24 weeks

24 weeks

24 weeks bare belly-- not too scary yet!

I almost let the 24 week belly pics slip by with all that's been going on lately. Yesterday I actually stopped for a minute to think, "How many weeks am I again?" and then it hit me that it was time for another belly shot. I'm feeling good so far-- no major complaints-- not even heartburn like w/ Avery. It's flying by so uneventfully that I'm afraid that I'm just going to wake up one day and realize that I only have a few weeks left and still have so much to do before she arrives!
I have to take this opportunity to brag on Avery as well. Yesterday at school she got an award during chapel called Star of the Week for praising God! I was so proud! I just wish I could've seen her in action!

Happy Halloween!

Avery attended her first Halloween carnival last night at Southside Church of Christ. It was kind of small, but she's small, so I guess that's OK. She really enjoyed all the little games-- duck pond, go fishing, bean bag toss, etc and the guy dressed up in a Tigger costume. She was still talking about Tigger bouncing this morning. We also took her over to the only house on our street that had a porch light on to have the experience of trick-or-treating. I've included a few pics from last night. I actually had some of her 18 mo. portraits done in her costume, but my in-laws have the CD right now, so I'll share those later. Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Fall foliage tour PLUS bonus trip to Children's hospital in Tennessee!

This past weekend Avery and I went with my parents to see the fall foliage in the Smoky Mountains. My Dad was doing some business there, so he invited us to fly out with my Mom to North Carolina to enjoy the mountains for the weekend. Boy was it an eventful weekend! Not only did Avery have her first plane ride and travel to 3 different states in 4 days, she also had her first visit to the ER! More on that later. We arrived in Charlotte, NC late Thursday night and spent the night there. Then around noon on Friday when my Dad finished his meetings, we drove to Asheville and then on to Waynesville, NC to spend the night after a shopping and dinner break in Asheville. Our hotel in Waynesville was nestled on a mountainside and had a really pretty view. Saturday we took our time driving through the Smoky Mountains and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Along the way we stopped at a pioneer farmstead, which was an outdoor, walk-through exhibit. Avery really enjoyed seeing and listening to the chickens and roosters in the barn, seeing the hogs, and playing with sticks and leaves! Saturday evening we drove on to Pigeon Forge, TN to spend the night. If you've never heard of it or been there, it's a very touristy, small town that's similar to Branson, Missouri. They've got lots of shows and outlet malls. After doing some shopping Sunday morning at the outlets, we headed to a place called Applewood farm where they have an orchard, a restaurant, and sell apple products. Right when we got there, Avery got sick--yuck! After she got sick again while we were waiting at the restaurant, we decided to leave and just grab some fast food and head to our next destination, which was Chatanooga, TN. Unfotunately, she continued throwing up every 15-30 minutes all afternoon and into the evening. Around 7:00 we decided to take her to an urgent care clinic. They advised us that she needed IV fluids and bloodwork and sent us on the Children's Hospital. So we get to Children's around 9:00 or 10:00 and we begin the grueling process of urine cultures, blood tests, and getting an IV started on a sick baby. I have to say that it was pretty torturous as a mother to have to help restrain her and try to comfort her while all this was going on. But I knew it was for the best and I knew firsthand how much more quickly you recover when you do get the IV meds and fluids. So around 11:30 after listening to her beg for a drink for an hour, she had finally had over half of her IV fluids and they started letting her have a 1 oz. cup of gatorade every 10 minutes. She managed to stay awake for 5 cupfuls of Gatorade and then promptly conked out after saying "Avery go night-night". So we finally returned to our hotel room around 1:00 AM mentally and physically exhausted. Luckily, she did feel better yesterday and we were able to easily make the 1 1/2 hr drive to Atlanta to catch our flight back home. What a weekend! Although we did have a lot of fun, I think it would be an understatement to say that we now need a vacation from our vacation!

