Avery's First Haircut

We just got back from a much needed mini-vacation last night but more on that later.... I'm patiently waiting for my sister to send pictures from her awesome new camera.... no rush Stef ;)

Monday morning my mom and I took Avery for her first haircut!! It was much needed and long overdue but I've been putting it off for many reasons.  AKA my list of excuses - I didn't know where to take her,
I wasn't ready for this "milestone", I was nervous about how she'd do, I just didn't have time.

Well, I thought it would be fun if my mom could go to help distract her and we found this cut little place just a few miles from my parents house called Pigtails and Crewcuts that specializes in cuts for little ones.  It was such a great place!! They made Avery feel so comfortable and she had a blast playing with all the toys.

Getting ready to sit in the fire engine! Not so sure about this.

She really was excited to sit in these fun little chairs until the lady started spraying her hair and brushing it.  Thank goodness for dum-dums!

Overall she did pretty well but I'm glad we won't have to go back for awhile, ha!

I didn't get a very good after picture but here she is riding in the plane and playing choo-choo with Grandma. They took a few inches off the back and cut bangs. 

26 Weeks!

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of baby:   Baby now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Gender: IT'S A BOY!! We finally agreed on a name... and that we want to keep it a secret! Okay, we've told a few people but are trying to keep it a surprise for the most part!

Maternity Clothes: Yep.  I've been searching online trying to find maternity clothes that 1) don't cost a fortune and 2) don't look hideous. When I was pregnant with Avery I was on bed rest by the time I needed to wear maternity clothes so my current selection is very limited (especially jeans and dress pants). I just hate to spend a bunch of money on clothes I'm only going to wear for 10-12 weeks. 

Movement: This little guy is moving all the time! I'm starting to feel a few soft rib kicks... right now they don't hurt but I had forgotten how uncomfortable rib kicks are when you start to run out of belly room!

Sleep: Starting to wake up once in a while to go to the bathroom.  I've been drinking a ton of water which I know I need but doesn't help at night!

Symptoms: My ankles are still a little swollen at the end of the day but are back to normal in the morning so I'm trying to keep my feet elevated as often as possible. 

Cravings:  Fruit and ice cream.  I can't get enough! 

Best moment this week: I've been feeling great this past week! We had a wonderful weekend and I've finally started getting things ready for his nursery.  Oh, and we leave for CO in THREE DAYS!! I cannot wait to see family and friends, I've been looking forward to this trip for almost six months!  

TGIF

Yay, we made it through another long week and it is FRIDAY!! My weekends are so incredibly precious to me - I just can't wait to have two full days to hang out with this sweet girl and her daddy :).  I know I complain a lot about working and being away from her so much but it really does make our time together that much sweeter. Last weekend she wanted to go outside so bad before church.  She stood at this window asking over and over again.  How could I say no?? :)

Pretty please, mommy...

YAY!!! We love being outside! And we love jumping!

Having so much fun!

This sweet little girl just makes my heart melt.

I'm counting down to 4:30 when I get to head home!! We have a fun weekend planned!

Smile

It's dark and gloomy outside today and in turn, I'm feeling dark and gloomy too.  Thankfully in my new effort to be more organized this year I pulled all pictures off my phone from 2011 and found a bunch that made me smile.  I needed this... I am so thankful for this little girl. Her smile gets me through the day. 

25 Weeks!

 

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 25 weeks

Size of baby:   Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat.

Gender: IT'S A BOY!! We finally agreed on a name... and that we want to keep it a secret! Okay, we've told a few people but are trying to keep it a surprise for the most part!

Maternity Clothes: Yep.  I can still wear my jeans and dresses but most of the tops are maternity.  I think maternity clothes are one of my least favorite parts of being pregnant.  They are so expensive and often hard to find. I wish I could wear sweatpants everyday!

Movement: Our little guy is constantly moving.  Matt felt him move for the first time on Christmas day.  He's definitely getting stronger.  I forgot how much I love feeling a baby move, it is such a special feeling.

