Ainsley Rose Freeman

How do you write about the greatest day of your life? I know I'll never find the perfect words to describe it, but Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011 was perfect in every way. We welcomed our daughter, Ainsley Rose into the world at 5:02 PM in the middle of one of the biggest winter storms in years. She weighed 5 pounds 12.4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

I'll start with the night before she was born. We went to the doctor Monday afternoon and he decided to induce the next morning at 6. Because of the winter storm, we got a hotel room in Springfield. I had the worst heartburn of my life all throughout the night and only slept for a few hours. I'm sure nerves played a part in not sleeping either, but I ended up keeping Joel up for most of the night too. When we woke up Tuesday morning to go to the hospital, it hadn't snowed as much as they thought it would at that point, and we had no problem making it the three blocks to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, I was checked in and taken up to my room. They immediately started prepping me and the nurse snuck in some crackers so I could eat something. The nurse put the iv in, and had trouble with the first one, so she had to try again. The second one blew, so a different nurse came in and was able to get the iv in with the third try. I was worried that our day was already starting out with things not going right, but the next few hours were pretty easy. I slept a little and was still able to get up and go to the bathroom and sit in the rocking chair since I didn't have the epidural yet. I didn't really feel the contractions and the nurses told me I was lucky! They had checked me when I got there that morning and I was dilated to a 3 around 7 that morning. Around 11 the nurse came in and said that they wanted to break my water and if I wanted an epidural that I needed to get one then. She said that the guy that did the epidurals was on the floor and he was one of the best. I was still undecided on the epidural, but decided to go ahead and get it. Getting the epidural ended up being the most nerve-wracking part of the entire day. Of course, I couldn't catch good luck and the first epidural he put in didn't work right, so I had to get two different epidurals. Once we had the epidural in, the doctor came in and broke my water and checked me again. I was dilated to a 5 around noon.

Mom and Jamie showed up around 11 and Joel went to lunch with them while I had my epidural. When they got back up to my room, I tried to take a nap again and when I woke up, I was itching like crazy from the epidural. I was starting to feel a lot of pressure at that point, also, and would have Jamie verify that I was having a contraction when I felt the pressure and she said I was. They didn't hurt, it was just pressure and it felt like they were coming more often. Hunger was starting to kick in, and they let me chew gum and have hard candy so I wanted to get some Bubblicious gum so that it seemed like I was really chewing something. Around 3, I asked Joel to go down to the gift shop/cafeteria to see if he could find me some gum. He went to the gift shop and they were closed! Because of the snow, anyone that didn't need to be at the hospital left, and let me tell you-St. Johns was EMPTY! I still wanted some bubble gum, so Jamie and Mom decided they would go down to the cafeteria for me to see if they had any.

In the meantime, the shifts had changed, and my new nurse came in to check on me. I told her that I was itching like crazy from the epidural and she said that she could probably get me some Benadryl to stop the itching, but she needed a doctor's approval. A few minutes later, the nurse and doctor both came in and decided to check me to see how far I was dilated at that point before giving me the Benadryl. The doctor looked at the nurse and said I wasn't getting any Benadryl at that point and I was dilated to a 10 and needed to start pushing! We had no idea I was that close. The nurse immediately starting telling me to push with the next contraction, and told Joel that he needed to hold one of my legs for her. Joel wanted to stay up by my head the whole time and didn't really want to hold a leg, but he knew that he didn't have a choice. I'm sure he's happy that he ended up holding one of my legs because he was able to see everything that went on. Her head was crowning in no time and they told me they could see her hair. I was so excited that she actually had hair! (Joel told me later that when he saw her head crowning that he thought her head was going to be tiny and was so worried that she was going to be so small. He said that with each push, her head kept getting bigger and he started feeling better.) I pushed for an hour and a little after 5, Ainsley was born! The labor was pretty easy, and I'm so happy that I was able to experience it.

Below is Ainsley Rose Freeman, born at 5:02 pm, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. She weighed 5 pounds 12.4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Joel cut her cord and they took her over to the warming table. I could see her on the table from my bed and could tell she was really long and skinny! Joel followed the nurse over to the warming table to get a better look at her. The next half hour was the worst part of the entire day. There was something wrong with my placenta and it wouldn't come out, so they had to do an episiotomy and pull it out. It took them half an hour to get it all, and I wasn't able to see Ainsley the entire time. Joel had her wrapped in a blanket at this point and was holding her trying to show her to me, but each time he would get her low enough for me to look at her, I would cringe in pain again. I was finally able to see our little girl for the first time around 5:40 and she was wide-eyed and just stared at me. She was perfect!

