Adventures in Ava-land

Weekend trip!

2012-01-31T20:29:00.001-06:00

Back in December, my parents mentioned that Disney Live! was going to be in Oklahoma City and that they thought Ava might like it. They got tickets for us and the weekend finally arrived. We didn’t tell Ava that we were going to the show, just that we were going to see Poppa for the weekend.

Saturday we did some shopping. Ava enjoyed some play time at the various malls. She was a happy kid to run free!

This little guy started getting sick on our way there Friday. He started coughing a really ugly cough and poor guy does NOT feel good this week. He has a horrible cold. It was just beginning though over the weekend and he was such a good boy, even though he didn’t feel well!

My parents with the kids before we left to see Disney Live! Me and my babies!!! I straightened Ava’s hair and think it makes her look soooooo different!! Another look at her hair! We had lunch at Freddy’s and it was YUM!

My parents and kids again right before the show started Ava was SO excited for the show and to be Snow White! It was so funny – there were lots of little girls dressed up as various princesses, and when they’d pass others, they’d all stare at the other and give them the once over! Ava kept saying “look Mom! There’s Belle!” or whoever we happened to pass. So funny! She doesn’t look excited here at all, but she was so enthralled with the show!

We saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! And Cinderella! And Beauty and the Beast!! And Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy were there too!!!

It was so fun to see Ava so excited about seeing some of her favorite characters! It was definitely a fun weekend!!!

Project 366: Week 4

2012-01-30T20:12:00.001-06:00

Documenting life

2012-01-26T11:06:00.001-06:00

This has been a busy week for us. I'm finding it hard to find the time to blog these days but so desperately love having the record so I'm going to try harder!

Tuesday I had a follow up appointment with a doctor to check my finger. I got a blood blister like bump on it while I was pregnant which my dr said was normal. It didn't go away after Reed was born so he sent me to the dermatologist. That doctor really didn't know what to make of it so he measured it & told me to come back. Tuesday morning he still didn't know what it was so he biopsied it!! I had no clue going in that morning I'd be having a minor surgical procedure requiring stitches!!!!

I'll spare you the unbandaged photos but I have a V shaped hole on the side of my finger. Thankfully today it has quit hurting & I will go back next Friday to have the stitches removed & hopefully get some answers about it.

Tuesday was also my Mom's birthday! We had dinner & cupcakes to celebrate!

Yesterday was my MIL's birthday & I thought a birthday e-card with her grandbabies might be more fun than just a regular card!

That being said, I am LOVING the Red Stamp App! I'm sure you're seeing it on lots of blogs but it is really awesome!!!

Ava's class is participating in a bake sale to collect money for the local Ronald McDonald House. After using their facilities, I am a huge advocate for the center & was excited to be able to take part in this. I made these funfetti cake pops and love how they turned out!!! I can't wait to make some more!

I think that's it! We have a fun weekend planned & I'll be excited to share about that soon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Project 366: Week 3

2012-01-22T13:51:00.001-06:00

A day with friends

2012-01-19T20:25:00.001-06:00

This past weekend, some of my favorite girls and i met up to spend the day together on Saturday! We met at Kristy’s house and spent the afternoon letting the kids play and talking away!

Candace and Jill met up at Jill’s house and came the rest of the way together, while I met the girls with my kiddos. Holli met up with us with her boys and it was so much fun! Kristy’s sister, Julie, also stopped by and kept us laughing like crazy!

Here are the ladies, minus Holli, who had already left. :( LOVE these girls!

All of our precious babies – it was fun seeing them play together!!From L to R: Kinley, Ava, Sophie, Ava, Reed, Keira, Madox, Cooper and Trevin

Sweet Candace and Reed!!

I had to include this because it looks like Reed is punching Jill!

I think he likes her! :)

Candace’s Ava and Reed

The Avas :)

I am SO thankful for these girls and our friendships! Seeing them was SO great and I can’t wait for the next get together!!!!

Project 366: Weeks 1 & 2

2012-01-15T17:22:00.001-06:00

Three years ago, I did Project 365 and loved having a picture for each day of Ava’s full year of life! I wanted to do it again. It was a little tedious posting every day like I did last time, so this time I’m going to do it a week at a time. You can check out our 2009 Project 365 here. Since this year is leap year, this is my Project 366! From here on out, I’ll post these weekly, but for this first one, I’m going to do the first two weeks of 2012!

three months old!

2012-01-07T14:47:00.001-06:00

I cannot believe Reed is 3 months old today! Time since he was born has seriously just flown by! He’s changed so much in the past month and we’re seeing more of his little personality!

Reed, you are growing so quickly! What a month this has been! You had your first Christmas, went on your first overnight trip, and started school!

You are growing like a weed! You are getting too long for some of your 3 month clothes!
You are still in Size 1 diapers though I think your time in those are limited!
You still eat about 25-30 ounces a day.
You are sleeping through the night (yay!) and have been for the last month! You have been slowly moving your bedtime up yourself. Right now you go to bed around 8:00 and wake up about 6:00! I’m so thankful you started doing this before I went back to work!
You still hate tummy time, but are starting to be more content in your swing, bouncy seat and bumbo for longer periods of time.
You are starting to try to sit yourself up when you are being held.
You love to stand and put your weight on your legs. Your legs are very strong.
Your neck control has gotten really good!
You are babbling a lot more!
You adore your sister! You light up when you see her in the mornings!
You seem to really enjoy school! You have come home the happiest little boy all week and I’m so thankful you have adjusted so easily!
You are such a happy, good little boy! You are so calm and laid back and have the sweetest disposition! We were at Hamaw’s house the other night, and she kept saying “He’s such a good baby!” and she’s right! Not, only that, you are an absolute joy!

Reed starts school!

2012-01-05T21:20:00.001-06:00

Reed and I survived my first day back to work! It was definitely sad leaving him but he really seems to be enjoying it. He has been the happiest little guy in the evenings and I get lots of photos and videos of him during the day. :)

Here’s the big guy before leaving the house on his first day!

I love this picture. Reed ADORES Ava. :)

He did have a harder day today – he didn’t want to eat. They texted me to let me know and since I’m only about a minute away, I went around 2:30 and he wouldn’t eat for me either. He was happy though and just seemed distracted. It might take a few days for him to get adjusted. I’m thankful that tomorrow is Friday and that we’re on the verge of a weekend! I’m definitely tired and am looking forward to some relaxation!

And lastly – Go Hogs! Tomorrow we play in the Cotton Bowl and I’m ready to cheer the Hogs on to victory for one last game until next year!! Have a great weekend!

Back to work I go

2012-01-02T15:46:00.001-06:00

Here we are. January. And here I am, very sad that today is my last day of maternity leave. I know it’s so cliché, but where did the time go? I cannot believe three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

I am so grateful and thankful I got to stay home with Reed for so long. But my heart is so sad today knowing that tomorrow I won’t be at home with him all day. When we first got him home from the hospital, I had a bit of trouble with being home alone all day. After working and being around other adults, it was hard being by myself and not having daily interaction. As the weeks passed, I grew to love being at home with my little boy. I always thought growing up I’d love to be a stay at home mom. When we got married, I knew that probably wouldn’t be possible because of Zach’s career. And that is ok. But it does make me a little sad knowing that as of tomorrow, my baby boy will be cared for by someone other than me for more hours than he will be by me. It also makes me sad knowing that there is no more schedule for us where I knew at certain times of day I’d be sitting and holding the sweet guy. But, I learned with Ava that she thrived very much being at school with other children. She loves activity and in fact, has about gone crazy this Christmas break not going to school. I pray that Reed will thrive as much as Ava has.

While I am sad, I must also say I’m incredibly grateful I have my job. It’s a good job and I work with people that I truly enjoy being around. With everything the way it is, I know I’m fortunate to have a job. I’m also thankful that we have a place for Reed to stay where he will be so loved and will receive amazing care. They are so ready to get their hands on him and I have a feeling he will get a lot of spoiling tomorrow.

At least I’m going back to a four day week! I’m sure tomorrow will be a bit of a hard day, so if you have any to spare, prayers are appreciated. I’m thankful for these two precious angels who make my life so much fuller!

Looking back at 2011!!

2011-12-28T20:01:00.001-06:00

Each year I like to do a recap of our here! You can see ones for 2008, 2009, 2010 by clicking on the year!! :)

January

Met up with 3 of my favorite people for a wonderful start to the new year!!!!

Ava got a nice boo-boo on her nose!

February

Although we didn’t share for a couple more months, we found out I was pregnant on February 1!

After complaining for days about her nose hurting, we found these two rocks shoved up one of Ava’s nostrils. The end result was an ear and sinus infection.

March

Saw this sweet little baby for the first time!! And saw him again not even a month later… it’s so amazing how they grow!!!!

Fabulous girls trip to Dallas!!!

Lots of love and fun with this wild lady who potty trained this month!!

April

We announced that our family was growing!

Easter!

Celebrating Zach’s birthday!!

May

Ava had her last day at her school she’d gone to since she was 8 weeks old. We definitely miss it there but are thankful she is happy at her new school!!!

Took this gender prediction test that (accurately) predicted we would be having a little boy!!!

June

We found out we were having a little boy!!!

We met our sweet little nephew Luke!!!

We made Ava’s big girl bedroom and she slept in a big girl bed for the first time!!!

July

Took a trip to St. Louis to visit my brother and his family!

Picked out and announced Reed’s name!

Had a wedding shower to honor Leslie!

August

Ava’s first day of preschool at her new school!!!

September

My work had a baby shower for Reed and me!

Stephen and Leslie got married!

Ava turned THREE!!!!

October

Big sister night two days before Reed was born!

Sweet baby Reed born on 10/7/11 had a collapsed lung and had to be in the NICU.

This was before he ripped his IV out of his hand and earned it a permanent spot on his forehead until we were released.

Ava seeing Reed for the first time through the nursery window

After 10 days, we finally got to take our baby boy home on 10/17/11

Ava meets Reed for the first time

November

Lots of hanging out at home for Mom and this little guy!!!

Thanksgiving

Ava had her first haircut!

December

Ava and Reed see Santa Claus and Ava cries for the fourth year in a row. See previous years here!

Ava’s class performed for the school and sang Jingle Bells!

Mom and Ava being silly in the car!

First Christmas as a family of four!

Reed on his first Christmas morning!

We have been so incredibly blessed this year. There have been many ups and downs but throughout we have been reminded of how blessed we are. We’re looking forward to what 2012 has coming for us!!

Our Christmas!

2011-12-26T20:38:00.001-06:00

On Christmas Eve Eve, Ava and I decorated the cookies we made to leave out for Santa Claus! She was an excited and happy girl!

On Christmas Eve, we went to the children’s service. I asked Ava if she wanted to be an angel this year and she said she just wanted to sit with Mommy. So, she sat it out this year. Maybe next year she will want to participate!

Here’s my little stud – so cute in his Christmas church clothes!

After church we went to my grandparents’ house for dinner and presents. These girls have so much fun playing together.

Both girls got dress up clothes and they had a ball playing in their dresses. They said they were having a wedding!

Blowing out Jesus’ birthday candles! By far my favorite part of Christmas Eve!

When we got home, Ava picked the cookies she wanted to leave out for Santa.

It took Ava a long time to wind down so by the time she fell asleep it was after 10:30. I wasn’t sure Santa was ever going to be able to visit, but he did! I anticipated an early morning and while it was (because of Reed), Ava slept in later than normal and when she finally got up, she was sooooooo excited! We had a wonderful Christmas at home with the four of us!

One thing I want to remember about Ava this Christmas – she LOVED unwrapping gifts. She went from one gift to the next unwrapping like a mad woman and pretty much casting aside what was in there. She kept looking for people’s presents to open! After she was done, she went back to see what she got. So cute.

One thing she asked Santa for was an umbrella. She LOVES it and it even rained today. I was going to let her go outside to use it but she said it was too cold when I opened the door!

Mr. Reed on his first Christmas!!

Reed was of course too young to open his own gifts so Ava gladly helped. It was cute though – she held up his gifts and said “Look what you got, Reed!” :)

After our family Christmas, we headed to my Mom and Dad’s to have Christmas with my immediate family. It was fairly quick because my parents and sister were heading out to see my brothers in St. Louis.

Ava with Uncle Stephen and Aunt Leslie

That afternoon we headed back to my grandparents’ house and stuffed ourselves silly and just enjoyed the company of family. We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We are so very blessed to have such loving families and we’re thankful to get to spend time with all of them celebrating Jesus’ birth. It was also special since it was our first Christmas with Reed. I have loved experiencing this Christmas season through the eyes of Ava. I’m so thankful and proud that she knows the reason we have Christmas at all is because of Jesus. I can’t wait for many more special Christmases with my sweet family!

Christmas fun!!!

2011-12-21T12:40:00.001-06:00

Tis the season for lots of Christmas fun! We’ve been trying to do lots of fun Christmas and holiday activities with Ava (and with Reed), and I’ve got several to share.

A couple of weeks ago, Zach had to be gone all day Saturday. While Reed was sleeping, Ava and I made a Christmas ornament. She had such a good time doing it!

Last week, we left Reed with my mom and took Ava to ride the Holiday Express at one of our parks. We’ve taken her the past 3 years and each year she enjoys it a little more! And this year’s photo is complete with dinner that didn’t fully get wiped off her face. Just keepin’ real, folks.

Last week, Ava’s class sang at the school’s morning Advent ceremony. They were so cute. I wasn’t sure what Ava would think but she looked around smiling and waving at everyone. Too cute. :)

My mom came to watch and Ava was excited to see her.

Daddy went to school late and came to watch too!

And since we were there, we went downstairs to visit Reed’s classroom. He’ll be starting on January 3 and he met his teachers. He even let one hold him and seemed just fine. He looked around at the bright lights and I think he’ll be very happy there.

Friday was Ava’s (and Zach’s) last day of school. Her class celebrated with a Happy Birthday, Jesus party and then they had a luncheon.

Over the weekend, we went to visit Zach’s family and to celebrate Christmas with them. Ava had a really great time and certainly enjoyed opening gifts. In fact, she opened all the gifts for every one! She wasn’t even concerned with what was in most – she just wanted to rip things open! It was cute.

Patiently waiting

Reed hanging out with Aunt Mallory

Opening one of Reed’s presents for him – I love how it looks like he is watching to see what he gets!

Look at that determination!

Reed also got his chance for some Christmas fun! For Ava’s first Christmas, I made an ornament out of her hand prints. I had to do the same for Reed! Soooo sweet!

