Getaway

My baby girl's daddy is the most amazing man there is, and I'm SO happy to have him as my husband and best friend. I'm even MORE happy to be getting ready for a getaway with him (our last one pre-baby!) to Victoria this weekend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary coming up on April 17th. Quality time with Jacob is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. Next week we have another ultrasound, and next weekend we have maternity pictures, and the following FOUR weekends I'm getting spoiled with baby showers, so I should have plenty to post from all these activities in the weeks to come!
Only 57 days until Avery's expected arrival!!

Baby Fever

Baby Fever, literally.
I returned from a few wonderful days in Hawaii, and brought with me the cold that I had caught while there. I even did have a slight fever on my last day in Hawaii. Never has a common cold knocked me out so bad. Normally something like this would be an inconvenience as I pushed past it and went on with life. Instead, my weak pregnant immune system had me beyond exhausted, incapable of sleeping almost altogether, and even brought on more prego puking from the exhaustion. Whew! Finally, a week and a half later, I'm feeling much better and almost back at 100%.

Baby Fever, figuratively.
Also last week is when our good friends the Thompsons had their precious baby girl Elsea 3 weeks early. Karen Thompson has been one of my fellow pregnant buddies so it is wild that she is now no longer pregnant but is a full on mama. After meeting Elsea, Jacob and I both confessed to each other that more than ever we CANNOT WAIT to meet Avery now and have 'baby fever' for our little girl so bad. We are so excited to start the adventure of being Avery's parents.

Here's me with sweet baby Elsea.

Jacob getting some practice with Elsea.

A recent photo with me and Jill both holding our baby girls on our laps.

Quick pic from 'Baby Bump Lunch', where I got together with some other pregnant mamas from church. I'm the closest to my due date of the group (yikes!). Fun to get together and talk about nothing but baby stuff!

Spoiled with Love from Texas!

After returning from Hawaii, I paid the price today with a cold/fever I've been fighting for the last couple days.  Feeling sick pre-pregnancy=no fun, but push through it.  Feeling sick during pregnancy=debilitating and exhausting.  So, as I worked from bed today, I was pleased to receive a special delivery from my good friend Ali who lives in Texas. 
Ali had assembled a beautiful package of goodies and gifts for Avery that she had been working on for months, and it did not disappoint!  It was full of adorable, personalized, hand-made, precious gifts for Avery.  She is officially spoiled by her Auntie Ali!

Ali left careful directions for the postal service to not deliver it before I got back from Hawaii-and they obeyed! :)

The box was bursting with love for baby

Each item was carefully wrapped with a sweet note attached.  This is classic Ali style-very thoughtful and purposeful with gifts!

She made sure Avery knows she's loved by Auntie Ali no matter where she's at.

A sweet holder for Avery's hair accesories

The mountain of gifts after they were all opened up - bibs, a tutu, hair accessories, wooden monogram, personalized towels, adorable pacifiers, and a sweet blankie.  Avery is WAY too spoiled by her Auntie Ali!

Visiting Baby's Roots

I got the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days in the sunshine of Hawaii, thanks to my amazing & lifelong friend Brittany. It was a quick trip, only 4 full days, but worth it for the rest, relaxation and sunshine. Nevermind that we also did deal with a tsunami watch for one of the nights after the tragic earthquake in Japan (think island-wide sirens, evacuations, P.A. systems sounding off, and lots of panic), as that became somewhat of a sidenote when we woke up to no damage and only teeny tiny tsunami waves that hit the Honolulu area. Between Brittany's work schedule (she was technically there on business), the tsunami, and a little fever I caught on the last day there, we definitely neglected to get a decent amount of pictures, but it was great nonetheless.

It was so fun to visit Hawaii knowing that I am carrying a Hawaiian inside of me. Jacob's grandparents were both 1/2 Hawaiian (his middle name is Kaapana, which was his grandma's maiden name), so Avery is 1/8 Hawaiian and I love the opportunity to connect with her family roots. We also visited with our Hawaiian family while we were there and I got a great history lesson in the beauty/tradition/art of Hawaiian naming (Avery will have a Hawaiian middle name), which was so great.

