Trick or Treat Girls

Arielle dressed up as Barbie Mariposa this year {a butterfly fairy}. She looked beautiful as always! Zak and I both got to go trick or treating with Arielle while Grandmom stayed home with Averi. We organized a neighborhood trick or treating group so Arielle got to go with three other 4 and 5 year old girls. She kept saying, "Come on girls!" to them the whole night. She is such the motherly type.

Thanks to the Cook family for Averi's Halloween outfit!

~Momma to Bug~

I should be sleeping but...

I just can't resist the urge to post some pictures of Miss Averi. We haven't taken any in the past few days and I can assure you she has grown a bit since the last picture we took. She is mostly expanding in her big ol' belly and her double chin but I can tell she is filling out nicely! Her eyes are blue and will definitely stay that way and her hair could go either lighter or darker, most likely lighter. She is still wearing newborn clothes but the newborn diapers will be too small by the end of the week for sure.

Time is precious these days and most of it is spent nursing Averi (at least every three hours) and trying to get her to sleep. I think she has smiled at me a time or two but for the most part she is battling tummy aches and/or gas pains and cries a lot. Right now she is sleeping in her crib for the first time! We have been using the bassinet and swear by the vibrator feature that it has. We'll have to break us of that before it is too late. For now, enjoy the pictures and I'll be back to post more after I get a little more sleep.

~Momma to Bug~

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We managed to make it out of the house last weekend to visit the pumpkin patch. It was a very warm day so we just couldn't resist. Arielle had a blast enjoying the activities even though we didn't stay for long. Best of all, she got to go on a roller coaster! You should have seen the look on her face and the way she had her arms wrapped around the bar as if she was hanging on for dear life. It brought me to tears to see the fear in her eyes but she didn't shed one tear. She just got off and said, "that was really scary". Averi slept the whole time {thankfully}.

~Momma to Bug~

October 2, 2009

Averi Jaye was born on Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8:11 am. She weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 20 inches long (although Zak took a picture of them measuring her in the operating room and she is easily half an inch or more longer). Everyone keeps telling me how beautiful she is and how much she looks like me. She really looks just like she did in the ultrasound pictures but now we can see that she has bright blue eyes and silky, light brown hair. Her facial features are so well defined from her ears to her forehead to her chin. She is so perfect and sweet that I just can't stop looking at her and wanting to hold her!

Within 24 hours Averi dropped down to 6 pounds, 15 ounces then she lost another 2 ounces the next day. By the time we left the hospital three days later she was down to 6 pounds, 11 ounces. We have since taken her to the doctor and she is back up to 6 pounds, 15 ounces. She is nursing well but I am having to work with her on opening her mouth wider. Hopefully when she gets a little bigger it will be easier for both of us. She eats every two to three hours and last night she went for a near four hour stretch!

Averi has been sleeping so much as newborn babies usually do. The hardest part of the day has been between 10-12 pm because this is when she is wide awake and all I can do is think about going to bed. Averi is such a content and relaxed baby. Just last night we let Arielle hold her while we read bedtime stories and Averi fell asleep in her big sister's arms almost instantly. That was so sweet! Arielle is really enjoying being a big sister but I can tell she feels a little sad. I think it is mostly because she is going to school while mommy and daddy stay home with Averi. We felt it was important to keep her in her normal routine as much as possible although it is hard not to feel guilty about not having her home with us.

I am enjoying every minute of this new life that we created and looking forward to every minute left to come.

~Momma to Bug~

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day that we will welcome Averi Jaye into our lives as our newest family member! We are all quite anxious and tired of waiting so long for her arrival. Arielle is very excited to be a big sister and meet her baby sister. She says nothing but good things about what is to come which absolutely amazes me and makes my heart flutter. She has yet to say anything negative about having a new baby in the family or show any doubt that this is a good change for us. I watch her play with her dolls and listen to how she talks to them and I have no doubt as well that she is going to be a loving, caring sister.


I feel as though I have been waiting forever to bring this baby into the world. Time goes so fast yet as I wait for something so big and life-changing I can't help but feel like the day is never going to come. I am thankful for the time I have had to spend with Arielle as an only child but very ready to start the next chapter of our lives with another child to love. I am worried about so many things, yet I feel as though I have gotten this far with one child that doing it all with another one will be a piece of cake. Some things will be different this time though, some big things. Like the fact that I have a four year old to look after and make sure I provide her with the same amount of love and attention that she is used to so she does not become resentful. Also, going back to work after 3 months instead of the 7 months that I had with Arielle is different and will be difficult to go through. Even with these things in mind, I am thinking positive and know I will give it my all so that is what matters the most.


~Momma to Bug~

Averi's Nursery Room is Complete

After months of planning and preparing, Averi's nursery room is finally complete! I made a few final purchases and placed a couple more things on the wall so I think I am finally satisfied.

First, I had a leftover quilt clip so I decided to hang the pillow sham that came with the crib bedding. It was either that or turn it into a throw pillow which I did not have a need for so the wall art was an obvious choice. I hung it over the bookshelf to draw your eyes up on that wall and give it height. We found the cutest pink and white bird lamp to replace the boring, old satin nickel lamp with plain white shade that sat on the bookshelf. We got the lamp at Home Goods for only $30 and it looks just like the Pottery Barn Kids one only much less expensive!

I also purchased a pink, wooden toy bin at Home Goods for $50. It can be used also be used as a nighstand or table and it can hold a lot of toys so it was worth every penny!