We still have a few more fun Christmasy things planned over the next couple days. I’m LOVING having Zach and Ava home with us. It’s so nice to get to spend all this time together as a family!

And some just because photos of little man:

And last, a picture of me and my babies!!

Christmas Card/Birth Announcement

2011-12-14T14:19:00.001-06:00

I’m joining in Faith’s Christmas Card Carousel to share our card with you this year!

I love getting Christmas cards in the mail this time of year! it’s so fun to open the mail box each day and see who we get cards from! I’m especially loving it this year since I’m still on maternity leave and I beat Zach to getting the mail! ;)

I was SO in love with how our card turned out! I chose to do a joint Christmas card/birth announcement and I seriously love it! We had photos taken with Jessica Meinardus and I sent her some ideas of my style and she designed the perfect card!

{front}

{back}

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!! :)

Reed is 2 months old!

2011-12-07T20:24:00.001-06:00

Reed, you are two months old! My how time is flying! I cannot believe that our time together is going so fast. The first few weeks I was going a little stir crazy from being home so much, but I’ve grown to love it and will be so sad to go back to work in just a few weeks. I’ll miss our time together but am so thankful for the time we are getting now.

You are a big boy! We went to the doctor today and you weigh 12 pounds 13 ounces. You are 23 inches long. And he said you are just perfect! We also had to get your shorts. :( Mommy doesn’t like her little guy to be hurting – I’ve never seen you that upset! You were a trooper though!

You are starting to get more animated. You smile and laugh at us and it’s so fun to see you react to us in that way. You’ve started looking around for me when you hear me talking but can’t see me. You’ve also had two amazing nights of sleep the past two nights and that’s all I want to say because I’m sure that talking about it will jinx it! You have started holding onto things with your hands. You have also started sucking your thumb! Both your daddy and I have caught you trying to get it in your mouth and you succeeded once while I was holding you!

You eat a 5 ounce bottle of milk and formula every 4 hours. That has been a little messed up recently though to you sleeping longer. I’m sure we’ll get it straightened out in the next few days. You are wearing 0-3 month clothes and are also wearing Size 1 diapers.

You still have the prettiest, biggest blue eyes and you are a heart stopper!

This month, you celebrated your first Thanksgiving and made your first trip to daddy’s hometown to visit your grandparents and aunt. You met Santa Claus this month, and unlike your sister, you did not cry! :)

Our family is so blessed to have you be a part of it Reed! You have grown and changed so much this month and I can’t wait to see what the next month brings for us! Love you little man!

Catching up and Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T18:39:00.001-06:00

I’ve been absent a while so I need to play catch up. Zach and Ava have been home with us the past 5 days and it has been SO nice spending time together. I’m sad they have to go back to school tomorrow! :(

Two weekends ago the kids and I went to NWA to see Stephen and Leslie! They wore their sibling shirts! (I’m learning how hard it is to photograph TWO kids!)We had a fun day hanging out with them!! Reed enjoyed sitting with Aunt Leslie for quite a while!

Thanksgiving we got up and headed to visit Zach’s family for the day. We were dressed and out of the house by 8:00! I was proud. We haven’t exactly been great at getting around since having two kids! :) Here are our little turkeys!

Reed was done by this point!

While we were there for our visit, Ava got her first hair cut! Zach’s sister, Mallory, does hair and I asked her to cut Ava’s. We went to her salon and she cleaned Ava’s hair right up! Ava did great – she wasn’t so sure but she sat very still and didn’t cry!

Before they started

After – Ava is so lady like! ha!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We are so blessed with two healthy babies, a home, clothes, jobs, food, loving families, and each other. Friday was our 5 year anniversary and we have experienced so much in those 5 years. I’m so grateful to have Zach as my partner in life. We went out Friday evening to celebrate and it was the first time we’ve been out since having Reed. It was nice to focus on us for a change.

Friday was also the big AR/LSU game. We all know how it ended, but look at this cute little piggy!

There ya go. That’s what we’ve been up to. Every time I turn around, another week has passed. This boy is going to be two months old in a little over a week and that just blows my mind. He is changing each day and I’m so thankful he’s joined our family. :) Until next time!

Christmas card time!

2011-11-27T11:16:00.001-06:00

Choosing a Christmas card each year takes so much time. There are SO many options out there! This year I love the cards at Tiny Prints!! There are SO many choices that fit my style and I love that their cards have cute backs!! I’m especially excited to send out cards this year since we have a new little guy to show off!!!

Here are some of the cards that caught my eye!!!

I love this one that is simple and has room for several photos!!

I also like this one with polka dots on the back and simple on the front!!

This one is just plain simple and I love the look of it!!! I also love the dark blue!!

You can check out all the cards at Tiny Prints here! They have lots of filters to use to help narrow down the card you want very quickly!! That’s a plus at this busy time of year!!!

I’ve pretty much decided what card we are going with! I can’t wait to see how it turns out! I don’t know about you, but I love seeing everyone’s Christmas cards come in each year! It’s about time for them to start arriving!!! :)

Wordless Wednesday – happy babies!

2011-11-16T13:30:00.001-06:00

Reed’s Birth Day

2011-11-09T07:21:00.001-06:00

Before I get too far away from the details, I wanted to post about the day Reed was born. The night before Reed was born, Zach had a ball game and Ava was spending the night with my mom so I was home alone. I was very emotional and also feeling some contractions. I got some last minute things done around the house and then laid down to rest. Zach got home a little after 10:00 and we finally got settled down to bed around 11:00. I woke up on his birth day at 2:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep.

When it was finally time, we got up and got ready to head to the hospital. Here was one last shot of me:

I told Zach on the way that I was worried I’d be laying in bed in pain all day! The day before at my appointment, I’d only been dilated to a 2. I was very thinned out, but not much dilation. I was also very excited about seeing our little boy for the first time! We got to the hospital and checked in. One nurse tried to do my IV and she missed my vein. They had to wiggle it around in my hand and oh that hurt! I got very faint when she did that. The nurse asked about my labor with Ava and I told her about. She said she thought I’d have a fairly easy time. My doctor had ordered pitocin to start around 6am and since Ava was a fairly quick delivery, she said she wasn’t going to start it early. It started at 6:00 and they came back and 6:30 and 7:00 to up it. At that point, I was feeling contractions and they weren’t too painful, just slightly uncomfortable. My doctor came in around 7:20 to break my water. When he started, he said I was dilated to about a 3. He had a little bit of a time getting the water broken because Reed’s head was so low. He finally got it and looked at me and said, “You just went to a 5.” WOW! He told the nurses I was his over achiever. (Side note: my doctor is moving and I’m simply distraught over it. He’s so great and is a wonderful doctor and I don’t know how I’m ever going to find one who lives up to him. I dread my post partum check up next week because it will be my last appointment with him – maybe. I got a reminder letter yesterday in the mail and it said my follow up appointment was with his partner. Hoping it’s wrong and I’ll at least get a chance to say goodbye.) He told the nurses I could have my epidural any time. The contractions started getting harder and faster and I said I’d like it at any point. The anesthesiologist was in a c-section so I had to wait until he was done. It was probably close to 8:20 or so when he came to do it. They checked me and I had dilated to a 7. I was hurting pretty badly at this point. The contractions were every 1-2 minutes apart and I was feeling them in my back as well. I finally got the epidural and they told me within about 4 contractions I should feel better. Well, nothing ever happened. We waited and I never got ANY relief. They called him back and he got back around 9:15. They checked me again and was still at a 7. He said he had trouble getting it in and was glad he hadn’t gone any further b/c he would have gotten it into my spine. Thank goodness for small favors! He gave it another go around and this time I felt relief almost immediately. The nurse came in about 20 minutes later and said she wanted me to roll to my side to see if that could move me along. I did and about 15 minutes later I told them I needed to push. She came to check me and said I was complete and they got the ball moving. My doctor came in and after a few pushes recalled I’d used the suction for help with Ava (one of the many reasons I love himi – he remembers my history even with the hundreds of patients he has!) and asked if I wanted to do it again. I said if it’d get him out faster then yes! At 10:31 Reed was born!

I did get to hold him immediately. When the nurses took him to clean him up and check him, they noticed him grunting. They tried to do a few things to see if he’d stop, but he didn’t. They brought him to me and let me hold him again for just a minute and then they let Zach hold him too. Then they took him away.

A couple hours (?) later, a NICU nurse finally came in and talked to us. He’d had his cord wrapped somewhat around him and at that point they still didn’t really know what was wrong. I was very upset and just surreal, really. He’d been healthy so it was such a shock. The neonatalogist came to talk to us shortly after to explain about his collapsed lung. At that point, we felt better knowing what was going on, but still unsure of what the future held.

I then got moved to my post partum room. When I stood up the first time, I got incredibly light headed and nauseous feeling. I felt fine in bed but every time I stood up, I felt very weak. That afternoon, Ava came to visit me. It was hard explaining to her that her little brother was “out of my belly” as she put it, but that he was sick.

After she came, I was able to go see Reed for the first time since they’d taken him. A sweet lady who worked in the NICU came and got me with a wheelchair since I was feeling so dizzy. We couldn’t take pictures of him at that point because we couldn’t stimulate him.

The whole day was so emotional. You go into something expecting it to go one way and when it doesn’t, it catches you off guard. I was disappointed at the time for the things that we “missed” out on. Ava didn’t get to meet her brother for 10 days, we didn’t get family pictures at the hospital or many pictures of that day actually, and so on, but I’m so grateful for a healthy baby. I think the whole process was something I had to process emotionally and sadness and anger were part of that. But, I tried to keep my eyes on the positives – that we were able to stay here at our wonderful NICU and that my baby would be ok. We saw several babies in the NICU that were so much worse off and it was so sad to see. Again, I’d like to thank every one who prayed for us that day and the days that followed. I truly believe that’s why he healed so quickly.

Reed is one month old!

2011-11-07T20:04:00.001-06:00

Reed is one month old today! (and boy does that hurt my heart!) I cannot believe one month ago we were in the hospital having just met him only to find out his little lung was broken. This has probably been one of the hardest months of our entire lives, but we’re so grateful it has a happy ending.

Reed, it hurts mommy’s heart that your little life is already passing so quickly. We had such a rough start and so many things surrounding your birth were devastating to me. But, the MOST important thing is that you are healthy and here with us and I’m SO grateful for that and for YOU!

You are an easy going little guy. You like to eat and are a good eater. We have had our fair share of struggles trying to get this nursing worked out. Some days have been great and others not so great. We’re still trying to figure out just what works for us and I have no doubt we’ll get there soon. When you do have a bottle and we stop to burp you, you get REALLY mad and start screeching. It’s quite comical and I love to see your lip poke out and you get really angry. You are a happy boy when it comes back again!

You have gotten to where you take really good naps during the day and you sleep very well at night also! Depending on what time you go to bed, you either wake up once or twice to eat and then you are typically up around the time Daddy and Ava are getting ready to go to school.

Your sister adores you! My favorite thing is that she likes to come up to you and say “Hi Reed! There’s Ava!” I guess she has heard us say that to you so that’s what she says. She also talks to you in a high pitched voice. She loves to let us know when you are crying and she loves your “teeny, tiny toes and fingers”. You are a lucky guy to have such a great big sister and I cannot wait to see how you two grow to love each other.

Your Daddy adores you too! He is so excited to have a son to share things with! You are so blessed to have such a hands on daddy who does SO many things for you already. I love watching the two of you together and know that you will grow up a lucky little boy because of him.

Reed, you wear 0-3 month clothes and Size 1 diapers. We have no idea how much you weigh but you are growing. You have biggest, prettiest blue eyes. I hope they stay that way forever!

Your birth day was one of the hardest/saddest days of my life little guy. I’m still sad we didn’t get to do all the normal baby just born things and have pictures and let people meet you. But I’m so grateful you are here and healthy. Our family life has definitely not been the same since you arrived and it won’t be again but that’s ok – we are so happy to have you as a part of us and cannot wait to see what kind of little boy you are!

Happy one month birthday, little man! We love you so much!

mommy

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T16:21:00.001-05:00

Ava has been looking forward to Halloween and being Tinkerbell for quite a while!!!! We’d been putting together pieces of her costume for a while and she was so excited to have it all done. I was worried she was going to be disappointed because she kept telling us when she put on her TInkerbell wings she was going to fly….. and not with help… just “all my self.” Fortunately she was ok letting her daddy help her fly!

And I had hopes of getting something for the little man to wear but with everything that happened in the last few weeks, I just didn’t even have the time or energy. But that’s ok. He still had a shirt and hat to wear and was still cute as can be!

Mommy and Ava before trick or treating!

And just because he’s cute, here’s a picture of the little guy today! I took this with my new phone – isn’t the picture quality awesome?!

More to come soon!

Picture post

2011-10-29T12:45:00.001-05:00

I haven’t had a whole lot of extra time to post and I’ve had some requests for new pictures. So instead of rambling, this is really just some pictures. This last week has been hard with transitioning but today it seems like maybe things are starting to straighten out. I hope so. This mama is worn out. But it’s temporary and we’re just trying to enjoy the ride. :)

Happy weekend!

Reed comes home!!

2011-10-21T09:43:00.001-05:00

Monday we got to bring our sweet little boy home at 10 days old! His dr was a little late coming to do his “procedure” so we were actually waiting while it was being done but I was thankful to be there to hold him after.

We were released right around noon and I don’t think we could have had any bigger smiles on our faces!

Dressed to come home and his last time to lay in his little bed!

Ready to bust outta the joint!!!!

Happy Mommy and Daddy!!!

Ava was SO excited to finally meet her little brother! My heart just melted at how giddy she was to finally get to see him!

Seeing him for the first time!!!

Holding him for the first time!

Reed is doing really well so far at home. We had a bit of trouble with nursing when we got home but thankfully in the last day or so that seems to have improved. Hopefully he’ll get back in a groove and we’ll be ok. He’s been sleeping great (which is a huge blessing after Ava never did (and still doesn’t!) sleep all that great!). Last night he actually slept for two four hour stretches which was wonderful!!!!!

Tuesday Ava came home with a banged up nose. She fell at after school care and she has a nice set of bruises and scrapes to show for it. Lovely that this happened the night before our family photos, but thankfully the photographer was able to take care of it! :) This picture doesn’t quite do it justice.

Speaking of photos, here are a few sneak peeks she posted for us! We used Jessica Meinardus Photography and are so excited to see the rest of what she got!!!

Yesterday Reed had his first check up. He’s doing great and was back up to his birth weight of 8lbs 3oz. Sweet little boy!

Oh so in love!!!

