She's a fast-growing baby girl

So we had our 1st follow up visit with Dr. Naef last week (i think- may have been 2 weeks ago). Baby's estimated weight was 4lbs 12oz. She was already measuring 35 weeks! She moved up from the 63rd percentile to the 68th. He thinks she'll be around 7.5 lbs around delivery time if she sticks to her growth pattern thus far. Looks like she may be here by the end of January- if not sooner. We shall see. Josh and I are so beyond ready to meet her we can hardly stand it. Her room is pretty much ready. Mama bought us a really nice glider that we'll get picked up this week to take the place of the rocking chair in the corner. I'm still on the lookout for a round soft pink rug for the room. Those aren't too easy to locate. See Dad hard at work below... :)

That's what we've got so far. Still a little to add to the walls, etc. Should be finished by the time she gets here though. I find it completely amazing that my cousin, Charlie and his wife, April, chose the same exact bedding, wall color and window treatments that we did. They live in Colorado so we hardly ever see them! They just had beautiful twin girls. I can't imagine...

So, Josh has been a running fiend for the last 3 months or so- he had been training for a half marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. We got so busy the last 2 weeks he wasn't able to be as diligent about his training and apparently has lost some of his stamina. He was up to a 10 or 11 mile run before he started getting sucked into other things. So now it looks like he's just going to try to train for a full marathon a little later on... we'll see how Baby plays into that plan. Daddy's gonna need a stress relief of some sort and I believe he has many options to choose from. I, on the other hand, am somewhat lacking in the hobby department. I have a feeling my days will be rather full pretty soon and I'm very much looking forward to that.

Marissa Murano continues to get "broken in"... if I'm not accidentally pouring a bottle of Coke in between the seats or side-swiping city vehicles... or splashing other beverages around while trying to get in/out of the car I'm dropping snacks between the seats. So far I know there's at least 2 M&M's, a potato chip, a straw and a pen between the driver's seat and the middle thingy. I can't lean over to get my arm down there to pick them up and I keep forgetting to get Josh to get them. I have never in my life been this clumsy so I know it's Ava. She makes me loopy. And the pregnant brain is in full effect.

As of a few days ago, my belly was 42" and I had gained about 34 lbs. In 2 days my belly had grown 1.5"! I really can feel when she has big growth spurts b/c my belly is tight and it hurts all day long- the next days my shirts and sweaters cover a little less of my belly and by keeping very regular measurements of the tum-tum I have proof! Ava has had hiccups at least once a day every day for the past week or 2. It feels so weird! She still likes to cause me some discomfort by burrowing down low into my abdomen. It feels like I'm carrying a small watermelon. Ouch. I can usually push her up or at least bother her enough to get her to resituate. I like poking on her. Josh gets mad when I do- hee hee ;)

The body pillows have made sleeping so much nicer. A little hotter, but nicer. I love them (and yes, I did carry my heating pad and one body pillow to Grenada for Christmas this week). A big FAT thank you to Momma C for the wonderful back massage. That was awesome and MUCH needed.

Christmas was wonderful this year. We switched it up and went to Grenada on Wednesday night and spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with the Revells and then came home the afternoon of Christmas Day to see my fam. That was definitely the last road trip I'll be taking. I could not get comfortable in the car and a pillow did not help as much as it used to. As a matter of fact, nowhere I sit or stand is comfortable for any more than about 6 minutes. I'm officially in the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. I still love rubbing my belly and feeling her move in response and singing to her in the car. It won't be long before we get to hold her and see her little face and kiss her little toes every single day. I have waited my whole life to be a mother. It's the only thing I've wanted since I was little. Finally!! After almost 30 years it's almost here and I couldn't be more eager and excited.


We hope you have had as great a holiday season as we have. Looking forward to a very happy new year!

Body Pillows & Dilated Ventricles

Top pic: Toes, 2nd: Foot, 3rd: Face, 4th: Nose

Okay so I'm still trying to figure out how to load slideshows and pics. Sorry I'm not more computer literate! :p Thanks for your patience.

A lot has happened since the last post! We had Halloween, which I wasn't planning to do anything for since I'm not really able to wear a super cute costume this year. Rachel suggested that Josh and I dress up as Juno and Bleeker from the movie Juno. We thought it was fabulous so we did dress up and go to Stephanie and Jason's annual "Payneful Halloween" party. It was more fun than I thought it'd be- considering I couldn't partake of the adult beverages this year. Here's Juno and Bleeker...