They took her a little while after that for her first bath and Mom and Jamie came in to get a look at her. She didn't mind her bath and never really cried. While that was going on, the nurse came in and gave me Benadryl because the itching had then gone down to my trunk, and told me that it would make me tired. She ended up giving me a double dose and I fell asleep shortly after that. I know Joel, Mom, and Jamie snuggled and loved on her for the few hours that I slept and it made me feel a little better about crashing right after giving birth.

Ainsley after getting her bath. Her hands were still pretty blue!

Aunt Jamie holding Ainsley!

Grandma holding her first granddaughter! (Daddy didn't get a very good picture!)

The interstates were shut down by Tuesday night because of the snow and the police were giving out tickets to people on the roads, so Mom and Jamie ended up getting a hotel room that night. The hotel was three blocks away and it took them an hour to get there and got stuck three times! I'm so glad no one else tried to come up that day, because the roads were terrible.

First family picture!

When I woke up, they took Ainsley to get shots, etc. and I took a shower. When I got out, she still wasn't back and I remember thinking how hard it was not to have her beside me. Her smashed-in nose, swollen eyes, little puckered mouth, long fingers and toes, big feet and hands, and soft baby hair is all I wanted to see! That night, she was awake and ate good throughout the night. The next day, she crashed! They came and got her around 8 Wednesday morning for her pictures and to see the pediatrician and she was asleep when they brought her back. She slept until around 4 that afternoon and didn't eat once. We were worried, but the nurses reinforced to us that it was normal and they will sleep for the first 24 hours or so after they're born. Mom and Jamie came and visited again around noon Wednesday before they headed home and Jennifer and Brian braved the snow and came up later that afternoon. She woke up while they were visiting, and they were able to see how alert she was.

Uncle Brian, Aunt Jennifer, and Ainsley

Ainsley passed out Wednesday.

Wednesday night went as well as it could while being in the hospital. The nurses would come in at all hours of the night to take her for various things. They had to weigh her at midnight, do a bilirubin test around 2 and because she didn't pass it, they came in around 5 to get blood from her to check her levels, and then the doctors start coming in at 6. Thursday morning we both were ready to get home! We met with the lactation consultant that morning and she gave us a lot of good pointers, and the pediatrician came in and talked to us and let us know that we had a perfect baby. Jodi also stopped by to see Ainsley Thursday morning while on her lunch break.

I dressed Ainsley to get ready to go home, and Joel got a laugh out of a little mishap I had while dressing her. Of course, he also got it on tape, so I'll never forget it. While putting her boots on her (which were too big, if you can't tell from the picture!), I couldn't figure out why her second boot wouldn't go on her foot. The first one went on easily and the second one wouldn't go on, no matter how much I tried to shove her foot in it. I finally pulled the boot off her foot and reached in it, and there was still the packing paper in the bottom of the boot! Oops!!! We packed our bags and finally got all our paperwork done and headed out around noon. It was so hard to put her in the car seat. She is so little in that "big" car seat! I was definitely a nervous, over-protective Mom on the way home and had to sit in the back seat with her. The interstates were clear by the time we went home Thursday afternoon, but getting out to the interstate from the hospital was terrible. Fifth Street was snow-packed and there wasn't any visible lanes. I'm so glad that ten minute drive out to the interstate is behind us!

Daddy holding Ainsley before going home.

Mommy snuggling with Ainsley before putting her in the car seat.

We're all ready to go home!

This is the snow we came home to!

I have a grunting baby in the swing beside me that wants someone to talk to, so I'll post another blog on our first week home later on.

We're Ready!

Where have the last few days gone? Maybe I should say: Where have the last few months gone? This entire pregnancy has gone by way too fast. The weekend flew by and in twelve short hours, the induction process will start. Since finding out Thursday that we would be induced early this week, I finished up some last minute things with work, cleaned the house, caught up on laundry, re-packed our hospital bags, went grocery shopping, got a pedicure, ate some mighty good prime rib, and tried to relax as much as I could.

I was worried at the beginning of the pregnancy knowing that my due date was in the middle of February because of the weather. Sure enough, it looks like we're going to have her in the middle of a pretty good winter storm. They're calling for 8-12 inches of snow and some ice accumulation with lots of blowing on Wed/Thursday. Hopefully by the time we're ready to come home the roads will be clear. Our appointment was at one this afternoon and he checked to see if I was dilated. I'm 1-2 centimeters dilated, so the doctor decided to induce me tomorrow morning around 6. If I hadn't been dilated at all, they would have started tonight. Because of the weather, we got a hotel room at the Abraham Lincoln hotel, which is right by St. Johns.

We are both very excited to finally meet our little girl. I'll also be glad when I can breathe again, easily tie my own shoes, lay on my stomach, roll over in bed without it taking a minute or so each time, walk for more than 5-10 minutes at a time without getting out of breath, and I'm sure there are many more things that I'll think of after I have her! I think Joel is more nervous than I am. Below is him trying to relax this afternoon at the hotel room.

