Week 22 Update

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I got a little thrown off during our friends visit but I'm back now :) Their visit was a lot of fun - we did a bunch of CrossFit workouts, yoga, went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze and spent time catching up at home! It was so great to see old friends - especially ones that I am as close with as Meg, Chelsa and Yost and it reminded me of how blessed I have always been to have such amazing people in my life! I am one lucky girl... that's for sure!

I have been feeling so great lately... just a little tired now and then but that's about it. Ava moves all the time now and has been giving me really big kicks which I love :) She likes to move the most in the morning around 10 am - 11 am and then at night after dinner or when I'm going to sleep. Her favorite time to wiggle around seems to be when I'm very relaxed and when I'm doing my deep breathing that I learned at hypnobirthing. She was all over the place during yoga yesterday which made me laugh. We had our 21/22 week appointment the other day and everything is looking great! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by and how soon Ava will be here with us :) We are so excited though and getting anxious to meet her face to face! I would also like to tell you all how sweet Dan has been lately. The other day after all of our friends left for home he lit my smell good candle and offered to paint my toenails for me :) Of course I jumped all over that opportunity.. it's getting a little tough to reach down there these days! He always helps me to make dinner and breakfast and works with me on our hypnobirthing. He has just been so great! We're getting excited to go on our "babymoon" next weekend - we're going to stay in Wilmington and we're taking the pups with us. No plans except to relax, eat some yummy food and take walks to the beach :) Our trip up to Maryland for Thanksgiving is fast approaching too and I am getting so excited to see my family and to eat a bunch of tasty pumpkin treats with my Mama! A little less than a month left.

That's all the update I have for now. I will be back on track this week with my usual posts and will hopefully get a video update in soon - I truthfully don't really like seeing myself on video and that's why I've been putting it off but I know that it's much easier for you guys to watch a video then to sit and read my ramblings :) So I will make an effort to make one this week. Love you all and I hope everyone has a Happy (and safe) Halloween!!

p.s. I am 22 weeks right now, I weight 156 lbs according to the doctor's office and my waist is at 39 1/2 " (I started at 34 1/4 " and about 3 weeks ago I was at 38 1/2 "). She's growing so fast... I can't believe it sometimes! I read somewhere that this week she is going to gain 6 ounces - and she only currently weighs about 11 ounces... she's going to gain half her body weight in one week. Blows my mind. Alright, that's really all for now :)

Love <3

Ash

Updating Our Bathroom

One of the major projects that Dan and I have wanted to do for a while now is to update our bathroom. It was by far our least favorite room in the house but now after giving it some love it is our favorite room in the house :) With a bunch of our friends coming into town to visit we wanted the house to look nice... it gave us the perfect excuse to get going! Here are some pictures -


All we did to fix the bathroom up was add a new coat of paint, rip out the old nasty laminate tiles and put in new ones, replace the old mirror with our new $20 one from Roses and install some new towel racks along with new towels. Overall it only took us about 2 days or so to complete and not very much money at all. So happy that we finally can check this project off of our list :) Nesting is in full swing at the Collinsworth household!

Oh Baby... We're Half Way There!

Hey Everyone!

Today is the half way point in our pregnancy... 20 weeks :) I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by and can't imagine how fast the second half will most likely go by as well. Ava is growing and moving as much as ever and I am so thankful to have had such a healthy pregnancy so far and hopefully continue to have for the rest as well - God willing.



Nesting

Dan and I both have had a major urge to "nest" or get the house ready for when Ava gets here the last week or so. So we have been doing all kinds of projects including picking out her bedding, painting the bathroom, replacing our front porch light, making craft projects, rearranging furniture and many many more little projects. It has been a lot of fun so far and I'm glad to have a nesting partner in crime :) The newest project that we're working on aside from painting the bathroom is creating a mobile for above Ava's crib. We went to Michael's yesterday and just wandered around thinking of fun ways to make our own. So we ended up buying a round cardboard disc that is used to make wreaths for the base, a bunch of colorful ribbon (pink, cream, brown and a blue/green color - all different patterns including stripes, polka dots and zig zags) that we will hot glue all the way around the edge of the disc so that they hang down like a chandelier and some really pretty pieces of jewelry that we're going to cut into individual pieces and tie to the ends of the ribbon.




So excited to work on this project with Dan... hopefully it turns out how we have it pictured.

