6 MONTHS!!!

s0o0o0o0o, it's been a long time since i've been on here. much needed updates...

ava marie has gone through so many stages...

held her head alone at 1-2 months

rolled over at 2 months

she smiled at 2-3 months old

laughed at 3 months

grabbed for things around 5 months

crawled at 5 months

peek-a-boo at 5 months

started reaching up when she wanted to be held

started pulling herself up at 5-6 months

sat up alone at 6 months

had her first taste of apple juice at 6 months

first taste of baby food at 6 months

we also think she's picked up the word "heeeeyyyy", due to daddy and grandpa both saying that as soon as they walk in. she has gotten SUCH a personality as the time goes by.

i've also been blessed with friends and family passing down clothing. i think i can count on two hands the number of outfits i've actually bought so far.. which is AMAZING!!! i still have huge boxes to go through that shes not able to fit into yet.

i'm super excited for my sister-in-law, who's about to have her first and i cant wait to meet him! (or her, being as we havent actually met in person yet :0) !!! ) i'll be visiting her along with my mama-in-law in april. stooked!!

andrew has been working 10/7's and just moved up to 12/7's, but he tries his hardest to spend time with us when he gets home without passing out. we miss him, but it wont be those hours much longer and i'm sure we'll love the paycheck.

well, hopefully i'll be writing more often now... i'll keep ya posted!!

SHE'S HERE!!!

Ava Marie Baney is here!!! here's a fun little survey to start this blog off...


[[AbOuT MoMMy aNd PReGNaNcy]]


MoMMyS FuLL NaMe: * Samantha Jo Baney

AGe WhEn PReGNaNt: *21

CuRReNt AGe: * 21, 22 in a few days. (sept 21)

HOw FaR & lOnG wERe yOu wHeN yOu FoUnd OuT?: *a little over a month

STiLL wiTh ThE FaTheR?: * of course!

WhAT waS yOuR FiRsT ReaCtiOn wHeN yOu FoUnd OuT yOu wErE PreGnaNt?: * didnt believe it, i had to take another test.

HOw DiD tHe FaTheR ReaCt??: * he was excstatic!

HOw DiD YOuR PaReNtS TaKe ThE NEwS?: * dad was a little worried, but came around... the in-laws were sooo happy :0)

HOw DiD yOu FeeL aBoUt yOuR FiRsT ULTraSOuNd sOuNd?: * teared up a little!

WhaT MoNth DiD yOu FiNd OuT ThE seX Of ThE BaBy?:* 6months, i think.

WHeRe yOu HaPPy aBOuT ThE seX OF The BaBy??: * yep, could have gone either way

WHaT weRe yOuR CraViNgs?: *chocolate... lots and lots of chocolate

DiD yOu ExCeRSiCe wHeN yOu wERe PreGnaNt??: * for a little while i was doing the same thing i was before i got pregers... then took it down to walking... then just stopped all together.

HOw MuCh WeiGht DiD yOu GaiN??: * 30lbs

DiD yOu GeT MoRniNg SiCkNeSs?: * yep, only once in the mornings.

DiD yOu eNjOy weaRiNg maTeRniTy CLoTheS??: * at first... they were comfy. then i just started to get cranky and felt like a whale. haha.

WhaT BoOks DiD yOu ReaD wHeN yOu weRe PreGnaNt??: * the pregnancy book... did lots of reading online also... and had magazines coming in like crazy.

DiD yOu aTTeNd aNy PReGNaNcy CLaSSes, LiKe LaMaze?: * we took budget for baby, baby basics, breastfeeding class, and birthing classes.



[[aBouT The DeLiVeRy]]

HOw DiD yOu KnOw yOu weRe iN LaBoR?: * i got what they call "bloody show" and shortly after started having bad contractions.

DiD yOuR waTeR BreAk??: * yep, about two hours after i went to the hospital.

WhaT weRe yOuR CoNtraCtiOns LiKe??: * really really bad, severe menstral cramps... times a billion.

HoW LoNg weRe yOu iN laBoR fOr??: * 15 hours before they decided to give me a c-section! ugh.

EPiDuRaL???: * yessssssssssssssss

WhO waS iN ThE DeLiVeRy RoOm wiTh yOu??: * just the hubby

WaS iT aN EaSy DeLiVeRy??: * c-section.

DiD yOu CrY DuRiNg LaBoR??: * i cried when they told me i couldnt have her natural.


[[aBoUt ThE BaBy]]


BaBYs FuLL NaMe: * Ava Marie Baney

BiRTh DaTe: * august 15th, 2009

TiMe BoRn: * 7:49am

GeNdeR: * female

LeNgTh: * 18.8 inches.

weiGht: * 6lbs 9oz

WhaT waS ThE FiRsT ThiNg yOu SaiD tO yOuR BaBy?: * hello baby girl!

wHo ViSiTeD yOu aNd ThE BaBy aT The HoSpiTaL?: * kim strickland and the mcintosh's

wiLL yOu BreAsTFeeD?: * sure am.

wHaT waS The FiRsT NiGht BeiNg a PaReNt LiKe?: * unreal, i felt like i was in a dream!

