Life with a 6 month old

Well i know that blogging hasn't been as often as I wanted, but it seriously seems like if I blink- 2 weeks have past. I keep putting the blog on my to do list, and at the end of the day the only thing i can think to do is wipe all of the boogies, slobber, dried milk and pee off of me and hit the bed like a corpse. lol... But don't get me worng, I absolutly LOVE LOVE LOVE every single minute of it.

 

I seriously KNOW for a fact that being a full time working mom is THE HARDEST job on the planet, hands down! I have so much respect for all of the mommies out there who work all day to come home to take care of the little ones. But the one thing i do know is that although being a mom can kick your rear sometimes it is THE most fulfilling job I could ever dream of. Avery has brought a love in my life like no other. Avery has changed me! I was talking to Justin the other day, and was trying to explain how Avery has changed me, but the only thing I could say was I feel like my heart can just expode at times. He has made me a big softie!! This new love has helped me see the sacrifical love of Christ in such a new light, and inspired me to seek God passionately.

 

Anyway- I thought I would give a little Avery update.. Yes! my little boy is already halfway through his first year of life. It is so very bittersweet to me. As he grows and his personality is devloping, it doesn't take much to see that he is definatly going to be a onry little boy.

 

The other day I walked into the daycare and witnessed him rolling ON TOP of other babies... When I grabbed him- he just laughed as the other boys cried. Then the following week I walked in the daycare to see him laying down on the baby mat with both of his little hands above his head and in his hands were the feet of 2 little boys who happened to by crying..He was yanking on their legs!.. and Avery was laughing. It was a little funny to see the ornry side of him, BUT I know that I will not be laughing once I give him a year or so. ha ha.

 

Here are some recent milestones:

 

- Avery can now sit up without ANY assistance from us.

- He can do the army crawl, which is hilarious. He can get to any place in the house that he wants with that little army crawl.

- His favorite thing to babble is "ma ma ma ma" ... which I LOVE of course. Justin seems to think that I taught him that and unfairly didn't say 'da da' enough. But what can I do of he's a momma's boy? ;)

-Teething! He still is a little gumby- but there is 4 obvious teeth all coming in at once, which means my full nights of sleep have been few and far between.

- solid foods have been a new adventure. We acutally started him on solids around 5 1/2 months- so he's becoming a pro. We are trying to make sure that he eats EVERYTHING, even then things that we don't particularly love. I know WAY too many picky babies. So our foods can be anything from avacados to sweet potatoes, to asparagus, to squash, etc. etc. So far we have not found anything that the kid won't eat!

 

 

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Trust

Well I am so glad that Friday is here. Not to say it was a long week. It actually felt like it flew by for me being that the 4^th was this past weekend and we all got an extra day. In any case, I so look forward to weekends with Avery and of course Justin too. It just seems that my time with them is so precious to me. Especially seeing how quickly Avery changes from week to week.

Lately I haven't posted a whole lot. And for that, I am sorry. I have had some decisions on my mind and heart that have kinda kept me in a fogged state of mind. I can't start to post without the 'decisions' coming up. So-I thought, what better way to sort through my thoughts than to post them? Although I am not going to go into detail about anything, but what I will ask is that if you read this- pray for me.

I don't mean like "when you are finished and you find the time and IF you think about it-pray for me" "I mean, stop at this very moment and say a quick little prayer."…..

Ok.. are you finished?

The situations are not anything that is completely huge or life altering or anything that is going to hurt me… it's just life being life.. Having adult decisions that every person faces. I just want to make sure that the choices I make today will be ones that I can look back on 5-10 yrs down the road and say "I am glad I did that." With all of the boggled mind lately I have really had to be introspective. One thing that I have realized is that up until this point in my life I really don't know if I had really dealt with the difference between knowing and believing. Like, I know that God has my best interest in heart- it's just, do I believe it wholeheartly? That's so hard to answer honestly! So I am working on believing with my whole heart that God is in control of my life..

I was talking to a friend today about it all, and it just made me think. I remember working on the summer ministry team at CBC and Jim Schroder, the director of the team at that time, was trying to explain the difference between knowing and believing( I am pretty sure that it was Jim).. In any case, the lesson makes a lot of sense to me now.. He took a chair and placed in front of me and he said. "How do you know there is a chair there?" I said "well- I just know it. I can see it. It's there." Then he put a blindfold on me and turned me around and said... Now I want you to fall back in the chair.. Do you believe that the chair is there? I remember being like "I think it's still there." He said "believing takes certain amount of faith and trust. You have to have faith in me that I didn't move it... And you have to trust me enough that you will hit the chair and not the ground if you fall back .......It made sense to me then, but looking back- that little lesson really means more to me now than ever. Because I can look at the situations in my life and be like "oh yeah- I know God's there." But if I am honest-I don't know if the trust/ faith factor is there. If God says- just fall and I will take care of the rest. I struggle with the allowing myself to fall back and lose the control factor..There's always that "what if" moment.

The one thing that I really take comfort in is the fact that I know God knows my heart through and through. He knows every single ounce of me and he knows exactly how I feel and what my desires are. For that- I can rest easier.

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My little squeel monkey

This is Ave trying to communicate through squeels.

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my how time flies!

Well I was cleaning out my computer today on this rainy Saturday morning when I found some of Avery's newborn pictures... *tear*. I should say that I intended for them to be newborn photos, but he was actually about 3 weeks old. Either way, it definatly are very special to me. Yes, he's just 4 months old, but babies change so much from week to week. Although it was just a few short months ago, it seems like ages...

Anyway, I thought I would share them with you.

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the show must go on

So there I stood.

I found myself in the upstairs room of our high school band class. I could smell the familiar musky smell of the old instruments from the next room. I look down to see myself in a black sequenced dresses that sits perfectly angled to my knees with overly fluffy crenalin popping out of the bottom. I instantly recognize the dress as the dress that I wore in our high school show choir called "The Madrigals".

I am confused.. "Why am I HERE??.

My friend Nicole from high school walks in "there you are! We have been looking for you!"

She was also dressed in the God-awful dress.

"What on earth is going on, I asked.

"We are opening for the show choir competion downstairs," she says.

At this point panick sets in, my hands are sweating, my heart begins racing. "Show choir? What? What are we going to sing? Are we going to dance? We haven't practiced! It's been too long!" I started rambling.

"Don't worry we'll do fine." She then grabs my wrist and leads me dowstairs to the hallway outside of the gymnasium.

There I see nearly all of the alumni (now in their late 20s and 30s) all dressed in their gawdy Madrigal show choir costumes. All of the women were adorned with bright rainbow sequenced dresses, while the men were wearing old school tuxedos with a blue bow tie.

"Am I in Hell?" I thought.

I could hear the crowd of people roaring from the gymnasium.

Still so bewildered I look at Nicole and ask "what are preforming?"

"I need a hero, by bonnie tyler." She says. "And OH yeah, Emily (another girl from high school) can't make it so you have to sing the solo"

"NooOo" I screamed in horror.

How did I get talked into this? I screamed.
Everying will make fun of us! Were a bunch of 30 year olds trying to sing to 'I need a hero' I said in desperation....

Are we going to dance too!??" I asked hoping to find some relief.

"Yeah, can't you remember the moves? Nicole said...

She then breaks down into this Napoleon Dynamite type of dance and looks at me as if I should join in.

"I cant remember it!" I screamed in anger!

At that moment the double doors to the gym open. As the doors open the light is so bright I can see nothing but a white haze, and I hear the crowd roaring. "And here are the Madrigal Alumni!" I hear the speaker say...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I jump up gasping in a cold sweat. I look around to find myself in my bed with justin, my husband, snorring next to me. It was all a dream. A horrible horrible nightmare of a dream. At that moment I thanked the good Lord that it was all a dream and I was not still in high school .


Maybe I should lay off on the mocha fraps from Starbucks from before bed.

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Weekends with Avery

Good Monday Morning! Have you found your cup of coffee yet? I have for sure!

Had a good weekend which consisted of a whole lot of nothing. Which was wonderful. Unfortunatly, Justin had to work all weekend, even Sunday so me and Avery had an action packed weekend to ourselves. I love weekends with Avery! He is just so darn fun. He is starting to babble and go "mmmmmmmmm ahh" I keep telling Justin that he's trying to say Mom, but I know a 4 month old won't be doing that for awhile. Mostly, i just like to say it to get under his skin. haha. Avery is a momma's boy!

