Easter Bunny Trip

Yesterday, I took Avery for her annual trip to visit the Easter bunny at the mall. I couldn't get over how big she looked! I decided to pull out her past bunny pics to see how much she has changed.

Easter 2011

Easter 2010

4 year check-up and 3rd trimester!

On Friday, after I finished with clinical in the morning, I took Avery for her 4 year old check-up at the pediatrician. I had heard some rumors about this visit being a little rough with the shots, so I decided to prepare her a little bit so she knew what to expect. She actually didn't seem to mind at all, and was excited when I picked her up from school. Maybe it's because I am in the medical field, but she seems to have no fear when it comes to all things medical. She actually seemed to enjoy the hearing and vision tests as well.

Here are her stats:

Height: 3' 6.25'' (90th percentile)

Weight: 35lbs (49th percentile)

She is doing so much these days, and is quite the little talker. I love it when she tells me in the car, "mom, lets talk about something." She is very excited about being a big sister, and I can't wait to see her in action. A couple of weeks ago she began writing her name really well. I need to take a pic of it and post it. Lately, she is really into doing her "homework" which is really a spiral notebook that she practices writing her words in. I wonder who she gets that from???

And on Saturday, I hit the 28th week in my pregnancy, AKA the 3rd trimester! I know I haven't been very good at blogging about this pregnancy so far, so maybe I can try to make up for it in my last trimester. I have been so swamped with everything going on. However, come June, I can't wait to spend the summer with my 2 kiddos!

How Far Along: 28weeks! Ready or not 3rd trimester here I come!

Size of baby: A large eggplant

Total Weight Gain: 16 pounds

Maternity Clothes: For the most part

Movement: This little guy has been moving like crazy lately. Avery has really been feeling him move a lot lately, which she thinks is so exciting. Usually, I feel him the most in the evenings when I am trying to relax a little.

Sleep: So far with this pregnancy, sleep has been a struggle. Not that I am that uncomfortable, but I think I just have too much going on lately. My mind just doesn't stop in the evenings, making it impossible to sleep! This is quite the opposite with Avery...I remember going to sleep at 7:00 with her!

What I miss: Sleep, and being able to make it more than 2 hours before going to the bathroom.

Cravings: This past week, I really wanted IHOP? It was pretty yummy though :)

Symptoms: I have been having a few random contractions throughout the day, but nothing worrisome. I have been trying to avoid the old "pregnancy brain", but it may be catching up to me.

Best Moment This Week: Having Avery hug on my belly, and kiss "Brady Boy" goodnight. BTW, this is what she began calling him for awhile now, all on her own.

What I'm looking forward to: Putting his room all together.

Milestones: "Our little miracle is growing and developing at an astonishing rate! Eyebrows and eyelashes are now present, and the hair on the head is growing. The eyelids open, and the eyes are completely formed. The body is getting plumper and rounder (weighs about 2 pounds) and is composed of around 2 to 3% body fat. Muscle tone is gradually improving. The lungs are capable of breathing air but if the baby is born now, it would struggle to properly breathe. Be sure to talk to your baby a lot because s/he can recognize your voice now!"

Rodeo Houston 2012

Last Saturday, we headed out for a full day of rodeo fun. In Houston, rodeo is a big event for the city, as well as neighboring communities. For her birthday, we got Avery a pair of cowgirl boots, and Tim and Tillie outfitted her with an all new rodeo outfit. So by the time, Saturday actually rolled around, Avery was beyond excited. This was also the first time she got to go to see the performance, usually we just take her to the livestock show and carnival. A very special thank you to Tillie for hooking us up with awesome tickets to see Brad Paisley!

We had a great time as a family, it is hard to imagine that our family of 3 will soon be 4!

Aunt Chrissy to the rescue!

A few weeks ago, it was Spring Break for most of the nearby schools. Unfortunately, I still had to work on acquiring all my clinical hours before graduation, so I was still in clinic seeing patients. It was interesting, since this was the first year that Avery actually knew it was Spring Break. She kept asking me, "But Momma, where are we going for Spring Break?", this was followed by, "my friend Rhett is going on a cruise." Well, sorry to break it to you, but there is no cruise in sight for the Ash family, haha. However, she was very excited when Aunt Chrissy invited her to spend the night, and go to the beach with the girls. Let me stress again, she was SOOO EXCITED. We only went to the beach once, last summer, and was so ready to go back.

She absolutely adores these older girls! Thankfully, they liked looking after her :)

Thanks for taking my baby Aunt Chrissy, and taking lots of great pics!

I did get to take off the friday of spring break so we could spend the day together. Where did my little diva want to go??? the nail place of course! I took this pic while we were waiting on our nails to dry.

Hope everyone had a great Spring Break!

A little bit better...

So although I feel as though I am swimming in assignments, these were waiting for me when I opened the mail last night....

Have I lost my mind?

Well, I just got back home after being out of town at a suture workshop for 6 nights in San Antonio! At the beginning of the week I was beginning to question my level of sanity for signing up for this class. I think my current schedule of grad school/RNFA training/pregnancy is beginning to catch up to me...... However, I passed the class, so that is a HUGE check off my list. I don't think I have blogged about this before, but in January, I began the online portion to begin to train to become a first assistant in surgery. I LOVE the OR, and can tell that I would miss it if I just saw patients in the office as a NP. So, this way, hopefully I will be able to assist whatever Dr's I am working for in the OR, and bill for my services :)

Our class consisted of 1/2 RN's and 1/2 NP's. There was even another NP student that was graduating in May too...see, maybe I'm not so crazy after all?

My simulation uterus

Brian did a great job holding down the fort while I was gone, although Avery's hair had probably seen better days....Before I left, I showed Avery how to Facetime me on the ipad, which she absolutely loved! It was so nice to be able to see her each night.

And by the way, I am completely loving my new iphone. I can't believe I didn't jump on this bandwagon years ago. Oh, Well! Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying their spring break! Although I am bummed to be working on school work, my countdown is dwindling down!

Let's Paw-ty!

Last weekend, we threw Avery a Littlest Pet Shop birthday party to celebrate her 4th birthday. This was really the first year that she was soooo excited about her birthday, from invitations, to the cake, to the decor. By the way she has been talking about if since Christmas, you would have thought we really had something spectacular planned, lol.

Her cake turned out pretty cute

And she loved helping me make the "puppy chow" for the party favors

I set out dog bowls filled with snacks which Avery thought was hilarious.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl!