Baby Kai!

I can't believe I forgot to make a post about the best part of April! My blogging has been unsatisfactory lately and I promise to be better after baby arrives. At least while I'm on maternity leave, before back at work and real life kicks in! In my defense, this one was all typed up and I obviously forgot to post it! Anyway, the best part about April! I am an aunt! My nephew Kai Michael was born on April 9! He has been such a joy to have around and I've really enjoyed this whole aunt thing! Ava has been getting used to baby Kai and I think its been the perfect adjustment before she has a brother or sister of her own, living with us full time! She seems to love him by how much she talks about him and wants to pick out presents for him every time we go to the store. However, she is still a little reluctant to get too close. She hasn't wanted to touch him or hold him, but we've been able to give him a couple quick pecks on the forehead.

Malcolm: Party of 3

We took on last little family get-away as a family of three over Memorial Day. We didn't have much time off work, but it was the perfect long weekend. We decided to hit up Minneapolis! The only downfall of the trip was that we didn't get a single picture of the three of us together! Ava did a very good job on the ride up, but we also learned that having a toddler that is potty trained makes long car rides a bit more challenging than having a baby or toddler still in diapers. However, she did a very good job and had no accidents! We also learned that we now hate automatic flushers and why are public toilets so much louder than the toilets at home? We spent the weekend relaxing as a family. Enjoying the outdoor pool at our hotel, eating out, and hitting up Como Zoo. It was the perfect zoo for a toddler, plus the admission charge is free!

3+

Having fun in May!

This post is a bit belated, but we've been busy getting ready for baby! The circus came to town the first part of May and we took Ava. She loved it and hasn't stopped talking about the elephants, tigers, dancing dogs, and of course the miniature ponies. Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures because it was dark and they weren't turning out the best. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. We had lunch with my family and spent the day relaxing and playing outside and at the park. Ava had way too much fun and crashed super early that evening, 5:30 if I remember correctly and slept until I woke her at 7:30 in the morning! I hope baby Malcolm gets the memo: We're good sleepers in this house! We've also been hitting up tons of garage sales and I'm expecting to hit up a TON more after baby arrives and we know whether we should be buying PINK OR BLUE!

29 weeks and a Glucose Test

Last week I went in for my 29 week check up. Baby's heartbeat has continued to stay at the high end at 169 this time. I also had the pleasure of doing my blood glucose test to heck for gestational diabetes. Always a pleasure. For those of you that don't know this is what the blood glucose test entails: After fasting the night before, you are given an 8oz "lemon-lime" sugary drink. This can be best described as flat Sprite with an added cup of sugar in it. It is extremely sugary and while not pleasant, I was able to choke it down. After an hour of the sugary drink working its way into your system, you are taken back to the lab once again where the nurse draws your blood. They then send that in to test your blood sugar level to determine if you have gestational diabetes. I passed with Ava, so sort of expected to pass this time. However.. WRONG! I about fell on the floor when my nurse called to tell me I'd failed. Now before they determine that you do, in fact have gestational diabetes you have to go in for a re-check. Which is basically the same thing as I described except its three hours long. Yes, you read that right... THREE HOURS. So needless to say, I have been here since about 6:30 this morning and should be done testing in about a half a hour. I should get the results sometime later today.

My 2 1/2 year old princess

Where have the last 2 1/2 years gone? It seems like just yesterday that Ava was born, yet I can't even remember what life was like before her. She has brought more joy and laughs into our lives than we ever thought possible. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I knew being a mom was going to be great but I NEVER knew it would be THIS GREAT! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Now for my bragging... Ava is such a sweet little girl. Such a lover and very considerate of your feelings. She wears her heart on her sleeve and gets her feelings hurt easily (much like her mama). At 2 1/2 Ava can sing/say the entire alphabet and recognizes the letters and their sounds. She also can sing a number of songs, too many to name. Her favorite cartoon right now is definitely Dora. She's also a fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Bubble Gubbies to name a couple.

Ava is currently transitioning to mostly size 4T, but still wears a lot of 3T. She wears size 8 shoe. She is wearing size 6 diaper, but we'll be working on potty training soon. (Side note: I remember buying size 1 and 2 diapers when Ava was a baby and thinking, geez who wears size 6? Thinking those would only fit a 5 year old still wearing diapers!) She is currently about 37" tall and weighs 39.2 pounds.

Ava has really started loving daycare. A year ago I still would have said that she loved it, but was still crying when I dropped her off. Now, when I wake her for school she's excited to go and talks about her friends and teachers the whole way there.

We are so blessed to have this little princess in our lives. She says such amazingly funny things on a daily basis and has become such a smart little girl, I am so proud!

Baby is growing!

Yesterday I had my 25 week appointment. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going! I was shocked when Dr. Hintz got out his measuring tape to measure my belly top to bottom! It seems like I shouldn't be that far along yet, although I've been feeling pretty big the last few days! Baby's heartbeat was 166. I have my glucose screening next month.

Ava has been talking more and more about the baby in mommy's tummy. She even said to me a couple weeks ago, "I'm going to have a sister, and she needs diapers, wipes, and bottles." Just to be clear, we don't know that it's actually a sister or brother in mommy's tummy but Ava seems to think sister.

She's talking non-stop these days and asking "Why" all the time. She sure seems so grown up and I'm sure once baby arrives I'll think so even more.

We are IMPATIENTLY awaiting the arrival of my sister's baby. Seriously, Baby Burton... are you listening? She is currently 4 days past her due date, but looks great as ever!

Best Surprise Ever!

About a month ago, our old exchange student, Andrea, from Ecuador emailed me about visiting for the weekend. She is currently attending medical school in Ecuador and had the opportunity to go to Florida for 5 weeks for part of an internship at a dermatology office there. She wanted to fly to Iowa for one of the weekends for a visit, and to keep it as a surprise for mom and Rachel! It ended up being the perfect weekend, as I was off work and because Rachel had a baby shower planned in Hampton on Saturday we were all planning on spending the weekend at mom and dad's anyway. She arrived in Cedar Rapids on Friday morning, and I went to pick her up. I had made up a story about how I had a friend flying in that afternoon and asked mom to take the afternoon off to help take care of Ava on the drive down. When she came to my house at around 11:30 on Friday, Ava told her there was a surprise for her in the kitchen and when she walked in and saw Andrea she nearly peed her pants. My dad had also taken the day off and was there as well. After we ate lunch, we went to surprise Rachel at school there. She was stunned as well. We spent the weekend laughing, catching up, and having lots of fun.

After the shower we also spent a few hours going through stuff at my grandma's house. I ended up with some very special pieces including several tea cups and saucers, a tea pot, a crystal cake stand, and when we went through her jewelry I ended up with her mother's ring. I remember being a little girl always admiring her 8 stoned mother's ring and remember always asking her which stone was for who. I'm so glad I ended up with it!



Rachel 35 weeks, Wendy 20 weeks