We spent the day Saturday inside the house. Poor little Avery has had that virus that had caused us to go back and forth to the dr. 3 times last week. He was miserable last Wednesday. I mean, I thought we were going to have to run him to the emergency room. So Thursday morning I brought him in for the 3rd time. I am sure that the Dr. thinks that I am one of thoes overly fussy first time mom's. But I just can't stand him not being able to breath normally. In any case, I am glad that I did take him as we found out that the little guy probably has developed Asthma and the virus was irritating the asthma causing breathing/ weezing problems. So we ended up walking out of the dr. that day with a nebulizer (breathing machine) to take home. After giving him just a few short treatments, his breathing significantly improved and the little guy was finally able to lay down and take a nap longer than a 20 minutes! I was SO relieved.

All of this commotion with Avery's breathing solidified something to me... We as parents and people really need to be our own advocates for our health. Sure I could have trusted the first Dr. and not went the 2nd or 3rd time. But I am sure that we would be in no better place today, 2 weeks after the initial start of the illness, with his breathing. I think, in many cases we put so much trust in our dr.'s opinions and try to overlook any hunches that we may feel. I knew that the initial medication was not working for Avery! I guess a mother's instict should not be overlooked! I am just so glad that we found the cause of the problem.

On Sunday afternoon Avery was feeling so good that I decided to take him outside on the back lawn and relax. It was a nice warm day with a cool breeze. It was perfect. I took some pictures. As you can see, I edited some of them too.

ALSO, to add to the good weekend, I found out this morning that I won Max Lucado's children's book "Tallest of Smalls"! I won! I never win anything and I won!!! lol... You woud have thought that I won the lottery or something... But just the sheer shock that I won something was pretty cool. See, the other day I was reading a new blog favorite 'The Mom Creative' and she was giving away 5 of these Children's books! All that the readers had to do was post their favorite children's book and your name. Of course I did this fully expecting to never hear another word about it. And then this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find the winner email in my inbox! How awesome! For thoes of you that know me well, know that I have been collecting children's books since before Avery was even a glimpse of a possibility. I have always loved the parable aspect of Children's books. Since Avery has been born, I started an amazon list with some children's books that I wanted to buy, and Max Lucado's "Tallest of Smalls" was on the top. Our church just finished the fearless series so I was just so intrigued- plus, who doesn't love Max Lucado!?

Anyway- that sums up my weekend... How about yours?

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LONG NIGHTS

Well it's Wednesday, but it totally feels like Monday. I'm tired, exhausted, and ready for a nap. You would think having Sat.- Tuesday off that I would feel refreshed and ready to go. Unfortunatly, my little guy ended up with a hacking cough on Friday after work.. So Saturday consisted of a trip to Urgent Care for his hack, and by Saturday evening he had a hack, runny nose, fever, and a bad temper. So I was on the phone with the prediatrician all Sat.-Sun. Things haven't really let up for the little guy either. Last night he woke with a low grade fever and threw up. I rocked him back to sleep, but it definatly made for one sleepless night. This morning he still has a low grade fever, so it was super hard for me to drop him off at his mamaw's house and leave him so I could get caught up on work. ay yiyiyyiyiyi... Poor little guy!

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Co Sleeping??

Of course as new parents I want so badly to make the right choices and not to start bad habits with the little one. My current adventure in parenting with Avery has been the dreaded night time routine. .I will never forget that first week home. Oh the horror of trying to get a newborn to sleep. And when after hours had passed and he would finally get to sleep it seemed he gave me a good hour to sleep before he was screaming at the top of his little lungs again. This is when we decided that the only way to get him to sleep would be to set up the pack and play inside our bedroom..

With this arrangement I could easily get  him at night- feed him- and put him back without having to make my way across the house, wake myself up and spend another 20 minutes getting back to sleep. It worked pretty well at first! At least until the dreaded night that he wanted no part of that pack-n-play. As a matter of a fact, he wanted no part of the crib either! He just wanted no part in being away from me. It didn't matter how long I waited, an hour an hour and a half? He would still be crying... When I'd pick him up he'd stop and slowly drift off again. I'd again try to tiptoe my way back to the pack-n-play, and slowly lay him down only to hear him wail at the top of his little lungs again. It was a vicious cycle. After a solid week of no sleep- I did it. I did it out of utter tiredness and frustration. I took him to bed with me and layed him beside me.Now let me just say, growing up there are about a million things that I hear that are voodoo acts of parenting that are forbidden....That I swore I would never deal with.Letting the little one in the bed was probably number 1. That night was the night that I found a good 7 hours of sleep. Now- I know that was bedtime NO NO rule number 1 ! And I broke it!! Since then, it has been an uphill battle. Who would have knew that a 15 week old could be set in their ways. lol

I will say this though- we have made leaps and bounds in progress. We are now on a pretty routine schedule where we put him in bed around 9 (we are still working the time out- but this is as early as we have got him so far) in his own room inside the crib.. And then usually around 4am he is ready for a feeding. It's around this time that he will refuse to sleep in the crib or pack-n-play. Not sure why... But Avery usually ends up in our bed at 4:30am and stays there until I or Justin gets up for work at 6.....Given we have had a couple of thoes freak nights that he sleeps until 6am or later but those are few and far between.

