A Christmas to Remember-For our Baby Aubrey

Dear Baby Aubrey,

We would like you to come out now... it is time and everyone is waiting to see you. Daddy is feeling better and is ready for you. So please come!!!!!!!!
We love you, Mommy, Daddy, and Nelly.

Hey after the week we have had we are ready to try anything. Many of you probably already know but for those that do not and for Aubrey to read one day here is the full story:

It was last Saturday night when Jeremy had the fatherly instinct to quit ignoring a pain that had been persisting for over 24 hours in his stomach. He decided to put himself first (FOR ONCE) and go to urgent care to get relief from the enormous gas bubble pain he felt in his tummy. After waiting 2 hours to be seen he was told at 11:30 at night to go to St. Joe's emergency and that he need to have his appendix out immediately. He called me at home to tell me the scary news as he was fighting back tears. I could feel the fear in his trembling voice. "Babe they said I need surgery." So luckily his dad met him at the ER and so began the enormously long wait to be seen by anyone--let alone a doctor. I was at home all night bawling uncontrollably tyring to get some sleep but of course I cant sleep when he is siting in a ER in the middle of the night.

At 5 am I got the call that he would be having surgery at 10:00 that morning as soon as a surgeon could get there. At 8 am I made my way to the ER figuring that all the weird and sick people would have went home by the morning. When I arrived with my parents we were greeted by a very sick and tired hubby. Poor guy--he was ghost white. Ordinarily this ordeal would have been okay but imagine the feeling of having a 5 cm's dilated 9 month pregnant wife just waiting to to go into labor. We were all scared to death. Luckily someone was watching over us. At 10:00 he had a very successful laproscopic surgery and he was home by 7 that evening. Did I forget to add that duing his surgery I began to have contractions 10 min apart?? Well I went to OB triage just up three floors only to be sent home because contractions weren't in a regular pattern.

So here we are Friday..he is feeling much better and I am still pregnant. No induction talk until 40 weeks and even then I'm not sure I would CHOOSE to be induced. We are hoping that the baby decides to come this weekend seeing that daddy is feeling much better, and there would be no better way to celebrate the new year. Please pray for us. We are SO READY:))

Still Waiting...

We are still in waiting. No baby yet. Bad cramping but no REAL contractions. Although these may be real but they are not taking my breath away yet. I guess the baby wanted to stay warm in mommy's tummy until the blizzard was finished:) We are ready though. Daddy especially. He is ready to go. Car gassed up, windshield wiper fluid in, and car backed into the garage. On Friday I received a gift from a co-work Dorrie. She is the art teacher at my school. She painted letters for the nursery for us. She is AWESOME!! I gave her the quilt and she painted the letters from the pattern. Thank you Miss Dorrie!! Aubrey will love them for years to come. And today my lovely father in law came to help us hang them. Thank you grandpa! I love how much you have helped me with my nursery! Well stay warm and hopefully this week sometime we will have a new bundle of joy. Keep us in your prayers!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas (or sooner!!)

Well today was my weekly checkup and I am 4 centimeters dilated and 90 % effaced!! The baby's head is right there ready to go the doc said. She was actually a bit surprised. She told me to go home and pack my bags for the hospital. Wow I thought I still had a good four weeks. She also told me that this will definitely be a 2007 baby. So it looks like December will be the month. I am having mild contractions right now nothing regular or hard. We will keep you all updated. If you would like to be on our email list to get the latest birth news please leave it in the comments section. In the next few days I would like to get together a email group. Please pray for us!!

Tis the Season...

Things have been busy at our house lately. We have spent the last few weekends preparing for the baby and decorating for Christmas. The nursery is done. We are in the process of washing all of her clothes or those that she will use immediately. We are also putting all of the fun stuff together like the swing, monitor, bouncy seat, stroller and car seat. We just finished a four week childbirth class which was really enjoyable. It was nice to do something as a couple like that. Jeremy has been wonderful and supportive and fully involved. I can't believe that we only have 30 something days left. Seems unreal!! The baby is now head down so we are preparing for a normal delivery. I feel good although when I work I feel crummy. By the end of the day my legs hurt and my feet ache. It is a lot to work with 6 year olds when your this pregnant. They take a toll on you. Especially 22 of the them!! After this week I will start going for weekly doctors visits to check on the little babe. We think her name is going to be Aubrey... Either Aubrey Grace or if she is born during the holiday season Aubrey Noel. She has been Aubrey to us for some time so unless she comes out looking not like an Aubrey that will probably be her name. I will continue to update. Sorry I feel like the updates are SOOO boring:) I hope you are enjoying your holiday season. We feel so blessed this holiday season.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I have been so busy that blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Wow between teaching full time, report cards, tutoring, masters classes, childbirth classes, and searching for childcare I feel like time is FLYING by. I can't believe the above ticker says 58 days left. What? Are you kidding?? I remember when it said 158 days left. Well I wanted to post about our wonderful shower even though its been over 4 weeks since we have had it. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of pink!! Thank you to our wonderful parents once again! Your probably;y wondering how I have been feeling lately? Well usually I walk through the door around 7 or 8 each night and I basically fall into bed and sleep. I am definitely more tired this trimester and just feeling large. Blood pools in my legs and they ache by the end of the day. Sleeping isn't that easy either. But all in all its a really cool time in the pregnancy. As I sit here to type this to you I can feel her doing acrobats in my stomach. The coolest part is when I sing with my first graders she moves like crazy. She loves music and loud noise:) I will try to post more often but I can't promise considering now the holidays are upon us and things are guaranteed to get even more CRAZY!! Oh and did I mention that the doc says that I am measuring 2 weeks ahead? Yeah so that would make me maybe 34 weeks now?? Can anyone say Christmas baby??!!