I think that gets us all caught up! We’re all so happy to be together in one place and with our sweet baby boy home with us. Zach and Ava are both out of school today and we are looking forward to 3 days of us just getting to spend some quality time together!!! Have a wonderful weekend!!!

the last couple days

2011-10-13T16:14:00.001-05:00

I wish I had more time to post but add in all the stuff going on, there’s just not time. You know the saying when it rains it pours? Yeah…. Tuesday morning I was on my way to the hospital for the 9am feeding and I got a flat tire. I’ve never had a flat tire in my life and I get one when I’m trying to get to my baby in the hospital? Fortunately I was almost to my exit and was able to get to the gas station right off of it. Zach came and aired it up and was (barely) able to get it to where it needed to be to get fixed. After crying, i had to laugh at the absurdity of our life this week. It’s been insane, to say the least.

So… since last time, Ava got to see her little brother through the nursery window. She was SO excited (even though you can’t see it)!!

I cannot even believe that Reed will be a week old tomorrow. This week has been somewhat surreal and kind of a blur. But, as hard as it has been, he is healthy and he is healed. His lungs are clear and we are just waiting for him to complete his antibiotics. He will get discharged Monday morning, barring anything else happening. We’re so grateful he’s healthy. We know we are fortunate in the fact that he was not sicker. He’s such a sweet little guy and he already has us smitten with him!

I’m so ready for the next 3 days to be over and to get our baby home. I know that won’t be easy but I’m thinking it will feel like a breeze compared to what this week has been. Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers and support – we wouldn’t have been able to get through this without all the love and support we’ve been shown.

Reed – update at 3 days old

2011-10-10T14:35:00.001-05:00

Our little man is doing well. He got to come off his oxygen hood Saturday afternoon and we got to hold him Saturday evening. I have also gotten to start nursing. One positive I’m taking out of this NICU stay is that they have the babies on a 3 hour eating schedule so I’m planning on continuing that when we get home and look forward to not having to work out our own schedule like we did with Ava.

His little lung is completely healed from the pneumothorax. Yesterday’s x-ray did show improvement in his lungs, but the course of treatment for certain includes a round of antibiotics for 10 days, so our earliest release date is Sunday. :(

Yesterday was a very hard and emotional day as I was discharged from the hospital without my baby. I know we are very fortunate in the fact that Reed is not terribly ill, but it’s still hard. I was also very fortunate to be able to stay in the Ronald McDonald House last night. It’s located right above the NICU and if helpful since I’m trying to nurse. You have to sign up to stay each day, so we just kind of have to take it a day at a time knowing how we are handling it.

After the 6:00 am feeding today, I came home to see Ava before school. She keeps asking to see Reed and we are hopeful she’ll get to look at him through the nursery window today. I showed her a picture of him this morning and she said “my brudder.” Melt my heart.

Feeding Reed is going pretty well. Each time I am attempting to nurse. Some times he’s interested and we don’t have to supplement with formula. Other times I can’t get him interested at all. The most important thing is obviously for him to get the nutrients he needs and hopefully we’ll be able to work out our differences. :) The last feeding the lactation consultant was in there and she was able to give me some tricks to help tease him.

The hardest part right now is just trying to be everywhere I feel like I need to be. Obviously I need to be with Reed, but Ava is feeling the effects of this too and really misses me. I haven’t seen her much in the past 4 days and it makes me sad. Fortunately this situation is only temporary and all we’ll get to be together before we know it.

And now some photos of our little guy:

And just a few from today:

Thank you for ALL of the prayers. We are seriously so grateful for each and every person who has uttered a prayer on our behalf. While this is hard, our little Reed is going to be just fine. There are so many other babies that have greater obstacles to overcome and we are just trying to find the positives to focus on. That being said, I do feel as though Reed would not be where he is without the prayers of so many. So even if we can’t thank each of you personally, please know how deeply touched we are for each and every person praying for us.

Reed Alexander!

2011-10-08T11:21:00.001-05:00

Our sweet baby Reed Alexander was born at 10:31 a.m. on 10/7/11, which happened to be my parent’s 33rd wedding anniversary.

I had a FAST delivery and Reed was here faster than anyone expected. He is 8lbs3oz and is 20 3/4 inches long.

When he was born, his cord was around him and he was a little fluid deprived. He did cry and I got to hold him for just a minute when he was first born and then took him to clean him up. While they were cleaning him, they realized he was grunting. Basically he was having a hard time getting breaths and was making a grunting noise. They let me have him again for just a minute and Zach got to hold him too and then they took him to the NICU.

His cord was wrapped around a couple of places on his body, and our first report was that he was fluid deprived, which he was. They started an IV on him to get him fluid and they also went ahead and they started him on a 3 day antibiotic as a precaution. This is done so that if something arises, they aren’t waiting until the problem is discovered, because that can take a while, as we are discovering.

To rule out more serious problems, the NICU doctor ruled bloodwork and x-rays. When the x-ray came back, it showed that he had a pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung. There really isn’t a way to say what caused this. The neonatologist said that an adult could get one by just coughing or sneezing.

As of last night, the course of treatment for his lung was to stay on the oxygen hood. His 2nd x-ray yesterday at 6pm showed a little improvement, which is good, but there was still a ways to go. We did get to spend some time with him last night and he had his sweet little eyes open. Here’s our sweet boy under his oxygen hood. This morning’s x-ray showed good and bad. The good news is that the pneumothorax has healed and he is going to be weaned off the oxygen today! The doctor said this morning as long as he does ok with that we can probably hold him this evening and I could possibly try to nurse tonight or tomorrow. The bad news is that his lungs look worse than last night in regards to pneumonia. Chances are he does have it and will be here to be on an antibiotic through 10 days. I was praying really hard that wouldn’t be the case, but at least he is already being treated for it and is where he needs to be.

I KNOW Reed will be ok. I have no doubt about that. We have an amazing NICU and I’m thankful we don’t have to rush off to another city. The REALLY hard part about this is that Ava just doesn’t understand why she can’t see her little brother. We’ve told her that he is sick and is in a special room where they doctors will make him better. Reed can have two visitors at a time and yesterday when Zach took my mom down there, she tried to go along too. She doesn’t get that others can see him and she can’t. The NICU nurse did tell me this morning that if he comes off his hood today we can take him into the regular nursery at some point and hold him up to the window so she can see him. I certainly hope that works out. She is also very concerned about me. She came up here earlier and saw me on the couch instead of in the bed and asked if I was done. Sweet girl.

We are so thankful for everyone who has asked and wondered about Reed. We are so blessed and grateful that so many people are praying for Reed. Because this is a much easier way than trying to put all pertinent info into a text, or whatever, I’ll be making updates here when we know something and then I will post on fb or twitter or text that there is an update. I certainly don’t mind getting texts or calls or anything, it’s just easier to post all the details in one spot! Thank you so much for praying for our family.

Letters to my babies on the night before Reed’s birth

2011-10-06T19:39:00.001-05:00

Dear Ava,

Your world is about to change in a way you don’t even know and my heart is a little sad for you because I’m not sure you will quite understand. We have spent so much time talking about Baby Reed and while I know you are excited about him coming, I know that your little mind can’t really comprehend what that means.

You have been the center of our lives for the past 3 years and although you will still be so very important to us, the time and attention we have given you is about to change. I hope we will be able to show you that we still love you just as much as we always have and that you don’t feel threatened by Reed. You are our precious first born, sweet baby girl and no one can take that from you.

I can’t wait to see you be a big sister and love on your little brother! I know you will love him very much and I’m excited for you to meet him.

Love you baby girl!

Mommy

Dear Reed,

As I sit here feeling you roll around in my belly for some of the last times, I’m so excited and nervous about your arrival! It took us a long time to get the hang of having one baby and I’m not sure yet how we are going to manage two! We are SO EXCITED about you joining our family. We cannot wait to see what you look like, how you act, and what your little personality is. We feel so fortunate that we have your sister Ava and now we will have you for our son.

I can’t promise that we will be perfect parents. I can promise we will love you with our whole hearts and we will always do our best by you. You are a LOVED little boy by many, many people and so many people are anxiously awaiting your arrival with us. We are so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with another little baby. I could not be more excited to see your sweet little face tomorrow! (And please take it easy on me!)

I love you and can’t wait to meet you!

Mommy

I’m sitting in my house alone for the last time in probably a long time and it’s surreal to me that we are having a baby tomorrow. I’m so excited and anxious and emotional and just all around ready to get the ball rolling. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I’m excited to get to share Reed with y’all soon!

Big Sister Night!

2011-10-05T20:21:00.001-05:00

Tonight we took Ava out for a special last night as a family of 3! We are preparing to welcome Reed on Friday!!!!! Sadly, Zach has to be at a football game tomorrow night for work, so we made plans to spend some special time with Ava tonight! We let her decide what to do and she said she wanted chips and salsa and cheese. We decided we were going to go eat at Chili’s. We got there, and she said she didn’t want to eat there. We asked what she wanted and she chose “meh-a-nan” (Mexican)! So we left and went to a Mexican place nearby.

Silly girl enjoying some cheese dip!

We tried very unsuccessfully to get a photo of Ava and mommy and had zero luck, but we did get one of Daddy and Ava on the first try!

The night before we’d been on our way home and she asked for ice cream and we decided to save that for tonight. She wanted ice cream in a cone.

Being a goofball!

I hope she enjoyed her special night. She is excited about Reed coming but I know she doesn’t really get it. We are very excited about our little boy joining our family on Friday!!!! We would appreciate prayers for a safe and healthy (and ok, EASY!) delivery as well as a healthy little boy!!!!!!

37 weeks!!

2011-09-25T18:28:00.001-05:00

Today marks 37 weeks pregnant with Mr. Reed! I cannot believe we are getting so close to meeting him! Here we are (a couple of days before 37 weeks) in all our glory!

Ava wanted her picture taken too!

Friday my boss hosted a baby shower for me at work! It was at a local restaurant and several of my sweet co-workers came to shower Reed and me! It was a wonderful time and I’m SO thankful and blessed to work with people who truly care about one another. Everyone is just as excited as we are to meet Reed and have been so great and I’m grateful to work with such wonderful friends!

The YUMMY cake!

We got so many sweet things – our diaper bag, a bouncy seat, blankets, clothes, and other things we needed! I cannot wait to see my two babies together in these!

Ava LOVED going through all of the goodies we received for Reed and was so excited to see them and put them away! She liked the toys and one gift she had to try out for herself was this adorable blanket!

I went to the doctor on Thursday and have made some slight progression. I was thankful it wasn’t more as I still want to go just a bit longer. Besides swelling in my feet, I have really felt pretty great and am shocked I have felt this good this far. I’m very thankful. My doctor said that at my appointment this week, we can discuss an induction date if we so desire for sometime after 39 weeks. So, I guess we’ll see what report we get on Thursday and then make our decision before we leave his office. It’s crazy to think that we could be meeting this little boy in two weeks!!!!!!! Or sooner, I guess if he decides he’s ready! I’m so excited and also a little nervous. I know it will all be just fine but I’ve been feeling a lot overwhelmed and majorly underprepared. I feel better after this weekend and need to take care of just a few more things and then hopefully we’ll have all done that we need to! I’m amazed at how quickly this pregnancy has gone. We have a little quieter week this week and I’m looking forward to getting some rest after work! Hope you all have a great week!

Leslie and Stephen’s Rehearsal

2011-09-24T20:04:00.001-05:00

I don’t have many photos from my rehearsal so I wanted to take some for Stephen and Leslie so they’d be able to have some memories from the night before their wedding! Here’s a few photos from the rehearsal!!!

Aunt Stephanie with her babies

Bride’s family

Groom’s family

Flower girl and ring bearer cuteness!

Here comes the bride!!!

And a preview of the cuteness to come in the wedding post! :)

How Ava spent her birthday!

2011-09-21T19:52:00.001-05:00

We had a lot of fun celebrating Ava’s birthday on Monday! She woke up and I asked her how old she was and she said “I three!!!” After hearing “I be three on my birthday” we weren’t sure how she’d answer it! :)

Since she was born on a Friday, we’ve gotten to spend her first two birthdays with her all day. This was the first year we had to go to work and school and I was a little bummed but I think she had a good day!

I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and since she was all about candles this year, we stuck one in it! She enjoyed that! Birthday girl and mommy!

Sassy birthday girl!!!!!!

I work literally less than a minute from Ava’s school so I took a break and took treats to her class at snack time. Those little kids were all so cute saying thank you for their cookies before they even got them! Ava was sweet and yelled out “thank you for the cookies mommy!” while I was passing them out. So cute.

Excited when mommy got to her school!!! Her daddy picked her up for school and took her to get a Sonic drink! He had a school function that night that he couldn’t miss so they spent some time together before it. I picked her up from him and we had dinner with my mom.

After her daddy got home, we had a few presents from friends for her to open as well as some cupcakes. She has been so excited about everything birthday this year and it was fun to watch her enthusiasm!!! Opening up a gift from our sweet friends Kristy, Keira, and Kinley! Thanks girls!!! Can’t wait for her to wear it!!! :) Birthday girl and daddy!!!

I would say this girl had a great 3rd birthday!!! :) This is it for the birthday posts!!!!

Lots of things to update about soon. Of course there is the wedding which will be coming soon. I want to give the bride a chance to post some pictures herself first and she’s on her honeymoon! I will share some photos of the rehearsal and dinner soon, though! I also need to do some updates on Reed. I go to the dr tomorrow and expect to be checked for progress. I’m curious to see if my body is getting us ready. Friday is my baby shower at work so I’m sure there will be pictures from that too! I am hopeful for a very restful weekend after the crazy ones we have had. Hopefully there will be no baby arrival just yet! Hope you are all having a good week!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ava!!!!!

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

“Now you're my whole life,now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl.
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been. We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.”