 I know, this is probably a terrible confession. So lately I have been researching a remedy for this 4am family bed scenario, and have been pretty astonished with some research out there claiming that it's psychologically better to allow your little one to sleep next to you! How crazy is that?  Dr. Sears article claims that although putting your baby in a room and letting them cry is a way to get them to find some independence from you, it actually causes more harm psychologically. He seems to think babies will always sleep better, thrive better, and it reduces the risk of SIDS when sleeping close to a parent.

KIR states that "American studies show children who sleep with their parents as a baby  are more independent than their peers. They perform better in school, having higher self-esteem and fewer health problems. After all, who is more likely to be well adjusted-the child who learns that his needs will be met or the one who is left alone for long periods of time? Dr. McKenna suggest that it is confusing for a baby who receives cuddles during the day, while also being taught that the same behaviour is inappropriate at night"

Now, I am in no way saying that I going to plop Avery right in between Justin and I at night- that just won't work for us. But does it open my mind up to the 4am laying with mom and dad time? I don't know.

 All I know is that the parenting adventure can't come from one book or opinion. It is what it is- an adventure that is as different as one child is different from another.

 I have to soley rely on God and pray that I do right by his standard- even on these little things like bedtime.

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Weekend, where did you go??

What?! It's Monday already! Why do weekends go so quickly? Seriously! For me, I end up cramming about one million things into a weekend which makes it go by before it had even begun. But it was great and I wish I could have more weekends like it.

This weekend we started off on Friday night with some friends, Kyle and Kim. We had big plans to grill out some shish kabobs and watch movies. What we didn't factor into the equasion was the tornandos that touched down about 10 minutes down the road, so it was quite an experience to watch the guys standing out on the back porch tying to grill in the hail/wind/thunder/lightning storm... But we ended up with some pretty tasty kabobs and baked potatoes despite the tornado..haha.

The next day I ended up venturing to Jeffersonville Outlet Mall for some girl time. I met up with Leigh, Amy and Jessika. It was espically nice to see everyone with Jess being down from her home in Maryland. We got to hang out there and spend the afternoon together and then had to part ways. Here are some pictures that I stole from Leigh from the mall trip. :)
























We then drove down to Portsmouth for my brother's graduation on Sunday. It was good times! Always great to see family and enjoy being together, but I am ALWAY exhausted after a crazy weekend like that... ay yiyiyiy

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Tired Wednesday!

It's Wednesday and I am soooo motivation-less after a long night with the little man. I probably made it to bed around 12am. Woke at 12:30 for a feeding, then at 3am for a feeding, and then at 5am for a feeding, and then had to rise at 6am for work-- and now I am at work trying to function on caffeinee. It's a new, very different world in which I lived a few short months ago. The world of 8 hours of sleep, and sleeping in until 7am ( i am at work at 8), making a random shopping trip without having to pack a huge bag of just-in-case-this-happens things, BUT I would not change it for a second. I was told by some mom's before having Avery that these late nights will be gone before I know it, and I would be wishing them back, so I am trying to really enjoy the moments of this stage of Avery's life. Yes- even the 3am feedings when it's just me and the little guy. I do look forward to being able to interact with him verbally, and seeing him turn into a little boy with his own corky personality, but it still makes me sad to think that he will one day not want to be cuddled and rocked to sleep, that he may not want to sit and coo at his momma. It seems like it was just a few short days ago that he came home from the hospital and even though he is only three months, he is already a new baby! I am trying my very best to enjoy these times with him and cherish them as much as possible.

I offically started a new hobby yesterday. I am beginning my journey with scrapbooking a baby book for Avery! I can't tell you how long I have wanted to pick up a hobby, but scrapbooking can be intimidating with how expensive it is! Especially if you have nothing to start with! Luckily, for my baby shower I recieved a "starter kit" with a really nice leather scrapbook so I thought I would give it a shot! It's already VERY addictive to me!

