Surprise! She's here!

Ava Claire arrived at 10:58 p.m. on Thursday, February 2, 2012. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 and 1/2 inches long. We definitely weren't expecting her this early (16 days early!) but we are so happy she is here! Here are a few pictures of her.

Be sure to check out this site with pictures from the hospital (they will only be up for about another week and a half so check soon!) www.bellababyphotography.com Click on "view pictures" and enter the password: 0202avaclaire

I will work on typing up her very exciting birth story tomorrow. In the meantime - here is our little peanut. We are so very blessed! (and totally in love!)

Full term!

At 37 weeks we are officially full term! With less than 3 weeks to go, my fatigue is really setting in. We had our last appointment with my regular doctor yesterday. All is well - she is getting into position, her heart rate is at 156 and I am measuring at 37 weeks. Next week we begin with the new doctor. In addition to being super tired I now have what I feel are caveman feet. It literally looks like I have been stung by tons of bees on the tops of my feet each night. I am down to one pair of shoes that I can fit into...if you see me walking around in flip flops you will know why. :) In looking at the pictures I do have, it seems as though tired and poofy are written all over me. Oh well, she's worth it!

On Friday, Scott's work threw us a fabulous shower. My pictures didn't turn out so well so there are none to post. We received so many fabulous things for our girl! Thank you to Cornerstone!! We are officially set for Ava! (Well at least with what she might need here at home.) Now we just wait for when she is ready to meet us! Until then, we are laying low, taking full advantage of the rest and time together now while we can. I think Scooter knows that she is almost here too - he seems to be extra snuggly - so he is getting in his quality time too.

We are super excited for our girl to be here. We will keep you posted!

Less than 4 to go and hopefully at least one more!

Well we hit the 36 week mark on Saturday! So we now have less than 4 weeks to go, according to our February 18th due date, but I am hoping for at least one extra week. Scott is still certain that Ava will be arriving early - he says a week. I guess when she is ready she will let us know. Lots of excitement going on for us lately! On Friday my dear friends Kim and Kaylie threw me a beautiful shower for all of of my co-workers to attend. They had the cutest ideas and put so much time and effort into it! Unfortunately, mother nature had other ideas...the snow was so bad that few got to enjoy all of their hard work. We still had a fabulous time and I have many wonderful memories from it. Here are some pictures!






Thank you so much girls! It was fantastic!

Later that evening-little did I know, our bowling league had put together a surprise shower for me! Again, mother nature wasn't partying on Friday so we ended up not going to bowling. It was too terrible to drive that far. I feel so bad to have missed it (even though I didn't know about it!) So thank you to our fellow bowlers...and sadly, I am done for the season, doctor's orders. Scott and I are so floored by the amount of people that have shown us such love and care.

Our 36 week appointment was great! Girlie's heart rate was 170 and all is going well. We start our weekly appointments now. Scott is hoping that yesterday's ride to the doctor was the first of at least 5 to go (even though he thinks she will be early, he too is still hoping for a week late baby). :)

We are so blessed and getting very ready to meet our baby girl!

Only 5 weeks left!

I am now 35 weeks! At last week's check-up I was measuring right on track and her heartbeat was 160. I will have 2 more appointments with my regular doctor and then switch over to the doctor who will be delivering Ava. We are getting set for her at home too. We have made lots of improvements and we are pretty proud of them. Scott has worked so hard to make our house look so nice and feel like even more of a home.


Our latest improvement is in our guest bathroom - I have to say, I love it! Some of our favorite autographed pictures are now adorning the walls. The first one is my most favorite item that we have ever collected - it's a picture with Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle (my favorite!) and Ted Williams - and of course it's signed by each of them. The second one is of Chuck Bednarik who played for the Philadelphia Eagles. What I love so much about this picture is that when we met him he was the nicest guy. He took the time to talk to each person who was there to meet him and get his autograph. The third picture is my second favorite item that we have gotten. It took time to get all 4 signatures because they were never all in the same place - but we have Ernie Banks, Billy WIlliams, Ryne Sandberg and Ron Santo all together. We also have their autographs on the baseballs right below on the shelf. The last picture shows my picture with Bobby Hull and his Love and Kisses. I love looking at all of them. I just think they are so neat. It may be awhile before we can add to our collection so it's nice to have these finally up where we can look at them.




We are spending the remaining weeks enjoying our time together before our little bundle arrives and completes our family. I am so excited! I keep thinking of the little things and how they will all be different - but different is just fine. I am enjoying her movements still - with her measuring around 5 pounds and 18 inches right now, the movements are more rolling than kicking. It is amazing! Scott still think it's creepy to see my belly move. I can't believe that she will be here so soon!

