................K²................

In December, a good friend from high school asked me if I wanted to play on her recreational basketball team. It was something that I really had to think about!

I've been playing basketball since I was like 10 or 11, and played all through junior high school and on my high school teams.

However, I pretty much hadn't picked up a ball in 5 years.

5 YEARS!

I couldn't believe it when I counted!

I guess life just got busy.

I have been saying to Kale for a few years that I would like to start playing organized basketball again but we were living in Cranbrook, and there wasn't anything like that there.

Despite the fact that I wanted to play, I almost said no because of my insecurities.

I'm glad I said yes.

It's been so FUN!

I play on a co-ed team, and it's a lot different playing with men.

There tall, and they play differently.

Our guys are pretty good though, they treat the girls pretty equally.

We're playing in the 1st/2nd place game next week.

We're playing a tough team, and we've lost to them before.

Although, we lost to the team we beat tonight to so who knows!

Back in December I never thought I would have this much fun!

You want to know the best part?

I feel like ME.

I get to be independent.

I get to be active.

I go, and I don't have to worry about children or household things.

I don't have to juggle 5 different things at once.

I don't have to worry about my life as wife, and mom.

I just get to be me :)

Please, please don't get me wrong.

I love ME as wife, and momma of 2...

...but it's nice to remember who I was before I was those things.

Birthday cake in a cookie ... YES PLEASE!

It's my mission this week to find these babies.

I've already struck out in 2 stores, so I may have to stock up once I find them.

Wish me luck :)

This is my favourite picture.

It perfectly explains my kids right now.

Preslee is crawling, and growing, and into EVERYTHING.

Brookey isn't loving it, but I think it's pretty funny.

So after I wrote Preslee's 9 month post I realized that I never did one for Brooke who turned 3 years old at the beginning of January.

3 years!

At 3 years old, Brooke:

• weighs 30 lbs, and is fairly tall for her age.

• talks like she's 25.

• has so much energy that I would like even half of it.

• loves the movie Aladdin, and The Return of Jafar.

• is very loving.

• always says thank you, but usually forgets please.

• is recently potty trained.

• has a mind of her own, and an attitude to match.

• loves her daddy more then anyone in the world :)

• loves vegetables, peanut butter sandwiches, cheesestrings, and pancakes.

• loves to play princess, and build things with Kale.

• is a social butterfly, and is fiercely independent.

• is just as accident prone as Kale is, and always has scratches and bruises.

• loves to be outside, no matter the weather.

• still naps once a day, probably because she's SO active.

• loves to swim!

• loves to read books, and sing songs.

Brooklyn is a fun little girl! She's always doing something, and hardly ever sits still. She loves to give cuddles, and loves to EVERYONE she meets :) In the last year she has developed an attitude, and pairing that with her need for independence she's given me a run for my money! I love this little girl, she makes our lives so much fun!

Preslee turned 9 months old yesterday.

I don't know how this happened SO fast! I feel as though she was just born.

Some facts about Pres at 9 months are:

• She is SO happy.

• She has 5 teeth.

• Not a lot scares her. I think it's because she has Brooke as a sister, she just giggles.

• She nursed for 7.5 months but now LOVES her bottle.

• She will only drink out of a sippy if it has water in it and even then it's a challenge.

• She loves to sit up, and is so close to crawling.

• She gets the biggest smile on her face whenever Brooke gets into trouble.

• She LOVES food! She will eat anything but mostly loves to feed herself finger foods.

• She sleeps 12 hours at night at the very least.

• She naps twice a day, although sometimes it's just in the car

while I run Brooke to her various activities.

• She loves the bath, and just recently started sitting up in it.

• She has just recently "found her voice" and is now incredibly loud if she's comfortable in her environment.

• If she isn't comfortable, she is very quiet and observes. She takes it all in.

Preslee has been a dream baby, right from the beginning. She's very easygoing, and very loving. She thinks her big sister is the best thing in the world, and loves to be hugged and kissed by her. I just love this little girl, she makes life so happy.

I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

Preslee Layne

On the Wednesday before she was born I had a pre-natal appointment, and had shown no progress. I wasn't dilated or effaced, and baby wasn't engaged. She was sitting happily on my pelvis. I started to feel a little bit anxious because a big part of why Brookey never came naturally was because she was in a position where she couldn't possibly engage ... so it felt a little bit like last time! My doctor sent me to the hospital to see the OB, and decide what I was going to do. I so badly wanted to just go into labor, but was okay with the fact that might not happen. I was okay with having a c-section.

So anyway, I went to the OB and talked with her and decided that I was going to book the said section for Saturday. I took many things into account when I made this decision. Lots of prayer, and thought went into it and I decided that it didn't matter how this baby got here, as long as it was safely done. Many times in life you have to choose not between right and wrong but between good, and good. I had made my decision, and if Heavenly Father thought that it should be done differently then he needed to put me into labor. :) I was content with my decision.

My mom got here the Wednesday night and we went for dinner, and went shopping for some new baby things. The Thursday (which was my due date) we did more of the same. We did lots of running around, and did some last minute things with Brookey & my mom. We had decided to do Easter on Friday because I would be in the hospital on Easter Sunday. So, we decorated Easter eggs that night.

We woke up Friday morning, and the Easter Bunny had come. Brookey was SO excited! We got our Easter baskets, and Brookey went on an Easter egg hunt. I had started feeling a little bit crampy that morning but didn't think to much of it because I had probably overdone it the last few days. We decided to get some more last minute things done that day but first I needed to go to the hospital to get the bloodwork done for the c-section. So Kale & Brookey went off to do their thing, and my Mom & I went to the hospital. On the way there I noticed that my "cramping" was every 10 minutes ... then every 8. I had lots of cramping in the last 2 weeks, but never anything that went away and came back over and over!

