Week 21 and Other Family News

Most of you will notice I changed up the look to my blog recently, so I thought I would go along with the new look and do a little different pregnancy update.

Nothing has changed since my last pregnancy update (other than probably the size of  baby and size of my tummy!) I still feel great and continue to enjoy being pregnant. I can't believe I'm just a few weeks over halfway through! Miss Ava will be here before we know it!

So here is a comparison picture just for fun. This is what makes taking weekly pictures worth it. To be able to look back on how much my body really has changed in just a short few months. I am still getting people telling me that my belly is "so small" but I think they just must not have seen me before this belly...ha! I mean, I know it will only continue to get bigger but I do consider the baby bump I have going on now quite an accomplishment!

This picture will help prove my point. :) 

So yeah... I still have some growing to do but that's quite a different in size if you ask me! I'm fortunate that I have only gained baby weight and nothing else. Maybe that is what people are referring to; that I still look so small just with a bump! I know this is a rare occurrence for most pregnancies so I am definitely not complaining and will continue to enjoy it!

I have been so stuck on pregnancy updates that I haven't taken the time to update on much else. So I think it's time to do that. :)

I went to Lawton this past week for my mom's retirement celebration. That's right, my mom is retiring from teaching crazy first graders after 30 years!! I can't imagine doing anything for that long, especially dealing with 20 six year olds day in and day out. I am definitely VERY proud of her and all she has accomplished! And I couldn't be more thrilled that she is choosing to retire the year that her first grand baby will be born. :) That wasn't planned, I promise!

I can't wait to get to see her anytime and with a new grand baby, I'm sure I will be seeing a lot of her! Yay!! We all know that first time mommies love having their own mommy around for help and advice.

My mom and I are going to be taking a summer vacation in July to see my sister in Nashville, TN. We are going to spend four days just hanging out and shop, shop, shopping!! I'm sure a lot of the shopping will be for my sweet baby girl but I know we will make sure and shop for ourselves too. :)

I will be 32 weeks pregnant when the trip arrives. A lot of people have been asking if it is "okay" to fly at that stage of pregnancy. I assure you I have asked my doctor about it and have been given the green light on flying in July. She said the only concern is not for the baby but more for me and my comfort. Most choose not to fly just because they are more uncomfortable but that doesn't bother me! I'm going to enjoy one last trip before she arrives. Who knows when he next big trip will be. :)

Wes is getting more and more excited about not only having a baby, but having a baby girl. The more I hear him talk about how excited he is, my heart melts. I cannot wait to see that first look he and Ava exchange. I will be an emotional mess as I'm sure he will be too!

We are so thrilled to be parents and although we aren't exactly sure what to expect, we are ready to take this next step in our lives and continue to let God guide the way.

***Correction: That reminds me...I guess I did have a new pregnancy update to tell about this past week. My hormones must have been in full force because I was such an emotional mess all week. I noticed myself getting emotional at my mom's retirement party which is to be expected. But we went to another retirement celebration for the entire Lawton Public Schools and I caught myself wanting to cry when a complete stranger received an award! Craziness...I continued to cry without much notice and no specific reason. I know this is a completely normal pregnancy symptom but gosh was it a tough week!

Other big news with our family is related to Wes's job. I haven't updated about his job since he started back at the post office and I am happy to announce that he is no longer at the post office (again) and recently accepted a FULL time, salary paid position at Ackerman McQueen Advertising Agency as an Audio Engineer here in OKC.

That's right! His dream job that he has been praying for and waiting so patiently for almost 4 years has finally arrived! There is no doubt in our minds that this job was a God thing. We are expecting a new baby in less than four months and have also been longing to get into a new house. Both of those require more money and God has heard our prayers and provided for our family once again.

Wes has been working for about a month now and he absolutely LOVES his job! He now feels like he is using his talents in the right area and gets so much joy while doing it. He has been given his own mixes and projects to do and has gotten rave reviews on his work with hardly any corrections to make.

I can't even explain to you the joy I get seeing his dreams come true. He has been praying for this opportunity to come along as long as I have known him. And although the hours he will have to put in may be long at times, he is happy and truly enjoying what he is doing. Nothing makes a wife more happy than to see her husband fulfilling the call on his life that God has given him.

We are now in a position to financially prepare for our new baby and start saving money towards a new house! While the stress of money is always there, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders and we can focus on our new life ahead.

Life is good and our God continues to provide for our family in so many ways! We are so blessed!

Week 20

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: Baby is now 6.5 inches, 10.6 ounces. The size of a cantaloupe! Looks like baby Ava is still weighing more than the average weight based on the last ultrasound (12 ounces). That must explain why I feel her so well now. :) No complaints here!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Probably somewhere around 4-5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Still the same! Maternity jeans and the occasional maternity shirts with the rouching on the sides. Looking forward to buying some cute summer dresses here soon!

Gender: Girl! So excited! :)

Nursery Progress

So I'm a little over the top and I have pretty much come really close to finishing the nursery. Small details left but the big stuff is done!

I know, I know...I've still got what? 4 1/2 months to go? But I must say I am glad we got on top of it when we did because I can't imagine doing everything we have done and being much more pregnant than I am now. I was able to move around pretty easily which I know won't always be the case here in just a few short months.

But this room had a lot of steps we had to take before it could even begin to think about being a nursery.

After much debating, Wes and I decided to not move to Yukon before this baby arrives. We did toy with the idea for a few months but eventually had to be realistic and realize we have some saving we need to do before we can make such a huge decision.

That being said, we then had to determine which room we wanted to use for the nursery. Our house is right at 1000 square feet with three bedrooms, including the converted garage.

