Melody Ashby Goudie

I haven't written on this blog since Aurora was born, but I just went back and read through my other girls birth stories and don't want to forget sweet Melody's as well, I thought here was as good a place as any.

And while it probably doesn't need to be said, I'll say it anyways - this is a birth story and thus will include descriptions of all the lovely things like blood, discharge, etc, etc. You have been warned.

My pregnancy with Melody was different from the get go. Whether that was from old age, being the 4th child, or something else entirely (or a combination of all of the above) - it was a lot more difficult from day one. My nausea was worse, my energy levels where lower, I felt more pains in my stomach and back, even my placenta was in a different position from the last three. Because of this many people thought I was going to have a boy, but I still felt deep down in my gut that we had another precious little daughter coming to us. In fact the night before the gender ultrasound I had a dream of a beautiful little girl whose name was Melody. I just knew that it was our 4th child's name. So when we found out for sure that it was another girl I asked Braedon what he thought of the name Melody and it's stuck ever since.

Fast forward through months of getting bigger, more tired, more sore, and more anxious to meet our final piece to the Goudie family puzzle. Monday February 4th (the day before I hit 38 weeks) I had a regular baby check up. The prior week I had had a few days/nights where I had had some good stints of contractions. Nothing close enough to make me want to go in, but enough that I was hoping I had progressed from my dilation of a 2 and 70% effaced from the week prior. But of course I found out at my appointment that I was still at a 2 and 70%. I left the appointment a bit disappointed but knew that at worst I only had a week left as my induction date was set for February 12th.

Then at about 1:00 in the morning on February 6th I woke up to more contractions (thank you snow storm). I tried to ignore them at first because I had already had a few nights where this has happened, but I noticed that they seemed to be stronger and closer together then they had before so I started to track them. By 5:00 in the morning I was tracking them around 5-6 minutes apart and decided to wake Braedon up and get things ready and a plan in place for the kids in case we decided to go in.

We showered, finishing packing, called my sister to arrange having the kids play at her house, ate some breakfast. Although my contractions where still pretty steady at around 5 minutes apart, with the road conditions we didn't want to be rushed trying to get to the hospital if things changed quickly, so we decided to head on in.

We got to the hospital and I got checked in. They first wanted to track my progress, and we found out that I was only at a 3 and 70% effaced. I was still having regular contractions, but they seemed to be starting to get further apart again. But with my history of coming early, the horrible road conditions, and the fact that we were scheduled for an induction in 6 days already, they decided to go ahead and let me stay. I couldn't believe it. I was at the hospital, being told I was staying for a baby and for once my water was NOT broken. I shouldn't have been surprised as so much was already different about this pregnancy, of course Melody would want to make her debut differently too.

But then things started to feel a bit more familiar as they got us a room, got me situated and hooked up to an IV and my antibiotic (having tested positive once again for Group B). I knew this song and dance - we would need to wait 4 hours for the antibiotic to get into my system before doing anything else. Once that 4 hour mark was hit the plan was to start me on pitocin and see how I progressed, and then if my water didn't break on it's own they would break it to get things moving along. So we started the waiting game.

In my past pregnancies my water had already broken when we got to the hospital, and when we finally got past that 4 hour mark, it didn't take too long on the pitocin for me to get to a 10. I think this is what most of us (even my doctor) expected to happen this go around. But after the 4 hour wait, and then another hour on the pitocin, I was still at a 3 and 70%. I think we where all a bit shocked, and disappointed that I hadn't progressed. It was going to be a long day.

They upped the pitocin and decided that as soon as the doctor was available that he would come break my water. Sadly he wasn't available until about 6:00 PM and sadly my body had decided it was content to hang in this weird limbo state. So the doctor came in at 6:00 and checked me - I was STILL at a 3 and was still only 70% effaced (I kept hearing the words "You are nice and thick still", which is so not what a laboring pregnant lady wants to hear). So he broke my water and upped the pitocin. I went ahead and got my epidural in as well because in my head I thought surely things will go quick now that my water is broken, right?