DiD yOu GeT sLeeP?: * not really... i kept checking on her, so paranoid.

wHeN DiD yOu Go HoMe?: * two days after surgery.


[[PReSeNt TiMe]]

HOw OLd iS yOuR BaBy NoW? * 1wk, 3dys

WhO DOeS uR BaBy LoOk LiKe NoW??: * both of us!

BeeN BaPtiZed??: * nah, i'm going to let her decide to do that. my mom didnt baptize me when i was younger, i chose to do it myself.

yOuR BaByS CuRReNt MiLeStOnE AchiEveMeNt??: * holding her head up herself for a while.

WhaTs yOuR BaBy'S FavOriTe ThiNg To Do??: * EAT!!

yOuR BaByS FaVe ToY?: * the swing! she loves it.

WhAt iS iT LiKe BeiNg a PaReNt?: * the greatest responsibility you could ever have.

ReaDy FoR aNoTheR OnE?: * not until ms. ava is out of diapers!





well that answered some things. about the c-section...

went into labor around 5am on august 14th... finally around 4pm, they were bad enough to go to the hospital and see what they could do for me about the pain if they wont admit me. they said the contractions were pretty irregular, but they want to keep me in there to monitor ava because her heart rate was going up and down so rapidly.

about two hours later after them just monitoring me, my water broke... needless to say, i was in for good. hours passed and they tried to give me pain meds to help me, but nothing was working for me. got the shakes real bad from the pain. finally around 1:30am they gave me an epidural. it was my life saver! i got to go in and out of sleep for a while. mostly i was just excited and couldnt sleep, but i tried. finally around 5 or 6 am they checked me and i was 10cm, ready to push. everytime i tried, though ava's heart rate would go crazy again. sooo.. they called the doctor in. he was at home, i guess, so i had to wait on him to get there. finally around 7 he came in and talked to me about using a vaccum and forecepts... and i just didnt know what to do... he said let me check you and then we can decide... sooo he checked me and realized that she was actually trying to come out head sideways... soooo, stubborn like her daddy... i did all that work for them to just cut me open anyways. i was really upset about it, but knew that i had to do it for her and my safety. the doc actually did a REEEEALLY good job on the cut, no one will ever know. i'm just glad she got here ok and is healthy.

she had a little jaundice, but they said it's going away, so that's good. we have her 2 wk check-up on the 2nd of september. i can already tell she's gotten bigger. she likes to eat, sleep, and poop. haha. she sleeps through the night though, which is absolutely amazing. i'm taking advantage of it while i can, because i know it wont last long. everything is going really well!! i find myself staring at her a lot in disbelief that we made such a gorgeous human being. i'm soooooo happy she's finally here!!!


we love you all! we'll update you after her check up! :0)

well...

i believe i spoke too soon. i think i have had some "bloody show" come up tonight. called the labor and delivery around 7... explained everything to the nurse/doctor and they said it was all very normal. but looking online after i googled what happened, it says i can expect to start having contractions within the next 48 hours. which doesn't necessarily mean that i'll go into labor, but all the same, it's a step up from where i am now.

hang in there guys... she just might be on her way! :0)

38 week check-up!

went in for the weekly check-up today. apparently nothing major has changed except that i'm officially a full cm dilated. which isnt bad. at least i'm moving forward. still at 75% effaced. as my friend kim said though, that doesnt really mean anything... she could still come tomorrow if she wanted. it's all up to mother nature.

my next appt is on tuesday. not sure if they'll check me again that soon or not. they actually asked me if i wanted it done today, so maybe they'll just ask from now on. i had one of the new doctors today too. i really liked her a lot. hopefully one of the two that i've seen will be delivering.

went grocery shopping afterwards... nothing too exciting except that we have a fridge full of yummy food now. and tons of snacks in case we end up going to the hospital within the next two weeks. apparently the hospital food is yucky.

it seems like all the girls around here are just as, if not more, excited for ava to get here. they all have boys, so throwing a girl in there... she's going to be the princess. hopefully she doesnt get TOO spoiled :0) . i'm excited to see her though, and how she looks, and acts. the suspense is killing me!!!

nothing else new, except our friend just got the cutest little baby rottie... she's the most lovable, cuddly little puppy i've ever seen. she just lays on my tummy and goes to sleep. it's precious! even though ava doesnt really like sharing the tummy... she usually kicks right where sadie's head is lying. haha. here's a picture of her...

well, until tuesday!

