A Fall Weekend in July!

The weekdend started on Friday evening. After Keith left for work, my parents and I went down to Grove City's Town Square for their Weekend Concert Series. A band called "Eight Days A Week" was playing (a Beatles cover band), and my mom loves the Beatles! We listened to music and they had children's activities for the kids. It was such a beautiful night to be outside, we all really enjoyed it!

Mason and Grandma taking a walk.

And coming back.

Playing cornhole

Saturday we had a family picnic at my Great Uncle Ralph and Great Aunt Martha's house. They hold this event every July. They have a beautiful property with lots for the kiddies to do, and lots of good food! Last year it was 90+ and we were sweating sitting under a shade tree. This year we were wearing jeans and jackets ... what a difference a year makes!

Mason anxiously waiting to leave!

Mason playing with another "Mason."

Mason was literally on this trampoline the entire

day. I'm surprised he could walk when he was finished

because I thought his legs would be jello!

Colt Bug!

Keith playing cornhole.

My husband striking a pose for the camera!

38 weeks ~ 2 weeks left

Is this baby ever going to want to come out!?

What Have We Been Up To ... ?

Where have the Hollingsworth's been!? It's been a little crazy around our house to say the least ... very busy!

Yesterday my mom and I took Mason and Colton to Maya's Birthday party at The Little Gym. They both had so much fun, such a neat idea! Thanks Jennifer (Maya's mommy) for inviting us! From simply running on the mats, to rolling on a wheel, popping bubbles, jumping on an inflatable mat, hanging upside down on the high bar, to doing a flip on the rings, Mason was simply in heaven!

Colton had fun just being Colton!

Like my brother, he's the life of the party.

Mason & Maya

Ready for treats!

Maya the Birthday Girl!

Look out Daren Lynch! It's Mason Hollingsworth!

We have been so busy lately, feverishly anticipating Braden's arrival. Every morning I wake up thinking ... will it be today? I seriously clean my house every day! I think it is more than "nesting" at this point. I may need to go OCD Annonymous or something!

37 weeks ~ 3 weeks to go!
3 cm dilated and 70% effaced

At my 36 week check up, which was Wednesday 7.8.09, I found out I was dilated to 2cm and 70% effaced! That was good news. We discussed what to do if I go into labor, etc.

The NEXT morning on Thursday I woke up having contractions every 5 minutes, they were not painful, but nonetheless they were occurring. After about 2 hours of tracking this I called my doctor's office. They wanted to bring me in to monitor the contractions and check me again. Keith and I packed the car ... just in case, took Mason to Aunt Teri's house, and left my mom a message at work. We were at the doctor's office from 11:30am - 2pm having my contractions monitored. They continued consistantly and were getting stronger. The nurse checked me and I was then dilated to 3cm and still 70% effaced, but I went from 2cm - 3cm in an hour. I was then sent to the hospital.

Could Braden be on his way? I was excited on the way to the hospital. However, once we arrived at the hospital and I was placed in a triage room, in that horrible gown and that little bed, it all sunk in and I got really scared. I was nervous about having another baby, it was all so sudden, and he would be very early. Well, after being watched for an additional hour and a half at the hospital, my contractions slowed down and when they checked me I was unchanged. We were sent home that evening ... FALSE LABOR!

At Work ~ 36 weeks (9 months)

Braden's Room is DONE!

Finally! I've been stressing about this for a while. With four weeks left until my official due date, Braden's room is complete! I can now breathe a sigh of relief. Here are some quick shots we took tonight...

All Done!

And a special Thank You to his big

brother Mason for all the clothes, blankets and toys!

34 (and a half) Week Check-Up

I had my 34 (and a half ... every day counts!) week checkup today. I voiced some concerns I had about some recent "activity" I'd been experiencing. Since my last visit I've had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions and over the past three days I can feel the baby pushing downward causing pressure in the lower regions! He also has dropped some.