Wrong. I could feel quite a bit of pressure with each contraction, which I thought meant we had to be getting close. But the nurse checked me and I was maybe at a 4+ (though by the sounds of it I think I was probably still just a 4 and she was being generous to be nice to me haha). And of course I was still "nice and thick". I told the nurse about the pressure I was feeling and we decided to try and change Melody's position as by the sounds of it she might have been a bit cocked to one side and that was effecting how slow I was progressing. So we got a giant "peanut" ball and I layed on my side with the ball between my legs. After laying on one side for a while we switched to the other.

At around 8:30 PM, after having the ball between my legs for a bit, I asked the nurse to check me as we where debating on if Braedon would run home to help his brother (who had taken the girls off my sisters hands around noon) and get the girls down for bed. It had been a long day for them as well and they where missing their mama and daddy and we thought a quick visit from dad before bed would help them. The nurse came in and checked me and I was at a 4+, possibly a 5 but I was 90% effaced at this point, so I was finally starting to thin - thank the heavens. I went ahead and told Braedon to go home real quick and help with the girls (because putting three emotional girls down for bed is no joke, ha!). I told him to make it quick just to be safe, but with how slow the day had gone I wasn't too stressed.

So he left and of course 15-20 minutes later I felt the pressure start to increase. I sent him a message and let him know that I think we were getting closer and reminded him to keep it quick (cause the last thing I wanted was to have this baby without Braedon at my side). Luckily he got back at around 9:30 and I still hadn't had my baby. The nurse checked me again and I had made it to a 6 is all, so I had stressed over nothing, though with the increase contractions and pressure I was feeling I knew that I wasn't going completely crazy and my body was finally starting to kick into gear.

At this point I messaged our families that I was only at a 6 and so it would probably be a another few hours until she arrived. We continued to wait and hangout when I suddenly feel massive pressure. I didn't say much because I felt like I had cried wolf so many times already that I figured that maybe I just needed to poo or had had a bigger contraction or some such nonsense.

Then I had another bout of major pressure that was so intense I finally spoke up. We called the nurse in and I made a joke about how I was feeling so much pressure but maybe I just needed to poo. (I seriously was just waiting to hear I was still at a 6, since it had only been about 10-15 minutes since she last checked me). She went ahead and checked me again and I was so relieved to hear that I wasn't crazy this time and was finally at a 10 and Melody was ready to come!

My nurse ran out of the room (literally, she ran down the hall) to call the Doctor in. They informed me it usually only takes him 10 minutes to get there so we didn't need to wait too long. The started to prep the room, and one nurse took one leg and Braedon took the other leg as I breathed through the next few contractions. Over the next 5 minutes the pressure continued to grow and grow and we all just kept looking at the clock. I was getting to the point where my body felt the NEED to push, but I knew it would be best to have the Doctor there, just in case anything went wrong, so I wanted to hold off if I could hold off.

The nurses and Braedon kept encouraging me to breathe and that he would be there soon. 10 minutes came and went and I started to panic a bit on the inside. This baby wanted to come out. I wanted to push the baby out. But I also wanted the doctor there. Hearing Melody's constant and strong heartbeat over the monitor was a reminder for me that she was okay and I was okay. And I was so glad Braedon was there holding one of my legs - he kept rubbing my leg so calm and telling me how amazing I was doing. I'm pretty sure if he hadn't being there, holding me, encouraging me I wouldn't have been able to keep my cool as much as I did (which probably wasn't even that much).

15 minutes came and went and each contraction was just another reminder that the doctor was STILL not there. Clearly the road conditions where effecting how quickly he normally gets to the hospital. I kept telling the room that I just wanted him there, that I wanted to push and he needed to finally walk in the door. I'm not exactly sure how many times I said the phrase "He just needs to get here".

Those last twenty minutes of NOT pushing felt so much longer then the whole last 24 hours had felt. Finally the doctor walked in just a minute or two after 10:00 PM. I could not believe my relief. I wasn't sure I could hold off for another contraction. He pulled his gloves on and I asked if I could finally push, to which he gave a resounding yes.

I was all too happy to oblige. I pushed through the next two contractions and just like that our sweet Melody was here! The cord was wrapped around her neck, but not tightly thank goodness and her cry broke the tension of the room. Nothing can describe that feeling of pure happiness. My sweet girl was here, she was finally here. Melody was born on February 6th at 10:06 PM. 7 pounds and 5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. She is perfect.