view from our hotel balcony in Waynesville, NC

crunching the leaves outside hotel in Waynesville

pioneer farmstead in the Smoky Mountains

pioneer farmstead

State Fair of Texas

Instead of going to the Oklahoma State Fair as we have in the past several years, this year it was the State Fair of Texas. Essentially, we traded in Indian Tacos and Cinnamon Rolls for Corn Dogs (actually sausage on a stick because Kendall and I got too hungry to keep looking for a corn dog stand) and Ice Cream. Avery's favorite parts were the Children's barnyard and a walk-through, hands-on exhibit called Little Hands on the Farm. The Children's barnyard was pretty standard, except they did have some baby zebras, ostriches and a couple kangaroos. But the Little Hands on the Farm thing was really neat. As you can see in the pictures, each kid got to wear a little apron and carry a basket through the exhibit, which had different little buildings and stops where they had to do farm chores like feed animals, plant seeds, gather eggs, drive a tractor, etc. It was really cute and Avery did a great job of following directions and performing her "chores". It was well worth the 10-15 minute wait. After working so hard at her "chores", Avery was exhausted and fell asleep in her stroller before we even got to the car. It was a fun day though, topped off by our Sooners winning another game! We may go to the State Fair of Texas now, but we still say Boomer Sooner! Scooping out her bag of feed for the animals

Feeding the hens and gathering eggs

Checking out the little piglets at the Children's barnyard

#2 has a name!

20 weeks

We officially decided on a name for little girl #2-- Kendall Brooke Bedichek. Even I am impressed with the speed with which we decided. Our list was pretty much the same as with Avery, except Scott added the name Kendall to it. I thought I was kind of set on something else already, but once I started trying the names out, Kendall just felt right and kind of stuck. So Kendall it is! Everything is going well with my pregnancy and I am feeling good. Much to my delight, I have had a lot less hip and lower back pain during the night this time around. Unfortunately, I'm sure it's just because my pelvis and hips are not so resistant to spreading now-- been there, done that. Kendall should weigh about 10 oz. now and be about 7 inches long. I am getting anxious now to start dragging out the tiny clothes and to get the room fixed up especially for her.


Belly rivals-- whose belly is bigger, mine or Avery's?

Consignment sales and pigtails

First, consignment sales. . .
My Mom and I got to attend the "presale" last night for the Divine Consign consignment sale in Grapevine since we were consignors ourselves. It's a really neat deal and we got tons of great stuff for Avery and girl #2, but I do have to say that it's just a tiny bit psycho. When I got home I told Scott that it reminded me just a little of that episode of "Friends" where Monica goes to a big sale at a bridal store looking for her wedding gown. If you don't remember, she gave Rachel and Phoebe whistles so that they could alert her quickly when they found it without leaving the dress for someone else to snag. She ends up getting into a knock-down drag out with some other girl over a particular dress. Now, there were no fights at the sale, but it was kinda crazy seeing so many women lined up outside the convention center, laundry baskets and wagons in tow (to hold their stuff), waiting to get in and snag the good stuff. One lady made the comment while we were shopping that she had never seen so many women in one place that were so quiet--we were all very intent and on a mission!

Next, pigtails. . .
This morning I decided to try putting Avery's hair in pigtails. I had her sitting on the bathroom counter so she could see and when I was done she just smiled and said "Avery po-tails!" (pony tails). I commented that she looked cute and asked her if we should take her picture. She quickly responded, "Yes!" and commenced to pose around the house for her pigtails pictures. Needless to say, I think the pigtails were a big hit. All day long she kept saying "Avery cute", including to me, to her Papa when he came over, and to her Daddy at dinner--nothing wrong with her self-esteem!