HypnoBirthing

Dan and I have our very first HypnoBirthing class tomorrow with Teva - our awesome instructor! This methos is so perfect for Dan and I. This method helps the husband to be directly involved in the birthing process by helping me to stay calm, relaxed and focused which is one thing that we were looking for. It also works by using positive affirmations (spoken by Dan) to help me get myself into a deeply relaxed state and to stay that way throughout labor. This method reminds me a lot of the type of mental preparation that I would use in high school when I ran Cross Country and Track. Having used similar methods for so many huge events in my life (without really realizing I was doing so) it only makes sense to use it for the biggest event of all - child birth. The idea behind staying relaxed and positive is that without fear childbirth should for the most part be relatively pain free. It is because of fear and tension during labor that most women experience the bulk of their pain. The fear and tension cause the body to close up and in turn the baby is forced to press against a tight wall of muscle (causing pain) instead of a relaxed wall of muscle which is much easier to pass through. Other factors play into the success of HypnoBirthing which include - having only people you trust in the room with you at the time of labor and delivery, how the mom holds her body, positioning, etc. All of these things if considered before hand can help the mother to have a relatively quick and pain free birthing. I love the science behind all of this (as you can probably tell) and am so excited to learn as much as I can about my body and the entire process of labor and delivery during our classes. Outside of the classes I have been reading the HyonoBirthing book as well as Ina May's book on Childbirth - both of which are about natural childbirth. I have really enjoyed reading both of these books and I feel like they compliment each other very well.

That's all the exciting news for week 20 :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Workouts

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to do a quick update on my workouts so far for this week.

Monday

Dan and I went for a run on base on a really pretty trail... I think it was called Champion Trail. We ran for about 30 minutes and probably ran between 3 and 3 1/2 miles. It felt to be outside in the cool weather, it even sprinkled a little bit while we were raining which was nice! Dan spotted a deer while we were running too which was cool. The trail had a lot of rolling hills and a lot of sand. This made it a slightly more difficult run so I made sure that at the top of each hill or after a sandy spot that I slow down to let my breathing get under control again. This was my first longer run since becoming pregnant and it felt great! We're going to Maryland most likely for Thanksgiving to see my family and we'll all do a 5 miler on Thanksgiving morning which has become quite the tradition now... very excited to not only participate in a race but to also get to run with my family :) So cool that Ava will be along for the ride this year! It'll be fun someday to tell her about all of the things I did while I was pregnant with her.

Tuesday

Jason's Going Away Workout - Cross Fit Cape Fear

5 Rounds

6 x Thrusters (65 #)
9 x Box Jumps
12 x KB Swings (12 kg)

10:06

Our friend Jason from CrossFit is leaving soon to go to Texas so we had a going away workout and potluck for him. It was a great workout and some yummy food afterward! We're going to miss him though!

Wednesday

Rest Day :)


Hope you all are having a great day and enjoying this fall weather!

p.s. My Mom was really bad today and told me about this Pumpkin Ice Cream that Eddy's is selling right now and while we were talking I just so happened to be on my way to the store hehe so of course I had to buy some :) And I just have to tell you guys this is the most delicious ice cream I have EVER had! I'm not even that crazy about ice cream but I love anything pumpkin and this is at the top of my list right now of my favorite pumpkin things. Just thought I would share! Thanks for this Mom :)

New Clothes for Ava

Just had to share these three things that i got for Ava on Saturday while I was out shopping for the things for her nursery.... so cute!

The first one says "Apple of Daddy's Eye" and the polka dot one behind it says Adorable



This heavy weight footed sleeper is one of the only ones that I've found that I really like... it has a cupcake on it and says "Sweetie" underneath it.


Last but not least... the bows. I have been looking for some bigger bows like these and was so excited when I found them at Target :) She is going to look too cute with these on!

Nursery Bedding and Decorations

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to update everyone and some of the things that Dan and I have been buying for Ava and her nursery. I am sooo excited about how planning for the nursery is coming along... can't wait to get it all together. On Saturday Dan had just gotten home from his CQ duty and needed to get some sleep so I decided to go out looking for bedding for Ava's room as well as some other decorations that we have been talking about getting. Here's a picture do all of the things we have for her nursery so far:



Brown bumper, cream sheet, cream sheet with light sage design, baby blanket (my favorite!) and the butterfly wall art.

Block letter spelling out Ava... these were too cute to pass up!

