Dear Avery

Dear Avery,

Today Daddy got up and made me breakfast. He made me toast with peanut butter and bananas, one of my favorites! He got ready and went golfing, his favorite hobby which you will soon know because he has full intentions on getting you involved with this same hobby! It makes me smile, because he loves it so much and I think you will too! I had a busy day planned although I haven't felt 100% my best. I have had a cold and throughout my entire pregnancy with you I have sneezed and coughed my head off... but my little sweet pea, it's been completely worth it and I would do it all over again a million times. I attended a baby shower today for a friend that is having twin babies and is due a week before me! Afterwards we went to the Saturday night Easter Service at our church. I thought about you as I stared at a beautiful little baby girl in front of us bouncing around on her mommy and daddy's lap, enjoying the songs that were being sung. Her little dress was so cute and it made me dream of when I see your beautiful face and get to dress you up in all of the beautiful things I have been so blessed with being able to get. During the Easter program I also thought about you. As they showed Jesus being nailed to the cross and crucified, it made me think of how someday you will see the same program, and through me and Daddy we will teach you all about Jesus and how he sacrificed his life for us, and rose again so that we could have this life together. What a blessing.... you are a blessing... our lives are blessings.... After a nice warm bath where you started kicking the fire out of me, I decided to come write you a note so you can someday read these journals of my pregnancy and everyday life. I want you to see how happy I am and how blessed my life has been with your Dad, grandparents, family, and friends. You are so special, and I hold you so dear to my heart.

My prayer tonight and forever is that you are a healthy happy baby that will grow up having a blessed life as your Daddy and I have had. I pray that you will be strong, loving, sweet, kind, and grow strong with the Lord in your everyday life. Sweet dreams my little one! Hugs and Kisses as I say to you every night!

Love,
Mommy

Happy GOOD Friday

Happy Good Friday Friends!

Today I enjoyed a nice lunch with my blogger friend Melissa. Melissa's husband and my father work together at Wal-mart. We met through my dad, and her and her precious husband Chad sit behind us at church each Sunday! We have been following each others blogs, and decided to do a lunch date! So we met at McAlisters to get to know each other and talk. It was SO much fun. She's the sweetest girl, very personable, and a lot like me. (Not to mention her sense of style is incredible)... ;) I can't wait for more dates with her! We are going to get the "Chad's" together really soon! I love meeting new people, sharing stories, and making friends!

Aftewards I met my mom and grandmother at Belly Buttons. I got to meet the owner and again walked through the store and added a few more little things to the registery! I got to take a few things off, because grandma splured and bought her the crystal pacifier I so badly wanted with the crystal clip that goes on her shirt. Too cute! Grandma likes anything sparkly, so of course that was one of her favorite purchases! I can't open it until the shower thought, I am so ready. This store is my favorite. I will be a personal shopper of theirs for life! I also bought Avery a cute little outfit that was on sale. It's leopard, pink, and has come crystals on it of course, bling!

Speaking of the shower... it's only a few short weeks away. Literally 16 days away! I am counting down the minutes. It makes everything feel so real. The girls have put SO much time, effort, and money into making this day perfect for me, and I am so forever grateful. I know how they are, and how creative they can get- so I am anxious to see what they have up their sleeve. I called my sister in law and good friend Kim the other night and they were "crafting" that's all I could get out of them. Speaking of crafting, my friend Kim Herman is into crafts too, and is making something for Avery and is going to post it on her blog soon for everyone to view! She said she couldn't wait to show everyone! So stay tuned and I will make sure you have her blog address so you can see it, and will post some pictures as well.

I have a busy day tomorrow- baby shower for a friend, church, and then dinner with the family. Sunday we have church with Chad's mom and dad, dinner with them, and another lunch with my family! BUSY BUSY!

Some of Avery's goodies this week

This week Miss Avery got a few new hair bows and hats, some socks, an adorable rug from my mother in law Jeannie, and some shoes from Gracious May (Thanks Kelly for showing me this website)... HAPPY THURSDAY!!!

8 month check up

After reading my 8 month list, these are some of the great joys I may or may not experience in the coming months, ENJOY:

Breathlessness
Backache
Constipation
Faintness
Leg Cramps
Insomnia
Mood Changes
Swelling in breasts
Leaking breasts (oh so fun)
Bleeding gums
Contractions
Vaginal discharge
Nosebleeds
Stretch marks
Varicose veins
Hemorrhoids
Heartburn
Indigestion

Avery this week:

I visited good ole Doctor Hannah today for my 8 month checkup. He was running behind schedule today and I sat in the room for what seemed like forever fanning myself with a magazine. I was so warm in there and having hot flashes! When he finally walked in and shook my hand I had to apologize for the sweaty palms. Man, it was HOT in there!