(Then – Brad Paisley)

Dear sweet Ava,

Three years ago I thought that my heart could never hold any more love than it did the day you were born. I could not have been more wrong! Each day I find something about you that makes me love you even more. Some days I feel like my heart could burst because it’s so full of love for you, sweet girl!It has made your mommy’s heart hurt thinking about how quickly these 3 years have gone and how quickly you are growing up. You have made the last 3 years so memorable. We are SO lucky to be your parents. I could not be a more proud mommy. You are learning so many new things every day and I sometimes can’t believe all that your little mind can say and do.To this day, you are still very strong-willed and stubborn. You know exactly what you want, how you want it, and how you want to do it. You have never been an easy child, and some days I wondered (and still wonder) how we would ever survive! But I believe those traits that make you that way are traits that will be to your benefit as you grow older and I pray that you will use them to be a strong woman. You mean the world to us, Ava. Every day with you is an adventure and you are loved more than you will ever know. We pray that you have a life full of love and happiness. Trials and hurdles will be inevitable but we pray that you will always turn to Jesus and to us in those times. We know your future is bright and full of unlimited possibilities and we can’t wait to see what the next year, and the years after that bring for you. Thank you for making us so happy and for being a bright light in our lives. Even on my worst days, they seem a little better when you want to give me a “big kiss” or you ask if mommy is ok. Your sweet heart is one of the things I love the most about you. We love you so much and are so proud of the little girl you are! I could never have imagined I would have such a sassy and spunky daughter and I love you just the way you are! Happy 3rd birthday, precious girl! Love, Mommy

Ava's 3rd Birthday party!!

2011-09-14T20:06:00.003-05:00

I don’t think I can convey in words how excited Ava was about her birthday party! I took a little video of her before her party and thought she was pretty cute!

We always have family birthday celebrations! A few weeks before her birthday, Ava asked me if my cousin Caroline (4 weeks older than Ava) could come to her party. Then this week, she asked if the other kids (my other younger girl cousins) could come so it ended up being quite the party!

Zach’s mom, sister, and grandma came down for the party and we got to spend some time with them before the party. They came with gifts for Ava and it wasn’t long before she was going through it all. She got lots of treasures and was a happy kiddo!

Since we had a large crowd, we had the party at my parents’ house. Ava had a wonderful time. She was a little social butterfly and after we had lunch, she came to ask me several times if it was time to do presents! She was happy when I finally said it was time!

Over the past few months, she has changed her mind many times about what kind of party and cake she wanted. I think she had about 5 different types at one point. We settled on Tinkerbell!

Not so sure about everyone singing to her!!

But definitely into blowing out the candles!!! :)

I would say she had a wonderful birthday, and her birthday hasn’t even come yet! Her actual birthday is Monday!

On Friday, we are off to my brother’s wedding! I could not be more excited for Stephen to marry Leslie! When I posted about Stephen a little over a year ago, I never imagined he would meet his wife through it! There is no one more suited for him than Leslie and I can’t wait to be there to celebrate them becoming husband and wife!

So, until then….

Ava’s Ice Cream Birthday Party!

2011-09-12T19:07:00.001-05:00

We celebrated Ava’s birthday early this weekend since next weekend we will be celebrating a marriage! I didn’t really want to put it off until the next weekend because I’ll be 37 weeks pregnant so we went early!

Seeing as how my energy is somewhat limited these days, I wanted a party where we wouldn’t really have to do much. Saturday we had a party for her at our local frozen yogurt shop for her friends! I found this invite on etsy (with info removed):

The shirt that never came was going to match this! It’s ok though… we had a great time even without the shirt!

Here she is right before we left with her balloons! We weren’t even through the singing before she was blowing out the candles! She’s been waiting for her turn to blow out candles for SO long and was so excited!

All the kiddos eating their ice cream!

And finally time for presents! She had fun seeing what she got! After she finished opening, she was really concerned that her presents weren’t going to make it home with us, so she started loading the bags up on her arm to make sure they went home with us! And here are all the kiddos that came! Looks like they just got done having a really great time, huh? ha! :)

She had a really fun time and we appreciate everyone who came to help her celebrate her 3rd birthday! Stay tuned – up next is the party we had with our family!

What happens when I don’t blog for 2 weeks!

2011-09-05T19:30:00.001-05:00

Hi! Remember me? Yes, it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve blogged. Add together very busy and extremely tired and the last thing I’ve wanted to do was sit down and try to put together a cohesive post. I also didn’t feel like I had much to blog about but I think I’m about to be proven wrong on that! :) Hope ya can hang in there!

So, what’s been going on?

Ava is doing very well at her new school. Drop off is still a little sketchy some days but she is having a wonderful time and we can tell she is learning SO much. I love hearing her stories at the end of the day!
I turned 28! i had a FABULOUS birthday with lots of surprises. Zach emailed me all day with hints of what we were doing that night. We went to eat at our favorite hibachi grill and he invited my mom along to go with us. My parents got me this fab watch I’ve been wanting for a LONG time! The band is clear and I love it!
My little cousin turned 3 on my birthday too so we had a party for her that weekend. I couldn’t find Ava at one point and when I went looking, found her patiently waiting for cake.
She enjoyed it very much!
After my birthday, I spent the weekend feeling pretty puny. I had some kind of sinus, cold, something or other going on and wasn’t sleeping well and it just wiped me out.
I have been getting ready for Ava’s birthday party which is next weekend because in two weekends (when her birthday is), we’ll be getting Leslie and Stephen hitched!
In other news, I ordered her the cutest shirt on Etsy for her party that matched her invitations and it was delivered here, and came out on my mail route, and the postal worker delivered it TO THE WRONG ADDRESS!!!!!!!!!!! It’s been scanned as delivered and no one has returned it and I’ve been praying and begging every day that it will show up. No, it’s not the end of the world, but I am disappointed. I’ve been in touch with the post office manager and she’s been as helpful as possible but no package. It’s been over a week now and we only have a few days left and I’m starting to lose hope. But, stranger things have happened so I’m just trying to keep the faith that it will show up. But, yeah, seriously? Can’t believe it.
We have also been super busy getting ready for our little boy’s arrival. We finally painted his nursery and everything is washed and put away! Just working on some wall stuff and then can share! Until then, here’s a small sneak peek:
Ava has been SO interested in Reed lately. She wants to see him, talk about him, help in every aspect of getting ready for him. She REALLY wanted to help her daddy paint…. but settled for helping him tape up.
The final product turned out wonderful! I love the color and can’t wait to share some pictures with you!
This weekend also marked the first Razorback game of the season. We had a little watch party and enjoyed the game while the kids played. Here is my little Hog girl!
Someone else had to come outside with her too – guess this isn’t a bad idea – she should get used to someone being in a baby carrier!
And can I just boo-hoo for a minute over how stinking old she is looking? Can’t believe my baby is almost 3!!!!
Ok, and lastly, and maybe most importantly, I saw these caramel brownies on Pinterest and decided to make them for the game Saturday night. oh. em. gee. They were SO good. Seriously. Huge hit. Can’t wait for an excuse to make them again! Here are mine. Obviously not near as pretty but oh so so good!
Oh, and one more thing. SIX weeks until my due date. SIX!!!!! Cannot believe Reed will be here so soon!! eek!

So that was our last two weeks! Guess I shouldn’t wait that long to blog again! Thanks for hanging in there!

The things my child says…

2011-08-21T19:04:00.003-05:00

I absolutely have to record some of the funny things Ava has said lately. She is a comedienne and doesn’t even know it!

Zach went to Amarillo this weekend with my mom and dad to help pack up my dad’s apartment. Ava and I stayed behind, and everywhere we went this weekend, she told people “my dad leave us” or “my dad leave without us.” I get the giggles just thinking about it. Wonder if anyone felt sorry for me so obviously pregnant, with a child and abandoned?! :)

Saturday we went to Toys R Us to shop for some presents for an upcoming birthday party. They have those rides up front and as we were leaving, she told me she wanted to ride. I told her no and she looked at me and said “you’re making me sad.” ha! As we were walking to the car, she got a sad voice and said “you make me cry.” The guilt trips have already started!

My brother and his fiancee were here over the weekend and one of them asked me if my birthday was soon. Ava put her hands on her hips and said “well my birthday is soon, too!” She does NOT like anyone taking attention from her birthday that is still a month away.

Speaking of her birthday, when you ask how old she is, she won’t answer 2. This is what she says instead!

Silly kid! She keeps us very entertained these days!

Also, today marks 8 weeks until Reed’s due date! Yikes! I had a bit of a panic earlier thinking of all that we need to do to get ready. We still have some stuff to get out of the attic and go through as well a few things we need to get. Hopefully he doesn’t decide to make an early appearance!

It’s hard to believe the weekend is already over! But it’s my birthday week so it’s bound to be a good one, right?! :) Hope everyone has a good one as well!!

Ava’s 1st Day of Preschool!!!!!!!!

2011-08-17T20:29:00.001-05:00

Monday Ava started preschool!!! She woke up VERY excited and was ready to go check out her new school and meet some new friends!!!!! But first we had to get some pictures!

After she put her uniform on, she got goofy!! She was prancing around and dancing and all around very excited!!!

LOVE these next two pictures! I think they show how truly excited she was to be going to school!

Walking in and checking things out!!!!

In her classroom!!!

She did GREAT on Monday! She started playing and gave us both a hug and kiss and had no problems with us leaving! Tuesday was a different story! She was very upset when I took her and I had to leave her crying! :( She got over it quickly and had a good day. Today was better. She cried a little but when I left she was playing and not crying so that was an improvement!

We’re so proud of our big girl!! She’s had fun and has so much to tell us each day. The funniest thing is that she tells everyone there is mulch on her playground! How she knew what mulch is, we have no clue! We’re praying she has a GREAT year!!!

Miracles happen!

2011-08-14T16:42:00.001-05:00

I have always believed in this verse:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

But never before have I seen it SO clearly.

Back in January, I shared with you about my dad losing his job of 18 years. My dad took a leap of faith and accepted a job in Amarillo, TX. While he wasn’t happy about the location of the job, he felt that it was what he was being called to do and went.

The past few months we’ve seen him every couple of weekends when he’d come visit and slowly but surely, plans were coming into place for my mom to move and join him as well.

In the meantime, we’ve been praying that God’s will be done, and if it meant a move to Amarillo then, so be it, but we all needed strength to endure that. I was filling out school forms last week and it made me cry that I couldn’t write my mom down as our emergency contact. We have all been dreading the big move.

Well, even when we can’t see it, the Lord is working behind the scenes. This past Friday evening, my dad came home with amazing news! He was offered a promotion in the company he is working for and is now the boss of the ENTIRE company. It is a subsidiary owned by a parent company, and he will be the #1 at the subsidiary, answering to the VP of the parent who answers to the president of the parent. Simply amazing. He will now be the boss of his boss…. kinda crazy!

Oh, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part. His new job will be in Oklahoma City!!!!!!!!!! They will now only be moving 2.5 – 3 hours away!!!!! While it’s still moving, it’s now half the distance and we are all just so excited and thankful!

This is a huge promotion for my dad and is something that NEVER would have happened had he not lost his job and accepted the job in Amarillo. This is better, more challenging job than the one he lost and after a year of heartache and struggles, God’s will for my parents has been revealed!

We are SO proud of my dad for his strength, perseverance and faith during this hard time! Not only that, he up and moved 6.5 hours away and spent a lot of time alone – I know that couldn’t have been easy. He has done what he felt he was being called to do and the Lord has rewarded his faithfulness!

Congratulations, Dad! We are SO proud of you!!!!!

busy, busy!

2011-08-13T14:25:00.001-05:00

Whew – we had a busy week this last week. Zach worked until 8:00 every evening so Ava and I were on our own and we just spent some fun time together after we got home each night.

Monday’s u/s went well. My dr had not received the images as of my appointment Thursday morning. The u/s tech told me she thought everything looked fine. My dr said that he felt they would have called if there had been an issue. He also said he’d call me if he saw something when he got them. We still haven’t heard anything so as far as we are concerned, Reed’s kidneys are just fine! ;)

We also learned he’s head down, but face up. We’re hoping and praying he’ll roll around by d-day so that there aren’t any delivery issues. He has time so hopefully he’ll cooperate and not make things hard on his mama!

Wednesday evening we had open house at Ava’s new school. She LOVED it. She went right to the toys and played for 20 minutes and didn’t want to leave!! Then she cried because we had to leave her school supplies there. She wanted to take them home. :) I pray Monday morning goes as well. I still can’t believe she’s going to preschool.

One thing I am SO excited about is that Ava and Reed will be going to the same place! Our church has a school from Pre-K3 through 6th grade and just this year they decided to start an infant/toddler program as well. Reed will start there when I go back from maternity leave! Wednesday night we also got to see his classroom and meet his teacher! His class will be very small and I love that! He’s going to get some very specialized attention! :)

Thursday night we met up with one of Ava’s buddies from her old school for a dinner play date. They were SO excited to see each other! We ate. They played. His mama and I talked. They shared ice cream. The best part was when Ava came from the play are and told me he was trying to hold her hand – so funny! :)

And if you can believe it – this was Ava’s first ice cream cone. She’s of course had ice cream, but not in a cone. She definitely enjoyed it, wouldn’t you say?!

I guess my next update will be about Ava’s first day of school! I am praying she likes it as much then as she did Wednesday but it will most likely be a little more chaotic. I’m sure she’ll have a great day!

Our family also got some really great news last night. I feel like it deserves it’s own post so that is coming in the next few days as well. Now, I’m off for a nap while the girl naps! Gotta get rest up while I can. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

30 weeks!

2011-08-07T16:38:00.001-05:00

Um. wow! I cannot believe I am 10 weeks or less away from meeting this boy! Where has this year gone? Here I am in all my giant glory.

And just for fun – here’s a 20 to 30 weeks comparison. I have definitely grown.

Just a few things I want to note: this past week was miserable. I’ve tried hard not to complain too much but this heat is just downright AWFUL! On Wednesday, we broke our city’s all time record high of 113 with the new record of 115. It was also this day that the electricity went off at work around 2:45. I’ve lost count of how many days in a row we’ve been over 100 degrees but it’s a lot. We actually got a little rain this morning and so far today we haven’t hit 100 – maybe today will be the day we break that streak! I’ll be sure and tell Reed how I was pregnant with him during the hottest summer ever!

Tomorrow I have my ultrasound to check on Reed’s kidneys. We are praying that we get good news. I probably won’t know anything until I go to my doctor appointment on Thursday. He said he typically gets results in two days so the timing worked out perfectly to be able to ask questions if need be. We would appreciate any prayers for our sweet boy.

Reed received a package in the mail this past week and look what he got!!!

Are these not precious?! This is the very first thing I have with his name on it and I LOVE it!! Sweet Holli made these and sent them to us. Thanks again, Holli!

This next week is busy with my ultrasound, dr appointment, open house for Ava’s new school and getting ready for our big girl to start 3 year old preschool next Monday! Hope you all have a great week!!!!!