Last prego picture is below. 12 hours before being induced!

I'm so excited that I can finally say that Lou and Alaina are also expecting their first baby in September!!! We're so excited for them and can't wait to meet Baby Hallock in a few months!!!

Ready or Not, Here She Comes!!!

We had our weekly appointment today and it didn't go exactly like we expected. Our appointment was at 8:45 and we didn't leave until 2. We met with the doctor and did the usual blood pressure/weight check. Our sonogram followed and she had gained a little weight, so Joel and I both thought everything was going great. They are estimating her to be 5 pounds 1 ounce. She is still small and is in the 5th percentile now. The doctor came in to look at the results and he started asking me a lot of questions that they usually don't ask, so I kind of suspected something was going on. He told us that she is still small and that I'm going to "full term" (37 weeks) on Sunday. Because I'll be full term, they think that she'll be better off outside the womb. The way the doctor explained it is that they don't know if she is getting adequate nutrition inside the womb, and if they get her out, she'll get better nutrition outside at this point. If that's what is best for Ainsley, then we're all about it.

The doctor said that he wanted me to do a non-stress test and depending on the results from it, they may decide to take her today. He wanted me to have lunch and be back at one for the test. That hour we ate lunch was terrible!!! I was so nervous I could barely eat. We got back and started the test. It was only 20 minutes long and the doctor came in three times to check it, which was nerve-wracking. He told me the second time that he came in to check that I would be having a baby in the next three days. Joel couldn't go back with me during the test, so I had to hear it alone and started freaking out. Dr. Huston (my regular doctor) came in after the test, once the other doctor had time to consult with him and told me that he wanted me back Monday at one and he would decide then if they were inducing me Monday night or if it would be Tuesday morning. The latest they'll start inducing is Tuesday morning, so by this time next week, we'll definitely be parents! I'm so glad we have the weekend to get some things caught up and mentally prepare for her.

We're both pretty nervous and anxious, but so excited at the same time! We cannot wait to meet out little girl!

36 weeks

We only have 28 days until our due date. 28 days!!!! I feel 100% better than I did on Thursday. Friday I woke up and felt a little better, but my lower abdomen still hurt quite a bit at times. Yesterday I could barely tell the pain was there. Joel and I both think that the pain was coming from my scar tissue on my right side. I have four scars from the hysteroscopy I had done last January, and two of the scars are on the right side where the pain was. We think that the scar tissue was stretching out, but either way, I'm so glad it's pretty much gone. I'm going to mention it to the doctor on Thursday and see if he agrees that could have been the problem. Below is a belly picture at 36 weeks. I think my belly has grown a little in the last few weeks...my tshirts are getting pretty tight!

Josh and Kathleen came over this afternoon to watch the Packers/Bears game and brought me some cookies and cream ice cream. I was making brownies, so what goes best with a warm brownie right out of the oven? Cookies and cream ice cream! It was delicious!!! Baby Augustus tried out Ainsley's swings and Nathan played with her toys today. I think they all pass the baby test!

Yesterday I went to Jack's basketball game. They have improved a lot since last year and won their game!

Doctor's appointment 35 1/2 weeks

I had my weekly appointment scheduled for this afternoon at 1:30, and we were worried about going to it because we got around 3 inches of snow last night. Well, I ended up going into the appointment a little early because of really bad pain in my lower right side. I woke up last night around 11 with pain in my lower abdomen and thought that she was just laying on it wrong. I ended up getting out of bed and walked to the bathroom pretty easily. I didn't have any other trouble with it throughout the night. When I woke up this morning, I had the same pain and could hardly get out of bed. It took me 15 minutes to get out of bed and make it into the bathroom. I couldn't put any weight on my right leg, so I would take the biggest step I could with my left leg and then drag my right leg behind me while holding on to anything I could! I think I cried for the first hour I was up. I called the doctor and the nurse told me to come in early and it sounded like a nerve. Joel came home and we left to go to Springfield. I want to add that Joel had to tell me numerous times that I picked the "BEST" day to have something wrong. By the time we got to St. Johns, I could walk half way decent. I was afraid I was going to have to ask for a wheel chair!

We got in pretty quickly to see the doctor; my blood pressure was fine and I didn't gain any weight again in the last two weeks. Ainsley's heartbeat sounded good and he said that he didn't think my symptoms were too serious. He said it's probably a muscular skeletal problem and to take it easy, take Tylenol, and put a heating pad on it. Ainsley was moving around like crazy all day yesterday, so I'm wondering if she is laying weird and I hope that's all it is and she moves off of whatever she is on quickly. I was pretty scared this morning when I woke up and in pain. She didn't move right away when I got up and I was so happy when she finally moved. It made me feel a lot better!

