Moments and Miracles

Tea Parties and Princess Dresses

2012-01-27T15:26:00.000-06:00

Seriously, what is more fun than tea parties and princess dresses?? When you've turning 5, nothing! :) Ava had the best birthday party at her dance studio! She wanted all of her friends to dress in princess dresses and they had a tea party/dance party.

Our little princess decided to dress in Cinderella's wedding dress (in case you were confused by the veil and bouquet) :)

The table getting set up before the party

The chair for the "princess" to sit in as she opened her presents

Daddy and Ava

What is a tea party without petit fours?

And cupcakes...they are 5!

Ava and some of her friends

Oh, I love this girl

Not so great group shot

Serving the princesses

Sipping "tea"

Blowing out her candle

Time for presents!

I can't believe my sweet little Ava Grace is 5 years old! I have so many mixed emotions about this. Having a 5 year old makes me feel really old. Aren't I just a kid myself?? How in the world did I turn into a 30 year old with a 5 year old child?!?

How did Ava go from this...

to this...

Happy Birthday my precious Ava Grace. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years will bring.

More Pictures

2011-11-17T15:36:00.001-06:00

Our photographer gave me a CD with some more pictures of the girls, so I thought I would share.

I love that she looks surprised here

Halloween

2011-11-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

We had the best time trick-or-treating last night. Audrey was so excited about her Ariel costume! She kept running to the closet to show me where it was hanging. So cute! I feel like we didn't get good pictures in their costumes because they were too ready to start trick-or treating.

Amelia was our little "Pumpkin Princess". :)

Love those dimples!

We tried to get a picture of all three of them in their Halloween outfits, but this is the best we could do. :)

Ariel and Belle

Amelia's Nickname is "Love Bug", so here is our little Love Bug

Out Trick-or-Treating (no, that was not our party bus) :)

We walked in the door and Ava dumped out her candy (Audrey soon followed)

Next year, we'll have three girls that can't wait to go trick-or-treating.

Family Pictures

2011-10-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago. I posted a link to the blog post, but here are a few of our favorites. Allison with Freckled Egg Photography did a fantastic job! Especially, when a certain little 2 year old wanted nothing to do with standing still for pictures. :) The family picture we're getting is actually slightly different, but I thought I would share anyway.

Ava - 4.5 years

Audrey - 2 years

Amelia - 7.5 months
My Three Girls

Our Family
So happy to have this phase of our lives documented with great pictures.

Fall

2011-10-11T13:56:00.002-05:00

I have exactly 8 minutes before I need to leave to pick the girls up from school, so I thought I would throw some pictures up here. We were pretending it was fall to take pictures for Gigi's store, but I'm pretty sure it was still 115 outside. :)

Doesn't Amelia look thrilled?

Audrey and Pops taking a break from pictures
I have a few more cute ones, but I need to get Amelia up from her nap so we can go. I hate that I always have to wake her up to get the girls! But, I guess that's what happens when you're #3.

Family Pictures

2011-10-09T16:11:00.001-05:00

We had family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. Our photographer just put up a post on her blog with some of our pictures. If we get 25 comments on her blog post, we get a free 8x10. So, go check out some cute pictures of our girls and leave a comment. :)

http://www.freckledeggphotography.com/blog/the-woodlands-photographer-amelia/

I have some new pictures of the girls I'll try to share soon. I was having problems with my computer where I upload all of our pictures, but I got a new laptop last week. Hopefully, this will allow me to update more often!

I'm Back!!

2011-09-06T13:07:00.001-05:00

Yes, I do realize Amelia was 4 months old the last time I posted and she is about to turn 7 months. We've had a long, fun summer which, obviously, did not include blogging! :)

Ava and Audrey started school today. I went to upload the pictures I took this morning and realized I had 298 pictures to upload that started with Ava's end of year school program from last year. Oops! Now, that the older two are in school two days a week and Amelia still takes a morning nap, I should be able to blog on a more regular basis. You'll probably see more pictures of Amelia too because I'll actually have time to take pictures of her without the other two trying to steal the show. :)

This will most likely be a huge picture dump so I can get them on here before Amelia wakes up. I want to come back later and add details about Audrey turning 2 years and Amelia turning 6 months.

Lets start back in May. :)

Ava with Gigi and Pops after her school program

Ava with Grandma and Mommy

Ava and Aunt Kirby

Showing her true colors

Right after this, we took a week long vacation to Destin, FL. We took lots of video, but all of the pictures are on another camera. That will also get a post of it's own another time.

Then, Audrey moved out of her crib into a big girl bed. Here are a few pictures of the first day.

Can't believe I'm putting this picture on here, but I thought Amelia looked cute. This is at the beginning of July.

Daddy and his girls

Amelia and Boompa

Then, my sweet Audrey Kate turned 2! Can you believe it??? She didn't let us get a good picture of her all day!

Her cake

The birthday girl

Our attempt at a picture with the birthday girl

This is how she sat the whole time we sang Happy Birthday. :)

Ava helping to blow out the candles

They got to keep blowing and blowing because I accidentally bough trick candles

Yum!

Swimming at her party

She loved her purple shoes and backpack. We couldn't get her to take them off!

Moving on...

Audrey likes to carry a ton of stuff around the house. Of course, she still has to be able to suck her thumb.

Ava loves taking pictures with Amelia. I just wish Ava had a bow in her hair during this picture. :)
And now on to August...

After Amelia turned 6 months, she started eating baby food

We also got all of the babyfood stuff of video. Maybe I'll share one of these days...

Now September...

As I mentioned, the girls started school today. Audrey did great and didn't cry when we left her. However, she didn't want to have her picture taken. :(

Daddy with Ava and Amelia. Yes, I know Amelia doesn't have shoes on, but we were going to be late. Don't judge me!

Ava posing behind her desk chair

I love her!

This is how we left Audrey. She just sat down and started sucking her thumb. I can't wait to hear how it went when I pick up the girls in a little bit.

Whew! That was a very quick recap of our summer. I'm excited to be back. I hope this gets updated way more often!!

Hope you enjoy!

4 Months

2011-06-09T14:55:00.002-05:00

Our little Amelia Bedelia is 4 months old. Can you believe it?? I absolutely cannot. I am trying my best to make time stand still, but it just isn't working! I am so in love with this little girl!!

Amelia is the sweetest, happiest baby. She wakes up every morning just cooing away in her cradle and gives us a big smile as soon as we look at her. She is sleeping 10-11 hours a night which is great for Mommy! :) She has recently moved her bedtime up to around 9-9:30 which is nice. I can feed her and actually get in bed at a decent time. Amelia loves to watch her sisters run around and play and they love her too. Audrey refuses to call her Amelia and will only refer to her as "baby" which makes me laugh, especially since she can say Amelia. :)

Amelia thinks she is a big girl now and wants to be held in a sitting up position so she can take it all in. Kurt and I don't remember our other girls being so particular about that! She is rolling over (sometimes), laughing out loud, and "talking" up a storm.

Here are Amelia's 4 month stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 9 oz. (26%)

Height: 25 in. (77%)

Head: 16 in. (40%)

and here are Ava and Audrey's 4 month stats for comparison...

Ava:

Weight: 11 lbs. 6 oz. (10%)

Height: 24 1/4 in. (50%)

Head: 15 1/2 in. (10%)

Audrey:

Weight: 12 lbs. 7 oz. (25%)

Height: 25 1/4 in. (90%)

Head: 16 in. (40%)

I was really thinking that Amelia was our biggest baby at this age, but she is really right there with Audrey. I am actually shocked that Audrey was a little longer because Amelia seems sooo long to me. That's why it is so fun to compare all of them.

Audrey's Hospital Adventure

2011-06-07T14:40:00.003-05:00

This post is about the scariest thing that has ever happened to me/our family in my entire life, so I decided to give it a fun title. There was nothing really appropriate, and I guess it was an adventure...

Many people have heard partial details about what happened last week, so I thought I would write it all down in one place. Also, I want to write this all down for Audrey to read one day. I'm hoping the details won't be as fresh as they are now someday soon. :)

Last Wednesday, the girls had just finished lunch, and I went into Amelia's room to change her diaper. Audrey pretty much follows me wherever I go in the house, so she was right behind me. We have a small rocking "horse" in there that is actually a stuffed rocking lamb. Anyway, Audrey was rocking on the lamb and the back of it was stuck on a decorative metal dress thing. Very descriptive, I know. :) She was rocking hard trying to get the back unstuck. If you know her, she isn't the type to just get off and pull it away from where it is stuck.

I turned around just as the back came loose and when it did she flipped off the back. The back of her head hit the ground and her body continued to go over. This is very hard to describe, but basically her head was the only thing on the ground and her chest literally touched her face. This is when I heard a big pop/crunch. I immediately grabbed her up and she was doing the "silent scream". I think most people who have kids know what this is. She couldn't even catch her breath to start actually screaming for what felt like forever. She started screaming as I was holding her tight, and I realized that she was not holding onto me like she usually does. I looked down and her arms and legs were just dangling by her side. My heart sank and I freaked out. I laid her down on the floor grabbed her arms and legs and tried to get her to move them. Every time I picked them up, they just flopped back onto the ground. I asked her if she could move them and she screamed "no" through her sobs. Yes, this was the worst moment of my life to date.

I got Amelia off the changing table (I didn't need two of them to fall) and ran to get the phone. I called 911, answered their questions, and they said help was on the way. At this point, Audrey's face was purple. I'm not even exaggerating. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Her face was completely red/purple and her body from the neck down was pasty pale white. If she hadn't been screaming, I would think she wasn't breathing by the color of her face. I actually expected her to quit breathing at any second by the way her face looked. I sat down in front of her and started telling her everything was going to be okay. I had Ava bring me a seat for Amelia. I sat Amelia down next to Audrey and tried my best to calm both of them down. Amelia was screaming too. I'm not sure if I scared her or Audrey's screaming scared her or a combination of the both. I'm not sure I have ever shaken that hard in my entire life. We sat there like that for 8 long minutes until the ambulance got there. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but that was the longest 8 minutes of my life!!!

I have to stop a minute and give Ava a TON of credit. She was so big for only being 4 years old. The 911 operator told me to make sure my front door was unlocked. I told Ava to let the EMTs in when they got there. She sat by us for a little bit and then disappeared into the kitchen. When she came back, she had an ice pack for Audrey. So sweet!! She would check on us and then run back to check the door to see if they were here yet. When the EMTs rang the doorbell, Ava ran to the door, opened it, and said, "come in...my mommy is right this way." :) I am so proud of her.

Sometime during this, Audrey had finally settled down. Those are the images that I am not sure I will ever get out of my head. She was quiet, laying on the floor, not moving, and her little eyes were darting around the room trying to understand what was happening. I've never seen so much fear written all over such a little girls face. The calm was short lived because two strangers (the EMTs) came in and took over her care. Sometime during all of this, she started to move her fingers and then her hands again. We could tell her had some sensation in her feet, but she still wasn't trying to move or get up. It felt like the EMTs were at our house for hours. Nothing they had was small enough to fit her. They couldn't find a neck brace small enough, so they decided to just use towel rolls and some other velcro contraption to keep her completely still. Even the towel rolls were too big and had to be modified.

I should mention that after I called 911, Kurt got the terrifying call from me that Audrey had fallen and couldn't move her arms and legs. Sometime after the EMTs arrived but before they got her all "packaged up", Kurt came flying into the house. I am sooooo thankful he was close. He was able to take Ava to our neighbor's house (thanks Krystal!!!) and get Amelia ready to go with him. He was dealing with the other kids, getting the diaper bag packed, etc. which allowed me to stay with Audrey and try to keep her calm. I should also mention that we had two fabulous EMTs that were so sweet to Audrey. They both had kids, and I think that made a huge difference.

Okay, back to the story. They finally got her on the backboard and stretcher and all ready to go. I'm not going to say which hospital they took us to because I don't say what city we live in on my blog, but they informed us they would be taking us to the med center because they needed to take her to a level 1 trauma center. They thought any other hospital would transfer her there anyway and they wanted to save time. It felt like it took us FOREVER to get to the hospital. The ambulance had called ahead, so they were all ready for us when we arrived. They took us straight to the trauma department. A trauma surgeon walked straight over to us, asked if this was the little girl that fell off of a rocking horse, and went right to work. I was really impressed. They were so good with her! They wanted to do x-rays first because they don't like exposing children her age to the radiation from CT scans and/or MRIs unless absolutely necessary. Not long after we arrived Amelia needed to eat, so I had to leave Audrey to go feed her. Of course, Kurt stayed with her the whole time. Once again, I was impressed. They found a private room for me to feed Amelia, brought warm blankets for her because it was so cold in there, and even provided a screen in case anyone walked in. I had my nursing cover and would have been completely comfortable nursing her in the middle of the trauma unit, but I still thought this was nice of them.

