Thursday, November 20, 2008

22 Week Update

Sorry I’m a bit delayed in my update. The last two weeks have been pretty busy. I finally got the 20 week belly photo added to my last post. I'm not doing a very good job keeping up with this. We enjoyed our weekend with Justin’s mom and I survived another busy Christmas Carousel weekend. My good friend Hannah was in town with her two little girls last week so we also got to visit with them. Campbell is as cute as can be and JoAnna kept us very entertained. It was fun to see what we have to look forward to in the coming months and years. My grandmother returned safely from her mission trip to Tanzania. We are all very glad to have her back home safely. I know it was an experience she will never forget and we enjoyed getting to hear about her trip over pizza Friday night while also celebrating her and papa's 55th wedding anniversary. They have created an amazing legacy for our family! Friday night Keller was not ready to leave grandmother and papa’s and so I told him he could stay and spend the night with us. He hadn’t spent the night with us since before we got pregnant and I figured we better have our slumber parties now because I think it will be a while before we are up for that once Ava Kate arrives. We really talked up the special pallet that we made for him in the floor beside our bed and he was so excited to get in it. Since I sleep with about four pillows now Justin doesn’t get left with much space so I knew having all three of us in the bed would be a bit too crowded. He did good and Uncle Justin was sweet enough to lay down on the pallet with him until he fell asleep. About 1:30am I woke up to a little wimper as Keller crawled into our bed. Needless to say we got a taste of what the nights to come will be like. Saturday morning Justin and Keller went to get us donuts- that is one of Keller’s favorite things!

Ava Kate’s crib and all her stuff were starting to take over the guest room so we decided it was time to start getting the office cleaned out. Justin and a friend got the big furniture moved out Saturday. Sunday Justin and I spent all day in a reorganization frenzy! It was absolutely crazy. Cleaning out the office turned into cleaning out not only the office but also the laundry room, several closets, the armoire, bookcases and the garage. And when I say cleaning out I mean we literally pulled everything out and went through it and put it all back. In the end though we ended up with a completely empty office ready to be transformed into a nursery and lots more storage for all the baby things that will soon be filling our house. All the dust we encountered in our big cleaning project seemed to stir up my allergies which then turned into a miserable sinus infection. Fortunately we already had an appointment with Dr. Mascarro Tuesday so she was able to confirm it was indeed a sinus infection and give me some medicine. Today I’m finally starting to feel a little better. One day in bed doesn’t bother me but after two I start getting a little crazy so I was very happy to be feeling well enough to get to go back to work today. Since we got the office all cleaned out Justin started painting last night. He got her closet painted and we are hoping to get the room done by the end of the weekend so we can move all of her stuff out of the guest room next week before Grandma and Grandpa arrive for Thanksgiving!

My Precious Grandparents Celebrating 55 Years!


I just had to include a photo of this darling little tutu we got for our precious ballerina!


Our handyman!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Half Way!!!

Well I am officially half way through my pregnancy. The last 8 weeks have just flown by and I’m sure the next 8 will go just as fast with the holidays upon us. I absolutely love this time of year and I love this part of pregnancy! I just feel so good and have energy and I am enjoying getting to feel Ava move pretty much everyday now. Last Thursday she really started moving a lot and has been moving everyday since then. It is such a wonderful and amazing feeling and I just find myself sitting still waiting for her next movement. I really seem to notice it when I am sitting at my desk at work. She seems to be waking up around 10 or 10:30am at least on the weekdays. Boy it would be nice if she kept that schedule but somehow I don’t think that will be the case. Justin was so anxious to feel her move and kept saying I think she doesn't like me because everytime he would put his hand on my tummy she would stop moving but last night he finally got to feel her move and you should have seen the huge smile on his face! He didn't just feel her once but several times. We were sitting in our bed watching TV and he had just made hot chocolate for his mom and me and Ava Kate must really like hot chocolate because I felt her more last night than I ever had before. It was so fun to finally be able to share that moment with him! Grandma also got to feel her move!

Wednesday we had our sonogram with the specialist and he checked for any abnormalities. He said it is definitely a girl and everything looks just great and she is 13 ounces and 10 inches long and on track for March 25th. We will continue to see the specialist every six weeks because he likes to watch IVF patients a little more closely. Justin’s mom got to come in town and go to the sonogram with us and my mom so that was fun for her to get to see Ava again. She has grown a lot since the last time she got to see her. Then we spent the rest of the day shopping and I don’t think Ava Kate will be hurting for clothes, shoes or hair accessories. We also received a couple more really sweet gifts from friends yesterday including a beautiful blanket with her name on it and a precious apron that says My Little Cupcake! I can’t wait to bake cupcakes with her in our cupcake aprons.

Speaking of baking cupcakes we have a large order we are doing for a vendor to put in her booth at Christmas Carousel this weekend. I’m also in the style show again this year and finding outfits for a pregnant woman at Dillards was a little interesting considering they don’t carry maternity. Fortunately I haven’t gotten too big yet. I do get to wear some pretty funky heals and I’m hoping I don’t have a balance issue and trip and fall up there. I’m the only one with a baby bump up there so that should be funny! Between style show rehearsals, meetings and work shifts for Christmas Carousel, baking cupcakes and getting through year end at work it has been a crazy week and won’t slow down until Sunday! I’ll be begging for lots of foot massages this week. And of course we’ll do some more shopping for Ava Kate at Carousel!

20 Week Belly!