Ellie Abigail

This post is a long time coming.  We finally  had a baby! I introduce to you Ellie Abigail.

Ellie was born December 5th at 7:48 AM.  She weighed in at 7 lbs 6oz.  We think we'll keep her. 

Avery is a very proud big sister and can't get enough of Ellie.  Unless she's crying.  Avery isn't fond of Ellie crying. In fact she told Ellie the other day if Ellie didn't stop crying, she wasn't going to be her friend. 

Everyone is doing well and everyone is starting to adjust to having a new family member.

I'll more posts about Ellie soon. 

Happy New Year! 

Things to Do

First let me say the pictures in this post have nothing to do with the post itself.  I just like to add pictures- it's makes everything more interesting.

So I'm 38 weeks pregnant.  It feels like 83 weeks but the doc says 38.  I guess I'll trust her judgement.  I am scheduled for a C-section on Monday, December 5. If you are keeping score at home thats only 8 more days.  And in that time, I have a lot I'd like to get done. Enjoy a glimpse into my crazy mind.

1. House Chores
Theres a lot that needs to be done around the house.  It's nothing life or death related it's silly things like this:

• hang picture in hallway
• install A's "bookshelf" in room (is a hanging sling-like "bookshelf")
• Clean bathrooms (we have 3)
• Move Avery's old bath stuff to new bathroom by her new room
• Organize pantry
• Get more freezer meals together
• Make December menu plan
• And more that gets added to the list daily

It's not that any of those things NEED to get done, it's just that I'm kind of nesting and I want it done.  Today.

2. Ellie's room
This is probably the list that gives me the most stress. 

• Dresser - we are having E's dresser painted and I haven't heard when we expect to get it back.  Until then, I have no place to put blankets, onesies, sleepers, gowns, sheets, etc.  Plus the dresser is going to be our changing table.
• Decor-
• I have big plans to create a gallery wall.  I should probably get started on that.
• Frame vinyl name on wall- I have the frame and the name ordered.  Just waiting on the USPS to deliver.
• Mirror- I have a big mirror that I want to put above the dresser.  I should probably get that spray painted.
• Shelf- I have a shelf that needs to be hung.
• Stuff for shelf- I guess if i'm going to hang a shelf I should probably find stuff to put on it.
• Sling bookshelf- I have fabric and supplies to make the same type of sling bookshelf for E's room (Pinterest find).  They need to be made and installed.
• Pack Bag- there's not a lot I will take for E to the hospital but I need to make sure we have her coming home outfit, etc.
• Bassinet- someone (Ronnie) needs to get this out of the attic.  And someone (me) needs to wash linens for said bassinet.

3. Crafts
Have you heard of Pinterest?  If not, I urge you to get thee over there and sign up.  As I read recently, it's like ripping pages out of a magazine and putting them in a binder only easier.  Well, thanks to Pinterest I have all kinds of ideas I want to get done.

• Ruffle tote bags (gifts) - Pinterest find, I made one this evening and it is adorable.  I have several friends, Avery's teachers, etc. that I'd like to make a ruffle tote for but it's all a matter of time.

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• Advent Calendar- I have always, always, always wanted an Advent calendar.  I think they are so fun and now that I have a child that really understands Christmas, I'd love to have one with her.  Again, thanks to Pinterest I found a great pattern for a cute Advent calendar idea...it's just a matter of getting it made.  Before December 1.  Place your bets now on the likelihood of that happening.

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Coasters (gift)- found a great tutorial on Pinterest (gasp, i know!) for cute hand made coasters.  What a great gift idea for that hard to buy for person.  They look super easy and not too difficult. Famous last words my friends.

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• Christmas shirt for Avery. Another Pinterest find.

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4. Pack hospital bag
This is kind of difficult to do.  It's like trying to pack for vacation 1 week early.  You are still wearing clothes and using your stuff.  I have a pile of stuff put together but my fear is that I will go into labor early and all my yoga pants will be in the dirty laundry.  Because of the C section I know I will be in the hospital 3-4 days.  It's hard to plan what to pack when you just don't know how you will feel and what you'll want to wear.  Plus I need to get a bag together for Avery. 