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Picture Day

Yesterday was picture day for Avery. He hit his 3 month milestone which is bitter sweet for me. I never thought that I'd be the mom that takes their baby to get pictures every 3 months, but I definatly am. Especially for this first year.( I will have to post some of his newborn pics on here tonight.) He is changing daily and I feel like if I blink too much I am going to miss something. I guess this is my way of documenting this time of him being so small and perfect.

Anyway- here are some pictures from yesterday. It was so hard to choose from all of them that ended up just buying the copyright to the whole session so I could use them however I'd like.

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My smiley boy

Sorry the video is still sideways! I am still learning all of the features of the camera..!

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Shame on me!

Shame shame shame on me!! I post every single week of my pregnancy, and share all the new exciting details of the week and then BAM- I'm out like a light! Nobody knows what happens. Is there a little Avery that exsists? How much did he weigh? How was the birth?! I know! It must have been killing everyone to not know  :)

 

Well, let me just say- yes, there is a little Avery Grant MacQuarrie. He is my cute blonde-ish red headed blue eyed sweetheart that I have kept all to myself for the past 3 months. I always try to look at life unbiasly- but this little guy IS THE cutest-sweetest-loving- happy little guy EVER.. And I am not bias or anything.

 

Anyway- let me back up three months ago yesterday. February 9th, 2010. This is how my day went:

I had been a miserable wreck for that entire week prior and was praying for an early arrival of baby Avery-Grant. February 6th, 7th, and 8th had came and gone without even the slightest inclination that a baby was coming soon. February 8th was no different. I went to work, came home, made some homemade chicken and noodles and went to bed expecting to get up for work the next day and do it all over again.

 

 2:00am: I woke up feeling a little 'rumbly' in my stomach. It wasn't pain at all- just slightly uncomfortable and I felt like the baby was laying on a nerve because my back was hurting too. I got up and decided to try to sleep on the couch.

 

3:00am- I woke for a second time feeling slightly more crampy, went to the bathroom to find (sorry if TMI) a large amount of blood. At this point I was alarmed. I wasn't feeling pain at all to the point that I thought I was in labor, so to see this was disheartening.. But despite the blood- I decided to go back and lay on the couch to see if this is the onset of labor.

 

3:30am- The pain in my back seems to progress pretty rapidly. To the point I get out a pen and paper and start writing down the time of the sharp bolts of pain to see if there is a pattern going on. Surely enough, there is. They are coming consistantly at 5 minutes apart without a second wavering.  At this point- I know that 'it's time'! I run to the bedroom where Justin is sleeping and shake him to death "IT'S TIME!!" He jumps up out of bed and grabs his phone. I pick it up and call the hospital. I begin to explain to the nurse everything that had happened and that the contractions are coming consistantly 5 minutes apart. I could tell that the nurse was taking everything I said in stride. "Honey, why don't you get a glass of water and try to go back to sleep. Most first time mom's have false labor. If you still feel the pain in an hour- give us a call back."

 

Uhhhhg Yeah right!.. I thought. But I did hang up and get a glass of water. And tried to wait it out. I think Justin partially thought it was false labor as well because I wasn't necessarily screaming bloody murder or anything. But I honestly was just trying to focus my way through the pain- so I was very silent and still. If Justin even tried to talk to me during a contraction I would say"SHHHH"... In any case - the hour flew by and my contractions sped up.

 

4:30- I picked up the phone and made the second call to the dr's office...After trying to hold a conversation with the dr. while having a contraction I handed the phone off to justin- it was jsut too painful to talk through. He grabs the phone and is silent for a moment "Oh okay,"  he says poliely and hangs up.....

 

What did they say???? I snapped.

 

Wait another hour and see if they are still bad he replied.

 

At this point I could have bit off someone's head. The Dr. was not on my good side- but I sucked it up and started the timer for 1 hour. About this time I had an intense shift in pain, and I became really nauseous. I ran to the pantry and grabbed some saltine crackers and began to nibble on them in hopes of calming down the nausea- which seemed to work. I decided that in between contractions- I should go ahead and make sure all of the loose ends are tied up and bags are completely packed. At this point Justin is just starting his packing.

 

5:30- I handed the phone to justin and told him "We are leaving no matter what they say at this point." He calls them and lets them know that we are going to leave. NOW. I grab the keys and get in the car...

 

Justin is running around the house. Do you want snacks? Reading material? what about some music? he said.