Poor Baby!!

Yesterday we went for a 3D-4D ultrasound. It was amazing but the first thing we were told is "you know she's breech right? Frank breech" Uh no we weren't aware of that. Yep her little feet are next to her ears and she is butt down. Babies can surely change positions in the next four weeks so we will see what happens. If she doesn't move we will just probably schedule a C-section. I'm fine either way. What is meant to be will be. As long as she is healthy. But you should see the amazing video and pictures. She looks so smooshed in there! We think she is absolutely beautiful and are so excited to finally meet her. Thank you to our moms for providing us with this awesome opportunity!! What a lucky baby to be born into two such wonderful and loving families.

Happy 28th Birthday Jeremy! A Tribute to My Husband-My Best Friend

This is about a 3 minute video. Turn up your volume!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Nursery

This is what the bedding looks like!

Last weekend my wonderful in laws came to help us paint the nursery and put the furniture together. It was so much fun and it looks awesome! It's such a big relief to have this done before I go back to work. We painted the top of the room a pale pink and the bottom is sage. Our theme is ladybugs. I picked out a really pretty bedding set from babies r us. I put a link so you can see it. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice at all!! Well that's all for now. Now we are working on the enormous task of naming our little girl. Several names have been in the works but so far we cant decide. We may be posting a poll soon for y'all to vote.

Our Baby Girl 20 Weeks...

We are happy to announce.......

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Yep you heard me... we are having a sweet baby girl! Those of you who know me well knew that God would give me a girl...I LOVE PINK!!! The ultrsound went perfect. Everything looks great with the baby and she weighs a whopping 13 ounces! She was moving around like crazy and looking at us with her hands in the air. It was amazing to see her and we can't wait to meet her. I will post pics later after I get them scanned into the computer. For now we are going SHOPPING!

Cold Peaches and Frosted MIni Wheats PLEASE!!

Yea you heard me--these days I wake up craving a bowl of Frosted mini-wheats and cant go to bed without cold peaches. I usually don't eat sugary cereal but the mini wheats are a good source of fiber with a little sweetness that I love. Did I mention that the milk must be ice cold?? Everyone keeps asking me about cravings so I thought I would do a post on that exact subject. I guess it's better than pizza or french fries--huh?? Oh and cold grapes are also a craving for me as well. Well 5 days till the big reveal!! Hopefully the baby will cooperate:) Talk to you all soon!

WAITING, WAITING, and MORE WAITING!

We are now in the middle of our 18th week of pregnancy and we are having such a hard time waiting for the 20 week ultrasound!! Time is going by so slow! I am enjoying my last days of summer! It is so weird to think this is the last time I will have to spend alone in a long time! Nelly and I are just having fun hanging out and doing fun little things around the house. Naples was awesome! We had fun just relaxing and getting some much needed sun. Although I REALLY missed my friends who were all in Vegas that same week. Jeremy and I had our tickets all booked and then we found out we were pregnant and decided that Vegas was not the greatest place for a pregnant mom. There's always next year! This baby is completly worth any sacrifice! Over the weekend my friend Dominique and Paul had their wedding shower and it was great. I can;t wait for Mr. & Mrs. Lucas to finally be official! Well thats all for now. Keep checking back for our next BIG post! Please pray for a healthy little peanut!!


Jeremy catering to my every need in Naples! I love him so much!!



Our trip to the Everglades on the airboat ride.


My pose next to the hogs in the everglades. I can kind of relate to how these guys feel:)


Our Mustang Convertable rental in Naples

16 Weeks and Feeling So Great!!

We are having a great summer! I wanted to update everyone about the baby. We went to the doc last Wednesday for a check up. This was the first time we heard the heartbeat! The doc put the doppler on my tummy and BOOM there it was. The doc's response was "Boy this baby stepped right up to the microphone!" It was amazing to hear. It was so strong and loud! We only have 3 and a half weeks until we get to find out what we are having. The summer has been great! Nelly and I have spent time relaxing and taking long walks! I have been able to get to the gym quite often which is great. We just celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was low key. We just went to The Melting Pot for dinner. We are going to Naples on Saturday for some much needed relaxation. This will be our last time for a while to take a trip alone:) Scroll down to listen to the awesome video I found about infertility. It really makes me sit back and be thankful for all we have been given.


15 Week Belly Shot!




Nelly after a typical walk!



