Avery's First Day

Check out this slideshow...and grab your kleenex's! :o)

http://www.marcelainphotography.com/

Thanks to Shasha and Bappa for this precious gift.

Avery Joy Hubbard

Avery Joy arrived on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 4:22 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19.5 inches long. We are all at home now and learning how to be a family of 4. Thanks for all the prayers.

We are blessed!

Stay tuned...

The day we've been waiting for is almost here. We went for my check-up this morning and got scheduled for an induction tomorrow morning! Yeah! We were hoping this would happen and now that it is we're running around trying to make sure we really have everything ready. I had progressed to a 3 this week and effaced even more, plus my blood pressure was up just a little so our doctor mentioned the idea of inducing next week. Then we started our sad story of how this week would really be better for us for several reasons...and he's on call tomorrow anyway, so we were scheduled!

We report at 5:30 am so hopefully we'll have our little girl in our arms by early afternoon! Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. We'll try to get the news posted as soon as we can!

Big Sister is Ready

Jenae loves the idea of being the big sister. She has been playing with "Baby Sister" doll for weeks now. She loves to take care of her, put her down for naps, read books to her, and feed her. There have been many sweet, sweet moments watching Jenae love her baby sister. I can't wait for her to meet the real thing. However, this has also been a good learning experience for Momma, too. Like watching Jenae put the doll in the car seat and then sitting in the dolls lap. Or the time I walked in to find the doll lathered up in Germ-X only to receive the explanation that "I give sister a bath." Oh, Okay! I guess all together it is a good semi-dose of reality for both of us. There will be sweet moments, but don't take your eye off the big sister. :o) Fun times are ahead!

Enjoying the flowers that we've been watching and waiting to bloom.

Chutes and Ladders is basically a counting game, right?! Jenae can count to about 12 or 13 on her own, so we thought it was a great time to introduce her to the world of board games. Well, there are some other spacial and sequntial skills that are needed for this game, that we don't yet have mastery over. So, for Jenae, is more like "paperdoll playground." The little people love to go up the ladders and down the slides. And, Jenae loves to have her friends, ie Pooh and friends, play with her. Pooh got in trouble the other day for not doing the spinner the right way. I love to hear her conversations with her "friends."

They always seem to work out their differences and are still best friends at the end of the day!

Baby Shower

Last Sunday afternoon (April 13) the sweet ladies at the Winters church hosted a baby shower for us. It was so much fun and we received lots of new goodies for our little girl.

Some of the hostesses with Jenae and me
(Sondra, Pat, Billie, me, Kay, Kaylene, Brenda and Lauren)

Mimommie, Gaylene, me, Denecia and Jenae

Who Loves Baby?

Matching outfits from Gaylene! :o)

Jenae received her "Big Sister" necklace at the shower. She was so proud of it. If you ask her now what it says though, she will say, "Baby sister had a party."

They even made a special cake for Jenae. They know how to make the big sister feel special, too!

Some of the goodies!

Big Belly, 38-39 Weeks

I can't believe I'm posting these pictures, but here goes. I kind of like this top one of Jenae and me, but I'm afraid it makes me look a bit larger than reality. So, I've included the one below for a different perspective and angle. The truth is that I have a big ole belly right now, and I'm ready for it to stop growing.

We went last Monday for a check-up and were given the kind of good news that isn't really good news, just something to hold on to for hope that this pregnancy will end soon. I was already at a 2 and 50% effaced, but obviously that hasn't done anything this week to make our little girl arrive. I was excited to learn I had lost 3 pounds from 2 weeks before! Although I'm certain that had a lot more to do with the food poisoning I got the night before than any healthy lifestyle I'm leading right now. We go back to the doctor in the morning and here's to hoping for an accidental breaking of the waters or a discussion about inducing soon. I'll keep you posted!

A Zoo "Trip"

This was the damage after an exciting day at the zoo. Jenae was perhaps a bit more excited than the rest of us, because she couldn't seem to keep her feet under her. About 50 yards inside the main entrance she tripped on her own feet and landed face first. OUCH! She toughened up about the time to feed the giraffes. Poor thing!
This picture was actually taken a couple of days after the "trip" and within a week the scabs were gone. These kids sure are resiliant!

I Haven't Forgotten...

that I still have a blog. I've just been so busy (and tired) trying to get everything ready for our new little girl. We're almost there and have lots to catch up on before her arrival. Be checking back this weekend for pictures of the nursery, big belly shots and our baby shower. It's getting close and we can't wait. Actually all we're doing is waiting...we're ready to meet her!