Just random ramblings…

2011-07-28T21:13:00.001-05:00

I had a doctor appointment today. Everything looked good. I go back in TWO weeks. Wow… can’t believe we are already there.
I have another ultrasound on 8/8 to look at Reed’s kidney. Praying there is no more enlargement/swelling!
Ava felt Reed kick last night. She was laying close to me and popped up and said “What’s THAT? Is you belly hungry?!” hahahahaha love that girl!
I’m starting to wonder a lot more if I’ll be able to nurse Reed. It was SO hard with Ava and I was so stubborn about forcing it that our first few weeks were miserable. My milk supply was HORRIBLE and nothing I tried helped. I’m praying it’s different this time around. Problems I had the first time around aren’t here this time so I’m hopeful that nursing will work!
I’m torn on whether or not we are doing a friend birthday party for Ava this year. We have a lot going on that time with Stephen and Leslie’s wedding and it being so close to me having Reed, I just don’t know…. if we do, I have an idea of an easy place to have it which is good. I’ll still have a party for all of our family. What would you do? Am I bad mom for considering not doing one?
Anyone heard anymore on the new iphone release? Mine is getting close to giving out but I really want to wait until the announcement of the new one. I’ll either get the new one or the 4 at the reduced price. :)
Oh and a shameless plug. I’m looking for some people to host a Pampered Chef party! We have new products coming out in September and the host specials the next few months are spectacular! If you have a catalog party, you seriously have to do nothing but pass around a catalog – EASY!! You can do it from anywhere and hosting a party can earn you $$$$ towards products! So you can get some stuff for free!!!! If you are interested, please email me or leave me a comment so we can discuss! If you mention this post, I’ll throw in an additional gift of a $15 credit when your party reaches the minimum sales of $150!! Pretty please, friends!!
My super mom made us dinner tonight. I’ve been craving chicken spaghetti and was going to make it this weekend. Instead, she made it tonight and had us over for dinner. Thanks, Mom!
I’m ready for the weekend! I get to see my friend Chenin and I can’t wait to spend some time with her. It makes me sad that so many of my closest friends don’t live here!
Today was Ava’s very last day ever at her school she’s gone to since 8 weeks old! She has been going a couple days a week and today was the last one. We are going to miss it there SO much but are so thankful for the time we’ve had there! We’ll miss our friends there too!
Ava is going to be in for a rude awakening when school starts! She does NOT go to bed early. We make her go to her bed but she just won’t go to sleep. Some night she’s awake until after 10! How do you force a kid to go to sleep?!
And because I don’t want to leave without a picture of my princess, here’s one from a few weeks ago. I can’t believe how big she’s getting!!

Have a great weekend friends!!! Kudos if you made it through my rambling!! :)

Summer fun

2011-07-21T20:51:00.001-05:00

I’ve been working hard on doing “special” things with Ava in the evening to spend some time with her and to give Zach a little bit of a break since they are spending so much time together.

By far, her favorite project has been painting Tinkerbell! I found these suncatchers for really cheap at Hobby Lobby back at the beginning of the summer and they hadn’t been used yet. She had a ball and has asked to do it again every night since!

She has also enjoyed spending so much time in her pool! You know it’s hot though when a two year old says it’s too hot and wants to go in!

This sweet baby girl’s summer will be over soon enough! She starts PRESCHOOL on August 15!! I cannot believe my baby is going to preschool! She will be going to our church’s school and has to wear a uniform. I got them in the mail today and oh.my.word! So stinking cute! Of course there will be pictures coming!

And on little brother front – I have SO much to do before Reed’s arrival. Both here and at work. I’m hoping to take off the full 12 weeks with him and I’m REALLY praying (like praying HARD!) he stays put long enough that I can start back to work on January 3. I would LOVE to be able to be off for the two weeks Zach and Ava are on Christmas break. It’d be nice having those two weeks as a family of four before our world gets wild and crazy!

This weekend we are going to do some cleaning out of his room to get it painted. His bedding is in and we just need to pick a color. It’s hard to believe he’ll be here in about 12 weeks!

And anyone else melting in this heat? Our city tied a record today – 17 consecutive days over 100 degrees! I’m sure we’ll break it tomorrow. Nice summer to be pregnant! Praying for sweet relief!

It’s almost the weekend friends! Hope it’s good to you!!!! :)

Wedding Shower for Leslie!

2011-07-17T18:27:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I hosted a bridal shower for Leslie for our family and friends to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Stephen, which is TWO months from today! wow! (yesterday also marked 3 months from my due date – hope Reed stays put and doesn’t try to make an appearance before the wedding!)!

I’m not super crafty so there wasn’t a lot of fanfare (and maybe because I’m 27 weeks pregnant, too!) but I did make these tissue pom-poms that I thought turned out pretty good!

My mom helped with some of the food and she sent my sister early to bring it and help me and she and Ava posed for the camera!

This is a picture of our spread:
We had fruit kabobs, a chile pepper dip, chicken nuggets from CFA, chicken salad sandwiches (my mom’s recipes is INCREDIBLE!), and yummy cupcakes! We also had strawberry slush punch – the best punch EVER! It’s a family favorite and is always a big hit!

Me with the beautiful bride!!! (I rolled my hair not even an hour before and sadly it looked like this by picture time. Crazy heat!)

A certain little lady was excited about this for a few days. In fact, Ava kept calling this Leslie’s “birthday” party. She’s a mess. She also had her eyes on the cupcakes from the minute the came in the door. There wasn’t a happier girl than her at this time. And there’s also not a girl happier than me because I still have a couple left and I’m going to eat one later tonight! yum!

I can’t believe the wedding is so close! I was going to be a bridesmaid but seeing how I will be 36 weeks pregnant, it seemed like a better idea for me to sit out. Ava is the flower girl though and just being there is the most important thing!

I also think it’s so funny that one year ago from the day of the shower was the first day Stephen and Leslie communicated! I posted about Stephen here and then the next day I emailed Leslie to let her know she’d hear from Stephen and he emailed her later that day! :)

I cannot wait to see these two get married!!!

What’s in a name?

2011-07-14T20:55:00.001-05:00

As I’ve made no secret, we’ve been round and round on trying to pick a name for our new little guy! We never could come up with a boy name when we had Ava (before we knew she was a girl), and so this time we didn’t even really discuss names until we knew what the baby was.

We talked and talked and talked names until we were blue in the face. Some of the names that one or both of us liked were Henry, Alex, Thomas, James, Sawyer, and Grant. Oh, and I can’t forget Ava’s personal favorite of Cake! :)

Then last week when we were driving home from St. Louis, we passed a sign with a name on it and Zach threw that name out there. It was one I had suggested before that he had shot down. The more I thought about it, the more it just seemed to fit. Zach didn’t like the first middle name I suggested with it but once we changed it, he was a fan too!

Soooooo…… our baby boy’s name is:

Sweet and simple just like I wanted! I can’t wait to meet our sweet Reed! :)

Trip to St. Louis

2011-07-07T20:54:00.001-05:00

Over the long weekend we headed to St. Louis to visit my brother, SIL and new nephew (mainly the nephew! – ha!)! We headed out Friday afternoon and ran into lots of traffic issues and finally made it late Friday night!

We spent a lot of time hanging out at their house. We did get to do some fun things though. Saturday morning my SIL and I were talking and decided we were going to head to the outlet mall close by because there were lots of sales going on for baby clothes! I got some great deals on things for the little boy! While we shopped, the guys kept the kiddos and Ava got to play at the indoor playground!

She also got to ride the indoor carousel! She loves carousels!

That afternoon we just hung around the house and then had smoked ribs and homemade ice cream for dinner. yum! :) I also spent lots of time loving on this little guy!

Sunday morning we got up and headed to the zoo early! One, it was supposed to be hot and we wanted to do it before it was too hot. And two, lots of things are free during the first hour! We got to do the children’s zoo for free and also ride the carousel for free!

They had a Build-A-Bear workshop in the zoo with zoo animals and Uncle Greg and Aunt Kelsey let Ava build a giraffe for an early birthday present!!

Probably our last trip as a family of three!

Ava being silly!

After the zoo we headed to the science center which was a lot of fun! Ava and Greg got to fly an airplane! Ava kept trying to crash it!

After a long morning we had a lazy afternoon with some rain and thunderstorms. It was really nice! I got some more cuddly time with Baby Luke and so did Ava!!!

We had a wonderful time and were so glad to get to visit all of them! We don’t see them nearly often enough! Thanks for a great weekend Greg, Kelsey and Luke!!

Serious vs. not so serious

2011-07-05T20:07:00.001-05:00

I want to do a recap of our trip to St. Louis but before I post about that I have one serious thing to write about and a couple other not so serious things that are fun! ha!

Ok, so firstly. Just a quick update on Baby Boy. Seriously wish he had a name. I thought after spending 7 hours in the car 2x in 4 days we’d have a name picked out when we got home. Wrong. In fact, we added another name to the table. Some days I consider just giving in and letting Zach have his name so that he will have a name. But not there totally yet!

Anyway, I had my first appointment last week since my ultrasound. My doctor told me that the ultrasound showed one of the baby’s kidneys to be swollen/enlarged. My doctor didn’t seen to be overly concerned. He said it’s fairly common. He also said that the issue typically doesn’t require treatment during pregnancy but that we won’t know anything for sure until we have another ultrasound. That won’t be for a few more weeks. I haven’t found too much online about this which is probably just as well. Honestly, I truly feel that he is ok, but was curious if anyone else has experienced this? Also, if you have a prayer to spare, please say one for our sweet boy. It certainly can’t hurt!

Alright… serious stuff out of the way. Now then, who else is excited to see the original cast back on Teen Mom?

I know, I know. Judge if you must. But it’s like a train wreck. I can’t stop watching. And I really liked Maci and Catelynn. Curious to see what’s been happening to them!

And also, who else is excited about Big Brother? We started watching when I was pregnant with Ava 3 years ago and liked it so we’re ready to start another season. Curious to see what kinda crazies are in there this year!

Oh, and if you are new from Jenna’s Journey Commenting Challenge, click here for a quick way to get to know me!

That’s all I have tonight ladies! Hope everyone is having a blessed week!!

Getting to know me!!!

2011-07-04T15:42:00.001-05:00

Hi friends! Welcome to any new friends stopping by from Jenna's commenting challenge! My blog friend turned IRL friend, Kristy, had a great idea to post some stuff about herself & I'm stealing her idea. That way if you don't know me, you can get caught up quickly! :)

1. I am a Christian. I hope that is something that is evident when people meet me for the first time. I'm nothing without my Jesus.

2. I live in Arkansas with my husband of almost 5 years, Zach. We are perfect balance of everything the other needs & I cannot imagine going through life without him.

3. We have an almost 3 year old, Ava. She is sassy, stubborn, strong-willed & the brightest joy in our life, even when she pushes us to our limit (which by the way is almost daily!)!

4. We are also expecting a sweet baby boy in October! We are SO excited about this new addition to our family & can't wait to meet him. Said baby boy is nameless for now because his daddy won't make up his mind!! ;)

5. I graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Accounting. I also have my MBA & work at a local utility company as the Supervisor of General Accounting. My husband is a teacher & it kills me to go to work in the summer while he & Ava stays home. However, I'm so blessed because during summer, he does all the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc & that is SO helpful! I do desperately wish I could stay home with our children but that just isn’t an option for our family. Sometimes it hurts harder than other other times, but I’m thankful for a good job that provides MANY things for our family.

6. I come from a family of 5 children & we are all very close. My older brother, Greg & his wife Kelsey, live in St. Louis & just had our 1st nephew! We just got back from visiting them so I will be posting about that this week. I will say I spent a lot of the weekend doing this:

And it makes me SO excited for October!!! (And please ignore how tired I look – I really was tired! I'm #2 in the lineup. My younger brother, Stephen lives in NWA & is getting married in September to Leslie. They actually met through my blog & are the perfect match! I am so excited to officially be able to call her my sister!!!! My youngest brother Nick is also engaged to be married next summer to Sam & I love her as well! My brothers have all found excellent wives who fit into our family very well! The baby of the family is my sister. Stephanie. She will be heading off to her 1st year of college this year at the U of A. I'm very proud of her but we will miss her terribly .

7. After living here for over 30 years, my parents are moving to Amarillo this year. It makes me very sad so I don't talk about it much. I still haven't given up hope of a miracle & of them getting to stay!

8. I love blogging/twitter/etc but sometimes it makes feel very insecure. I realize not everyone will like me..... I just get upset when someone doesn't take the time to get to know me before making that decision. I do hope this commenting challenge brings me some new blog/twitter friends!!

9. I am a worrier. I try not to be but simply don't want to disappoint, let someone down, hurt someone, etc.

10. I'm a fiercely loyal friend. Some people don't know how to take that but I firmly believe in doing unto others as I would like to have done to me!!

11. I love to travel! My parents took us on trips and I have grown to love new going! I've been to many states but still have a lot to see in the US. I've also been to London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Dublin & Jamaica! Can't wait for where we get to go next! (Kristy - this makes me think about you & us "not having anything in common!") :)

12. I'm a die hard Arkansas Razorback fan!!! I think Zach loves that I love Hog football as much as he does!!

13. I clean my house every week. It can get really bad in between, but if I don’t do the cleaning once a week, I feel like we are living in filth!

14. I love to read! I read a wide variety of books and enjoy escaping in a book!

15. We like Mexican food. A LOT. It’s been over 2 weeks since we’ve indulged and we’re having withdrawals!

16. I’m super clumsy. A walking disaster really. If I’m around and something can go wrong, there is a great chance it will! I try to be conscientious of things but I think I’m just prone to disaster!

And if you are still wanting to know more, here are a few of my favorite posts that give you a little more info our family!

The Zach and Sarah Story

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava! (a recap of Ava’s life!)

Our growing family!

The E Family does 2010

This should give you a glimpse into our lives! I hope you’ll come back for more and I look forward to “meeting” new friends!

New material on it's way!!

2011-07-04T09:04:00.001-05:00

Hi blog friends!! I know Jenna's comment challenge starts today! I have a new post coming your way later tonight! We are currently driving home from a long weekend visiting my brother & SIL & new nephew! So if you are new & just stopping by, please check back later to learn more about us!!! :) I'm excited to stop by some of your blogs to meet some of you too! ;)

Here's one photo from our weekend!

Happy 4th!!!! Be safe!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ava’s pick for a baby name!

2011-06-29T19:57:00.001-05:00

I’ve asked Ava a couple of times about what she thinks we should name the baby and a couple of days ago she came up with a crazy suggestion. Now, every time we ask her what his name should be, she gives us that crazy answer?!! She also busted out a great version of Old McDonald had a farm!

Love this crazy kid! ;)

Ava’s big girl bed!!!!