 

I could feel the anger rising up inside... Shush up and get in the car NOW...

 

I ran to the car and got in... Leaving justin inside running from room to room picking up random things (because he didn't pack anything up until it was time to go).

 

5:40- He finally gets in the car. Oh- and it's snowing a stinking blizzard outside and the 5 minute drive to the hospital felt like 2 hours because the roades were covered in ice.

 

5:50- We walk in the hospital and the receptionist meets me at the door. Can you please step over here and answer some questions? She then proceeds to ask a hundred questions about insurance and everything else. I can't even remember it all, I was in so much pain. She points us to maternity and off we go.

 

6:00- I am finally in the maternity ward. I make it to the front desk receptionist she asks me a couple more questions and then hands me a gown and asks that I pee in a cup... At this moment, I again had another intense surge of pain that made me stomach turn nausous again. I make ithalfway to the bathroom and end up throwing up all over myself (sorry if TMI)..lol... but it was definatly a sight.

 

6:20- After getting cleaned up and going to the restroom the nurse finally takes me back to examine me.. Her mouth drops open. 8! Your 8 centimeters, are almost ready to push!

 

My mouth nearly hit the floor. What???

 

7:00am- I am officially admitted. There is a little quarrel among the nurses if I can have any pain medications and it was decided to go ahead and give me a shot to take the edge off  (not the epidural like I had originally planned on getting.) 

 

The shot helped some. Enough for me to relax, but definatly didn't leave me painfree. This is when we finally got to call and text people and let them know that we were in the hospital and I was 8 cm. dialated. My mother was in disbelief. How are you 8 cm dialated and jsut getting to hospital???  haha..

 

8:00am- I am checked to see how far along and I was 9 1/2, but the head was not coming down far enough.

 

So from 8-10:00am it was a waiting game to see if the baby would acutally come down enough to push, and at 10:20am I started pushing. Because Avery was quite a large baby for me, and because his head was still fairly high I pushed for an hour and a half!

 

At 11:59am Avery Grant is finally born! My mom and dad show up 10 minutes later from their drive in the blizzard!

 

He weighed in at 8lbs even. He was beautiful!

 

 

Since his birth he has grew like a weed. I wish I could record each and every day because it seems like he growns and just learns neww things every day. I could not have imagined motherhood to be any more fulfililng than it is right now. I hope to start my every week posting again to record my little guy's life!

 

 

 

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Had my 39 week appointment this afternoon. And...

I'm 3cm dilated and 80% effaced.

That silence? That is me as my eyes bug out of their sockets and my mouth catching flies.

The OB was surprisingly shocked and said that Avery's head is "very low" and at this point, we are just waiting on him to decide on his birthday. Do you think I could just walk into the hospital and ask for an epidural now?

Before leaving she mentioned that she is on call this weekend should I go into labor, and that she would not anticipate me being pregnant next week. But the thought of it happening so soon is surreal and weird. I mean, we are ready. The nursery is finished, the house is clean, projects are basically completed aside from the many thank you cards that I owe people. We have all the necessary items to take care of a newborn and more. The anticipation is killing me and at the same time- I am trying to savor my last moments as a pre-mom... But I'm still in shock. Utter shock.

So it's a good thing my bags are packed and ready to go..

I hope that my next update is the one we've all been waiting for. Until then, I guess I will wait earnestly and enjoy these last moments being the closest I'll ever be to my baby boy. As uncomfortable as it is to have a baby using my ribs as a chair, I never want to forget the sensation. I don't want to forget any of it. I wish I could bottle it up somehow so I can always be reminded of it. I want to meet him so badly but it is hard to think of letting it go and entering the next phase.

Will I be a good mom? Will I know what to do to fulfill his needs? It's all just so new and I know these worries are common at this point. I just want to do right by him and God and give him the life he deserves. For months I've worried so much of this pregnancy away.. Every ach and pain. Now, I want these memories to stay with me and not to ever fade. I want to enjoy it while it lasts.

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39 weeks!

Today marks the 39th week of this pregnancy and quite possibly the last pregnancy photo! (Hopefully). The next set of photos may be little Avery Grant himself.

Although the thought of having the baby in the next week, or days, or hours seems soo very overwhelming I am mentally preparing myself for what is in store. I don't think anyone can ever feel 100% prepared, but I am trying my very best.

This week was one that had me busy from start to finish. But we have the nursery COMPLETELY finished. No more "in progress" status for the nursery. YAY!

