Birthday Party!

This is going to be a crazy posting week with Halloween AND Averie's birthday so buckle up! :)

Saturday night was Averie's first birthday party for her 2nd birthday -- got that? ;-).  Averie's cousin, Oliver, was born just four days after her so we decided to do a joint party for them with Chris' family, and then we'll have another small party next week with my family.  

Averie and Daddy before dinner

We had the party at the home of Oliver's parents.  Homemade soups (yummy during this cold weather!) and cake abounded.  PSA: Costco makes beautiful, delicious half-sheet cakes -- and they're cheaper than 1/4 sheet elsewhere! -- which is perfect when you're feeding 30+ people :).

Unfortunately, we didn't get too many pictures since Averie was on the run with one of her many cousins for most of the night.  They love her so much and she just soaks up every ounce of the attention!  She got some fun gifts and her very first piggy bank, even started off for her with a stash of coins.   

She has a mini Magnadoodle that she LOVES, so she was pretty thrilled to get a big one :)

We couldn't convince her to blow out her candles (even though she knows how), but Oliver took care of that for her :-).

Aah, so blurry, but Oliver was looking cute and proud of himself for blowing out the candles :)

Everyone had a great time and despite the massive sugar high (did you see those frosting balloons?! Yikes!), Averie conked out on the ride home :)

And just a gratuitous picture of Averie's cheesy grin:

Babymoon!

Ours wasn’t QUITE a babymoon since you are supposed to take it when you are still child-free, but Chris and I had the chance to take another somewhat-free vacation thanks to Living Social, so we jumped on it.  My mom was kind enough to take on Averie for us for the three days we were gone.

We left early Wednesday morning, headed for Lake Havasu City, AZ and stayed at the London Bridge Resort.  

Everything there was so beautiful and the weather was just right.  The low-80s temperature was a nice change from the chillier weather coming to Utah now.  Chris and I are already hoping to plan a trip back with Averie and the new baby next year.  There were tons of family-friendly activities in their not-so-little resort city, although we didn’t participate in any.

Nope!  Not a one.  Our suite was huge and beautiful and we were not the least bit inclined to leave it!  We slept in, watched movies all day long, ate at delicious restaurants and relaxed in the jetted spa tub. 

It. Was. HEAVEN. 

Chris and I both came back feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the day again.  And a certain little girl welcomed us back with big smiles, hugs and kisses.  We missed her terribly, but I can’t deny that this vacation was just what the doctor ordered after this year! 

Pregnancy Post: Feelin' It

Up until our anniversary last month, pregnancy had been pretty good to me.  Of course I’m exhausted, but y’know, I’ve been exhausted for the past 10 months so I don’t know how much of that I can actually blame on the pregnancy and how much is the MS.

And I thought I’d escaped morning all-day sickness until it reared its ugly head at almost 10 weeks along when Chris and I were supposed to be enjoying a romantic anniversary dinner!  We ended up eating salads from the grocery store deli at 8:30 PM in the living room with Averie running circles around us.  Which is just not quite the same as the candlelit table and bacon-wrapped filet I was planning on…

The hardest part of being nauseous was that I still had diapers to change.  Chris changed all the diapers for me when he was home, but that still left usually three for me to change while he was at work.  An empty trash can by the changing table -- just in case! -- was enough reassurance to get me through those really vile diapers :).

And just when I think it’s fiiinally tapering off (like last night), the dry heaves return with a vengeance and I’m running to the medicine cabinet for a Zofran -- my beautiful, beautiful miracle drug.  All of the nausea does make me wonder if it’s a boy this time since the all-day sickness I had with Averie was much more mild and didn’t last nearly as long.  We shall see!

Everything else has been pretty normal and I am noticing a return in my energy levels now that I’ve entered the second trimester.  Hopefully, productivity is in my future!

Looking Up

Things are improving at our new home.  Fewer toes are being stepped on, and we are finally settling in.  I can finally envision our family staying here until the time is right, instead of leaving as soon as possible.  

Work has started on finishing the backyard so Averie will have a yard larger than we could have imagined to play in next spring and summer, alongside her new sibling --- who will probably just lay there ;-).  

One thing that I do love about being here, that I've always loved about being here, is how much space Averie has to play.  

We've re-arranged since to make room for her small table and chairs for coloring, and I'm busy envisioning where else we can fit all the new stuff I want to get her for her birthday and Christmas.  

She never could have had this much space at Garden Park...unless we removed all the living room furniture!  Here, we have enough seating in the basement for at least nine people and she STILL has all this room to run and jump and play and just stretch out.  You can tell she's happy about it, too :).

Guess Whoo Has a Secret?

I'm going to be a big sister!

Chris and I had been talking about expanding our family for a few months and in July, we decided the timing was right to try for a sibling for Averie.  I am so grateful that we were blessed right away with the opportunity to bring another life into this world.  If it had not happened that month, I would have started treatment for my MS immediately after confirming the diagnosis, and our children would have been spaced much further apart than we wanted them. 

I am due April 16, 2012 and am 12 weeks, 3 days along today.  We got to see our little one last week and everything looks perfect.  He/she is already measuring a few days ahead, so I guess I just bake long babies (I’m 100% positive on my dates), since Averie has also always been in at least the 90th percentile for length.  

I have an anterior placenta -- again! boo! -- which means I probably won’t get to feel much movement for a little longer (but it does mean more ultrasounds -- yay! -- because it’s more difficult to find the heartbeat through the extra tissue with the regular doppler). 

We are just SO excited for this addition to our family.  Seeing those two lines was a bright spot in an otherwise dark year and I am looking forward to meeting our new little one.

Side note: I’m thinking of a “series” here so the blog won’t be all pregnancy all the time for the next 6ish months.  Maybe just a post each month of what I’m experiencing at that time, anything exciting that happened, thoughts, etc.  Stay tuned! 

Did you check out her "fangs" in the first picture?  She gets those super-sharp canines from her daddy!