We're alive!

I know, I know. Its been over two months since my last post. How was I suppose to know caring for a baby was going to be so time consuming??

In any case, Ava is now 10 weeks old (yikes!) and growing so fast! At her check up last week she was 10 pounds and 22.5 inches long! At birth she was 7 lbs, 1 oz and 20.5 inches so she's definitely growing strong. The first few weeks were a blur with the new changes and adjustments, but we've been slowly settling into a routine. She's now "sleeping through the night" or what I would call sleeping through the night considering the first month or so we were up every 2 hours for feedings. She has her last feeding around 8:30 and in bed by 9 and sleeps.... wait for it... until 6am! Oh glorious! Who knew sleeping until 6am would sound so wonderful? I know this will likely change as she grows older (teething, colds, etc) but for the moment Im loving it.

Matt and I are heading back to work next week, so Ava will be going to a daycare. As much as I hate leaving her with someone, I know she's in good hands (after thorough interviewing and observing). I think she will also benefit from being around other children and will make our time together much more special. Of course I wish I could stay home with her, but at this time in our lives we both need to be working. Maybe with the next child, it'll be a different story (yes, there will be another one, but dont ask when).

And with that, I think its time for some pictures of Ava - Enjoy!

Hello World, I'm Ava!

Ava was kinda hungry the other day, and she can be very enthusiastic when she needs to eat!Please note that she had eaten just 2 hours before we filmed this and was totally fine. Hope you laugh as much as we did, she makes for the perfect entertainment.

Come out come out, wherever you are!

Today marks 39 weeks and still no baby. She likes her "jello filled sack" as Matt likes to call it!

I had another check up and still nothing to report. He's estimating that shes about 7 pounds. And by estimating I mean he presses his hands on my stomach to measure where she's at and says "Yeah, she around 7lbs." Seriously? Is that what they learn in medical school?

I was also checked for dilation and effacement which still stands at 0. Not that it would be in indication that she'll be born tomorrow but at least it would give me some hope.

Side note, if she decides not to come out on her own, I will be induced May 25th. Yep - she might be born on Memorial Day. At least she would always have a three day weekend for her birthday :)

Yum - Cake!

A few weeks ago, Matt and I went by BSK (his previous workplace) to say hi to his coworkers and pick up a diaper cake that his friend, Laura (along with Mimi and Alicia) had made for us. Anybody who's thrown a baby shower or been to one usually knows what a diaper cake looks like. So I was VERY excited (and touched) that she had done that for us.

But I had NO idea how big and amazing it was going to be!

The inside of each tier is lined with size 3 diapers (which is extra great because we got up to size 2 at the baby showers)! And all around each layer has baby shampoo, lotion, toys, powder, receiving blankets, etc.

I love it so much I still dont want to take it apart! I've always wanted one of these and now I have one. Im so touched they did this for us and Im sure Ava will enjoy everything in it.

Its Official

Yes - its official. I am done being pregnant!

I've been meaning to blog the LA shower but I've just been too lazy. But thats to be expected when you've gained almost 30 pounds, have swollen feet and hands and heartburn like its going out of style, right?!?

Im thankful my pregnancy has only been a pain these last few weeks. Which, today, marks 36 weeks. YAY! Can she come now? Im ready.

In other exciting family news, I took on more responsibilities at my job and in return, got a nice raise. It was very unexpected so I am VERY thankful for it. I only have 3 more weeks at work until I go on maternity leave, so Im trying to get everything in order before I go. Being off for 12 weeks will be interesting (how will they survive without me? hehe ;)

Also, Matt got a teaching job! He will be the new Biology teacher at Riverdale High School (roughly 30 miles south of Fresno). We are definitely excited (and relieved) that he was hired on. He may be teaching summer school which will be an interesting trial while Im home on maternity leave, but we're looking forward to this amazing opportunity.

I guess now the countdown begins. By this time next week she'll be considered full term. Where did the time go? I cant wait to meet her and plaster our family blog with her pictures!

Fresno Baby Shower!

Its been a few days so I thought it was time for the Fresno Baby Shower recap!

Saturday, March 14th, two of my close friends, Natasha and Marge, threw me a baby shower! They are absolutely two of my favorite girls and I feel so blessed that they did this for me (thanks girls!!!)

The food was delicious! We had roll up sandwiches, macaroni salad, crab dip, veggies, fruit, etc. I definitely went back a few times!