When Audrey got back from x-ray, she was back in the trauma area right between two people who had fingers/hands cut off. They decided they should probably move Audrey to the pediatric area which Kurt and I are both very thankful for. :) When we first got to the hospital they still couldn't find a neck brace small enough for Audrey. They finally had to go somewhere else and finally came back with an infant size that fit her. By the way, there is no way an infant would have fit into that brace. Here is my sweet girl after her x-ray.

I've never been so happy to see my little girl sucking her thumb. I honestly never thought I would see it again. If you can't tell, she is watching a DVD on a portable DVD player that the child life specialist brought to her. Once again, they were fabulous!!

Once we were moved to the pediatric side of the emergency room, things got hectic. We were seeing pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric neurologists, a nurse practitioner that was coordinating all of this, lots of residents, etc. At some point, they said they saw something between C4 and C5 on her x-ray and they would need to do an MRI. Someone else said they didn't see anything, so I'm still confused about that. Anyway, the neurosurgeon decided it was necessary to do the MRI because he needed to see if there was any swelling of her spinal cord and also needed to see if the ligaments on either side of her cord had been stretched or torn because this could make her cord unstable if they were to remove the brace. The neurologist decided he wanted a CT of her head to make sure everything looked good there too. They went down for the MRI and waited forever for the anesthesiologist. They needed to put her to sleep because it was going to take about 45 minutes and a 22 month old is not capable of staying still in a machine that long. Also, the loud noise would have scared her to death. Actually, there was an anesthesiologist, but he was waiting on final word from his boss about putting her under because it had only been 6 hours since she had eaten lunch. They like to wait 8 hours. We finally saw his boss and she confirmed that they would not put her to sleep with the added risk that would put on her. So, we would be waiting until the next morning for the MRI. We went back down to the emergency room and they did the CT scan which was very quick. They had a room ready for us up on the pediatric floor, so we were then officially admitted.

They had her in a baby cage up there. :)

They finally let her sit up, so she was very happy.

My parents got there sometime after we were in a room (it's a 3 hour drive for them) and they were able to take Amelia home with them). Poor baby had been dragged all over the hospital that day. She was probably ready to get home and go to sleep!

It was a very long night. They came in constantly to check Audrey's eyes since she had a head injury, then someone different would come check her vitals, then they needed to start an IV, etc. Audrey slept much better than Mommy!

The next morning, we saw the neurosurgeon who said he was pretty sure she had a transient spinal cord injury. Basically, there was some injury to the spinal cord that caused temporary paralysis. He said the MRI would tell us if there was any swelling in the cord or injury to the ligaments which would mean she would have to wear a halo. We know it would not have been the end of the world and it was much better than what we were facing the day before, but we were not excited about this possibility. After waiting and waiting and waiting, we were finally taken down for the MRI. I didn't expect it to be so difficult when they put my baby to sleep. I knew she would be fine, but it was so scary. Watching the anesthesiologist take over her breathing is something I think no mother should ever see. It totally freaked me out!! Anyway, she did great with the MRI and this is my baby sleeping soundly after...

Back in her room

We waited and waited some more and they finally told us that everything on the MRI looked good and she should have no lasting effects from any of this! That is the absolute BEST NEWS we could have ever received!! They told us to follow up with her doctor in a few days and the neurosurgeon in a month.

I took her to our pediatrician yesterday. The hospital had sent everything over to his office and he said he had been reviewing it all the night before. He said reading about it literally made him sick to his stomach. He grabbed Audrey and gave her a big kiss right on her forehead and told her he was so happy to see her and her big dimples in his office. :)

I'm sure most people stopped reading a long time ago, but I wanted to get this all down for our family. We are so, so thankful that our little girl is okay. I literally just watch her walk around the house. Of course, I loved and adored her before, but I appreciate everything about her on a whole new level. She is getting really tired of my grabbing her and kissing her every chance I get. She'll just have to live with that for now. :)

The end of this was rushed because nap time is ending. No time to proof read, so hopefully it all makes sense. :)

Pictures

2011-05-23T14:00:00.003-05:00

I have a few free minutes, so I'm just going to throw a few pictures up here. I really need to write an update, but that will have to wait. Amelia is supposed to eat in 5 minutes and I can hear her stirring. :)

Our Family on Easter (more Easter pics to come)

Audrey loved her bracelet

My three girls after church

Two with Daddy

Sweet Amelia (3 months)

Well, Amelia is now starving, so I'll be back later. I have a ton of Easter pictures I still need to go through. Hope this will hold everyone over. :)

Do they look alike?

2011-04-11T10:36:00.006-05:00

Everyone keeps saying that Amelia looks nothing like her sisters, but I don't agree. I think people think she looks different because of her dark hair and skin. Here are pictures of all three of the girls at about 2 months. Not the best pictures, but I was trying to get them all close in age.

Ava

Audrey

Amelia

I really think Amelia favors the other girls. What do you think?

Sweet Smiles

2011-04-05T12:08:00.004-05:00

Well, I said I would be back later in the week, but I couldn't resist posting these sweet baby smiles. Amelia thought Mommy was very funny this morning. Of course, I wish this had happened when she was dressed in a cute outfit with a bow in her hair, but I can't be picky. I'm just glad I had the camera handy.

I just love her dimples. Audrey has the biggest dimples and it looks like Amelia will too. Ava has one just like her Daddy.

Anyway, I'll be back again with 2 month stats unless something cute happens between now and then. :)

More Pictures

2011-04-04T14:23:00.002-05:00

As always, I only have a few minutes before Amelia needs to eat again. I wanted to share a couple of pictures.

Amelia has her two month (I know, can you believe she is already 8 weeks?!) check-up this week, so I'll be back with stats and an update on her in a few days.

This was one of her newborn pictures I didn't share before. I really think it is my favorite.

Here is a picture of our sweet baby girl that was taken last week before she went to Daddy's softball game.

And this is what is it like when I try to take pictures of Amelia...see Audrey climbing up in the backgroumd.

Introducing...

2011-03-08T12:33:00.003-06:00

Amelia Anne

February 7, 2011

2:24 pm

6 lbs.

18.75 in.

Those are a few of Amelia's newborn shots. I don't want to post all of them because her birth announcements aren't here yet. I'll post more after those get mailed out.

So, I've been a horrible blogger lately. Amelia turned one month old yesterday, and I am just not announcing her birth. Terrible, right? It has been a crazy, hectic month though. When Amelia was one week old, my sweet grandmother passed away. We traveled to my hometown for the funeral and spent 5 days there. My sister and nephews were here from Singapore and went back the following week. We turned around again and went out of town for Kurt's cousin's wedding. Last weekend was our first weekend home. I can't believe we've traveled so much with a newborn! So, hopefully that all gives me an excuse for just now blogging about our sweet Amelia Anne. If you're reading this one day Amelia, I'm really sorry! :)

I want to post the full story of her birth for myself, but that will have to happen another day. I do want to get some pictures on here. First, she is the sweetest baby! She loves to cuddle which I love too. After getting some reflux meds, she is sleeping great. She has been sleeping at least 6 hours the last week or so and last night actually slept for 7 hours. I am still tired, but hopefully I'll be catching up soon. :)

The girls absolutely love their baby sister. I was a little worried about how Audrey would handle the new baby because of her age, but she has been great. She loves to kiss her baby sister and doesn't seem to be too jealous. However, she has discovered she can grab things and run while I am sitting and nursing Amelia. It is kind of funny, kind of annoying. :)

Amelia is about to get hungry, so I better get these pictures on here.

Right after Amelia was born.

With Mommy

And Daddy

Ava seeing Amelia for the first time

Audrey missed her mommy during the day

The girls waiting to see Amelia get her first bath

Audrey loving on her baby sister

My three girls

Coming Home

Crazy Hair

Ava and Amelia

Our Family - Amelia's first Valentine's Day

We'll be meeting Amelia very soon...

2011-01-28T10:34:00.001-06:00

I've been meaning to write about this, but the last few days have been crazy! I was supposed to go to the doctor on Monday while Kurt was in Las Vegas for work, but my midwife had to cancel. Now, I'm kind of glad she did and I didn't have to hear all the news alone.

I went in for my 35 week ultrasound/biophysical profile and non-stess test. Kurt and I noticed Amelia was measuring a small on the ultrasound, but of course they don't tell you anything. Went in for the non-stress test next and my midwife came to find us there. She said the blood flow from my placenta wasn't good and the baby was measuring very small. They were already trying to get me an appointment with a specialist ASAP.

We went to the specialist yesterday and he confirmed that Amelia has IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction). She is very small and my placenta is not giving her what she needs. He used the word "malnourished" to describe her which makes me sad. She will not continue to grow inside, so we need to get her out. He would have taken yesterday, but we can't be sure her lungs are mature. The only benefit to leaving her in is to allow her lungs more time. He wanted to wait until Monday when I'll be 36 weeks. I'll have an amnio at his office and we'll get the results in 2 hours. If her lungs are mature, we'll induce immediately. If not, I'll be admitted to the hospital for constant monitoring until her lungs mature, but he doesn't want me to keep her in longer than 37 weeks. So, it looks like we'll be having a baby next week no matter what.

Over the weekend, I'm supposed to keep a very close eye on her movements. I am thankful to have one more weekend to get everything ready. I want to spend some extra time with my girls before we have a newborn in the house again.

The last few days have been stressful, but one funny thing is that the doctor called Amelia a "he" during the ultrasound yesterday. Kurt and I didn't say anything, but we got to talking about it on the way home. We're pretty sure he didn't look and was using a generic "he" term, but there is nothing like putting a little doubt into your mind right before you have the baby. :) If it is a boy, I hope he likes pink. ;) Kurt has liked the same boy name since we were deciding on names for Ava. If we get our surprise boy, I'll let Kurt name him. For those of you that know me, I'm only saying that because I'm 99.9% sure we're having a girl.

33+ weeks

2011-01-11T12:27:00.002-06:00

It's been a little while since I've blogged. I totally skipped Christmas, but I honestly haven't even uploaded the pictures to my computer. Sad, I know! But, right after Christmas, we painted Amelia's room. Then, we left and spent 4 days traveling to and from a wedding in Oklahoma City. Then, we took down our Christmas decorations and Kurt went back to work. Where did the holidays go??? Sigh! So, I feel like we are just now catching our breath and Ava' s birthday party is this weekend.

We are making progress on the nursery. The room is painted and the furniture is being painted at my house as I type. My mom started making the curtains last weekend and hopefully we'll be able to finish this weekend. I have all of the baby bedding ready to go on the bed and we're having a canvas painted to hang above the crib this week. This is the latest I have ever put together a nursery, but it will all come together, hopefully, before she is born. We still need a few accessories, but I'll need to see the room mostly put together to see what we still need.

I am still feeling pretty good. The contractions are getting more painful and more frequent, but we haven't entered into the "go to the hospital" zone yet. I go back to the doctor in two weeks for an ultrasound, biophysical profile, and non-stress test. This will give us a better idea of what (if anything) is going on. I'm measuring small *again* this time. I'm curious to see how much she weighs in a couple of weeks.

I really need to get baby clothes down from the attic to start washing. Of course, this will require the furniture so I actually have a place to put her clothes. I love pulling all of the tiny baby clothes out, but I'm not looking forward to washing and hanging them all up. Any volunteers??? ;)

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Ava was born less than 3 weeks from now and Audrey was born less than 4 weeks from now. I can't believe we'll have a cuddly little newborn in the house again soon. Of course, after all this worry and preparation, she'll probably wait us out until her due date. :)

I'll try to post Christmas pictures soon and pictures of Ava and Audrey's new room.

Can't wait for baby...

2011-01-04T10:07:00.002-06:00

Ava is really getting anxious to meet Amelia. Here is a conversation we just had...

Ava: I can't wait for Amelia to come out of your tummy. I wonder what she is going to look like.

Me: Do you think she'll look like you?

Ava: I think so. Or...(as her eyes light up) maybe she'll look like Santa!!!

Now, I'm going to start having nightmares that she comes out looking like Santa. Of course, that is a very real possibility if the amount of heartburn I've had is any indication. :)

Little Mommy

2010-12-20T11:31:00.002-06:00

I think Ava has been listening to her pregnant mama a little too much lately. I was in the office doing a couple of things and hear her moaning and groaning in the kitchen. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I spilled some water, and now I have to clean it up. And, I'm just so tired!!" This really made me giggle. :)

Since we're on the subject, I'll give a little pregnancy update. I am 30 weeks pregnant now. I honestly can't believe I just typed "30 weeks"!! For the most part, I am still feeling good. As Ava pointed out, I am a little tired. :) Of course, everyone is a little tired this time of year, so I'm sure it is only compounded by being so pregnant. I am having a little trouble bending over to tie my own shoes and putting on socks is a little tricky, but I'm definitely nowhere close to the "completely miserable" stage yet.