Here are just a few pictures of the nursery:

I have been trying to watch for signs that labor is near- but unfortunatly have had nearly none. My last Dr. appointment didn't spark too much hope of an early delivery either. I was not even 1cm dialated. Of course, the Doc said that it could happen rather fast and to not find myself discouraged, but to me, it seems that baby is in no rush to be out. My sister, Ashley delivered at 38 weeks by being induced. From what I can remember, her only problems were swelling and being extremely uncomfortable at night. I tried to pull that card on my doctor last week who said "the baby will come when he's ready, but don't worry, I won't let you go over 2 weeks past your due date.".... 'GEE, THANKS Doc!' In any case, at least I have most everything done and ready for the baby. Work tasks are complete (no more tax reciepts to mail out!!), nursery is done, my house is in order.. so yeah!

Keep me in your prayers this week! I have a new Doc appointment tomorrow. Hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel.~

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week 38- Two Weeks Notice!

So as of today I am 38 weeks OUT OF 40! The baby is considered full-term at this point! The big D-day is approaching rapidly and it's almost too overwhelming. At this point, I am just trying to take it one step at a time. The more that I think about going into labor, the delivery, the baby coming home, and all of the life changes that are ahead of me I start to freak out a bit. I have always said I was an advocate for change, maybe I need to rethink that. I'd like to think that I am an advocate for change, but in reality I am an old foggy that finds security in the monotony of life... So obviously, the unknown factor of what my life will be like in 2 weeks has caused me some worry. There is no doubt in my mind that there is going to be a "gulp" dramatic change.

Over the last two weeks I started to catch myself in mid-action and ask myself "how will I be able to do this in two weeks?" When I make breakfast on Saturday morning. "Will I be able to do this?" When I rush off to work.. "Will I be able to do THIS?" It's crazy! I know that I need to trust God in this time of transition.

Each day is now one day closer to a new normal..

I have had weekly appointments with the Doc who has gave all good news. The baby is looking like a decent size, and seems to be healthy. One thing that I did not expect was to be subjected to watch birthing videos yesterday at the Doctor's office. Let's just say that these aren't TLC's Baby Story.... They are more like XXX Baby Story... haha.. But seriously, it tramatized me! After I got home and described it to Justin he said that it was cruel and unusual punishment... I agree.

The past couple weeks have been crazy and exhausting too. Justin's momma had a baby shower for us that turned out great and even some family from PA came down, and then our Sunday School class had a surprise shower too! This weekend I am heading down to P-town to have a small informal family gathering/shower for my side of the family too. It's been amazing to see all of the support from family, friends, and church family. I don't think I will be needing to buy diapers/wipes for quite some time- which is awesome!

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week 36

So I am now a whopping 36 weeks out of 40. I am officially in my 9th month of pregnancy! The bun in this oven is pretty much cooked. The last several weeks have been so hectic and so fast., but I am glad to say that the nursery is usable.. Of course I wanted to do soo much more with it, but when it comes down to the wire we got it functional so I feel good! I will post pics up as soon as we get our digital camera. Turns out during our trip to PA for Christmas we left our digital camera there, which wasn't a big deal until I went to take pictures of the nursery with another digital camera-- and it's broke! So we are waiting to get it in the mail (hopefully before the baby is born!) We have had so many last min. expenses with the baby that I do not want to add another digital camera to the list.. haha.

Being the procrastinators that Justin and I are we finally went and registered at Wal-mart and Target on Sunday (haha).. We are having a baby shower at the church on the 23rd so we thought we better do it now or never.

Had a Dr. appointment on Monday and everything is looking good. The baby is still pretty high but has flipped to the head down position so he's ready to make his enterance. But who knows if this baby will even come by the due date (Feb. 10th.) I am trying to prepare the best I can- but I honestly have no clue what to expect! I've watched about 100 baby story episodes and the only thing that really does is make me more nervous. Justin seems to be pretty calm which is a little errie to me. I am like "do you realize that we are DAYS away from changing our lives FOR-EV-ER!!!!!" lol... I guess it's a good thing that one of us is staying calm.

In the meatime I am keeping busy trying to get as much done at work before the baby comes! The baby could not have chosen a more hectic time to come! With all of the end-of-the-year tax receipts that I have to get together for the church and still train my maternity leave replacement I am a little stressed! Pray that I get everything done and can rest easy before the baby comes!!