The crowd was small which made it nice and relaxing. Some of the guests brought their babies so it was fun having the little ones running around. Plus I got to see what I have to look forward to!

And of course no shower is complete without GAMES! With it being a smaller group, we played quite a few which was fun. I think everyone's favorite was the gift bingo game. While I opened presents, everyone had a bingo card that they filled out. Everytime I opened a present, they would mark whatever it was on their card. It made it fun for the guests because they just weren't watching me open gifts - it was interactive!

Here's a few pictures of the gift open festivities:

My friend, Bridget's mom, made these amazing blankets! They're SUPER soft and I know Ava is going to love being bundled up in them (if she doesn't, I'll bundle myself in them!)


After gifts and games, we had cake!! It was by far the most beautiful cake (next to my wedding cake of course!) And it was equally delicious. Natasha's friend made it and I couldn't have pictures a more perfect cake for little Ava.

Ava and I posing by her cake (she definitely let me know she liked it after I ate it - kicks and punches!)

It was a great afternoon with friends who I know will be a great support system when Ava is here. Only 8 more weeks until they get to meet her!

Seriously?

So Matt has been battling a cold all week. And I took every precaution not to catch it - washing my hands after touching ANYTHING, not kissing him on the lips, and even sleeping on the couch since he already contaminated the bed sheets.

But what happens? I catch his cold!! And the Fresno baby shower is tomorrow. Ugh.

I thought about taking off work to rest up, but I want to save all my sick days for when I go on maternity leave.

Luckily its not nearly as bad as the last time I was sick. More just nose congestion and watery eyes. Maybe allergies? (Although I dont remember ever getting allergies)

But if you could see me right now, you would probably laugh. Im wearing my sweat track suit, my hair is back in a messy pony tail, I have a big glass of OJ and, the best part, a tissue sticking out of my left nostril because my nose just keeps running.

Thank God I dont work in retail.

The Big 3-0!

Well technically it would be tomorrow, but Im counting today as 30 weeks! lol

It still hasn't hit me that I have 10 weeks left until little Ava arrives. Really?! In 10 weeks I'll be a mom. And Matt will be a dad. And my parents will be GRANDPARENTS?! Weird.

My to-do list is still quite large although Im slowly making progress. I want to have my hospital bag packed in the next few weeks just in case she comes early. Which reminds me that I need to pre-register with the hospital this weekend. Note to self: Don't forget.

I just scheduled to have maternity pictures done in the next few weeks. A girl at my MOPS group did maternity and newborn pictures for another girl and I absolutely loved them. So she agreed to do mine! She's inexpensive and does a wonderful job. PLUS she edits all the pictures and puts them on a CD so I can print whatever size wherever I want! We're going to do Ava's newborn pictures within 10 days of her birthday, so I cant wait to see how they turn out.

The Fresno and LA baby showers are in a few weeks. Im excited to see what Ava gets! She's already received so much - Im worried where Im going to put everything! :)

Im starting to get more and more uncomfortable at night. Im going to the bathroom 3-4 times a night and dealing with bad leg cramps that just wont go away. Plus I get SUPER hot in the middle of the night (and during the day like now where I currently have a fan blowing on me). After complaining to Matt this morning he tells me, "You only have 10 weeks left!" To which I reply, "Its only going to get worse!" I've often heard how women complain about pregnancy towards the end and how uncomfortable they are and Im now understanding what they're talking about. My pregnancy has been great thus far, so I know the next 10 weeks will be hell to make up for it.

Aside from baby things - everything with the Avalon has been going smoothly. Geico has been great during the process so thats helped a lot. It was officially totaled, so we'll be receiving a check within the next few weeks for it. After that, we'll be buying my parents Honda Accord. My dad had planned on buying a newer car within the year so it worked out perfectly for both of us - we won't have to have a car payment and my dad won't have to go through the headache of finding a buyer. For now, I've been driving Natalie's Echo to and from work (Thanks again sister - the Jelly Bean is in good hands!!)

And with that - its lunch time. How do I know that? Because Ava won't stop beating me up. She's like her mama - she knows what she wants and won't stop until she gets it :)

Doctors, Accidents and Hard Drives - Oh my!

