Mothership Confessional

I can't believe we are counting down the final days before Liam is here! My back and pelvis are going to be so happy!! But I am still feeling apprehensive! Nobody wants  to have surgery. I'm nervous to be awake for it this time! It was pretty sucky that I had to be put to sleep to deliver Ava . I woke up back in my room and they brought Ava to me and said, "This is your baby!". Chris wasn't a part of her birth, either, since everything was so rushed and I was put under. He says they asked him if Ava was his baby, and he said "I guess!". We are both looking forward to witnessing the birth of our child this time around! It's going to be so emotional!! I still remember walking from the car to the house when we brought Ava home. My belly jiggled like Jell-o with the absence of the baby I carried for 9 months! I felt so unbalanced. It was almost an out-of-body experience! It's bizarre to go into a delivery this time knowing what to expect! I r...

This has been a fast week! It helps that I was out of the house for 3 mornings...even though it exhausts me! We always go to the commissary on Tuesday mornings - we would do Mondays but they are closed - because we like to start the week out with a full fridge and the weekends are too crowded/shelves are picked over. So because I'm so very pregnant now, with a toddler in tow, commissary runs now take up practically the whole morning! It wasn't until after Ava was well into eating table food that we got into the swing of meal planning. It has really made things sooo much easier! I plan about 3/4 meals for 7 days and that gets us through the week. There's always leftovers and sometimes we will eat out for a meal on the weekends. It makes budgeting super easy too, because we know about how much groceries will cost us per week. I highly recommend meal planning - I usually go to my Pinterest boards for new ideas if I'm tired of our old favorites! Wednesday is library sto...

Ok, things are getting hard. I can only choose about one major task to do  per day . I went to the commissary today and it pretty much wiped me out. AND it just so happened that Chris met me there, so I had help the last half of the trip. I came home and unloaded the car (never getting paper bags again...I could not load up my arms like I usually do with plastic so it took A THOUSAND trips from the car into the house) and had to sit on the couch until it was time to give Ava lunch. I was seriously almost in tears trying to put groceries away and prep Ava's food (thankfully it was just a matter of reheating leftovers and chopping some grapes) and I realized there was nothing for me to grab and eat for lunch, despite just coming home from the store. Ava was done quickly (she was mad the mac and cheese was all gone and didn't want anything else, it was the same story at breakfast except with eggs) and then I got her ready for her nap. She's been kind of a spitfire today so s...

Hubby and I finally  got a babysitter and were able to get out and see a movie! We were nervous how Ava would do with a stranger, but the two of them really hit it off! Apparently Ava was quite the chatterbox and the sitter adored her (I mean, who wouldn't...but I guess I'm a bit biased)! So it was nice to get out and it was nice for Ava to have a new friend to play with! We were finally able to make it back to church after 3 weeks of at least one of us being sick! Ava loves  the handbell choir and the organ music! She gasps in awe and asks for more as soon as it stops! She did much better at "behaving" when there was no music this time - I think I picked the right toys to bring this time, and there were a few kids in the pew in front of us that helped to distract her! She still couldn't make it the whole time without trying to escape our pew, but she's improving for sure! We stayed for fellowship time and Ava enjoyed a snack while we chatted with the famil...

Week 34: Ava has a few new interests and abilities: She likes to play hide and seek! We call it peek-a-boo. We run around the house and I try and hide around the corner from her and then I pop out and say "peek-a-boo"! She loves it and asks for more every time I stop! She's learning new body parts! She's understanding "arm" and "leg" more, and her new favorite is "neck"! She has also become interested in the creases of the inner arm (elbow pit??) and my arm pits! She likes to play with my hair (I think we may have moved passed pulling it...for the most part) and I've caught her playing with her own hair a few times! I can tell she's putting short sentences together because she looks at me with such meaning and intent when she talks. The trouble is, is that we don't always understand what she is saying!  She's getting good at undressing herself! She giggles the whole time while I promt her to take off each...

Week 31 This weather is crazy!! We had to go buy shorts for Ava and I had to dig out my maternity shorts again! I caved and turned the AC on for about an hour the other afternoon. The house hit 74 degrees and I was melting ! The humidity is super high, too. It's been odd to have temps hit 80 in December! I feel like I am in some sort of strange land full of heat and lizards and sand and pine needles and fire ants and the occasional palm tree! I feel like Liam is SO BIG! According to my app he is almost full length already; he will spend his remaining weeks filling out! He's already over 3 pounds, too! My belly is stretching. I've really been feeling it. It feels like a side cramp from running, but across my belly! My back hurts. I get Braxton Hicks contractions a lot. I feel pretty good in the first half of the day, but the afternoon and evening I get "needy", haha! It's almost like Ava knows  and wants me more  because of it. A few days ago she insist...

Week 29 So we are still settling in. We've been here long enough now that it's time to dust and vacuum already, but we still have so much stuff  lying around that we have to make a conscious effort to keep working on finding a home for every little thing. I think I can finally say... there are no more boxes in the house!!  I have unpacked the last of it! The decor might not all be up on the walls yet, but the house is definitely feeling more like a home! The crazy part is, is that we do this ALL OVER AGAIN in about 6-7 months. yayyyyyyyyyyyyy (that is a sarcastic "yay", by the way) I've enjoyed this week of finally getting to get in the Christmas spirit and put up the Christmas tree! And a few decorations...but we aren't doing a whole lot this year because honestly it's just more work to put things up...and then to have to take them down in a few weeks! Plus I don't have a whole lot of places for decorations where Ava cannot reach. However,...

Ohhh week 28...(well technically it was the week leading up to week 28 and the few days after) I'm real tired. I mean that more than I've ever meant it in a pregnancy update post before! We successfully relocated to Georgia! It was quite an adventure. An adventure that I hope to never, EVER, have to repeat while pregnant. We survived, but I kept thinking how much easier every little bit would have been if I didn't my have my sweet little 2 pound baby boy in my belly!! So, here's how the week went! Sunday night we were so excited for the packers to arrive in the morning. Excited and nervous, I'd say, This was the first time we had someone move us, and I had heard a lot of horror stories. I suppose it's similar to the stories of giving birth - they're all wildly unique, sometimes crazy and scary, but you make it through with a great story to share! The packers arrived at about 830...