Waiting for my New Baby Sister!!!!

Anyone who knows Jason and I knows that this little bundle of white fur means the world to us. Maddie is part of the family and will ALWAYS be a special little pooch. She was a gift to me from Jason two months before we were engaged back in 2005 and she is the sweetest little thing ever. She is a little unsure of all the changes but with patience and understanding we know she will grow to love our little Avery. The baby doll you see in the picture was my sisters and we tried to she what Maddie would do if we held it and acted like it was real. She was very curious and when we laid the baby down she perched on it and would not let anyone touch it. Maybe she will protect her baby Avery like we protect her.

A sweet friend of mine sent Avery this chair and when Jason got it put together Maddie jumped up in it to test it out. I think she approves the comfort for her sister's new chair. Thanks Lindsay!!!!!!!

We are blessed because.........

We are blessed because.........

-of all the family and friends who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our sweet baby girl Avery.

-of all the generosity shown to Jason and I in our preparations for Avery.

-we have great friends and family praying and supporting us through this journey.

Thank you for your love and support for our growing family. We thank God everyday for each and everyone of our friends and family that has shared in our lives.

The first set of pictures are from our shower in Sherman in which a wonderful group of ladies held for us in honor of Avery. In all the visiting and catching up I let it slip my mind to get a picture of me with all the hostesses. So here is a personal thank you and gratitude for Gail Utter, Cheryl Inman, Sharon Melton, Paula Judkins, Susan Kluesner, and Tamra Booth. We appreciate you all thinking of us in the wonderful and most exciting time.

All the ladies in my family

(We missed Aunt Sandy)

Me and Aunt Lulu! She is so excited to be aunt.

The grandmothers and great-grandmothers

Me with a very proud daddy-to-be!

The adorable cake

Nancy Sims made this precious little outfit for our sweet Avery!

All the ladies in Jason's Family

(We missed Jennifer and sweet little McKinley)


The next set of pictures are of the shower held by two dear friends; Carol Drake and Sherri Young. It was a shower for all the cheerleaders and their parents. These two women made this occasion so special. I want to thank them for their time and energy I know that put into making this beautiful shower happen and I am forever grateful for their generosity. Thank you again.

Getting ready to start the shower

Sherri and Carol, two wonderful hostesses

Sherri made the diaper cake and it was precious

Everything was so very cute!

The delicious cake!

Houston Rodeo 2010

Jason and I love the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Since we moved down here, we have made it a tradition to go as many times as we can each year. This year we have seen Jason Aldean and Alan Jackson in concert. Both shows were great and we really enjoyed watching the rodeo before everything starts. With good food, great shopping, and lots to see we always enjoy our time.

Rockets Game

Jason and I were given tickets to the Houston Rockets vs. Toronto Raptors basketball game. The tickets were on the floor in the second row which was really cool. We were so close to the game. The picture below is of a basketball legend, Dikembe Mutombo, which Jason was totally fascinated by and was thrilled when he signed his ticket. He sat right in front of us on the front row the entire night. I have to admit that I had no clue who he was, even though the entire place was screaming his name when he walked in. It was a great night.

The team getting ready

Floor seats with a great view

Mutombo

Jason and I leaving the game

BEHIND

So I know I am way behind on my blogging. Since Valentine's Day Jason and I went to the Rockets game, the Houston Rodeo twice, had two wonderful showers for Miss Avery and many more. Needless to say I have a lot to write/blog about so I will do my best to accomplish all my updates this week!

Valentine's Day 2010

Jason and I celebrated Valentine’s Day on the thirteenth this year. It was the most perfect Valentine’s Day yet! First, we have had a breakfast date planned for forever and every time we try to go something comes up. So Jason and I started the day off at IHOP on Lake Conroe and then headed back home. We wanted to leave the house early so we could make a few stops before heading downtown. Once we left the house we stopped at Babies R Us to get Little Miss Avery’s mattress for her bed. Her bedding will be ready in about three weeks so the mattress was a must.

Our next stop was Sugarbaby's Cupcake Boutique, the famous cupcake shop, http://www.ilovesugarbabys.com/ . I have wanted to go to this place for three years and we have just never been in the area to go. Jason and I ordered six different cupcakes for dessert and they were delicious. We only had one each after getting home from dinner, but I will be truthful it was hard not to eat all of them at once! I learned about them in “Southern Lady” Magazine.

For dinner, we went to Mark’s American Cuisine, http://www.marks1658.com/ . Jason tried to get us reservations there last year and it was impossible. So this year he arranged them a month and a half in advance. The restaurant is built into a 1920’s old Cathedral Church and it is truly stunning. The vaulted ceilings were so romantic and the food was indescribable. The restaurant was voted #1 in Houston in 2009 and was voted as one of the top 10 restaurants in the United States. Dinner was wonderful and spending time with Jason was even better.

We headed back to The Woodlands and saw “Valentine’s Day” to end the night. I want to thank my husband for another perfect day and more importantly a wonderful life. You treat me so good and always put me first. For that I am grateful and blessed each and every day. Thank you so much for breakfast in bed and my hour and a half pre-natal massage on Valentine’s Day. I am thankful for you every day and I love you with all my heart. Me, Avery, and Maddie are three very lucky ladies!

Our final six choices

Outside of Mark's

Inside of Sugarbaby's

The wine cellar

The vaulted ceilings inside of Mark's

Just a few of their cupcakes

Too many choices!

