20 Weeks! Half-way there!

Wow, this half-way mark has sure creeped up on me!

But I am VERY excited and feeling great! Pounds gained? About 8! Inches around waist? About 3.5 to 4!

In effort to get a much-over-due belly picture on my blog...this is what I have for you!

I will make it a point to be better about belly shots the 2nd half!...

Oh, and Avery is shoe shopping in case you're wondering! :)

Thanksgiving 2011

Our First Thanksgiving as a Family!

Aside from not getting to see my family this Thanksgiving (Dad fightin' them fires!), it was a nice day and we had such a great time visiting with Chris' family (my family too, of course!).

We headed to Aunt Jeri's around 3pm for a delicious "nibble" before dinner. Avery gets gobbled up when she's over there and loves every minute of it! At this age, she's observant enough to remember certain people and it's always so cute to see who she lights up around! Without fail, the Butts' girls receive big Avery smiles!

We spent the rest of the evening at Chris' dad's house for a very yummy Thanksgiving feast! I LOVE being pregnant during the holidays! I may miss my wine but no one seems to question my third piece of pumpkin pie. Okay, not third piece but second, yes I may have a second! ;) Yum. Yum.

I know I say this ALL the time, but really, Avery was such a good little girl the whole day. We set up her pack n' play in their bedroom and when I went to check on her a few minutes later she was sound asleep!...but laying in throw-up! Poor little thing had puked and then fell asleep with her face in it. It broke my heart so I scooped her up for a good ol' Thanksgiving Day clean up. Wow...a lot of action for Avery James. I'm pretty sure I was bothered by this reality more than she was. She just wanted to sleep.

But sadly didn't get to really snuggle in her bed until 9:15pm. I had a bad feeling this was going to screw up her excellent sleeping streak. Sure enough, a major melt down occurred between 4:40am and 6:00am. I mean, MAJOR melt down. Grrrr. We were doing so well.

I hope, HOPE tonight will be A LOT better.

I love my routines but do not adjust well when they go astray. I suppose I will need to learn how to incorporate this great sleep training into "life's" happenings.

Nonetheless, it was a wonderful holiday and yes siree, Christmas is right around the corner! I can hardly wait!...

Oh! And another cool point about this year's Thanksgiving?? It marked my "HALF-WAY POINT" in this pregnancy!!!!!!!!!!...

Christmas came early for Avery!

Usually when Avery wakes up from her morning nap, it's bottle time.

But last Friday Gramzie Suzie stopped by with a BUNCH of "early" Christmas gifts for Avery! According to my mom, these were toys Avery could NOT be without for another month and it took me about 5 minutes to realize just how right she was!

Avery had a blast unwrapping all the gifts and playing with tissue, bows, and wrapping paper! That was her highlight until she shifted her focus to all the neat toys!

She got her own larger-than-life duckie (her favorite!), a Dora cart, a singing duckie (told you they were her favorites), a spinny toy, and her first walker cart!

If that wasn't enough, my mom also came with 4 Holiday dresses and Avery's 1st winter coat! It was all too cute for words and made her day!

Mom, thank you so much! I only a tid bit jealous of Avery! hahaa!...

Ohhhhh, I remember you, SLEEP!

Would you believe I caught another cold last week?

Yep.

I guess that's this pregnancy's "thing"...poor immune system. I didn't have a choice but to face this cold in denial. I couldn't take off more work or ask for any more exceptions. Instead, I did my best to push through.

A brilliant approach (I thought), until I hit a massive wall on Thursday and just broke down. I felt HORRIBLE and not to mention, was on ZERO sleep. Avery's night time sleep has continued to spiral out of control and with her waking up every 2-3 hours, I had little chance of a quick recovery.

Sooooo, I decided to handle it as maturely as possible. I cried. And cried. And then called Ann and asked if I could come over and rest a little while she watched Avery. It was exactly what I needed! Ann always makes me feel like I'm never too old to be "taken care of" and in her presense, everything feels under control.

And even before I hit the wall, I made a decision earlier in the week to hire this "Sleep Expert" I've heard about for months. It took me 9.5 months to finally break down and relinquish some conttol. I praise all the mothers that have mastered the sleep training. For me, I needed some help.

