Getting Ready for Baby Avril(le)

We finally got our car seat and we're so excited. Now it feels official. We have something to bring our baby home from the hospital in. Thank you soooo much to our friends who helped out so that we could afford to get this.
I did a lot of research and found that this kind was the most highly recommended from lots of friends and car seat experts. This is the Britax Marathon and it can be used all the way from 5 pounds to 65 pounds so it should last us a loooong time. Yay!!


Baby Update:
Thank you for all the baby guesses on the blog. So far everyone is winning, since she hasn't arrived yet. HOWEVER... you may want to reconsider your guesses since my Dr.'s appointment yesterday. Just one week ago she hadn't dropped yet and I wasn't at all dilated.
THIS WEEK.... She has dropped all the way down and is in position for delivery. I am dilated (only 2 cm, but better than nothing), and the lining has thinned. Doc says these are the 3 things to look for right before going in to labor. I was also having LOTS of contractions yesterday. I even had one that the Doc felt while I was sitting there.
He says its looking good and it COULD BE ANY DAY NOW!!!! Woo hoo! I am so excited and getting soooo nervous now. This may be my last post before she comes... who knows?

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

My first thought for a gift to get my amazing husband was a little girl. Since that fell through, I had to resort to plan B, a homemade Valentine (below). Inside were coupons for lots of little things that I knew he'd appreciate :) I also got him a custom-made wrist band from Reminderband.com with a little saying that's important to us. Jesse always wears wrist bands when he plays sports. He will not play a single game without one. He still wears the same wrist band from when he won the football championship game in high school. It used to be red. It is now pink. I think its time for a new one :)

My gift from Jesse was not one, but 26 gifts! He did one gift for every letter of the alphabet. I also had to guess each gift by the clever poems he wrote describing each one. What a creative husband I have. I feel so lucky :) Valentine's Day was such a treat.

We went out on a date to Golden Corral. Believe it or not this picture was taken BEFORE the meal, not AFTER!! It looks like I ate a lot but I'm actually starving in this pic. I did get lots of people at the restaurant giving me looks and asking me when I was due. I guess its pretty obvious now... finally!

I also have to put in a special thanks to my cute friend Lindsey for recommending the movie Fireproof to us. We watched this movie with my parents and it was soooooo good.... definitely not the greatest acting, and a little cheesy but it has the most incredible message. If you have not seen it, go rent it. You'll laugh, you'll cry (I mostly did the 2nd one), you'll love it! :)

GRAMMY night w/ GRAMMY & GRAMPY & Baby VOTE!

Last night Grammy & Grampy Parkinson (Gayle & Spencer) hosted a Grammy party!! Brownies and milk hit the spot... Avrille especially enjoyed them. She has a sweet tooth already... or should I say sweet gums... I hope she doesn't come out with teeth!!



Jesse (deer in the headlights look), Ali, Shelby, Ginger, Jordan

Be sure to tune in to our couch dance performance below... I especially like Shelby's moves.



BABY Update:
Today I went to the wonderful Dr. Firth. It was my first appt with a new doctor, and I felt so much more informed than with our normal Dr. who I can never understand when he talks. I found out that everything is going well and progressing as it should.
My hopes for an early delivery were somewhat dashed when I found that the baby is still sitting high and has not started migrating down yet :( But who knows? Anything could still happen!


BABY GUESSES:

Ok, so Jesse and I already have a bet going on when the baby will arrive. Please comment your guesses for:

1. Date/ time of arrival
2. Weight of baby
3. Length of baby
4. Do you like the spelling Avril or Avrille better? (we go back and forth, so it was Jesse's idea to request the help of friends on our blog)

The winner will receive recognition and praise on our blog... Woo hoo!

I've Arrived in Utah!

My dad flew down to the Burbank airport and I picked him up late Friday night. We arose early the next morning to start packing up the Mountaineer for our trek to Utah. When asked if I had a lot of things to pack, I ignorantly responded.. "not really, I doubt it will take that long." As seen in the pics below, maybe I was slightly off in my judgment.

My dad and I ended up leaving Santa Clarita a little after 11:00 am. Although we had everything ready to go, we had to make a quick stop at the post office which turned in to the complete opposite of quick since Saturday is a busy day, especially when only 2 employees are working. We needed to close out my PO Box and return the key. After over a half hour in line, we learned that I get my $1 key deposit back for returning it and closing it out. Yay! A half hour wait for a dollar! :)


We arrived in Logan a little after midnight, Utah time. As you can see in the pic, it is clearly not dark outside... we put off unloading the car till the next day since nobody really felt like it after midnight, and after driving for 12 hours.


This shot shows how stuffed the car was. It was filled to the brim... we barely fit everything in but we made it!


Of course I needed to visit the grandparents after I arrived so here they are with my gorgeous mother, as well as the mother of all lemons! No, that is not a grapefruit...the Maxsons gave us a bunch of lemons to take with us to Utah and my mom wanted to show off this gargantuous-sized lemon to my grams and gramps.


And here are Avrille and I, relaxing on the couch at my grandparents... the camera adds 10 pounds, you know, so I look a little big here.


Aaah, reunited at last, Jesse and I :) Here I am getting a foot massage, that I'd been missing out on for the past month!...just one of the many things I missed out on while away from my cute hubby.


And its story time now. We gathered round as my mom read us a story that her friend had written and given to her as a gift. I'm so glad I made it here without any babies popping out. Now I get to just prepare for the baby to come and spend time with my family. :) Sounds good to me!