New Car???

To Do 3/31/10
- Submit "Head Shot" for cover contest - see image below
- Journal Club
- Finish figures and insert into atlas paper
- Work on "free" book and go to "free" small group
- Think about getting a bigger car...

First of all, I must say this is my fault. I was sitting in the Mazda waiting room during a service appointment and decided to go through the show room... Now, I have always been an advocate for small cars that are fast, turn easily, and get great gas millage - I have NEVER wanted a big car and thought I never would... Then I tried to put my jogger w/ its wonderful 20in wheels into my Mazda 3 trunk - not good! So, we are now looking for a bigger car for our expanding family (read - all of Avery's things). Here are some of the cars we are looking at:


One step from a mini van, but not quite ready to go down that road - the Mazda 5


The one we really like - such a smooth ride! - but kind of pricey, The Mazda CX-9


And the one Adam is secretly (or not so secretly) in love w/ - The Toyota Sienna... Nesting syndrome Adam? - I think so!


And here is just the head shot I am submitting for the cover contest! - a long shot, but it would be awesome to win!!!

The first and only sappy pregnancy post - I promise... plus nursery photos!

To Do 3/21/10:
- Discovery Land and Church
- Sams and Lowes
- Pedi at Becoming Mom! - (thanks for the gift card Abby!)
- Errands
- Finish Avery's laundry and fixing up her room
- Give thanks for great friends, family, and a God who loves us and knows best...

It has not been lost on my how blessed we have been during our journey of "Avery". It is funny when I look back to the end of last summer - Adam and I decided that we would put our house up on the market and also try to have a baby. I remember taking a walk w/ him and the dogs one evening and telling him how excited I was about the house we had found that would be perfect for us. He was kind of up set at me b/c I was letting myself get so excited about the house and was seemingly not excited at all about the baby. I just told him that it was much more likely for us to be able to sell our house than get pregnant since I have had several issues w/ ovarian cysts and anorexia in high school and I did not want to get excited about the baby b/c of that - Good thing God knows what plans are best for us, as now, nearly ten months later, we were not able to sell our house and will be welcoming our little girl in the next few weeks! Even though I REALLY would have LOVED to move (I am still obsessed w/ looking at the Sibcy Cline site), God blessed us w/ something so much better in allowing us to get pregnant w/ our little girl.

Being pregnant has/is not easy for me. I think of myself as a person who is always looking for new experiences to challenge myself, generally having a "no pain, no gain" mentality - but this is a whole new ball game! There have been so many times that I feel like I just can't go on and want to crawl into a ball until my baby comes and then begin life again! - so, I think if you have carried a baby for 10 months - you can probably do anything! Through all of this people have been so kind to me - other mothers have offered up encouraging words and people have listened to me whine about how many times I've thrown up (over 1 million for sure at this point!) and Adam has been there emotionally for me and to do the chores I can no longer accomplish (like bending over and putting things in small spaces now!). I am so lucky to have such a support system around me like this.

Not only have people been there for me emotionally, but the way people have showered us w/ gifts and loaned us things is just incredible. It really makes me want to cry when I think about how giving our friends and family have been to us - They have spent their time and money to come to our showers and bless us and Avery w/ awesome gifts. I am so excited that we are going to be able to welcome her into an environment where so many people already care about her and us.

Thank you to everyone who has offered an encouraging word, listened, loaned us something, or given us a great gift. You have made this so much easier for us and I am so excited for Avery to get to meet all of you, as I know you will love and support her as you have done w/ us in preparing for her. You have blessed our family so much!

Now - sorry for being so sappy... it is probably the pregnancy hormones - here are some nursery pics as promised!




Avery's Little Lamb swing and seat

Nursery Pic




Closet w/ all of her goodies! She has such a great wardrobe already!

Crib and changing table

Toy area :)

Rocker

Some of my favorite outfits - can't wait for her to wear them!

Me - 35.5 weeks and not sure how I am going to accommodate anymore of her growth!

Cooked...