Cyndi came on Saturday night and as excited as I was to sleep, it was tough to give the evening reins to someone else for the first time. And it was not an easy night. Despite earplugs and a smothering of covers, I could still hear her crying. Loud. There have been a few nights where I let her cry it out but I realized it was my inconsitency that always produced failure. She had two hours throughout the night of angered tears but ultimately slept till 7:40am.

And are you ready for this?? Cyndi came again last night buuuuut not one peep from Aves! She slept the entire night. I couldn't believe it. Maybe Cyndi sprinkled the crib with sleep dust - it worked. Regardless, Cyndi did a great job and I am so glad to have met her!

I now feel much more confident about how to approach Avery's crying at night (IF she gets up again). But more than anything, FORGOT how incredible it feels when you actually had a good night's sleep.

Overall, it was a blessing. It was good for Avery to be guided to sleep and good for me to let go of a little control.

PROJECT 57 - Update!

Chris said to me the other day he was going to start a Facebook Fan Page titled:

"Can Keith build a house faster than Kelley can build a baby??"

That cracks me up.

My bet is on Kelley but of course, am hoping Keith takes it. More than likely, it's coming down to a photo finish.

The good news? We are both progressing well!

This past Thursday, the footers were poured and we now wait for an inspection before it's time for the foundation. Keith estimated the framing would start right around Thanksgiving and it's looking like we are on track for that!

And for me? I definitely owe the blog some belly pictures! My last week developments consist of maternity pants and weight gain. So technically, I too, am right on track! ;)

It's a boy!...OFFICIALLY!

After our 18 week ultrasound this week, our 98% chance of a boy has turned into a solid 100% chance. WE are THRILLED.

And to think, this time I didn't even have a room filled with stripes on the line! Well, no but to be honest...I would have had quite a few boy clothing items to return!


The truth is, I'm still not sure what gender I would have chosen for this baby if given the opportunity. I LOVE having a little girl and another one? Yes please. But clearly this is what is meant for us and I am just giddy about it!

Yes indeed folks, the tomboy in me has yet another chance to shine!

Get ready baby, your mom plays a mean game of soccer! Wink...

They weren't kidding!

Things really do change drastically once your baby learns to crawl!

I love it and am so proud of her but woah. Forget the need for a conventional workout. I swear the key to any weight loss remedy must involve chasing a toddler. Why hasn't Biggest Loser incorporated that segment yet? Genius.




And yes, that is coming from someone who is gaining weight daily despite this added cardio but I will blame that solely on pregnancy. Oh and eating whatever I want. Wink.

But crawling hasn't been the only significant development in the last 7 days!

Avery got her 1st tooth! Finally, this drooling has revealed its purpose. I'm not sure if it was more challenging for Avery to pop that sucker through or for me to try and capture it in a photo. Nonetheless, bitter beer face to the rescue!


And a few other adorable additions??? She now dances, claps her hands and waves! Talk about throwing a lot at us in a short period of time. It's like we just picked up a new kid from summer camp and am amazed at her accomplishments!

Lastly, because I feel a bit like I am beating around the bush, what I'm trying to say is this:

MY CHILD IS BRILLIANT. duh. ;)

I love that face!



And this one of course, too!

Our 1st Halloween as a family!

Yet again, Halloween was wonderful!

It was bittersweet this year as it will be our last Halloween on Wagon Wheel but nonetheless, we are thankful for the memories and will do our best to make our future home's Halloween just as special!

We had more family and friends attend this year's festivities than any year in the past and it was fabulous! Surprisingly, the trick or treaters were off to a slow start and didn't begin their usual flood until the Sun went down. And boy did they come.

We estimated 750 kids this year and purchased the most accurate amount of candy than ever before! We even gave a huge bag full to a fellow Wagon Wheeler that ran out at the frighteningly early hour of 7pm!!

And the best part of all??

Dressing up as a family! What a memorable evening!

9 Months!

What??

Wow!

9 Months! As long as I had to wait for Avery to build in my belly has now been the amount of time I have had to snuggle her in my arms!

The 9 month stats? Drum roll please...

Weight - 23.8 lbs (97th percentile)
Height - 29.5 inches (97th percentile)

No big surprise to us ;)

And a great milestone to note...Avery is now crawling! Although still new to this mode of transportation, she is progressing quickly! Tonight she made 4 "crawls" forward. I am so proud of her!...and yes, aware of the new challenges this will bring ;)

I cannot get enough of Bitter Beer Face!!!!!