Meet Avery Christopher

Born June 27, 2010 at 5:34am. 8lbs 10oz 20 1/2 inches and completely perfect! I will blog about the labor story later but for now, I want to soak up my beautiful, handsome, and cuddly baby boy

Hopefully....

Hopefully my next post will be a picture of our baby boy. After a couple of hours at the hospital this morning, we found out my excess fluid has slowed down, yay! This has relieved a couple concerns if my water breaks. After the ultrasound they estimated his weight at 9lbs 2oz! Whoa....did you just say 9lbs? My midwife said they can be off by 1/2lb either direction. After a long talk about the Group B Strep, his size, how I am feeling etc, we have decided to induce tomorrow morning. I am praying that I go into labor tonight, she did some things (that I won't discuss here, kind of graphic) to help labor get started. She then ordered me to rest at home and drink lots of water!
But something I was not expecting to feel was how emotional I am about leaving Riley. I am really trying not to think about it because I just start crying. Not only is Riley my first born child, she has changed my life. I won't go into much detail but I am a changed person since she has come into our life. I have enjoyed more than anything being home with her. She and I do almost everything together. I know deep down this isn't true, but I feel like somehow I am abandoning her. I am going to miss her deeply. We have to stay at the hospital at least 48hrs after birth so Avery can have the Group B Strep testing done. I know someone will bring her to the hospital but I am feeling so sensitive to these new changes. I am going to spend some extra cuddle time with her tonight, my little girl!
Wish us luck and prayers are appreciated!

39 weeks, 4 days!

Phew! I have made it this far and surprisingly enough, I am less discouraged today than I have been other days! We had an appointment today with our midwife. After measuring big for like the millionith time, she scheduled an ultrasound and a non stress test for tomorrow. At 36 weeks, I had an ultrasound and it showed that I am carrying excess fluids. Sometimes this is ok and other times it's not. So at the ultrasound they are going to check for polyhydramnios, which is the medical term for carrying excess fluid. If everything comes back that I do have this, they want to induce me this weekend. My uterus can only handle so much fluid, and if it gets overworked, it won't work properly. I am still only 1cm dialated but my cervix is very soft and little mans head is very low (yeah, I could have told you that!) Every time he moves, I feel like I am being stabbed in my lower stomach! Ouch! I have a feeling he is quite a bit bigger than his petite sister was.
I am looking forward to seeing my little boy in the ultrasound tomorrow but I would rather go into labor tonight! If I don't go into labor after this weekend, my midwife doesn't want me to go much past my due date. I really don't want to be induced but on the other hand, I completely trust my midwives with my life! I have always felt like they would do whatever is in the best interest of myself and the baby. I don't feel like they are "rushed" when we have appointments and actually I feel like they treat me as if I am their child. Whatever they recommend, Jim and I will strongly consider.
Does anyone have an induction advice?!

Can Christmas Come Early?

I am so embarassed to be showing my messy craft space. Our master closet is what I call, "stupid big." Yes, I did just say our closet is almost too big. But because the kids really occupy every other part of the house, I need to utilize our closet as a craft space. There is more than plenty of room for all my crafts. I ran across this DIY here

for this small craft space and I am OBSESSED! I immediately emailed my husband a picture of it and told him I must have something like this! Poor guy, his list just gets longer and longer. My hubby is my biggest supporter when it comes to me "crafting." He knows that it is a great outlet for myself and he loves the fact that I recycle my own clothes to make things for Riley. Now, we just need to figure out how this all is going to work. I don't necessarily need to sit in the closet and craft, but I would love to have all my fabrics, ribbons, buttons, etc in one spot, organized such as this beautiful DIY. The best part, most the items are from IKEA which makes my husbands pocket book happy, very happy!

This summer is going to be busy. Here is just a small list of what I would like to get done. 1. Finish base moulding. 2. Crown moulding. 3. Frame bathroom mirrors 4. Finally decorate guest bath. 5.Weinscoating around breakfast bar 6. Maybe get around to putting some things on the walls in the master! We (I) plan on doing all of this with a newborn!! Looks like I will be drinking more coffee! Anyone else have any honey-do lists this summer?

Tick Tock

I feel like a ticking time bomb ready to explode! In the picture I am 39 weeks and 1 day. I have never been this pregnant before! Riley was two weeks early so I don't really know the feeling of being this huge! Plus I am way bigger this pregnancy!
Yesterday for Fathers Day we took a walk in our beautiful Bidwell Park. First, we stopped and let the kids throw rocks in the creek. Riley absolutely loved it! Then we "power" walked to try to get labor started, no luck! =) We came home and put Riley down for a nap and my wonderful hubby got to watch golf for about 5 hours! He was in his element. He rarely gets to just sit and watch any TV so this was a special treat. I even got to take a cat nap. I really wanted to make yesterday special for him and I think we succeeded considering I am ready to pop! I was REALLY hoping to go into labor yesterday for Fathers Day and I tried not to get discouraged when I didn't. I know God has the perfect timing for Avery to come out.
On Saturday we took the kids swimming. We figured we better get Riley comfortable in the water before swim lessons start soon. Within 10 minutes, she was jumping into Jims arms from the side! I could not believe it! Our little girl is growing up so fast. She amazes me with how smart she is. She was doing a puzzle the other day, all by herself and I just started crying because she is truly amazing. She copied an "R" I wrote on my FIL's card. My MIL made sure she grabbed the card so she could file it away!
We had a great weekend with our kids and I can't believe that soon we are going to have 3 kids!