Although we both missed Jacob terribly, it was a wonderful treat to get great weather, much overdue quality time with Brittany, and a quick catch up with the Wailehua family (our Hawaiian cousins).

It was strange to think that on this trip I took my last plane flight before Avery's arrival. However, I realized that before Avery was even born, she visited Italy, Louisiana, Florida, and Hawaii-not bad for the first 7 months of life-in-utero!

Sporting the baby belly with pride on the beach! Couldn't help but notice that people looked at me more with the belly.

A different view than I'm used to while lounging in the sun.

At the end of a great night with the family- here with Kelsi, Avery's Hawaiian second cousin

A quick visit to Lanikai, Jacob's favorite beach in the world

Made sure to visit a Washburn family favorite spot, Leonard's, to give Avery a taste of delicious malasadas.

Waikiki the day after the tsunami scare

I, too, was able to get some work done and fit in a visit to the Hawaii Food Bank. I met such great people and learned a lot about the emergency food system in Hawaii and both its similarities and differences to ours in Washington.

Hello Hiccups!

I kept hearing about how your baby often gets hiccups in the 3rd trimester, and figured I just couldn't recognize them or that Avery wasn't having them.  As of several days ago, I finally felt what was clearly hiccups.  Now it seems like she gets them a few times a day.  They feel like funny, teeny tiny little kicks in a rhythmic pattern.  So odd, but also fun.  I can tell that Avery is getting bigger and stronger just by how her body feels in my belly.  Today I'm taking her on our first 'girls trip' to stay with my good friend Brittany in Hawaii while she's on business-looking forward to some sunshine and down time!

On another note, here are pics from our latest mini-getaway to Yakima last weekend to watch the Cascade Christian boys basketball team win state for the second time in a row:

Down at the Yakima riverfront on a walk

I've been mostly focusing on getting belly shots every 'even' week, but it was a nice setting, so we took a 29 week shot

The boys at the Nob Hill Bowling Alley

The girls serving as spectators to the bowling

No trip to Yakima is complete with a visit to Miner's Burgers

State Champs!

With our favorite player, Cody Shackett (also the MVP of the state tourney!)

Getting ready for baby time

Now that we've crossed over into the 3rd trimester, Jacob and I have been thinking less about pregnancy and more about life with our baby!  It's crazy to think how close we really are now to being PARENTS.  We're both very very excited though and we feel about as ready as we can be to jump right in.  We've been praying for our baby girl all the time and also reading books, watching documentaries, etc. to prep ourselves for this new role.
The other night we got to celebrate another new beginning-the wedding of my good lifelong friend Tiffany Cox (now Tiffany Enloe).  Ever since I got married, my favorite part of weddings are the now the vows, as I never fully realized their power until our wedding day.  We love that (less than) 2 years later, we both feel more and more every day like we made the best decision ever on our wedding day, and we're so excited to expand on the love we have for each other by bringing our daughter into the family!

Me with the beautiful bride

A quick pic at the end of the night to capture the mama & daddy w/ our growing baby

The official 28 week picture

Who wouldn't want us as parents? :)

Also, update on pregnancy status for my memory's sake:

• Still taking Zofran once daily...I tried to wean myself off the other day and it was a terrible experience. I got flashbacks to the terrifying days of early pregnancy.
• Feeling really good right now.  A little tightness in my growing belly, and Avery continues to kick & wiggle pretty much all day every day, but I'm feeling great.  My back tends to ache a little in the morning, but nothing too uncomfortable.
• Still don't have my full appetite back.  Large pieces of meat or rich, hearty food is beyond unappealing.  Eating lots of 'kid-style' food and tons of snacks.
• Had my 28 week appointment yesterday.  Heartbeat is at 135-140 (which is great) and I'm measuring right on track.  Haven't gained much weight but doc isn't worried about it since Avery's growing.  I also took my testing for gestational diabetes and "passed with flying colors" so no worries there.  They even said my iron levels are great which is unusual for a pregnant mama at this stage.  Also got clearance from the doc to fly to Hawaii next week with my good friend Brittany!