Sleep: No problems!

Symptoms: Nothing really, I feel like my ankles are a little puffy and I might be retaining water so I've tried to cut back on salt.  Other than that, feeling good!

Cravings:  I haven't been craving anything, in fact, I haven't had that much of an appetite.  I guess I ate more than enough during the holidays!

Best moment this week: We are finally starting to make progress on this little guy's nursery. I bought fabric for his crib bedding and found a crib online that I think we're going to purchase this week.  I'm very stressed about what where I'm going to put everything that is currently in his room... right now it is our guest/sewing/craft/storage room and I really need to start moving stuff out.  Not looking forward to that!

2012

We had a wonderful weekend ringing in the new year! It was so nice to be home for a long weekend, hangout with my favorite girl, have a date night with my hubby and get together with friends.  What a great way to start the new year!! I'm excited for 2012, we have so much to look forward to in the coming months.

A certain little girl is in love with her baby dolls.  It is so funny to me how little girls just seem to know how to love on babies. Avery got these two babies for Christmas and plays with them constantly.  She asks about her babies when I pick her up from daycare and wants them to sleep with her during nap time. It makes this mommy's heart very happy!

We had fun playing outside on Saturday.  The weather was just perfect and Avery had a blast playing on her new playset! I still can't believe how grown up she is, she climbed right up the stairs on the first try and seems to have no fear!

We spent New Years eve with our good friends, it was fun to get together with everyone! I had to steal these from my friend Melissa because my camera sat in my purse all evening.  I'm so thankful for this group of friends!

Sitting around the campfire, it was very windy but we had a great time!

New Years Day was very low key around our house.  2:00 am is way past my bed time so I was pretty lazy all day Sunday.  It was great!

Here's to a wonderful New Year, I can't wait to see what is to come in 2012!!

Merry Christmas

We spent Christmas with Matt's family this year, it was a nice, low-key Christmas We drove down to Temple Friday evening and Avery kicked off the Christmas weekend with a big, chewy brownie!! I swear, the way to this girl's heart is straight through her stomach. Of course Cash knows anytime Avery is eating there is a good chance he will get a crumb or two :)

We spent most of Christmas Eve day hanging around the house because it was rainy and cold but Avery kept herself busy. If food isn't available, shoes are the next best thing.  This little girl loves shoes!!

I don't know what was going on with my camera but this was the best picture I got of Avery before we left for church Christmas Eve.  She did not want to sit still (as usual) and my camera was not cooperating so I gave up.

Thankfully we got a decent shot of our family!

My two loves heading into church.  They make my heart so happy :)

Christmas Morning!! Avery's main gift was this little princess cozy coupe!! She is obsessed with these little cars and always wants to play in them at friends' houses.  She was so excited to get one of her very own and spent the majority of the day riding around, getting in and out and being pushed around - the whole time yelling beep beep over and over!

The cousins Christmas morning. It was difficult to get them to sit for a picture before they started opening gifts.

Avery got two babies for Christmas!! She loves her little babies and is such a good mommy! I can't wait for her to be a big sister!

Playing with Emily! These two had so much fun together!

This picture makes me smile every time I see it.  Avery loves her daddy so much!

Opening gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson!

Look mommy, I got a puppy!!

Busy girl!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours

Every year I have grand ambitions of sending out a letter with our Christmas card.  You know the typical ‘this is what we've been up to the past year’ letter.  Well, I sent out my Christmas cards last week with no letter.  Call me the queen of good intentions.  In fact, I was lucky I even managed to get the card out. Even though I didn't have time to sit down and write out my letter before I mailed the cards, I still wanted to write one.  So, if you have a moment, grab a cup of coffee, have a seat somewhere warm and cozy and pretend you just got the mail and received this little letter - my attempt to eloquently share a short recap of our lives in 2011.

