so thankful

a few pictures from my session with Christie. i could not be any happier!!!
35 weeks


38 weeks

baby brunch.

the food was so good and i had so much fun with all the girls. i am so very thankful for the diapers, wipes and other fun things everyone brought. i could not ask for more.

typical ride to school

38 weeks and brunch.

I made it to 38 weeks and I really didn't think I would after the appointment back at 34. Since I have been full term, I have NOT been taking it easy :) I am walking, doing yoga and picking up Bella every chance I get. I had Bella at about 38 and a half weeks so that was what I originally expected before. Either way, my doctor wants to discuss induction this Wednesday if I am still pregnant. It would simply be a matter of breaking my water not the whole deal with pitocin and all. This idea is based on the fact that I had a c-section the first time and it could be safer this way. With that said, he said he would be surprised if I did not go into labor on my own before then because of all of the progression. Part of me wishes we would have just let her come a few weeks ago when she was trying! but the bigger, mommy part of me is thankful that we didn't have to deal with preemie issues. She is safe and healthy and the extra few weeks has given me some time to appreciate Bella and having her to myself.

Tomorrow my dear friend is having a brunch to honor me and Ava. I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and hanging out with them before I am home-bound for a few weeks with a newborn. In addition to the brunch, we actually have a few things we are looking forward to early next week so it will be interesting to see what happens- will she wait or will she come??

oh the cuteness.

I really don't want to forget some of these things Bella says so I am going to keep the list on here so I can look back on days she is testing my patience!

Lately:
-part is "park." like , "here is park of my sandwich"
-fort is "fork," as in "build me a fork mommy"
-everyday she asks Ava to come out & wants me to tell her all of the things Ava is going to learn from her
-"ak her mommy!"~ this can mean, ask her, tell her, ask him, or tell him. she says it mostly when she wants me to tell Ava to come out or if she wants me to ask Randy to do something for her :)
-"I not take a nap. I not take a nap!" Like she is proud of herself, she says this when we come to get her on those days she spends her nap time playing in her room.
-"Fe Fe" or "Phi Phi" this is what she calls her best friend at school and her cousin, Sophie. She has another friend, Sophia, and she calls her "Fe Fe-uh"
-chocolate is "cotchit"
-she talks about shapes all the time and makes triangles with her fingers. she likes us to follow her and a star she carries in the air to baby Jesus.
-she has been telling us all about winter and what to wear when it is cold, and that its January.
-a little bit is "hil' bit"

the nursery

and the proud sister...

4 down, 6 to go

I saw the doctor today and I am 4cm. He says we should be ready for any time now and not to labor too long at home- this should be fast! He started making me nervous when he asked me how far away I lived from the hospital (luckily only two miles) but this means if Randy is at work when it happens, he may miss all of the "fun"!

dance class!

This brings back so many memories of going to dance class as a little girl. Bella just started ballet last Saturday at the Y and she did great! Of course their using the Lion King song to begin definitely helped :) Bella LOVES that movie and LOVES to pretend like she is a lion.

and we were blessed.

Last Saturday Bella had her first dance class- posted above- and then I was to head to lunch with girls from my Bible study. We had talked about getting together as just girls a few times and we finally had a plan in place to eat at one of the couple's apartments. When I got there, to my surprise, it was baby shower for Ava! I was shocked. I haven't ever had any type of surprise party so just the thought in itself was wonderful. The gifts were amazing too! They were all so so cute and gave me something fun to look at while we wait. I cannot get this first picture to show the right way! but wanted you to see the goodies.

35 weeks

This is what I thought would be the last photo documenting this pregnancy after seeing the midwife last week. Thanks to the Lord for giving our second angel more time to "bake" and to my dear friend, Christie, I will soon have some pictures of Bella, Ava and I at almost 36 weeks. Until we head to the hospital, there will probably not be anymore pre-baby!

No news...

It has been about a week and a half since I saw the midwife and last Wednesday I was about 3 cm and my doctor had the same advice- try to rest and keep her another week. Tomorrow I will see him again so maybe we will know more. I am much more comfortable with the idea of her coming now that I am only a few days away from being full term so with that said... bring it on! Of course now that I am at a safer place, the contractions have really slowed down and most days I don't have any at all. I really don't have any insight as to when baby Ava will arrive.

