1. I think my baby is getting on less of a schedule and is more fussy by the day. She went from sleeping 5-6 hours at night to 3. That doesn't even sound possible, but she won't go to sleep until 3:00 and then she'll wake up at 6:00. I'm working on trying to keep her awake in the evenings and when I can do it she sleeps longer but when the choice is screaming her head off or sleeping, sleeping usually wins.

2. I love her like crazy! My new favorite thing is her chubby little knees. She's 'talking' and smiling more and I love that, too.

3. I'm not ready for Christmas at all. But I'm still excited and I love this time of year. We have awesome friends and neighbors who have given us treats so even though I haven't really gotten around to making any we haven't suffered too badly.

4. I thought my back pain would end when my pregnancy did. It's just in new places. And sitting still hurts my tailbone. Getting up hurts the most, actually. Not much you can do though!

5. I need my hair done so badly. Please don't judge the roots!

6. I got my tree up! And I made caramels! A little on the hard side because little miss muffet woke up wanting to eat (i kind of knew she would but i thought i'd give it a try) but I'm happy I at least attempted some Christmas treats!

7. My baby is so smart I'm pretty sure she can sense when I sit down at the computer even when she's asleep and she doesn't like it. I can use my phone or my iPad but editing on my desktop? Uh uh. I guess the same goes for showering and eating though... ;)

8. I'm so excited to see lots of family for Christmas!

9. I didn't know breastfeeding could be so hard. But we haven't given up yet! And I didn't know how concerned you could get over baby poop. :)

10. Did I mention I love my baby girl?


Merry Christmas!

My baby is a month old! She was weighed yesterday and she is now 10 lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long (her birth weight was 8 lbs 10 oz and she was 20 3/4 inches long).




After a month I get my showers in, I occasionally get makeup on, and clothes get washed. Meals even get made sometimes. I'm so grateful for all of the people who brought us meals! After having a baby, cooking was the last thing I wanted to do, and it was so much easier to just not eat. So, thank you!!

We've (Ava and I) ventured to Lethbridge a few times, including shopping in Costco and a trip to the mall (so glad I discovered their little family room), and I even left her with a friend today while I had a massage. It's crazy how weird it is to be away from her when she's only been around for a month!


Some other random things:


I value sleep more than I ever have in my life. Naps are good things.  Waking up in the morning to find she slept longer than usual is amazing. This week she's been doing the opposite. Not quite as fun.

Gripe water is awesome.

I can't believe how many diapers I've changed.

I can't believe how much I love this tiny person.

I can't believe how much this tiny person has taken over my life. :)

I can't believe how little I get done in a day. This blog post has taken 2 days. Or maybe 3. Computer work like editing is also harder because my tailbone is still really sore when I sit and it pops all the time, which isn't too comfortable. ?

I spend way less time on facebook and pinterest. And checking email. I thought I'd spend more.

There are a few things that no one ever told me about having a baby. But it's all worth it.


Ava is starting to smile a little more, and all it takes is a little smile to make my day! I love her little sounds and her little faces. Her little arms and legs are filling out and starting to get a little chunky! I love that she has little dimples on her elbows. I love her little cheeks. She has way nicer skin than her mom. Jealous. I love that she has hair. I love her eyelashes, and her little nose. And her lips. And her little hands and feet. And her sad face - she knows how to get to me already. I love that she knows who her mom is. I love that she still holds her little feet up under her bum when I hold her on my chest. I love that she loves to snuggle. When she's awake she's always looking around taking everything in, and the way she holds her head up  - I can't believe how strong she is.  I didn't know I would love being a mom this much.

Newborn clothes are out - I think it's sad I already have to put clothes away. I guess that's why people have more than one kid. Little girl clothes are so fun - oh to have an unlimited budget! ;)


Random pictures from the last few weeks:

This was right after a bath so her hair was fuzzy :)


I haven't mentioned this yet - Clark got a dog when Ava was a week old. His name is Tebow.









Her cousin Summer loves to hold her:


And her birth announcement(s) that I haven't sent out yet:


I couldn't decide so I got both. And because I'm so productive lately (ha) I just got them printed as photos instead of ordering them from my lab. It cost me the same so I wouldn't do it again but I'm trying to get them out sooner than later!

Today our little Ava is 2 weeks old! I'm finally getting around to blogging about her arrival - I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and do this, and my tailbone is just finally letting me sit down for a few minutes.

