28 weeks, officially in my 7th month!

Im well on my way to counting down the weeks until Avery Elizabeth arrives. It's hard to believe that now I am counting down, not up. With 11 weeks remaining, I have a list of things I still need to do to get ready for this little lady. Now that I am starting to slowly get over this flu bug, I really need to start staying home getting these cabinets organized! I am planning to have a garage sale around the first weekend of April so I am gathering things here and there to slowly get ready for that.

I had a doctors appt today and got to see my friend Rachel! It was so good to see her, she looks so great! Her appt was right before mine! I had to get blood drawn for my glucose test, (which I won't have results until later this week). While I was waiting for doctor Hannah to come in the room, they poked their head in to say that he had to go deliver a baby that it was going to be about 45 minutes. With nothing on my stomach, since I couldn't eat anything before the blood test, I was getting shaky. I love Dr. Hannah's office so much, all of the nurses and girls up there are just so great and really like to get to know you, and know you by name. I had just laughed with his nurse Tiffany about how I was watching my carbs and sugar intake so I didn't gain alot towards the end of the pregnancy, then told them I was shaking, I was so hungry since I wasn't able to eat this morning. They said "here, eat this cookie"... haha, and gave me a big ole fat chocolate cookie. It didn't take long to get that down and then Avery was kickin the fire out of me. I re-scheduled my appt with Dr. H since he had to deliver and it was going to be awhile, so I go back next Wed to chat with him about my progress. The nurse listened to her heartbeat and measured my belly and said everything is 100% that I am doing GREAT!

After the appt I went to lunch with Chad and enjoyed his sweet company. I just love my husband!!! Tonight we have Bible Study with our small group friends from church so I plan to get laundry done today and kick the feet up before that at 6:00.

Hope everyone has a fantabulous week! Stay tuned for Avery's drapes- I am hanging them tomorrow! WHHHHAAA WHHOOOOOO!!!!

Happy Early Birthday DAD!!!!

Last week my wonderful mom helped me manage to get my boring white closet in order and organized! With the advice from my good friend Kim Herman (Rachel and Tara's mom), I added a few pieces of flare to these boring white walls! I added an "L" and a cute little decal to spruce it up! My fellow blogger friend Kelly inspired me to post some pictures of my new little project finally complete once I saw her organized pantry, hehe! Although I didn't go as far as color coordinating, I did organize by maternity, to summer, to "my goal" clothes to get back into- check it out:

Today has been okay. I tried to run "ONE" errand today and got down the street in my car and came home because I am still not feeling 100%. I decided to stay curled up in the recliner with a good movie all day. I am ready to get out again, but I am going to limit myself to 1 hour a day from the 5 hours a day I was doing before. It's time to slow her down a bit. The "nesting" stage is beginning to slow down and I need to do just that. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and be over this bug.

...Tomorrow is my fathers 53 Birthday. Us kids are taking him for a nice dinner at Abeulos, his choice. I want to share something very special about my father for a second. My Dad is one of my hero's. I look up to him so much and hope that we can be the parents to Avery as my parents have been to both me and my brother. My mom is of course amazing, but Dad is the "man of the house" and has always maintained that highest level or respect to my mom, us kids, and the family in general. He's always been such a Godly leader in EVERYTHING that he does. I go to him about all kinds of advice and he has helped me through getting jobs, finding my husband, dealing with friends... Dad has always encouraged me and Aaron with the Bible, our relationships, and life in general. The one thing I will always cherish about him is he says, "Take the HIGH ROAD"... we have always been encouraged to live our lives as Godly as possible but when the going gets tough in this world, take the high road. Let me tell you friends, taking the high road is something that I have always chosen to do in life even though I didn't always want to do it, and it's led me to the life I have now. Sometime you just have to turn the other cheek and do unto others as YOU would want to be treated, even though you aren't always treated the way you feel you are deserved. Without that in my life each day, I wouldn't be where I am as a woman of God. I truly feel that I am SO happy because I choose that for myself, and choose to not let people get me down. And nothing will ever still my great joy, nothing!! So thanks Dad for always placing that into our lives. I am so thankful for that each year you get older and I always remember those lessons you taught us. I can't wait for you to be Avery's "poppy"... and teach her the same goals I was taught!

Ugg, the flu bug!

Thursday afternoon I started feeling super sick around 3ish. I begin running a low grade fever of 99.4. By midnight that night I was up to 101.9! I had the aches really bad and couldn't stop blowing my snotty little nose. I started off taking Sudafed, then moved to a Zyrtec. Nothing ever ended up working. We called by obgyn, Dr. Hannah (who is AMAZING by the way)... and he called in an antibiotic but by this time I felt really weird trying to take something else, because of Avery. I had already been popping Tylenol and everything else under the sun. So I decided to wait it out.