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34 weeks

Well, the nursery is in the works... We are stocking up on diapers. We're getting ready! And hopefully, if all goes well, I will be waiting for another six weeks and then lil baby Avery Grant will be here! It's surreal to think that it's almost time for him to be here.

Pregnancy this week has started to rear it's ugly head at me. I have yet to find a good night's sleep, and something tells me that it's not going to get better. Between the huge kicks in the middle of the night, the back pain, and the bathroom runs I think that the little guy is trying to prepare me for what is in store.

I have realized that my anal-ness has reached an all time high. Most people would say it's this nesting stage- I just wish Justin would enter the nesting stage with me so I don't sound like a broken record. There are about a million things that I want done before the baby comes and I am starting to feel the pressure.. For me, all of the pressure of getting everything done turns from motivation to anxiety. Last night for example, Justin was watching some football game and it hit my like a ton of bricks "I need to get stuff done now!" So I had this sudden urge to move the furniture around in the baby's room. I wanted the curtains up. And I wanted all the clothes put away- unfortunately Justin wasn't into getting it all done- after all-"the football game is on, Amber!"... so I seriously went through an anxiety panicky moment where I was trying to move furniture and climb ladders and get the stuff done by myself...lol.. it's like waiting was not an option! Finally Justin saw the "neeeed" to get it done by he crazed moment of freak out that I had just displayed and put the game on pause for a bit (thank God for DVR!). lol.

But I think that it's all coming together! Hopefully this time next week I can say "the nursery is done!" and I will post the pics to see..

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33 weeks

Merrry Christmas Eve! Today I am 33 weeks along and feeling great. Had a Dr. appointment this morning and the doc said everything looks great and gave a guesstimate baby weight of 4lbs. today! How exciting!

Here's a quick picture. Sorry- no smile! I was late for work. haha

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My Star

I read a post this morning from Shaun Groves website that really resonated to me.

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"The Old Testament ends with two commands from the prophet Malachi. He tells God's people to remember:

Remember that God has done great things for you. Then he tells them to believe:

Believe God's not through doing great things for you.

Remember. Moses, manna, water gushing from a rock, the Law written down by the finger of God on a mountaintop. Remember.

Believe. Believe that no matter how much darkness comes your way God will not abandon you, forget you. He will rescue. Believe.

Then the prophet put down his pen and for the next 400 years the Israelites changed hands from empire to empire. Syrians. Persians. Greeks. Romans.

400 years. Some have called them the "darkest" in Jewish history.

Why? The Jews had known this kind of poverty, persecution and powerlessness before.

Why were these years the darkest?

Because God was the quietest.

For 400 years not a syllable was spoken by God to his suffering children. No prophets. No miracles.

Nothing but darkness.

And waiting, remembering, believing.

Then, one night, an angel appeared to shepherds watching their flocks. And light shone all around them. And Heaven sent a message to earth.

Before songs of joy there were cries of sorrow. Before peace on earth there was conflict. Before healing came hurt. Before the Light of the World there was darkness. Before the Word became flesh God was silent.

Wait. Remember all the great things God has done in your life. Believe that He's not through doing them.

Wait. Your star will come

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In the midst of the busyness of life it so easy to forget what a miracle we are really celebrating. For me, this year is more meaningful in the fact that I am carrying a little one and are feeling the anticipation of this new life, just as I expected Mary felt. It's easy to get hung up on the dark times in our life but we have a promise and a hope that MY star is coming.

For those who don't know, Justin is currently laid off from work for the next two weeks. Being on furlough is never a fun time, for us it's filled with stress and penny pinching and lots of worry as to what tomorrow, next week, or next month is going to look like when all the bills come in. Luckily- this one is only two weeks. In any case, we went to PA this weekend and as we were enjoying the time with family, his old job, Norfolk and Southern called in and said that they will be calling him back within the next two weeks. If he chooses to go back he will forever leave his current job. His current job is something that provides the security that we need, yet he finds absolutely no enjoyment or fulfillment out of. His old job sits on the opposite spectrum, so much potential for growth and enjoyment- yet the security is not there. There are so many positives and negatives to each job that it instantly set us in a worry of what to do. What is the best choice? We are having a baby now and we aren't just making a choice for us, but for the little guy as well.

As I worried and worried over the weekend and drive home I finally heard the promise of God say "Remember all the great things God has done in your life. Believe that He's not through doing them". I know that God will take care of us. Is there a better season to find that promise than the Christmas season? Absolutly not.

"Wait. Your star will come"

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