My Friday Thoughts.

1. The good news is that Florida won the BCS championship. The bad news is that my ankles are overflowing out the sides of my shoes.

2. Yesterday, as I was sitting in Service Excellence class at work, I began having strange back pain that was radiating down my legs. I casually mention it to my Mommy friend, Laura, who immediately freaks me out. She swears that's how her labor began, and that I should definitely call the doctor. Which, of course, I did. The nurse tells me to go home, get off my feet, and if in an hour, it is still painful, that I will need to go in and get checked out. Of course, as soon as I laid down, I fell asleep. I was so exhausted from not being able to sleep at night. The back pain was gone when I woke up, and I felt a million times better. I slept for 3 1/2 hours straight. That is the longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep I have had in weeks. It was beautiful. But my feet didn't quite get the memo. They are still packin' the heat, and causing major discomfort. My blood pressure is normal if not low, so it's not really of any major concern, but they sure do look ugly.

3. Maggie was spayed this morning. She was so sad when I left her at the vet. She knew exactly what was about to happen. She will probably be very mad with me when I go to pick her up. Hopefully, one day, she will understand why we had to do it. Partner...watch out. You're next!

4. Here is a picture from Christmas at Granny's of TJ in his perfect downhill skiing form ( you could probably come up with 100 different titles for this picture that would be funnier):

5. It's Friday!!! So that means I will have another super fun filled weekend of cleaning and napping! Yeah for adulthood.

I am the limo.

A wise woman once said about pregnancy:
"How do you feel about being nothing more than a vessel for him (or her)? It gets worse after their born - no one pays attention to the limo, they only want to see who gets out. "
So true.
So get ready Avery, you will be the star. I am so ready to pass the torch. I wish people would quit staring at my huge self. I know I am a whale, I don't need to be reminded.
It seems like this whole pregnancy, I have been preparing for more pregnancy. Now it is time to begin preparing for motherhood. There is so much to learn.

Complainer Alert

The Countdown is on. Feel free to place bets on when Avery will be born. Master P has already picked February 1st. He says she will make her grand entrance into the world just as Bruce Springsteen is singing "Born in the USA" at the half time show of Super Bowl 43. I love the irony, and how much thought he put into it. I am still liking February 3rd, although I would love, love, love it if she came a week earlier than that! Apparently, the only cure for all that ails me, is delivery. No one discusses how difficult it can be when nearing the end! Sure, sure, everyone knows that you get nauseated in the beginning. But they don't know about the pelvic pain, the incessant sleepiness, the back aches, how incredibly difficult it becomes to sleep, and even worse, roll over in bed-All this, and I am not even to the labor and delivery part (and trust me, I left out the things I shouldn't discuss via Internet). Forgive me for complaining. I am sure there are people out there who loved every minute of pregnancy. I have read your blogs, and I think you are full of crap. I don't want to be a complete Debby Downer. I whole heartedly believe that Avery is worth ever second of it. Now, do Mommy (and subsequently, Daddy) a little favor, and push yourself out!

38 days to go.

I went to the doctor today for my 34 1/2 week appointment. All of my levels were good. Avery is head down, which is excellent, because it reduces the likelihood of a C- section. Apparently it is uncommon for them to turn breech or transverse once they settle in the head down position. (I am fully aware of her little head, because it is pressing on my bladder oh-so regularly. Lucky me!) My next appointment is on the 15th, and from then it will be weekly appointments until she gets here! It's crazy that it is almost over. It feels like I have been pregnant forever, but at the same time, it has gone by so fast! I am just so ready to meet her!

Some pictures for your enjoyment

This is Humphrey and Heidi getting snuggly on the couch. Still not sure why or how they got in this position.
And for comparason's sake, I wore the same shirt from a few weeks ago. Pretty monster belly, and subsequently baby, in there.

Today:

November 11th:

And this is one from the begining of the week...Seems like the belly has grown overnight!

End of the Year thoughts.