A Year of Change

It feels somewhat funny to say a year of change when we are only half way through, but that is exactly what our life has been so far! We bought a house earlier this year and now we are awaiting the birth of our baby boy any day.

I have really struggled with being a mom and then doing things for me that are fun. One outlet that I love is crafting. I LOVE trying new things. Whether it be sewing, painting, using my hot glue gun, figuring out how to make something that is ugly into a master piece!

So I have decided in order to fuel my addiction to craft, after the baby is born I am going to open an Etsy shop and see how things go! I have been thinking of a name for some time now and still haven't come up with one, but I am sure Avery will bring me some inspiration.

I made this clutch and now I am obsessed with making these flowers. They are somewhat time consuming but so worth it in the end! They are a great project for when you just want to watch some TV but also get your craft outlet!

Wish me luck on our season of change! We feel so blessed to be where we are and like I say every post, we can't wait to welcome our baby boy anytime! Come on Avery!!

A bit of Randomness

This picture has really nothing to do with my post except for the fact that my husband is hot and I think my daughter is so dang cute!

I have been feeling lately like there are not enough hours in the day to get things done. I think it's just because what I could do in an hour before I was pregnant now takes two hours because I am so tired!

I got up early this morning and decided to go for a power walk before it got to hot, we are suppose to have a high of 95 degrees and boy does it feel extra hot when you are pregs. I got home from my walk, had breakfast on the patio and read. Did I mention Riley slept in until 9am, which made all of these wonderful things possible before she woke up. Then I fell back asleep! For 2 whole hours! I have never felt this tired in my entire life. I told the hubs that I feel like I could sleep the day away. Little boy is moving around alot but I can definately tell he is bigger than his sister was. This won't be hard because she was a wee 6lbs 15oz. Knowing that soon I will have a son is such a surreal feeling. Part of me is scared to go into labor and the other part cannot wait one more second. I have been having contractions every day so I hope he comes soon!!

Soooo Easy!

A couple of weeks ago I ran across this tutorial on Ruffles and Stuff and thought I had to try it out. It was so super easy and fun, in fact, I made about 3 different ones for Riley out of my old tops. I decided to skip the belt on all the dresses but I am sure it would be easy enough to make those as well. My model is pretty cute if I must say so!

Baby Update:

We had an appt today and I am 1cm. I tried not to get discouraged and so far I am doing pretty well. I wasn't dialated with Riley until I went into labor so I am holding on to that. So I am spending my days walking walking and more walking!

A Little Facelift

A couple of weeks ago my neighbor had a yard sale. We walked over and I spotted this sad looking chair and it was calling my name! I asked her how much she wanted for it and she said FREE! Woohoo! I'll take it! By the way, this neighbor is the neighbor of my dreams. She has brought us fresh baked pastries TWICE and coffee when we first moved in. She is lovely!

So we brought it home, took some steel wool to it, a can of spray paint and VIOLA! It also bounces a bit so I can only imagine sitting in it for crisp early morning feedings with my new baby boy. Recognize the fabric? It's from here.
I cut up the rest and covered the old patio cushions this weekend. Stay tuned for pics, I still need to finish the couch cushion.

I was 37 weeks on Saturday. I have been walking like crazy to get things moving. I have an appt on Weds to check progress. My last appt my midwife let me know that I tested positive for Group B Strep. Which means, if my water breaks I go straight to the hospital. And instead of following the 411 rule of contractions. I need to go to the hospital more like 711. I am slightly bummed because I REALLY wanted to labor at home as long as I could. This will give my midwife enough time to administer antibiotics to me twice before the baby is born. I find myself daydreaming of my little one all the time, I just can't wait for the moment that I first meet him.

By the way, I am beyond obsessed with the color of the chair, I want to spray paint everything this color! My husband is not as obsessed and would like me to refrain from spraying the whole house! =)

So Many Projects, So Little Time!

Lately I have been starting so many projects and then not finishing them. Either because I don't have the time or just have been so tired! It's usually for the second reason! But today I was reminded that I could be in labor on or around Fathers Day and really didn't want it to get put on the back burner. Although, if I give birth to our son on Fathers Day, I told Jim that Avery is his gift every year. And I am kind of not kidding!

I decided to whip out some craft paper I had been saving for something special and make a "Happy Fathers Day" banner for the mantle. I am slightly obsessed with banners right now and my goal is to have one made for every holiday. They are super easy and make a great decoration.

Second, I found these cupcakes online and thought they are perfect for Jim! He LOVES his grass so these are definately fitting for the occassion. As far as a gift is concerned, he's been talking about wanting a Japanese Maple for our yard so I am on the look out for the perfect one!

If you want the recipe for the cupcakes, it can be found here.

Score of the week!

On Saturday Jim, Riley and I went to some yard sales and came up a little short. Later in the afternoon Jim and Ri were taking a nap so I decided to take a trip to the Salvation Army. I was browsing through the sheet section and came across these curtain panels! I had just been in World Market a couple of days before and seen them there for $35.00/panel. So when I spotted these, I wasn't sure where I would use them in the house or if I would just use them for fabric so I snagged them for $20.00. I thought it was just two panels but when I got home, I realized there were 3!! I decided two of them will go in our living room and the third panel I am going to use to recover the cushions for our outdoor furniture. I am still giddy when I think about the savings! It also reminded me that I need to do more drive-bys the Salvation Army!