16 days!

had another doc appt today... i thought i was going to be "checked", definitely wasn't. kind of upsetting. i want to know whether or not i'm making any progress!! what can ya do?

they weighed me (havent gained a pound, i'm thankful i picked fruit this week at the grocery store instead of the 5 gallon bucket of ice cream i usually insist on), measured the tummy, i'm at 35 weeks gestational (which is apparently normal?), she felt around to see how big ava had gotten (she's still under 7lbs, gonna be a petite lady like her mama), and then checked to see if her head had dropped any (dropped a little, but not all the way there yet). so there's definitely been some progress. our next appt is on thursday. she said if i wanted, i could have my membranes stripped then, but i'm not really sure about that. it's painful and sometimes not all that effective. i think if i've made it that far next week, i can handle it until 40. if she tries to stay in longer than that then i'm going to have to kick her out! eviction style. her heartbeat is still strong at 140bpm... at least she's healthy. that's all i can ask for, right? i'd just like her to stay small so that i dont have to look towards a c-section.

i've been having small contractions. lots of braxton hicks still, now with a little bit of cramping. not painful, but still annoying enough. plan on doing lots of walking! and the good weather has come just in time! it's been under 100 these last couple days. and it's been heaven! i just cant wait until the rain finally starts coming. i think this is the only month that it rains, but when it does rain, it pours! so i'm pretty excited about that.

nothing else going on really... just nesting as usual. i'm actually about to jump off here now and go do some dishes! :0)

another update in a week! <3

9 months!!

lots of news to fill you in on!

went to the doctor today. everything is going well with little miss ava marie. she's about 5lbs right now (doc said she'll gain a pound and a half to a pound every week until she's born). she's in head down position, but her head is resting on top of my pelvic bone instead of settling inside the socket. she should come to be in place before labor sets in. i'm a little under 1cm dilated, and already a good 75% effaced. which is good, but doesnt really do anything to speed things up. one thing the doc said that we need to keep an eye on is how narrow the birth canal is. she said we're going to try natural, but if there seems to be complications then we're going to probably have to look towards a c section :0( . i'm scared of that. so i'm going to try my best to push that little girl out of there! haha. other than that, everything is good. heartbeat is strong (as are her kicks and elbow drops). i should know when she settles into position because i'll be able to breath... hallelujah! we have an appt every week from now until her bday! so i'll have tons of updates for you every week now. :0)

we had our last child birth class last night. this one was pretty much a review of the baby basics class. how to swaddle, take care of the cord, the diaper changes, nursing, all that good stuff. she also threw in normal newborn appearances. and a lot of those things, i had no idea where normal. like rashes and bumps and stuff like that. good to know. also, some babies are cross eyed when they come out. the lady said it's mostly because the bridge of their nose isnt high enough yet, so really they're looking at themselves. we found that kind of funny.

no more classes, just doctor appointments and lots of waiting to do. i already have my hospital bag ready, ava's bag is all ready, carseat is a go... feel like the house could be cleaner, but we all know what it's like living with a man. i'm going to have to send him to mommy cleaning bootcamp along with ava when it's time.

andrew volunteered for the range next week. (when people go out for target practice). it's pretty far out there in the desert, so i told him he better get me a number for the office and i have a back-up daddy ready in case she decides to come early. haha. just for the drive to the hospital, of course, i dont think she'd come without her real dad there. he'll only be out there until around 1-2 everyday, then he's off. so it wont be bad at all. plus i have a feeling i have a couple more weeks in me. buuuut ya never really know with a baby.

think that's about it for now. not as long as i thought. hopefully not much longer before she gets here, i know everyone else is just as excited as i am to see her! :0)

it's getting hotter!!

i'm 35 weeks and it's up to 115-118 degrees out here. needless to say, i'm a little miserable during the day. everything is going well other than that, though. gotta be thankful for mine and ava's health, right? gallons of water do the trick!

so today was our third child birth class. we got a lot of good info on epidurals. my "doctor" actually isnt a doctor, she's a midwife. i'm hopeing she's on duty when i go into labor. that way she can help me with tricks on how to do without the epi. they let you get in the shower or tub during labor to help ease some of the pain. if i have to get anything, it's not going to be narcotics. i'm deathly afraid of those drugs. guess we'll see though. i dont have a "birth plan" i just kind of want to go with the flow. who know's how labor will really go anyways. gotta have an open mind.

we also got a tour of the labor and delivery unit. the rooms are amazing. the nurse that was in there was absolutely hilarious. i hope he's there whenever i go in. he knew exactly how far along i was just by looking at me! he knows his stuff! "see you in a month" he said. crazy!

we had an amazing time in temecula last weekend. we only planned on staying the day saturday and going back that night. buuut we were tired and ended up staying the night. i didnt get much sleep at all between babies crying, hank barking, letting him in, getting him to lay down, and stay down, ava kicking. i was a wreck the next day! i definitely am NOT ready for the whole sleeping two hours a night thing. but i guess you never really are ready for that. tough, but gotta do it.