5. Christmas
See Crafts above.  Plus, we'd hoped to have our Christmas shopping done.  That hasn't happened but we are about half done.  I feel pretty good about that.  What I don't feel good about is that I'm just not able to decorate the house this year like I usually do.  I mean, I'm that person that have 4-5 trees around the house and no room is without a Christmas decoration.  I'm okay with that but I still want to make Christmas special for Avery. My list of Christmas to be done before E would look something like this:

• Christmas tree- we have a smaller tree that can be set up pretty easily.
• Avery's Christmas tree- yes, Avery has a tree for her room.  I've bought her some special ornaments and she has pink lights for her tree.  She'll be thrilled once it's up.
• Start wrapping gifts

6. Phone Calls
I've got about a ba-jillion phone calls to make.  Haircut, massage (rough I know), house cleaning (I have a groupon), and then some. Lot's of appointments to make this week!

As you can see, there's a lot to get done in 8 days.  Again, all of this doesn't have to be done before the baby gets here and obviously it won't all get done.  Nonetheless, I still get a little bit of anxiety thinking about what needs to be done.  Of course, this list isn't exhaustive either.  I'm sure there's more that needs to be done that I'm forgetting. But I know that at the end of the day, if all this stuff doesn't get done, it will be waiting for us when we get home with our new family member.  That will be the greatest gift.

But don't cry to me if your Christmas gift is wrapped in a Target bag.

The Cutest Unicorn

This year has to be my favorite Halloween with Avery.  She finally understood she was going to get to dress up and couldn't wait to go Trick or Treating.  Anytime we went into a store she had to look at all the Halloween stuff.  Usually this means going over to the area of decorations that made noises and had buttons to push. She loved pushing the buttons and seeing what the decoration did.  I shouldn't be surprised about this.  Ronnie LOVES Halloween so Avery comes by it naturally.

When we asked Avery what she wanted to be for Halloween she said she wanted to be a unicorn.

Okay so the conversation may have gone more like this.

Me: Avery, don't you want to be a unicorn for Halloween?

Avery: Yay! I want to be a unicorn!

How easy it is to sway a 3 year old! In my defense, she's really into unicorns these days and I knew she'd love being a unicorn.

We initially bought her costume at Pottery Barn Kids in a moment of weakness.  But after searching Ebay and finding a costume for half the price, the PBK costume when straight back to the store!

Avery had a blast dressing up and wearing pink unicorn make-up!

Avery had a Halloween party at school and had a blast dressing up and trick or treating.















We also went to the Spooktacular event at our local community center.  Along with 4 bajillion other people but that's another issue.

Of course we went out Halloween night as well.  And of course, this mom was too caught up in the moment to snap a single photograph!  I know, I know. Mom of the year over here.  But Avery got to trick or treat with her besties Hannah and Chloe.  Those girls could had a blast running from house to house.  Their little "trick or treat" voices were adorable.  And though we constantly had to remind them "remember to say thank you!" before they rang the doorbell, they were on their best behavior.

Next year we'll have two little girls to dress up for Halloween!  I'm still having trouble wrapping my brain around having two little girls in the house but I can't wait!

More adventures to come!

Halloween Brownie House

I picked up a Halloween Brownie House kit on my last visit to Aldi.  It was $5 bucks and very much an impulse buy while waiting to check out.  But I knew that Avery would love baking the brownies and decorating the brownie house. 

Side note: I often bake with Avery.  It's something my mom did with me and I have fond memories of making chocolote chip cookies, cakes and brownies.  At Christmas we would always make spritz cookies and decorate them.  So I find myself baking a lot with Avery.  She is big enough to help and well, it doesn't hurt to have an edible finished product!

Avery had been asking to make her brownie house so I finally caved and got to work.  The kit came with the brownie mix, shaped pans and lots of decorating supplies (like icing and candy).

Ronnie was Avery's helper of course.

But then Avery had everything under control and could decorate her house all by herself.