6 weeks to go!

The big day is coming closer and we are trying our best to get ready! Scott got the letters for Ava's room and we gave them to his mom to work her magic. She took the theme of our nursery and her adorable drawings to make her letters perfect! We will hang them up tomorrow and get a couple of shelves and then the nursery is completely done! We have also been working on the rest of the house too. Despite it being Scott's birthday today, he surprised me yesterday with developing and framing a number of pictures for our bedroom. There are a few from our honeymoon, one wedding photo and of course, one of Scooter. Plenty of room left on the walls for Ava's face too!
As far as being ready for Ava to get here, we are doing pretty well! Her bag is all packed and mine is mostly finished. Next steps are to get the car seat bases properly installed and then I think we will be as ready as material items will allow. Us feeling ready might take a little longer. We are so excited - and nervous! What I am most nervous about (being the planner that I am) is just not knowing when it will all start. Scott told me recently that he has a hunch that she will come early - I am hoping this is the one hunch that he will not get correct! It is in God's hands and we are trusting in that. More updates to come later in the week after our 34 week appointment on Monday. I'll leave you with a few pictures of the pics now on our walls.

Wrapping Up Another Year

I can't believe that tomorrow will be 2012! The New Year holds an extra special promise of good things for me this year. 2011 was amazing, it is going to be hard to top, but I am sure we will manage.


2011 saw us both turn 30, we were surrounded by family and friends at our wedding and had a fantastic honeymoon (we are ready to go back!). We celebrated life, created memories, carried on traditions and even made some new ones. 2012 has some big shoes to fill!
33 weeks is already here. In about 7 weeks our baby Ava will be here. What a fantastic way to start 2012 - hopefully she will be so kind as to make a fashionably late entrance in the middle of February. At my 32 week appointment all was well, her heart rate is slowing as she is getting bigger - it was 154. She weighs around 4 pounds now! I am measuring right where I should be - 32 weeks. Which leads me to another point...


Yes, I know how big I look.
No, there are not 2 babies in my tummy.
No, I did not enjoy too much Thanksgiving turkey.
AND, "Hiya Tubby, Merry Christmas" is NOT an acceptable way to greet a pregnant woman.
Please, rest assured that I know how big I am and I also know that I am exactly the way that I should be according to my doctor and that is just fine with me. Just sayin...


Onto other things. The end of 2011 brought on a new tradition with some friends. We had our 1st Annual Cookie Exchange! It was so much fun! I love decorating the cookies too! Christmas was wonderful with all of our family. We are truly blessed to have so many people that care so much for us...and Ava too! She cleaned up this Christmas and she's not even here yet! :)

I will end by saying how blessed we have been this year. Scott and I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to with the starting of our own family. See you in 2012!

Single Digits!

We are down to single digits! I can't believe it...only 9 weeks to go! I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around that. I still cannot get over how fast the pregnancy is going. At my 30 week appointment last week my doctor measured my belly for the first time. He said I was measuring between 31 and 32 weeks - I'm just hoping that doesn't mean she will come sooner than her due date. We still have a lot to do! Her heart rate was 164 so she is staying pretty consistent. I am very much looking forward to Christmas break - I have many goals that I would like to accomplish. First of all I am going to sleep in as much as possible! (Priorities, right?) :) I also want to get the nursery finished, just how we have imagined it. That means taking out the random baby items that have ended up in there that definitely do not belong there. I want to get the letters up on the wall to spell her name. Oh, did I mention, WE PICKED HER NAME!!!!! I am so excited to be able to call her by name instead of just Baby.

Scott and I spent a really nice weekend together. On Friday we started and finished our Christmas shopping. It made for a very long evening, but it was good to get it all done. On Saturday we had Christmas with the Adams family. It is always so great to get together with everyone - this is really the only time each year that we are able to do so. There was great family, great conversation and great food! On Sunday we were very busy! Not our typical relaxing Sunday that we usually have but we were super productive! Little by little we are making the headway that we want to.

A big thank you to the ladies at Scott's work for the frog hat they got me. (It even ribbits!) I was so excited to get home and take a picture with Scooter and his frog outfit - the hood didn't stay on very well but you get the idea. Yes, baby does have a little frog hat so we will get a picture of all 3 of us in our frogs once she gets here. Do you think I could get Scott in a frog hat? Haha.

I am so looking forward to the coming week and Christmas this weekend. I love this time of year! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and remember the true reason for the season!!

Oh, did you want to know Baby Girl's name? I suppose you've waited long enough. :) We are so excited to meet Ava Claire Adams in mid-late February!!!!