Too Many Decisions!

Sadly, I can not seem to get any motivation to finish the chandelier shades. Although, I did decide that maybe they should alternate polka dots and stripes. Justin is hard at work putting up the painters tape so he and TJ can paint the stripes on Avery's walls. I am so excited about the painting! It is going to be ivory and "folk art" green striped to match her bedding. Mom is still on the hunt for a changing table, but I am trying to decide if I should just buy the one that goes with the bed. Another huge dilemma is the mattress. I have done a lot of research on the benefits of organic over traditional, and I am pretty confident the organic is better. (There are no flame retardant chemicals sprayed onto it that the baby could inhale, but instead they use a naturally flame retardant organic wool to meet the safety guidelines.) Since little Avery will spend up to 18 hours a day sleeping, it makes sense that the safest would be the best. One article I read pointed out that no baby ever died from SIDS in their mother's arms, so it must be something about the crib/mattress. Better safe than sorry, right?

Only 18 weeks left!

Guess what?
TJ and I put the baby bed together! It looks great! I am very pleased. It only took about an hour. I also painted the shelf I bought at the flea market, but I still did not get around to finishing the chandelier shades. Maybe tonight. I cooked several new things over the weekend, but never made my muscadine jelly. Hopefully I will get to that next weekend...Searcy, are you interested in a Saturday afternoon Jelly Making Adventure? I did make Cream Cheese Pinwheels and Pumpkin Cheesecake. Both of which sound much more complicated to make than they are. Allison, here are the recipes you requested:

Cream Cheese Pinwheels
12 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
1 pkg Lipton Garlic and Herb Soup mix
2 pkgs crescent rolls
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix cream cheese, Parmesan, and soup mix til thoroughly blended.
Unroll and flatten the crescent rolls on a cutting board (do not peel apart the individual rolls, leave in a sheet).
Evenly spread the cheese mixture and re-roll into a log.
Slice evenly. You should get 16 pinwheels from each log.
Bake for 12 minutes or until crispy.

Jane Ann's Pumpkin Cheesecake
1 cup pureed pumpkin
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 graham cracker crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat pumpkin, cream cheese, spices, sugar, and egg with a mixer until smooth.
Pour unto crust.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Weagle, Weagle

"Don't you think we've had enough boobs in the White House?" – Dolly Parton, declining calls by her fans to run for President, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

I am so glad it is Friday. TJ and I are going to the Auburn/Tennessee game tomorrow, and leaving early so we can get back in time to watch the Alabama game on TV. I think it will be a football filled weekend at our house.
Hopefully I will still have time to accomplish all of my tasks:
1. make Muscadine Jelly
2. finish my chandelier shades
3. nag TJ enough to finally put the baby bed together

The weather is so awesome right now! I want to be out in it right now! Luckily, I am leaving for lunch!

Ahh, I love a good sports analogy in the fall.

Other home projects this week included potting some mums, hanging my Fall wreath, and putting our new Adirondack Chairs together. TJ and Jane Ann helped a ton, which I believe just proves the theory that there is no I in team.

This is the end table I painted Monday afternoon for Avery's room. Still searching for a lamp to go on it. Mom probably has one in her attic. I am so Martha Stewart these days. Except for the whole felony thing.

Better Late than Never

I finally took all the pictures of my latest craft projects. While they are still a work in progress, here is what I have done so far. This is the Bulletin Board I made from the old window, and the wooden letters I painted. Here is the "ugly" chair with the pillow from her bedding in it. The bedding will not be in for a while, but I ordered this so I would have a fabric swatch.

I have only done two of the chandelier shades, and I think I will go back and make the polka dots bigger.

Yeah for Window Treatments and intallers named Justin

Bible Study last night was right on target. "Loving your children". Avery kicked me all the way through it. I suppose she was telling me to "Pay Attention!" She is getting big, and subsequently, so am I. (Or maybe its the other way around, but I digress.) She is 10 inches long from head to toe and weighs almost 3/4 of a pound. She now has hair and eyebrows, and is starting to reach REM sleep. I am not sure she is sleeping too much yet as she seems to be kicking me constantly, but then again she is TJ's child, and he sleeps like a jumping bean.
I knew these nine(10) months would seem like forever, but seriously, I am only half way there? Technically, we are 21 weeks, and Friday starts the 22nd week. (Because I decided to go ahead with the original due date rather than the amended one. I know my body and what is in it better than any doctor. But that is just my own personal rebellion.)

Favorite Quotes Needed!

