June 1, 2013

So let's go back to June 1, 2013.  As you may remember, this is the day that we said farewell to 1716 Green Hills Drive and moved out of our home.  The week for me was very emotional and I cried more times than I could count.   By 4:00pm this day we had everything moved out and I went around one last time and turned on all of the lights, left a note and a bottle of Arrington Vineyard's Red Fox Red wine to welcome the new owners to Tennessee and their new home.

By 5:00pm this day we had gone to El Palenque and had dinner.

We made a stop at CVS on the way home.

And by 6:00pm on June 1st we got this news...

By 6:01pm on this day, Travis and I were speechless.

Yes, we were wanting to expand our family this year.  Yes, we were very caught off guard.  Yes, we could not believe that we had just moved out of our beautiful home into a small condo to find out we had a baby on the way.  Yes, we had just moved the majority of our belongings into two storage units that included ALL of our baby items.  No, we did not label any of our boxes other than Storage so we have no idea where anything is at in these two units. 

The first Trimester went by and all I remember was being tired and nauseated.  I remember being very tired during my pregnancy with Ava however the nausea this time around was new for me.  It just lingered all day, every day for 12 weeks and I found if I was not eating every hour and a half, I felt even worse.

Our first appointment with Dr. Crowe was at 9 weeks and we got to see our little one for the first time and listen to the heart beat.   Although this pregnancy was a bit of a surprise for us and I was not feeling the best, one of the best sounds to hear is your baby's heart beating for the first time and I cried again just like I did when I heard Ava's.

Three weeks later at my 11 week mark, I had scheduled to have genetic testing done.  We had this done with Ava and it is good to know if there is anything wrong with the baby so that you are prepared.  It is not invasive and simply involves an ultrasound and blood work.  During the ultrasound they measure the nape of the neck and pair this with the blood results to determine if there are any signs of down syndrome.  Luckily our test came back okay and we have a healthy baby!

The good part of this test is that you get to take a peek at the baby during the Ultrasound.  Travis could not make it but luckily they gave me this photo afterwards.

I texted this picture to my husband of which he replies "Holy Crap, that's a Baby!"  Translation is he was as surprised as I was that at 11 weeks you can tell from the profile that it is a Baby and not a little blip on the screen.

With Ava I knew that I was having a girl and since I got pregnant, I said I was having a boy.  Every pregnancy is different but to me the fact that I was craving chicken wings, greasy food, and sweets made me positive I was having a boy.  For Travis he was certain we were having another girl but either way we were so excited.

On Monday, September 23rd we went to our 20 week ultrasound appointment and within seconds the tech asked if we knew what we were looking at and we did...it was a BOY!

Tears followed this amazing news and we were excited to call everyone to let them know that
Britt James was expected to arrive in February.  We chose the name after two family names, Britt is Travis' Grandmother's maiden name on his Mother's side as well as his Mom's middle name and it is also Travis' middle name.  James is after Travis' father, James Baird.

While dressing Ava is so much fun, I have had just as much fun picking out clothes and planning Britt's nursery.  I love the fact that we have a beautiful daughter and a handsome son on the way.  Life Is Good!

Last week we met with our amazing photographer, Beth with Hazel and Blue Photography.  She has done all of Ava's photo shoots and we got together for Ava's 2 year photo's.  I wanted to include some pictures of Ava announcing that she was going to be a Big Sister.  Beth sent me the below collage from our photo session and I am so in love with this sweet announcement!