Outnumbered

Just us girls (yes, even the dog)

OK, so you may have already figured it out from the title and the picture/caption, but Baby Bedichek #2 is a GIRL!!! We went to the Dr. this afternoon and he said he is at least 90% sure we are having another girl. Scott and I are really excited. We hoped that it would be another girl since she and Avery will be so close in age, plus we already have just about all the girl things we need! Avery's less-than-thrilled look in the picture is hopefully more due to the fact that she is sick and this was taken right before bedtime than her actual feelings about having a baby sister. We have already started teaching her how to say "baby sister" and hopefully we'll have decided on a name before too long so she can start using that. As for the ultrasound, everything looked great, she weighed in right on track at about 1/2 lb, and the due date is still the same--Feb. 18th. In fact, I think I'm gonna go watch our DVD of the ultrasound right now. . .

"School" days

Today was Avery's first day of "school". She is going one day a week to Young Children's World at Richland Hills Church of Christ. I thought she looked so big this morning sitting by her "pack-pack", as she calls it, all ready to go. Naturally, I was a little nervous about it since it has been several months now since I have left her for an extended period of time (except with relatives of course), but she did great! She didn't cry when I left her and her little report had "happy" and "busy" circled for the day. The part I was most nervous about was whether she would take a nap on her mat, but she did with the help of her "ba-ba" (paci), "bankie" (blanket) and a little patting from the teacher. When I picked her up they were having free choice centers and she was sitting on the little couch looking at books (surprise, surprise). I enjoyed my free time, but I do have to say that I loved seeing her smile and run to me when I went to pick her up. I guess today was the first little step of many to come in her growing up and my letting go. It' s hard to think that in a just a few short months, she won't be the baby anymore-- she'll be the big sister!
Two quick comments on that note. . .
1. I have been enjoying the kicks of #2 since early last week.
2. We find out whether Avery will have a brother or sister on Monday, so stayed tuned!

"Sea. . . World!"

For Labor Day, my parents offered to take us to San Antonio for the weekend. We gladly accepted of course. We had a great time and it was so much fun having Avery along to watch her experience everything. We left Saturday morning and made a delicious stop at the "Czech Stop" bakery in West, TX, just outside of Waco. They make fruit filled kolaches and sausage rolls that are so yummy! After we had arrived in San Antonio and Avery had a nap, we headed down to Mi Tierra at the Mexican market for my birthday dinner. My Dad made sure the mariachi band played for us. Avery thought they were interesting but loud and cried when she got too close . Then we did the boat tour on the River walk and walked around. Sunday we headed to Sea World, which Avery called "Sea ... World!" with an interesting inflection. In the morning we watched the Shamu "Believe" show and saw some of the animals. Oh, and Scott rode one of the roller coasters, which I was jealous of, but didn't want to risk it in my "condition". We went back that evening and saw another show called "Viva" that was really great and then saw a few more animals before it started raining. My favorite part by far was seeing Avery's amazement and enjoyment, especially at the shows. Monday morning we hit some of the outlet malls in San Marcos and then went to Lockhart, TX to eat at Smitty's BBQ. Scott swears that it is by far the best BBQ he's ever tasted. Unfortunatley Smitty's was closed for Labor Day, but there was another great BBQ place there that we ate at before heading back home. We had such a great time on our mini vacation! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Every time my Dad got out of the car, Avery took
the opportunity to practice her driving skills.

Overlooking the River walk

Watching the "Believe" Shamu show

Avery with Mimi and Papa at Sea World

Watching the "Viva" show with divers,
dolphins, and beluga whales

16 weeks

Time for the 16 week belly shot. I am really starting to show now, but I am still wearing mostly regular clothes, to my amazement. This time around I know how sick I will get of the maternity clothes before its all said and done, so I'm holding out as long as possible. The baby is about 4 1/2 to 5 inches long now from head to bottom and should weigh over 3 ounces. I am just waiting to feel movement and to find out boy or girl at our next appointment in 2 weeks. Without further ado(sp?), here are the belly shots. Oh, and we just got back from a mini vacation to San Antonio, so stayed tuned for Riverwalk and Sea World pictures.

16 weeks

Baby update

Just a quick update on "#2". . .

