Friday, June 10, 2011

31 weeks down.. 9 or less to go!

Baby (unnamed) girl was 31 weeks this past Wednesday.  Ok, so is anyone else a little freaked out by how fast this pregnancy has gone by?  I am!  We have 9 (hot, uncomfortable) weeks left to go.  We still have some things to get for her, wash everything and organize, paint her room and put everything together annnnd refinish her dresser and clean it up.  All this in between a visit to Oklahoma, Ava's everyday routine, my complaining (Sorry, Tommy:) ), work for both Tommy and I and school!  It's going to go by SO fast!  I'm not complaining about that, though!  I can't wait for our little one to get here! 

A little update on us:  I've been having some painful contractions here and there, but nothing regular or too painful.  Mainly just a lot of braxton hicks.  I can't decide if I think she is going to come early or not.. we'll see once we get a little closer to D-day!  I've gained 20lbs so far.  Not horrible, but I'm not jumping for joy yet as we do still have 9 weeks left to grow...and because I physically can't..  My appetite has gone down a lot! I starve no matter what I eat early in the day, then by the time dinner comes, I'm so uncomfortable, food is the last thing on my mind!

Over the last 3 weeks or so, my pelvic bone pops in and out of place a million times a day.  Imagine if you cracked your knuckles every time your fingers moved.. that's pretty much what happens anytime I walk, try to get up or roll over in bed.  Not the most comfortable thing in the world.  I literally can't walk upright for the first 10 minutes of everyday because it's so sore from popping throughout the night.  Oh, you can actually *hear* the popping, too.. It's lovely :)

Baby girl has been more active then ever the last week or so.  She's always been pretty laid back and has a "calm" about her, she's just rolling more now and getting bigger, so I guess I'm feeling it more.  I love all the distorted shapes she makes my belly at night!

All joking and complaining aside, I've been so blessed to get to carry another child, and I wouldn't change that for anything in this world.  Tommy and I can not wait to meet her.  What a blessing children are!


31 weeks and 2 days!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Dear Ava, You're 15 months old today! How is this possible?

Today is your 15 month birthday!  I can't believe how fast time is passing.  You had her well-check visit today with your favorite doctor!  You weighed in at 23.5lbs, is 31 inches tall and you have a huge head!.. But that's always been true.  You have 11... ELEVEN teeth through!  The top four, bottom four, top and bottom molars on the left side and the top molar on the right side.  You're currently cutting the bottom one.  Dr. White said that you are talking on a 2 year old level at least.  You can say phrases like "I love you", "The book", "All done"... and can say at least 20+ words.  Every day is a new adventure and new learning experience for you.  I just LOVE that you are getting to the point that you can tell me if you want a drink or a banana... or that you just went "pee-pee".. haha!  You can also tell us where your belly is, and point to our nose, eyes and ears.  You're following simple commands like, "Raise your arms!"  Such a smarty pants!
Today, I can't help but to be even more thankful for you and your safety and health after all the lives lost in the recent disasters.  God has blessed us beyond words with our little "bug"...YOU!  We only hope to be the mommy and daddy that you deserve.  We love you so much more then you'll ever know!

Love,
Mommy :)
You L-O-V-E "Duck-de" (Ducky)!  You cuddle him every night and naptime!

You definitely were not going to hold this sign for me... That's okay, though!

Cuddling "Duck-de"

You love your play food and insist on dumping it out 12 times a day!

"Where's your belly?"

In all this world, there just isn't anything more precious and beautiful to us...

Sunday, May 22, 2011

More to come soon!

Here's a snapshot of Ava at the park.  She was busy playing with her cousins, Moriah and Zeb!  I'll post more as I edit them.  Our sweet girl is growing so fast... sometimes I can't believe my eyes!

Samantha

Monday, May 9, 2011

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Lazy Saturday!

Today, Ava and I didn't do much.  Tommy got up and straightened up the downstairs for me, went to the gym and did yardwork.. he made us look lazy.  I got some laundry done and made dinner.  But between the chores for the day, we got some snapshots of Ava to share!..  For the record, we do normally fix her hair.. but as the title says, it was a lazy saturday. :)  Hope you all enjoy!

~Samantha




She loves cereal...and, well, actually whatever we are eating is what she loves.


Everything is a phone :)

Brushing my hair!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Ava - 14 months! Baby Girl #2 - 25 weeks!

Ava:
Daily Routine:  You wake up about 7:30 every morning, all happy and bright!  You normally wake up, immediately stand up, and start calling for "dada".. which I'm not sure why, because I go get you 90% of the time while dada is getting ready for work.  You went through a spell where you wanted to tell Ms. Pig (Your Porcelain piggy bank that Grammy Foree got you) hello and give her a kiss, as well as the Noah on your Noah's Ark Piggy bank that daddy got you... now you kind of slap them away.  We go down stairs and I give you your milk while I make your breakfast.  Once you eat, we play until your first (and sometimes only) nap.  After that, we have lunch and normally run some errands, go for a walk or just play more and tidy up the house before dada comes home.  When he gets here, you play with dada while I make dinner, we eat, play some more unless it's bath night which is every other night.  Dada gives you your baths most of the time while I clean up downstairs. Then, we have milk and snuggle time, and you go down for the night around 7:30!