Pretty cute I thought.

We had our 3rd ultrasound (28 weeks) last Friday, Nov 20th. We invited the grandmoms to come with us since we thought it might be fun for them to see Ava move around on the ultrasound. It was really good to see our little angel and her "Saucier lips"! Mama C thinks she has Josh's feet! haha

So after the ultrasound we met with Dr. Fulton and she expressed concern over 2 of Ava's ventricles. They appeared to be dilated so she wanted to set us up with a specialist for a more thorough ultrasound. Dr. Fulton wasn't too worried she just wanted to be cautious and take all the measures necessary to make sure nothing was overlooked. Even with her telling us all this I never felt scared or nervous. I just had a feeling that it was all okay and we were just taking precautions. Josh, on the other hand, looked pretty freaked out.

So then we had to go out to the waiting room to tell the g'moms why we had to meet with the doctor alone. Of course mom's worried face freaked me out and I got teary trying to explain it to them.

Our appointment with Dr. Naef was this morning. All is well, though he wants to keep an eye on her little ventricles and make sure they don't dilate any more. Her ventricle measured at 13mm on Friday and today they were at 11-12. It's not serious until it gets above 15mm and Dr. Naef said he'd bet $100 today that it doesn't get that big. He called this a "normal varient" of baby development. The fun news is that on paper I'm at 28 weeks, 6 days but Ava is measuring at an even 30 weeks! He said a more realistic due date would be the end of January! Baby Girl is 3lbs 2 oz today and gaining 1/2lb per week! She's in the 63rd percentile, which is only a smidge larger than "normal". Dr. Naef said I could deliver anytime after January 11 and she'd be just fine! :) I'm sosososo ready to hold her I can hardly stand it!

We are thinking about getting the 3D/4D ultrasound when we go back to see Dr. Naef on December 16th for the follow up ultrasound. I really want to see her little face better than we have so far.

Mama C, Grammie and Memaw had an Ava Shower for us on Saturday and I thought there would only be a handful of ladies there- there were about 15-20! It was crazy! We got some fabulous baby gifts and supplies and are so thankful for all of our Grenada friends and family. The food was fabulous and I giggled like a little school girl over every gift!

Then on Sunday, Mama and I drove up to Katie's house in Memphis for a little shower there that she and Em put together. I was so glad my Memphis girls could all get together. We had fun visiting :) The cake Em ordered was friggin' delicious. And she had these little cookies "painted" with Ava's name on them! They were just as tasty as they were yummy. I am so impressed and thankful that Katie and Emily were able to pull this off when Katie has 2 small boys (including an infant) and Em has a 7 month old! Those girls have skills. I need to take notes.

It was so great to see all our Grenada friends and family as well as my precious Memphis/N MS girls (Audrey, Kim, Katie, Em, Jolyn, and Ann Maxwell). Thank you guys all so very much for taking the time to come celebrate Ava Grace and for the wonderful gifts you all gave us. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family. I can hardly wait for Ava to meet all of you.

Now on to the body pillows... ok so my belly now measures 39.5" exactly. That makes it kinda difficult to get comfy... anywhere. And it's only going to get worse. I had a little hysterical crying fit on Monday night. I'm pretty sure I scared my husband. I was trying to go to sleep while he was in the living room watching a movie. I was soso tired and just could not get comfortable and my back was aching terribly. Well I've had back pain for years so this pregnancy is only exacerbating it. I was so frustrated and uncomfortable that I just started crying. Then I realized the TV Josh was watching was too loud and I couldn't sleep at all from overwhelming discomfort topped off by loud TV volume. I carried my sobbing self into the living room, turned down the TV and crouched on the sofa trying to tell Josh what was wrong with me. Being the wonderful, loving husband that he is, he turned off his movie, killed all the lights, and guided me back to the bed where he instructed me to calm down and breathe! Then I got a really good back rub and was able to fall asleep. Thanks, baby.