I am enjoying feeling my little girl move around in my belly, and I'm not ready to give that up yet. There is something about knowing this is my last baby that makes it that much more special. I am getting excited to meet her, but I would prefer she stay in for at least 7 more weeks. Actually, she better stay in for that long because we have done nothing, absolutely nothing, to prepare for her arrival. :) Ava is still sleeping in what will be Amelia's nursery, I haven't even considered getting baby clothes down from the attic to wash, the cradle is still being stored at my parents' house, her room hasn't been painted, etc. As you can see, we're going to be very busy after Christmas. I do have to say I have been more relaxed about getting all of that done this time. I think Kurt would actually agree! :)

Audrey is walking around saying, "eat, eat", so I better go get lunch ready.

Santa Pictures

2010-12-17T14:26:00.010-06:00

I just remembered that I promised I would post pictures of the girls with Santa. One of my girls was not thrilled about Santa, can you tell which one?

I really love the second picture of Ava with Santa. This is the first year she would even go close to him. She is so excited about Christmas, and I can't wait to see how excited she is after Santa visits our house!

I was going to put this in another post, but I'll just add it here. :) Here is a conversation I had with Ava this morning after I noticed the container of fudge on the counter was slightly open.

Me: Ava, did you eat some fudge?

Ava: Yes.

Me: Were you supposed to do that?

Ava: No, but it's not my fault! It was just sitting on the counter staring at me. (pause) So, I ate it!

I probably should have been mad, but I can totally relate. Both of the girls got my sweet tooth. :)

Christmas and Pregnancy

2010-12-09T12:57:00.003-06:00

We've been busy around here getting everything ready for Christmas. The house is decorated inside and out, all of the presents are bought, Christmas cards have been mailed, packages have been sent, and I've been wrapping presents like crazy! I hope to be done with the wrapping soon because I like to just sit back and enjoy the last couple of weeks before Christmas. I still have some baking to do, but I'm not sure how much will get done. I have a cookie exchange next week which I'm really excited about, but I've decided I'm not going to kill myself trying to make tons of stuff this year. I think having two kids and being 31 weeks pregnant at Christmas gives me an excuse to take it easy this year, right??

I had a doctor's appointment today. I am 28 weeks and 4 days. The contractions have already started just as they did with my first two babies, so my midwife checked me today to make sure they weren't causing me to progress. Things look good so far, but she said with things following the same pattern as the last two, she is expecting to deliver a baby at 37 weeks. This has tentatively been our plan all along, but she was hoping everything would look good and we could try to let me go full term. She said today that she is pretty positive that's not going to happen. We are going to start weekly ultrasounds and non-stress tests at 35 weeks. So, that means little Amelia may be here in 8.5 weeks!! I need to take a deep breath because that seems unbelievable!

Santa will be working all night to get Ava and Audrey's room ready for Christmas morning. That means we have to get busy on Amelia's room right after Christmas. Thinking about putting Christmas decorations away, decorating a nursery, washing baby clothes, getting all of the baby stuff ready again, etc. makes me tired. :) I need that nesting boost of energy. I learned today that despite taking iron pills once a day, I am still anemic. This might explain my lack of energy. I'm really hoping the boost in iron will give me a boost in energy as well.

I know everyone really comes here for pictures, but that would require that I actually plug my camera into the computer to see what new pictures I have to share. I promise I'll do that soon, but it's not happening today. You'll all be on picture overload again soon with Christmas, a New Year's wedding, Ava's birthday in January, and then Amelia's birth. Check back soon because I'm picking up the pictures of the girls' with Santa on Saturday. Even though I haven't seen them yet, I can promise you that Audrey's reaction to Santa will not disappoint!

The things she says...Part 3

2010-11-23T16:40:00.002-06:00

Here is a conversation I just had with Ava.

Me: Ava, do you want to feel the baby move?

Ava: Sure! (as she lifts up my shirt) Wow, your belly is SOOOO big. You must have eaten A LOT of food!!

Me: No, remember Mommy has a baby in her belly.

Ava: Oh, did you just eat too much candy?

Me: (Sigh)

Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T09:33:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it is already the week of Thanksgiving. I don't usually do any posts leading up to Thanksgiving saying what we are thankful for, but little Amelia made me think I should do one or two this year.

Today I am thankful for a little baby that wakes me up in the middle of the night kicking me because I've rolled over on her. :)

To add a little to that, I don't ever remember Ava doing this to me. Audrey was a totally different baby (inside and out). Ava was as laid back inside as she was after she was born. However, Audrey would wake me up kicking me if I rolled too much onto my belly during the night. She would also kick me if I leaned into something or if she didn't like the waistband on my pants because they invaded her space.

Amelia is the same way. She kicks her sisters if they sit in my lap and squish her. She also lets me know that she doesn't like it when I sit in certain positions. I have a few pairs of pants that I feel like she would prefer if I threw them in the trash. :) She also wants me to sleep directly on my side. If I roll just a little bit forward, this cuts into her space and she is going to let me know about it.

I have to admit that I love waking up in the middle of the night because my baby is showing her personality before we even get to meet her. I can't wait to see if she is like one of her sisters or has her own personality all together. If we get two with Audrey's fiery red-headed personality, you will all need to pray for us. :) Of course, we love our little Audrey and her opinionated ways. She has the perfect personality for a middle child. She is definitely not going to get lost in the shuffle and we are thankful for that. :)

I'll try to post some more this week, but Happy Thanksgiving to everyone if I don't get around to it.

24 Weeks

2010-11-09T15:46:00.002-06:00

I am now 24 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant. It is really hard to believe I am that far along. It seems to be going so quickly. I know the next couple of months will fly by with Thanksgiving, Christmas, a New Year's wedding (Kurt's cousin), and Ava's birthday in January. Before we know it, little Amelia will be here!! I have another ultrasound tomorrow to hopefully get a good look at Amelia's heart, brain, and face. I really, really hope she cooperates this time!

Several people have been complaining that I haven't been posting belly shots this time, so here are a couple for you from Sunday.

Halloween

2010-11-04T13:15:00.006-05:00

I've just decided my kids are at a tough age and WILL NOT take a picture together. One is smiling and the other is looking off, one looks cute and the other has her tongue sticking out, etc. So, once again, we didn't get great Halloween pictures. I, of course, still want to remember their costumes, so here you go...

Costumes

2010-10-30T15:13:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm back posting pictures of the kids. :)

First, Audrey absolutely LOVES the dishwasher. I can't load or unload it with her around because she likes to pull things out of it, put things in it, climb on it, etc. I turned around for literally two seconds the other day and this is what I found...

She looks surprised she got caught. :)

Here is one more once she decided she was cute because Mommy was taking pictures of her instead of making her get down.

Here is a sneak peek of the girls costumes. I hope I get some better pictures tonight and tomorrow, but these will do for now.

Strawberry Shortcake

She loves the pink hair!

Ava decorating cookies at her school Halloween party.

And this one was running all over the house, but is that not the cutest little thumb sucking pumpkin you've ever seen? :)

Disclaimer

2010-10-22T22:03:00.002-05:00

Okay, Kurt came home and said my last post sounded like I don't like older people. This is absolutely not the case! I was really just trying to say I thought it was funny that we are so popular with the older folks. :) Apparently, I didn't get my point across very well. Kurt said he knew what I was trying to say because he has heard me talk about it before, but it didn't sound like that at all. So, I took my post down because I don't want to be known as an "old people hater" like my husband has been calling me. I actually enjoy hearing their stories. So, I'll keep my blog posts to pictures and stories about the girls that are less controversial. ;)

Shhhh...it's from Santa!

2010-10-17T21:34:00.002-05:00

I am so, so excited!! This weekend, Kurt and I shopped and shopped and shopped for new furniture and bedding for Ava and Audrey. I'm not sure if I've said it on here before, but Ava and Audrey will share a room when Amelia is born and Amelia will have her own nursery. Anyway, I'd been eying some bedding online from Pottery Barn Kids for awhile, but I hadn't had a chance to see it in person. I'd also had my eye on twin beds from there too. Of course, it seems like PBK sends me an email just about every day, so that doesn't help my obsession! :)

This weekend, the girls went to spend some time with my parents, so Kurt and I actually had some time to shop. We were able to get everything for their new room. We got quilts, blankets, sheets, pillow shams, bed skirts, lamps, beds, nightstand, nightlight, etc. It feels soooooo good to have it done!!! We've been thinking we'll move the girls in together around the end of the year so they have some time to adjust and we have time to put the nursery together. So, Santa might just put their new room together just in time for Christmas morning. Ava is so excited about moving in with Audrey! I can't wait to see her face when she sees her new room!!! Of course, Santa may need some helpers to get it all pulled together in one night! ;)

And no, I'm not going to post a link to the bedding or the furniture. You can wait for pictures when the room is all put together. :)

One thing off the list...a million more to go...

Sugar Cookie Fun!

2010-10-14T16:27:00.003-05:00

Today, when Ava got home from school, we put Audrey down for her nap and decided to make Halloween sugar cookies. I lost my sugar cookie recipe, so I'll admit we used a Betty Crocker mix. By the way, if anyone has a good sugar cookie recipe, please send it to me. Anyway, back to the baking...

My little helper

Now posing with the butter :)

Mixing everything together

The Wilton pan we used

Just out of the oven

You'll have to give us a break because this is the first of the baking season, but we did make some mistakes. We filled the molds too full, so we couldn't get the middles all the way done without burning the cookies which is why they are so brown. We do like soft sugar cookies and they still taste good, but we didn't fill the second batch quite as full and they turned out better.

Ava with the first batch. Huh, the pan made 12 cookies, but there are only 11 here. I wonder where the other one could have disappeared to while I was hanging up clothes?!? Does she look guilty?

Her favorite part. She may or may not have licked the knife in between cookies. :)

The finished product...fake smile and all.

Yes, Ava has on the same outfit that she was wearing at the zoo, but pumpkin patch season only lasts so long. We've gotta get some wear out of the clothes!

I know Halloween doesn't officially start the holiday season, but I feel like it does start the holiday baking season which I love! I also love that I have a sweet little red headed helper that loves to bake as much as I do. I do have to say that she is not quite as messy as last year, so we may be doing this a lot more often this year. And I promise that if we take any of our baked goods to your house, I will not let her lick the icing. :)

Trip to the Zoo

2010-10-14T11:28:00.004-05:00

First, I have to apologize to all of you that thought our surprise was going to be something really big like saying we are pregnant with twins. We are definitely NOT pregnant with twins!! I've been griped at on several occasions since posting that and apparently you all do not appreciate a new blog design as much as I do! For the record, I never said it was a BIG surprise...I just said surprise. :)

Anyway...last week Ava, Audrey, and I took a trip to the zoo with our friends. The weather was perfect, and we had a great time!! As always, I wasn't great about taking pictures, but here are a couple of the girls.

Ava with her friends Taylor and Kinley

Ella, Taylor, Ava, and Kinley

All the kids in our group (a lot, huh?)

Too many girls trying to fit into Jessica's stroller. Ava feels the need to try out other people's strollers when we are out with friends.

My only picture of Audrey. She was trying to put her bow back in her hair. There was no time to take pictures of her when she was out of the stroller. I had to make sure I didn't lose one of my kids. :)

New Design!

2010-10-13T00:16:00.004-05:00

I said we had a surprise coming, but I do realize that this is probably way more exciting for me than anyone else. Jenn at Munchkin Land Designs created this new blog design for me. What do you think? I absolutely love it!! Since we found out our family will be complete with three girls, I decided we needed a super girly new blog design. If anyone is looking for a new design, definitely check out Jenn's work. She is so easy to work with, and I am so happy with the result!!

I still need to work on filling in some information on my sidebars, but it is after midnight and I just got home from book club. For now, you'll just have to admire the new design and come back later to check out the new pics and info. :)

Still a Girl!

2010-10-12T15:24:00.004-05:00

We had our big anatomy ultrasound today. Of course, we found out we were having a girl about 4 weeks ago, but today was the day to check her brain, heart, kidneys, etc. About the only thing she wanted to show us is that she is still a girl! She had her head so buried in my pelvis, we couldn't even see her face.

