At this time last year

Hi readers!  I apologize, you may have thought I had forgotten about you, but I haven't.  I have just been a little busy and trying to find the right blogging inspiration.

I know today is October 25th, but I want to talk about this time last year on October 21st, when my husband and I discovered that our lives were changed forever.  We went to the OBGYN and found out that we were going to have a baby!  I'll never forget that day and how overjoyed I was to be blessed with this amazing gift and to be sharing it with the man I love.

The nurse called my name and as she was taking my weight in the hall, she asked me why we were there.  To that I replied, "I think I'm pregnant."  In my mind I thought they would take a urine sample to see if it was true, but no.  She said, "Oh, okay," with a smile and showed us right into an ultrasound room, immediately got out the heart monitor, and began rubbing it on my belly.  Next thing you know, we were hearing a tiny, super fast heartbeat, and she said, "Yep, you're pregnant alright!  There's the baby's heartbeat."  Right away the tears started falling as both of us became overwhelmed with joy.  Then she threw out some numbers and said the heartbeat was perfect!

Next, Dr. M came in to see us and this was the first time we had met, but I knew his family from church.  He started the ultrasound and that was when we saw our little baby Ava for the first time!  I remember staring at the screen, amazed and so incredibly happy, trying not to breathe or move so that the image on the screen wouldn't go away.  He told us that I was 9 weeks along and that everything looked great!

I think it's safe to say that most people are a little wary when visiting a new doctor for the first time, wondering if they will like them, understand what they're saying, and be comfortable around them.  I think that is especially true when visiting an OBGYN, especially when it's a male doctor, and you want to have the same doctor for 9 months, so it is a big commitment and I definitely had my concerns before the appointment.

But all my fears were soon relieved when Dr. M made a Friends reference during our ultrasound (talking about when Rachel said she could see the baby on the screen, but as soon as the doctor left she started crying and said she couldn't see it).  At that moment, I knew that our doctor/patient relationship was meant to be!

So, that's the end of that story.  We have a busy, busy weekend coming up, like most people probably do for Halloween.  I'll post again sometime next week and let you know how it goes!

The Fair and Bowling

Yesterday Brian, Ava, Grant, Les, and I went to The Great State Fair of Oklahoma!  It was tons of fun.  Originally we went because Grant's band was going to play at 10:30 in the morning, but they didn't end up getting to play because one of the band members was in the hospital (as far as I know he is better now).  So that was kind of a bummer but we decided to still go since Brian had already asked off from work.  We walked through some of the buildings and ate fair food and had a great time.  My favorite part was seeing the baby animals.

We left the fair around 3:30 and headed home for a nap and some delicious potato soup that my husband whipped up in the crock pot the night before.  He likes to just wing it when it comes to cooking, he glances at a recipe on the internet and then just goes for it.  As opposed to me, I like to follow recipes exactly and then depending on how they turn out I might make small changes the next time around.  So I hate watching him cook because I'm always trying to get him to "color inside the lines" but 8 times out of 10 his dishes turn out pretty awesome.

After our naps we had to gather up enough energy to get in the car and head for bowling!  Which was lots of fun as always.  For those of you who don't know, we joined a bowling league here in Shawnee at the new Firelake bowling alley.  We have been in a few leagues before (in Oklahoma City) but they were all 9 pin leagues (if you knock down 9 pins on your first ball it's a strike).  Bowling in 9 pin leagues of course leads to higher scores and usually the crowd is more laid back, so I was hesitant when I found out Shawnee only had 10 pin leagues.  I wasn't sure if my game would be up to par and I didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of serious bowlers (because that's not me).  But I really love bowling and we thought it would be a good way to meet people who live in Shawnee, so I took the leap and said to Brian, "Let's do it!"

Well, the next problem was that all the leagues were in a 4-man team set up and we only had two.  So we signed up anyway and crossed our fingers that there would be two other people we could team up with and that they would be cool.  Well we got lucky and found Randy and Kim!  They didn't really know each other, but we all teamed up and have been having a great time.  They are both probably in their 50's and great bowlers.

So I was a little intimidated by all the good bowlers, but I surprised myself and after the first week I had a 118 average!  After a lot of math, my handicap was figured out to be 122.  So I set a goal for myself for the season; to get my average higher than my handicap.  And what do you know, after the second week of bowling my average was 122 and my handicap was 118!  So I checked that off my list.  After bowling a 160 last night I decided that my new goal would be to bowl one game over 200.

Well, baby girl just woke up, so I have to finish up now, but I'll let you know when I conquer my new goal!

Ava's Book

I am super excited about this photo book/children's book that a made for Ava on Shutterfly.  I took a bunch of pictures of all the different faces that she makes and I put them in a book with captions that describe her emotions.  I can't wait to get it in the mail and I really can't wait to read it to her!  I think this will be a great way for her to learn, plus babies love looking at their own faces!

Here is an example of a few of my favorite pages :)

Also, we just got back from her 4 month check up and everything is looking great!  She's climbing up on the growth charts; on her first couple visits she was a little on the low side on the height/weight chart, but now she is more toward the middle.  She also got four vaccines, one oral and three shots :(.  She screamed so loud she turned purple :(

The Weekend

After much inspiration from Jenny, Amanda, and Charla and constant peer pressure from Jenny, I have decided to start blogging.  So, here it goes!

This past weekend was pretty fun and crazy, it was my grandparents' 60th Anniversary celebration!  Sixty years, wow, that is so incredible to me and they are such an inspiration in so many ways.  Almost all of my mom's side of the family came into town and the plan was to dress up, go to mass and then have a fancy dinner at Park Avenue Grill.  Unfortunately, my grandpa had his second stroke and a seizure and had to go to the hospital.  He was in CCU all weekend, but is doing better and has been moved to his own room.  Needless to say, we decided to forego the dressing up and dinner, but we still went to mass together and, of course, celebrated their amazing accomplishment of 60 years!

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my grandparents, with my daughter, Ava.

So, over the weekend, with so many family members in one place, the usual eating, drinking, playing games, and loud conversation ensued.  On Saturday we had breakfast at the Lake Hefner golf course clubhouse, went to the hospital to see grandpa, and then went to my cousin, Jace's, soccer game.  They lost, but Jace played great!  Then we went to mass and that night Aunt Carla made an amazing lasagna and green bean dinner at my mom's house since we had decided not to go out to dinner.  Then there was cake, presents, and lot's of toasting!  We had a great time seeing everyone and Ava was a great sport with letting so many people hold her!  However, the loudness did seem to get to her, especially at the apex of it all, during the OU game.  At that point, she and I had to seek out a dark, quiet room and try to calm down.  Unfortunately, by the time she went to sleep, most of my family had left and the party was pretty much over.

On Sunday we went to Tulsa to celebrate Amanda's son, Brenden's, fourth birthday.  It was kind of funny because Brian and Amanda are friends from college, but I had never met her or her family before.  However, we have been friends on Facebook for quite some time and we have a lot in common since we are both stay at home moms, so it felt as though we were old friends and as soon as we walked through the door it was hugs all around and we had a great time!  After that we headed home to recover from the long exciting weekend.

Well, there you have it, folks!  My first blog!  And now, in conclusion, a quote by Sara Bareilles from The Sing-Off last night:  "Well, you know me!  Or you don't, but you're about to!"