I went to the doctor yesterday and he says everything looks great. I love getting to see the baby on ultrasound every time. It's amazing to see the changes and how much he/she is growing! This time I could see the left and right hemispheres of the brain, the spine, the stomach, and I could see the heart, arms, legs, hands and feet more clearly. At our next appointment--Sept. 17th-- we will find out the sex and they will record everything on a DVD-R for us so we will have more than just still pictures. Pretty cool. Here are the stats and specifics for the baby at this point: 4 to 4 1/2 inches, 1 3/4 ounces(about the size of a softball), is covered with lanugo hair, may be sucking its thumb, and bones are ossifying so that that they would be visible on x-ray.

On the Avery front, we have been gearing up for "school", aka mother's day out, and Sooner football. She starts Mother's Day Out at Richland Hills on Sept 13th. She will just go one day a week for now and then maybe 2 days a week starting in January to give me some relief and more time alone with the baby when he/she makes a debut. We have her little nap mat, which her Mimi is making a cover for, and a tiny ittle backpack-- so I think we're pretty much set. In preparation for football season, I decided to teach her some OU cheers. Yesterday we worked on her saying "Go OU" and saying "Sooner" after I say "Boomer". She needs a little more practice and something new to wear for watching the games, and then she'll be all set!

First belly shot!

Last night we took my first belly shot since I did my first one with Avery at 12 weeks. I decided that I should stick to the same schedule to be fair. The baby is going through a period of rapid growth now that will last through about 24 weeks. He or she is probably about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long (crown to rump) and weighs between 1/2 and 3/4 of an ounce-- about the size of a peach. Growth of the head is beginning to slow down however. Eyes are coming closer together and ears are coming to their normal position to help make him/her look more humanlike. External genitalia are fairly well-developed now, but I guess we won't find out the sex until the appointment after next, which will be in September. I'm getting really curious about it though. I'm ready to start planning and decorating and all that fun stuff!


12 weeks

Girly Girl, "Da-do", "Ma", and "happy"

Avery's version of "cheese!"


Avery has become quite the girly-girl lately. She likes dressing up and she even asks me to take her picture. She loves jewelry, purses, & bows, notices the flowers, butterflies, etc on her clothes, and hates having dirty hands. If she's eating anything the least bit messy she says "wipe" after every few bites and holds her little hands out to me. It's funny to me because although I'm fairly girly now, I don't think I was at her age. I loved playing in the dirt, hated putting on makeup for dance recitals, and was apparently a very messy eater who often went straight from the table to the bathtub.
Looking at Memaw's cross stich

Playing balls with Dedaw

This past weekend we had a visit from Avery's Memaw and Dedaw (Scott's parents), who she calls "Da-do" and "Ma". They had a lot of fun playing with her now that she's older and can pretend a little bit and interact more with them. I love hearing her call them by name and seeing her give them hugs and kisses. We'll get to see the whole Bedichek clan this next weekend in Keene, TX. It is Scott's grandmother's 93rd (?) birthday and we are all going to see her at the nursing home where she lives.

On a humorous side note, we took Avery to Braum's for ice cream tonight, which she absolutely LOVES by the way. She turns into a total spaz when she eats it. But anyway, we were trying to get her to say ice cream because she already says "ice" really well. But every time we tried, she would just say something that sounded kinda like "happy". Wouldn't that be a better name for ice cream anyway?

Family portraits

Yesterday we had some family portraits done so Scott could have a current family portrait to put up in his office. Plus, we hadn't had one done since Avery was a newborn, so it was time. We also had some taken of Avery by herself-- kind of as her 15 months pictures, even though she'll be 16 months in a few days.