We have our next appointment next Thursday and we also have a sonogram scheduled for that day to check her growth again. Hopefully my pain starts to subside and we don't have to go back to the doctor again before next Thursday!

Baby Shower

Sunday was my family baby shower in Hettick. It was nice to see everyone and hear that my belly is growing. Joel and I haven't been able to tell a big difference in the size of my belly, but we see it everyday. I had numerous people come up and tell me how much I've grown since Christmas. I was happy to hear that! We got a lot of nice things for Ainsley and can't believe she's going to be here in a month. Even though I was exhausted when we got home, I still found the energy to get most of the stuff put away. Joel even helped! He got the monitors out and started charging/figuring them out and put together her bouncer. The swing was next on the list to put together, but he decided that our house already has too much baby stuff set up in it already and ended up putting it together yesterday. I tried to tell him that our house is going to be "baby central" for the next few years and he's going to have to get used to it!

Ainsley's Great-Great-Grandma Mary made an adorable quilt for her!

It's not every baby shower you go to that a firefighter shows up at, but one did at mine. I'm sure Mom or Jamie got a better picture, but my wonderful brother did stay long enough to get a picture taken with his pregnant sister!

One of the games that was played at the shower was to have everyone guess how many inches around I was....needless to say, Abby guessed the highest. I was 45 and 3/4 inches around, not close to Abby's estimate of 62 inches....yet, anyway!

Saturday I ran into Jacksonville to run some errands and came home cranky, sore, and tired. I was in town for three hours and told Joel that I refuse to go to Walmart/get groceries by myself while I'm still pregnant. I've been having cramps and by the time I got home, my back was killing me and the cramps were pretty bad. I laid down and slept for a few hours and when I woke up, my back started having spasms. Never again will I try to do that much in one day when I feel like crap!

Friday night we went out with the Bangert's. We got a picture of me and Jodi together while we're both pregnant. Of course, I look huge compared to her (but I do even when we're not pregnant). Our babies are about three months apart. She's due May 11th and we can't wait to meet baby boy Bangert!

Joel and I both want to thank everyone again for an incredible shower. We're so lucky to have such a great family!

Breastfeeding Class

We went to Breastfeeding101 last night at St. Johns. Joel was absolutely thrilled about going, as you can probably imagine! It was a three hour class and we heard that it would be pretty bad with a bunch of videos, but we didn't see any videos. The woman just talked the entire time about different topics. Some of it was boring, but the instructor had some good insight on different things and it helped that she was young and was still breastfeeding herself, so she was up to date on everything. Joel commented on the way home that he never in a million years would have thought that a wet t-shirt contest would have been referred to during the class, and does everyone know there is a "Hooters Hider" product on the market for more privacy when breastfeeding in public???

This week has been the worst yet when it comes to sleeping at night. Not only do I get up 5-7 times each night to go to the bathroom, get a drink, etc. but I woke up the other night starving. When I say starving, I mean, like I had eaten in three days. I had to get up and fix a bowl of cereal, a banana, and a big glass of milk and as soon as I ate, Ainsley thought I was up for the day and was squirming around like crazy. I keep telling myself that I'm preparing for when she gets here and I don't get any sleep.

My legs and feet are still pretty swollen and it is getting so bad that it hurts to walk. The tops of my feet get so swollen that when I walk it feels like my toes aren't connected to the rest of my foot any more because the top of my foot almost goes over the top of them. I know I've said it before, but I'm so glad that I'm not pregnant during the summer. I can't imagine everyone looking at my legs/feet in flip-flops. At least I can cover them!

Sunday is my baby shower in Hettick and I'm getting excited! I'll have 5 weeks left on Sunday and I'm planning on going sometime next week to finish getting everything we'll need before she gets here. We stocked up on batteries last weekend so we have plenty for the swings, bouncers, toys, etc. There are still a few things I need to get put in our hospital bags, and I'm trying to get all of our tax information done before next week so it's all ready and I don't have to worry about it.

I printed off our blog into a book for 2010 a couple weeks ago and the book came yesterday in the mail. I'm so happy with it and very glad that I have kept up with the blog. Seeing the book only motivates me more to continue. We also got the rest of our pictures from our photo shoot last weekend. I'm adding a few more belly pictures below, and am planning on bringing all of the pictures from last weekend and our blog book to the shower Sunday so everyone can see them!


Mom called Saturday morning before the we did the pictures and thought I needed to get a picture doing a snow angel. A pregnant woman trying to get down in the snow and back up wasn't easy, but I got up pretty quickly because it was so cold!



Who is Ainsley going to look like? Mommy or Daddy? I'm going to scan in our baby pictures in the next few weeks and get them uploaded so everyone can decide for themselves once Ainsley decides to make her appearance!




