancy is different). My thought is this: Let's say I do go into labor earlier than 39 weeks. If I dilate quickly like last time and everything seems to be going ok, then why not try? Well there are a few exceptions to that actually. If he is facing "sunny side up" like Payton was, which is a harder position for him to get through the pelvis, then I don't want to try. Or if he's breech obviously I won't get a choice. There are so many factors, we'll just have to see! It was good to hear all of the details and options, Kyle and I are planning on writing up a really specific birth plan to address all these different scenarios so that we're prepared for whatever happens. I think my last experience was stressful for so many reasons; my water broke when we were out of town, we had to rush to the hospital, neither of us had slept, everything happened so quickly, I was stressed that my mom wouldn't make it in time, no pain meds didn't help... then after all that pushing for so long and ending up with a c-section. I'm sure it will be different this time! Unless I go into labor in Enumclaw... that is absolutely worst case scenario! I don't even want to think about it!

Anyway, enough about that stuff for a while. Some extra pictures from this month...