His nurse measured my belly as usual and then listened for Avery's heartbeat. She was being a stinker today and we couldn't find it, but she was making the doppler move when the nurse was moving it around. I guess we were pushing too hard and she wanted to sleep! We finally found it and it was 160, awesome! Her head is down low and she is starting to drop, and her butt is pushing out on my belly button. I told Dr. H that it was burning and he said he thinks I am just a few days shy of a "pop"!! How funny is that? The visit went very well, and we talked about the last few weeks and what to expect. I was so nervous and my heart was jumping with excitement. Kind of like the day I first found out I was pregnant.
...Speaking of, most of you know but I had a miscarriage in February 2008. Chad and I finally got pregnant again 7 1/2 months later in September. It was so hard. I handled the miscarriage as well as could be expected on the outside but secretly for that period of time I was torn up inside. I didn't feel whole, didn't feel like myself, and felt like a failure most days. I didn't let a lot of people see that side of me because I like to think I am strong and can handle most anything and everything (besides when I am sick, ha); especially when it came to something that difficult in my life. I just didn't understand it. Then to have to go through the procedure in the hospital 2 days after I found out I lost it, I just felt incomplete.... for so long. Chad was great through the process and through prayer God blessed us again. I will never forget, we were driving through Wendy's and the moment the window opened for us to pay I could smell that "fast food" smell... I thought I was going to barf. I told Chad I had to be pregnant. We went to WMT, and around 6 pregnancy tests later (I never believed them)... I was pregnant!
The reason for me sharing this story is because I know there are so many girls out there, and one of my friends, that is trying SO hard to have a baby. God is so good and His timing is unmistakable. I didn't understand the timing of 7 1/2 months between the time I lost the first baby until now... but I can see where God was strengthening me, growing me into a woman, and preparing me as a wife... and now a mother. We don't always understand why things happen in life, but there is a season for everything. I hold that dear to my heart and know that when God is ready for his miracles, he will perform them. No matter what trials we go through, I know that He has a reason for it... and one day you will look back and see why. I sure do see why now I am being blessed with Avery... my life changed drastically during that 7 month period of time with my husband during that mourning stage of losing our first... and I have come out SOOOOO much stronger. And I have to say, I am calm. This pregnancy has been easy, and worry free.

After my appt Chad and I went to McBeth Orthodontist to drop off my resume. Yes, my resume! Through much prayer and thought, I have really felt I don't want to go back to work full time, or even to a high stress job. I am so driven in life, but now that Avery is almost here, I want to be stress free, happy, and available. I want and need a job to where I can come home and not think about work, period. I don't mind working by any means, but just don't want that to consume my life. McBeth is where Chad got his braces, and they were talking to him about a position they would have open in September for someone to help do a little marketing for them. They kind of did a brief interview with me today and said they would love to have me, but are still checking time frames, and the scope of the job etc... I would basically work Tues, Wed, and Thur, and do their marketing, networking, attend events, etc.... and possibly work my way into being a dental assistant down the road after getting a feel for that part of the business. The hours are phenomenal, exactly what Chad and I want. We feel it could be a blessing...this means I could be home Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!!! So please pray for us and that whatever God wants will be done. If I could stay home I would, and if that opportunity presents itself financially, I will do it in a New York second! But for now, it's looking like I need to have at least a part time job... and I want something FUN FUN FUN! Not serious! Stay tuned though, all of this could change contingent on where my life may go in the next 5 months!!

Family is coming for Easter and we have a full weekend planned!!! Hope everyone has a good rest of the week! HUGS!

Motherhood

Today I was flipping through the channels and fell upon Oprah. I'm not a huge fan of her like I use to be and don't normally record her shows anymore, but clicked the info button and it said "Woman discussing motherhood"... so I stopped and hit the record button. I fixed me and Avery a nice little snack and proceeded to watch the episode.

It was hilarious to say the least. Woman were confessing all of these stories about their kids. One woman told a story about how she would hide her child's toys because they wouldn't obey, to another woman who would pretend to cry because it would get her kids attention. Another lady even forgot to feed her kids dinner once! I honestly didn't know at that point if I felt I was going to go nuts when I had Avery, or if it would make me more aware of my surroundings and schedules. I guarantee you every time I feed her as she gets older, I will think about dinner time and that poor woman who forgot to feed her kids! But, it's true... us woman get so wrapped up in our everyday lives from work, to husbands, to feeding our kids that it can be hectic! I know I have a lot coming my way so I am in a state of preparation where I am trying to really train my mind to not have any sleep, to forget everything, be a little confused, yet TRY... TRY to smile as I always have before. I definitely don't want to lose my sanity when Avery gets here. Maybe with 2 but not with my first. Most cabinets are cleaned out, I have space all ready for her bottles and everything! I have completed my nesting stage and now just hanging out "mentally" trying to prepare myself. Today I was with mom and she was telling me stories about how she was when she had me and my brother, and how she had to just hand us kids to her mom for a bit so she could sleep! I think I will have no problem doing that one for the first few weeks, man... I like my sleep.