This week has been one of the craziest weeks for our family (and its only Wednesday!) Matt was out of town over the weekend to get some last minute snowboarding in with his friends before the season ended (He was gone two weekends in a row - I told him to get it out of his system now since he wont be doing much of anything next year :)

Since starting the third trimester, I am now in the "every two weeks" bracket for my OB checkups. I had a checkup Monday morning and although Matt wasn't there (they were traveling back that morning), it was pretty routine: weight check, urine sample, blood pressure check, listen to the heart beat, measurements, questions and out the door. I received good news that I passed the glucose test I had done earlier in the week. Yay! No gestational diabetes for me. Blood pressure was good as well - 114/65. I had a few quick questions for my doctor and then was on my way.

But I was surprised to see two missed calls when I got out of the appointment - one being from Matt. He knew I had a doctors appointment so I called him back to see what was up. Only to find out they had just been in an accident on the way home from Sierra Summit. Of course I was worried, but from the tone in his voice and knowing he was able to talk on the phone, I knew he was ok at this point. He assured me everyone was fine and they were waiting for the tow truck and police to arrive. It wasn't their fault. The driver coming the other way had NO CHAINS and was driving way to fast around a corner. Unfortunately the car they hit was our Avalon. I didn't think it would be that bad, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Ironically, Matt was originally going to take the Escort up there because of the roof rack. But last minute he took the Avalon because we couldn't find chains to fit the Escort. Thankfully they were in the Avalon because Im not sure how well the Escort would have done in the accident. We're still waiting to hear back from the adjuster but we're pretty sure its totaled. Oh Avalon - you treated us well.

On a happier note, everyone at my work has been wonderful. One coworker has been picking me up for work and dropping me off at home. A close friend of mine has offered to let us borrow their extra car for a few weeks if we need it. The extra support during this time has been a blessing.

On another side note, we also found out this week that many of our cherished memories have been lost to a hard drive catastrophe. A few months ago our desktop went belly up and we tried to see if we could salvage information off the hard drive (one of which being pictures). Unfortunately, we must mourn the loss of a computer we're still paying for (Im currently laughing out loud, but secretly crying inside).

I dont want to end this blog as a Debbie Downer, so I leave you with this thought:

"No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper "~Murphy's Law

Im in love with this room!

My parents came down today for a visit and I decided to put my dad to work (That's what grandpa's are suppose to do right?)

After a quick bite to eat for lunch, my dad went to work on putting up shelves and letters in Ava's room.

Dad was very focused on making sure everything was perfect for baby Ava's room. The shelves had to be the same number of inches apart and the letters for her name needed to be level (although we soon found out the A's for her name were bigger than the V). My mom and I were very good at supervising :)

We also put up the canvas frames I bought that go with the bedding. After much debate on whether they should be vertical or horizontal, we ended up making them diagonal! lol

In the end, everything DID come out perfect!

Now all we need is the mattress for the crib.

And of course, little Ava :)

Surprise! And Baby makes Seven.

I got to work this morning at 8 and began my day as usual. Computer start up, check email, grab water from the water cooler in the conference room....

But as I go to get water I notice there's a note on the conference room door (which is closed) that says, "Fumigating for ants. Please stay out - Thank you". My coworker, Carol, tells me that they had to spray last night because of ants and it smells REALLY bad in there. I dont really think anything of it because we've been having a slight problem with ants. And the last time someone sprayed for ants it smelled for HOURS in the office. So I leave it at that and go about the rest of my morning.

So around 8:30, my supervisor, Kathy says we're going to have a quick meeting and tells everyone, "Lets meet in the conference room." Of course Im thinking, 'You want me to go into that awful smelling room. Especially when Im pregnant?' Im of course not looking forward to this.

And then she says, "We should let Stephanie go in first". What?! They want ME to go into the fumigated room first?!? Are they trying to kill me?!?!?

But as I walk into the room, I realize there's no smell. And no ants.

Instead, the table is decorated with a pink tablecloth, baby plates, napkins, even party favors! There's juice, bagels and muffins - and in the corner of the table is the baby bedding I registered for!

Im speechless! They did this? For me? Seriously, I work with the greatest group of people. I couldn't have asked for a better place to work.

So we enjoy a nice morning breakfast together and I cant stop staring at the bedding. I want to go home and decorate the rooom right now!

Here's a snapshot of the festivities:

Little Ava Jayneen is going to be one spoiled girl!

Webinar, Smebinar

So the CEO at work sent me an email to sign up for this webinar (online seminar) "Free and Low Cost Tools You Can't Live Without". Before I even signed up, I was pretty sure I wouldn't need ANY of these so called "free" or low cost tools, but I figure it was an hour out of my day that I could just sit and stare blankly at the computer screen.