Jeremy and Kathleen will love the picture with the cowboy boots! Joel and I got those for Lani when she was a baby and everyone made fun of them. I told Kathleen that she had to save them for me so that I could have them when I had a little girl if they weren't going to put Lani in them. Sure enough, they saved them for me, and I think they were both happy to give them back!

Ainsley is growing!

We had a doctor's appointment Thursday and I walked out feeling pretty good! I gained less than a pound in the last two weeks AND we had a sonogram and Ainsley is now 4 pounds!!! I have to start tracking kick counts and go back in two weeks and then I start weekly appointments. We're down to 6 weeks to go. Mom went with us to our last sonogram, which was 5 weeks ago and Ainsley was only 2 pounds then. She has doubled her size in the last 5 weeks, but she is still measuring small. She's in the 6th percentile now and they had a very hard time getting the measurements. Of course, she wouldn't let us see her face. I guess she's wanting it to be a surprise. She is head down and her face is toward my back. They tried for over an hour to get measurements and finally had another sonogram tech come in and she was able to get the rest of the measurements they needed. We didn't have to see the doctor this time after the sonogram, and they said they would call us if they saw anything worth noting. Dad was able to go to our appointment with us on Thursday and sit through the sonogram. He couldn't see any of her body parts that they were pointing out. I guess he just doesn't have the imagination you need in order to see a head, foot, etc. I think both him and Joel about fell asleep while they were trying to get the blood flow measurements. We didn't get any good sonogram pictures again this time because she just wouldn't cooperate.

I have started packing our hospital bags and hope to finish packing later tonight. The doctor and sonogram technician both asked me if I've had any contractions, and I told both of them that I didn't know if I had or not. They both said that I would know when I do. I have had a little cramping and lower back pain, but nothing too bad. Sleeping at night is getting harder and harder. I have to pee about every hour and a half to two hours now and it's hard to fall back asleep after I get back into bed (which is really getting to be a chore). Joel says I snore and he'll be so glad when my "pregnancy pillow" is out of bed with us. I've woke myself up a few times with my "snorts" and have no idea where they come from!

We had our pregnancy photos taken yesterday and they were a lot of fun. I can't wait to see all of them, but until then, below is a sneak peek of some that she has edited.

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited for 2011 and the memories that will be made. I remember back in June I didn't think 2011 would ever get here, and the days would drag by. The past few months have absolutely flown by and every day is one day closer to meeting our little girl! I'm down to 47 days until my due date. That's less than 50 days!!!! Joel and I both are getting very anxious. Below is a picture at 33 weeks.




We planned on celebrating New Year's Eve with Lou and Alaina, but Lou found out a couple days before that he had shingles. So, that put a halt to our plans. Joel and I ended up staying at home New Year's Eve and we watched a couple of movies, and I cleaned out the pantry. I know, everyone is probably jealous of our night, because how can you top cleaning out the pantry on New Year's Eve? We did have a relaxing weekend, though and got a lot of things done. New Year's Day I woke up and decided that all the kitchen cabinets needed cleaned out. I ended up rearranging/cleaning out all the kitchen cabinets, wiping them all down, cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer, and rearranging all my recipes. The next day I gave the house a good cleanse and decided about half way through it that I didn't have any energy left and my back was killing me. Joel didn't complain too much and did quite a few things for me, which was so nice. I don't mind that he thinks I'm psycho about certain things (like cleaning), but what really makes me love him is the fact that he accepts it and has learned to go with the flow. We made sure the car seat fits in the back seat of the car and Joel put together her travel swing on Sunday.


There is a lot to look forward to this year and I will be anxiously awaiting all the milestones to come. Tanner turns 16 in a month (which I still can't believe. I think he should still be a cute, sweet, 6 year old who loved his big sister and would go anywhere with her), Ainsley is due in a little over a month, Thomas is getting married in March, and it is the year for babies and lots of them! All I have to say, is 2011: Bring it on!

We made it through Christmas!

Thursday I had a routine appointment, and nothing really to report back. I gained 7 pounds since my last visit and I'm sure most of that is going toward my fingers, feet, legs, and hopefully most toward Ainsley! My fingers look like sausages and I know I had "cankles" before, but I really have them now. My calves go straight into my feet, with no ankle visible at all. I'm so swollen! When I wear socks now, there is a huge indention in my calves after I take my socks off for at least a couple of hours from where the elastic at the top of the socks is cutting into my calves. I finally took my wedding ring off while I still could. I feel naked without my ring, but at least it isn't cutting into my finger any more! I can only imagine how I would have looked if I was pregnant through the summer months.

The doctor also went over my ultrasound report from my last appointment and said that he thinks she is just going to be a small baby, and that everything else in the report looked great. There is no reason for him to suspect anything is wrong. They want to continue doing ultrasounds though at each appointment to monitor her growth.