The ultrasound confirmed that the lump I've been feeling on my left side is her sticking her bottom out. She is definitely head down and wouldn't move an inch even though the ultrasound tech kept hitting her with the wand. I think she may be a little camera shy like her mommy! We did actually see that her kidneys, bladder, stomach, and umbilical cord looked good. She just wouldn't let us see the important things like her brain, heart, and face. We'll go back in four weeks for another try.

I just love posting ultrasound pictures, but we didn't even get one good enough to share. Hopefully, she'll cooperate next time and you can see what our 24 week baby girl looks like.

I'm sure most of you reading this already know, but I haven't officially posted her name on the blog. So, our third baby girl will be named...Amelia Anne. We wanted to keep the "A" name thing going since it is another girl and Anne is my middle name. Ann is also Kurt's mom and grandma's middle name, just spelled a little differently.

I'm not sure how many of you will see this today, Tuesday, October 12, but be sure to check back again soon if you do because we have a surprise coming! :)

Finally Fall

2010-10-05T12:07:00.007-05:00

The weather here has been gorgeous the last few days, and it actually feels like fall! I absolutely love fall and spring, but I could really do without extreme temperatures. Yes, I know many would not consider winter in Texas "extreme", but I really don't enjoy any temperature below 75 degrees. If the temperature would stay between 75-85 degrees year-round, I would be one happy lady! :) It is noon here and the temperature in our house is still 73 degrees. I keep going to check the thermostat and trying to decide if I am going to turn on the heater. I have on a long sleeve t-shirt, jeans, and socks and I am still freezing!

Okay, enough about the weather. I know people really come here for the pictures, so here are a couple from this weekend. I took these with my phone after church on Sunday.

Don't think I ever talked about it here, but Kurt and I took Ava to an A&M football game a few weeks ago. She had a great time! I forgot I had this picture on my phone, but we snapped a quick photo before we went into the game.

Her hair was red too...

2010-09-29T17:24:00.004-05:00

People are always commenting on how Audrey's hair is so much more red than Ava's was at her age. I always say this isn't true, but I really don't think people believe me. Today, I came across this picture I took of Ava when she had just woken up from her nap when she was about 17 months old. Her hair was definitely red!

Complete Mess...

2010-09-29T10:31:00.004-05:00

Audrey Kate is definitely acting like a toddler these days and no longer a baby. She is literally into EVERYTHING! Here are just a few pictures I snapped the other day.

Audrey likes to go into my laundry room and pull everything off the shelves. She then makes a run for it with whatever she managed to pull down.

Her sweet little face

She also likes to hide things in these decorative things I have in the living room.

Oooh...look what I left in there....

This is her favorite place to sit

Since Audrey spends so much time under there, Ava decided to sit and read her a book. :)

Of course, we told Ava to smile and she has to stick her tongue out. I love how Audrey is looking at her like..."what is your problem?"

Conversation with Ava

2010-09-15T09:23:00.004-05:00

I just had the following conversation with Ava and had to put it on here so I can remember...

By the way...we are taking about a tiny little doll less than the size of my palm...

Ava: Mom, look at that Cinderella doll. She doesn't have a head!

Me: What happened to her head?

Ava: Oh, I bit it off. I thought she was Snow White.

Me: You did what???

Ava: I bit it off. But, then I realized she was Cinderella, so can you put her head back on?

Me: (Still stunned) Ummm, I guess I can try to glue it back on.

Ava: Okay, thanks Mom!

2 Girls and.....

2010-09-13T10:35:00.003-05:00

another GIRL!!! It looks like baby #3 will be girl #3. :) I am so surprised! This is the first time I've been wrong. I was so sure the baby was going to be a boy. We are really excited though! Our house will be all pink, ruffles, and bows!! Now I'm really wondering if she will have red hair too.

If anyone needs a little drama in their lives, come hang out at our house during the teenage years! :) I can promise you a good time!!

And here are a few pictures of our sweet baby girl...

Her sweet face

Pushing her lips out :)

And the girl shot

We can't wait to meet our little girl in February!!

Tomorrow morning...

2010-09-12T20:48:00.002-05:00

we should find out the gender of our baby!!! We are so excited! I don't think anyone reads here regularly, so I'm sure I will have posted an update before anyone sees this. :)

Fingers crossed that the baby cooperates!!

First Day of School

2010-09-07T11:16:00.002-05:00

Today was Ava's first day of school. She was so excited!! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, but we were trying to get to school on time. :) Also, I took some really cute ones in front of our front door, but they turned out too dark with the light coming through the door. Bummer.

At the house before school

I was trying to get a picture with her name on the wall, but she sat in front of her name. Oh well! :)

Sitting at the table in her classroom

Daddy, Audrey, and Ava (I left Audrey's bow in the car, so just pretend she has it in her hair!)

Here are a few random pictures we never posted...

Kurt's 30th (and my 29th!!!!) birthday (We had been swimming which is why we look so awesome)

My sister and her family sent Kurt this cookie basket for his birthday. Hilarious!!

The things she says...Part II

2010-09-02T14:32:00.003-05:00

Today we passed a homeless man carrying a backpack. Ava said, "oh, is he going camping?" Ummm...kind of....

I didn't feel like getting into that whole conversation!

The things she says...

2010-08-26T14:30:00.001-05:00

I'm always posting things on Facebook that Ava says, but I need to start adding them here so I can keep track of them. Here is the latest from today.

Ava: Look Mom, Audrey broke this.

Me: That's okay.

Ava: You're not mad?

Me: No, I'm not mad.

Ava: Well, actually I did it.

Good to know you were willing to throw your sister under the bus! :)

Audrey One Year Pictures

2010-08-25T10:08:00.002-05:00

Notice I called these Audrey's one year pictures and not 12 month pictures because she may or may not be 13.5 months when we had these done. Oh well, she'll never know the difference. The quality of these isn't great because I had to scan them in, but here they are anyway. I've said it a million times before, but I just love her dimples!!

Wow, how time flies!!

2010-08-24T14:26:00.006-05:00

I am pretty sure I promised you a post on Audrey's first birthday, but as you can see that hasn't happened. I actually have a good excuse! :) Our main desktop where I store all of my pictures has a virus that we have yet to figure out how to get rid of. So, my pics are stuck on there. I need to start uploading to my laptop, but I've just been too tired!!

Last post I announced our pregnancy, and now I'm already 13 weeks and 3 days. How did that happen??? I am feeling pretty good most of the time. I am still incredibly tired, but I'm hoping that will start to change soon! I keep telling Kurt that I need to take a picture of my belly, but we haven't done it yet. I'm thinking it would be interesting to compare to my previous pregnancies because I feel huge already! Is this what baby #3 does to you?? :)

The big news I have is that we get to find out if we're having a boy or girl two weeks from Monday!!! I am so excited!! We decided to have an elective gender scan at 16 weeks, so hopefully we'll know soon. We're so anxious to find out if we'll have two girls and a boy or three girls!

Baby #3

2010-07-19T08:04:00.004-05:00

Yes, you read the title right! We are pregnant! Audrey is going to be a big sister!! We are very excited! Baby #3 will be here in February.

Technically, I'm due February 27th, but the plan is to induce at 37 weeks unless this baby acts completely different than my other two. So, I'll probably have the baby around the beginning of February. I'm 8 weeks and 1 day pregnant today.

Here is an ultrasound picture of our little baby at 6 weeks and 4 days. The arrows are pointing at his/her head.

Coming Soon: A long overdue post about Audrey's first birthday. I know I'm behind, but I am so, soooo tired. :)

End of Year Program

2010-06-07T22:27:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, Ava had her end-of-year program at her school. I've been meaning to post about it ever since, but you all know how that goes. I REALLY need to post some video, but I've got to remember how to do that. Anyway, Ava sang at the top of her lungs for all of the songs, and it was HILARIOUS and slightly embarrassing! Here are some pictures from the evening...

Family of four before the program

Audrey and Gigi

Ava saying the pledge of allegiance

Singing...

Excited to take her "Me Poster" home with her

Sisters

Ava with Gigi and Pops

Ava with Boompa and Aunt Kirby

Uncle Kolton acting like a weirdo with Audrey

Mother's Day Weekend

2010-05-13T11:47:00.002-05:00

This year, we went to my parents' house for Mother's Day. Packing with two girls is always so much fun. Making sure we have outfits, matching bows, shoes, dress socks, etc. is sometimes exhausting. This is what packing looks like these days.

All of the matching outfits together with the coordinating shoes and bows on the table.

Fun times! I'm not sure what we'll do if we have a boy...

My grandma is still recovering from her fall, so we spent some time at the nursing home with her over the weekend. On Sunday, we were able to take her out to eat for lunch. We tried to get some good pictures, but they were just not happening. I'm so jealous of all the blogs I read with super cute pictures of their kids and family pics!

Ava fake smiling and not looking at the camera

My mom, grandma, and me

Proof that I actually do have kids...even if they don't want to be in the picture

Audrey hanging out with Nana while chewing on my wallet. Her favorite chew toy...

Finally, you may have seen this on Facebook, but Audrey new favorite game is pulling all of the clothes out of the laundry basket, off the couch, etc. She is soooo proud of herself after she gets everything on the floor.

Caught in the act...

She is such a mess, but we sure do love her and those cute dimples!!

Pictures - 9 Months

2010-04-30T22:20:00.004-05:00

We finally got Audrey's 9 month pictures taken tonight. Yes, she will be 10 months old next week, but she is still 9 months!!! :) Hope you enjoy!

9 Months

2010-04-26T14:12:00.002-05:00

Since Audrey will be 10 months next week, I thought it was about time for me to do her 9 month post. :)

Audrey is doing really well. She is a fantastic sleeper and napper which makes my life so much easier. She loves to play with her big sister, and she thinks Ava is hilarious. She is now pulling up on EVERYTHING. She tries to take a few steps while we hold her hands, but she isn't very close to walking. She still only has her bottom two teeth, but I keep waiting for a few more to come in. It looks like she will get the two on their side of the two she already has, but they just won't pop through. She is going to look really funny with four on the bottom and nothing on top!

We had Audrey's 9 month pictures scheduled for the weekend before last, but Ava got sick literally minutes before we were supposed to leave. We had to cancel, and I really need to get them taken this weekend.

Here are Audrey's stats from her check-up:

Height: 27 1/4 in. (50%)
Weight: 15 lbs. 6 oz. (5%)
Head: 17 in. (25%)

Here are Ava's stats from the same age:

Height: 29 in. (90%)
Weight: 16 lbs. 11 oz. (15%)

Audrey is officially smaller than her sister at the same age. Everyone thought Ava was tiny, but Ava had Audrey beat by over a pound. For the record, the doctor is not worried about Audrey's weight. She eats well and is doing everything she should be doing at this age. He thinks she is just small.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from this morning. By the time I walked into Audrey's room when she woke up, Ava had already climbed into her bed to tell her good morning. Audrey was excited to have her big sister in her bed. :)

Ava's Fake Smile

This isn't a great picture of Ava, but I LOVE Audrey's dimples!!

By the way, the thing over the front of her crib is to protect the wood from our little teether. Ava chewed on her crib and we are trying to keep that from happening with Audrey's.

Easter

2010-04-10T14:57:00.005-05:00

I am a little late getting the Easter pics up, but what's new?!? We had a busy Easter this year. Ava had a playgroup Easter egg hunt, one at school, and on at my grandma's house all before Easter day. She had a ton of fun this year.

I'm glad she got to do all of that because Easter day was a little hectic. My grandma fell and broke her pelvis the week before Easter and spent that week in the hospital. She got to move to a skilled nursing facility on Easter day, so we went to church and then my parents had to get her settled into the new place. We had to head back home, so we didn't do an official egg hunt on Easter. Oh well! We still got a lot of cute pictures and our girls are young enough that they didn't know the difference.

Ava didn't want to take pictures (surprise, surprise), so most of the pictures are of Audrey. Audrey is getting so big! She turned 9 months old this week. I can't believe it!! She is now crawling everywhere, can sit up from a laying down position, and is now pulling up. We are in BIG trouble now!! The hard thing about having two is that Ava has toys that are not age appropriate for Audrey. When Ava was little, I could leave her in the playroom alone for a few minutes and know that she was completely safe in there. I have to constantly keep an eye on Audrey which makes doing things around the house a little more difficult.

Ava loves playing with Audrey. She can't wait for her to be a little bigger. I can't wait for her to be able to play tea party with Ava because I play tea party, restaurant, beauty shop, and have a camp out about a 100 times a day. :)

The following is a conversation I had with Ava this week:

Me: Ava, quit jumping over your sister
Ava: But, we're playing leap frog
Me: Okay, just jump next to your sister...not over her
Ava: (Sigh) I guess I can do that, but it won't be leap frog

If Audrey survives her sister "playing" with her, it will be a miracle!