Happy 2nd Anniversary to Us! Two years ago the week before we got married in front of our new home.

I Would Die For That

A great video that reminds me of all we have to be thankful for...

A Fun Filled Week!

This week our friend Dominique and Paul came in from Virginia to visit to attend our other friend Pat's wedding. It was so fun to see them and hang out like old times:) Nelly got to meet her long lost boyfriend Gunner (Paul and Dome's lab). They had a blast!!! I cant wait until they move back:) The wedding on Saturday was great as well. Here are a few photos from the week.



Nelly kissing her boyfriend!



Froggy Pose!



Dome and I:)







Boys luvin on my tummy!

Wow What God and Time Can Do!

We are so happy to report that we went to our new doctor today. We loved her! She was so warm and friendly and made us feel at home. We had our second ultrasound as well. Wow what four weeks can do. Our baby is doing wonderful and is right on track. The difference in the ultrasound pictures is amazing! The baby went from a small beating "dot" to a baby with a head, body, arms, and legs! We even saw the heart beating! It was going a million miles a minute.

I think this ultrasound made things very real for us. Up until this point we knew we were pregnant but without seeing much on an ultrasound or feeling much inside of me it was just kind of a dream. Now that we both saw the little peanut on the screen we are very excited!! The doc says that I am 11 weeks today give or take a week for error. So the new due date will be January 7th. On august 20th we will find out if we are having a little girl or a little boy. I cant wait!

I have been feeling REALLY GOOD! I can't believe that the only symptom that I have is extreme fatigue. And even the tiredness is starting to subside a little. I am very emotional and feel the need to be very close to my hubby:) They say that this is a normal feeling during pregnancy.

That's is it for now. I will try to start posting more regularly now that I am out of school for the summer and I am feeling a little more energized. Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy and have a great week!



A Little Explanation of the ultrasound pictures from top to bottom:

1. Full view of the baby. Left big circle is head and right circle is body. Arms are coming out of the middle.

2. Head with arms sticking out!

3. Lower body with legs sticking out:)

First Ultrasound

Well on Wednesday we went for our first appointment/ultrasound. Everything looks great. The Doc thinks I am about 6- 7 weeks pregnant. We saw a flutter which is supposed to be the heartbeat. We are very excited. I have been so tired at 7:00 so its been hard to update the blog. I come home and fall into bed. I feel so bad for Jeremy. During the day I feel okay and no sickness yet. Let's pray for this to continue:) I am really emotional from day to day. Each day brings on a different feeling. I know this is just all of the hormones:) I do worry about everything though--its just my nature. Going back to work and affording daycare is a huge worry. I know I need to relax and trust that God will take care of our family. Stress is probably not good for the baby. Please pray for less worries on my part!!

We are in the process of switching doctors. We had a really bad experience with our doctors reaction on Wednesday. His response to our pregnancy was "I wouldn't tell the world yet that you are pregnant. Maybe your family but definitely not the neighbors." We were very upset by this comment. We are fully aware of the risks of early pregnancy but his comments were not appropriate. We are looking into a practice out of St. Joe's. That's all for now!! We hope everyone had a great weekend!



You can't see much but he/she is there!!

A Bit of Unexpected News!!

For those of you who don't know yet, my husband Jeremy and I are expecting our first baby sometime near Christmas/ New Years. I started this blog to create a memory for our little baby to look back on one day and to keep friends and family up on the latest news.

Friday was a roller coaster ride for me! First of all our sweet one year old yellow Labrador retriever Nelly was spayed. She came home and had a very hard time after the surgery. Everything is okay now though thank God!!

Back to the baby news. Back in December I decided to go off of the pill because I wanted to see if I would have regular cycles. I had good luck for the first two months but since February 16th I have not had a period! So I have been in and out of the doctor's office trying to figure out why I wasnt having a period. They gave me a pregnancy test on April 12th which was negative and sent me home with a pill that should have made me have a menstrual cycle. Well it didn't! All though we weren't really trying to get pregnant we always said if it happened we would be happy. Well Friday I called my doctor still concerned about not starting my period. He told me to come in again for a blood test and sure enough the blood work came back that I am about 6 weeks pregnant according to the blood work. We are going in for an ultrasound this Wednesday to find out an exact due date.

My initial reaction was complete sobs. I drove all the way down 275 to Jeremy's work to tell him. Those of you who know me know how emotional I am! I have had an aching to be a mom for so long and envied people all around me who have babies, but I wasn't quite sure I was ready for it to be my turn! As I drove on I knew that God never gives you more than you can handle and I know in my heart that this happened for a reason even if it wasn't the perfect timing (teachers--we want to have MARCH babies:)).

The best lesson I learned from this little life inside of me is that you can't plan every detail of your life. We are going to love this baby more than we could ever imagine and everything is going to work out. I am so thankful for the wonderful supportive family that I have. I want to say thank you to my husband-- he is my rock. He was so excited and supportive always reassuring me everything would work out. I always knew he would make the best dad. He has a heart of gold. I couldn't ask for anything better right now. Please pray for a healthy visit and first ultrasound.