I also wanted to include just a general update on our family. As far as the practice goes, Scott is doing really well. He is getting lots of now patients and he met his goal for the month last week, which will put him over his goal by the end of the month. We are really excited that things are going so well and feel that it is affirmation of our prayerful decision to move here. As for me and the baby, we are doing well. I have been feeling a lot better the past two weeks or so and I'm now nearing the end of my first trimester. The baby should be about 2 1/2 inches long now and weigh between 1/3 and 1/2 of an ounce. Most of the structures will have been formed by the end of this week, but will just continue growing and developing. And last but not least, Miss Avery. Some of the words that I think best describe her now are funny, sweet and tender-hearted (she's always giving hugs and kisses), talkative, smart, busy and active, and at times, impatient and easily frustrated. She says new things and does new things daily that never cease to amaze and amuse us! For example, today on the way to church I gave her a dental mirror to play with (It was in the car--don't ask me why. And yes, it was clean!). She sat back there for probably 15 minutes talking to it. A lot of it was jibberish but at one point she said "bu-fy" (buterfly on her dress), and then, "pretty Avery". What can I say, she has a healthy self-esteem!

Quick Rant

Today Avery and I went swimming at the neighborhood pool. Afterwards I took her over to the little playground to "side- whee!" (slide-whee!) and there was another Mom there with her kids plus a few others she was watching. As I'm walking over with Avery she says, "Wow, she's big! How old is she?" I might expect a comment like this from someone who is not a parent, but i couldn't believe another Mom would say that! Maybe I'm just a little sensitive about it since, as I stated in my "list", i am a little obsessive about her appearance and she is a little chunky, but still. I know I shouldn't let things like that bother me and that she didn't mean anything by it, but I guess my pregnancy hormones are getting the best of me. OK, so I hope I haven't said anything like this about any of your kids and if so, Im sorry!

My list

OK, so a lot of the girls from our young families class back in Edmond have been posting lists on their blogs entitled, "100 Things About Me". After reading a bunch of them I decided to join in. It has taken me almost a week to finish this list, but I have to follow through and finish things I start. You can count that as number 101!