So I am keeping myself busy, feeling 100% this week. I don't feel the achy legs, and I am really not as tired. I have a lot of energy! It's harder to get up and harder to roll out of bed... but for the most part, it's cheese. I wonder if I will be saying this by the end of this month! HAHA!

Tomorrow I am working with mom at her school. The kindergarten kids go through a special testing for a couple hours so I am going to help aid the teacher during this time. It's so neat! I went to school with mom today for a couple of hours, (she's only going in a couple days this week since her Hernia surgery), and they asked me to help so of course I am in! The kids are so much fun, I look forward to spending a couple hours up there tomorrow being around all of them and helping my mom's co-workers out! But, I have to get up EARLY... this my body isn't use to so hopefully it will be okay!! Nothing else exciting going on, just doctor appt Wednesday, and company coming for Easter Thursday!!! Stay tuned for updates!

8 months... here I come...

8 months this week!!!! YIPPEE!!!

Garage Sale Day at the Linam's!

Money Money Money Money.... MONEY!
.... I made $242.00 today at our annual Garage Sale at the Linam's. We had so much fun! My mother in law, sister in law Tiff, & cousin Gretchen all had the sale at our house. Altogether I think we sold almost $800.00 worth. We began around 7am with a Starbucks coffee and getting things put out. Traffic was steady all day and we sat around and talked and stayed open until almost 2:00! It was so much fun! Thanks to all my great family that helped, we always enjoy getting together snacking, laughing, and making some MONEY HONEY!

After the garage sale Tiffany and I ran around all afternoon and then we had a fish fry at my brothers house with them. Aaron & Chad fried up the bass while sis, (I call my sister in law sis and have for over 10 years), & and I made cole slaw & munched on chips and dip! The boys also grilled some brots, my fav! We all sat in chairs on the carport and indulged with some GOOD food and "redneck" laughs, haha! Afterwards we all played with their chocolate lab in the backyard and then made our way to good ole Andy's for a sweet ice cream treat! Me and sis got kiddy cones, chocolate!

Me and Chad in the back at Andy's waiting on some ice cream!
Yes, belly is getting BIG!!!!

Me and Sis while the boys fried that fish!!

The weekend was absolutely wonderful. I am feeling tired, bad back aches but only because this belly is getting bigger by the day. I am feeling great though- and 8 months next week with a doctor appt on Wednesday to check my progress.

One more thing that made my weekend PERFECT- what made my day even better was I got my shower invitation in the mail from my best friend today! She mailed them all out, and they were adorably cute, and totally me!!!!!!!! I can't wait for everyone to get theirs! ;) The shower is only 2 more weekends away- YIPPEE!!!!

I thought I was HUGE!

I was thinking this morning how large and in charge I feel... and was looking back at pictures and noticed this one when I was BARELY pregnant, almost 3 months! At the time I thought I was HUGE... until I compared my 31 week pic. It's amazing how God can stretch our bellies so far! Like the cupcake outfit and no make-up look- haha! Have a HAPPY THURSDAY!
My cute hubby and I before we got pregnant!

Avery's first baby shower!!!

Not only was it Avery's first shower today here on April Fools Day, but I am 31 weeks today! YAY! She literally could be here in 6 weeks if I am induced, but lets pray she will come when she is fully ready!! I'm feeling okay... Super tired, can't breathe, can't sleep, and bloating up a little! But the Good Lord is only preparing me for the hard days ahead, yet it will be completely worth it. Avery is 4 lbs and 18 inches long. Her kicks have become rolls, and it's the most precious feeling I have ever felt in my life. I feel so close to her. We go back to the doctor next Wednesday for a full examination, even maybe an ultra sound to check her growth process. We are so excited, and anticipate every second of the arrival of our first baby girl!
Today was Avery's first baby shower. It was fantastic! Chad works for a supplier for Wal-mart, and they do so wonderful throwing the wives of the husbands baby showers. We had Whole Hog for lunch and then a beautiful cake from Rick's Bakery (my fav). I opened SO many wonderful gifts from diapers, to clothes, to shoes/socks, and even gift cards. I want to extend a VERY special thank you to the "FLOWER FOODS GANG" because I know there are several that follow my blog. This shower meant so much to me & Chad and all these goodies were much needed.