2011-06-26T18:31:00.001-05:00

We have been working on getting Ava’s room set up to be her big girl room! We ordered furniture almost a month ago, and her bed and nightstand came in perfectly, but we’ve had to send TWO dressers back due to damage. Praying the one we get this week arrives in great condition!

We also received her new big girl bedding! (A special thanks to my mother-in-law, Nancy, for buying it for her – she loves it!). She has been so excited about her “new bed”, so we thought we’d take pictures of her getting to open the box with her bedding. PURE excitement waiting for it!

She was seriously giddy. It was hard to get a good picture of her because she kept jumping around. Love that life excites her so much!

Friday night was her first night sleeping in her big girl bed! She was SOOOO excited and she did great! She woke up once in the middle of the night and cried and I went in there and she was back asleep in 5 minutes. I told her yesterday if she woke up scared then not to cry but to shout that she was scared and I’d come in there. Well, last night she slept all night but woke up this morning saying “I SCARED!” over and over! :) Of course, I could tell she wasn’t – she just wanted someone to come get her! :) I pray that the transition stays this easy! When we get the rest of her furniture and everything set up, we’ll share photos of her new room!

Another big milestone is that i’m 24 weeks today! If this baby boy was born early, he’d have a long road ahead of him, but at least he’d have a chance of survival. Thankful to make it to this point! Here we are before church this morning – I feel like he is growing rapidly – I’m worried I may have a linebacker in there!

Ava wanted to be in my picture this morning!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! I’ve had a long week of not feeling the best (i think the heat has A LOT to do with it), so we’ve tried to take it easy. Hoping I survive this week with record highs expected. I’m ready for fall! :)

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!!

Inside my head

2011-06-22T20:31:00.001-05:00

I have the desire to blog but have no topic to blog about so I’m going to do a brain dump tonight.

It is HOT! This heat is totally sucking the energy out of me! I have a long 16.5 weeks to go!
I’m still craving that margarita though this stuff is helping – tastes very close to one, just without the alcohol.

Thanks for the suggestions on baby bedding. I think we have one picked out. Good thing we aren’t paying for the really $$$ ones b/c Zach didn’t like them anyway. Go figure. We are going tomorrow to a baby store during my lunch hour just to look one more time and then I think we’re done. FINALLY!
No name yet. Zach says he’s like 90% sold on one, but doesn’t want to commit yet. C’mon buddy – let’s get this kid named so i can put his name on things! Even little boys need personalized items!
It’s funny how life changes as you get older. I try to be the type of friend I would like to have and I’m not sure that always comes across as I hope it does. I wish true intentions were always seen. Praying for some clarity in this aspect of my life.
I am feeling this sweet baby boy moving every day now and I love it. He’s a wiggler! I’m HOPING that he’s a little calmer than Ava. She is our wild girl and we need a calmer one, too!
Does anyone know how to make tissue pompoms or know a good tutorial for them? Would love to make some for Leslie’s wedding shower in a couple weeks!
Our baby boy is gathering some clothing! Love seeing little things knowing I’ll soon be snuggling the little guy in them!

I’m struggling a little with being sad over Ava not having all of our attention anymore when he comes but I know we have enough love for both our babies. It will just be different.
For a long time, Ava wasn’t crazy about my grandma. Maybe it was b/c it was always a little scary to her when we’d be around my whole family and she was unsure. One day, my mom took her to my grandma’s house and she loved the toys there so she has been crazy about her ever since. Saturday we were over there and she RAN to sit with her on the porch. This picture is priceless to me!

Okay friends. That is all. if you read this all the way through, kudos to you. My life is fascinating these days. Happy mid-week! Two more days til the weekend!!!!

Out of the mouth of Ava..

2011-06-20T19:44:00.001-05:00

I love how much Ava is talking these days. Sometimes we know just what she is saying and others, well, it’s still a guessing game. I want to remember some of her silly sayings so I’m jotting them down!

Instead of saying airport, she says airplane-port!
When she gets really excited and wants to show us something she says “yook yook!” So cute that her L’s aren’t there yet!
When singing Jesus Loves Me, she sings Baby Jesus loves me! She loved reading the Nativity at Christmas (and like 4 months after) and I guess Baby Jesus stuck with her.
She asks what things are all the time and no matter what it is, she wants to know what it’s doing. Example: “what couch doin?”
Any time I get frustrated and change the tone of my voice or make a “grrrrr” sound Ava always says “Mama, what happnen?”
Zach asked her to pick up her toys and she responded with “I too little!” OMG – love it!
We were at my mom’s house and i told her to pick up the toys she got out there and she said “i need Stephanie help me”
Her newest thing to say is “I not…” followed by whatever she “not want to do”. One day she said “I not take a nap” and I found this three minutes later!

Not sure if I’ve posted this before or not, but when Zach is giving me a hard time and I tell him to stop, Ava chimes in and says “Shame, shame, Daddy! Be nice to Mommy!” She also does this for Zach, though not quite as frequently!!
When she is at my parent’s house and Zach gets there to pick her up, she gets mad and cries and says “Ava Daddy NOT pick up Ava. My mama pick up Ava” – guess she thinks if she waits on me she’ll get a few extra minutes!
When school was still in, she was convinced her “Homma” (grandma) was picking her up one day. When her daddy showed up she was VERY angry and wouldn’t go with him. She kept repeating that Homma would pick her up. :)
The other night I was laying on the couch and Ava ran in the room and climbed up and said (with a very hickish accent) “Mama, that baby still in you belly? I see it?” So incredibly cute! :)
When she is trying to say she doesn’t like something or doesn’t want to do something, she says “I can’t…” – When she doesn’t like a food it’s “I can’t like that!”
Last night we were watching the special on the Duggar baby being born, and she looked at me and said “Mama, you have your baby at home?” uh, no, baby. don’t think i’ll be doing that. At least I hope not!
Anything to the water has to have the word in front of it. Her pool is her “water pool” and boats are “water boats”. Here she is one day before playing in her water pool! She can stop growing any time!

When Zach and I talk during the day and Ava wants to say hi, I can hear her in the back ground saying “I wanna hi Mama!”
When I get home for lunch or at the end of the day, she asks me, “Mama, you have a big day?”
When she hears a noise, she’ll look at us with huge eyes and say “you heard that?”
She’s not a fan of flies which are abundant right now and the other day I heard her tell one in her stern voice: “you get out of here right now, bug. go away.” if only it were that easy!
Lately when i get home or if she is talking to me on the phone she’ll ask “Mama, you miss me?”

I love this kid and all the crazy things she says!

Ava’s social calendar!

2011-06-12T19:33:00.001-05:00

Time is flying by as usual! Before I know it, it will be October and we’ll have a new baby here with us!

Ava has gotten to see lots of friends and family this past week!I had to get a burp cloth embroidered so I stopped by my friend Amanda’s. Ava went with me and was excited to play with her little girl, Kenley.

They look so grown up to me the way they were posing!

We also got to meet sweet Baby Luke this week! Ava was a little hesitant to meet her baby cousin but after a few minutes she wanted to hold him and help him. I hope maybe instead of being jealous when her little brother arrives, she’ll just want to be a little mommy!!!

Yesterday we went to Tulsa to meet Sarah and her sweet Ava! We think it’s funny that we have the same name and so do our girls! If she has a little boy too, we’ll have to see if we come up with the same name there, too! It was a little confusing for the Ava’s – every time one of us would say Ava they would both look at us. And her Ava called mine ‘Different Ava’ – I LOVED it! So hilarious! At the end of the day she also call me ‘Different Mommy!’ So cute!

Alright, ladies – PLEASE help! I am having the HARDEST time finding crib bedding I like. I find something and it’s either over $300, or it’s being discontinued, or the latest one – the set came with all kinds of stuff, but not the bumper! Really?! Any ideas on places to look that aren’t outrageously priced. I’m not really sure how to even explain what I’m wanting – I guess I want something that’s not just traditional baby blue – something with shapes, stripes, dots, etc….. nothing cheesy! Ok, go!

We’re having a baby BOY!!!!

2011-06-04T15:51:00.001-05:00

We found out yesterday afternoon that we are having a healthy, beautiful baby BOY!!!!!!!!! Our Intelligender test was correct! I hate to cover up his face but do it for safety!

We are so excited for this new addition to our family! We feel so blessed that we have a daughter and will now have a son as well. God is SO good!

As of now, baby boy doesn’t have a name but we’re working on it! Hopefully we will be able to figure it out soon!

Here are Ava and I before my appointment yesterday! She kept asking when we could see the baby. She watched at first but got at little bored as we had to wait while they checked everything! I’m so glad she got to go with us!

Thanks to everyone for sharing our excitement and for the prayers! We are so thrilled and can’t wait to meet our sweet boy in October!!

Having some fun!!!

2011-05-31T20:46:00.001-05:00

After Ava got over her bout of strep throat, she’s been a busy girl having a whole lot of fun!

Since she and her daddy have some long summer days ahead, we’ve been trying to get some activities together to make their days pass quickly.

Playdoh anyone? We haven’t tried this in a long time. The last time we did, she tried to eat it! I think she has a better grasp on it this time!

We also got her a “water pool” as she calls it for the backyard. She was sooooo excited about it. Monday morning was the first morning it had been up and we found her out of bed that morning standing at the back door looking at it. She had a blast swimming Monday afternoon!

We went to a local bounce house tonight for a birthday party. Ava had so much fun! She was a little scared of some of the bigger things and said she couldn’t do it but she did get down this monster slide! These last couple are from my phone so they aren’t so great, but still cute!

And I know this one is super blurry but check out that form! :)

I bet we’ll be going to lots of birthday parties here and maybe having some there over the years too!

Lots more summery fun to come I’m sure! :)

20 weeks pregnant was an exciting week!!!

2011-05-29T21:16:00.001-05:00

I am 20 weeks pregnant today! We are halfway there! I am in awe at how fast this is going!

This is certainly not the most flattering picture of me but I guess pregnancy is like that. I feel like I’m carrying the same way I did with Ava….high, but I also feel like my belly is bigger sooner…

While I am certainly excited for Friday’s ultrasound and to know boy or girl, I am more concerned with finding a healthy baby in there! Praying everything is just as it should be!

This week has also marked some big events!

My baby sister graduated high school! I can’t believe she’s grown up and going off to college! She’s heading off to be an Arkansas Razorback!! We will certainly miss her, especially Ava who thinks Aunt Stephie is the best! Here she is giving the thumbs up right before graduating! Congrats Steph! So proud of you!

Friday was Ava’s last day of school at her current school. She will go some days this summer but a lot of her little friends won’t be there so this was her last day with all her friends! While we are so thankful she will be in a great place next year, it is SO SAD that we are leaving this place. I think I cried more Friday when leaving her than I did on her very first day there!

Mrs. Randi was Ava’s teacher for the past two years, and her little girl, Shelbey, was one of Ava’s first best friends! Her other little best friend was sick this week and we didn’t get to grab a picture of her! :(

Another BIG event that happened this week is our nephew was born Friday afternoon!!! Welcome Lucas Andrew!!!!!It’s incredible how great our God is! Baby Lucas wasn’t due for four more weeks and his mommy went into labor Friday morning. He is perfectly healthy and went home this morning!!!!! Praise Jesus! Sadly he lives about 6 hours away and we haven’t seen him or loved on him yet, but we cannot wait to meet him in a couple of weeks!!!

We rounded out the week with Ava getting strep throat. Yesterday we had a breakfast date at Chick-fil-a and by 1:00 I knew we needed to go to the dr. She was running fever and her ear hurt. I also mentioned there had been some strep at school so he checked her for that and sure enough she had it. She didn’t get to go to Steph’s graduation party but I’m so thankful we caught it early! She was much better today with no fever!

I’m SO glad we are off tomorrow! Good way to start the week! We plan to get up and go for a walk, work on some pricing for a garage sale and lounge outside in Ava’s new “water pool” as she calls it! :)

Well, that was dumb!

2011-05-24T07:09:00.001-05:00

My Monday evening did NOT go as planned! Zach and Ava came home and Zach was busy getting dinner ready – we were going to have yummy dinner of grilled shrimp and veggies. Well, everything else was ready, and on the table, and Zach brought in the basket of grilled shrimp. He asked me to help him get it out, and not thinking about it being hot since I had been doing other things and wasn’t really thinking about it being on a hot grill (pregnancy brain at its finest!), I grabbed the handle of the metal basket. As he was saying, “Don’t touch, it’s hot!” a searing pan shot through my hand!

My hand felt like it was on fire! I started crying and put it in cold water. I kept it there for a while and then just got a bowl of cold water and kept my hand in it. (Ava thought this was fun and of course felt like her finger needed to be in the water too.) We started reading online what we needed to do to treat a 1st degree burn, as we’ve not dealt with more than minor burns or sunburns.

After an hour, my hand still felt like it did when it had just been burned and the pain was horrible so I decided to go ahead and go to the walk in clinic to get it checked out.

After an hour of waiting, he declared it was a 2nd degree burn and gave me a prescription ointment to use as well as an antibiotic to ward off infection. He was also going to give me pain pills until I told him I was pregnant (I think they really like to push pills at these walk in clinics!)

It doesn’t look as bad this morning, but the burn goes from the bottom of my palm, up my index finger and also up my thumb. I’ve already got several blisters. Ouch.

This part is definitely the worst…. I’ll survive even though it hurts like heck! Ava was sooo upset – I think seeing me cry and then when I left for the doctor she was so sad. Zach said she kept crying and looking for me out the window. And when I got home, she had a boo-boo on her hand too. It’s nice to be loved.

Not my finest moment, people. Thankful it’s not worse though!

19 weeks and counting!

2011-05-22T17:24:00.003-05:00

Today I’m 19 weeks pregnant! I cannot believe how fast this is going! One more week and we will be halfway!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 6 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I’m wearing maternity pants. I still go between normal and maternity tops

Gender: We find out June 3! I have to say, I have very much been leaning toward this baby being a girl, but now I’m starting to 2nd guess myself and I’m not really sure why! I am able to talk myself into one or the other way too easily!! Let’s just say either way, I know I will be happy, and either way, I’m pretty sure I’ll be surprised!

Movement: I felt this sweet baby very early – and would feel it for a bit and then go several days without feeling it. The movements are getting much more frequent now – and I am starting to notice jabs and kicks instead of just flutters!

Sleep: ugh! I am still SO tired! I fall asleep very easily but may wake up in the middle of the night and be awake for a couple of hours!

What I miss: I’ve really been wanting a margarita lately – maybe a margarita flavored snow cone will suffice?! :)

Cravings: I haven’t had any consistent cravings this time. I will crave something and then once I get it, I am satisfied and I start craving something else! So weird!