So the next day (yesterday) I resolved not to come home without a body pillow, since Katie and Em had just told me how they couldn't have made it through their pregnancies without them. Straight after work I headed to JCPenney. I searched the bedding department for 15 minutes trying to find one. Finally asked a sales associate, who told me they didn't carry them anymore! I then headed to Belk. Surely Belk has body pillows... I searched for about 10 minutes before asking someone where they were. "We don't carry them. Try Target." At this point, my tootsies were killing me, my back was starting to ache and I was frustrated. So then I think- Bed,Bath and Beyond has "bed" in their name... surely they won't disappoint. So I walk in the front door and immediately ask the sales lady if they have any body pillows. I was visibly delighted when she pointed me to the back of the store. I believe I even thanked Jesus out loud.

When I looked up body pillows online at jcp.com I saw that they range from $50-85. I didn't care how much they cost if it would get me a good night's sleep and keep me comfy. Imagine my utter excitement when the only bin of body pillows they had were only $19.99. I bought 2.

I came home carrying my huge new treasures with a giant smile on my face. Josh helped me get the pillow cases on and we practiced our sleep position! He was pretty stoked about the new additions too. I was so happy I didn't want to get up. The true test came last night... and I slept wonderfully! It was fabulous and I'm so glad I bought them. I have decided that this is going to be my new standard gift to newly pregnant friends and family. You'll love me for it.

So now Josh is out running down Spillway Rd and later we're going to go see New Moon with Brandon and Jessica. Fun stuff! Note to self: Don't forget pillow and snacks for the theatre!

Thank you all for keeping up with us. I'll keep you updated on future doctor visits.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday... we all have so very much to be thankful for.

Love,

Josh and Sara

Baby Has a Name!!

Okay so after consulting baby name websites and a month of discussion we finally decided on Ava Grace :) Ava has been one of my top fave names for a while and Josh just loves the name Grace. We were hesitant to commit to a name because we wanted to keep our options open. This was a big decision! Now I just can't stop thinking about her name. Love it. I even typed it in a really pretty font, printed it and framed it on my desk at work! I'm a dork, I know. I have a friend who has a monogramming studio in her house and I can't wait to take her some items to monogram for me! I love seeing her name. (dork, dork, dork.)

So Josh and I finally went to Babies-R-Us last night to create a baby registry. That was a lot of fun! My researching hubby actually committed to a type of bottle before completing 3 months of online research. I was amazed! Note: If anyone has any bottle suggestions please let me know. We like the idea of the drop-in liner bottles. Seems like less air for her to ingest after she finishes the bottle. I am excited about breastfeeding! The guy at BRU was so funny after we turned our scanner in last night. He was about 20 years old and had trouble asking me if I meant to register for 2 breast pumps. That was funny.

We painted Ava's room last weekend. Josh and I took off work on Friday to get a jump start on painting. It looks fabulous! The walls are pale blue. We'll have dark brown faux silk window panels to tone down the ultra light walls. The bedding is called "Love Bird" by Bananafish. It's preeeetty :) Cheryl and I went to Woodland Furniture a couple weeks ago and picked up the last bedding set they had. I liked it even more after I saw it in person! Lovely. Just lovely. Thank you for the bedding set, Momma C and Pops!

Oh yeah! While we were at BRU last night we found some furniture we really like and it's so inexpensive! We're psyched about it and will probably buy it before the end of the month. I can hardly wait to get the bedding set up in the crib! It's going to look great. Y'all will have to come see!

I finish up my 22nd week tomorrow! Last night was so cool. Josh and I were laying in the bed just watching Ava kick. It was simply amazing! She's a little dancer, and a bit of a night owl. She gets really active after I chug cold water and after I eat a big meal. It's the most amazing thing to feel something moving around in your belly- and you know it isn't gas! haha. We can hardly wait to meet this sweet angel but I'm still waiting for my belly to get super big! I love it. My belly is about 38" now and my weight is around 137 I think. Don't ask about my bra size. Yikes.

Our next dr appt is tomorrow at 10:30. That should just be a routine check up. I'm hoping we'll get to go ahead and schedule the 4D ultrasound soon! I start my 3rd trimester in a couple of weeks! I hope it's as smooth as the 2nd trimester has been.

Okay, well I guess that's all for now. Will keep ya posted!
Love,
Josh, Sara and Ava Grace :)

It's a Girl!

