"Zoom Zoom"

Last Wednesday started out like any other day. I woke up, got ready, went to work, etc. Chad had gotten scratched in the eye by, yep - you guessed it - lovely Winston the day before but when he woke up said it felt a little better. However, after time went on and more light hit it, it got worse.
As I googled all about this condition (I know better than to do that, but hey, its all the resources I had) I read that it could get infected and the sensitivity to light was a bad sign - "call doctor immediately".
I found an eye doctor near our house and asked about this and they said yes, he needed to come in. Now, Chad has no insurance right now and in this span of uninsured he has had to get xrayed and now an eye doctor visit all due to the one and only WINSTON. He's even more expensive than we thought.
So Chad goes in for a work in appointment to check out his eye- I ended up leaving work to go pick him up because they had numbed his eye and all sorts of stuff.
Around 3-ish I got a phone call from Mr. NumbEye informing me that he was at a car dealership and found a car I would like. Yes, we had talked about needing to get a car for Ava that was a LOT more reliable than the Jetta (aka- one that I didn't feel would slide off the road or breakdown at any moment) but we hadn't talked about when. So all I found myself saying was "Don't buy it" haha. If you don't know me very well, I am very bad at decisions. Big ones, little ones, planned ones, spontaneous ones. Any. Even buying a pair of socks I would have to look around at all the other socks and make sure that those really were the socks I should be buying. Am I a tad crazy? Yes. But aren't we all in some way or another?
So I told Chad I would swing by after work and we could look at the car (knowing full well in my head that we would look and then go compare other cars, etc etc). Work ends and we head to look at the car. Chad said he was just sure that I would love it - and he's usually right about these things. I got pretty lucky :) So we went and looked at it and yes, I did love it. Perfect back seat for car seat, diaper bag, toys, random cheerios. Lots of room in the back for stroller and whatever else we can pack back there.
Test drive: went great, no problems, drove awesome. We talked about it and guess what? I really did like it. So I went against my urge to go compare other cars for a week and said "OK" and we drove off the lot 5 minutes later!
....haha no I did say OK but it took about another 2 hours to finish all the paperwork and handle all the craziness that went on. We had lots of speed bumps because papers had to be faxed to Chad's Dad to sign for the truck, we found out my license was expired, the payments they told us were crazy higher than originally quoted, etc. But we jumped through all the hoops and drove home in the car! All we had to do was tie up loose ends and sign some more papers but we did it. It's still crazy to me. I feel like only grown ups are suppose to do that stuff but then I realize, oh wait, I kind of am a grown up. Weird.
Now I get to brag on my wonderful husband. He gave up his manly truck in order for me and Ava to be safe. He is going to drive the (payment free) jetta for a while while I get the new car because he is that awesome and cares that much for his girls. Not many guys would do that- especially give up a huge truck for a tiny jetta. I feel so lucky and just wanted everyone to know how awesome he is. Thanks babe :)

So here is a random photo of our car we got but its not OUR car. I'll take some of those this week over Thanksgiving break.

Behold! My Mom car :) I have LOVED driving it and everything about it. Its turbo charged too hehe I might get in trouble with that...
So just so you know its a Mazda CX-7. Looks just like the picture. And its SO fun!

Chad's eye is mostly healed. He had to wear a contact for a day and then get it checked the next day but it is doing a ton better. Chad nicknamed the new car the Shark and I made the joke that I switched from the Jets to the Sharks and cracked myself up because I felt so witty. Chad gave a sympathy laugh and that's when we found out he's never seen West Side Story. I'll have to force him to watch it sometime. Not anytime soon because it is nearing Christmas video time which means my movie slots will be FULL with things like Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Elf, and so on and so forth. Man I love Christmas.

Say hello to Ava!

This week I am 31 weeks (crazy!) AND we got to do our 4D ultrasound this week! I cannot tell you how amazing it is to sit and stare at a machine that is showing us our little girls face. Yes, a couple tears did fall.
We had to go to our appointment first but for the Ultrasound they wanted me to drink 32 ounces of liquid before hand. For this, we debated whether I should have any caffeine or not. Before you laugh let me just tell you a fun fact about myself. Caffeine has no effect on me. I can drink a red bull and be fast asleep 10 minutes later. This is not just a pregnancy thing either. Throughout the pregnancy however, I've noticed a couple times that on the lucky days I get my 5 sips of coffee or mountain dew or whatever that it doesn't really seem to make a difference with the little angel. Perfect example: the other week when the Burris Bunch were in town for the shower I decided to drink coffee to try and wake up little Ava and get her kicking so everyone could feel - she didn't move barely at all. Of course.
Anyways...how side tracked did I just get? ... Yes so we were deciding yes or no on the caffeine. I just knew that if I DIDN'T drink any and she didn't move, the ultrasound tech would just think what an idiot, its her fault she isn't moving so I went ahead and had a mountain dew...and a half...   turns out our suspicions were true. Ava is just like Mommy. Caffeine=sleepy time. *Note to self, anytime mom wants a nap give Ava coffee* (side note to the note - no mom and grandparents, don't worry, I'm not really going to do this)

OK doctors visit went well. I'm up to 157 and the doctor laughed about the weight gain saying "It's a little more than we wanted but you should be fine" bleh. Oh well. I had several questions to which most of them she just smiled and answered "thats normal". I did find out that my amazing cravings for red grape juice have interfered with some other things. Turns out it inhibits iron from being absorbed...and I'm having to take extra iron in the first place for anemia...so my one craving is worsening my problem. BUT she said I just shouldn't take them together and I should be fine. For a second I thought she was going to take my grape juice crack away from me and I just don't know how i would handle that. Withdrawal for sure.