Dear Friends and Family,

I can’t believe I’m wishing you all a Merry Christmas. The past 12 months have flown by at an alarmingly fast pace.  Life certainly keeps us busy and we’ve had a host of blessings and challenges this year. 2011 has been a year of ups and downs for our family; thankfully more ups than downs.  Our biggest blessing and most exciting news is we are expecting a baby boy at the end of April. What an amazing gift! I’m so excited for Avery to be a big sister, for Matt to have a son, and to get to be a ‘boy mom’ and experience the differences of raising a boy and girl. This little guy will most likely complete our family and we cannot wait to meet him!  So far the pregnancy has been uneventful and fairly easy and I feel optimistic that this will remain the case.  My wonderful doctor has me on precautionary medicine that will hopefully keep me from experiencing preterm labor symptoms and being put on bed rest this time around.

As a mother, I feel like I continue to grow and learn more about myself than I ever expected. I am continually humbled by the pure innocence of a toddler.  I wish I could experience the world through her eyes for just a day - to laugh and play and live so fully. She brings so much joy to our lives I would love to bottle up her sweet little toddler personality and keep it forever.

Professionally, I started a new job in June.  It is still a challenge for me to balance a full-time job with my heart’s desire to be a full-time mommy, but the decreased stress and pressure from the new job have certainly helped me find peace. I continue to work as a business development coordinator for a nationwide engineering firm. I’d explain what that means but it really isn’t anything too exciting, I promise. In my spare time (ha!) I’ve also started a small Etsy business creating personalized baby gifts and I love it!! It is often hard to find time to sit down and sew but I enjoy having a creative outlet.

Matt had a major change in career paths this year.  He left DBU in January and after some soul searching, filler jobs and answered prayers, he started working as a real estate appraiser in September.  He is greatly enjoying his work and we are hopeful it will develop into a long-term opportunity to one day work for himself. He continues to teach a kinesiology class at DBU once a week and the stories from his students never cease to amaze me. 

We didn’t get a chance to travel this year but we did survive a 14-hour road trip to Colorado with a 15-month old and energetic puppy. It was well worth the trip; we had a wonderful time and were so thankful to get out of the Texas heat for a week.  

Well, that pretty much sums up 2011 in a nutshell.  New jobs, new babies, and countless blessings.  All in all, it’s been rather uneventful.  I hope you are able to take some time and pause to remember Christ in the everyday wonder of this Christmas season. I know it’s certainly been on my heart to take time to remember the reason for the season.

Blessings and prayers that this finds you in good health and surrounded by loved ones during the holidays.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours,

The Williams Family

22 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 weeks

Size of baby:   At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, the baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn.

Gender: IT'S A BOY!! Still no name though. Any ideas???

Maternity Clothes: I despise maternity clothes.  Most stores only carry them online so I've ordered a bunch and 80% don't fit or just aren't what I expected.  Oh how I wish I could wear my PJ's to work everyday.

Weight gain: 10 pounds at my last check up.

Movement: Our little guy is constantly moving.  I feel him more and more in the morning and evening but his kicks aren't strong enough for anyone else to feel just yet.

Sleep: No problems!

Symptoms:Nothing really, just a growing belly :)

Cravings:  Sweets!! Not sure if it's the pregnancy or the constant temptation at work but I have definitely had my fair share of sugar the past few weeks

Best moment this week: Getting ready for Christmas.  I am so excited to have a few days off from work and to spend time with friends and family.  It's so hard to believe that this will be the last Christmas just the three of us, I can't wait to have our little guy here with us next year!

It is really starting to hit me that we will soon have two little kiddos to take care of.  When I'm giving Avery a bath or making dinner I keep thinking, "how am I going to do this with two!?!?" I'm sure we'll figure it out but I have to admit it's a little stressful to think about. Also, I really need to start packing up the guest room and thinking about how we are going to decorate the nursery.  I have some ideas but definitely need to do a little shopping after Christmas.