Still waiting...

I was really hoping beyond hope that Avalynn would come this week, so far nada.  We have no plans this week, it's been a nice break, but now I'm getting bored, you can only clean so much and everything else is done and taken care of.  We're just playing the waiting game.  I look forward to posting the birth post on here in a few days though.  Until then I'll continue cooking this little girl. :o)

Thank you all for the kind words the past few days!

90% COMPLETE-D Nursery

It took us a while to get moving on Baby A's nursery - I remember being done months before with Little One's.  We had it all early and set up.

This week we went out and got the last of the necessities and odds & ends that help complete the room.  Honestly the most difficult thing was finding some curtains, I ended up getting shears with some blackout curtains behind them.  Only thing left to do is for me to do my canvas wall art project at some point, get her name made to hang above the crib and a small shelf for the wall.

So, happy with how it's turned out - love walking into her room now.  Everyday I take some time and sit in the rocking chair and just look around and think about her and how are lives & family will be changing going from a family of 3 to a family of 4.

Baby, Baby Time - 12 days time!

At this weeks appt we were told that they definitely planned to induce labor @ 39 weeks.  Woo-hoo, finally have a time table on when things are going to happen, of course Avalynn could always come on her own, but by the latest she should be here by the 27th of January. On the 25th they will be doing the gel softening stuff and then the 26th will be getting pitocin.  So - am hoping for the 26th but if she's a long labor then it could last until the 27th I suppose.

Pregnancy Review: 

How far along: 37 weeks 2 days.

Total weight gain/loss: 21 lbs - thank goodness only a week in a half left!

Maternity clothes?: Affirmative.

Strech marks?: No new ones.

Sleep: What a joke - I have about 2 nights a week where I'm so tired that I'll zonk our for the night. Otherwise it's more like naps and up for a couple hours.

Best moment this week: Getting the dates for inducing!

 

Movement: Yes, yes, yes - I want her to start slowing down, b/c then normally that means they are getting ready to come out. 

 

Food cravings: Pasta this week, although feel like everything I eat/drink gives me horrible heartburn.

Gender: 110% GIRL

 

What I miss: sleeping on my side/tummy, not having to scoot, shake and boogie my way off of the couch, being able to tie my own shoes.  

Labor Signs: Nope - still having some braxton hicks but that's it.

Belly Button in or out? It sticks out a little bit.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing Emma with her and for Hubby and me to finally hold her in our arms!

Weekly Wisdom: Ask for help, at this point you just can't do it all yourself!

 

Milestones: Everyday is a milestone - I'm beyond done with this pregnancy!

P.S. I wanted to thank you all for your couch input from below.  We did decide to go with #2 and now we are inpatiently waiting the 8 weeks for it to come in.  Can't wait to show you our living room transformation once it's here!!!  

 

Baby Sprinkle & Quarter Century Bdays – eeks!

What a fun jammed packed weekend we had!!!  Saturday afternoon both sides of our family threw a Baby Sprinkle for us.  We have wonderful family and friends and got lots of wonderful things for Avalynn’s arrival. 

 

My mom came up with some great game ideas – most I hadn’t played before so that was a nice change up.

1. How big is my belly?  Everyone cut ribbon in the length they thought would make it. 

2. Name that Baby -  You were told the animal and you had to write down what a baby of that animal is.  Ex: Dog = Puppy, Owl = Owlette, etc.  There were some tough ones thrown in there too.

3. Baby’s Price is Right – Items, had to guess the price of the item without going over, closest got a point, most points won.

4. Baby Memory – It’s a memory game, but the matches were a pregnacy term & a candy associated with it.  Ex. Umbilical Cord – Match – Twizzlers, Non-lactating Breasts – Match – Milk Duds.  And then you won the candy of the match you made.  Fun, fun!

 

Here’s some pictures of the festivities:

            

 

This afternoon I spent the afternoon opening up everything and putting it all away.  Makes me even more excited for her arrival!  Now sometime later this week we just need to get her car seat and other miscellaneous items that we need. Could I procrastinate any longer?  She literally can come at anytime now!

 

On Sunday, I celebrated my 25th Birthday.  Age has never bothered me, I’ve always been one to laugh at people who freak out or the ones who are turning 29 for 10+ years etc.  But man, last week it just sort-of hit me like a ton of breaks.  Perhaps because it’s like I’m “fully” adult aged now.  I don’t know – I just know that today I’m feeling better about it all, because I really don’t want to freak out about a number anyways.

The Hubs and little one made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and I got these beautiful roses.

The day was a pretty low key day, which was perfectly fine with me! And to end our relaxing day had to take a picture with The Hubs and little one. 

    

DIY - Refinishing Hardwood Floors

a house full of some chaos.  Saturday - Hubs and I headed out on a mission.  We were going to find that puuuuuurfect sectional.  Can't be too big, as this is an old house and we just don't have that kind of room.  After lots of sitting, scooting out of some super soft couches and zapping one another mulitple times from all of the static of our escapades we narrowed it down to 2 choices.

Choice 1: I'm a BIG fan of chocolate brown, it's getting a little obnoxious actually.  This was super comfy but not so sure about the fabric.

Choice 2: Ahh - now this one, love that it's simple, the fabric is super soft, I get to pick my own color & it has the chaise that I really wanted.  Hubs sure thinks it's a winner, he's already napping. 

#2 is winning for me so far, but I'm just not 110% sure yet, and hey! - when you are spending this kind of money you have to be 110% sure!  This might also have something to do that this our first real piece of furniture we are purchasing, minus our mattress.

So, couch browsing led to a discussion of what we were going to do with the floors in the living room.  It was a mauve'y weird color, has some stains from little one and orig. was either going to get all new carpeting down the road or perhaps putting in a floating floor.  BUT the Hubs, knew there were wood floors under the carpetng and suggested we see what kind of condition they were in and perhaps re-do them.  At this stage in pregnancy I'm all for whatever, I just want it to not take forever and be done before baby's arrival.

To our delight (sort-of) we found that the wood was in good condition but there was paint splatters everywhere, which of course meant they'd have to be sanded down. So the hubs hand sanded the edges and then rented one of those big ones. Two days of having floor dust going everywhere. Even with places taped off, closed doors, this dust has managed to creep into every place on every floor I swear.  So - here are the before, in progress, and an after picture of the floors having their coats of finish on them. 

We had to pick up some shoe molding today to finish the baseboards now that the carpet is gone. While there we decided to check and see what rugs they had in store. I've been drooling over the keyboard checking out rugs on Lowe's website all week. And to my delight they had one of the two kinds I had it narrowed down to. Hubs looked it over and happily agreed that he liked them also.  Woo-hoo!!!

Here's the rugs after we unrolled them. Completely in love with them - honestly, never thought I'd get so excited over area rugs!

I'm so ready to order our couch next week and get some finishing touches in here to show you the finished product.  Fingers crossed all before Baby Avalynn's arrival!

Annual Polar Bear Dip

Almost 5 years ago my Aunt moved back to Pennsylvania after living in California for almost 20 years!  When she bought her property along the creek she decided on Jan 1st to have a Polar Bear Dip.  At first this started with just family and friends.  Two years ago she linked up with Canine Corps and yesterday was the 2nd annual Polar Bear Dip for Canine Corps.  Donations were taken as monetary and supplies the facility needs such as blankets and paper towels. 

I have yet to participate in the dip, Hubby, little one and me are always on the sidelines cheering them on and sometimes we are the towel holders to hand off as they come back on to land.  Most of all it's so much fun to watch their faces as they take the plunge.  Here's some pictures of the Dippers this year.