We went into this pregnancy knowing that it would be our last. I've had many people ask me if I felt sad about that fact, or if it was bittersweet. I can honestly say sadness never crossed my mind. The feeling that our family was now complete was and is amazing. I feel blessed beyond anything to have 4 amazing wonderful little girls and a loving husband. I love the stage of life we are in and I love the stage of life we are moving towards.

We love our sweet baby Melody and are so glad she is here safe and sound to put the perfect last touch to our family. Her sisters where so excited to meet her. Rose can't get over how cute she is. Haevin can't get over that "shes come out now!" and Rory just wants to give kisses to "baby Meldeeeee".

So grateful for my wonderful family. <3

 

Aurora Jeanne Goudie

I'm still in a bit of awe that our third beautiful girl is here. Obviously since this is a birth story, it should be pretty clear there will be talk of blood, vaginas, discharge, numb butts and more. Read at your own discretion. ;)

My pregnancy with Rory was been filled with many bumps and surprises. Starting with a few scares of contractions at 34 weeks resulting in some steroid shots and taking two weeks off Crossfit to make sure she didn't come too early. Then we got some relief as we hit 36 and then 37 weeks - yay for safe zones! As I hit 37 weeks contractions started again but of course by the time I finally decided that they were consistent enough and to go into the hospital they had completely stopped thus resulting in me being sent back home. Apparently all those scares where for nothing as each day after 37 weeks was the longest I had ever been pregnant (Rose came at 36 weeks and a day, Haevin came at 37 weeks and a day).

I had finally gotten to the mindset of this little girl not coming super early like her sisters and was fine to wait until my scheduled induction date of the 23rd when I hit 39 weeks.

Thus brings us to Sunday September 18th (38 weeks and 2 days pregnant). After running some errands and giving my parents a quick visit as we were in their neighborhood we had just gotten home, eaten lunch and were in the middle of putting the girls down for naps. Braedon was up stairs getting the girls tucked in and I was just picking up the last few toys on the ground before heading up to help him out.

As I bent over to pick up the last toy right around 1:30 PM - I felt a small gush of fluid. Not wanting to have another false alarm and not wanting to get my hopes up, I quickly went over to the bathroom to see if it was just discharge or even possibly just a slip of the bladder... cause sadly that was most definitely a thing at this point in the pregnancy. As I slipped my pants down, making sure to stand over the toilet just in case, another gush came out that I was fairly sure was NOT pee or discharge. I sat down and waited a bit again, not wanting to even tell Braedon unless I was pretty confident. As I sat there I had some consistent leaking and then another small gush. Finally I felt that I could call up to Braedon and promptly yelled up the stairs "Uh. Hun. I'm pretty sure my water just broke!" To which I hear laughter and then running footsteps as he comes down the stairs to see if I was serious or not. I think we both felt a little relief that my water actually broke for a third time as that gives us a for sure trip to the hospital.

We decided to take our time a bit before rushing to the hospital as I wasn't having any contractions... and we really did want to make sure I wasn't being a crazy person and it was in fact my water. I decided to shower, finish packing up some last minute items for me and the girls who would be hanging out with my parents all the while trying to not make a mess on the floor as more water continued to exit out of my vagina (sadly I wasn't always successful and Braedon had to help me clean up the floor a few times - true love).

Since the girls were already asleep at this point we had my mom come over and hang out so they could continue to sleep and get good naps and we finally headed over to the hospital right around 2:30.

Being on my third pad in the last hour I felt pretty great about going to the hospital... This felt just like it had with the other two when my water broke. Of course as we waited to get checked in Braedon jokingly proclaims "Watch - some how we are still gonna get sent home." - which earned him the glare of a life time from me.

Now when someones water breaks they run a test to make sure that it is in fact amniotic fluid and not just vaginal discharge or urine or whatever. Even though my nurse (who happened to be my nurse when I had Haevin) knew that I had experience with my water breaking before and after hearing all of the messes we had to clean up figured it was in fact my water - she still had to run the test per protocol.  In fact my nurse believed me so much that rather then taking me to the "testing room" she took me back straight to a labor and delivery room to run the test so we wouldn't have to move our stuff around.

Feeling pretty good about having a baby and staying put I got swabbed and we sat back waiting the 30 minutes it takes for the test to be run.

And of course the test came back negative.

