Two Thousand Eleven Rewind

JanuaryThe first month of the year was rather uneventful. We returned home from our Christmas vacation to California, spent lots of time with friends and Dallen had his first cavity filled at the dentist.

FebruaryThe second month was spent with friends. Playing mini golf, going to movies, visiting the zoo, going in bouncy houses, kids club at the mall and the highlight of our month was visiting our cousins and their snow in Flagstaff.

MarchMore time with friends this month of course. At the museum, the zoo and the park. We sure like to play outside in our spring weather here. It was also rugby season and we got to see a few games. But the highlight of our month was the trip to California for my big sister's wedding!!

AprilThis month you could find us mostly, at the zoo (love that season pass). Daddy worked long hours this month so Mommy and Dallen got to spend a lot of time together, and went to the Easter pageant with friends but without Daddy. But it was good thing to get some time just me and my Dallen since this is the month I found out I was FINALLY pregnant!!

MayThe fifth month of 2011 was very eventful for our family!! We took our last trip to my parents house before they moved and spent our last days with Uncle Scotty before he became Elder Messick and was off to Korea. We went to the beach, to Disneyland and then drove all the way to Utah where we saw our missionary off to the MTC. I am so grateful for the time we got to spend with family this month, I hope I have those memories forever.

JuneAh, the beginning of summer in AZ. Lots of time spent at the movies with summer movie club, went to the Phoenix Children's Museum, played at friends' houses, went swimming A LOT and Dallen started swimming lessons. He hated it at first but was a pro by the end of summer!! Dallen also moved to a big boy bed and mastered potty training at the rightful age of 2 1/2 :) And we said farewell, yet again, to some of our favorite people, Mark's cousin Tanner and his family before they shipped off to Germany.

JulyOne of my favorite months of the year, every year!! Why? Messick family beach house!! I love spending an entire week living at the beach with my family to celebrate Independence Day. This year Dallen went under a wave in the ocean with Daddy, while my little pregnant belly laid on the beach. Always a good time with family, food and fun. Best holiday ever.

August
This month was spent celebrating the birthdays of friends, enjoying a fabulous Roy's dinner for our 6th wedding anniversary, played with friends, and I even got to have a few extra dates with my hubby. Also, we found out we were having a GIRL!!!

SeptemberIn the ninth month of 2011, Mimi and Grandpa came to help paint the kitchen cabinets (huge project), the Bracken's came to town for a combined baby shower (huge party), Dallen stuck a ball up his nose and visited the ER to have it removed (huge fiasco), and D man started his first day of preschool (huge grown up boy moment)!!

October
This month is always a happy one for us. Big D turned THREE!!! Auntie Aubrey came to help pull off a super, super-hero party!! We also visited the zoo, went to as many Mesquite High School football games as we could on Friday nights, Dallen finally got to go to some pumpkin patches, Mommy turned 27 and Dallen was "the bad guy" black Spiderman for Halloween.

November
I was spoiled rotten this month with 3 fabulous baby showers!! One of which I was able to travel to California for and share with my sister. While there we played at the beach, at the spectrum, with friends and at the petting zoo. Most of our time spent in AZ this month was in doctor's offices for me. Mark went to Seattle for business and turned 31 years old. We hosted a Bracken Thanksgiving at our house and enjoyed being surrounded by family.

DecemberA very blessed month for our family. Of course we celebrated the birth of our Savior and in our family we got to celebrate another birth, our Sydney Rose. We spent most of the entire month waiting around for our little girl to arrive and 5 days before Christmas we became a happy family of 4!!

We are so very grateful for a happy and blessed 2011 and hope for the same in 2012. Happy New Year to all those we love!!!

Steal My Kisses

Since Sydney was born, Dallen has been smothering her with kisses. Every chance he gets, he's got his lips on her cheeks!! I love that he loves his little sister so much, but it makes me a little sad that she is stealing all my kisses from him. Dallen used to kiss me every time he came into a room, but I guess I am not the only girl in his life anymore. It's ok, I am happy to share the role of princess in our home with my perfect little daughter.

Sydney Rose

On December 20th at 6:08pm we welcomed our 7 pound, 14 ounce, 20 inch daughter, Sydney Rose Bracken, into the world. It seems like it was nothing but struggles to get her here and I couldn't be more grateful to have this sweet baby girl in my arms. I already know that this special little girl was supposed to be a part of our family. She makes my heart swell with joy and I am so grateful for her.