Symptoms: Just really tired! Every once in a while, I’ll have a random wave of nausea that passes really quickly.

Another thing I want to remember about this stage – Just this morning, Ava started talking about the baby in Ava’s belly! I asked her where her baby was and she patted her belly! And then she said her belly was “too big”! Guess little ears are always listening! ;) I’m so excited to be able to talk to her about her brother or sister. She is coming with us to the ultrasound and I can’t wait to see what she says/does/etc!!

A little brother or a little sister???

2011-05-12T06:28:00.000-05:00

That is the question! We are just about 3 weeks away from finding out little Baby E is going to be! I saw on twitter that IntelliGender was looking for mom bloggers who liked reviews – um, yes please! So I filled out the form and got in touch with me and sent me their Gender Prediction Test(GPT) to try out! I was so excited to see this on my door step two days ago!! I opened it up and found the GPT inside! And here is everything that came inside: And the look at the two sides that will gave our answer! I woke up this morning and took the test and was excited to see the results!

According to the test, this little bebe in my belly is a….

BOY!!!

There wasn’t even a question of what the result was – it was super clear!

Zach saw it and said “See, that’s what I’ve been telling you all along!” I was surprised a little because I’ve had a feeling for the past few weeks that we’re having another girl! I’ll be equally as happy with a bouncing baby boy, my gut has just been telling me otherwise and it was right with Ava! I can’t wait to see 3 weeks from tomorrow if the test is correct!!!!

The kind people at IntelliGender also sent me a product of my choice from their new line of IntelliCeuticals. These are products that are natural remedies for moms and babies. Since I had issues with my milk supply with Ava, I chose to try baby’s best milk drops. I’m curious to try these and see if they help this time around.

If you would like to try any product from their IntelliCeuticals line, they are offering a 25% discount for these items. Just enter IC025 at checkout. (this does not apply to the GPT.)

Please visit IntelliGender at any of these places:
www.intelligenderblog.com
www.facebook.com/IntelliGender
http://twitter.com/IntelliGender
www.youtube.com/intelligender
http://intelligender.tumblr.com/

Thanks IntelliGender for the wonderful opportunity to try the GPT- it was so much fun and will be exciting to compare the results. Thanks also for the baby’s best milk drops!! Can’t wait to try those too!

And just because she wanted a photo while I was taking the photos of all the products, here’s our big sister! :)

Recap of our week and help from you!!!!!

2011-05-01T18:18:00.001-05:00

There’s a good reason why I’ve been absent – Zach spent the week in New Orleans, and I had Ava all to myself this week. The week included Ava waking up one night for two and a half hours, outrunning a wall cloud to get to Ava safely, and a play date. We had a busy week!

Oh, and one other notable thing that happened this week is that I “graduated” from Financial Peace University! Even though I felt like we had good control of our finances and made smart financial decisions, we both learned SO much from this course. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to take it! The amount of debt we were able to pay off during the 13 week course blows my mind, but it just shows what dedication can do!

Friday morning I did not wake up early to watch the Royal Wedding but I did record it and watched live coverage when I woke up to get ready. When Ava woke up, I brought her into my bedroom, I told her we were going to watch a princess get married, even though it had already happened – that sure caught her attention! She got really interested when she saw the little bridesmaids and called them “little princesses"! I asked her if she wanted to be a little princess when Stephen and Leslie get married and she said “YEA!” and then ran away and came back with this for me to put on her: Don’t you love her morning hair?! :)

She has woken up at 5:30 the past two days – ugh!! And she has been very tired fairly early in the day:

Snow White getting her beauty sleep

Asleep on our way to church this morning

Okay, wrapping up shortly but first a couple other things! Had a dr appointment Thursday and heard our sweet baby’s heartbeat for the first time!! It was 160 bpm! We find out the gender on June 3! I’ll be almost 21 weeks but my dr is adamant about waiting until a full 20 weeks to get an accurate scan of all organs. Zach and I are divided on our thoughts of the gender. Guess we’ll see!

So that brings me to one of two things I need your help with!

1. I’ve debated having a gender reveal party – I think it’d be fun to tell our family and close friends the baby’s gender all together. After looking for stuff on the internet, I saw A LOT of people discussing how rude they thought the party was – that it would be a gift solicitation and if not, why would anyone think people want to take time out of their busy schedule just to hear whether it’s a boy or girl! Please, please give me your honest opinions on that – would never want to offend or insult our family/friends! But, I’ve only got a month to do it if I’m going to do it! So help please!!!

2. I need some suggestions for good books to read! Things slow down for us in the summer and I have a feeling I might be a little lazy this summer and want some new reading material! So, go! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Happy May!!!!

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T18:37:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter! Praise the Lord for He is Risen!

I hope you have all have a very blessed Easter holiday! We certainly have!

Friday was a day off for all of us. We had a very productive morning and spent some quality family time together the rest of the day.

Saturday we went to NWA to visit with Zach’s family and to celebrate his birthday. Here’s Ava with her Grandma, Aunt Mal, and Grandma P (as Ava calls her).

This morning Ava woke up to see the Easter Bunny had stopped by our house for a visit! This girl has been SO happy all day because the EB brought her a package of lip gloss!!!!! She hasn’t stopped talking about it all day! Best $1 the EB spent! :)

The EB also hid lots of eggs for Ava to find. Since we’ve had rain for the past ~~eleventy days~~ week, it was super wet out so she was only able to hunt inside. She still had fun though!

After egg hunting, we got ready for church. Can I just tell y’all how much I LOVE her dress this year?! I found it in Dallas on my girls weekend in pink but didn’t buy it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it! I did snap a pic of the tag though so when I got home I started hunting and found out they had it in purple and blue! I couldn’t find a blue one, but found this purple one and am so glad I waited – love this purple seersucker beauty! Now I’m ~~secretly~~ hoping for another little girl so I can use this dress again! :)

After we came out of church and it was raining yet again, we headed to my parents house. Here’s Ava with my parents.

And our family! Hard to believe that before long there will be another little bebe in our photos! :) Can’t wait!

We had a wonderful Easter, but are about to have another round of very nasty weather. This is currently the view from my backyard. Yikes!

Praying for no twisters! Hope you have all had a blessed Easter holiday!

mid-week blab

2011-04-20T19:23:00.001-05:00

Hello blog friends! Hope everyone is having a good week! I just can’t believe tomorrow is Thursday and my last day of work! I’m going to relish the holidays I have in the next few months b/c I’m saving ALLLLL my time off for when this bebe comes! That makes a long few months!!!

So far we’ve had a fun week! Monday we went to a Japanese hibachi grill for dinner to celebrate Zach’s birthday! Ava had been before but she acted very scared this time! The chef talked to her and she was very stand-offish! She certainly did enjoy when he flipped food at everyone to see if they could catch it with their mouth – my sister and I both did – he said that means we have big mouths! ha!

Ava got to take her Easter basket to school today for an egg hunt! She was soooooooooooooooo excited! She kept telling me she wanted to show her friends, which she did when we got there! She gets to hunt again tomorrow since she goes every day and they try to hit up all the days for all the kids! Here she is with her best buds at school – they all had to hold their baskets!

When she called me after Zach picked her up, she was so excited and squealed to me “I got my Easter basket!!!!! My have candy!!!” :) So cute! Can’t wait to watch her hunt this weekend!

And now I’m going to share a few pictures of the girl I’ve failed to post. A few are from my phone so not the best quality! She constantly keeps us laughing!!!

This last photo is my phone background – makes me happy when I see it!

That’s all friends! Hope you are having a good week!

P.S. – I’m loving how the baby poll is changing daily – boy was winning until tonight! Now girl is ahead! can’t wait to find out!

Miscellany Monday

2011-04-18T06:31:00.001-05:00

***ONE***

This is my first time to participate in Miscellany Monday! I’ve intended to join in for a long time and then just never get around to it and this week I did!

***TWO***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ZACH TODAY!!!!! I’m so thankful to be celebrating another year with you! Ava and I love you VERY much!!! We are going to celebrate at one of his favorite restaurants tonight and I can’t wait!

***THREE***

I’ve added a poll on the left side for you to guess the gender of the baby! Zach and I have differing opinions! Most people are on the same team, except for a handful of people. I’m curious to see what others think!

***FOUR***

This is a short work week for me!! My work is closed for Good Friday and every year when it rolls around, I’m so thankful that they recognize the importance of the day and allow us that time off.

***FIVE***

I seem to be having extreme swings in hormones lately. One minute I'm happy and feeling blissful, the next I’m totally sad, upset and feeling very insecure. Gotta love hormones. I’m super sure my hubby loves them too – ha! :)

***SIX***

I kind of overdid things on Saturday and paid for it afterwards. I was exhausted and in pain the rest of the weekend. I’m not even ashamed to admit that it landed me in bed last night at 8:45. Sleep felt good!

***SEVEN***

I wish I had pictures to post along today, but I’ve been a slacker lately. So no pictures this week.

So that’s it for this time! Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!

Much ado about nothing

2011-04-13T18:25:00.001-05:00

Sooooo, not much going on here. Nothing very blogworthy for sure.

I’m still feeling pretty pooped by the end of the day. I really thought maybe the energy would pick up in the 2nd trimester – I’ve had FB friends inform me that it’s not the case when you already have a wild one to chase! :) I guess I’ll just have to keep going to bed early!!

Saturday evening, we had dinner with my cousin and her hubby and afterward we went to play putt-putt. It was Ava’s first time to play and boy was it interesting!

We had fun but it might be a while before we take her again, or at least get her a club and ball. We fished the ball out of the water and I ended up carrying the club most of the time. :)

I’m gonna end tonight with a couple cute stories I just don’t want to forget!

Sometimes Ava will come up and rub my belly or kiss it and say “hi baby!” One night Zach was laying on the couch and she went up and rubbed his and said “hi baby!” Too funny!

My brother, Nick, and his girlfriend, Sam, went to Chicago over Spring Break. All my brothers are big Cubs fans, and Nick got our new baby a Cubs pacifier. They told her it was for the new baby and she brought it over to me, lifted my shirt and tried to put it in my belly button! Love the mind of a little kid!

I’ve been thinking. The name of our blog is Adventures in Ava-Land. I love that name, but obviously our adventure is going to change. I need help with a new name? Any thoughts? Should I wait and see what this baby is and until it has a name? Or should I just do something like “The E Family”? I’d really like something a little more original than that but the creative juices just aren’t flowing! Suggestions totally welcome (so please bring them!)! Ready – GO!

Things I’ve been asked..

2011-04-10T14:55:00.001-05:00

First of all, thank you all so much for your sweet words on my last post! It’s so exciting to be sharing this with everyone. I didn’t start blogging until I was close to having Ava so it will be fun to keep track of this pregnancy on here!

Upon hearing that we were having a baby, there were steady streams of questions and I thought I’d address some of them here!

- How long have you known/when did you find out?

I took a pregnancy test on Thursday, January 27th and it was negative. I told Zach that I was going to test again on the next Thursday but couldn’t wait. I got a positive test on Tuesday, February 1st.

- How did you tell Zach?

The day we found out was actually one of the several snow days we had here and Zach and Ava were both out of school. He got up and wanted to get a shower before Ava woke up so she wouldn’t one and I told him I was pregnant. He just kind of looked at me and I showed him the test. I think he was in shock. :) No special way of sharing – I was way too impatient!

- How did you tell your families?

We found out about the baby during the time when Zach’s grandmother was very ill in the hospital. We didn’t know when we would be able to get with them and share our news so a few days after we found out, Zach called and share the news. That same night, we went to tell my mom. I put Ava in a “big sister” shirt and put a jacket over it. My mom and sister were there and my mom never did notice the shirt. My sister saw it and read it and said “Are you pregnant?!” about 3 times before my mom realized what she was saying! We then took a picture of Ava in her shirt and texted it to my dad.

- Have you been to the doctor?

Yes, I’ve been to the doctor twice now. My first appointment was on March 2nd and we got to see our little bebe for the first time. At this point, I was 7w3d. I went again on March 31st and instead of trying to listen to the heartbeat, my doctor let us take another peek, which is the photo I posted in my last post.

- When are you due?

My official due date is 10/16. At my last appointment, the u/s measured the baby at 12 weeks even, though according to my due date I was 11w4d. The due date was not adjusted.

- How are you feeling?

I have been feeling alright. I’ve had the normal first trimester symptoms. I’ve been incredibly exhausted but am thankful my energy slowly seems to be returning. I have had a little bit more morning sickness this time than I did with Ava, but I am in no way complaining. My morning sickness mostly consisted of just feeling nauseous and wanting to gag. It could have been much worse! I also have a few other symptoms but none that anyone probably wants to read about! ha!

- Does Ava know?

Yes, Ava knows though I’m not sure what she grasps. Some days people will ask her if she wants her mama to have a baby and she says “NO!” Other times, she will rub my belly or give it a kiss and say “hi baby!” Some days she says she wants a girl, others a boy. I’m not sure it will be real to her until she sees the baby!

- How is this pregnancy different from your first?

Let me just say, I had a very easy pregnancy with Ava and I LOVED being pregnant. So far, this one has been a little tougher, but it’s still not been very bad. I’m VERY fortunate. One major difference(between the ms mentioned above), is my appetite. Almost immediately, I was RAVENOUS! I seriously could not got enough to eat! I was starting to wonder if there were two in there with as much as I wanted to eat. Fortunately that disappeared fairly quickly. The ms has also been worse and lasted a little longer than it did with Ava. I’m just thankful it was just nausea. I also felt this baby move several weeks earlier than I did with Ava. I felt Ava relatively early for a first time baby, and this one I felt very early. I love it though!!!

- Do you want a boy or a girl?

I know it’s so cliché, but we really just want a healthy baby. That being said, I know Zach would LOVE a little boy. Me? I’m sure a little boy would be wonderful but I know how to be a girl mom! I’m sure I’d learn but it scares me a little. The other thing is that we everything we need if we have a girl. If we have a boy, we’ll have to get some new things. Either way though, we’ll be totally happy. I can’t wait to hold this little baby in my arms!!! We should know in just about 7 or 8 weeks who this little baby is!

So there ya go! These are a lot of the questions I’ve been asked. If you have others, pass them on! :)

Spilling the beans!

2011-04-03T19:07:00.001-05:00

Ava is so excited to finally tell y’all that her mommy is

and that she is going to be a

This precious little munchkin will join our family in October!!! :)

Girls just wanna have fun…. and boy, did we!