Luckily my nurse went to bat for me and informed the lab that they did something wrong and she would be coming down personally to watch them do a second test. I get swabbed again all the while Braedon laughs and I glare and tell him if we somehow get sent home with me having to deal with a gushing vagina for who knows how long that it was all his fault.

So we had to sit back again for another 30 minutes all the while I start worrying that maybe I was in fact wrong somehow... and that I was a crazy person that just kept crying wolf this whole time. I kept doubting every single contraction I had ever had starting back at 34 weeks and even though I was still having water leak out of my vagina I even started to doubt that my water had in fact broken.

Thankfully my nurse came in looking very triumphant and declared that the test came back positive.

I can't even begin to describe my relief.

So we then started to get me hooked up to an IV, get my penicillin hooked up (I've tested positive for Group B with all three girls), and the pitocin hooked up (which for those that don't know basically helps induce contractions/labor) as I still was having zero contractions. The plan was to give me the lowest amount of pitocin as possible until I was able to get the 4 hours of penicillin that they recommend getting before the baby is born.

Then we had another scare.

After only being on the pitocin for 5 minutes or so Aurora's heartbeat dropped drastically and suddenly. I didn't even have time to register what exactly the issue was before the nurses went into full nurse mode and had stopped the pitocin, had me quickly moving from one side to the other side, oxygen on my face, and then were shoving their hand up my vagina to rub baby girls head. Thankfully the head stimulation did the trick and the heartbeat went back to where it should be.

Later they explained to us that sometimes if the baby get's too excited and tries to head downwards too quickly they will basically in essence bonk their head fast enough that it dazes them a bit and can drop their heart rate. Apparently head stimulation helps bring them get out of this dazed state and gets things back to where they should be.

Not wanting to stress Rory out too much they left me to lay on my side with the oxygen for about an hour with no pitocin to make sure her stats stayed where they should be. Which thankfully they did.

At this point it was right around 5:00 pm and they started me back up on the pitocin (at it's lowest level). With that 4 hour restriction of the penicillin the soonest they expected/wanted Rory to come was right around 9:00 PM.

So now it was another waiting game as the pitocin started up some contractions to soften my still pretty hard cervix and hopefully progress me from the measly 4 I was currently dilated at.

While we waited and contractions became more frequent and intense I decided to get the epidural just to be ready for when things got more intense.  By the time the anesthesiologist arrive from home it was right around 7:45 pm when I got the epidural.

We continued to slowly count down to 9:00 PM when my penicillin would be done. It finally finished up and I got checked again around 9:30 and was a bit frustrated to find out that while my cervix was much more soft, I was only dilated to a 5. All that waiting around to only get dilated 1 more cm. La sigh.

Since we were finally good on the dosage of penicillin my nurses decided to uped the pitocin just a tad to see if we could get me to dilate a bit more. With the scare we had earlier with Rory's heart rate we didn't want to up the dosage too much and stress her out again, so we still kept it pretty low. I asked my nurse if she thought that Rory would be in fact coming on the 18th or if she thought we'd go passed midnight. She said it would be pretty close but she was thinking it would be closer to 1 or so in the morning before this baby girl would come.

We sat back ready to wait another long bout of time. In the middle of talking to each other a contraction hit me (which I had largely been ignoring at this point due to the lovely epidural) and with the contraction came a sudden pressure on my pelvis and I knew home girl had to be getting lower (yay!). I turned to Braedon and said something along the lines of "Woah that one felt super low... we might be getting closer!".

Right then the nurse came in because she saw the change in my stats and decided to give me a check to see how how I was progressing. She barely got her fingers in when she exclaimed "Woah! You are at completion - we need to call the doctor now". Turns out I was at a 10 +2 which basically mean baby girl was RIGHT there and ready to come.

I had gone from a 5 to a 10 in less then 45 minutes.

We were all pretty shocked, but excited to finally meet Aurora. The nurses called the doctor and advised me to stay as relaxed as possible and jokingly said to not sneeze or cough to hard while we waited.

We waited about 15-20 minutes as I tried to breath through the crazy pressure I felt down below - Rory was seriously super ready to come out. The doctor arrived and the rest of the team assembled and I was informed to push during the next contraction.

The contraction came - I pushed and Rory's head came about half way.