Avery was very serious about the placement of her candies! I think as much candy was consumed as what was put on the house.

Avery's finished house, with the help of her dad of course. I'm pretty sure after I took this picture Avery added more candy to the door and windows so this wasn't the "final, final" product.

She was still pretty proud.

The kit made two houses.  And Ronnie being the kid that he is couldn't wait to get his hands on
the second house.

Not too shabby.

With the holidays right around the corner, I'm certain there will be lots more baking and decorating going on in our house.  Bring it!

More adventures to come!

Bubble Blast

Recently I have been helping out my bestie and watching her girls a few days a week.  Being the awesome "aunt" I am, I am always trying to find fun things for the girls to do.  Plus it gets us out of the house and usually provides a few hours of entertainment.

Our local community center offered a Bubble Blast one morning so I signed us all up to go.  The activity was supposed to provide lots of different ways to play with bubbles. 

The first thing they did they got a small container with bubble solution and a straw.  They could blow through the straw and makes lots of bubbles.  The girls seemed to enjoy this.

Well, Avery and Hannah seemed to enjoy the activity.  Chloe refused to participate.  Apparently she is too cool for bubbles!













See, Hannah having a good time.  Chloe not participating.  Can't please everyone right?

There were also other bubble activities too.













All in all I think we were all a little underwhelmed. I was expecting more organization and everything was just haphazardly set out.  But I think the girls had a decent time and it gave us all something to do.

Plus there was a snack involved. Bonus.

Can we all agree that snacks make everything just a little bit better?

Avery has enjoyed having her friends over.  And although there is usually some bickering and tears (usually my child- she's kind of a drama mama) I know deep down they all love each other.

They kind of have to since their mama's are such good friends.

More adventures to come.

33 Weeks

Confession: I'm horrible at taking pregnancy pictures of myself. 

It's one thing I regret with my pregnancy with Avery and I told myself that with this kid I would do better.  If anything I've done worse. I had big plans to take weekly pregnancy pictures.  As of today, I have 2 pregnancy pictures.  Pretty awesome right?

This is the first picture I took of myself pregnant. I was 14 weeks.

I had a little bump and hadn't gained too much weight. I could still wear some of my regular clothes including my favorite pair of jeans. At this point, I barely knew where my yoga pants were stashed.

This is me now. At 33 weeks.

Huge. I'm past that "I feel like a cute pregnant girl".  I've now entered the "I look like a whale" stage.  Mental not to self: This blue shirt does not help the whale look. I can no longer wear any "normal" clothes and am sick of maternity clothes. My yoga pants and I are BFF and I'm fairly certain Ronnie thinks I don't get dressed during the day.  I assure you, if we go out in public I am dressed appropriately.  But I will admit as soon as we get home, the jeans come off and the yoga pants come on. 

I will admit, I'm doing better with this pregnancy than I did with Avery as far as weight gain.  I've walked a lot more now than I did with Avery and am trying to eat better.  But the holiday season is just around the corner and I'm going to really have to watch myself. I mean, look at my face.  It's already getting puffy and there's still 6 weeks to go!

So here are some things you might be wondering.

When are you due again?

My due date is December 10th but we have a C-section scheduled for December 5th.  I had to have an emergency C-section with Avery and while it's not the ideal delivery plan, it's what I've got.  I am praying (and asking you to do the same) that I go into labor before the 5th.  Mostly it's selfish but I want to deliver around the 1st so we can be in the hospital over the weekend. Bizarre I know but it's a schedule thing.

How are you feeling?

I'm feeling fine...as fine as you can feel at 33 weeks.  I'm definitely getting tired and being home with Avery can be exhausting at times (that's not me complaining by the way). But, all in all, this pregnancy has been good to me.

Is Avery excited?

Avery is VERY excited to be a big sister.  I'm not sure she understands what she's in for when Baby Sister gets here.  We've tried to explain that Baby Sister will take a lot of attention but Avery's 3.  I'm not sure she really gets it.  But she likes to talk and sing to Baby Sister.  She gives Baby Sister hugs and during every prayer time she says "thank you for Baby Sister and keep her helpy (healthy)".  It might be the sweetest thing ever. Melts my heart.