Therefore, my doctor decided to go ahead and "check" me today. We found that I am 1cm dialated but still "thick." That pleased the doctor because Braden is still about 2 1/2 weeks away from being considered full term (37 weeks). The doctor said she wasn't surprised I was feeling so much pressure because Braden is really low and not surprised I was dialated due to all of the contractions. She does not expect me to deliver prior to 37 weeks (yay ... I'm not ready just yet), but after that point it's fair game and he'll be considered full term. Needless to say things are progressing and we'll have a new addition to our family sometime in the next month! I go back to the doctor in two weeks, I'll keep everyone posted!

SuMMeR FuN

Lately we've had some technical difficulties between our camera dying and our wireless router not working. I have been out of touch with the internet world! Well folks, we are back in business!

Not too much to report. We've been hanging out at the pool every chance we get. Mason loves the water and being outside. For Father's Day Mason and I took Keith to dinner and we got him a new camera (which we obviously needed). A Nikon Coolpix was the winner, so we've been testing it out over the weekend.

I have about 5 1/2 weeks until my due date with Braden. There has been lots of "activity" lately. Between him moving all about, pushing downward, and braxton hicks contractions daily, I'd say we are progressing nicely toward having a baby in the near future. I actually have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and we will see what this munchkin is up to. I've been nesting like crazy lately ... clean, organize, repeat! However, I'm still not quite ready for Braden's arrival. He needs to wait at least a couple weeks!

Here are some pictures of our SuMMeR FuN!

Mason was cuddling with Calvin.

Daddy testing out the new camera!

Giggling in the car on the way to

Father's Day dinner.

Too cool for words ...

Loving on Braden!

8 1/2 months

I think polka dots accentuate the belly ...

Pa Pa, Mason, and Elmo taking a dip.

Lovin' it!

Though he has arm floaties that he does very

well with, he still likes the old faithful life jacket.

Too tuckered out after a long day of swimming

to even make it to dinner time.

Colton Turns ONE!

This evening we celebrated my nephew Colton's 1st Birthday. We were very happy that the storms from earlier today had subsided, however it was HOT as all get out! What a steamy night for mid-June. We celebrated at my parent's house with hot dogs on the grill, several sides, and of course a yummy Birthday cake from "Jane the cake lady." I can't believe Colton is ONE already ... and that Braden is almost here!

Family Picture before the party.

8 1/2 months
(34 weeks, 6 to go)

Colton's smash cake.

Giving cake to Miles ... the dog.

Happy 1st Birthday Colton!

We love you!

Poolside Weekend

Well, our camera is on the fritz so there will be no pictures with this post :(

This weekend we had so much fun! Two fabulous pool days! You all know I LoVe the pool. There is nothing like hanging out poolside with good company, soaking up the sun, and grilling out some yummy food! So that's exactly what we did. Mason and I went over early and my brother and Colton met us there. Keith joined us later after getting some things done around the house. Mason LOVES swimming ... as he told me yesterday. Mason did not nap for TWO days ... which is against my mommy religion, lol. He was so excited to swim and was having so much fun. He was a total water rat and I could barely get him out of the pool to eat. He told me he wanted to eat in the pool! I remember those days as a kid. There's just something about growing up with a pool ... I'm so glad my parents have maintained the pool all these years so that the grandchildren can now enjoy the same summers I did as a child!

On another note, I am 8 months pregnant now! Braden's due date is quickly approaching and we are very excited to meet him. He is a very active fellow in the womb, hopefully he calms down once he arrives! I will however miss feeling this munchkin move around inside my belly. It is one of the absolute most wonderful things in the entire world to experience! I've been washing Mason's baby clothes, blankets, etc. Keith still needs to paint his room. Hopefully this will occur this week! It's driving me nuts that his room isn't done yet!

Hopefully we get this camera situation solved so I can post some pregnancy, pool, and Braden's room pictures soon! Please bear with our technical difficulties!