I can tell she's getting bigger, although it doesn't feel like my belly is growing at all. Her movements shake my entire belly now and her kicks are definitely getting stronger each day. There is something surreal about watching a tiny foot/arm move across my belly, even if I am still freaked out a little by it all. Last night, she was poking a foot/hand and you could see it on my stomach, so I pushed it back down, and as soon as I did that she really started kicking with it. She also knows when I have my book resting on my belly, because she will kick until I move it. There are certain positions that she doesn't like me laying, and she'll let me know until I finally give in and move. I've been woke up a few times now in the middle of the night to a jab in the ribs. Those are the worst! She still has a pretty routine schedule, and has added a new time to that...right around 3 AM each morning. She'll be moving around so much that it wakes me up each morning and I just lay there awake with my hands on my belly taking it all in.

My vest is a little snug in the picture below, and that is the last time I'm going to be able to wear it this winter!

I really wasn't in the Christmas spirit this year for some reason, and can say that I'm glad Christmas is over and the new year is right around the corner. We made it down to Grandma and Grandpa Bowman's Christmas Eve. I drove down because Joel makes me nervous enough driving on dry roads, and I would have been a wreck the whole way down there with snow on the roads and him driving. When I woke up Christmas morning, my entire body was sore from being so tense driving down there and home. Needless to say, Joel decided to drive Christmas Day. We spent the morning at Jim and Rita's and watched the kids open their presents. Lani seemed very excited about everything she was opening. Jack got clothes, so of course, he didn't get too excited and Drake was pretty calm too. I'm sure Drake liked his kitchen that he got, and he made me lots of cheeseburgers before we had to leave!

We went to Mom's early that afternoon before she had to go into work and then to Dad's. Of course, Dad was making all kinds of food when we got there. The boys couldn't wait until the soup was done, so someone got the shrimp ring out of the refrigerator. Needless to say, that thing was devoured in under 5 minutes. I want to note that I had one shrimp and I don't think Jamie had any of them. I don't know how Dad keeps food in the house the way Tanner, Thomas, and Joel eat. I have a hard enough time and I just have one of them!

We went down to Nanny and Papa's for a little bit later that night and then stayed the night at Dad's. We had Christmas at Aunt Doris's Sunday. They put new flooring in the basement, so we were able to open presents down there. There was also some air hockey played, with only a few names called during the games! The gag gifts didn't get too bad this year, although Thomas did get some lovely Mickey Santa ears that he modeled.

I'm looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us. It's hard to believe that we'll be adding to the chaos of kids running around next Christmas!

Ainsley's bedroom

Ainsley's bedroom is starting to come together. Mom came over this afternoon and helped me get everything hung on the walls. I still need a few more things to finish up her bedroom, but it is pretty close to done.

I found prints online that matched her bedding and a lady that custom paints blocks to match the bedroom decor. I'm very happy with how both turned out!

I think Ainsley may be developing a slight shoe obsession a little young...

31 Weeks

We only have nine short weeks left. This week our baby should be over 16 inches long and weigh a little over 3 pounds. For the last few weeks, I've been feeling more and more tired. It's not as bad as the first trimester, but I've been going to bed before 9 each night and can easily sleep for 12 hours. Everyone was right when they said that the second trimester is the best. I felt good that whole trimester. Below is a belly picture at 31 weeks.

Today I ran into Jimmy Johns to grab a couple of sandwiches to bring home for lunch. Joel called and wanted a "Vito" (a name of a sandwich), so I didn't argue and decided I could go for a BLT myself. The young man working behind the register took a couple of good looks of my belly while I walked to the register. I gave him my order...a Vito, BLT, and a pickle. He then asked me: "Is that all for you?" I responded: "Yes." He then glanced at my belly again, and then proceeded to ask: "No, I mean, is that ALL for YOU?" I chuckled and told him: "No, actually my husband wanted a Vito, so ran in for lunch." He laughed and told me he was just joking. I sure hope that he doesn't ask that question to every pregnant woman that walks in. I don't know if everyone else would brush it off and laugh along with him like I did.

We have Christmas as Aunt Roycelyn's tomorrow and that means it's officially the beginning of Christmas. I've finished our shopping, and am as ready as I'll ever be for Christmas this year!

We made it home!

We were welcomed back in Illinois last night with snow on the ground and temperatures in the 20's. Brrrrr! I think we both would have loved to bring the weather from Dallas home with us. It was so nice down there, and in the 60's every day. We got home about 10 last night, and let me tell you, it felt good to be home! I never in a million years thought I would say this, but I know I was more excited about getting home than Joel. He's always ready to go home after the second day we are away, and I'm usually the one that doesn't want to go home, but traveling while pregnant is not a comfortable task. It's such a relief to know that I don't have to travel again until after Ainsley's born.