The last day of 2008 is upon us. It has been a very interesting year. I am excited that the new year will bring us a baby and probably many more wonderful milestones in our marriage, but I would like to reflect on what has happened this year (forgive me if I leave something out).
1. TJ and I were just settling into our first home together, when we decided to move from Pike Road to Cloverdale. What a blessing that will be once the baby gets here. We are so much closer to both sets of Grandparents! It was complete chaos at the time. I was in the first trimester, and totally exhausted every minute of every day, so we had the movers pack our stuff. Then we headed up to the lake for several weeks until we could move into our new house. Then we had to remodel the kitchen, and try to organize around the construction.
2. We found out in March that we were expecting a surprise in November. Sadly, we miscarried him/her soon after.
3. After that loss, we decided we would begin trying as soon as the doctor would let us, and were very fortunate to conceive quickly and by June, we were counting down the arrival of Baby Avery.
4. In May, we acquired Heidi, our wonderful German Short Hair Pointer and found out that Maggie was expecting a litter as well. She delivered 8 healthy pups in July, and we were able to find homes for all, including Partner, whose home is ours until further notice.
5. Sometime in early summer, TJ opened Vital Eyes and then founded Partners Realty. I am very proud of him and his entrepreneurial spirit. I am hopeful these two businesses will continue to grow.
6. In February, the Hotel opened, and I have been running crazy ever since. It is never a dull day in the hospitality industry.
7. With an economic recession looming ahead of us, I am reminded that we must be grateful for more than just material possessions. I am truly thankful that this year was as great as it was, however stressful and at times tearful. I have a wonderful supportive family, Mom and Beverly have helped me deal with the stresses of pregnancy and TJ is a constant support of love and comfort. I am thankful that we have a roof over our heads and a perfectly matching baby room waiting for our precious daughter, whenever she decides to make her grand entrance into the world. I am thankful that no matter who I piss off, I can go home to Hank, my skinny labrodoodle who thinks I do no wrong, and feel like I have at least done one thing right. I am thankful to have a mind, and a job, and critical thinking skills. I am thankful that I am literate and can read some of the most incredible prose on earth and know it was written purely for my enjoyment. I am thankful for mint tea and cold nights by a fire with my husband and the rest of my furry family watching Jon and Kate + 8. I am thankful that I can call my Mom or Dad and that no matter what I am going through, they will be there to help me figure it out. I am thankful for friends that put up with my mood swings and crazy ideas like Searcy, TR, and Kara. I am thankful for TJ's friends who listen to him when I am unavailable, and who help him complete projects and tasks. (Especially those that involve painting and getting the baby's room ready- Justin & Scotty)
I am hopeful that 2009 will be even better.

Christmas, Wii, and Avery.

Christmas was great around the Allen/Williford homes. We had dinner on Christmas Eve with TJ's parents and sisters, and then Christmas Day with my parents, Evan, and Grandma. Grandma and I each had a little cold, and Typhoid Evan had what appeared at first to be the flu (visualize me and a Lysol can frantically cleaning every surface he could ), but turned out to be something bacterial, as it responded immediately to some strong antibiotics. Viruses, as I am sure you all know, will laugh in the face of antibiotics as they mutate to invade their next host. (I promise that is the only dorky pathogen comment of the day.)

TJ and I are so fortunate to have such wonderful families! We received several gifts from them that are most beneficial to the baby! We got a pet-hair vacuum cleaner that is by far the best darn one I have ever used! (Who would have thought I would be so excited about a vacuum cleaner? Oh, how times have changed!) TJ got a new camcorder (since Scout chewed up the old one), to record every waking (and some sleeping) minute of the baby's life! We got our car seat and the stroller that it is compatible with, which are so cute!! Here are pictures. They are both in the aqua color of the car seat. Big Greg has already decided he wants to be the overseer of the installation of the car seat (Yeah, as in he doesn't want to actually do it, but he wants to make sure it's done right). Poor TJ.

But I digress...back to Christmas Day. We opened all our presents, and had a quick lunch before we launched a Wii marathon, interrupted only by a brief visit to the Bait Shop house. For some reason Dad and TJ decided it would be a good idea to take Luke and Humphrey (for protection I suppose). However, they forgot that Luke is not the brightest dog and so he decided to do a nose dive out of the back of the truck on Carter Hill Road. He skinned his chin up really good, but I bet he won't be trying that trick again anytime soon. Here is the duo.

And this is Humphrey telling me exactly how he feels about Auburn's new head coach Gene Chizik. He is so opinionated.

Lastly, I feel like we need to discuss a time frame for Avery's birth. I have decided to use the two due dates as a window, and go with the average for calculations. Originally it was February 6th and then it was changed to the 11th. By my own calculations, the 6th is really more accurate but she is measuring more like the latter. So we will use the 9th for all intensive purposes. This is 6 weeks from today (42 days). We are so close! The medical professionals consider a baby full term anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks. So if she comes at 37 weeks, then we are looking at the 19th of January (21 days). In the event that she comes on the last day of full term (they usually won't let you go this long for fear of placental abruption, so expect me to be kicking and screaming for an induction long before this date) which is February 23rd, then we are 56 days out. So, basically she is anywhere from 21-56 days away from making her grand entrance into the world. On a positive note, a friend at work, who I don't see every day, swears that Avery has "dropped". And, after careful peripheral glaces into shiny elevator doors and windows as I walked to get my sandwich today, I think she is right...my belly looks significantly lower than it did last week. Maybe its wishful thinking, but the books do say that it can happen several weeks before the baby actually comes. Get excited!!