I am pretty sure that most of you followed Sydney's birth story, as we all awaited her arrival with much anticipation, but I want to remember it for always. About 2 weeks ago I started having regular contractions. I checked into the hospital twice with false labor symptoms. The kidney stones that I have been carrying around since week 25 of my pregnancy were causing uterine distress and making me have strong, painful and consistent contractions without dilating. After 2 weeks of enduring the pain I consulted with my doctor and decided that maybe it was time to abandon the idea of a natural birth and opt for a second C-section. To me, this decision was nothing short of a miracle. I had been taking very strong sleeping pills for a few days to help me endure the pain of contractions. The day before I had Sydney, I had a VERY sleepless night, despite the meds. I spent most of the night in prayer, trying to understand why I felt like I needed to have another c-section. I woke up in the morning resolved, without understanding why, that I was supposed to have a c-section. I went into the hospital not wanting a c-section but feeling completely confident in the decision I had made. Right after my doctor had me opened up he peered over the curtain and told me that he was so glad I was there. The uterine wall was so paper thin, he was certain it would have ripped had I attempted labor. I began to cry and silently say a prayer of gratitude that I was on the operating table under these circumstances and not MUCH scarier ones. Twenty minutes later I was able to see my sweet baby girls face and haven't stopped admiring her since. She is absolutely perfect and I love her, my Sydney Rose!!

Impressionable

"Don't worry that your kids aren't listening to you; worry that they are always watching you" -UnknownDallen is at such an impressionable age. I really have to be careful around him, with what he sees and what he hears. He picks up on things so quickly and is learning so much every day!! Some of the cute things he has done and said lately I never want to forget are these sweet moments...

*While looking at my earrings Dallen says to me, "Do you have holes in your ears now? Why did you do that? Now, they are going to be there forever!!" HAHAHA. Hope this kid never gets something permanent on his little body.

*While playing with some kids at the park, each kid was stating their age. One girl said, I am 4. The other girl said, I am 6 so I am the oldest. Then Dallen chimes in with all the confidence in the world, "Yeah, and I am the 3-est!!" There is no telling that kid that he isn't old enough to do anything.

*Usually when I have to tell Dallen "No" to something, he says to me, "Mom, you have to take turns being the boss". If there is one concept that Dallen just hasn't figured out yet, it is why he has to listen to me and why there are different rules for adults than there are for children. I have a feeling this one is going to take a long time to understand.

*Most of the time when Dallen takes attitude with me, I can hear myself in every word!! The other night when I was telling Dallen he HAD to stop talking and GO TO SLEEP (it was like 11 o'clock at night) he points his finger at me and says "see that right there, that's yelling. Don't do that"!! Oh my teenage toddler.

*Speaking of a teenage toddler, Dallen says and does things all the time that he is lucky are still cute at the age of the 3 because they won't be so when he does them as a teenager. Like when I pull him out of bed literally 5 minutes before church starts and the first thing he says to me, "Mom, you can't wake people up when they are sleeping!!"

I am going to have my hands full with little Mr. Attitude, but I wouldn't trade him for anything. He is constantly cracking me up with his little Dallen-isms and I just love absolutely everything about his little personality.

Final Comparisons & Thoughts

Well, I have officially made it longer this pregnancy than I ever did with Dallen, so I can do no further comparisons of pregnancies from here on out. Other than the kidney stones that I have been carrying around since week 25, I have been such a content little pregnant lady. I am patiently awaiting the arrival of this little girl and I am so excited that she could be joining our family any day now. So these are my final thoughts:
*Most days I still feel pretty good!! I don't remember being this comfortable the first time around (other than the intermittent kidney pains) and am so happy.

*My appetite stayed generally normal the whole time. My biggest craving was the same with both pregnancies: cheeseburgers!! Mark is happy to oblige my weekend requests for In-N-Out or Five Guys :) Unlike the first time, in the beginning of this pregnancy I craved fresh fruits and bagels but now I am back to my norm of Kit Kat bars and french fries.

*My weight gain has been drastically different, 68 pounds versus 30. This time my doctor high fived me when I made it through the first trimester with only 5 pounds gained and congratulated me at my last appointment for still having ankles at this point!

*Sleeping has not been totally bad. I have to wake up at least twice to empty my bladder and Dallen still wakes me up every once in a while, but I can usually go right back to sleep. Turning my belly over in bed though is getting really heavy and is quite the process in the middle of the night :)

*Its been nice to make it past 37 weeks this time around because I feel so much more prepared. I was able to pack a suitcase for the hospital this time. Although with Dallen, he came so early I never had a chance to get scared, this time the waiting has me teriffied. More time to realize what is happening and get my nerves going. I am using these last days to get as "prepared" as I can around the house, this waiting game of anticipation has me going crazy!! A couple more days or a couple more weeks and baby girl will be here, so exciting :)