100 Things About Me

1. I became a Christian at age 14.
2. I was baptized at Pine Springs Church camp in New Mexico.
3. I am so thankful that I was raised in a Christian home and grew up in th Church of Christ.
4. I am also very thankful for the faithfulness of my in-laws, their work with the church, and the way they raised my husband.
5. I admire my husband's biblical knowledge.
6. Scott inspires me to be a better Christian.
7. I pray daily for my children's salvation.
8. I loved the young families class at Edmond Church of Christ and hope to find a new church home soon!
9. I was born in Plano, TX but grew up in Lubbock, TX.
10. Since I grew up in Lubbock I have a strange fondness of tumbleweeds, the smell of a cattle feed lot, and the flat land there where you can see forever.
11. My best friend growing up lived next door and was named Heather Ann-- I am Heather Mary Anne.
12. I competed in gymnastics from age 4 through 6th grade, then I continued gymnastics classes through high school for cheerleading .
13. I placed 7th at the Nationals Tumbling Meet in Ogden, Utah.
14. I took dance classes-- ballet, jazz and tap-- from age 4 through 9th grade.
15. I competed in baton twirling for 2 years and won lots of trophies!
16. I played tennis from 5th grade through 8th grade.
17. I usually beat Scott when we play tennis.
18. I lived in 4 houses and 2 town houses from birth through high school.
19. I had a Lhasa Apso named Sandy after the dog in the movie Annie.
20. I loved Annie and have seen it too many times to count.
21. I had the Annie dollhouse, dolls, tape and wig, which I would wear while I sang the songs on the tape!
22. I loved playing with baby dolls, but I also liked playing in the dirt with my Tonka trucks.
23. I went to ACU and loved it.
24. I wish I could go back in time and spend a week or two living with my college friends.
25. My junior and senior years we lived in an awesome (by college standards)4 bedroom house on the creek with a huge porch.
26. I was a cheerleader in junior high and high school.
27. My high school squad was co-ed and we went to Nationals my junior year.
28. I used to be a little obsessive about working out and what I ate.
29. In high school I was on a commercial for a podiatrist; my best friend and I were playing tennis on it.
30. My Sr. year of high school I was an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) officer.
31. I was good at math and took Calculus in high school, but it wasn't my favorite subject.
32. I graduated 6th in my high school class of over 400.
33. I was a member of Delta Theta women's social club at ACU.
34. I was the secretary for Delta Theta my senior year.
35. In college I dressed up as a biker chick, a flapper, a bridesmaid, a geisha, a Nascar fan, a geenie, a sailor, and a kid going to the circus for club functions and/or Sing Song.
36. I had 3 different majors in college, none of which became my actual career-- Physical Therapy, Elementary Education, and English Education.
37. I worked on campus in the Admissions Records Office.
38. The year after I graduated, I worked as a receptionist for a shipping company for a few months and then as a substitute teacher for most of the school year.
39. I graduated salutatorian of my class at ACU.
40. I earned a Master's in Comunication Sciences and Disorders (Speech pathology) from Univ. of Central OK in 2004.
41. I worked as a school speech pathologist for 2 years.
42. I worked part-time for Sooner Start- OK's early intervention program-- after I had Avery.
43. The 8 months that I nursed Avery was so special to me.
44. I love seeing her smile, laugh, and hearing her call me Mommy. (except when she does it incessantly to get my attention.
45. Sometimes I dance for her to make her laugh.
46. I am a little obsessive about her appearance.
47. I love to hear her say her grandparent's names and to see her interact with them.
48. My love for Scott increased tenfold when I saw him become a father.
49. I will be married 8 years tomorrow- July 24th.
50. I am 10 weeks pregnant and I am starting to get a little belly already.
51. I love ice cream.
52. I also love shrimp, crab, and lobster.
53. I like to cook but it is harder now that I have Avery wanting my attention.
54. I like to scrapbook but have to really be in the mood to do it.
55. I really hate ironing and mopping.
56. I like organizing and keeping things neat.
57. I like riding roller coasters.
58. I love watching OU football, especially in person.
59. I learned most of what I know about football from Scott.
60. I cried when Scott got into dental school.
61. Seeing him graduate from dental school was one of the proudest days of my life.
62. I love snow skiing.
63. I have been skiing 8 times-- Angel Fire, Taos, Crested Butte (twice), Ruidoso, Red River (twice), Veil and Beaver Creek (same trip).
64. I like being a stay-at-home Mom but get bored sometimes.
65. I miss Edmond and Oklahoma City.
66. I like reading but haven't made time to do it lately.
67. My primary love language is quality time.
68. I like living so close to family now.
69. I have taken several cross country trips with my family.
70. One of them was just me and my parents in an El Camino driving from Lubbock to North Carolina. I was 12 or 13- how mortifying!
71. I want to have 3 kids.
72. I am good at giving massages.
73. I am a nurturing person.
74. I have only been to one other country, Mexico.
75. I hope to do a lot more traveling one day.
76. I would love to have a lake house with an outdoor kitchen, or at least an outdoor fireplace and dining table.
77. Target is one of my favorite stores-- I go there at least once a week.
78. Fall is my favorite season.
79. I will turn 30 in about a month.
80. I had a Siamese cat named Sam. It was originally Samantha but then I found out it was a male cat. I made him do gymnastics sometimes.
81. We have a 5 yr. old yellow lab named Josie and she was my 1st "baby".
82. I used to run for exercise and I continued running through my 1st trimester of pregnancy with Avery.
83. I have run probably ten times or less since.
84. I loved dong pilates with the girls from the Edmond Young Families Class-- it helped me get back my pre-baby body and beyond!
85. I had 7 Cabbage Patch dolls when I was little and I still know all their names.
86. As a kid, I would only eat pancakes and waffles if they had peanut butter on them. I still like them this way but with syrup too.
87. I didn't drink hardly any caffeine until I was in college.
88. I really like to drink Dr. Pepper and sweet tea-- but now I try not to since I'm pregnant.
89. I'm not doing as good with the no caffeine thing with this baby as I did with Avery.
90. I still like the Muppets-- especially the Muppet Show and the Muppet movies.
91. I kind of like watching cartoons with Avery.
92. I had braces 2 times and wore glasses for a while.
93. I peeked at some of my Christmas presents one year with the help of my older sister by partially unwrapping them.
94. I wished I hadn't done that because it really did ruin it.
95. I've had 2 surprise birthday parties thrown for me.
96. In youth group I hung out mostly with guys.
97. I dated one of them on and off for 3 years.
98. I want to go on a cruise someday.
99. I really want to go to Hawaii, Yellowstone, Disney World, California in general, New York at Christmas time, Europe, and go back to Washington, DC.
100. I am thankful that I live in America.