It's now Sunday and I am still feeling pretty bad. I have been in bed since Thursday afternoon- and those of you who know me know that's pretty darn hard for me. I am a woman on the go and like to get out and play! Chad and I came over to my parents house Friday night to stay so he could enjoy his weekend playing golf and mom and dad could kinda watch over me. I have the BEST husband in the world but folks, when the weather is 80 degrees and gorgeous, I want my husband to enjoy his favorite hobby, golf! He begged me to let him stay with me, but I was out like a light half the time so MADE him!!! Mom and Dad were just here painting their dock, so I had them if I truly needed anything. Then Saturday my brother came over and him and Chad fished and the boys made steaks. Although I haven' t had much of an appetite the few days (and dropped 5 lbs which I'm trying to gain back), I managed to suck down the steak. It was GOOD! I'm taking it easy today and hope to be back on my feet by Monday. I have still continued to run around 100.0 fever, but nothing higher than that. I wake up in sweat each time I nap, so I know it's breaking.

Avery is fabulous though. This girl is a jumping bean! She has moved like crazy, maybe feeling the affect of some of my meds? I hope not but she has been crazy wild the last few days. I had a cereal bowl on my tummy one morning and called the whole family in there to see it move. She almost popped it off my belly, it was the funniest thing. We think she might have had the hiccups. She's just getting stronger and stronger everyday! She is now over 14 1/2 inches long and weighs over 2 lbs. If I were to for some reason go into early delivery (pray that doesn't happen) she now has over a 95% of surviving!!! Today Chad said "you just love your girl don't you"- it's all I talk about. She's my special little lady! I'm hoping to set up a 4D ultra sound with the family in the next 3 weeks where we watch a 30 minute video of her kicking and moving around. You get CD's and discs of all the pictures so it's completely worth the money!

Until next time, mommy and baby are great. Hubby is fabulous and we are counting down the weeks! After this week- 11 weeks to go! I told my sweet mother in law after being so sick this weekend, labor seems like it will be easy.... (we'll see about that).. haha! I am no woman for pain!

More pics per your request

Some of my family that view the blog have requested that I post more pics, since they can't see them all on my Facebook, so here ya go:

Rhea Lana Sale gone wild!

So Chad and I went to the Rhea Lana sale yesterday to dig through all of their amazing consignment things! There was soooo much cute stuff and we got tons of cute little things for Miss Avery for SO CHEAP! I love consignment, it's the way to go! Check out all the cute stuff:

The bow mom bought for Avery at Bella Jacks:
The cutest shoe ever- $2.00 (found them online for $40)

All her cute new fun summer outfits:

Tickled Pink Belly Pics!

I had the best weekend! My best friend Lindsey was in town to visit this weekend from Memphis. When she arrived we just hugged for so long and then immediately started catching up! She bought me the cutest basket full of goodies that had receiving blankets, candles, bath stuff, earrings, a beautiful painted cross for Avery's room, a green swirly vase.... there was quit a bit more too! I was so excited to get that basket, and it was so fun to see the bright colors that are like Avery's room! I had a little treat for her too, and made her a frame, along with a few other little goodies! We went to Chilli's (our favorite) Friday night, and then went and saw mom and Tiff. Dad is out of town so Tiff stayed with mom Friday night! Saturday we slept in, cooked breakfast, talked over coffee and did a little shopping! Then Sunday we enjoyed getting Avery's bedding together (yes, its completely finished)... and then had coffee with our close friend Kate. It was SO nice catching up!! Kate, Lindsey, and I were super close all through our Shiloh days!

Lindsey is really into photography and is amazing! While she was here she took some belly pics of me that turned out awesome! I was so happy with them... there are tons more that aren't on here, but here are a few for now. If any family wants copies of anything, please let me know and I will get copies for you. We had so much fun taking all of these pictures and being silly. The most sentimental part of it was that these are all done in Avery's room!

On the Avery front, I am now 27 weeks... feeling strong, healthy, happy, and great! My belly has rounded out and I am feeling more pregnant than ever, but great about myself. I haven't gained hardly much weight and have been trying very hard to eat right and drink LOTS of water. (Of course I splurged this weekend)....My energy level is starting to fall a bit, but I am learning to take things slow and prop my feet up when I start feeling tired. I feel her kick everyday morning, noon, and night. My bond is SO close with her already, I just love feeling her inside of me. I go to the doctor on March 11th so will have another update for you then!

Bedding is completely done- including all of the drapes! Waiting on the bed to arrive, and my painter to come on the 21st- and I can start getting this room together! I feel so blessed that Chad and I planned in advance for our girl, we had a fund all set aside for her before I lost my job... so with the graciousness of God, we have been able to do TONS for her and more than I ever dreamed. I am so blessed. . .

Prayers answered and a few updates. . .

Praise the good Lord! My friend Rachel is holding up very well. She was having some minor bleeding with her baby now of 12 weeks 4 days! She got home from Dallas late last night and went to the doc today to find out that everything is going to be okay. They put her on bed rest for about 8 weeks to take it easy. I feel for her so much after having my miscarriage... and know this scared her to death. But God is good and her little baby is going to be perfectly fine! By the way, I think it's a girl- her heartbeat was fast like Avery's! I can't wait to find out.