Leaving dinner

Mission Accomplished

So I have accomplished many things tonight. I finalized the new blog header, background, added a signature, and inserted post dividers. And what a chore it was! Thanks to Jennifer, my-sister-law, who walked me through my new Adobe Photoshop I was able to leave my computer in one piece and not chunk it across the room. :) It is now time for bed and I would love to hear your thoughts on the new look!

Time to Change

Please be patient with the changes. I am currently frustrated at the header so I am taking a break....... To be continued tomorrow.

January in a nut shell

I cannot believe how fast this month has gone by. I remember back when I first found out I was pregnant I would count how many weeks I was and now I am counting how many weeks I have left. 15 WEEKS LEFT! I keep telling myself not to rush through this time, but I cannot help myself. I know when she gets here I will want to freeze time so I guess I better cherish everyday that she is ALL mine. We have finished up our registries and our showers have been set.

On January 30th, Jason and I went to the Baby Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center and that was really exhausting. I think we came home with a thousand coupons to sort through and about a million samples of lotions, diapers, creams, baby food and the list goes on. And after all the drawings that we signed up for, we came home empty handed. :( Typical though.

Jason finally got to feel little Miss Priss kick on January 17th. I had to write that down for memory. It seems like here lately I cannot remember anything. Everyone keeps saying that Avery will super smart, because she is sucking the smarts right out of me. I go for my glucose testing on February 12th and then back again three weeks later for our 30 week appointment. After that we are down to every two week visits. I cannot believe how fast, but then again how slow, everything is going.

I have been staying really busy work. My girls cheer every Tuesday and Friday nights and then we have had practice every Wednesday afternoons till 5 so I take full advantage of Monday and Thursday evenings when I find myself either relaxing, cleaning or doing laundry. I am ready for things to slow down at work and have the afternoons to just rest. I have more energy here lately, but I when my body says it is time to stop, I have no choice but to crash.

February and March are just as busy so I may become a hermit in April! :) Just kidding. This is one of those posts for my memory, not that anyone is interested in what we did in January.

More Nursery Pics

We have added a few more things to sweet Avery's room. Nana made her three super cute picture frames and we finally got the bag she ordered her in Canton with her name on it. Jason also made a frame that I crackled and added some bling to. He made her a super cute chalk board that is stained to match her furniture. Hope you enjoy the new additions.

One of the frames Nana made her.

The picture frame Jason made and I decorated!

The bag Nana got her!

The chalk board Jason made.

Before we wrote on the new chalk board. Good job Daddy!

I L-O-V-E it!!!!

So this is the sign I have been working on for Miss Avery. I finally found an old cabinet door! I was able to crackle the entire thing (not as easy as you would think) and then I attached the letters with the help of my sweet husband. I am so proud of it. Now all we are waiting on is her bedding and curtains and then things will really look like they are coming together.

22 Weeks Pregnant

I have not blogged much about how I am feeling or just about being pregnant. Partly because my husband has provided me a picture profile each week (to remain private) of my growing belly and I have blogged about preparations and things with our families involving Miss Avery. But the time has come to share a few things that I have notice:

1. I drop everything. Doesn't matter if it is glued to my hand, I will find a way to drop it.


2. I don't remember what I am doing in the moment. I will need something out of the kitchen and when I get there, I find something that needs to be done and I completely forget about what I went in there for.


3. I have become a light sleeper. Anyone who truly knows me knows that before being pregnant I could sleep through a train coming in the room, and now I lie awake wondering about all the sounds I hear randomly through the night.


4. If regards to sleep, I cannot get comfortable for the first four hours after lying down. I toss and turn and eventually find myself like a torpedo in the covers. :)


5. I already have bad back problems from breaking my back and now it is worse. I try not to complain, I just tell Jason "I am just letting you know how I feel". I cannot stand complaining so I try my hardest to avoid doing it myself. But since I am sharing, my back feels like the muscle are tearing by just holding my torso up. These are feelings of an 80 year old women. Not someone in the late 20's.


6. People always want to touch your belly. I feel violated when that happens. It is almost like reaching for one of the girls. My husband and family are fine, but others, not so much.


7. Sitting is not so comfortable, but neither is standing. Any solutions are openly welcome.


8. When you have to go to the bathroom, there is NO waiting time anymore (otherwise known as, "I can hold it"). It is now or never or we have a problem. :/


9. Dancing and stretching when I am teaching my girls has now become an act of congress. Nothing really moves the same as it did before. Hoping that all comes back.


10. Lastly, after reading all of the above, I would not trade any of it. I absolutely love being pregnant and knowing that God has given me the opportunity and chance to experience the absolute greatest gift a woman can receive, a child, is such a blessing. My favorite thing is to feel her move and my heart goes into a panic when she goes days without making any twitches. I am only 5 1/2 months along and I can hardly wait till she gets here.

But on a lighter note, I thought this was cute:

Getting Crafty

The letters I decoupaged. Very intense X-Acto knife work.

Her pig with wings.

And matching wall art.

So today I made a few things for Avery and wanted to share. The letters are not finished. I am attaching them to an old cabinet door that I am painting, once I find the right size door, and each letter will have a different ribbon. It is hard to explain so once I am finished I will post pics. I made the bow holder from an idea I found online and then added the door knobs to hold her hair bands. Nana and Papa bought her the beautiful cross at Canton and the shelf was a find here locally. We also found the matching pig and heart with wings at Canton. I collect pigs with wings so the pink and brown was only fitting. More pics to come as we move along in the decorating process.