If you're a guy or you just don't care, you can skip the birth story:

I woke up at 2:30 am on Nov 8 and had a few contractions 15 minutes apart, and then they started coming every 9-10 minutes. I went downstairs and turned the TV on and spent the night trying to sleep and breathing through them. By morning I told Clark I thought she'd be coming that day sometime so to keep his phone on. By early afternoon they'd been coming every 5 minutes for a couple of hours so Clark came home and we drove in to Lethbridge. He was actually in Lethbridge to pick up some files for work so he had to turn around to come get me. By the time he got home the contractions were closer together but not quite as strong, which I was fine with. But, by the time we got to the hospital and they hooked up the monitor, they had stopped. I had a few on my way up to labor and delivery, but in half an hour on the monitor they didn't detect a single one. So, Dr Davey told me I wasn't in labor and to go home. I just stared at him, I think, because I really didn't want to go home. He had stripped my membranes and by the time I walked out the door I was having a contraction. Ugh. By the time I got to the exit doors of the hospital, I'd had a few more, and Clark and my mom were wondering if I should just go back upstairs, but I didn't want to look like an idiot, and I didn't want them to tell me to go home again so I slowly made my way to the parking garage with contractions coming almost on top of each other. We got in the car and I cried. I was tired, I was a week overdue, I was hormonal, and I'd been having contractions for 12 hours already. Those things kind of hurt. I just wanted to hurry up and have this baby already.

Clark and I drove to the mall thinking I could walk around or something to stay in town, but that definitely wasn't happening. By this point I was having some pretty good contractions every 7 minutes, and we decided to just go home. At home I sat on Clark's exercise ball with a barf bowl. Every contraction made me more nauseous. They sped up to every 5 minutes and I was not a happy camper so Clark told me he was taking me back in. This was at about 5:30, so we got to the hospital at about 6:00, and we just walked in the front, because we figured we had already checked in once, and I didn't want to walk all the way through the hospital again. So, we're walking up the walkway to the main entrance and who do we run into? Mike Holt, Clark's cousin. If you don't know who he is, I can't really explain him, but he's married with kids, and he didn't say much to me except to tell me it was going to end. I didn't even know who Clark was talking to at first because I was bent over trying to breath, but he walked with us into the hospital. What a small little world we live in!

Anyway, we made it upstairs, Clark got in trouble for not checking in, and then we went into the little room again. My mom got there a few minutes later. This time I couldn't even get on the bed so they sat me on a ball to monitor things. I was feeling so nauseous, when I finally tried to get up on the bed I puked. There are not many things in the world I hate more than puking. Sick. They checked me and I was only at 3 cm, so Dr Davey broke my water. They gave me some morphine, which started helping a little, and then I sat in the shower until 9:30 pm when the anesthesiologist finally got out of the OR and gave me an epidural. They checked me again and I was only 5 cm. After another couple of hours I was 6-7 cm. The nurses called Dr Davey and he told them to put me on the drip. The epidural had finally kicked in and I just wanted to go to sleep. It took until after 2:30 am to get to 10 cm, and at 3:42 am on November 9 Ava was finally born!

We named her Ava Nicole (Nicole is my middle name) and we couldn't be more excited to have our baby girl! We're pretty in love with our little Ava!

And some pictures:


 8 lbs 10 oz. That's what I get for marrying a giant! ;) I still can't believe she somehow fit inside me.

She was so happy to see us :)

Wow. 

Proud daddy:

FINALLY, some food!! :)

Ava's first bath:

She liked getting her hair washed (it was pretty crusty, poor kid):





My grandma and grandpa:

My dad:

We had more visitors but I didn't get pictures of all of them.

Getting ready to go home:


Grandpa Doug:

Grandma Nancy:

Ava's first bath at home:



My sisters, Megan & Kelsey came to help out:


I love her eyelashes! And, pretty much everything about her. 

I did a shoot with her when she was a week old and have only edited a couple so far:




One of these days I'll get more done. Hopefully. :)

The Primary Program is over! It was two weeks ago. The kids did a great job and some of the little ones are just so cute it doesn't even matter if you can't understand them or if they don't want to say their part.

My mom's birthday was a week and half ago and we went out to Barnwell for dinner and I made her a 'vegetable cake' as Clark calls carrot cake. As long as I can remember my mom has loved carrot cake (with cream cheese icing). I decided to bake it Sunday morning and the pan I used was a little deeper than a regular 9"x13" and the cake took twice as long to bake as usual and I was late for church - oops! But, it turned out okay - cream cheese icing makes everything good. :)


I did a couple of newborn shoots last week which was fun - I can't wait to have my own baby to shoot! I love taking photos of squishy little newborns. I also did an engagement session - I just love couples in love, what can I say?! I'm excited to shoot their wedding next year.