Never mind!

OK, so as you can tell, I figured it out-- and of course it was easy! The next request I have is how to get rid of the little tool symbols on the page. Anybody?

Request for fellow bloggers

Will someone please tell me how to add the Lilypie thing to our blog? I created one, but then couldn't figure out how to actually get it on our blog. I feel pretty silly that i can't figure it out since apparently everyone else in blogger land has. Thanks!

Two "Babies"

Besides working very hard on Scott's "baby", aka his practice, we have also been working on another baby lately. . . literally! That's right-- the Bedichek family is growing and we're expecting our newest addition in mid February( the 18th to be exact). Around the beginning of June, I decided to take a pregnancy test even though I thought there was no way I could've gotten pregnant that fast, and what do you know? It was positive! Scott and I were both so shocked that I decided to take another test just to be sure. I found a great doctor here who came highly recommended from a college friend (thanks Andrea!). He does an ultrasound every time, so I have actually gotten to see the baby twice already! I had my second appointment today and I could actually see the head, body, arms, legs and the heart beating lickety split.

This pregnancy has been similar to my first I would say, but a little different. This time I have had afternoon queasiness instead of in the morning and it has been a little more severe. Still, nothing compared to what some women go through, so I count myself lucky. Also, I have not had much trouble yet with heartburn. With Avery I had horrible heartburn starting in my 6th or 7th week and lasting the whole pregnancy, but no problems with this one so far. It will be interesting to see if the old wives' tale about "if you have a lot of heartburn the baby will have a lot of hair" proves true again. The main difference has been that I now have a toddler to take care of and can't take a nap or just laze around whenever I feel tired and icky. But then I guess that's good preparation for taking care of 2 kids on limited sleep. I already find myself wondering how I'm going to juggle taking care of 2 small children-- but I know I'll figure it out-- i won't have a choice! But in all reality, we are so thrilled to be bringing another precious baby into the world and to have the chance to experience the miracle all over again!


Saturday, June 9th, 2007
Surprise! approx. 4 weeks pregnant (now 9 weeks)

Lake weekend and Galveston trip

The past two weekends we have been out of town-- last weekend to the lake with our friends Nate & Lindsey and Mick and Alexis and their kids, and then this weekend to Galveston (sans kiddo) for a wedding. For our lake weekend we went to Cedar Creek Lake, which is about an 1 1/2 from Dallas. Nate's parents have a house there right on the lake that they generously share. That Saturday happened to be a beautiful day without rain (imagine that!) and we got to go water skiing, tubing, sea-dooing and swimming. Even Avery got to ride on the tube, which you can sort of see in the pics. We had a lot of fun playing on the water and catching up with friends from ACU! Scott and Avery tubing


This weekend Scott and I left Avery with my parents and took off to Galveston. One of Scott's long-time friends from Park Plaza C of C in Tulsa who we also went to ACU with was getting married. We stayed in the Historic District right by lots of shopping and restaurants just a few blocks from the bay. We slept in, did some shopping, explored the island a little bit, and had a great time seeing some college friends.