I finally got around to stopping at Goodwill and found a wicker basket with tags for $5 and made my own liner out of pink gingham fabric that I already had. The basket is sitting next to the rocking chair for easy access to anything that I'll need for feedings but it could also be used as a laundry basket.

My favorite addition has been the wooden wall letters that spell "AVERI" which we hung above the closet doors. They came from Hobby Lobby and only cost $2 each. I painted them the same light pink that is on one of the walls in the room. I really want to add brown and/or white polka dots to the letters to make them stand out more.

The final total spent for this nursery room on a small budget is right around $500.

~Momma to Bug~

Arielle's Birth Story

Arielle's 3-D Ultrasound ~ 29 weeks

My first born daughter arrived on April 7th, 2005. My due official due date, the date I had been counting down to for nine months, was April 3rd. When my due date came and went with no sign of Arielle showing any interest in dropping down for her arrival my doctor {hesitantly} scheduled an induction.

A photo of me on my due date, April 3rd, 2005

Zak and I headed to the hospital on the evening of April 6th not having any idea of what to expect about when or how our precious little girl would make her appearance. We got settled into our room and shortly after that I got started on my induction meds. I think we watched some television but I don't remember much because they gave my a sleeping pill so I could have my last full night of sleep for a long time to come. From what I remember, I actually did sleep all night and was very comfortable too.

The next morning I started to feel the contractions and requested the epidural. Shortly after they administered it, less than an hour before Arielle's arrival, there was a flurry of activity. The nurse came in to give me an internal exam so she could check on the progress of my dialation but she became very uneasy in an instant. "I think this baby is breach!" she said, to which we replied that we had an ultrasound the night before and that was not the case. I think she might have attempted another internal exam or maybe she just went to get another nurse for a second opinion, I'm not exactly positive but I remember starting to feel uneasy.

When the new nurse arrived and performed her exam she was quite overwhelmed by what happened next. "The baby just sucked on my finger" she said and she told us that she could feel the baby's nose too. I didn't think there was anything wrong with this and thought it was quite cute! However, the nurse explained that this meant that the baby was presenting herself face first instead of head first which is not an ideal position for a natural delivery. They told us that while it wasn't impossible to deliver a baby in this position, it could cause complications and it was a risk that they didn't think was worth taking. Immediately the nurses began prepping me for surgery...an emergency c-section followed very soon after.

Arielle's first photo taken by Zak on his cell phone camera minutes after she was born.

While I wasn't exactly thrilled about the fact that I wasn't able to deliver Arielle vaginally, I accepted the fact that this was Arielle's birth story and I was happy with the outcome. Arielle turned out to be a healthy, happy baby and I recovered from my surgery within a few short days. Sometimes I wonder how this story would have changed if we had the patience to wait a few more days for Arielle to make her arrival instead of scheduling an induction. But I really believe that everything happens for a reason and I wouldn't change anything about it if I could.

Having said all of that, when I found out that I was pregnant again and my doctor said a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) was definitly an option I felt happy to have another chance at a natural birth . I recently learned that there is a 1% chance of major complications arising from a VBAC and only 60% of women are ultimately able to deliver vaginally after a c-section. That pretty much made my decision for me and my life, and the new baby's life, is not worth taking that risk. The only option in my mind is for a planned c-section.

October 2nd, 2009 is the date. This time we both have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Wish us luck!

~Momma to Bug~

Out on the Boat

Last weekend we went out on the lake on our friend's boat. Arielle had a blast! She was so well behaved for being in such a confined space with nothing to do but eat and occassionally go in the water. She got to ride on the tube with Daddy and didn't even panic when they sank in the water when the boat slowed down!

We were planning on going swimming this weekend so I could see Arielle swim under water as she started doing last week at Water World. However, the weather was actually on the cool and breezy side so we went to the zoo instead. I knew my feet would be in a world of pain by the end of the day but it was worth it to be out and about with Zak and Arielle. Zoo pics to come later this week!

~Momma to Bug~

Garage Sale Freebie!

One of my neighbors graciously donated an item to me that she didn't sell at her garage sale. It is an Eddie Bauer upholstered rocking chair in a pink and white gingham print and it matches the nursery room perfectly! Of course we had to give it a good cleaning but for ZERO dollars, it was worth every minute. It is a great addition to Averi's room, don't you think?



I made some changes to the framed art above the crib. I changed out one of the pieces of scrapbook paper for a striped pattern and embellished both with bird cut-outs. I think they are cute and the best part is that I can change them at any time. I am thinking of adding black and white pictures to them after the baby is born.

~Momma to Bug~

Summer is in Full Bloom

It's my favorite time of the year when the gladiolus are blooming! It's been hot but we have gotten a lot more rain this summer than usual. There have been some heavy and powerful rain storms recently but thankfully I haven't lost any of my flowers (or trees or windows like some people I know).

The flowers aren't the only thing growing these days. Averi is getting bigger too! Check out my baby bump at Week 30.

Arielle seems to be getting taller by the day and she is growing up! It is amazing how much she talks about the new baby and wants to give her things. She was cutting out stuff from a Build A Bear catalogue the other day and said, "Awww, this shirt is so cute; we should buy one for the baby." Then she colored a wooden tiara ornament that we bought at the craft store and told us it was for the baby's bedroom door. I love to see this sweet side of her and can only hope that she stays that way after her baby sister is born.

What is your favorite summer bloom?

~Momma to Bug~