I talked to Renee who is doing my bedding today and we are meeting March 8th to get all of the bedding, curtains, and furniture she has covered. I can hardly wait! She called today because she covered this adorable piece of furniture that my mother in law gave me! I can't WAIT for you to see it... Renee said she re-did it completely with zebra and covered the buttons and the cording with turquoise. She said I was going to die when I saw it. She knows me too well already. I have Jennifer Walker coming the 21st to do my painting. Chad and I have decided to do a painting of a picture frame above her crib with a Bible verse- James 1:17 "Every good and perfect give is from above"... It's going to be really fun and scroll like. I have a few other ideas up my sleeve for some funk, but you will have to wait and see! The room is completely painted and today I purchased my changing table at a place in Bentonville called "True Treasures". It's this little antique store that has the most adorable things! I paid (GET READY).. only $89.50 for it! It's PERFECT and slightly stained like her bed! I am going to Hobby tomorrow to find replacement knobs to add some spunk. I want crystal knobs or something flower like that is PINK! I also went ahead and purchased a rocking chair that I am going to have a friend paint for me. It was only $25.00! SO CUTE! A couple other purchases, were a bag that is going to be her overnight back to the grandmothers house. I plan to have one personalized for Jeannie and mom soon I hope! I got it at Sign Sealed in Rogers and had it engraved with her name!The picture frame with the zebra in the middle is something very dear to me that my mother made all by herself! I am going to use it to put pictures in and other reminders. My friend Allisha puts her doctors appts on there and I thought it was so handy! I'm going to hang this above the changing table with something else above it, haven't yet found that piece. This gift is special to me because mom did the frame, fabric, ribbon... everything- by herself!! You can't see up close, but it has little diamonds in between the ribbon. The fabric is the same that her chair is covered in, along with the fabric that is on my window treatments and bedding! THANKS MOM! ;) YOU ROCK!

On the Avery front...we are now 26 weeks, pushing 27. It's really hard to believe how fast time flies. I can't believe it. Feeling her every move is a blessing. I just long for the day to hold her and find myself staring at her ultra sound picture all of the time. I just love looking at that little face imagining what she is going to look like. I sing to her all of the time in the car, it's so cute. Sometime I laugh at myself and then end up crying because I realize I am going to have a daughter to sing to in a few short months! I go back to the doctor March 11.

So my weekend plans: My best friend from High school that lives in Memphis is coming into town tomorrow and staying until Monday afternoon. I am SO excited you have no idea! She is coming to shop with me and spend time with me and Avery. She's the sweetest thing, so stay tuned for pics of our eventful weekend together. We plan to just talk and catch up, cook breakfast together every morning, and even make a few dinners together. She is going to help me make her famous Philly Cheese steak sandwiches.... she is the BEST cook! I also can't wait to see what ideas she will bring for Avery's room, she is SO good at decorating.

PRAY FOR RACHEL

FRIENDS and FAMILY-

Please say a prayer for my friend Rachel and her baby of 11 weeks. She is away from home today in Dallas and is needing our prayers. I don't have all of the details yet, but ask that you please keep her close in thought. Her husband is Shane, and she has 2 little ones- Claire and Owen.

Thanks!
Ashley ;)

Mission Accomplished!

I found Avery's chandelier today! It is bright, fun, cheery, funky, sassy, fabulous... everything I wanted in one! Although we are doing her main focal colors in pinks, greens, oranges, and turquoises, I found this chandelier to be great because it adds a little more spunk and breaks up those colors a little that has some red, purple, and yellow in it! It still has enough of the oranges and pinks that I love! The picture doesn't do it justice! It almost looks all pink or orange in the picture but around the edges they are actually orange, pink, and red, it's so bright! They also had little lamps that matched the chandelier that I am going back to purchase tomorrow, that will sit on her changing table. I made this fabulous purchase at Perfect choice in Bentonville- who knew they would have this. I walked in and it was like heavens music shining over me... there it was... I am one happy mamma to be....

I also ordered the bed today! Here is a picture of what it looks like! Very plain but what I wanted since everything else is crazy fun. It's kind of a rubbed black. It's simple enough to off set the colors, and will be great if I have a little boy someday! It's a convertible bed. I am ordering my changing table from another website that is less in-expensive than this one show in the picture, plus I don't want the shelf- just a changing table/dresser look. But it will look similar to the one in the picture minus the shelf above it.

Ready to see this????

Avery's bedding is ALMOST FINISHED! Renee came to the house today to review the window treatements with my mom. She said she would be finished by next week! I am stoked. Here are a few SNEAK PEEKS until I get my bed in 2 weeks and it's all put together!

The dust ruffle:
The bumper pad:

One of her blankets:

You may be wondering what this is going to look like all together! My main colors are pink, green, orange, and turquoise. The black and white zebra ties it all in for some funk! Just wait until you see the finished product... SASSY! This baby will never sleep!