They told me to push again so I gave it another push to which my doctor suddenly exclaims "Woah you are really pushing hard!" and Rory's head pops out mid push. The doctor asks me to stop pushing for just one second as I was tearing and he wanted to help re-position Rory to minimize the tearing. Re-positioned he told me to go ahead and finish my push.

Which I did.

And apparently he really wasn't kidding about me pushing hard as Rory popped out just like that and surprised him and the nurses.

Apparently I really am a pro-pusher - everyone has to have a special skill somewhere, right?

Rory started to cry and my heart soared. There is nothing like hearing your baby cry and know she is here and healthy. They layed her on my chest as they stitched me up and I couldn't stop smiling.

Aurora Jeanne was born at 10:46 PM on September 18th 2016. She weighted 6 pounds and 6 ounces and measured at 19.5 inches long.

I was so surprised that she was still a 6 pound baby (and even smaller than Haevin) with going all the way to 38 weeks and 2 days. Clearly there was a reason she was in longer then my other two. She is super skinny with long skinny toes, thin arms and slightly chubby cheeks and the best double chin. Just like her sisters she wasn't born with much hair, but it is pretty dark compared to the other two.  She has the perfect scrunch face and loves having her legs and arms curled into herself.

We are in love.

The next day the girls got to meet her for the first time and it could not have been any cuter. Rose couldn't stop exclaiming how cute baby Rory was and that she just wanted to take her home. And any time Rory made a sad sound she would immediately be there saying "It's okay baby Rory!" She is so excited to have another baby sister. And Haevin is also in love. While she may not understand what exactly is going on, all she wants is to hold Rory and give her hugs and touch her face. It's so adorable to see the love these three are gonna have for each other.

All in all I'm very happy with how everything went and thrilled that we are all happy and healthy and here.

It still feels so surreal that I have three girls and we are a family of five. I couldn't be more elated. :)

After getting the positive test and hooked up to all the IVs.

Perfection.

One of the best moments of life.

So happy.

:)

:)

She has the scrunch face down.

Those hips... we might have another hyper mobility baby... we will see.

More scrunch face.

Grandparents and the girls meet Rory.

Seriously the best thing.

She just kept wanting to hold her. We are working on being soft haha.

Proud big sister 

"Hold baby!"

So proud.

Hugs and kisses. :)

Aurora Jeanne meets Great Grandma Jeanne. :)

He long skinny feet and toes

Miss Bright Eyes. From the moment they put her on my chest she kept trying to open her eyes, even under the bright lights.

More Haevin and Rory time.

Love these sisters.

Hello world!

All the heart eyes.

Way to Much Catch Up to Catch Up.

Wow, talk about slacking in the blogging. I'm pretty sure that is the longest I've ever gone without blogging before. Oops.

But.

Life has been busy these last few months, from dealing with a little one learning to crawl and walk, to dealing with a threenager, being pregnant, packing up to move, moving everything to storage, living with the parents for two weeks, moving again, and then unpacking and settling into a new home all while trying to finish our backyard - basically has taken up all our time besides the typical day to day items.

Despite that I thought that before this new babe decides to make her debut I'd try to do a little catch up with things. Though that could partly be because said babe is giving this mama contractions way too early so I'm stuck "taking it easy" in bed with nothing better to do.

Which brings us to update number one.

Baby 3 - For those that may not have heard we will be naming her Aurora Jeanne - nicknamed Rory. We are in love with the name - it feels right and perfect for this sweet little girl. Now, while we are super excited and anxious to meet her we'd all feel a bit better if she would at least stay put until I hit 36 weeks at least.  While 36 weeks isn't technically full term, it is far enough along that we would avoid the NICU and most likely any complications.

The past few days have been a bit draining as I've had very long stints (3-4 hours at a time) of very strong and consistent contractions (lasting around 9-10 minutes apart depending). Not having any contractions with Rose and only having contractions for about 12 hours before my water broke with Haevin makes these a bit worrisome that Rory is starting to think it's a good idea to come out sooner rather then later.

So these contractions means a few things.

Thing the obvious - laying off Crossfit until I hit 36 weeks. While I'm full on willing to do this, it is a bit sad as Crossfit is my escape and release each day. Taking 10 days off from working out may not seem like a bit deal, but it kinda is. But obviously if it keeps baby girl cooking longer and safer longer then it's completely worth it.