Mom and I worked hard all weekend long on little Avery's room. We ordered her bedding (she is kicking me in the belly button right now, I know she is excited about her colors.) We painted an old window hot pink, and put cork where the panes would go, and then I added a big flower on the top. We bought her an "ugly chair" at the flea market, and I sanded and painted it "heirloom white". (An Ugly Chair is for when you are not behaving. As in you are acting ugly. I think you need to be from the south to understand this expression.) The chair is actually really pretty. We also found a great shelf that has hooks and a huge bow on the top that I am going to paint tonight. I heart the flea market. Chair and shelf total were $25.

We went to A.C. Moore (which, coincidentally is going out of business and having a huge sale, should you need anything crafty) and bought 2 large white Adirondack chairs and one mini Adirondack chair for the front porch. Then we picked up some paint and large wooden bubble letters spelling out AVERY. I painted those lime green, and put a flower on the A. These are going on the shelf. I decided to use my old desk for a changing table, since it has nice storage and is about the right height.

Last night as TJ and I watched Entourage, I painted polka dots on the chandelier shades, I can not believe how much we have done, and I still have so much left to do.

Goals for the week:
1. Get up and go to work (this is getting harder and harder)
2. Finish painting shades
3. Paint end tables
4. Paint shelf
5. Get Baby room curtains hung (TJ/Justin)
6. Paint some cute quotes on canvas. (Any ideas welcome...for some reason this is hard for me...Baby friendly responses only please.)

Negrodamus's prediction

Finally Friday...I swear these weeks creep by so slowly. Our due date was moved back to February 11th, but I think it will be closer to the original date of February 6th.
My prediction:
February 7th 10am (right in the middle of Dad's conference in New Orleans)
She will be 6 lbs, 10 oz. 19 1/2 inches long.
Her APGAR score will be 8 or 9.
I am hopeful she will be perfect and we will be able to take her home as soon as I am able.
It still seems like a long way off.

one, two, three, four, five.

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning, and they put it on DVD for us! Avery is perfect and beautiful! It is starting to feel real! We could see her heart, and all four chambers. Then we saw her brain, divided into two beautiful hemispheres. Her heart was beating 146 times per minute, which is right on target for her age. She was napping when they videoed her, but she did manage to get in a "wave" to us. It was so fun to watch! Here is her little foot.

This is my favorite picture!

What is this? A center for ants?

Not sure if it is hormone related, but I have this itchy skin around my left eye. It is growing and swelling more daily. I am going to the doctor anyway tomorrow for the 20 week ultrasound, so I was planning on letting her look at it then. So itchy!!!
The ultrasound should be a fun one! We get to watch her move around, and they record it on a DVD. We are having a grandparent screening tomorrow night during dinner to watch the video! Hopefully she will be as active as she has been the past couple days...even when I am at work, she has been bouncing all around, letting me know she is feeling good! She is growing hair and eyebrows right now, and is 6 inches long head to rump (that doesn't include her legs!) By the end of this month, she will be half of her birth length. Pray for a healthy baby!

Say Hello to My Little Friend.

Its official. Peanut's name is Avery Ann Williford. Ann is both of our mother's middle names, and I think it flows well with Avery. Yes, that's right, her initials will be AAW. As is, "aaw, isn't she cute." Little Avery has been kicking up a storm, but like her mother, she waits until 10PM to get fired up. At least, I used to be a night person, before I got pregnant, but I haven't seen John Stewart live since April. DVR is a wonderful thing.
My belly constantly feels like its about to explode. Here is how I explained it to TJ last night:
"You know how you feel right after Thanksgiving lunch, and you literally feel like you can no longer suck in your belly or button your pants? It's like that, but all the time, even when you are hungry." TJ, being the "never-met-a-meal-he-didn't-like" husband of mine, knew exactly this feeling, and then began discussing how pregnancy must be a grand adventure in your own body. Yes, dear, and you are in on this "adventure", too.

Side note: Get ready for Halloween...Bristol Palin, here I come.

Finally Friday.

TJ went to pick up little Peanut's bed yesterday, well, actually Justin did. Anyway, they are putting it together today! I am hopeful that when I get home, I will have a beautiful baby bed, all ready for the little one. She won't be here for a while, but I am just in the beginning stages of decorating her room. I thought that was probably the place to start. I am on the hunt for a smallish chest of drawers that I could put a changing pad on top, and use for both. Keep your eyes open for one in a very dark wood or even a black finish.

Little Partner, the chocolate puppy has quickly made his way into the family. He is so freakin cute! Jane Ann even said so yesterday! He is just a little snuggler. Pictures of him to come.