Chad reading a funny "April Fools" card from one of the guys!

All of the gifts that we got:

Before the shower:

Me with an adorable outfit from Joy:
Some of the Flowers Foods Group:

My ADORABLE cake from Ricks:

This weekend we are having a garage sale so between watching mom, and getting ready for this, I am busy busy! On the mom front, she is doing great! I appreciate all your prayers... she has been wonderful, just sore! I keep having to tell her to SIT DOWN!!! Speaking of, time for me to do the SAME THING!!!!!!

Busy, busy, busy...tired, tired, tired . . .

First- CONGRATS to Chad, today he is getting his braces off, hee hee!!!!

Mom's 52nd Birthday went great! We all got together Saturday night for dinner at Johnny Carino's and then came back and stayed at mom and dads with them. It was snowy and cold that night so we thought it would be nice to lounge by the fire so we did just that! We started talking about old stories of grocery stores and how we use to go to Food 4 Less when it was the only thing around. Tiffany grew up in Memphis so she hardly ever went to a WMT. She told a story of a memory when she would spin a wheel at the store and try to win a prize or something, and her and her sister would be with their granny. It was so funny! Then I told a story of when the sample store (WMT people know what this is) was on Moberly Lane in Bentonville and it seemed like all they would EVER play is Randy Travis in there. I did a pretty good impression and we were all rollin in the floor, haha "Diggin up bones"... Good times, good times.... I love sitting around and sharing funny stories with the family, so much fun!

Mom had hernia surgery yesterday at 8am. I got up EARLY (earlier than I have in months) to join Dad in Fayetteville and sit with him. The surgery went very well, took less than 30 minutes to do! The doctor found a little bit larger hernia than expected, but did what he needed to do to get rid of it! She was in and out... and I do mean OUT at the end, haha! She woke up kinda cross eyed and didn't remember much once we got home, bless her heart. She did great last night once home. She was up and down and I kept having to tell her to SIT! She's like my Grandma and likes to do things on her own. I am COMPLETE opposite when I am down, I like the help! At one point she was in the garage going through some things and I had to tell her to get her booty back in bed. I told her I am going home if you don't let me take care of you! ;)

Dad is a very busy man. He has 36 years at Wal-mart this June when Avery is born! He works his little tale off. He's always been the type to put family first, but when it's go time with work, he works. He had to travel out this morning at 6am to New Jersey I believe, to visit some stores and won't be returning until Friday. Guess what this means!? I am spending the week with mom!!! ;) I am her personal little maid! I'm not going to lie, it's been hard so far today. My knees are starting to hurt so bad, and my legs ache 24/7, not to mention the sciatic nerve that is killing my booty, and running down my left leg. I am starting to grow so fast that all of the weight on my legs are starting to be hard on me. I am 8 months next week! WOW! I sat in bed last night crying my eyes out, just feeling kind of empty, and helpless. I am a girl that likes to go, and now that my energy is dissolving, I just want to cry. I'm doing my best to help mom, slowly making my way around the house and trying to do some of her laundry, but the stairs are starting to kill me. I do have to say I feel like an old fart trying to get up and down them! I wouldn't do anything else though but take care of her. She's great and my whole life has taken care of me more than anyone. So I just grit these teeth and smile and do whatever she needs!!!! ;) Even when she does get up and try to do things on her own, and then I have to get on to her again and again!

On a positive note, I have another sister in law Kara that is 25 this month actually. She found out yesterday that she is also having a baby girl!!!! Chad and I are excited for her and Luke and know that God will continue to bless their family. Kara's naming her daughter Stella Irene! So cute. Avery will have a little girl cousin just 3 months apart. I called my father in law yesterday and told him to get ready because he is going to be broke, haha! Stella will make their 3rd grandaughter. Kelsey is Missy's (my other sister in law), and she is 18 about to graduate from High School in May. House full of girls.... wonder if someday there will be some little boy rugrats running around, I sure hope so! Now all I have to do is get my brother and his wife to get pregnant, and then we will have cousins all around ;) YIPPEE!

The rest of the week is very busy for me so please keep me in prayer. I am going to try to manage a garage sale on Saturday at my house with some family, so getting ready for that is straining and tiring. Trying to find time to get that stuff ready this week is kinda hard! Tomorrow is my baby shower at Chad's work... they are throwing me a "cover your butt" shower! I can't wait! Then I have some appts before the end of week, and then the sale! Hope everyone has a great rest of the week! XO!