The color scheme is going to be very simple - cream, tan and dark brown... I just think it's going to be so cozy! Not to mention since the bedding and walls are going to be on the plain side it means we can have that much more fun making a statement with the accents and decorations! Some of the accents that we'll be putting in the room are the butterfly wall art, a butterfly shadow box which I made myself and silhouette pictures which I also made. It has been so much fun working on these art projects for Ava's room and getting to let my creative side out and at the same time getting to make something for our daughter :) Here are some pictures of what I have finished so far -

Butterfly Shadow Box - This was so simple to make but the finished product is so pretty and makes quite the statement! Not to mention it was a lot of fun to make!



Silhouette I made of one of our fur babies - Marley :)


The second silhouette I made of our other fur baby - Rico! These were also a lot of fun to make and I love love love the finished product. I am also going to do a silhouette of Dan and I... just have to find a good picture to use. I love being able to incorporate our family into Ava's room in a fun way.

That's what we've put together so far. Very excited to see how everything comes together and I hope Ava loves her room :) In the mean time I'm going to enjoy using my creative side to make a special space for her!
p.s. Dan will most likely be making something for her room as well - we're thinking either a bookcase or a mobile for above her crib. I'm excited to see what he comes up with!

Friday Workout

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are having a great start to your weekend. Yesterday Dan had CQ duty so I spent part of my day doing things are the house and the rest of it wandering through Michael's dreaming up ideas for Ava's room :) I forgot how much I LOVE that store... I could wander through there for hours for no reason at all except to try and think of fun decorating ideas. But before I lost myself in Michael's I did a quick workout at home... it was already getting kind of warm outside so I didn't want to be out there too long. Here's the workout I did:

4 Round

150 m. run
25 Air Squats

It was a great workout and just what I needed to loosen up :)

Fall and Thursday's Workout

Hey Everyone!

The weather here today is BEAUTIFUL... this is my favorite time of the year and I'm so glad it's here :) Bring on all yummy things that are pumpkin! Dan and I started the season of right last night with a trip to Krispy Kreme and of course I got one of their Pumpkin Spice doughnuts :) So good! I felt like a kid again I was so excited. It was fun to get to watch them make the doughnuts too... can't wait to take Ava there when she's older as a special treat.


As for my workout today... I could not wait to put my running shoes on and get outside to enjoy some of this sunshine and crisp air. Here's what my workout was :

200 m. Run
20 Lunges (per leg)
200 m. Run
20 KTE
200 m. Run
20 Push Ups
200 m. Run

Great workout! Some of the movements are starting to feel a little funny hehe I don't know how else to describe it. The two that felt the strangest today were push ups and after I finished running. During push ups my stomach becomes really pointy in the middle and I just get a weird feeling. No pain or anything... just weird. Thinking I might change to modified push ups sometime in the near future but we will see. I felt great while I was running but right after I was done my lower abdomen just felt a little tight but it went away very quickly. Just some observations but nothing I'm worried about... just signs of how much my body is changing and how much Ava is growing... which are all good things :)

Alright, time for a snack! Hope you all are having a great day!

p.s. I would just like to say how sweet my husband is and how happy and thankful I am to be married to him. Yesterday he brightened my day up by loading and putting away the dishes for me and on top of that took me out for dessert. He always knows how to brighten my day and makes everyday special :) Just wanted to share!

Week 18 Pictures

Hey Everyone!

Here are my belly pictures for Week 18... this week Ava is "about 5 1/2 inches long and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead".

My belly button... so crazy looking!

Week 19 here we come!

Workout, Movement and Visitors

Today Dan had the day off since he will be out in the field for a few days so we got the chance to go do a workout with John at CrossFit which was a lot of fun... even with the soreness that we both had from doing Fran yesterday! Here's what we did...

Row 500m.
5 Clean and Jerks (Ash - 85#, Dan - 135#)
Row 400 m.
4 Clean and Jerks
Row 300 m.
3 Clean and Jerks
Row 200 m.
2 Clean and Jerks
Row 100 m.
1 Clean and Jerk

** I did Hanging Power Cleans, Dan and John did Full Cleans **

Not sure about our times for this workout but I think it took about 15 minutes. This was a really fun workout and I enjoyed being able to go a little bit heavier since we were doing so few repetitions. The only bad part was that I felt like I had to go pee the entire workout hehe but everything else was great!