We went to the lab at the hospital, but because it was Good Friday they were closed. The doctor had told me to go to that lab, but forgot to tell me that they were closed. Thanks. So, we headed up to labor & delivery to let them know that I couldn't get my bloodwork done, and to see what I should do. While I was up there I mentioned that I thought I could be in early labor but wasn't really sure because I was induced last time and never felt early labor! They told me that they could do my bloodwork, and then a doctor could check me out and see if there was anything going on.

They strapped me up to a fetal monitor to monitor the baby, and a doctor came in to check me out. I was surprised (and a lot shocked) to learn that I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced! It doesn't sound like a huge triumph ... but for me it was. I had never done that on my own before and it felt like a HUGE step for me in the right direction. The baby however was still not engaged, which freaked me out. So I asked the doctor what my options were. I could either go ahead and get the c-section that day or I could have a trial of labor. That's what they call it when a c-section is very possible :) There were no guarantees, and a c-section could still be very possible. Despite the possibilities I knew that if I was in fact in labor (and I was!) then I was going to give it a try.

The next decision was one that the doctors had to make, and it was whether or not to admit me or send me home to progress. They decided to admit me, and keep an eye on me because of the risks. At this point Kale had come and switched places with my mom, and my mom had taken Brookey. My contractions were 6 minutes apart, and getting stronger. After they decided to admit me they realized they had no room for me ... brilliant. So, they sent me walking to try and get me to progress. This was at roughly 2:30, and I had been at the hospital since about 1. We walked for about 3 hours around the hospital, and got Kale something to eat. My contractions got continually stronger and were about 4 minutes apart by the time we headed back up to L&D at 5:30.

They still had no birthing room for me. Apparantly this was the busiest day/night they had seen in 6 months and because I was only a "trial of labor" I kept getting bumped. (It turns out, it was busy that night. 15 babies born...) So they put me in a nice triage room to labor there for a while. At least I was on the right track :) They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and checked me again and I was at a 2! Haha, this may sound lame to some people but when your not convinced that your body can do this you will take any small hope you can get. The doctor was pretty pleased, and the babies head was getting a little lower but still wasn't engaged. My contractions got continually stronger but they got farther apart which was quite discouraging. So, for the next 4 hours I labored in the triage room. I was hooked up to the monitor the whole time because the second my baby went into distress that was it, and I was going for surgery. It was a bit hard being stuck in a bed, but at this point I didn't really care. The contractions were becoming really painful and I wanted an epidural SO bad. However because I wasn't yet into a birthing room they couldn't do a whole lot for me but they did give me the gas mask. It wasn't my favorite, and it made me light headed and SO dizzy but it did take the edge off the contractions and help me breath through them. Beggars can't be choosers so I decided to take what I could get! They also inserted an IV because I was GBS positive, and needed to start my antibiotics.

Finally at 9:30 they told me they had a room for me. Thank goodness! A birthing room meant an epidural! Hooray :) So, we got up and went to the birthing room. We met my nurse Ingrid. She was great! Kale went and got all my stuff from the car and while he did that they checked me and ordered me up that epidural. At this point I was dilated to a 4, and the babies head was engaged! Hooray :) This was the best news I have ever received. They broke my water, and just like last time nothing came out. At this point I was pretty positive that there would be no c-section.

The next few hours were pretty uneventful. We got some rest, and the baby was reading fine on the fetal monitor. The nurse had me moving from side to side to get her head way down. At around 2 or 3am they came in to check me again and I was at an 8! I had never been at an 8 before :) The babies head was engaged! I tried after that to rest, and while I felt no pain the pressure was getting to be really intense.

At 4:15 am, the nurse came in to see how I was doing and I told her about the pressure. She told me that pressure was a good sign and that things were looking really good. She was a really excellent nurse. She was really helpful, and knowledgable, and genuinely happy for my successes. She told me she was going for her break but she would be back in a half an hour, and we'd see how I was doing. Well ... by 4:30 I was feeling the pressure. It was pretty certain that it was time to consider pushing. So, I sent Kale to go find the nurse! Haha, good thing she was taking a break at the desk.

Ingrid checked me again, and it was time to go. Yikes! So, around 4:45 I started pushing. It was hard. I was pretty positive at more then one time that I was not cut out for this...lucky for me I had my amazing husband there to let me know that I was making progress, to squeeze my hand, and tell me that I was doing great. Also, lucky for me Ingrid was a birthing drill sargent. She was the voice in my head that I never knew I needed. Forceful, but nice ... :) She kept telling me that I could in fact do this, and that I was strong, and doing a great job! The baby came quicker then the nurse expected. Apparantly my pushing was effective. By 5am Ingrid was calling the doctor to come deliver, and by 5:12 little Preslee was born!

It was a new experience to have her directly on my chest after she was born, and Kale even got to cut the cord! I'll treasure those experiences forever, because neither of us got them when Brooke was born. I didn't get to hold Brooke for over an hour after I had her, and was the 4th or 5th person to even do so!

So, after a few stitches ... an hour or so to get my uterus back into place (it kept floating away ... no joke) ... weighing that baby, and making sure she was okay ... and a very successful attempt at breastfeeding we got sent to the recovery unit to hang out there for 24 hours before we got sent home.

Preslee is 9 days old today, and is such a sweet baby. She's been all stuffed up with a cold since about day 3 or 4 and has handled it well. We're getting a decent amount of sleep. Preslee is a champion eater, and a very content little baby!

Brookey is growing more fond of her baby sister every day. She loves to shower her with kisses, and tell me how cute Preslee is.

I love my little family :)