Okay, I know you all really just want to see the pictures, so here they are...

Audrey at the playgroup egg hunt

Ava and Audrey at the playgroup hunt

Audrey and my mom at my grandma's egg hunt

I won't think it is cute in a few years, but I think she is so cute when she sucks her thumb right now

Reese and Claire (my cousin's daughters)

Audrey with Daddy

The great-grandchildren at my grandma's house

My parents with Audrey

Hmmm...I'm having a hard time getting the rest of the picutres to load. I'll try again later.

Baby Swing

2010-02-24T22:24:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, we put Audrey in the baby swing for the first time. She loved it!!

I LOVE this picture

Catching Up...Audrey Started Baby Food

2010-02-24T22:14:00.001-06:00

Audrey started eating baby food at 6 months and she is so stinkin' cute eating it. She doesn't make as big of a mess these days, but I love these pictures of her.

Catching Up...Ava's 3rd Birthday

2010-02-24T22:07:00.002-06:00

Ava turned 3 in January. She was soooo excited about her birthday and wanted to have a princess party.

We got Ava a swing set for her birthday. Daddy and Pops didn't finish putting it together until it was almost dark, so this is her going down the slide for the first time

Here are some pictures of her cake. It was really pretty, but the pictures turned out kind of dark...

Ava's new fake smile

After the party, Pops and Audrey passed out in her room

Ava loves the scooter she got from Grandma and Poppa

Catching Up...San Antonio and New Year's

2010-02-24T21:56:00.003-06:00

This year we went to San Antonio with Kurt's parents for New Year's.

Ava showing us she is 2 years old

Audrey at the zoo...it was cold!!

On the train outside the San Antonio Zoo

Getting ready for the New Year's Eve celebration at the hotel

Playing games on New Year's Eve...the Hyatt does a big party for the kids

Ava giving the bear she won to Audrey

She looks very unsure of the bear that is as big as she is...

The best picture we could get with Ava wanting to go play more games

Ava and Aunt Kirby dancing

Ava and Daddy riding the rides at Sea World

Audrey on her first river cruise...she again looks less than thrilled to be with us

Ava enjoying a snack on the boat

Catching Up...Christmas

2010-02-24T21:47:00.002-06:00

I took over 500 pictures at our different Christmas celebrations, so here are just a few.

Audrey and Daddy after opening presents at my grandma's house

Audrey and Boompa

Audrey and Aunt Kirby

Ava's mustang she got from Gigi and Pops

Ava checking out Boompa with her doctor kit

Audrey opening a present

Ava putting out reindeer food on Christmas Eve

The girls with Daddy on Christmas morning (Ava is eating the cookies that Santa left)

Audrey opening her stocking

The girls opening/playing with presents

Ava trying on her presents from Nandy and Pop

Catching Up...Cookie Decorating

2009-12-09T21:36:00.002-06:00

Ava had her friends over for a cookie decorating party before Christmas. They had a lot of fun.

Ava's friends Luke and Lily with their mom, Nikki

Taylor with her mom, Rachel

At least she is honest...

2009-11-24T08:50:00.002-06:00

I had to share a conversation I just had with Ava. It is pretty typical at our house, but still a little funny. Audrey was playing in her exersaucer and dropped the rings she was playing with. I was folding clothes and asked Ava to hand Audrey's rings back to her. She walks over to Audrey and the following conversation took place:

Me: Can you hand Audrey her rings?

Ava: Where are they?

Me: They are right there in front of Audrey.

Ava: (Looking up in the air) I can't find them!

Me: Ava, they are right in front of you on the floor!

Ava: I don't see them.

Me: (Getting up to hand Audrey her rings) Do you look for anything?

Ava: No, I really don't! (as she walks off to continue what she was doing)

Obviously not! At least she is honest. Something can be right in front of her and she will say she can't find it. My mom says this is payback.

4 Months

2009-11-12T16:51:00.002-06:00

As of last week, Audrey Kate is now 4 months old! I can't believe it!! It is going way too fast!

We had Audrey's 4 month check-up today and here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 7 oz. (25%)
Height: 25 1/4 in. (90%)
Head: 16 in. (50%)

The doctor said we are just going to have another tall, skinny baby. Everyone keeps saying how HUGE Audrey is compared to Ava at this age, but this is really not the case. Here are Ava's 4 month stats:

Weight: 11 lbs. 6 oz. (10%)
Height: 24 1/4 in. (50%)
Head: 15 1/2 in. (10%)

Ava was just a pound less, an inch shorter, and her head was a half inch smaller. There really isn't a big difference between their sizes.

Here are a few new pictures of Audrey. She is pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself!

And just for comparison, here are a couple of Ava at about the same age.

Pumpkin Patch...Making Memories

2009-10-29T12:33:00.002-05:00

Every year our trip to the pumpkin patch gets a little worse. :) We have a great time, but we just can't seem to get those cute pictures everyone has up on their blogs. Sigh...

Our first trip we got too many good ones to choose from...

Last year Ava wouldn't really smile, but she would at least look at the camera

She also liked to try to lift all of the pumpkins

This year, we were lucky to even get her to look at the camera. I'm going to post some of the pictures anyway to prove to our kids that we DID at least try to take them to the pumpkin patch

Mommy trying to get a picture with both kids

Ava insisted on holding Audrey (she promised to smile, but she didn't)

Which pumpkin do I want to hold?

Kurt thought it would be a good idea to lean Audrey against the pumpkins. These are too funny not to post...

We left Audrey like that for about 2 seconds, but the older lady next to us still felt the need to tell us we were bad parents. Oh well...

Kind of a smile

Boompa and Audrey later that day

Look what I can do...

There is less than 2 weeks difference between the Pumpkin Patch pictures and these. Doesn't it look like Audrey grew a ton???

3 Month Pictures

2009-10-20T22:48:00.005-05:00

We had Audrey's 3 month pictures taken today. It was pretty much a disaster considering we only got through one of three outfits and it kind of turned into a photo shoot for Ava. We did get a few good shots though. The pictures I'm about to post are the unedited version. It's too late to scan in the edited ones we bought and/or edit them myself, so here are a few of the pics. :)

A semi-smile from Audrey

Ava enjoying her time in front of the camera

I actually like this one. We got it in black and white and it is precious

Shortly after the cute one :)

Seriously Mom, why are you doing this to me?

How do I get this dress off?

Thought these were cute, but we didn't get them because they look like school pictures

This is a sweet one of Audrey

Sneak Peek of Ava's Halloween costume

I just realized that some of these I uploaded are really poor quality. Maybe I'll fix them tomorrow....or maybe not. We'll see....

Noooo, sweet baby!

2009-10-16T09:20:00.002-05:00

This just happened, but it was so funny that I had to post it right away before I forgot. Ava and Audrey are playing on Audrey's playmat. I am sitting in a chair right next to them. They're having a great time and all of a sudden I hear this from Ava:

"No! Nooo! Noooooo! Nooo, sweet baby! Sweet baby, noooooo!"

This all happened really fast and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Apparently Audrey had grabbed a handful of Ava's hair and had her head pinned to the playmat. :) I was laughing so hard I could hardly help. The best part was that she kept calling her "sweet baby". Ava wants her sister to get bigger so they can play, but I don't think she knows what she is in for!

It only gets better...

2009-10-12T16:49:00.003-05:00

Since Audrey has gotten a little older and more interested in her toys, Ava's had a great time showing her how to play with her toys. She shakes rattles in front of her, shows her how to grab at her toys, etc. Adorable! I always tell her that she is such a good big sister helping Audrey like that.

Well, this afternoon Ava apparently wants to watch cartoons because she came up to me and said, "Mommy, will you turn on my cartoons? I want to show Audrey how to watch tv!" She was so excited about this! I think Audrey will figure that one out on her own all too soon!!

Life is definitely never boring around our house with these two adorable little girls!!

Dressed for Church

2009-10-12T09:52:00.002-05:00

The girls always look so cute when they are all dressed for church, but we rarely get pictures because we're running out the door to make it there on time. I'm sure all of you with kids can relate!

Yesterday, I actually remembered to bring the camera with us, so we got a picture of the girls after church. Ava wanted to hold Audrey, but we were outside the restaurant on concrete and, well, that's just not a good idea. :)

So, here is a picture of our family after church yesterday. Not a great picture, but it was the best we could do with two little ones.

By the way, the ribbon on their dresses is dark brown, so their brown shoes do match. It looks black in the picture and their shoes look really brown.

3 Months Old

2009-10-06T13:06:00.005-05:00

I can't believe I just typed that title, but our little Audrey is already 3 months old. I would love for time to stand still, but she is growing up too fast, just like her sister. When Ava was little I said that every age was my favorite age and I have those feelings all over again. I LOVE the newborn stage where they are so cuddly and sleep all the time. I love to just be able to hold them for hours and hours. But, I love this age too. Audrey is really starting to interact with us and her toys. She is grabbing all of her toys, smiling and laughing at our silly faces, and just being cute!

I absolutely love waking up to her smiling face and her two dimples! She is so lovey in the morning. She is even sweet enough to let me fix breakfast for Ava on most days before she gets fed. That is one thing I'd really worried about before she was born. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it if both of my girls were hungry at the same time.

I think the only thing I don't like about this stage is the bald spot on the back of her head. I know it happens to all of them and it's actually good because it means they are moving their head, following us around the room, playing with their toys, etc., but I really dislike the way it looks. :) It seems like forever before it grows back and if she is anything like Ava, she will end up with a mullet because the hair underneath will continue to grow.

People stop me all the time to comment on Audrey's wild red hair. I just love it! No, it won't lay down for anything, but eventually it will and I'll miss that wild baby hair! I thought I couldn't go anywhere without people stopping me when I only had one redhead, but now that I have two it is impossible!! Actually, people are usually walking by and I hear, "did that baby have red hair" and then they have to come back to take a second look like they've never seen a baby with red hair before.

Things I want to remember about this age:

Audrey is sleeping 10-11 hours at night

Audrey doesn't suck on her paci all night, but she will sort of wake up and realize she doesn't have it anymore. She is happy as can be if I pop it back in for her and she never really wakes up. This is new for us because Ava never really used a paci.

She DOES NOT like to have a dirty diaper. The minute it is dirty, you better get that diaper changed or she will let you know about it!

This little girl can scream!! Again, this is new for us. Ava was one of the quietest babies I've ever heard. Audrey has a set of lungs on her!

Audrey has learned to squeal! It is hilarious and she loves when she does it! She gets a huge smile on her face. We're definitely going to have to get this on video. She'll be completely silent and then squeal as loud as she can. She has actually scared people it is so loud and sudden.

She has a clogged tear duct that is driving Mommy crazy! Her right eye waters constantly. We have some medicine for it which is making it better, but as soon as you quit using the medicine it comes back. The doctor said it should resolve itself by 6 months, but I'm hoping for sooner. It just makes my poor baby's eye red and raw around the edges.

One of her favorite things right now is for me to kiss her right on the lips and make a big kissing sound. She thinks this is sooooo funny!

Audrey loves, loves her swing! Again, Ava could take it or leave it, but it is one of Audrey's favorite things.

Audrey cluster feeds for 2 hours every night. This is usually 8-10pm. It is exhausting for Mommy, but I guess it's worth it to get some sleep at night.

Ava loves her little sister and thinks she can take care of her better than I can. If Audrey is crying, she will say, "here Mommy, let me hold her" like she could calm her down better than I can. She gives Audrey the sweetest hugs and kisses.

Okay, I guess that's it for now. I'll leave you with a few pictures. Most of these were taking this morning, so she is wearing her pajamas.

First thing this morning still wrapped up like a burrito!

Ava was home sick from MDO today, but she wanted her picture taken with Audrey

Look at that hair and those dimples

I wish I could catch a really big smile on camera so you could see how big her dimples get!

Funny girl...

2009-10-05T23:02:00.003-05:00

I wish I could have a recording of all of my conversations with Ava. They are getting crazier/funnier by the day! Today we were riding in the car and this is what she said. By the way, tea means anything of mine she isn't supposed to drink which could mean tea, coke, dr. pepper, etc.

Ava: Mommy, I'm so sorry I drank your tea! I'm really sorry I drank your tea.

Me: Did you drink my tea?

Ava: Uh huh! I drank your tea on the couch.

Me: I didn't know you drank any of my tea.

Ava: Oh, I didn't drink your tea on the rocking chair. No, I didn't drink your tea.

A few minutes later... Mommy, I did not drink your tea (just to be sure I understood) :)

This was one of those conversations where you could hear the wheels turning. She was afraid she was going to get in trouble until she realized I didn't even know what she had done. It cracked me up to hear her change her story. I'm sure a lot of you can picture her saying this.