Movement

The last couple of days I have been able to feel Ava move so much and am able to tell now without a doubt that it's her :) She is also starting to move more at specific times during the day... usually she starts around 10 am or so and then will start up again in the later afternoon right before dinner and go all the way until bed time. I love being able to feel her more often and feeling her kicks get stronger everyday! Also, the coolest thing happened on Sunday while Dan and I were at church. We were sitting there listening to our pastor and I started to feel Ava move so I pressed my fingers to my belly to see if she would do it again and did she ever! She gave such a strong kick that I almost jumped out of my seat! Dan realized what had happened so he put his hand in the same spot and within a couple of seconds he felt it too! This was such a special moment and I love being able to share Ava's kicks with Dan :)

Visitors

So excited... two of my best friends from high school are coming to visit the weekend of October 24th :) Haven't gotten to spend time with both of them in a veryyy long time. Can't wait! Here are some old pictures of me, Chelsa and Meg from when we ran XC together in high school... ahh the memories!

That's us :)

We used to have so much fun - girls team at the SMAC (Southern Maryland Athletic Conference) Meet :)


After a run in the mud! I'm on the left, Meg is the third from the left and Chelsa is the first one on the right. High school seems like it happened just yesterday... but it was really almost 6 years ago now :( Crazy how time flies. Glad we have all of these great memories to look back on though to remind us of how much fun we had!

Fran - Workout of the day

Today Dan and I went to the group workout at CrossFit Cape Fear and the workout of the day was a really good one... FRAN! Neither of us had done Fran in a veryyyy long time so I was excited to see how we felt doing it.

"Fran"

21-15-9

Thrusters (Ash - 55#, Dan - 95#)
Pull Ups (Ash - Jumping, Dan - Kipping)


Dan got an AMAZING pr of 5:36... his previous time was 8 minutes and something seconds :) I was very excited for him! I was not going for a fast time since I need to take it a little bit slower to keep Ava safe but was excited to feel really good throughout the whole workout and finish with a time of 7:59. Lots of fun working out with the group and seeing everyone do such a great job on such a tough workout!

Week 17 Pictures

Here is my belly picture for week 17... onto week 18 tomorrow, yay!! Is it just me or is time flying by so fast right now? Ava is going to be here before we know it :) Trying to enjoy every minute of the pregnancy that I can since I know it will be over in the blink of an eye!


Not sure if it seems like there's been much change from the last picture but let me tell you my belly is growing by the second it seems hehe I just love it! As you can kind of see in this picture the top ridge of my belly button is starting to really stick out, which I think is funny since I have always had an innie until now. Never knew that i could be so amused by getting to see he bottom of my belly button for the first time! Speaking of my belly... the other day I was cold so I went to put on an old hooded sweatshirt that was in the closet... I did not get very far up with the zipper before it got stuck. I thought there might be something in the way that was blocking the zipper from going up hehe not the case... it was just my bump. This is when it really hit home how much Ava and I have grown over the last couple of weeks. I love little moments like this that really bring me back to reality and I realize that our little girl really is in there and she is the amazing thing behind all of these changes :) I may not be as graceful as I once was (which i wasn't that graceful to begin with :) ), or move as quickly, or fit into my old clothes... but I love love love every second of it cause it's all for her!


Just thought I'd add this picture in for fun... this is my amazing husband Dan and our two pups Rico and Marley lounging on the couch :) These three make me smile!

Workout Update

Hey Everyone!

This week I have been a little sick so my workouts have not been what they normally are but I still have tried to stay active.


Tuesday - Yoga... which was much needed!

I have started to get cramping in my hips/butt in the middle of the night or when I sit for too long. These cramps can get to be pretty intense at times so I was thinking that the yoga might help loosen me up a little bit. It felt great on my muscles during but alas I have still been getting the cramps at night. That's ok... it just seems to be another one of the regular pregnancy symptoms.

Wednesday - Workout with John, Ann and Clare

Incline DB Bench 20#/10, 25#/10, 30#/10, 30#/10, 30#/10, 30#/10
DB Rows 20#/10, 25#/10 x 5
Box Jumps - 2 small boxes stacked

Cash out - 35 x Knees To Elbows

Workout went great... breathing was a little difficult during parts of the workout because of my cold but not a big deal. Decreased the box jumps from the big wooden box that I would normally use to two small green irrigation boxes stacked. Now that falling is more of an issue I am starting to be very careful with things like box jumps and such.


Hopefully this cold will be gone soon and we can get be back to the normal routine :)