we saw ice age 3 in 3d while we were there. i loved it!! i recommend the 3d! andy and i kept our glasses so we'll send them to you if you want to go :0) . also, we got ava's crib!! i have a shipment of things coming in on thursday (maybe even tomorrow if i'm lucky), and some pictures from the family, and we'll all set! i cant believe we have everything we need for her. now all we really have to do is wait. waiting is never fun. not even when you're prego. even though, the longer she stays in there, the better. for her. apparently she's about 5lbs, 18 inches. (according to the average studies). we'll find out for sure how big she is next wednesday. i'm so excited! havent seen her since i was 6 months! seems like forever ago!

wellll... i dont think there's anything else going on. so i'll have to catch you guys up next wednesday after my appointment! :0) i'm off to watch rescue me, eat some cereal, and hopefully sleep for hours! <3

hah-hee-whoooooo

hahaha, we went to our second out of four child birthing classes. we had to take pillows in... obviously for breathing exercises. it was pretty interesting. i cant say that it's helpful yet, because of course, i havent given birth yet. but it looks like it's something that can really work. basically the pain isnt going to go anywhere, but if i can focus on something else until that contraction goes back down, i think i'll be ok. and i really think i can do it. one of the things were for andy to just touch my face, shoulders, arms, hands, neck... and as he touches those parts, i was supposed to focus on completely relaxing that part... it was wonderful. basically i got a massage the whole class... and i wanted to fall asleep. andy actually did fall asleep at one point. hahah. cant blame him though, it was very relaxing.

next class there will be a speaker coming in... an anesthesiologist. and we get to ask him/her all kinds of questions about epidurals and all those good drugs (that i really want to try NOT to use). after he/she is done, we get to take a tour of the labor and delivery. i've already seen the rooms. they're reaaaaaaally nice! we get to keep her in the room with us at all times, there's no nursery. also, they have the system where they'll put a band on mine and andy's arm, and her's... and if anyone else that doesnt have one of those on tries to walk out of the hospital with her, the whole base will shut down and it would be everyone looking for her. that's pretty neat. makes me feel good.

i ordered stuff from target yesterday. i got her curtains for her bedroom (since it gets ridiculously bright and hot in there due to the cheap blinds they have up in there). i got some bassinet sheets (only had one... not good), a changing pad (her changing station is on her dresser... it's the perfect width and height... no need to buy one), and that's it for now. we'll be getting her crib from our friends this weekend. and hopefully soon i can get her some stuff to hang on the walls. i'm doing all black and white for her room. kind of a vintage feel. i was going to put up pictures of audrey hepburn, judy garland, sophia loren, all the women in the classic movies... but looking at the prices online... we might just have to stick to just black and white pictures of flowers and stuff.... maybe grandma will even take some black and white pictures for her nursey for us?????? :0)

i went to walmart today. i have everything i need right now for the hospital if for whatever reason she decides to come early... i'm ready! i just want to share with everyone that i went in there with a set amount... $50. and everything (after coupons) came out to $48. i'm pretty sure that's a world record for walmart shoppers... i'm very proud of myself.

wellll... ava's 34 weeks and 3 days today. next doc visit is in two weeks. then after that i should be going in weekly for them to check me and make sure i'm not dilating. apparently you can dilate up to 3cm before you even get contractions... though they follow shortly. but still, i told mama sandie i would try to wait so that she can get her first week of school in :0) ... but we should probably be telling ava that, not me. she already has a mind of her own.

we'll keep ya posted!

baby classes!

so on wednesday we started our "child birth" class! this class will be every tuesday for the month of july. the first class was mostly about the stages of labor... how everyone goes through the same stages... just not in the same length of time. poor andy had to watch a birth in the first class... he actually did really well. next class we have to take pillows... so i'm guessing we're doing the "lamaze" thing. hahaha. that should be fun.

yesterday we had our "baby basic's" class. this class was all about how to care for the baby afterwards: changing diapers, cord care, parenting (talking about things as a couple, like discipline), annd he got to see some more births. haha. they showed natural, c section, forcepts, and some alien woman who had her baby in like, 5 minutes... by the time the doc got there, the shoulders were out. i was like, really? who is this lady?! this class was from 8am-4pm... so you can imagine how ready andy was to get out of there.

i feel bad that all these classes happened to end up in the same month. he's getting a little overwhelmed, i think. cant blame him. he's doing well though, and i know even without the classes he'd be fine. i just WANT to go to classes. even if everything they tell me goes out the window when i go into labor, it just makes me feel less anxious right now.

andrew had **3** cigarettes yesterday!!!!!!! (and trust me, there were many times i expected him to smoke during this baby class... one lady gave him a hard time. but he didnt!!) i'm really proud of him! he's trying to take better care of himself. i told him if the meds work for him, then we're going to get daddy frank on them! :0) he's a grandpa now... he's gotta be here another 40 years! haha.

i'll be 34 weeks on sunday! our next appt is on the 29th and it's coming up fast!! i keep telling andrew i NEED to get some things for myself for the hospital before that appt. after 37 weeks, she can come at any time and be term. he doesnt understand why i cant "just wait"... he doesnt realize that ava's not going to "just wait" until i have everything ready to go... she's coming when she wants to. haha. probably just a guy thing, so i try not to take that to heart.

it's 6:30 in the am. i have to go pick up my friend at 6:45 and take her all the way to LA (she's going to see her cousin in up state cali) and then drive all the way back today. 6 hour drive... and i'm hopeing my butt doesnt fall off. haha. hurts to sit too long now-a-days with a little girl pressing down (or up on my ribs for that matter!). buuut i'm sure i'll be fine. just hope i'm home before andy gets off of work. they usually get off early on fridays. i cant believe it's the weekend already!!!


well you guys, i'll keep you updated! gotta run!