Therefore, with three bedrooms, it seems logical to have our bedroom, guest bedroom, and the nursery, right?

Well, if it were only that easy.

My mom will be staying with us to help out once the baby is here. So she will need a place to sleep and I want her to be comfortable and feel like she can stay as long as she or I want her to. :) Getting rid of the spare bedroom was not an option for me at this point.

Soon after Wes and I got married, Wes claimed the converted garage for his "Studio B" so he could work on music and mixing whenever he wanted without having to always go out to Yukon to the studio. This has worked great and he has learned to actually work better in this room than his own studio!

Okay, so here is the before picture of Wes's music room:

The spare bedroom is right across the hall from our bedroom so most people would think there wasn't much to debate about which room to put the baby in. But...after discussing the amount of moving of furniture and painting that would have to be done if we moved one room versus two rooms....we decided that the spare bedroom would stay"as is" for my mom and Wes's beloved music room would soon become the new nursery.

This was hard to convince Wes of let me tell you. We discussed this for a good month before he finally gave into the idea and just went with it. I have promised him that once my mom is not staying with us, we can move his desk into the spare bedroom in place of the bed and he can have his music room back.

I'm sure he will continue to remind me of this every day until that day comes, trust me.

I am pretty spontaneous with home projects. I usually don't plan on when I am going to do what, it just happens. So one Saturday, I asked Wes if he wanted to do some "spring cleaning" and starting cleaning out the shed, closets, maybe his music room, in preparation for starting the nursery.

Well once we got started, we didn't stop! We started at 10 AM and I don't think my feet came off the floor until 10 PM that night. Whew!! I was one tired momma!!

We completely cleared out the nursery, cleaned out closets, took a ton of stuff to Salvation Army for donation, and moved Wes's computer to the spare bedroom. Doesn't sound like much just typing it, but it was a ton of moving stuff around which really takes it out of you!

And here's what the rooms looked like after this phase of the process:

Not all of Wes's music equipment could make it to the desk. There just isn't as much space on this desk. He has added two speakers that take up most of the rest of the desk, but it's all about compromise. :)

My mom's "home away from home" come September!



And the new nursery!



I got this glider for FREE from a girl I work with.

 I was pretty excited about free and it's in great shape!



The room stayed this way for a few days before I decided on what I wanted to do with the color scheme of the room. Now you have to remember that this was two weeks ago before I knew for sure if he were having a boy or a girl. So I really couldn't do too much with the color and I was not allowed to by Wes or my mom to paint any pink until April 11th. :)

I knew I wanted green and then planned on bringing in pink or blue.

See why we ultimately chose this room instead of the other? The room was already green! Maybe not quite the exact color green I would have chose but it will definitely work just fine.

So I picked out an accent wall for the pink (or blue). One wall to paint versus four....yes please!!

I may have been told I couldn't paint any pink, but nothing stopped me from getting the wall primed and ready! :)

After the ultrasound, I figured I would be painting pink walls that Wednesday evening because I'm just weird that way. But my mom and I ended up really busy running around to various doctors appointments and of course baby clothes shopping.

So believe it or not...the painting wasn't finished until that Saturday. Luckily the pink covered great in just one coat unlike the primer which took two coats to cover the green.

PINK! "Lauren's Lulliby" to be exact. :)

My parents bought the crib for me for my birthday so after cleaning up and clearing out the room, we put the crib together. I have always heard stories about dads-to-be having trouble putting the crib together but it was super easy and really fast! Probably one of the easier pieces of furniture we've put together.

And the finished product.....

Crib ended up coming from Wal-Mart and we are very pleased with it. It's not the most high quality wood, but it will definitely work for us.

This diaper caddy came from Target and cost only $22! I read reviews online and most people said it worked really well considering how inexpensive it was. So far, I like it. It was almost harder to put together than the crib!

I have yet to mention the HUGE deal I got on this crib bedding! I got the blanket, crib bumper, diaper stacker, mobile, big hamper, trash can, two sets of valances and curtains, and a lamp for only $100! I got it at a local consignment store and it is by far my favorite place to go now. I have even bought several onsies and a few other pieces of clothing for very cheap.

I ended up adding a little more pink to the little nook area just to the in-set and left the sides green. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I love it! It brightens up the area quite a bit just by adding the color.

This was yet another great deal my mom and I came across from the same consignment store. A Chicco Key Fit 30 car seat with THREE bases for $120! Did I mention how much I love that store?

(Lexi doesn't quite know what to think of this new nursery, ha!)

The other wall stayed green and I actually think the existing color green works well. This dresser was the most expensive purchase we made but so worth it. We are going to use it as a diaper changer.

As you can see it has two small slide out drawers which I thought will work perfect for putting wipes and diapers on. Plus three larges drawers. This piece is real wood and very good quality.

The best part: it came put together, in the box! All we did was cut the box off and stand it up. I was so excited not to have to put it together! Worth the money!

That's about all the pictures I have so far. We still need to figure out what will hang on the walls, put up the curtains and hang a new ceiling fan, but we have definitely made a lot of progress.

This is where I have to brag on my wonderful husband. :) Right as we were leaving the house for the ultrasound on my birthday, UPS pulled up and handed me a ProFlowers box. I was shocked that it was there so early and right on my birthday!

This is what I found inside from Wes:

And yes, he planned the green vase and pink and green flowers to match the nursery. :) It's always the little details that end up meaning the most. <3

I am blessed!!!

Weeks 18 & 19: Ultrasound Pictures!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby is now 5.6 inches, 6.7 ounces. The size of a sweet potato! At the ultrasound (19 weeks) they told me baby weighs an estimated 12 ounces which is the size of a soda can! Whoah! How fast they grow!! No wonder my belly is growing, growing fast!