Thing the second. Steroid shots. As I'm already a risk for pre-term labor it's pretty likely that this baby girl will follow suit. Considering my other two girls came at 36 weeks and 37 weeks, makes these bouts of contractions a likely precursor to another early baby.  To play it safe I'm getting a couple of steroid shots which has been shown to drastically help pre-term babies, especially in the lung development department. So hopefully if Rory does come even earlier then my other two, the steroids will keep her lungs and development strong and healthy.

Other then that I'm just told to take it as easy as possible, but that I don't necessarily need to be on full bed rest. So that's what I'm doing. Braedon is amazing and picking up all sorts of slack and working from home when he can to help me with the girls and house crap as much as possible. My mother and mother in law keep calling/messaging checking in on me and offering any help as needed. Basically I've got it pretty good and am blessed to have such amazing support and love.

Besides that - as of now Rory is in the right position, strong and healthy, has a strong heart beat, is a good mover and perfect as can be. I'm dilated to a 1.5 and about 65% effaced (which is right about where I was with my other two girls at about 36 weeks). We will see how things go over the next couple weeks but will be keeping our fingers crossed that hopefully we at least make it to September!

Me at 32 weeks - I don't have a more recent photo but I look more or less the same just with a bigger belly. ;)

On to other news:

Rosealynn - Rose is doing great. Her threenager attitude is slowly fading away but she for sure still has some flair ups. More and more she wants to be my helper - which is great with a new babe on the way. She will do things "to make my heart happy" and because "she loves me" and it just makes me melt. She loves helping me with Haevin and is still my sweet sensitive loving girl.

Anything arts and crafts is a favorite lately. Painting, cutting, gluing, etc etc.

Always wanting to give hugs and kisses. 

Fun times at Lagoon.

Love these two.

Silly faces.

Silly faces together.

Rose is very specific most mornings about how she wants her hair done (in pig tailes or a pony tail or one braid, etc). One day she woke up and told me she wanted Princess hair. This is what I came up with. She was thrilled with it, thankfully.

Loves feeding the fishes at the Gardens.

More shots of getting her hair done.

So long.

The tramp is a huge hit with the girls.

So happy.

Pure joy.

Showing off her muscles (specifically for me to send to her boyfriend Jackson).

She also is a HUGE social butterfly. With the new house we've had quite a few people in and out for warranty items and every single person gets an earful despite how hard I try and get her to leave them alone. She keeps telling me  "Mom I just love talking". Luckily everyone is so nice to her - especially our new neighbors who she really LOVES and tells me are her favorite. But seriously, our neighbors are amazing for being so nice to her and letting her talk with them and play with them. I'm feeling pretty blessed with our new neighborhood and glad that our family is feeling so welcomed.

Some other updates with Rose is she did some swim lessons this summer and loved them. We did four weeks back to back to really try and give her a good foundation to work on and i think it did just that. The thing she struggled with the most was floating on her back when the teacher took their hand away. She kept telling me that she "can't do it" to which we'd make her do burpees (the new rule in the house if you use the word "can't") and told her that all we asked is that she would try. So the last week she tried really hard and did it every single day. She was so proud and so was I.

Working on that float.

Other fun items with Rose was the fact that she turned 4 just the other day.  We had a fun low key pirate party at the park with all our family and some friends. Served "messy tacos" (which is really just regular beef tacos) which is currently Roses favorite. Had pirate balloons/plates/masks and a treasure pinata. And then of course a Rose and lacy cake. Cause that's Rose to a tea. Girly and not girly all in one. I love it. I don't think Rose stopped smiling the whole time. She loves people. And having all her favorite people in one place was like heaven to her. Plus - she got all sorts of spoiled despite us telling people there was no need to bring gifts. It was a great night out and I still am a bit flabbergasted that Rose is 4.

Getting in the pirate spirit.

All the pirates booty!

Pirate masks with Grandma and Grandpa Mc.