8 weeks to go!

so we're all moved in... finally!! i absolutely love the new house. everything has a place, fits perfectly. the only thing i really have left to do is hang pictures up and get the rest of ava's stuff. i need to get her a dresser and a crib. all the other things can wait. i cant believe how quickly time is going by these last weeks. it's good and bad. good because i cant wait to hold her and see her, bad because i feel like we need more time to get things ready. even if i had everything in the world for a baby, i probably would still feel the same way, though.

i had a 32 week check up tuesday. same thing i always do, get weighed, check blood pressure, measure the tummy, and listen to her little heartbeat. doc says the test results for gestational diabetes and anemia couldn't have been more perfect... that made me feel good. i dont know how i passed considering i cheat real bad on the caffinee drinks (shhhh!!). it's really hard when what you crave is sweet tea! i cant help it! haha. the doctor also said that because everything is going so well for me, i didnt need to come back until four weeks which is when they bring out the ultrasound machine and check her position... making sure she's head down and ready to go within the following four weeks. so i'm glad everything is going well, but i wish i could hear that little heartbeat more often... cant have it all, i reckon.

so far i've only gained about 22lbs. apparently (according to the internet), i'm supposed to gain around a pound a week from now until she gets here. that's awesome. just when i thought i couldnt possibly stretch anymore. haha. if she's 4lbs now, that means she'll be 8lbs if she's on time.... that's a big girl. i dont know if i'm ready for that. haha. i say i'm nervous about labor, but i'm really actually excited. andrew and i start the child birth classes next week (along with the day long baby basics class which includes daddy boot camp... cant wait to see that!!). we have them every wednesday night for the month of july. so i'm hopeing we get a lot out of it. i know andy will be a good coach, i'm not worried about him. i just cant wait to be able to breath again! :0)

well.. i'll have more news soon. i think i'll be driving down to target soon to get some more baby things with our gift cards. try to get something going in the nursery to show you all! until then...

[mOVinG!!!!]

soooooo.. we definitely didnt make it to seaworld last weekend. we decided instead that we're going to move. haha. we found the perfect house for andy, ava, and i. andy said we needed to stay home instead of going to san diego so that we can have everything ready to move by the 22nd, which is our move-in date. well... we pretty much had everything packed in two days. can you tell we're excited and ready to get out of this house? so now i really dont have anything to do during the day. besides clean. which is what i used to do anyways. only now it has to be intense cleaning and that's not my favorite. and took alll of next week off though. so we'll be nice and settled in. i get to wait at the house and open boxes and put stuff away. darn being pregnant during moving, i just want to help soooo baaaaad ;0) . i'm thinking we'll have everything moved in about 2days.. at most. then we have the rest of the week to set things up.

i'm mostly excited about this house because now i can get ava's stuff ready. i can wash things, put it all together, decorate her room. andy says i dont need a crib because we have a bassinet. but i'll gladly sell the bassinet if i get a crib. this nifty yardsale site has all local people selling things for cheap and i got a woman to trade her almost brand new crib and mattress for my target giftcards. i'm pretty excited about it. ava's due date is august 23rd. i'm at 30 weeks and 2 days today. good news, i never got a call from the doctor after my gestational diabetes testing. she said if i didnt hear from her, then everything is good. next appt is on the 30th. i'll be 32 weeks. i cant believe how fast it all went. feels like it's slowing down now, but maybe after we start moving, time will start to zoom again.

andy picks up rank on the first (we think, or somewhere around then). so it's pretty much perfect timing. right before ava gets here. we'll get a nice pay raise. and i think i've talked him into staying in for another four. (pray for me). i just think it would be best right now. i hate being away from home, but i just dont see job security right now as a civilian. also, if he stays in, i'll be going to school for radiology. which is only 2 years. so when he gets out (hopefully even before then) i'll be making the most of the income. and most likely wont have to work that much to get decent pay so i can spend time with ava. it's all perfect in my head, i just hope it all works out that way.

well, ava seems to be having a spasm right now. i'm going to go drink some milk and have some of grandma perrines peanut butter cookies :0)

BaBiEs!

andy and i were supposed to go eat dinner and hang out at a friends tonight. apparently before we got there, mrs stricklands water broke!!!! i'm hopeing he comes tomorrow so i can play with him. hahaha. how selfish! kim is a very very tiny girl and she's been carrying around a massive belly that looked like one of those fake body suits they make men wear to feel sympathy for us (dont think it works, but whatev). so i really do hope he comes soon for her sake, looks like her back is in a little pain!

