Being a Mother

I love this video :) I found it on blog that my fellow friend and blogger Rachel subscribes to called Doul-la-la. My favorite lines from the video are:

You have to be brave with your life so others can be brave with theirs.

You don't realize it yet but you are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day and my greatest hope for you sweet child is that I can teach you how to write a good one.


Love,

Ash and Ava

Week 37 Pictures

Week 37 Pictures

My friend Sam described my Ava belly as a torpedo the other day :) I think that's very fitting!

Well here we are at week 38... I know I keep saying this but I cannot believe how fast time is flying! It's so true though. I wake up each day thinking ok, today could be the day that we meet Ava. Even though I know it will most likely be at least another week or so it technically could be today and that is very exciting and crazy all at the same time! I have come pretty close to finishing up with things I wanted to get done around the house which is good. The other day I got a ridiculous boost of energy and decided to check my most dreaded project off of the list finally... cleaning out and organizing the guest room. It took me almost the entire day and I had to take a long nap after I was done but it is finally complete. It still needs a lot of work but there's no longer a bunch of random things being stored in the room with no place to go. I feel pretty good about it! I also installed Ava's carseat on my own which was another project that I had not been looking forward to... mostly because I thought it was going to be really tricky for some reason but it was actually very easy which was great news for me! So slowly but surely everything here is coming together for Ava's arrival and I'm feeling good about the house being ready for her. Now it's time to wait I guess :) This is the part I need to get better at I think. One thing that I haven't shared with you guys yet that has been occupying a lot of space in my mind lately is that we found out Ava is breech a couple of weeks ago and she still is in the breech position as of last Thursday's appointment. I have been trying lots of different things at home to help her wiggle into a head down position but none of those have seemed to work as of yet but I am going to keep at it. I have also met with my Hypnobirthing instructor to do a fear release/turning visualization session. And just today I went to Dr. Kuhns my awesome chiropractor here in Fayetteville to have the Webster's Technique done. This technique apparently has an 80-90 % success rate in helping breech babies to turn head down, even late in pregnancy. I realize that there's a possibility that none of these things will work and that there could be a very good reason Ava is head down. If that is the case then we'll move forward knowing that we tried everything possible to help her flip and we'll just be excited to meet our healthy baby girl even if in the end that means not being able to have the natural birth we had planned and hoped for. I know she knows what she's doing in there so for now I'm just trying to get my body in the most optimal state to let her do what she feels like she needs to do. I also trust that God has a plan for us and I am learning to trust in Him more and more everyday. Either way that this turns out I am VERY excited and am always thinking about the day that we finally get to meet her :) These last two months have been full of surprises and change... some of which were really hard to deal with at the time and at times still are but I know I have learned a lot and that there are really good things to come... and one of those things is named Ava :)

Goodnight everyone!

Love,

Ash and Ava

Snow and Week 36 Update!

Hey Everyone!

We're getting snow as I type this and it is SOOOO pretty! It's such nice and fluffy snow compared to the last snow/ice storm we had. It's really cool looking right now because it's not cold enough for it to stick to the roads or driveways yet but it's sticking to all of the trees, grass and everything else. We had a really windy day this past week so there are huge branches all over the driveway and they look so pretty covered in snow. Here are some pictures I took...

Reek trying to catch some snow :)

This is my kind of snow too because by tomorrow afternoon the roads will most likely be completely cleared but it will still be all white everywhere else! Here is another picture I took this evening - my end of week 36 belly picture. I don't feel like a whole lot has changed the last couple of weeks... Ava is still growing as ever though :) And moving more than ever!