2011-03-29T20:13:00.001-05:00

Oh, y’all. What a weekend! I’m still trying to recover! Friday I took a day off work to meet up with my faaaaaabulous friends, Kristy, Jill, and Candace!! Kristy and I met up with Jill and headed to see C in the Big D!

Our trip there consisted of a semi who almost took out an Acura who got serious case of MAD. He started swerving and looked like he’d go around the semi. We laughed and Kristy and I both said he’d probably give the bird to the semi driver. Oh, he did – he flew it out his sunroof to make sure the dude saw it!

Then we hit some road work. After going slow for quite a while we came upon a nice worker who was walking through the closed lane. We rolled down the window and Jill yelled at him (very politely I might add) and asked if he knew how much longer it was!

We finally made it to Dallas and after checking out C’s super cute home, we headed to eat at her favorite Mexican restaurant. Food rocked. Service sucked. Seriously – our waiter was a doof. Kristy’s tea glass had something attached to it and she asked for a new one and he didn’t resurface for like 15 minutes! I think we ate half a bowl of cheese dip before he ever returned to get our order. Then he didn’t write the order down and came back to make sure Kristy’s order was right. Food came. Kristy’s food right. Jill’s was wrong. Stellar dude. Seriously – go to Gloria’s and ask for Miguelito! haha! (does anyone know what his name was?!)

Then we jumped into the Dallas traffic and headed to the outlets! Kristy mentioned she wouldn’t like big city driving….. and doesn’t look like she was too fond of Jill’s driving either! :) We covered pretty much every inch of the outlet mall and after that we were WORN OUT! It was after 5:00 when we left. We headed to check into our hotel, Le Meridien, which was gorgeous! We rested for a bit (and it was during this time that K thought Jill had dropped her phone in an otter box…. bahaha…. love you K!) and then exchanged gifts! Jill got us these precious necklaces with our initials on them that I can’t get a good picture of! Candace gave us hospitality bags with our favorite candy and some yummy drinks! ;)

We started getting ready for our dinner reservation and Jill taught us out to fluff our hair with some Dust-it! Here we are before dinner! We headed to a FABULOUS dinner at The Melting Pot! Um, delish! These girls had never been before and I think all of them enjoyed it! We just did cheese and dessert fondue and it was SO YUM! So as we were getting in the car, a police car pulled over a car and parked RIGHT behind us so we were stuck. I’ll say this. We sat there for maybe 15 minutes. In that time, another police car came, the woman driver got arrested (and was cool as cucumber) and they finally moved to let us go. I actually got a shot of the woman getting arrested (bad, I know) and texted it to Zach and he asked me if it was one of my friends! haha! (We for sure would have posted the bail for Jill!)! :)

Saturday we headed to do some more shopping! After doing some more damage at the mall, we headed to SPRINKLES CUPCAKES!!! I have a confession. I took home this assortment and we cut them to share different flavors and I was not impressed. Out of these 6, I only thought 2 were good. Bummer!

After Sprinkles, we headed to our last stop before heading home. We were separated by a man getting a pedicure, which I’d honestly never seen before. Then the lady working on me put on gloves! I was slightly offended! I’ve never had that happen before! I felt better when she wore them with Jill too! :)

We had to head home after that because Jill had to get back for a history lesson. Seriously y’all – isn’t she a great teacher?! I hope you learned lots and lots!

What a super fun weekend. We get together and the talking doesn’t stop! It’s so fun to have a group of friends you can totally be yourself with and *shock* they still like you! :) Love you girls! Can’t wait until the next time!!!!

Please vote for us!

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We were selected as one of the favorite photos of 2010 by Beaty Photography!!! They will be giving away a canvas of the photo to the winner! This photo taken by Beaty Photography at Ava’s 2 year session is one of my very favorite of her and I would love to have it as a canvas!!!

Please go to this link and read the ways to vote!

http://www.beatyphotography.com/canvas-giveaway/

You can simply choose our number (#2!) and vote right there! You can also like Beaty Photography on facebook and then like our picture on there as well. Both will count as votes for us!!!

Thanks to Beaty Photography for selecting our photo as a finalist and thanks to everyone who votes for us!

Out of the mouth of babes

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I looked back and realized it’s been a little while since I did post about what Ava is up to so I figured I should catch up.

She is talking so much lately. She says words we didn’t even know she knew.

Her latest phrase (that I assume she picked up at school): Stop it!

Examples of use we’ve heard in the past few days:

Zach cleaning her tray after dinner and trying to take her cup. Ava’s response: “Stop it. Stop it. I need my water!”

Upon seeing me pick up her toys before we left Grandma’s: “STOP it, Mama!”

Another cute thing I don’t want to forget- My mom has been cleaning out her attic and sorting through all of our old toys and keepsakes. She’s giving us the toys that were ours, and holding on to the ones that we all played with for grandkids. When she picked up Ava yesterday, Ava was beyond excited to see “new” toys. She told me about them immediately and when we left we had this conversation:

A: What Homma (grandma) doin?

S: She’s going to stay at her house.

A: She play my new toys?

S: Well, probably not, but maybe.

A: (in a really sad voice) Oh…..

I love that she thinks her grandma plays with her toys when she isn’t there. Beyond precious! She also woke up this morning talking about “Ava’s new toys”. Couldn’t get them out of her head!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, we have a big development here! Ava started wearing big girl panties Saturday and has been doing GREAT! We’ve tried before with no success and when we put them on this past weekend, it just clicked! She’s doing SO good and we’ e so proud of her! We went and picked out more panties and she is very proud of her “Tink-bell” panties! She’ll even show you! :) Tuesday she wore them to school for the first time and was successful! She’s really only had a handful of accidents and lots of times she realizes she’s about to go and stops and runs to the potty! We’re not having much success with #2 yet but I figure it won’t be too long! YAY AVA!!!!!!

And a few pictures I haven’t been great at posting!

Fell asleep in her chair!!

Playing at “Chick-flay”

Playing with my cousin’s new puppy, Bruce! She absolutely loved playing with him!!!!

And there ya go! That’s Ava lately! :)

The Zach and Sarah story

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During my giveaway the following question was asked!

Stephanie asked: What is the story behind you and your sweet hubby? How did y'all meet, start dating, get engaged, etc?! Emily asked: how did you and Zach meet?
AubreyLaine: How did you & your husband meet?

So here we go! I’ve been friends with Sandy since seventh grade. In 2005, my last semester of college, she started hanging out with (her now husband) Adam and his roommate, Zach. One night they were going to dinner and Sandy invited me and Natalie along. We met for the first time in March of 2005. It was NOT love at first sight, or even second, third, etc. Not that we had anything against each other, but as we all began to hang out over the next couple of months, Zach and I did not seem to get along very well at all. We always seemed to be arguing about something. When we would all hang out, we would pick at each other and I will honestly say that never once did it cross my mind at that point that we would ever be anything more. I can also honestly say that neither one of us really seemed to like the other all that much. I was getting ready to graduate and move away and I really thought that would be the end of it.

After graduating, I got a job and moved about an hour away. Over the summer one night, I was bored and decided to log on to AIM (remember that?!). Zach was at home for the summer and happened to be online and he IM’ed me. I thought it was a little weird just considering our past, but we chatted that night. And then I think we chatted again another time a few weeks later. During this time, I had been talking with another guy and thought things were moving toward something but they just never really materialized. The guy ended up being a jerk and I was way better off, even though I was hurt by it all. By the end of summer, we were talking a little more but it was all fairly innocent. There was a little flirting going on but nothing much. I mentioned to Sandy at one point that I wondered if he liked me. She did a little digging and found out that he was interested in me. I was slightly hesitant just because of what I’d just gone through but thankfully kept an open mind.

During that fall, I started a managerial MBA program at the U of A where we had class one Saturday a month and assignments in between. On the first Saturday class, Natalie and I headed up the night before to stay at Sandy’s so we didn’t have to get up so early. At this point I knew Zach liked me but I wasn’t sure how I felt since we hadn’t gotten along so well earlier in the year. We all planned on having dinner and as it turned out, that afternoon, Zach just randomly lost his voice. He seriously couldn’t talk! Kinda funny! :)

He and I started talking a little more and a couple of weekends later, Zach, Adam and Sandy all came down to my house for the weekend. Zach and I stayed up ALL night talking. Seriously. All night. We sat out on the deck and watched the sun rise. And we were together from that point on.

Six months to that day later, he proposed. Before arriving at my house to pick me up, he stopped at my parent’s house and asked my parents’ blessing. We went to a nice dinner and while we were gone, he enlisted the help of my best friend to decorate my house. There were roses scattered all over, candlelight, other various wedding themed decorations and letters that spelled my new initials. We got back to the house and he proposed. It was perfect and beautiful and one of the happiest nights of my life!

We were married 8 months later and I could not be luckier! I’m married to my best friend and I love doing life with him. We are the perfect match for each other and it’s so funny how life turned out for us based on the start we had.

If you are single and still waiting, let this be an encouragement to you – you never know if someone you have already met might be the one. We are proof positive that you cannot judge a book by its cover and that appearances can be deceiving! When we first met, I never would have imagined us married. But we are, and I’m so thankful he is the one God made for me!

“I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.”

Song of Solomon 6:3

Giveaway winner and answers to questions

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The winner is Jenn!! Please email me at efamilyblog@gmail.com to let me know which gift card you would like and where to send it!

Amanda asked: What is your favorite thing to do when you get "mommy alone time?"
Good question! Too bad there’s so little of it! :) One of my main “me times” is my lunch hour. I usually try to run errands or use this time to meet up with friends and catch up sans worrying about another person. I’m trying hard to limit how many times per week I do lunch out, so I come home a lot. It’s nice to have about an hour of time to myself at home to do whatever I want! When I do sneak in a little alone time otherwise, I enjoy just getting out and heading to browse at stores! I also enjoy settling in with a good book or movie!

icitea asked: whats your favorite recipe?
Hmmm.. I really enjoy cooking and have lots of favorite recipes. I’ll share one meal that we enjoy fairly regularly at our house – it’s super easy and yummy!

Swiss Chicken Casserole – from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
2 cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Arrange chicken in a greased 12 x 8 x 2 baking dish. Top with Swiss cheese slices.
Combine soup and milk and stir well. Spoon mixture over chicken and sprinkle with stuffing mix. Drizzle butter or margarine over crumbs.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 minutes. Enjoy!

Emily asked: what's Ava's favorite food?
Ava really isn’t a picky eater, fortunately. Things she never turns down are fruit snacks and yogurt. Other things she always enjoys eating are fruit (especially blueberries and strawberries) and pretty much all protein (chicken, turkey, ham, beef, eggs, etc). Another thing she loves to eat is chips and salsa! Smart girl!
Alycia asked: Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging a few months before Ava was born because I wanted to have a detailed record of her life. I love looking back at this journal of our family and seeing the things we’ve gone through and how we’ve grown and change.
Emily asked: And (a little more personal) how many kids do you want to have?
Lyndsey asked: Do you want to have any more children?
We definitely want more children (though on tough days with Ava, I wonder!) I’m really not sure how many we are going to have. I grew up in a family of five children and before getting married, I always thought I’d love four kids! However, it’s so sad to say this, but I’m not sure we can afford that many. If we didn’t have the expense of daycare it might be a different story. That being said, we’re taking steps to set ourselves up for a better financial future in hopes that we’ll be able to do more in the future. That may or may not translate to more children! I would say that when we have a 2nd, if it’s a girl, we may consider one more because Zach would really like a son. If our 2nd is a boy, I really have no idea if we’ll consider more. I think we’ll just see how we feel after 2 and of course, we know it’s ultimately up to the Lord!
Jenn asked: Knowing that in life there are things that you HAVE to do and things you GET to do, what are some things you have to do in life and some things you get to do in life?
Wow, that is a great question.
Things I HAVE to do:
1. Go to work (thought in light of all that’s happened recently, I am trying to view this as a GET to do!)
2. Clean my house
3. Pay bills
4. Set an example for the type of woman I want Ava to grow up to be
Things I GET to do:
1. Spend time with my family and friends
2. Go to church and worship Jesus
3. View the world through the eyes of a 2 year old little girl
4. One of my favorite things ever – travel!!

Lyndsey asked: Also, what's the best thing and the hardest thing about being a mom?
One of the best things about being a mom is when I hear that sweet little voice say “love you mama!” I love knowing that I’m who she wants to make everything better. Two of the very hardest things about being a mom: seeing your child sick and not being able to take away their pain and the other is disciplining, especially a strong willed child like ours!

Liz asked: Who is your all-time style icon?
I wouldn’t really say I have an all-time style icon. I don’t know that I have a particular style. If something catches my eye, then I try it on. My style is mostly finding clothes that I feel comfortable in (meaning, feel as though I look decent).

TIffany: I want to know how you get followers and where you got your blog design.
My followers have slowly grown over the years I’ve been blogging. Most of them fall into the categories of either people I know or people I’ve met through blogging, by reading and commenting on their blogs.
My current layout was done by Jen Gets Fancy. She is currently not accepting new orders as she’s getting ready for the birth of her 2nd daughter, but if you have questions you can contact her and see when she’ll be accepting new business.
Recently, I’ve had a few friends get makeovers from Diamond Doll Design and the layouts they have are PRECIOUS! You might check her out if you are wanting something more quickly! She has a special going on during the month of March!!

Several people asked the story of how Zach and I met. I’m actually going to save this for a separate post. There’s a nice little story behind it and it could get a little long so it will be a post all it’s own. Watch for it soon! :)Thanks for all the questions!!

Thank you giveaway!

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One of my very favorite things about blogging is the people I have met! It is such a fun community and I really appreciate all the people blogging has brought into my life!

That being said, I want to thank YOU, my followers, for making blogging so fun! And now that I’ve passed 100 followers, what better way to say thank than with a giveaway?!

Here are the rules:

1. You must be a follower because hello! That’s what I’m thanking you for!

2. Leave me a comment telling me you follow!

3. For an additional entry, leave me a comment with a question about something you’d like to know about me or us! I’ve had some new followers lately and thought this would be a good way for you to get to know more about us!

So that’s it. One entry for following and two for a question!

What do you win?? This shower gel/shampoo/bubble bath from Philosophy is WONDERFUL! I got some for Christmas from Leslie and I LOVE it! So I thought I’d share some with you!

You will also get your choice of a $10 gift card to one of my favorite following places:

So there ya go! You have until Sunday at noon to enter. I’ll pick a winner that evening! US residents only please!

Thank you for making blogging so fun for me!!