another one of my local desert friends has been having contractions for the last week and a half, but hasn't had any more progress. i'm getting so excited to have all these babies to practice with! that is if they let me. hahah. i've offered my daycare service to kim. she's a marine also, so she only gets six weeks off to bond with her son, to me that doesnt seem like enough time, but we live right off base so she can come and see him on her lunch break without a problem.

this friday we decided that we're going to go to seaworld! it's free for us to get in there, i thought that was perfect! so i'm pretty excited about it!

i got another box of clothes for ava from my friend brittany. i cant believe how well we've made out with all of this. and i absolutely HAVE to get thank you cards out. i feel terrible. next week. i promise.

well... going to watch rescue me and have some butter and jam toast for desert.

nighty night!

7 month update!

so... i'm about 29 weeks already. 2 and a half more months to go... or as i like to say, 11 more weeks! not too shabby. i've gained about 20lbs so far. i have a feeling these last few weeks, i'll double that.

it's getting a little tough to breath, with her getting so big. my doc said it's unfortunately worse for people with a short torso (thanks a lot!)... and this heat just makes it that much worse... so i get really irritable with not being able to breath and all, haha. poor andrew.

good news is, i still have an innie belly button! from the looks of it, i dont think it'll come out this time around, but what do i know anyways? andy picks on me all the time saying it's going to pop out, today's the day... we prove him wrong daily... and i love it. :0)

we have pretty much everything we absolutely need right now for ava. i wish we could move out of this house a little earlier than the beginning of august so i can make sure everything is ready for her. we're moving (again) out of the house we're in now because we have a roommate and i think with a baby, it's just time for us to be alone. our lease isnt up until the end of july, and i'll be about to bust around then. so i'm a little worried. not to mention that this house is at a constant temperature of 88 and up during the day and there's not a thing i can do about it. sooo... i pretty much melt away all day. cant WAIT to get out of here!

next weekend we're visiting some friends up in pendelton. they're going to let us stay with them. they have two little girls so i think we're either going to the zoo, sea world, or the beach. i'm so excited! it'll be hot, but i dont think it's as hot as it is here in the desert, they have grass and trees and shade.... jealous. we did have a pool at one point. apparently that pool attracted rabbits and the rabbits couldnt get themselves back out. this happened twice... dead rabbits in the pool. so we decided to retire it.... and now it's just trash. so that sucks.

by the way, ava is happy and healthy (according to the doctor on wednesday). heart rate of 160... she weighs about a pound and a half and from head to toe, she's about 13-14 inches long... dont ask me how she's fitting in there. she's always pushing on my hips and ribs, so she's definitely getting big. wiggle worm!!

alrighty, going to stand under the swamp cooler again before i die of heat exhaustion (drama queen, hahaha).

updates later!

another day...

another day... more baby stuff.

went to walmart on saturday to pick up a stroller/car seat set we saw online. they didnt have it then. but of course, i go today without andy and they have it. i was really excited though, this is the last thing we absolutely had to have to be ready for Ava Marie. as you probably know, you cant even take the baby home if you dont have a car seat. so that was really exciting.

i had my first mothers day yesterday. andy couldnt have done any better for me. all i wanted was to spend time together with him, considering it'll be the last mothers day with just him and i. so we had what we call "fat girl sunday" and just sat around, watched movies and pigged out all day. it was PERFECT!

not too much else going on around here... it's getting hotter and hotter by the day. but i'm ok as long as i have ac (wall unit), and the pool.

andy and i have baby classes coming up, one is budget for baby (thank you Jesus), breastfeeding (which i'll be going alone to, haha), and baby basics. so that'll be fun! something to look forward to until she gets here. only 15 more weeks... more or less. i'm getting more and more excited every day!

that's all for now, sorry it's so boring... hopefully i'll have something good soon!

take care

day of relaxation

so today... andrew and i did absolutely nothing!!!

well, he put up a shelf in the kitchen to hold spices, but other than that... we've been watching movies and laying around. it's been pretty amazing. it's ridiculously windy outside... and there are really good movies on TBS. sooo.... i'm in heaven basically.

only down side is i find myself eating constantly while sitting here. i think andy would be a little upset if we ran out of groceries a week after we just went shopping. haha.

i've been craving chocolate all weekend. i think i'm going to go buy some chocolate cereal AND ice cream tomorrow. because i deserve it. (this is what i tell myself to make it ok).

ava has been having a good ole time today. andrew laid his head on my stomach for a little while and she was kicking him in the head. obviously she's getting him back for all that poking he used to do to her. :0)


well, it's almost time for dinner... then to bed early. i'm still trying to get back on west coast time. maybe if i stop waking up at 7 am, i'll get there.

nighty night!!

back in crappy cali....

i've decided...

going home was kind of a bad idea.

only because now that i'm back in california,

all i can think about is how badly i want to be in SC.

it's so true when they say you dont know what you have until it's gone.

i always used to complain that it rained too much,

it was too humid, the traffic is bad, bla bla bla.

i now live in the middle of the desert and let me just tell you

i PRAY for rain d a i l y.

it hasnt rained here in months. and i need it. please.

not to mention that i miss everyone terribly.

the food is always delicious, and people are so much nicer in SC.