To Do 3/15/10
- Work on compiling figures for lymphatic atlas
- Start on ppts for next weeks committee meeting and vascular presentation
- Finish Birth Plan
- Go to Dr. appt
- Figure out how to deal w/ being pregnant for possibly 5 or 6 more weeks...

Today I woke up and I just felt so done! I hope that what they say is true about Mother's intuition, b/c I really feel like little Avery will come in 2 or 3 more weeks - hopefully it is not just wishful thinking. My stomach now sits on my legs (see pic) - not a very attractive look and it is getting really hard for me to get around. Hopefully she is feeling as cooked as I am and will make a slightly early appearance :)


In the mean time, I would really like to get my first paper together for submission. I am working on an atlas for zebrafish lymphatic development and the pics are turning out beautifully! Here is a pic of a 3dpf zebrafish injected w/ 2um red beads. The green color marks all vessels. (ps - the images look better not being saved and loaded this way - but this gives a picture of the overall idea)

Baby List!!!

To Do 3/13/10
- Get a Jogger (check! - see pic!)
- Start painting in Avery's room
- Go to Sams
- Figure out all of the things we still have to do before Avery gets here...

Wow! We are getting so close and there is a lot to do before our little girl gets here! I think after having to spend Wednesday evening in the hospital due to braxton hicks contractions - it is all becoming very real that we are very close! I am mentally, physically, and emotionally ready for her to come, but logistically is a different story! Here are a few things that we need to get done before our little one arrives:

- Finalize which pediatrician we want to go to and a vaccine schedule
- Prepare freezer meals so we don't have to worry about a lot of cooking
- Pick a health insurance plan for Avery and start the paper work
- Finish Avery's room - including painting, furniture arrangement, ceiling fan, rugs, and curtains
- Take an inventory of clothing and diapers and figure out what we need to get
- Organize the hall bath and put in the new sink and vanity
- Schedule and go to the fire department for car seat instillation
- Finish getting nursing supplies
- Pack hospital bag
- Finalize birth plan
- Read ALL of the books we have for babies (this might not get done)

I'm sure we will think of a lot of other things, but that is it for now :) Here is a pic of our new jogger! I am so excited about it and can't wait to use it. We got a really great deal on the floor model at a bike shop - now I will have no excuse to not get out there and get back into shape after she comes!

Big Baby...

To Do 3/8/10
- Work on figures for lymph atlas
- Take down breeder fish
- Go over schedule for the week
- Make a list of pediatrician questions (our first interview is tomorrow!)
- Read 34 week e-mail (I can't believe that she could be here 3 - 6 weeks from now!!! - notice that I am not even going to think about here coming any later than 6 weeks from now)
- Try to figure out a way to ignore people who are saying how big my baby is going to be!!!

This morning when I went down to get my small, not very helpful, sad, daily dose of caffeine (just one diet coke) the lady at the counter, was like - WHOA!!! When are you due??? - I told her... and then she said - WOW, you are going to have a really big baby!!! :( hmmm... not exactly the thing I am hoping to hear. I have noticed that my baby seems very big already and sometimes I swear there are two babies in there b/c I am getting kicks at very different sides of my very large belly! (rest assured Adam - we have had 4 ultrasounds - there is only one baby!) (each time I say something like that, Adam gets really tense... I wonder why :) ). For now I am going to listen to my "Birth Affirmations" from class that tell me my baby is a perfect size for my body and other nice things about myself and my baby - I am really liking this CD! I might be slightly over concerned about this b/c my midwife did tell me to try not to grow a toddler....

flats....

To Do 3/3/10
- Work on atlas draft
- Catch up on emails
- Contact pediatricians and make interview appointments
- Go to Dr. appt.
- Free group
- Get used to wearing flats...

This weekend Adam finally convinced me that it was time to start wearing flats.... I have resisted for quite some time, but it is getting much harder to get around all day in heels. I must say that wearing flats does make it easier to walk, but they do not make you feel confident about yourself like heels do. It was a sad day - BUT - Adam did promise me that I could get a new pair of heels when Avery gets here. I did try to get away w/ buying these this weekend:





but here are the shoes I ended up w/... It is just sad....