Her own room...

2009-10-05T09:23:00.002-05:00

Audrey slept in her own room for the first time last night. Actually, it was the first time she had ever slept in her bed. It is definitely bitter sweet. Kurt and I were ready to be able to read or watch tv in our room before going to bed again, but I wasn't ready to not have Audrey right next to my bed. She hasn't gotten up to eat in the middle of the night since about 5 weeks (or somewhere around there), so I really didn't need to have easy access to her anymore. I just like being able to look at her when I wake up a million times a night to make sure she is okay.

I am feeling a little guilty because we didn't move Ava to her own room until she was 6 months old. I know, that was a little ridiculous. Some of you may remember, but we tried to move her several times. Kurt would always bring her back to our room before we went to bed and say SHE wasn't ready. :) Anyway, Audrey will be 3 months tomorrow, so we decided it was time.

She did great! I went in there a million times to check on her, but she slept from 10pm until 8am this morning. I went in there to get her and she just had the biggest smile on her face. Babies are so sweet in the morning! I had my camera ready to capture this smile, but the battery was dead. :( Maybe I'll try to recreate the moment tomorrow morning and tell her it was her first morning when she is older! :) She won't know unless she decides to read back through my old blogs from when she was little!

The little one is calling me...

More pictures...

2009-09-30T16:23:00.002-05:00

Amazingly, my kids are still sleeping, so here are a few more pictures. They are several weeks old, but oh well! You've got to take what you can get on this blog...

When Audrey was 5 weeks old, we took her to my hometown to see all of my family. We had a get-together at my grandma's house.

Ava had a great time on the big slide

So did her cousin, Claire

My cousin, Melissa's three beautiful girls

Melissa, Aunt Donna, Kerri, and Baby Webb (Melissa is holding him)

Nana with Audrey

This is the best picture we could get of the three girls

Reese, Melissa and Audrey

The following week, I was feeding Audrey while Ava went to the potty. She was gone for awhile and this is what I found...

She had gone potty and then decided to wash her whole body instead of just her hands

Daddy and Audrey relaxing

Audrey is up...that's all for now. I have a lot more. Maybe I'll get to those tonight.

Fun at the Zoo

2009-09-30T16:02:00.003-05:00

Surprise, surprise, I don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to get a few recent pictures up here while both girls are napping. Yes, I did say BOTH girls!! It's amazing! We went to the zoo the weekend before last and had a great time! Audrey was almost 11 weeks at the time.

Ava eating lunch

Kurt thought it was funny to take a picture of both girls eating lunch :)

Trying to get the peanut butter off her face

Just being cute (still wearing her lunch)

Audrey sleeping in the Beco (no her head was not leaning back like that...it's just how I had the hat on her)

Fun on the slides

There is a shadow over her head, but I couldn't resist posting this smile!!

Seriously, quit taking my picture...

We had to crawl through a ridiculously small tunnel to get this shot

Audrey is Sick :(

2009-09-14T15:56:00.003-05:00

Wow, we've had a wild weekend! I don't think I posted about it, but Ava was sick and then got me sick. Of course, we were hoping Audrey would stay well, but no such luck! On Friday, Audrey was VERY fussy! She literally cried all day. Nothing would really calm her down. Her temperature started to go up throughout the day, but it didn't reach the magical 100.4 mark until Friday evening.

I called our doctor when it reached 100.6 to see what we should do. After talking for a long time, we decided to give her tylenol and see if she got better. He told me to call back in an hour. So, we gave her tylenol and she still screamed for the next hour and her temp. went up to 101. At that point, he had no choice but to send us to the ER at Texas Children's. Any baby under 3 months old has to be checked out for fever because a bacterial infection is REALLY bad when they are that small.

So around 9pm, we loaded up and headed to the ER. They put us in a special room to keep her away from all the other sick kids and we got to go ahead of all of the other patients. They take this very seriously!! While we were waiting, they came around taking the vitals of kids that had been waiting more than 4 hours to see a doctor!!!

We got back into a room, saw 3 different doctors and then they started all of the testing. She got an IV, blood taken, catheter (to check her urine), flu test, and a spinal tap! I can't even begin to describe to you all how awful all of this was. I never want to hear her scream like that again!!!

Basically, most of the tests came back good, but her white blood cell count was high. They were hoping this was a viral infection, but they didn't want to take any chances until the cultures came back from the lab after 48 hours. They wanted to keep us in the hospital for 48 hours giving her precautionary antibiotics, but they decided to give her antibiotics which were good for 24 hours and let us go home. Thank goodness! We left our house at 9pm and got home at 7:30am! Of course, I had my camera and took a few pictures.

My poor baby sitting with Daddy.

Laying on the table

IV in her tiny hand

Our doctor told us to be prepared to be admitted, so we had a ton of stuff!

So, on Saturday, Audrey slept most of the day and her fever was under control. The antibiotics lasted for 24 hours and then her fever spiked to 102 yesterday. This morning her fever was 101 and we went back to see her pediatrician. He re-checked the cultures done at the hospital and it doesn't seen to be bacterial. Thank goodness! He wants to talk to me every day that she is running fever to keep on top of things, but he really thinks she has the same virus that Ava had.

It is so difficult to see our little baby so sick! We hope she gets to feeling better soon!

Ugh...I just realized that photobucket cuts the right side off of pictures and that's why I quit using it. Audrey is crying, so no time to post new pictures. Basically, Kurt should be in almost all of those pictures. No, we didn't just let her lay on the bed by herself. He was standing right there!

2 Month Check-Up

2009-09-01T14:19:00.005-05:00

I took Audrey to the doctor today for her 2 month check-up. Actually, I took both of the girls, and I hope I won't be doing that again for a long time. Our doctor is always, always on time, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. The one time I take both of them by myself, the doctor is an hour and a half late!!! By the time the doctor got in there, Ava had turned into a wild woman and Audrey was starving. I was trying to talk to the doctor over 2 kids fussing/making tons of noise. It was awesome! On top of all of that, Audrey got three shots and Ava and I got the flu mist. We'll all cranky by dinner time. :)

Anyway, here are Audrey's stats from today:

Weight: 9 lbs. 2 oz. (10%)
Height: 22 in. (25%)
Head: 15 in. (35%)

Audrey is still little, but she is gaining really well! I was glad to see she is over 9 lbs. even if it was with a cloth diaper on. I can't believe some people have 9 lb. babies! Ava weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. at 2 months, so Audrey seems chunky to us!!

We had her check-up a few days early because the doctor wanted to check her hip click again before he sent us for the ultrasound. Her left hip is still clicking and her right hip was clicking a little too. So, it looks like we're off to the hospital on Thursday for the ultrasound. The doctor said we should have the results within 24 hours.

I'm almost afraid to write it, but Audrey has been sleeping 9-9.5 hours every night. It is so nice! The doctor said most moms of 2 month old babies would hate me. She has also moved her bedtime up a little, so she is now going to bed at 10pm. This seems so much more manageable than 11 or 12. I feel like we're starting to get some sleep.

Audrey is starting to get a little personality. She is smiling at us and "talking" to us. It is soooo adorable!! I want her to stay little forever, but I'm glad she is interacting with us a little.

It's too late, so I'll try to put pictures up tomorrow. I'll leave you with a few of Audrey's 2 week pictures.

One Month Old

2009-08-06T14:41:00.002-05:00

Audrey Kate is one month old today. That is so hard to believe!! Time is already going by too quickly! She'll be a year old before we know it.

We took Audrey to the doctor on Monday and she weighed exactly 7 lbs. The doctor was very happy with that. She had gained 17 lbs. in 21 days. We took her to the doctor because she has been spitting up like crazy. Ava spit up a ton, but Audrey is definitely giving her a run for her money. I'm curious if that is the right saying because everyone knows I never seem to get them right. Anyway, we went through all of the treatment possibilities, but we don't want to medicate her at such a young age. We decided to hold off on medication until the spitting up seems to bother her. Hopefully, it never will. It never bothered Ava, but both Ava and I had to change our clothes about 50 times a day.

While we were there we also found out that Audrey has a heart murmur. The doctor was not concerned about this and said it will more than likely resolve itself. He also realized that Audrey has a hip click. Those of you with small children probably know what I'm talking about. At visits, they always move their hips around and push on them a bit. Apparently, they are listening/feeling for a hip click. When a child has this, there is a possibility that their hip is/will dislocate. We are having to take Audrey to Texas Children's to get an ultrasound done of her hip. If this shows whatever it is they are looking for she may have to wear some type of harness for a few months to help her hip grow together properly. This is all up in the air right now. We'll see the doctor one more time before that appointment at the beginning to September to make sure it is still there before we go through all of this trouble. If you haven't noticed, our girls like to make us worry about them both inside and outside the womb. After the diagnosis of reflux, a heart murmur, and a hip click, they doctor said he would stop examining her. :) He thought that was enough to worry about from one visit!

On to happier stuff....We are having so much fun with our little Audrey. She is such a sweet baby. She went through her one month growth spurt earlier this week and tried to kill her mother by eating every 30 min. to an hour. The last few nights, she has been back to her regular "schedule" which mommy likes much more. We would still like her to move her bedtime up a little, but she is sleeping well, so we can't complain too much! Of course, now that I said that she will eat all night again tonight. I better go find some wood to knock on...

Ava is still really enjoying her little sister! She is a big help and likes to bring us diapers when Audrey needs to be changed. She sings to her all the time and it is so sweet. We really need to get that on video!!

I'll leave you with one recent picture of her.

Birthday Cake Disasters and Sleeping Babies

2009-07-31T10:49:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, Kurt and I celebrated our birthdays. For those of you who don't know, our birthdays are one day apart. (I had to jump back on and edit this post to let you all know that our birthdays are one day apart, but we are NOT the same age!! Kurt turned 29 and I turned 28. Only one of us is almost in our 30s!!) Anyway, Kurt had requested his mom make a chocolate cake with seven minute icing. You also may not know that Ava LOVES birthday cake!! She gets so excited when someone is having a birthday and tells them she is going to eat their cake. Well, Kurt's sister, Kirby, had decorated the birthday cake and Ava was helping her put the candles on top when Ava slipped off the chair she was standing on and her entire forearm fell straight into the cake. It was so funny! Here is the demolished cake...

Don't worry...Ava made sure to lick all the icing off her hand and arm. :) Ava loves blowing out the candles almost as much as she loves cake!

Maybe I should also mention that Kurt and Ava had gone swimming and Ava already had her bath which is why she is wearing Kurt's old Dallas Cowboys shirt in these pictures. She loves wearing Daddy and Uncle Kolton's old t-shirts to bed!!

I'm sure Kirby is going to kill me for this picture, but she is always complaining that she doesn't have any pictures with Audrey, so I'm making sure to put one on my blog.

Yesterday, Ava didn't take a nap and then we went to the playground after dinner. After her bath, she asked if she could watch a cartoon before bed. We turned one on for her in her playroom and went into the living room. Apparently, she was very tired because this is what we found when we went in there to put her to bed.

Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever seen?? Another disclaimer...Kurt let Ava pick out her own pajamas before bed. This post is filled with awesome outfits for Ava!

Rain...finally

2009-07-30T12:21:00.002-05:00

Along with everyone else in Texas, it hasn't rained here in months. Today, I decided to take Ava and Audrey to the store by myself for the first time. We got everyone dressed and into the car and it started pouring down rain! Unbelievable!! We still survived the trip, and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We went into a little store where I couldn't take my stroller, so Ava was on the loose. Luckily, she was so busy showing off her "new baby sister" that she didn't get into too much. :)

By the end of the trip, Audrey thought she was starving. So, she was screaming in the backseat while Ava was singing Baa Baa Black Sheep at the top of her lungs. Since I knew there was no time to make Ava lunch when we got home before Audrey needed to eat, we stopped at McDonalds because, in her words, Ava's tummy was very hungry. Yes, I know I'm going to win Mother of the Year since I talked about Chick-fil-a in my last post and McDonalds in this one, but you have to do what you have to do, right? Anyway, Ava decided that store was fun because she got McDonalds after and asked when we'll go back. Now she is sitting here telling me that McDonalds in "yummy in her tummy". Oh my...we need to get back to eating better before she thinks she gets to eat like this all the time!!

P.S. I at least got her apple slices instead of fries! :)

Things to remember...