The pinata was the one thing she has been asking for for the past few months. I pulled up amazon to let her pick her own and this was the winner with a big gasp and a "can I have a pirate party!?" :)

Roses and lace. Red and yellow. Perfect. :)

We are looking forward to the next few months as Rose will be starting her second year of preschool next week and starting dance lessons at the end of September. We are both excited. She keeps showing me what moves she will do in her dance class and I think she will just love it. Basically Rose is wonderful and sassy and sweet and full of life. Just how we like her.

Love her.

Haevin - Haevin is coming into one of my favorite ages. I love the 18 month to 2 year old stage. Her personality is just bubbling, she talks more and more (she seriously says so many words that even her doctor was surprised - proud mom moment), and she is into everything. She loves to run and climb ('climb' is actually one of her favorite words) and she especially loves to climb on people. Aka anytime this pregnant mama decides to sit on the couch she is running over yelling "climb climb" and trying her hardest to squish all the sensitive parts. She loves to rough house, wrestle, chase, and be silly and I just can't get enough of her lately.

Haevin is in the "I must use a fork myself" stage.

Loves going on rides.

Daddy reading bed time books.

Girl loves to come give me snuggles while I work.

Or sit on my lap while I work.

Or ask for hugs nonstop.

She also loves to feed the fishies! :)

That daddy daughter relationship though. :)

More trampoline lovin'

This girl loves to play in the water table and will come away soaking every single time.

Crackers and snuggles while Rose does swim lessons.

Haevin is following the same patterns of growth that Rose did - tall for her age, higher on the weight for her age, and a giant head. I don't understand how my little 6 pounds early babies somehow become so big around 18 months, but that's just the way they decide to grow and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Some of my favorite things Haevin does right now are:

- Tickle monster. She will lift her hands up by her eyes and wiggle her fingers and say "tickle tickle tickle tickle" while you chase her or she chases you. Always with this mischievous sparkle in her eye.
- Her "I'm mad/pouting" face. Oh laws. I've yet to capture it on camera but it's perfect. She huffs and puckers her lips, scrunches her eye browns, and looks down at the floor like she just can't believe you are saying/doing whatever you are saying/doing. I laugh every time.
- Saying I don't know - which comes out as her saying "No know!" with her hands up by her face in a "I'm not sure" type fashion.
- Her excitement and love for her dad. I thought Rose was kind of a daddy's girl around this age - Haevin tops her. Don't get me wrong, when it's just me and her or when dad isn't around she loves me, gives me hugs, snuggles, kisses, the works. But if dad is around she literally wants NOTHING to do with me - even to the point of telling me to "away" if I try to give her a hug or touch her. She loves Braedon. She snuggles him like no one else. When he gets home it's like Christmas every time. It melts my heart to see their relationship. Plus we all know that no one can rough house as good as daddy, so of course he's the favorite. ;)

Swoon.

So much sillies.

All in all I'm loving seeing her grow and learn and become her own little person. It's amazing how drastically different Rose and Haevin are. Luckily despite those differences they play with each other all the time, give each other hugs, love each other, and get along  pretty splendidly (despite the occasional fight obviously). Love seeing that sister relationship. :)

The girls giving Rory some hugs.

My girls.

My world. :)

Holding hands. :)

Besides that things are just continuing to be busy with the house. We are basically settled in the home - decorations up and boxes are unpacked. Most of the rooms are how I want them, but there for sure still needs to be some organizing here and there. We will get there eventually though, I'm trying to not stress it too much. Rory's room sadly is one of those rooms that is NOT done because we kept telling ourselves we had time... so her room might end up being a work in progress once she gets here.

Braedon is still working is tail off at his regular job, working at Crossfit, and then putting so much work into taking care of us girls and getting our backyard finished. The tramp is done, excavation is basically done, Sprinklers are done, Spook's dog area is done, fence should be in by the end of this week. We are slowing but surely getting there. Next up is finishing up our garden bed that we have planned, and then once it's a bit cooler we will do top soil and sod! And then of course it will probably be onto the basement as we don't know how NOT to have a project of some sort. I'm so grateful for Braedon and all his hard work and amazed at all he can do especially while I'm not of much help.

So much dirt.

So much work.

:)

I'm such a good helper... ;)

So there you have it - the quick catch up in the Goudie house. Things are good. We are happy. Blessed. And grateful for all we have. Looking forward to cooler temperatures, my body back and meeting our newest sweet girl (though hopefully not till September).

Love this man.

Loves and hugs. :)