Week 36

She has been doing all sorts of acrobatics in there. At night, usually right around this time (10 PM or so) my belly starts moving in waves. It cracks me up and I love watching her move all around! Speaking of belly movement... on Super Bowl Sunday I spent the day at Sam and Mike's and I got to see baby Dean move! I was so excited... it's totally different seeing someone else's baby move... so amazing to think there's a little person in her belly too. Now that I am moving onto week 37 Ava and I are considered FULL TERM - yay! So if she came today we would be good to go. I am slowing down quite a bit these days which is to be expected I guess :) Since the whole pregnancy has been so smooth and I have felt so great I guess a part of me thought I would always feel that great. I don't feel bad by any means I just tire MUCH quicker now, have to take more breaks and have a tough time moving around (rolling over in the middle of the night has become quite painful in the pelvic area - OUCH! The dogs probably think I'm hilarious the way I move around these days). I have some practice surges (contractions) but they're not bad and just today my lower back started to hurt a little. Other than that no real signs of impending labor or anything like that. Will keep you guys updated on that though! I am VERY excited for Ava's birth and as always we're praying that the birth goes smoothly and that we're able to have the natural and gentle birth that we prepared for but most importantly that Ava arrives safe and sound :) It's going to be a great day. Last bit of news - Mom and Dad (Ava's great grandparents) helped Dan and I buy the last staple for Ava yesterday and that is a Bassinet/Travel Crib for Ava to sleep in in our room when we first bring her home... here's what it looks like -

This should work great next to our bed for the first couple of months at least and then when she's done using it as a bassinet we can still use it as a travel crib or an area for her to play. This model is called the Graco Travel Lite Crib in Marlowe. It's only 20 lbs., has wheels, a bassinet area and it fits through doorways unlike the bigger Travel Cribs! Thanks Mom and Dad for all of your help!

That's all the news for now. Hope you all have a great weekend and I will talk to you soon :) Only 3 weeks or so left!

Love <3

Ash and Ava

35 Week Belly Pictures and Outfits for Hospital

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to do a quick post with my 35 week belly pictures and the outfits I picked up for Ava to wear at the hospital and to wear home from the hospital.. I couldn't resist these they're too cute!

35 Weeks - it is getting very tricky to get up on my tip toes far enough to get my whole belly in the picture hehe lots of things are getting tricky now that I think about it :) That's ok though... I don't mind, it keeps things interesting that's for sure!

Matching set I found at Target - I love the hat and mittens that go along with it. This will most likely be her first outfit :)


Outfit to wear home... Daddy's Little Girl :)

We're going to bring along some thicker one piece sleepers too in case that is more comfy for her to wear. Being that this is our first baby I'm not sure what to expect so as always I will most likely pack more than I will actually need :)

Ava's Room

Hey Everyone!

I am almost completely done with Ava's room so I thought would post more pictures of the entire room so you guys can get a feel for what the whole thing looks like instead of just bits and pieces. So here it is :)

Her room is so cozy and is now officially my favorite room in the house! Now I just hope Ava enjoys it as much as I do :) I have had such a great time putting her room together and can't wait to see her enjoy it. Lots of great memories to be made!

Have a goodnight

Love <3

Ash (and Ava too!)

Update: Ava's Room

Hey Everyone!

I've been working on hanging pictures up in Ava's room this morning and wanted to share some pictures of how it's coming along ...

Those three frames are the ones I worked on hanging this morning. I bought the frames at Hobby Lobby, super glued the brown satin ribbon to the back of each one and picked out three different pink patterned scrapbook papers to put in the frames. I'm really excited about how these turned out and it was a cheap and easy way to tie all of the colors into the room that I was looking for :) I got this idea from a nursery design blog that I like to read. Still not sure where I'm going to put the silhouettes of the pups... we'll see. I like them where they are now but I know that eventually Ava will be able to get to themeasily so I will need to figure something else out. I'm thinking of getting some hanging shelves to put behind the glider to put the silhouettes and other small things on so they're out of her reach.

Diaper bag I found at TJ Maxx last week :) Pink and brown... are you seeing a trend going on here? I've always loved pink and brown!

Ava' s bouncy chair - gift from Uncle Yost, Uncle Shawn and Aunt Cait :) This is going to be a HUGE help and it seems like it will be really comfy for Ava. Thanks guys!

Sign I found at Micheal's for Ava's room... the colors match everything else so well!

I realize this isn't a necessity or anything but I saw this at Micheal's and could not resist it! Will most likely go on the hanging shelves along with the pup silhouettes that way it's out of Ava's reach. Too cute!

That's all of the update I have for now... will be going to get the oil changed in a bit and will hopefully pick up some of the necessities for Ava that we don't have yet while I'm at out. Just want to make sure we're prepared in case she decides to join us earlier rather than later :)