2009-07-28T11:41:00.002-05:00

I need to write down a few things I want to remember about these early days as a mother of 2. They will eventually go in the baby book, but I don't have time for that right now. :)

Ava is definitely a great big sister. She does not like it when Audrey cries and runs around frantically looking for her "fier". For some reason, she started calling her pacifier "fier" and it is so adorable. We call it a "paci", so I'm not sure where she got this. She'll run around the house, "where is Audrey's fier???" :)

Audrey spits up just as much as Ava did, if not more! I was hoping I would only have one child that spit up constantly, but that didn't happen. When Audrey spits up, Ava likes to inform us that Audrey just "spilled". I can't tell you how many times a day Ava is yelling, "Audrey spilled...Audrey spilled again!"

Today, I officially felt like a mother of two when I had to take Ava to the potty while nursing Audrey. Of course, Ava wanted to sit on the big potty instead of her little potty. So, I pulled down Ava's pants, lifted her onto the potty, lifted her back off, and pulled up her pants all while feeding a baby. Now, that is challenging! At least she went on the potty!!

Okay, now I have a hungry baby and another child who wants to go to Chicken-Fla for lunch. For those of you who don't know Ava well, that's what she calls Chick-Fil-A. She likes to go there and get "baby chickens". Yes, this disturbs us too, but she just wants chicken nuggets and not chicken strips. It is a little embarrasing when you're sitting in Chick-fil-a and your child is talking loudly about how she loves eating baby chickens! I'm thinking life will never be dull with my two sweet girls.

Pictures

2009-07-21T20:35:00.003-05:00

Tuesday, I took both of the girls to get their pictures taken. Actually, they were Audrey's newborn pictures and we wanted some of Ava and Audrey together. They did so good!! Luckily, Audrey slept through most of her pictures (which we wanted) and Ava was really excited to get pictures taken with her little sister. We haven't seen her smile that big for pictures since she was 6 months old! I can't wait to see them, but the proofs won't be ready for 2 weeks!

Now, here are a few pictures of our little Audrey. It is so difficult to take pictures of them at this age. They always looked all scrunched up. Oh well...

Audrey did not want her picture taken :)

Whenever we take pictures, Ava has to pull her camera out too

Not a great picture of Audrey, but I thought she looked so cute in her little outfit!

These pictures are for Kurt. I got Audrey all dressed up in her Aggie gear today, but I waited too long to take the pictures. By the time I got around to it, it was time to eat and she was not excited about me being in her face with the camera. Oh well, screaming pictures are cute too, right?

First Day Home Alone...

2009-07-20T09:54:00.002-05:00

Today is my first full day home alone with my two girls. It's only 10am, but things are going well so far. I may be checking back in this afternoon saying something completely different. :)

I've been getting nasty emails about not updating :), so I'll try to let you all know what we've been up to for the last two weeks. Things have actually been going pretty well. The first week was a little crazy because we were in the hospital for two days and then had to go to the doctor three times by the time she was a week old. Audrey lost about 12% if her body weight in the first 4 days. It took us a couple of days to get nursing down well and then my milk didn't come in until Thursday (she was born Monday). I really wasn't too concerned because I thought she would do fine once my milk came in. I had enough with Ava to feed 3 babies! We went to the doctor on Thursday and she weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. By Saturday morning, she weighed 5 lbs. 11.5 oz.. On Monday morning, she was already up to 5 lbs. 15.6 oz. Needless to say, she was thriving once she actually had something to eat. The other concern was her biliruben level. It was rising while we were in the hospital, so the doctor wanted us to be checked by our pediatrician the next day. She was looking a little yellow, but he didn't check her level on Thursday. On Saturday, he checked her blood again and her level was 14.4. He had us put her in the sun a couple of times a day over the weekend. By Monday, she looked a lot better and we could tell her levels were on their way down. He said her face and eyes would be the last thing to clear up and her eyes could take 2 weeks to look completely normal.

She has done great her second week! She is actually two weeks old today. It's already gone by too fast. Audrey is eating every 2-3 hours during the day and cluster feeding just like Ava at night before bed which means she may eat every 1-2 hours for about 3 sessions before she goes to bed around 11:00-11:30pm. Of course, we've had our rough nights like every new parents, but for the most part she is sleeping 6-8 hours. She was very sweet to me last night and slept 8 hours (well, actually 7 since it took her about an hour to eat and get back to bed). She woke up about an hour before Ava, so by the time I got done feeding and changing her, Ava was up for the day. It still was a really good night.

Ava is doing absolutely great!!! She is such a good little helper. Of course, she is needing a little extra attention, but she has adjusted really well to Audrey. She is really excited to have Audrey at home with us and loves telling people she is a big sister! She is so good with her and gives her the softest kisses. I really need to get it on video. I want her to be able to see how sweet she was to her sister when she is older.

I think I have a few people who read my blog who are pregnant right now, so I have to share one of my favorite baby products. Actually, it is a life saver when you are completely sleep deprived. I bought mine off of a website called Mom 4 Life. Here is the link: http://www.mom4life.com/catalog.php?item=20
I have the midnight blue bracelet which actually looks black. You can track what time your baby last ate by moving the charm around on the bracelet. It is also super easy to move back and forth on each wrist so you know which side you started nursing on last time. I bought it when Ava was a newborn and it still looks great! I took it off to go to church yesterday and I was completely lost. I literally can't remember anything these days. Anyway, just thought I would share. :)

Pictures

2009-07-16T11:44:00.002-05:00

Okay, I know I'm about a week and a half late, but I'm finally getting around to updating with pictures. I'll try to do better, but it's been a little crazy around here. We keep getting pictures of people with Audrey, but I keep forgetting to get some cute pictures of just her. I'll update what has been going on later, but I have just a few mintues before Audrey needs to eat again!

The night before Audrey arrived

Right after she was born

Proud Daddy (I wish I had video of the first time he held her...so sweet!!!!)

First picture as a family of four (of course, we couldn't get everyone looking and smiling at the same time)

Our sweet Audrey right after she was born

The day after she was born (so glad to actually get to have her with us!)

Ava "holding" Audrey for the first time

Ava, Audrey, and Boompa (Kurt's grandpa)

Daddy kissing those cute baby feet

Her "preemie" coming home outfit (it was still huge!!)

You don't know how happy we were to be leaving the hospital WITH our baby this time!!

Nana M. (my grandma) with Audrey

Kurt's grandpa with Audrey

Kurt's grandma with Audrey and Ava

Kurt's dad with Audrey

Audrey had a little bit of jaundice, so this is her getting some sun

Daddy and his two girls

Boompa and Audrey

Nana G. (my grandma) with Audrey

The next few are a little out of order, but I don't have time to fix it right now

Daddy and Ava in the hospital (she is wearing her big sister shirt)

Grandparents meeting Audrey for the first time

Audrey got Ava a digital camera (you can see her taking pictures)

Daddy and Uncle Kolton

Audrey and her two grandmas

Her first bath in the hospital

Ava's a Big Sister!

2009-07-06T15:04:00.002-05:00

Audrey Kate
6 lbs. 5 oz.
19 inches
12:51 pm

Water broke...

2009-07-06T09:15:00.003-05:00

My midwife came in around 8 and broke my water. My contractions are a lot more intense now. Audrey seems to be doing well. I'll update again after I've been checked the next time.

We're having a baby!

2009-07-06T01:29:00.002-05:00

Right now, we are in the hospital and Audrey should be here sometime today, Monday. I've been cramping all weekend, but I wasn't sure if I was in labor or not. I felt really bad all day Sunday and I wasn't feeling Audrey move. We finally decided to go to the hospital to get checked Sunday evening. They hooked us up to the monitors, but Audrey still wasn't moving. She usually hates the monitors and kicks at them immediately! The nurse called our midwife and she wanted an ultrasound (biophysical profile) done to check on Audrey's condition.

We waited forever for the ultrasound! They finally came in to do it and Audrey wasn't moving AT ALL! They watch them for 30 mintues to see if they will move a finger, foot, toe, etc. She never moved. Her heartrate was low and they said her practice "breathing" looked labored. Basically, we knew we weren't leaving the hospital. Audrey scored a 4 out of 8 which is the exact same score Ava got the afternoon before they induced me with her. This is not a good score!!

The nurse called our midwife and she wanted to induce on Monday. They are keeping us overnight (it's 1:40am) to monitor Audrey through the night. They will start pitocin at 6:00am, so she should be born sometime Monday (today).

We are really worried about Audrey, but we're hoping she will be born big and healthy and we caught all of this in time! I'll keep you all updated throughout the day. I better try to get some sleep. It's going to be a long day!!!

37 Weeks

2009-06-30T14:33:00.002-05:00

I had my 37 week check-up today. It went pretty well. I am now 3cm dilated and her head is "right there". She didn't tell me what station she is at. I am still 50% effaced. Over the last 3 weeks, I have dilated 1cm per week, so we'll see what happens this week. My midwife was at the hospital with someone else, so I saw a nurse practitioner. She stripped my membranes and asked how far we lived from the hospital. I think that is just wishful thinking. I don't think Audrey will make her appearance this week, but I could be wrong. Of course, I'll keep you all posted!

Finally Ready

2009-06-28T21:39:00.000-05:00

We are finally ready for little Audrey to make her appearance. We had the majority of stuff done since we weren't sure if I was going to be induced a few weeks ago, but we finished up all the little stuff this weekend. We put her swing together, installed the carseat, touched up paint in her room, packed her diaper bag, etc. It feels so good to be completely done! Now, we just get to sit and wait for her to arrive.

I think Ava is having the most difficult time waiting. She tells me multiple times a day that she is ready to see Audrey. She doesn't understand why she can't just come out at any time! She is still being so sweet! The other day she crawled in my lap to give me a hug and tell me she loves me. Then, she leaned down, hugged my belly, laid her head down, and said, "I love you too, Audrey." Then, she kissed my belly and told Audrey she is ready to see her! I can't wait for the first time she gets to see and "hold" Audrey. It is going to be so sweet!

So, we're still here waiting on Audrey. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so we'll see if anything new is happening.

The longest I've ever been pregnant...

2009-06-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

Today I am 36 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Ava was born at this exact point in my pregnancy with her. So, as of 3:14pm today, this will be the longest I've been pregnant. In my opinion, everything else from this point on is just icing on the cake. Of course, I think Audrey is in much better shape than Ava was at this point, so it probably wouldn't make much difference. On Tuesday, we'll officially be full term. I'm sure she'll camp out in my belly for a few more weeks after that just because she can. :)

I think Ava knows we're getting close. Every day she tells me she is ready to see Audrey. I think we're all ready to see Audrey, but she needs to stay in for just a little bit longer.

36 Weeks

2009-06-23T12:28:00.000-05:00

Today, I am officially 36 weeks. I saw my midwife this morning and I am now 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. For those of you who don't remember, I was 1cm last week. She said at this rate she doubts I will make it to 40 weeks, but we'll just have to wait and see. We'll see if little Audrey wants to be stubborn or come and meet us a little early.

I'm still enjoying being pregnant, but I can't wait to meet our little girl. Ava asks to see Audrey every day. She will be so excited once she is finally here!

What not to say to a pregnant woman...

2009-06-22T08:14:00.000-05:00

I'll start out by saying I do have a really great husband, but every man sticks his foot in his mouth at some point, right??

On Friday I was feeling huge, hot, fat, and disgusting. Kurt came home from work and asked me where I would like to eat for dinner. Here is how the rest of our conversation went...

Me: I don't want to go to dinner. I feel fat and disgusting.

Kurt: You're not fat and disgusting.

Me: Yes I am! Look, my clothes don't even fit. (I stood up to show him)

Kurt: Just go put on a maternity shirt and we'll go.

Me: This IS a maternity shirt!!

Kurt: Oh...

Needless to say, we went to the grocery store and picked up frozen pizzas for dinner.

It's Official...

2009-06-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

I can no longer sleep! I am so tired! I've been trying to go to bed a little early to get some extra sleep, but I still watch every hour go by on the clock ALL NIGHT LONG!! Between not being able to get comfortable, being EXTREMELY hot, Audrey deciding the middle of the night is a great time to get her exercise in for the day, and the 5,000 bathroom trips a night, I am not getting a lot of sleep.

I know this happens to every pregnant woman at the end of her pregnancy and everyone says it's getting you ready to be up with a newborn all the time, but I could really use the sleep now more than ever! I think I'll pick up a bottle of Tylenol PM today and hope it does the trick tonight. Just one night of good sleep would feel amazing right now! If not, I'm going to feel like I'm in that new mommy haze long before she actually arrives.

Other than the lack of sleep, I'm actually feeling pretty good. Of course, it's getting a little more difficult to do things the bigger Audrey gets, but I'm not miserable yet! I'm enjoying feeling her move all the time and the last few weeks she is completely mine! I really can't wait to meet her though.