Day 119.

Officially, my normal clothes no longer fit. Unofficially, this has been going on for 2 months, but now it is extreme. I can wear my jeans unbuttoned with the bella band, but they hurt. I can wear my suit jackets with loose dresses, but now they are too tight in the arms. So, I guess it is time to move on to an all maternity wardrobe. Ugh. I hate maternity clothes. No matter what they look like, I still look like a whale. I am wearing a sheet to work tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be the half way point, and next Wednesday, we get another ultrasound! She must be growing in leaps and bounds for me to be feeling so large.

Answered Prayers-the antithesis of Garth Brooks

I felt lots of kicks (or punches) last night! I hadn't felt a thing all day, and then right as I am about to go to bed, I feel her exercising. I thought she was a little young for Tae Bo, but then again, who am I to stand in the way of fitness?
Speaking of fitness, I am going to get into spiritual shape tonight at a bible study that Alison M. and I are attending. It is called Apples of Gold, and not only do we learn things, we eat good food too! Lucky me! It is a bible/cooking/table setting all in one kind of class. I have already done my homework, and I am ready to learn!
We are down to 2 puppies now. Well, two that are still available. Technically, we have three left, but Partner, the chocolate, is staying with us! Yes, we now have 5 permanent dogs. Crazy, perhaps. But it makes me happy!
Our new neighbors brought us dinner last night. It was so unexpected, and wonderful! A thank you note is next on my list!
And...the grand finale is that my dear godmother, Aunt Deb, found the cutest tee shirt for the baby. It has a peanut on it! Pictures of that tomorrow!

I can't suck in anymore. Almost half way there.

TJ finally said he could tell I had a belly this morning. It's about time! So I thought I would post a real belly picture today, in hopes that others can tell too! Here is the series.

She is moving around a lot! Her little feet are are the lower left side of my abdomen (that's where all the kicking is), and her head is in the upper right side. I can hear her heart just to the right of my belly button, but down about an inch. She is all stretched out! Every time I lay down, it takes me a minute to figure out how to breathe again, because she shifts up into my lungs!

Friday will be the half way point. I start the 20th week!

you are just a baby...why do you need all these things?

Several people have commented on my belly this week. It doesn't seem any bigger to me than it was last week. And TJ continually tells me that I am not showing at all. The scale tells me that I have gained 6 pounds, and since we are eight days away from half way there, I am feeling pretty good about it! Not sure why though, I have been eating everything in sight!
I am working on a registry list on http://www.wishlist.com/ so that all of the internet items will be on one website. It is very humbling to realize I have no idea what my baby is going to need. Any suggestions welcome!
Oh, and most exciting news...I felt a good kick this morning! Before they had been strange flutters, but this was different. It was a solid kick in the gut at about 10am.

Levi? What a great name for pup.

2 weeks from today, we get to see Little Girl again. We are scheduled for an ultrasound, which we can get on DVD, and then we see the doctor! We will be starting the fifth month on Friday, and she is kicking away in my belly! It's a funny feeling. I can hardly wait to meet her.
Oh, I passed one more puppy to a friend. That only leaves Lacey P's and the female left! Chocolate is staying with us, and should have a name by tonight! Ok, heading home to cook Teej some dinner. Chili anyone?

Preach it.

"Tonight, George Bush enthusiastically passed the torch to the man who's earned it by voting with him 90 percent of the time and who will continue this president's legacy for the next four years: his disastrous economic policies, his foreign policy that hasn't made us safer and his misguided war in Iraq that's costing us $10 billion a month," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said.
"The man George Bush needs may be John McCain, but the change America needs is Barack Obama."

Obama, He Ba-Rocks my world.

Yeah for a short vacation! I feel like a new person. Mom and I went to the beach Friday afternoon, only to return late Saturday night in order to escape some of the evacuation traffic. However, I got to shop, hang out with Searcy, and spend some quality time with Mom! All things accomplished. Oh, and I purchased a maternity bathing suit...lucky me. I look a little like a patterned whale in it, but it is better than the alternative. (Stay hot, and not be able to get in the water...or go naked, which is really only bad for the eyes that would see it!)
Sunday, Mom, TJ and I worked diligently to get the house in working order. Other than the kitchen, which is still under construction, and some miscellaneous boxes that have not found a home, we are organized! It is a great feeling. Speaking of feelings, I have a great feeling about the upcoming election. Is John McCain is stupid enough to think that women will vote for him because he picked a neoconservative female for his running mate? Uhhg. I hope everyone sees through his Rovian ploys, and votes for Obama.