On another note... Bella has adopted this idea of saving things- not just food- and it cracks me up. I find her best drawings in the refrigerator now because she wants to "save" them.

Jesus Loves Me

The other night Bella preformed her newly learned song for some of us. She had just finished singing it almost perfect on her own for the first time before we caught this:
Click here to see the video

Ava Update

Now that we have had a few days to process, it is time to share what is going on with baby Ava.

Last Friday morning I woke up on my own after an incredible night's sleep. Ava, unlike most days, did not wake me up with her hyperactivity. I started getting dressed and brushing my teeth- I was on the way to pick up Bella from Nana & Grandma's. After doing everything I needed to do, I still had not felt her. I decided to wait until I felt better to leave the house. I ate breakfast and had some coffee- after eating is when kick counts are done so I continued to wait. I ran up the stairs and tried jiggling her around, but still nothing. After more than an hour, I called my mom and then the doctor. The nurse asked me to come in right away. I updated Randy and he headed home. By the time I got to the office, it had been right at two hours with no sign of Ava. They hooked me up to the monitor and we could hear her heartbeat! phew. The nurse was like an angel- Amy was her name. She started talking to Ava and almost immediately she gave her a little kick! It didn't take long and baby girl was back to being her bouncy self.

I saw the midwife next and we talked about some of the reasons Ava could have been still for so long including the contractions I have been having at night. She decided to check my cervix and found that I was dilated 2 cm. She confirmed that something was going on and that babies born at 35 weeks do fine and usually get to go home with mom, but with that said, she suggested rest and liquids to try to keep her in another week. Since that morning, I have been doing just that. Randy has been amazing and Bella is trying to understand. I am trying to keep from cleaning and I am definitely spending more time laying down. We are prepared as possible with bags packed, plans in place and the nursery finished.

As usual, we will keep everyone updated but as for now, we are laying low and saying prayers for a healthy baby above all else.

Tiny Dancer

We are really cherishing this time with Bella while she is our only daughter for a few more days. She never ceases to make us laugh. She is so sweet and so much fun.

For Christmas from her GaYa she got money to go towards dance class at the Y. She is going to start ballet on Saturday and we can't wait to watch!

This morning I showed her the outfit she has to wear and told her how they want them to wear their hair and she loved it. I pulled up some videos on YouTube to show her ballet and she mocked every move! She is going to be so great. I didn't catch any pictures of her actually doing ballet but we have some of the ballerina playing "baseball"- she makes her daddy proud with all of her many talents :)

Sweet Dreams

The other night Bella started yelling for me about 3am. This happens occasionally when she wets the bed so I went in prepared to change the sheets and all, but to my surprise... she wanted... a cupcake.

She said, "Where's me cu-cake mommy?" to which I said, "What?" and she said it again, "My cu-cake!"

Me: "Well do you have one?"

Bella: "Daddy got it."

Me: "Oh, well we will look for it in the morning."

No idea where she got this from. We have no cupcakes in the house but she must have been having sweet dreams :)

Christmas Joys

I am so late blogging about our wonderful Christmas but things have just slowed down enough for me to process a little bit. The 23rd we went to my Grandma's and celebrated with my mom's side, including Uncle Les and his doggy from Knoxville, TN. We ate too much and opened presents that night. That was the beginning of the three day train we rode for Christmas...


On Christmas Eve we headed to my aunts where we do my Dad's side and hang out with our favorite cousins and their kids.. I think I have said before there are at least 15 adults, 5 great granddaughters, two more on the way, including Miss Ava, 1 great grandson and another baby expected in July (boy or girl?? we don't know). Anyway, we have a lot of people at that celebration! After that we headed to my Dad's- just my
sister, Will, Randy, Bella and I to open gifts.



Christmas morning we spend here at home, reading the story of Jesus' birth and open a couple of things as a little family.


We headed to Randy's brother's shortly after for brunch and gifts and then to end it all, we ate Christmas dinner that night at his parents with Uncle Dick and Aunt Joanne, visiting from Knoxville.




Randy and I were also able to get a lot of projects done around the house over his break and finish preparing for the birth of our second little angel. As usual, it goes by too fast but we thoroughly enjoyed each day!