Random Pictures

2009-06-17T14:46:00.000-05:00

I feel like this blog has been all about my pregnancy lately, so here are a few random pictures of Ava.

Ava used to let me put her hair in pigtails, but she has refused for the last year. The other day she finally let me try again. They aren't perfect, but I'm sure they never will be with a 2 year old who is on the go!

A little half smile

Caleb and Ava showing the wings they got at the airport the day my sister and her family left for Singapore.

The whole family before they left. Notice how well all the kids are cooperating. :)

35 Weeks

2009-06-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to post this for a few days, but I'm just now getting around to it. I had my appointment with the specialist on Monday. It went really well. Basically, she said that Audrey looked great and the blood flow from my placenta was normal. She said my placenta was aging, but she wasn't concerned about it since I am already 35 weeks. She said my midwife may want to do one more growth scan if I make it to full term, but she thinks it is fine for me to wait for Audrey to come.

I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday (at exactly 35 weeks). They did another non-stress test and Audrey looked good again. They took my blood pressure when I first got there and it was really high. My midwife came in "yelling" at me that I make her worry about every little thing. :) Of course, she was kidding. They had me lay on my left side for 15 minutes and my blood pressure came down. I'm not sure what that was all about.

We talked a lot about what the specialist had said and what we would do from here. She said she will not let me go past 40 weeks. She just doesn't think it is worth the risk. She said she may incduce at 39 weeks, but we would talk about it as it gets closer. I really want to go into labor on my own!! I DO NOT want to be induced again. Of course, we'll have to do what is best for Audrey at the time.

She checked me yesterday and I was 1cm dilated and my cervix was really soft. She said we'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks and then she will try to help things along a little once we hit 37 weeks. She would like Audrey to be born on her own as soon as possible after 37 weeks.

I think that's it. Now we just wait for Audrey to make her appearance. :) It's crazy to think that I'll have this baby in less than 5 weeks. I hope Ava is ready for her world to change. She talks about "Baby Audrey" all the time. I think she'll be excited! I can't wait to see if Audrey and Ava look alike.

Oh, that reminds me...the specialist kept switching the ultrasound machine to 3D while we were in there. She kept trying to get a good picture of Audrey's face, but she is REALLY low. We did get one though. I've never wanted a 3D ultrasound because you know what your baby looks like, but the doctor didn't give us a choice. I think she was using it to see certain things. Anyway, here is the picture of Audrey. It's not great, but her nose looks EXACTLY like Kurt's nose!! I'm sure I'm going to have two little girls who look just like their daddy.

Here are two pregnancy pictures right at 35 weeks.

Audrey's Nursery

2009-06-15T09:50:00.000-05:00

I've been promising for months, so here are a few pictures of Audrey's nursery. It's not 100% complete, but it's getting close. Kurt's dad is painting a shelf to go on the wall with the table and window and we just need a few more accessories.

Looking in from the door

Looking from the closet

Audrey's name on her door (it's pink because it faces the playroom when closed)

Ava also has her name on her door

34 Weeks (Only 6 weeks left!)

2009-06-09T15:22:00.000-05:00

I am feeling very emotionally drained and have a killer headache (which I never get) from all of this, but I'll try to update everyone on the pregnancy since I know several of you are waiting on this post today.

I had another appointment today. They repeated the ultrasound (u/s) and biophysical profile (BPP) and things didn't look any better than last week. My midwife said my placenta is definitely aging and they want me to see a perinatologist ASAP. They are trying to get me in tomorrow, but it may be later in the week. The good news is that Audrey still looks good. She looked good on her BPP and the non-stress test didn't show any major decels in her heartrate.

My midwife talked everything over with another doctor, but they are going to let the specialist make the call about inducing me. They said he may say he wants to take the baby now or he may say I can't go longer than 37 weeks or something like that. Of course, these are just guesses. We'll have to wait and see what he actually says.

My doctor's office is going to see me weekly with u/s, BPP, and non-stress tests at every appointment until I deliver. My midwife stressed again how important it is to make sure Audrey is moving as much as before. She said if I notice any changes in her movements I have to get to her office as quickly as possible. Apparently, the babies can go downhill pretty quickly which is stressing me out! She also told me to pack my hospital bag and keep it in the car. She said we won't know from one moment to the next when they'll need to take her.

I am so, so stressed. I don't even care about her coming early anymore. I just want what is best for her. It scares me to death that she could go "downhill" at any moment and it's up to me to make sure everything is okay between appointments. I know she needs to stay in a few more weeks and I really want her to, but it would be so much easier to make sure she is okay if she was out. I am so tired of this. I just want a healthy baby!!! I hate living moment to moment not knowing what is going to happen next. My midwife said the perinatologist should be able to answer a lot of our questions and give us a better idea about what is going on. I really wish someone would tell me if they think I can make it to full term or if I should expect to have this baby early. Of course, no one can tell me that. Ugh!

I need to post some pictures of Ava so we can have a happy post for a change! Alright, that's it for now. I'll update again when I find out when my appointment with the specialist will be.

33 Weeks and 2 Days (yes, every day counts!!)

2009-06-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, I guess it is time for an update. I always have good intentions, but somehow my blog never gets updated. I have a bunch of pictures I need to upload, so I may just have some picture only posts here pretty soon.

I wanted to update everyone on my appointment yesterday. I've emailed out the same thing a million times. I need to start updating on here first and then just sending people my blog link. :)

Okay, here it goes. This will probably be very long. Yesterday, I had an ultrasound/biophysical profile and appointment with my midwife. The point of the ultrasound was mainly to check my cervix but also to check Audrey's growth because of Ava's growth restriction. The good news is that my cervix is still holding strong and overall Audrey looked good. They found one thing on the ultrasound that they are really concerned about.

They checked the cord blood flow via doppler during the ultrasound. They checked it over and over and over again, so I suspected there was a problem. I'm not quite sure what the numbers mean, but they want the number from that to be less than 3. I had many readings over 3 and one of 2.9. My midwife said my placenta looked good as far as calcification, aging, etc., but this shows that it isn't functioning well which is exactly what happened with Ava.

She said they wouldn't take the baby now because she still looked good on the ultrasound. I go back next week for another ultrasound and biophysical profile as well as a non-stress test. She said she'll continue the non-stress tests weekly until I deliver. A non-stress test is where they monitor both the baby's heart rate and my contractions for an hour. They want to make sure the baby's heart rate is accelerating during movement and not dipping really low like Ava's was at 36 weeks. This just gives them a better look at the baby instead of the 20 minutes they look at her on the ultrasound.

The main concern right now is that Audrey won't get what she needs and will lose weight, not mature correctly (mainly lungs), suffer from hypoxia, etc. Again, all the things that happened with Ava. She said I have to be very careful to make sure she is moving throughout the day. If at any time she becomes less active, she wants me to call her immediately. She gave me her personal cell phone number so I won't have to waste time going through the answering service.

The non-stress test results are good for a week. If she looks good on there, usually the baby will not go substantially downhill before another one can be done. My midwife is really hoping we can make it until 35-36 weeks to give Audrey's lungs more time to mature. I am praying her cord blood flow looks good next week and we don't have to discuss any of these "what-if" questions she didn't want to answer today.

I also got a very long lecture about bedrest. Kurt told her that I haven't been resting as much as I should. This is true, but I can't believe he told on me!! Anyway, she told me I can move from the bed to the couch if I need a change of scenery, but she doesn't want me up more than that. That is so different from what she said just two weeks ago. I'm doing my best, but I still have a toddler to take care of on a daily basis. You really don't realize how much moving around you do during the day until someone tells you not to do it anymore. It's so hard not to constantly pick up toys, clean the kitchen, etc.

So, that's what is going on with me right now. I would do anything to make sure Audrey is perfect and healthy, but I do not want to be induced again!! I also do not ever want to see the inside of a NICU. My midwife said that every day I can hold her in is one less day in the NICU, so that is our goal for now. We are hoping Audrey continues to thrive and will make it inside at least a few more weeks!

31 Week Appointment

2009-05-20T14:38:00.000-05:00

I went back to the doctor today for another check-up. The contractions haven't gotten any better, so my midwife wanted to check me again. The good news is that I am not dilated. She did say that Audrey is sitting very, very low and could feel her head as soon as she checked me. She doesn't like that I'm having so many contractions, so she told me I need to rest more than I already am resting.

She wants to do another ultrasound in 2 weeks to check my cervical length. I'm glad because we'll get to see how big Audrey is at this point. She should be 4 pounds already and about 19 inches long which is crazy because I had Ava 5 weeks from now and she weighed 4 lbs. 6 oz. and was 18.5 in. long.

I keep saying it, but I just know Audrey will be late since I'm doing all of this resting. Maybe she'll decide to make her appearance right on time!

30 Weeks

2009-05-13T23:25:00.000-05:00

I am 30 weeks and 3 days pregnant and things are not going as well as I had hoped. I really wanted a completely uneventful pregnancy this time, but it seems our little girls like to make us worry quite a bit!

About 2 weeks ago, I started having contractions. We were in San Antonio for a long weekend and took Ava to Sea World. I guess that was too much on my pregnant body and I had contractions for the rest of the weekend. They continued throughout the week, but they would get better if I was resting/laying down. On Friday, I spent the day cleaning the house, doing laundry, packing to go to my parents' house, etc. I was contracting all day, but I didn't pay much attention. I knew we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us, so I thought things would calm down then. We got into the car and the contractions weren't getting better. We finally started timing them and they were 6 minutes apart. After an hour and a half in the car, we stopped to call my midwife. One of the OBs in the practice called us back and told us to go to the hospital to get checked out. So, we spent Friday evening in the hospital monitoring contractions and never did make it to my parents' house for Mother's Day.

The OB at the hospital wanted us to follow-up with my midwife early this week. I went to the doctor on Tuesday. I was afraid she was going to put me on bedrest, so I had a list of arguments against this scenario ready to go. Needless to say, she didn't listen to any of them, but did agree to "modified" bedrest since I stay at home with Ava. Basically, she told me I can get up to fix Ava something to eat, dress her, etc., but the rest of the time I should be sitting or preferably laying down. She said I need to get creative with activities I can do with Ava while sitting down. All of this is easier said than done. I am finding it almost impossible to sit down all day without running after a 2 year old.

Of course, I'll do whatever I can to make sure Audrey is healthy. My midwife said she will be happy if I make it to 35 weeks and ecstatic if I make it to 37. I told her I'm going to be sitting there fat and still pregnant at 42 weeks since she said that. :) She also said I can stay on modified bedrest as long as things don't progress. If anything changes, she will decide between strict bedrest and hospital bedrest. Those two options make modified bedrest sound great!

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be checking in a lot more due to my current situation. I got a new laptop, so I can post without getting up now!!

Those are all the details I can remember now. It's late and I'm exhausted. I'll make sure all the details make sense tomorrow. :)

29 Weeks

2009-05-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

Wow, where has this pregnancy gone??? I can't believe it, but I am 29 weeks today. In about 11 short weeks, we should be holding our little Audrey! It is going to be here before we know it. We have the nursery painted, but we still need to get the furniture set up. I can't believe I've had everything for 10 weeks and nothing is done in there! I really, really hope we can get that done in the next week.

Here are a couple belly shots from today.

Oh my...

2009-04-21T13:24:00.000-05:00

I think I am getting a glimpse of what the teenage years are going to be like around our house. Ava has very specific ideas about what she wants to wear. She does things like refusing to wear leggings under her dresses because she would rather put a pair of jeans on under them. Where has she even seen that???

Yesterday, I was getting her ready to go to my sister's house and she refused to leave the house wearing a brown bow. It's not that she didn't want to wear a bow. She just wanted to wear a white bow. Yes, they both matched her outfit, but the brown bow was so cute! I gave in and put a white bow in her hair. She then smiled, hopped down off the bed, and said, "I'm ready now!"

This morning, I got her dressed for swimming lessons and put her lime green cover-up on her. She has green sandals that match this perfectly that she wears every week to swimming. Today, she wanted to wear her brown shoes! She sat in the living room floor saying she would not wear her green shoes until I threatened not to take her to swimming. :) She reluctantly put on her green shoes, took one look at them, then said, "but I want to wear brown", as if to make her point one final time.

Fast forward to after swimming. I was changing her clothes before her nap to put her in something more comfortable. I chose a cute blue shirt with matching striped shorts. She had a complete meltdown because she wanted to wear green. Of course she wanted to wear green now! I told her it was just for her nap and she could wear the blue shirt. What does she say? "But I look cute in green!" Yes, she is only 2 years and 3 months old. Who knows who may sneak into her room and catch her wearing a blue shirt to bed. Oh, the embarrassment!!