Are you ready?

No.  I'm not ready.  Not only is the nursery not ready (although we do have a crib so what more do we need?) and not prepared mentally.  I mean, two kids?! Some days I can barely handle the one kid we have.  How does it work with two?  Yikes!  But I am thankful that Ronnie is such a hands on dad and I'm not doing this alone.  Our girls have wonderful grandparents that are willing to step in at a seconds notice so we have lots of help.  Not to mention our friends that I know I can call and cry on their shoulders too!

Do you have a name?

We did finally decide on a name: Ellie Abigail.

There's no special significance to either name.  We just liked them. 

So there you have it.  A 33 week update.  Maybe I'll update weekly from here on out... but I wouldn't count on it!





Project Nursery

Yep, this picture just about sums up how crazy this nursery project has been.

I'm not going to lie, I have been dreading starting on the nursery.  Not because I wasn't ready to get the party started, but I knew that once the party started, it was going to turn into something huge.  And a huge project it was!

First, the room had to be cleaned out.  The room that will be the nursery had become our junk room.  You've got one of those right?  The room had a full size bed, dresser full of of fabric and sewing supplies, sewing machine and desk along with a TON of stuff set aside for a garage sale.  Thankfully, we had some extra space in our garage due to the recent sale of Ronnie's beloved Mustang.  So to the garage most of this stuff went.

Next, we decided to take the carpet of the room.

We had planned on getting new carpet in this room and knew that painting the room would be much easier without the carpet.  See, I had this crazy idea a while back that we should paint all the trim in our house white.  We would just paint it one room at a time.  Have you ever painted trim?  It ain't for sissies I tell ya.  Anyway, Avery was such a big helper getting the carpet out of the room.

I had to throw in the picture with Avery wearing her wellies. It wasn't raining inside or outside during this project. She has her own fashion sense.

After the carpet was out of the room the real hard work began.  Ronnie was a saint and did most of the work although Avery and I got our hands dirty every once in a while.

Trim: 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paints. Like I said, it ain't easy!

Avery was such a big helper!

See? I actually did some work.  When Ronnie and I paint, I'm always the cut in girl.  That's my job.  I'm pretty good at it.  Plus, it usually means I don't have to use any rollers.  I prefer it that way. And that awesome bandana?  It gives you super powers.  My friend said it does and I believe her. Although it does not help a pregnant girl get up off the floor while painting trim. 

Let's be honest, Ronnie did most of the work. And by most I mean 95%.

He's such a paint stud!

Still working.  Ronnie did most of the taping himself. We decided to go  with one white line around the room.  Why we always insist on stripes in a nursery is beyond me.  It's such a hassle.

At one point, Ronnie spilled just a tiny bit of paint on the floor.  Just a little bit.

He tried to blame it on me.  Thankfully we did pull up the carpet!

Ronnie had a little fun in the room. During one break time he left this little message for Avery and I. He included the New Kid's initial but at this point, it's still a secret!

All that work was worth it!  The room is painted and I big fat puffy heart love it!

The white trim really makes the paint color pop. The paint is an aqua and teal and this picture does not do it justice.

Avery and Ronnie thought it would be fun to put their handprints in the closet.

All in all this project took a week to complete.  A week!  I could have never dreamed we would spend a week painting a room but that's what it came to.  It looks great though and I can't wait to get the carpet installed, crib put up and bedding made!  This kid will be here in about 12 weeks! Yikes! That just doesn't seem like enough time!

I had to throw in this last pictue.  New Kid already has a closet full of "stuff".  I can already tell having two girls is going to be crazy!

Avery is so excited for baby sister to be here.  We tell her that her baby sister will be here at Christmas time.  I've heard her tell her friends that.  The other night she told me "I'm so excited for baby sister to be here. She will be here at Christmas."  Melt my heart! We know she is going to be a great big sister.

More adventures to come!