Needless to say, there were two websites that made me laugh, that I just HAD to blog about it.


The first one:

http://www.getmooh.com/

The concept is genius!

Senerio: You're worried about a date and have a gut feeling that its going to be horrible. So you ask your friend to call about an hour in with some urgent request and that she needs me to be there asap. Only thing is your friend never calls! And those three hours of your life will never come back.

So what do you do? You go to getmooh (get me out of here!) and type in the number to call, when you want it to call, and what you want the recording to play. Seriously, is this the best thing since sliced bread?

Not only can it get you out of a date quick, you can also program it to call OTHER people to wish them a happy birthday. No forgetting mom's birthday!

I have yet to try it, but you can also prank call someone so don't be surprised if you get a call from a frusterated man insisting that you JUST called him!

The second website:

http://www.privnote.com/

This website allows you to send notes to other people that will SELF-DESTRUCT after being read!

Come on - how many of us have sent an email to someone thinking it won't get forwarded to someone else, only to find it posted on Facebook 30 minutes later? (Its never happend to me, but it COULD)

Now you don't have to worry about Jenny finding out you hate her boyfriend, Billy when you CONFIDENTIALLY email Susan about how much you loathe him. So when Susan blabs to Jenny that you emailed her about your new found hate for Billy, you can play dumb and say "I dont remember that email. Can you show it to me?" (And then get rid of Susan who obviously can't keep a secret)

But she can't because its already self-destructed!! I seriously cant get over this. Its so Mission:Impossible XIVLL.

So I guess the hour webinar wasn't TOTALLY a waste. I did learn how to get out of a horrible social gathering AND spread gossip without it being linked to me - oh how technology has grown.

13 weeks and counting!

It still blows my mind to think that in 13 short weeks Matt and I will be having one of these

Which will be doing a lot of this

and A LOT of pooping and peeing (I'll spare you the images)

Which in turn will make us feel like this

If she likes us, she'll hopefully be doing a lot of this

And giving us A LOT of these

Even though it'll be a tough journey, I cant wait to smother her with these

And fall asleep with her like this

Parenthood - Here we come!

Sick and Tired (of being sick)

This cold has been hanging on since last week. I thought it was finally going away but it came back with a vengence this morning. I have eight hours of work when all I really want to do is crawl back into bed and sleep all day. But Im saving all my sick/vacation days for when Ava gets here, so Im sticking it out (I know I'll appreciate having that extra time with her).

The worst part is that when I feel a sneeze coming on, the SECOND I grab a tissue it disappears and my eyes start watering. Seriously?! Whats up with that? Whenever I feel a sneeze coming on and I DONT have a tissue near by, I sneeze. I just dont get it.

I cant wait to spend all weekend on the couch doing nothing except watching trash TV (I think I hear a marathon of the Newlyweds or 90210 calling my name).

Dont ever sell your car to someone you don't know

So Tuesday afternoon, I get home from work and there's a pile of mail on the counter. As I skim through the pile, I notice an envelope from the Fresno Police Department. I open it only to find a Vehicle Inventory Report - I skim through all the horrible police handwriting and realize that the Cavalier (that we sold LAST summer) has been impounded.

At first Im shocked that my poor little Cavalier is sitting in a lot somewhere, ALONE. And then Im angry that the people we sold the car to never took care of their end of registering the car with the DMV. Im still seen as the registered owner. Luckily my dad always imbedded in my mind to make a copy of EVERYTHING so I go through my home organizer and find the Release of Liability form I sent into the DMV and bring it with me to work the next morning to call the Police Department.

Luckily everything went smoothly. The woman is able to look up my case number and yes, verify, that the DMV has a copy of the liability form I sent in. She says theres nothing I need to do on my end with them, but they legally have to inform whoever is seen as the registered owner. I must have asked her a million times about any fees, and she reassures me that because we sent in the liability form there's nothing I need to do. She does advise I call the towing company that has the car to make sure there's nothing I need to do with them.

So I call Joe (the plumber?) I tell him my whole story and he asks if I had filed the release of liability with the DMV. I said I have and the police department has record of it. He says there's nothing I need to do then and everything will be taken care of. I thank him and he says, "You have a good day ma'am" (Ma'am? I just turned 24 - did I really sound like a ma'am"? I digress).