We only had a few mishaps while we were gone, and I'm sure we both came back a few pounds heavier (I'll find out exactly how many pounds heavier at my appointment next Thursday)! We hadn't even made it to our gate in St. Louis when Joel hears his name come across the intercom. He somehow "misplaced" his boarding pass and security had it. Once we got it back, it was a smooth flight to Dallas. On Sunday, Joel about side-swiped a car on one of the interstates, and he wonders why I don't let him drive! I think Joel's best memory of our little trip was on the way to the airport for our flight home. I ended up changing clothes in the car on the George W. Bush Turnpike on our way to DFW. Now, a pregnant woman trying to change clothes while going 70 down an expressway (Joel was driving, in case you were wondering) is hard enough with all the bending over etc. Well, to make it worse, my husband informed me that my feet stunk so bad that he was going to throw up. I wore some flats (without socks) that I got at Payless into the office that day and was trying to put on jeans and tennis shoes, and I guess my feet stunk pretty bad from the flats I wore. It was 60 degrees in Dallas and I'm like an oven and I'm sure my feet were sweating like crazy! So, we had to have the windows down while I'm trying to get some clothes on and hoping that Joel doesn't throw up! I was so glad when we finally made it back to the rental car place to return the car so I could adjust my maternity pants, and get those nasty smelling shoes out of the car and into the suitcase with all the dirty clothes!

Joel enjoyed his "vacation" while I went into the office every day. We did go to an outlet mall on Saturday and saw a movie that afternoon. We saw another movie on Sunday and did a little shopping that day also. I was looking for a dress for Ainsley to wear to Thomas and Jamie's wedding in March, and bought a couple that might work, but Joel actually had a better idea for her dress and I might end up taking the others back. We think that she needs to look like Mommy that day, so I'm going to see if I can arrange for that to happen!

It seems like all we do it eat when we go down to Dallas, and this time was no exception. We went to a couple Mexican restaurants down there, and I do have to say that none of them compared to El Ranchirito! No surprise here, but Joel loved the Brazilian Steakhouse we went to Thursday night. I was so miserable when we left from eating so much that I wanted to go straight to bed!

Last Sunday we babysat Drake while the Christmas tour was going on (Brian and Jennifer's house was in it this year) and we took him down to Rockbridge with us to Aunt Doris's. He loved "Baby" the cat and got a few cool toys to take home from Aunt Do. I was so excited that we had some toys that he could play with at our house, which are the few that we've got for Ainsley so far, and ran back to grab her "toy tote" from her room. There were a few books and little things for him to play with in the tote. Callie got Ainsley a "sing-a-ma-jig" at the baby shower and I thought I would pull it out and let him play with it too, but that didn't go so well! This "doll" that looks kind of like a monkey, makes different noises when you press its belly and its mouth opens each time a noise comes out. Drake was terrified of it, so of course, we had to keep aggravating him with it (as you can see in the picture)!

There's only 11 days left until Christmas and unfortunately, I'm going to have to go out on Friday night or Saturday to finish shopping. I'm going to have to play the "pregnant card" on Joel and somehow get him to go out with me so I don't have to face all the crazy people in the stores by myself!

Snow for Illinois....50s and 60s for Trista, Joel, and Baby Ainsley!

We leave for Dallas tomorrow morning, and I'm pretty excited about the temperatures down there. Tomorrow's temperature in Dallas: high of 63! I warned the doctor at my last appointment that I would probably gain as much this month, if not more, than I did last month. When a Brazilian Steakhouse, Maggiano's, and the Dairy.com Christmas party are all on the agenda for the first three days we're there, I'm guaranteed to pack on a few pounds! Because I'll be training someone to do the payrolls while I'm out in a few months, we're going to be there a little longer than usual, but at least I won't have to go back down to do any more training. I'm hoping to do a little shopping while I'm down there, but Joel will be by my side the whole time, so I don't know if I'll be able to get away with buying any more baby clothes!

We've decided that Ainsley's middle name is going to be Rose. That's what we were planning on using all along, and we've finally agreed on it and set it in stone. Her kicks continue to get stronger each day, and I'm starting to play the "what body part is that" game now. I'm hoping to get everything hung up in her room when we get back and I'll add some pictures. We have a photo shoot scheduled (which Joel is just THRILLED about) the first weekend of January. I looked at some "belly" photos about a week ago and they got me in the mood for our pictures. We only have 73 more days to go until her due date. I can't believe how fast the pregnancy has gone. (On a side note, we've had over 2,400 views on our blog since I started it in June...I just figured out the other day where to go to see the stats. I can't believe how many views we've had in 6 months!)