ANYWHO...

i had the best time back home. we stayed with andy's parents.

i seriously lucked out with the in-laws.

they would do absolutely anything for us

and i couldnt love them more!

his ma threw me a baby shower and it turned out wonderfully.

we got tons of gift cards from family and friends.

this will help greatly when buying things for *ava*.

i'm so excited to get all of her things here and not worry anymore

(that's pretty much impossible... wishful thinking).

his mom is also an awesome photographer.

she took pictures of andy and i (and ava).

they were beautiful, everyone i know wants to know

where i got these professional pictures done.

well let me just say... she will have her own

business soon enough! she's definitely got talent!

when we got back to cali, we had another ultrasound.

we got confirmation that it's a girl.

so if she comes out with male anatomy...

God has a sense of humor.

we got to see everything.

everything BUT her face, because apparently she

takes after her mother and is ridiculously shy.

everytime we got even a little bit

close to her face, she would throw those hands

right up there and cover her eyes. it was funny.

she's one pound and four ounces,

and might possibly be a week before what we

thought she was (we're at 24 weeks now, she might only be 23).

but we'll find that out at our doctors appt

on wednesday.

other than that she's perfectly healthy.

heart rate is at 141 and she's

starting to pack on some pounds.

cant ask for anything more than a healthy peanut!

in the meantime, we're spending lots of time with

hank. i have a tiny feelings he's

going to have a liiiitttleee jealousy problem

when ava gets here.

we're already trying to get him to understand

that he cant be up on the couches anymore.

he's not too happy about that.

well i think i've written enough for tonight,

dont want to bore you too much :0)

goodnight everyone!

BABY AVA!!! (22 weeks)

so it's been quite a while since i've posted anything on here. but i thought, what better time to start back up than while pregnant with baby ava marie!

the first trimester was the absolute worst. i didnt want to move, i didnt want to eat, drink, i just wanted to sleep... all day everyday. it was the most miserable time ever and i dont think andy knew that i pretty much hated doing nothing. it bothered me that i couldnt even get up and do dishes!! but then month 4 came! morning sickness was gone, i was more energetic, and most importantly, i wanted FOOOD again!

i'm in my fifth month now and it's my favorite so far! the "nesting" stage kicks in every now and then and i clean the house top to bottom (which andy pretty much loves). i'm constantly looking for something to do if i've already cleaned spotless.

baby girl kicks mostly at night, of course. somehow i need to get her off of that schedule and get her sleeping at night and up during the day (dont ask me how). i read that walking around lulls her to sleep and being still wakes her up. so we're going to need a lot of moving things to keep this girl asleep!! haha.

we're going home tomorrooooow!!! visiting for about 10 days, i'm so EXCITED! we havent been home in 6 months, but it feels so much longer than that! my ma in law is throwing me a shower while we're home, i'm excited to see everyone! and i'm not going to lie... the thing i'm most excited about is the food. i love all of you guys, but this west coast crap is just that... crap. i cant wait to get some southern cooking!!

well since we'll be going home, i probably wont be blogging until i get back (next thursday). but i'm sure i'll have a lot to write about!!

something smells...

i woke up this morning to a "hello beautiful" message. i love those. it was 8 so i got up and talked to him for a little while. then i did some morning exercises. made myself a breakfast hot pocket and parked myself on the couch for a couple hours... i know, pathetic! i finally dragged myself to the shower and that woke me up again. i was waiting on the girls to go to do some laundry, but they ended up not going today. considering tomorrow is the day before andrew comes home and i still have a lot to do around here, i forced myself to go alone. i must say, doing laundry is probably the most uneventful thing i've ever experienced in my life. even compared to sitting around waiting on something good to come on tv.

on the way to the laundromat, i had to stop at the atm and get some cash and as i got out the "tonka truck" i noticed a very distinct vulgar smell... i knew that smell... i looked around for just a second before realizing it was a dead rat scrunched halfway under the atm machine... i wanted to vomit. i knew it was dead, yet i glanced at it every 5 seconds just to make sure it hadnt moved... yuuuucky. so i hurried up and rushed out of there.

i get to the laundromat and was hoping they had someone there to break a 20 for me... no such luck... so i then had 20 dollars in quarters. of course, everyone was looking at me, wondering if i was taking the whole machine, i'm sure. i always felt weird at laundromats... wondering if people were looking at my clothes judging me. i dont think i really had a problem at this one. it was pretty quiet. i felt kind of sad when one lady came in with two very young kids and just left them wondering around. dont people know children arent safe now-a-days? o well, i nonchalantly kept an eye on him anyways.