Naps - For months, you've taken (2) 1.5 hour naps about 3 hours apart.  Recently, though, you've decided to change it up.  I think you're transitioning from 2 naps a day to 1.  It started out if you took one, it'd only be 1.5-2 hours long, but the last few days, they've been 2.5-3 hours long.. which makes for a much more productive day and a much happier baby!  Soo... let's keep that up, ok? :)

Meals - You pretty much will only eat if you can feed yourself.  Breakfast normally consists of a banana or grapes with either scrambled eggs or blueberry wheat pancakes.  Sometimes you want a snack before lunch, sometimes you don't.. but if you do, it's normally pretty small.  Lunch consists of a sandwich, pigs in a blanket or chicken with some veggies or fruit.  You have a snack a couple of hours later, then for dinner you normally  eat what we are having.  But, if we are having something you can't feed yourself, I make you something you can.

New Words/Milestones - "ta-da", "ah-duh" (all done, which is when you hold your hands up and shrug your shoulders to say you're finished with something.)  "cheeeese", "soos" (shoes, and you will walk to the closet to get your shoes, you're so smart! :)), "papa" - you LOVE to say and talk to papa! "do-ey" (door), "pi-tah" - which you repeat over and over again and it reminds me of the pizza commercial where the little guy says "Pizza, Pizza" but we really don't know what that means for you yet!

You also did really well hunting easter eggs!  You got the hang of it pretty fast, but you didn't really like having to put the eggs in the basket.  You have EIGHT teeth now!  ....And I think you're cutting at least 2 more!

Favorite Toys - The last few weeks, your favorite toys have been your car and your push along toy.  You like to hide things under the seat on the car that raises up...which is I've found old sippy-cups, my phone, tylenol, your shoes..etc.  You also love playing football with dada, too.

Stats - Soon to come, when you wake up and let me take them! :)

14 months old!





You love "talking on the phone"

You also like to be "tickled", but on your own terms.
See a resemblance to anyone below???
Pretty sure your dada is going to kill me... :)



You love playing football and tackle with daddy!
Ah-duh!  ... or All done! :)






















Baby Girl #2:
We've made it to week 25!  You are very strong in your movements, and have your active days, but you're pretty laid back and still most of the time.  I think you're going to be a pretty relaxed, laid back baby.  Only 15 more weeks until we get to meet you!  In the last 3 weeks, you've really "popped" out there.  I had the first person ask me last weekend if I was having twins.  This happened all the time with big sister, so I was pretty prepared for it.

A couple of weeks ago, I started noticing a rash on my stomach, chest, arms and legs that is super itchy.  We go to the dermatologist in a few days to see what you're doing to me :)  Also, we have our first glucose test on Wednesday, which I totally expect to fail and have to take the 3 hour test.  Let's do our best and NOT fail both! Morning sickness and heartburn have subsided for the most part, but the prenatal vitamins with DHA aren't agreeing with me, so most of the time, they don't stay down for very long.  We'll be switching those soon, too.

We have pretty much everything we need for you now, so we'll start setting up your nursery soon!!  Your daddy, Ava and I can't wait to snuggle you!  

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday, we colored Easter eggs with my niece, Moriah before we let Ava have her first Easter Egg hunt!  She was here last Easter...but only a few weeks old.  She did really well and caught on fast!  Although, she didn't really want to put the Easter eggs in the basket once she found them.  This morning started out good.  Anniston, who will be 25 weeks on Wednesday, was up praising God for his glory in my tummy at 6:00 am this morning! We got to church on time, all dressed in our Easter best! Ava cried once we dropped her off at the nursery (she normally does), but this time, she didn't stop.  After trying to console her for 45 minutes, they called us back there to get her.  She was so upset :(  Tommy and I at least got to enjoy a true celebration for Jesus' resurrection during the worship at Grace Chapel before we had to leave.  Once we got home, we took Ava out for some photos in her pretty ($9.00 Ralph Lauren!!) Easter dress!  We all had lunch, and now "daddy" and Ava are peacefully napping!

I'm SO grateful that God sent his son to die for us, and that three days later, he was RESURRECTED! I have such a song of praise in my heart for the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.






Sin has lost it's power
Death has lost it's sting
From the grave He is risen, VICTORIOUSLY!

And so we begin..

Instead of using my photography page to update everyone on Ava (and soon, Anniston), Tommy and I decided to start a new blog with updates from our family for our friends and family to check up on us!  I'm hoping Tommy will contribute to the writing, as well, so we'll see how that goes :)  I'm in the process of editing photos from Easter, so I will upload those today, hopefully.  Thanks for following, and we hope you enjoy reading our blog!

The Byers