I think back to when we sold the Matt's Thunderbird and a few months later received a ticket in the mail because the people who bought it from us never registered it in their name. Seriously, is Fresno only filled with irresponsible people? (Dont answer that)

This is why you never sell your car to someone you don't know.

** In Memory of the Chevy Cavalier **

Shake your groove thang! Yea Yea!

I kept hearing that if put music to your stomach when you're pregnant the waves from the sound will make the baby move. So, last night I decided to bust out my iPod and test it out. I started out with something a little soft so I wouldnt bust her ears - Coldplay was my choice. I played almost the whole song with no movement. Matt commented, "Maybe she doesnt like Coldplay" to which my reply was "If shes my daughter, she will like Coldplay." I then moved on to Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Usher and John Mayer - still no movement. So Im not convinced that babies can hear the music. Maybe she was sleeping? Maybe the earphones were too small? Maybe she was annoyed and not moving because I WANTED her to move? In any case, here's a picture to document my crazy experiment (excuse the unflattering picture - it happens when your stomach is expanding rapidly).

The funny thing was I tried for a good 20 minutes with my crazy experiment with no success. But about 20 minutes later, Matt and I were watching TV and she started going crazy! And by crazy, I mean it felt like she was doing one of the following:

Martial Arts

Gymnastics

I think she was just on a delay and really DID hear the music. Matt thinks she was soothed by the music, so when I stopped playing it she wanted it back. In any case, Matt loved feeling her move so much and I loved seeing how excited he was to feel her move around.

Experiment for the future - shining a flashlight on my belly and seeing if she moves away from the light (I think I will start my own "Myth Busters" show).

The 24th Year of Being Born

So yesterday was my 24th birthday. It was a relaxed day even though I had to work. I got some wonderful gifts from my coworkers - bath salts, lotion, shower gel, etc. One coworker of mine knows we're doing more Crockpot meals so she got me a really cool Crockpot recipe box filled with TONS of recipes. Im so excited to try them out. I've been craving sweets like crazy so I got a bunch of candy including a whole box of double stuffed Oreos from a girlfriend of mine! Matt stopped by in the afternoon with flowers, chocolates and a wonderful smelling box of candles.

Its crazy to think that I was only 18 when Matt and I first started dating. I still remember the year he turned 21 and I pretty much forced him to have a beer because he could now legally drink. Of course I still laugh when someone asks to see his drivers license when buying alcohol because his picture is the same one from when he was 16. To think that he was 16 TEN years ago (Now I dont feel so old ;).

Im not sure what 24 is suppose to feel like. I remember talking to my mom yesterday and she mentioned that she was 23 when she had my older sister. So Im a year behind age-wise, but Im ready to be a mom at the "ripe" age of 24.

Just think - at my 25th birthday I will have a 8 month old. Crazy.

Little Ava's Nursery!

On Saturday, January 17th, my parents came down to help paint Ava's nursery. Actually let me rephrase that - Dad and Matt painted Ava's room while my mom and I went shopping, lol.

I went crazy picking out colors. I brought home millions of those color swatches from Home Depot and stared at them for HOURS. Matt and I didn't want anything pink, and we both really liked green. I searched for hours on the internet for ideas and finally settled on the nice thick stripe around the room.

Below are the beginning and ending results of the nursery colors!

The colors came out beautifully and the room is turning out better than I could have imagined. I still have a bit of decorating to do with the walls, but its progressing nicely. We bought her crib and changing table from USA Baby in Clovis back in October so it finally has a home (although still missing the mattress and bedding). Although the futon takes up a bit of room, I know I will definitely appreciate it when I want to just relax with my baby girl. The chiffarobe was given to us to use by Matt's aunt, Mel. Its been used by pretty much everyone in the family so its fun to have a family item for her to use (plus extra storage!) Now all we need is little baby Ava and we're set!

The First of Many!

After reading my sister-in-law's family blog and my sister's travel blog, I became inspired to start one for my little family.

Well... semi-little. In May 2009, we will be welcoming our daughter, Ava Jayneen Carter. She's my main reason for starting this blog. I want to keep friends and family updated on what our family is up to, so that when I see them periodically (ie. holidays) and they ask, "What new?" I dont just answer with "You know - work, family - same old" but instead let them know of my blog so they can follow the Carter Clan every step of the way.

It'll definitely be a new adventure, but I hope you enjoy the ride with us!