After the visit we walked down the hall and waited for the Ultrasound. I was about to pee my pants. Ava was not moving at all too. Naturally.

We got back to the room and got to see a couple 2D images - one of them is my favorite 2D one so far. Her little arm is all propped up behind her head and you can just see her little face...fast asleep.
(*NOTE: YOU CAN CLICK ANY OF THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM TO GET A BETTER LOOK OR IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THE PICTURES TO YOUR COMPUTER!*)

Isn't she adorable? Yes. Yes she is. Then she switched to the 4D mode. It was at this point that we realized the caffeine was NOT the choice we should have made. We saw Ava on the screen, but really it was Ava's arm - covering her whole face - which was smushed up against something else. AKA - no baby face.

See? No face, just an arm and side of a head...which honestly was still cute to see haha

Not only was there no face, but there was no movement. She was VERY asleep. We proceeded to take the ultrasound wand and bounce up and down on my belly trying to wake her up. The tech went back and forth along her spine, and up and down on her little head, around her whole body...despite the trampoline and massage efforts it phased Ava none. Just seemed to make her even more relaxed. All I could think of was really? you move ALL the time and the one time we pay $150 to SEE you move, you hide and sleep. thanks girl.  It was quite hilarious thinking of how hard we were trying to wake her up, when in 2 months, we are going to be trying even harder just to get her to go to sleep ha.

So after probably 20 minutes of bouncing and pushing Ava finally moved her little arm. There she was! You could see her little eyelids and nose and tiny mouth all perfectly outlined. Her little hand would come up and rub her eye or she would suck the knuckle of her thumb (no, not her thumb, just the knuckle area - this will be fun to see if she continues this in the real world ha). We just stared at the screen. Anytime she would move there would be an "aww" or a "look!" or something like that. I am just amazed at our technology (am I sounding old yet?)

So that was definitely the highlight of the week. Another little update for the blog: the dreaded first stretch mark made its appearance this morning. Eh, scratch that - I saw the dreaded first stretch mark this morning.  It's probably been there for a little bit but I can't look down and see it because its below my belly button haha. So thanks to the mirror this morning there she was. But hey, its worth it. If I have to get some stretch marks so that Ava has room in that belly to cook a little longer, so be it! (*this note is for Ava when she gets older and reads this: See what I have already sacrificed for you? What a good Mom I am. You should probably thank me...)
Next week is Thanksgiving!! We head up to Memphis Tuesday night and then to Missouri Wednesday. Hooray!

30 Weeks

30 Weeks!

Still a squash! Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

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Pretty much everything is the same since last week- I've gained maybe 2 more pounds (hooray) but everything else is still goin! This weekend is the fall retreat for the youth group that we are helping with so hopefully I can be a trooper and hang in there for it. THEN on Monday we have another doctors appt and our 4D ULTRASOUND! I am so pumped about it! Its just going to be so cool to see her! Its been too long
Besides that we are just preparing everything for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Ava! I'll get nursery pictures up soon...right now its packed with random shower gifts and we are trying to figure out what to do with it all!

29 Weeks and Halloween Treats!

Month 7 (weeks 29-32)
Wow. 73 days until due date. Can you believe it? I can't haha

Baby’s energy is surging ( and this kid has some ENERGY), thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. (Have those kicks and jabs to the ribs tipped you off yet?) Baby is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you’ve also probably noticed -- they don’t necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.

Baby is how around 15 inches and weighs about 3 pounds.
Your baby is rapidly growing at this point. Obviously your baby is continuing to gain weight, and his/her head is also growing. This is due to the rapid brain development that began in week 28. Muscles and lungs are also continuing to develop and mature.Because there is so much development and maturing going on, it is incredibly important to ensure that you are getting plenty of nutrients and rest.
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Well as you know, Sunday was Halloween. We ended up going to a friends house that night for games and food. I had a halloween shirt with a skeleton baby on it that I had worn the week before to our church fall festival and ALL week (yes, daily) that I was planning on wearing. About 30 minutes before we went to the party though I decided to see if the idea that popped into my head would work...

...and it did. Beautifully. And not a penny spent.  The hat was a black t-shirt covering my lovely bella band. The dress was just a normal maternity dress and the white is a t shit underneath. I took apart a necklace and hung a cross that is suppose  to hang on the wall on the end of the chain. Glorious.

It was a great night! We played some games, ate tons of food and just chatted. I love our group!!

those are my rice crispy treats I made - the black is suppose to be spiders, ghosts and the like ha

**all the above pictures are Kim Brantley's - she is AWESOME. She did my maternity pictures which will be coming soon!!**