Even harder to believe: there are only 17 days until Christmas. I can't wait until next Christmas when Ainsley is here, pulling ornaments off the tree, dressing her in cute little Christmas dresses, and seeing her get new toys! Then the years to follow will be just as great...making garland from construction paper to hang on the tree, baking and decorating cookies, building a gingerbread house, sledding, building a snowman, and the list goes on. So, back to the point that there is only 17 days left until Christmas....I still don't have all our shopping done yet. I have never waited this long, and don't know when I'm going to find the time to finish. So if you're one of the few, unlucky people that doesn't get a gift this year, I apologize in advance!

I hope everyone enjoys the few inches of snow that is predicted over the weekend. We'll be thinking of you while we're walking around Dallas in jeans and tshirts!

Sonogram, Monthly Appointment, and Baby Care Basics Class

We've been busy over the last few days! Last night we went to the Baby Care Basics class at St. Johns. We both were hesitant to go, because we didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be a good class and was very informational. The teacher really opened my eyes to something I had never really thought of before. As soon as a baby comes out and they clamp and cut the cord, the baby has to start doing a lot of things on his own. It's amazing how the baby automatically starts doing these things by itself when it has been relying on the mother to do it for him. The baby has to start circulating his own blood, keeping their own temperature, learn how to cry and eat, etc. There are a lot of things we expect a baby to learn/know when they first come out. It's amazing how quickly they catch on! We also learned what can be "wrong" with a baby after it comes out, but it is actually considered normal. Blue hands for example are normal, even though I would have thought something was wrong if I saw blue hands. There are things St. Johns will not let you leave with in the baby's car seat. Nothing can be in between the baby and the seat. There can't be anything that wasn't attached by the manufacturer to the car seat either. Joel liked the video on the car seats and there was a lot that I didn't know about them in the video. They showed us how to swaddle a baby and how to take the baby's temperature, which they say to do under the arm and not rectal. They also say not to use baby powder at all on girls (which I didn't know!) and not to use alcohol to dry out the cord (they want you to keep it as dry as possible and let it fall off on its own). I think we're both glad we went, but we both agreed that we don't need to go back again!

I had my monthly appointment today and a sonogram after my appointment. This was a follow up sonogram, because at the last one she was measuring small (in the 12th percentile). I gained 6 pounds last month, my blood pressure was good, and I measured fine on the outside. I have another appointment on the 23rd and then I start going every two weeks.

My sonogram followed and we didn't get the best news. She is still measuring small, and is now in the 8th percentile. She's went down from the 12th percentile at week 21 to the 8th percentile at week 28. They are estimating her weight at 2 pounds 6 ounces. Her brain, stomach, and kidneys are all measuring good. The doctor said that they can't see any chromosomal defects. They also checked the blood flow, circulation, and amniotic fluid which all checked out fine. They were worried that something might be wrong with the placenta which was stunting her growth, but everything appeared okay. She is a very active baby, and the doctor could see that in the sonogram (she started kicking for her). The doctor said that everything checked out fine that she could see, and that it appears she is just a small baby. We have to have another sonogram in five weeks to check the growth again. They want a baby to be above the 10th percentile, but like the sonogram technician pointed out, at least Ainsley isn't below zero. She's still on the charts, if only by a little. We didn't get to see her face this time either. Joel is convinced that she is just like I was; shy and doesn't want anyone to see her! They also confirmed again that she is definitely a girl. Jim and Joel both have been a little worried that it is actually a boy, and Joel said that we would have to paint pigs on her bedroom walls (since they are painted pink) to make it a boy's room because we weren't painting it again! The sonogram pictures aren't very good again, so I'm only posting one (a profile picture), which in my opinion is the only half-way decent one. As we were walking out, the doctor was standing there and reassured us that everything was okay and that she is just a small baby.

Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I'm especially thankful for my husband, as he has put up with a lot this year. I'm sure he would agree that it's all been worth it and next year we'll have a little one crawling around begging for a taste of food from everyone.

We had a pretty laid back Thanksgiving and it was very nice. We went to Rockbridge for lunch and visited for a few hours. We stopped by Richard and Tina's on the way home and was able to visit with the Freeman's for a few hours also.

JD wanted a bath, so Aunt Doris pulled his swimming pool/bath tub/toy box/play pool into the kitchen, filled it up and plopped JD in middle of the kitchen floor after we ate. He loved it!

His Mom didn't love it after he got his clothes put back on and while everyone was preoccupied, JD decided he wasn't done and wanted to take a "bath" again! It's a good thing that Aunt Do had some extra clothes at the house for him!

I ran over to Springfield late this morning (thinking that the crowd would have died down a little) and got a glider for Ainsley's room. Springfield was still pretty crazy at eleven when I got there and I was so ready to come home.

Joel put together the glider when he got home (and I didn't even ask)!