Clark's birthday was on Thursday and we had family over for ice cream cake. He's not huge on birthdays but I think he had a pretty good day. He got a Kindle, and he's been using it a lot - of course now I want one! :) He loves reading, and I've tried to buy books for him, but I usually strike out so now he can just go online and pick out what he wants to read, which is great.


I'm past 40 weeks now. Our little girl was due on Wednesday, and it's now Sunday afternoon. The actual due date was hard because I wanted her to come NOW, haha, and then I was okay for a few days, but today I felt like a basketcase. It's the weirdest thing to go to bed every night thinking I'm going to wake up and go have a baby and then to wake up in the morning and still be fat with no contractions. The sleep is great, don't get me wrong - I'm still enjoying that while I can. :) I don't know why it's messing with my head so much today but this morning I just wanted to cry and stay home instead of go to church. Yeah, I'm amazingly tough like that. ?? I didn't cry, by the way. I know she'll come, eventually. It's inevitable, right? At least I tell myself that - I think I almost think she might just never come! Haha. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon so we'll see what he says - he's going to book an induction then.


I finished the dust ruffle for her crib (and it actually looks okay!), and the quilt my mom was helping me with. Clark still has to put up a shelf for me and once that's done her nursery will be just about done! I got the cutest little flowers and headbands from my awesome neighbor Steph that match the colors in there, and I can't wait to get some photos with them so I can order the canvases for the wall.

Clark and I went to Lethbridge yesterday and walked the mall for awhile to see if that would help. Well, he walked and I waddled. :) We went to Old Navy and got her a cute little coat and her daddy picked out a little outfit for her. We even went to a movie in the middle of the afternoon - it was fun to get out with just the two of us. You'd think that would happen more often since we don't have any kids yet, but Clark's classes take up his time every night (including Fridays until midnight and corrections over the weekend) so we haven't really had a good date in awhile. I even got dressed - I think that's the last time I will wear jeans until this baby comes. Ouch. You just can't beat yoga pants for comfort. I'm excited to get rid of this permanent itchy line etched into my gut from waistbands. Hopefully someone out there can relate...

About two weeks to go!

I ripped my contact somehow so I'm wearing glasses. I have ones I like better, but they're packed in the hospital bag. Yup, I'm actually packed. Mostly. Any suggestions of what to take along?

My friends, Jill & Jacquie, and sister-in-law, Shelley, threw a baby shower for me last week. It was fun to get out and see some friends, and I got the cutest gifts! Thanks girls!

38 weeks:

The nursery is almost done! My mother-in-law helped me paint a bookshelf and a dresser and now I just need to paint the hardware and put the drawers back in. I'm making her a quilt for the crib, and it's almost done so hopefully this week I'll finish it. Binding is not my favorite thing so I'm glad I have my mom to help me. Other than the quilt I'm making receiving blankets and a dust ruffle for the crib. I hadn't sewn anything in probably a few years so I wasn't sure how anything would turn out but I'm actually liking my little sewing projects.  My seams are getting straighter! Now I really want my own sewing machine.
 

The colors in her room are purple/lavendar and turquoise/aqua (monitors vary so the turquoise might look green in this pic but it's turquoise!).

I finally settled on a diaper bag:



I just shot a wedding on Saturday so I'm trying to hurry and get that edited asap, along with the rest of the family sessions I've done lately, and the photos from my flower models. Clark's office needed headshots done so yesterday I drove to Cardston to do them. It was kind of fun to mix it up and shoot something different.



I'm excited to have a permanent model in about 2 weeks! :) Girls are so fun. I have canvases ordered for above her crib, and I'm excited to get them up (I pre-ordered the sizes during a sale and will actually order the canvases when I have the photos of her).

This Saturday is our big practice for our Primary Presentation. I'm in charge of it, so hopefully it goes well! Luckily I work with awesome ladies who do a ton to help so it's not just me. We're having a pizza party with the kids after, and then this Sunday is the presentation. Fingers crossed that it goes well!

I keep telling myself and Clark that this baby is not going to come early, because I'm not ready! I thought it just wasn't in my genes to have babies before their due date but my sister reminded me that she's had babies a week early. She'll come when she comes! :) It's weird to think she could come any day now. Clark has to be in Calgary for school for a few days right after her due date, so we wouldn't mind if she avoided those dates somehow. Whenever she arrives we're very excited to meet her!