i made my way home four loads and an hour and a half later. stopped at del taco, yum. and crashed on the couch when i came in. who would think laundry would ware you out so much? i stepped out front for a moment a few minutes ago and saw at least 15 birds RUNNING down the street. twentynine palms ceases to amaze me, i've decided.

tomorrow i have to wake up early and make a trip to the store for andrews "coming home" supplies. i'm excited about decorating the poster! i'll let you know what it says later... he reads this and he cant know. haha, sorry babe. the girls and i, as far as i still know, are all hanging out tomorrow night! maybe some cocktails. i'm excited to meet some more of them!

well, i'm going to catch some more tv and crash... until tomorrow!!!

tweekers

today i was productive. i actually slept at night! well, andrew called at about 4am... we talked for a while. he's still making his way home. i got a call today from a sgt and he verified the date and time he will arrive... so that made me happy!

i cleaned all day. so now i just have the kitchen to tidy up and the house is ready for him to come home to. we got a package in the mail from the mom in law, but i have to wait until he gets here. his wedding band also came in today. he didnt know his size so hopefully it fits! then around 5 taylor came and picked me up and we went into town to go to this special dance/exercise class. that was fun! got home around 8:30, and i am exhausted!!

we thought there was going to be some trouble with getting his parents here for the wedding, but it all worked out! i knew it would!! i'm excited.

there's a lizard in the house. everytime i go in the kitchen he scurries under the refrigerator. they're so different out here. they're... black. it's so weird. i know it's not going to hurt me, but i still dont like the fact that there is a critter running around in here. needless to say, it's hard to sleep. all i can imagine when i feel something touch me is looking over to find a lizard hanging out on my harm. i should name him. hmmm... i'll have to think of a good one.

it's funny that candace left a message on the last blog saying something about meth heads around here. my friend kath and i had a weird encounter with one when she was staying here. i was actually taking a shower and she was in the living room. of course this is seriously the one time i dont have the door locked. all of a sudden this big guy just bursts into the house like it was his own. no shirt on. the only thing she could think of to say is.. "you scared me". hahaha. that's kath for you. so he starts saying random girl names... "melissa? erin?"... kath is shaking her head and saying "no... no...". as she takes a step forward he takes a step back. all that's going through her head is "how in the world am i going to get this guy out of here?". so he continues on with the random girl names and she keeps stepping forward.. he keeps stepping back and this happens until she reaches the door and he finally steps out far enough for her to shut the door in his face. people are crazy out here. they call the meth addicts "tweekers". so anyways, after all this happens, she runs in the bathroom.. her hands are flying around she's yelling because she's scared but i found it pretty funny. "SAMANTHA! A MAN JUST CAME IN THE HOUSE... HE WAS TALL, HE HAD NO SHIRT. BUT HE'S GONE." hahahaha. so i get out and go outside to make sure he was gone (dont worry it was daylight). he was gone, but he left his shirt on my gate..? so weird. twentynine palms is not for single women. i've decided that if andrew for some reason ends up deploying again... i'm moving back home. people are scary around here!

well, i'm going to go crash now. laundry day tomorrow with taylor and eryka. we've all put it off for far too long. thursday we're all supposed to meet up with some of the other wives and go out to eat before the guys come home friday morning. that should be fun.

sleep well!

duh samantha!

it's september 1st, which means there's only four more days until andrew gets here!!!! it hasnt really hit me yet, i mean... of course i'm excited, but it still doesnt seem real. i feel like a little girl again who knows there's a field trip coming up for school. hahaha. so i'm definitely not getting any sleep the night before he gets here.

it's labor daaaay. not that it really effects me... aside from the fact that i actually went up to the realtors office today to pay rent... duh samantha. sometimes i wonder about myself.

so my best friend, kath, and her family invited us to stay with them while we visit home in october. i'm so excited. her and i used to be joined at the hip back in high school and i pretty much lived with them then. they're such a loving and caring family! i cant wait to see her mom, that woman is one of the sweetest people i've ever met. she's also very funny. and then just kath and i being together is pretty much a guaranteed good time. she just visited me here in cali a couple weeks ago and we had a blast. we dont even have to actually go anywhere or do anything, we just sort of feed off of each other and just end up laughing 99.9% of the time we're together. she actually knew andrew before she met me. they had a class together and she's actually one of the people he got along with in high school, hahaha... so that says a lot. and then kath and i met through him (sort of). we had a marine bio class together and just became bff's right off the bat. we have a very different sense of humor. (see her page for visual evidence). i'm just really excited to visit home!!! see you october 2nd, SC!

i've been lazy today. did a little bit of cleaning. then i realized america's next top model was on... and it's a marathon, so i'm sure i've been glued to the tv for a ridiculous amount of time that i dont even want to know. then i'll catch The Hills tonight and go to bed after my huge overdose of "reality" television.

hope everyone had a great labor day! goodnight!!