On another note, the practice officially opened last week and Scott had four patients-- which is really good for his first week. It was a VERY busy and stressful week, but hopefully things will calm down more every week and business will pick up steadily.

It's a tradition for the "Tulsa crew" to take
picture at each wedding-- I always get to
be the photographer!

Catching raindrops

We are having a week of rain here in DFW, which is disappointing when you're a 15 month old who loves swimming and playing outside. So today after naptime we went out to catch some raindrops and play in the puddles. Avery stood at the end of the porch with her hand stuck out for the longest time just feeling the rain on it. She then commenced to dance around in the water on the porch saying "hop, hop, hop" and would sit down and say "splash". Nothing like a toddler to help you re-discover the simple pleasures in life.

In other news. . . Scott got his 1st patient booked today! Yea! The office is getting close to being complete-- the paint and stained cement are done, the carpet is in, the cabinets are in, and they should be bringing in equipment Thursday. We plan to go buy furniture for the waiting area and conference room next week- on July 4th. The official 1st day is July 9th, assuming everything stays on track. It's hard to believe that after several setbacks, we are almost there! We are so ready to get all the dental stuff out of the house and garage and for Scott to have an actual workplace. (although I do have to say that it's been nice having him around so much). We'll post some pics of the inside of the office when it's complete, but feel free to stop by and we'll show it to you in person!

"Horse. . . Amy"

This is what Avery has been saying ever since we went out to see the horses last Thursday at the place in Flower Mound, TX where my sister rides. She got to see probably 5-10 different horses, some baby donkeys, and 2 cats and she loved it all. She even got to see her Aunt Amy brush a horse and get it saddled up and ready to ride. Unfortunately we had to leave before Amy actually rode, but that will give us something new to see next time. One of the definite perks of living here is being so close to family. That same day that we went out to see my sister and the horses we got to go to the Coppell Aquatics Center with my sister-in-law. It will almost like a water park and Avery had a blast! After swimming, we spent the rest of the afternoon at my parents house, had a nice dinner with them, and then went out to the stable. Thanks, family, for a great day!

This little piggy. . .

One of the things I like best about staying home with Avery is just watching her play. Kids do the funniest things sometimes that make you wonder, "Where did they pick that up?" or "What made them think of doing that?" Today I was sitting around watching Avery play and she did one of those things. She had one of those stacking ring toys and was busily pushing the button on top over and over again to hear the songs. Then she started trying to push it with her big toe! i don't know what made her think of that-- i guess she was just experimenting. I had kind of a hard time getting good picture of it, but I thought it was kinda funny so I decided to share anyway. She is becomming so perceptive of the world around her- which is both good and bad. We discovered the other day that we really have to watch what we say now. I think it was last week that she repeated the word "toot" and she'll now announce to the world when she has tooted. Not exactly what you want your child saying but I guess it could be worse!

A tribute

About a week and a half ago, my grandfather, who we called Papa, passed away. There are all kinds of grandparents, and all kinds of grandparent-grandchild relationships, running the gamut (spelling?)from kids who see their grandparents weekly to those who never even got the chance to know their grandparents. Mine and my sister's relationship with our Papa and Nana fell somwhere in between. We mostly saw them on holidays since we lived 4-5 hours away, but with that considered, we had (and still have with Nana) a special relationship and many wonderful memories. In honor of my grandfather, here are a few of my favortie memories of him:



The smell of his aftershave/cologne in his bathroom

Him painting my fingernails before church one Sunday

Showing me how to blow my nose

His stories of fishing, military service, growing up, and "courting" my grandmother

His bits of wisdom, often ending with the words, "and so"

Playing cards and dominoes

His little "jigs" he would dance

His carpentry skills- he added on a room to 2 of our houses we had growing up

The dollhouse he built for me

Seeing him hold and interact with his great-granddaughter



I'm sure there are many more I could add if I thought about it long enough. I hope that many of you reading were lucky enough to have a special relationship with a grandparent and that this brought back some good memories for you.