So we found out today that we've got a baby girl on the way!! We are absolutely thrilled beyond words and cannot wait to meet her! I know we said we wanted to wait to find out... but I think curiosity got the best of us and we caved in last night. Josh was so funny- we were getting ready for bed and he said "So are you going to be okay not finding out the sex tomorrow?" My response? "I don't know if I can go in there tomorrow and not find out the sex..." I think Josh was already beginning to soften on the idea (I think a big "thanks" to Jessica F is in order...) so it didn't take much convincing on my part for him to agree :)




I'm surprised we were able to get any sleep last night with such big news so few hours away but I slept fairly well! We got to the clinic and went straight on back for the ultrasound. The tech asked us if we want to know the sex and we of course said yes. It didn't take long before we were staring at a little "hoo-ha" on the screen!!












My first thought was "It's Ava!!" (Josh and I are still in discussion over her name, although Ava is the top contender at this point.) He and I were both grinning from ear to ear the whole time while we watched her wiggle around in my belly. She weighs 9 oz and is measuring 19 weeks. I forgot to ask how many inches long she is. All the other measurements and heart rate are good!



When we left the clinic Josh asked me what my thought was when she said it's a girl. Other than thinking "I was right all along!" it was just surreal- I felt so much more connected to her! I asked Josh what his thoughts were. He said his mind immediately went to Caroline- how she's not even 13 yet and she looks 16 and what Rob is probably going through right now!! So after much grinning and giggling we called Momma C on speakerphone in my car to tell her. That was funny! Then we went to my mom's office to tell her- I shouldn't have done that! Poor mama wasn't able to concentrate much for the rest of the day :) She was so cute when we told her. Mom and I were hoping Josh and I would have a girl first! We called and text messaged the rest of our fam and friends... and then, of course, the big news got posted on facebook! You know it's news when it goes on facebook.




So anyway, now we get to paint the nursery and pick out the bedding and decor. I cannot wait!
We hope y'all are doing well. Please keep us in your prayers- you're always in ours :)



Love,


josh and sara










Profile at 18 weeks



Waving :)

Our very own blog!

Hello!

I've been inspired by Emily, who has impressed my socks off at her "stick-to-it-iveness" with her blog about Ann Maxwell, so I've created a blog for our little baby-to-be.

We found out we were pregnant again (after the miscarriage in April) on June 1st. We were about to go jogging and I decided to take yet another pregnancy test since it had been 3 days since the last one. I fully expected that sucker to be another disappointing negative but as soon as I laid the stick down on the counter that plus sign was pretty darn positive! I was shocked. Josh walked into the bedroom wondering (as usual) what was taking me so long to get ready. I excitedly told him "When we go jogging I'll have to walk because pregnant women can't jog!" I think he was in shock, too. It was great.

Of course after our short-lived first pregnancy (it only lasted about 4-5 weeks) we were both hesitant to get too excited or to tell anyone. We told immediate family and very, very close friends pretty early but made it public knowledge right before I completed my 10th week, which was still early but I was a little too eager to join the "mom-to-be club" and start talking about all the exciting changes to come and tips to avoid nausea that I just couldn't wait much longer.

I completed my 14th week on Thursday and we feel like it's getting a little safer each day in order to start planning how to decorate the nursery. Josh is adamant about waiting to find out the sex until Baby gets here -around February 11th. I think it will be great fun for him to be able to announce "It's a Girl!" or "It's a Boy!" in the waiting room that day. We have decided to go ahead and pick a girl name and a boy name and let that be known. The boy name choice was easy. We'll name him John Brice if he's a boy- "John" after my dad and my brother and many other relatives on both sides of our families, and "Brice" is after Josh's dad (Theodore Brice) and it's also Josh's middle name. We'll call him Brice :)

On the other hand... ugh... we are totally and completely stuck on girl names! Go figure. I've been naming my babies since I was old enough to write. Should have guessed this would be the hard part. We want to choose one new name that we both love to couple with a family name. This is one tough thing to do. I have a feeling we'll be debating girl names up until delivery time... and possibly after. haha

One date worth noting: August 15th- the first day strangers starting commenting on my bump! I'm not even showing that much at all but there are some brave folks in Rankin County! This is also the day Mom got a beautiful new car (finally!!) and the day after Josh and I bought my new Nissan Murano!

Okay- I feel like I have typed entirely too much so far. Enough for now... I'll post more later :D

Love you all! Please keep us in your prayers for a healthy pregnancy and baby!

-josh and sara :)