{Officially Official}

Ava Kate's birthday has changed AGAIN!! We're officially scheduled for a C-section on March 8, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. (unless this little booger decides to make her debut earlier)! March 8th is also Memaw Bush's birthday! I know it was only two extra days, but when I found out the date moved up to the 8th, I got even MORE nervous than I was before. It's LESS than two weeks away...eek!

We have our very last prenatal appointment next Wednesday, then our pre-op appointment the next Monday, then our BABY on Tuesday. Lucky for me, for once in my life, I'm waiting on someone, not someone waiting on me! Ha! I totally thought this baby was going to be a true Bush Girl and be late for everything in her life. Hopefully the Weaver in her will prevent her from being a complete hot mess like her mama, Aunt Scootie, Aunt Mandy and Aunt Ronnie. :)

More baybay updates to come!

{nesting}

The nesting instinct is officially in full force. Seriously, last night, I cleaned my parents' kitchen. I hardly did that when I lived there. Right now, my house should go into some hall of fame somewhere. Or maybe I should go into a hall of fame for being Anal Annie??

My floors are so clean you can eat off them and not fall gravely ill.

My windows are sparkly and dog snot free...until Olive hears a leaf blowing across the yard and has to go investigate.

My microwave is SPOTLESS.

You can sit on my couch and chairs, WEARING BLACK, and you will not get dog hair on you.

You need sunglasses to look into my bathrooms.

Our laundry is done and folded AND put up. 'Put up' meaning in the respectful drawer or closet, not draped across the stroller.

I mopped and swept my kitchen floor for the first time in FOREVAH. **Note** Our kitchen floor is straight out of the 70's. I'm talking mustard and avocado floral pattern. The good thing? It will hide inches of dirt and grime. Also, we have 3 dogs and kwang under our feet in the kitchen, so dropped food immediately gets slurped up.

The gifts from my baby shower last weekend are finally off the kitchen table.

Now, I know this will probably last, um, all of 10 minutes until the dogs come in or I cook supper tonight. But for right now, my house is worthy of an unexpected visitor. But please make sure TO TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!

{28 weeks}

Worst. Blogger. In. The. World. Ugh. I'm sorry. But I really have been busy! You can read about that (I PROMISE!!) in the next post.

In other news.....I'm officially in the THIRD TRIMESTER! I'm really 29 weeks, but I had my appointment at 28 weeks, so we'll talk about that! This was the big glucose test appointment and I was straight up dreading it. I had to drink a little orange drink in 5 minutes. I HATE anything citrus flavored. Orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit. Blech. I was also not looking forward to them drawing blood. Turns out the orange drink wasn't terrible. But it wasn't good either. It tasted like super sweet, flat Fanta. Five minutes is also not a very long time to drink something when you've had a Chic-fil-a biscuit and a sweet tea already. When we got there, (Big Mom got to go with me this time!) I did my blood pressure, weight, etc. and then went to hear Ava Kate's heartbeat. Next up, blood test. Double yuck. Turns out they don't draw blood, they just prick your finger! I may have yelped a little bit, but it was way better than them drawing blood! And I passed my glucose test! Also, not to brag, but I've had excellent blood pressure for the whole pregnancy and I've been right on target for weight gain. Again, not to brag. :) Everything is right on track with Ava Kate too! Here I am at 29 weeks:

P.S. Ava Kate is a music lover!! Especially a cappella music. My baby has good taste! We were sitting around one night watching The Sing Off and she was moving and grooving so much you could see my belly moving. Afterwards, Scootie told me to YouTube USC's women's a cappella group (Cocktails) and Clemson's men's group (Tigeroar). AK loved them both and danced along with them, until...I found Tigeroar singing Tiger Rag a cappella and, I kid you not, AK stopped moving. This child is going to be a Gamecock fan! We tried going back and forth and, people, I'm serious, and my sister can vouch for me, she did not budge during Tiger Rag. My father is so proud!

{it's a...}

...GIRL! Ahh! We are SO excited! Our appointment was at 2 today, and oh em gee did that make for a looooooong morning! Our ultrasound tech was absolutely amazing! Our little girl's heart, brain, spine, and everything in between checked out great! She was a little sassy and didn't want to cooperate with us on a few things...she probably gets that from her mama! Her heart rate was 143 and that little heart was just a thumping! She was also moving around a lot, but I STILL haven't felt anything! No worries though, our doc it was just the way she was positioned.

Little Weavus's real name is going to be......Ava Kate! She'll be named after my maternal great great grandmother, Mary Ava Kate Addison. My great grandmother, Memaw Cromer, (who is still as spry and sassy as ever!), kept telling me she 'sure does wish someone would name their little girl after her mama'. When Memaw Cromer 'suggests' something, you listen! The cool think is we were going to use Ava, after her mom, and decided on Kate as a middle name just because I liked it. Then come to find out her actual middle name was Kate. I really had no idea! Funny how things work out like that! I like to think it was meant to be!

I'll leave you with a few ultrasound pictures and my belly at 20 weeks!

This is her side profile. Her head is on my right side. She also wouldn't move her hand down from her face, but we could see her five little fingers perfectly!

Her face.

Ava Kate will hate us for this later, but tada! She's a girl! The 3 little white lines are called a hamburger.

Side profile picture!

Here I am at 20 weeks! Excuse the unfinished paint job on the wall (painting beadboard is HARD) and the sleepy terrier in the background! But, hey, at least my bed is made?

{for cayce}

I know, I know. I'm the worst blogger on the face of the earth. I would lie and say I've been reeeally busy, but the two people who actually read this blog know it's not true. :) I'm going to try and play catch up. I'll start with my 16 week appointment. FYI, I'm 19 weeks and we're going to our 20 week appointment next Wednesday. Slack I tell you!

16 Weeks
We had a great appointment with Dr. Salley again. Weavus's heartrate was 156. Chad and I bet on it before and I WON! I can't remember (because it was A MONTH AGO) what he guessed. I think it was something waaay low. Dr. Salley also said he had a 'girl feeling'. Hmmmm...we'll see next Wednesday. In bad news, I had to get a flu shot which ruined my morning. They hurt. I also kept Evus and she made my day better! I had to cart her over to the Toyota dealership to get my car fixed and she was so good! I'm serious. Best. Baby. Ever. She impressed all the boys with her spit bubbles and squeals. :)

Birthday Shout Outs
October is a big month for birthdays on the Bush side of the family. Well, our family is SO BIG, I'm sure any month is a big birthday month! We like to compare our family to kudzu. We're very invasive...in a good way...and keep on spreadin' out! Amanda's 22 birthday was on the 5th and she was lucky enough to have Carolina beat Alabama! Let's talk about a good birthday present! Also ESPN Gameday was broadcasting from the Horseshoe. I can proudly say that she didn't bring shame to the Bush name on national television. You never can tell with Amanda. I kid! :) Next was Lexi's birthday on the 6th and she turned 8! In lieu of presents for her birthday, she wanted everyone to bring dog and cat food to donate to the local animal shelters! I'm so proud of her!! This was the 2nd year she's done it! She's such a big girl now and I can't even stand it! Lexi has been taking riding lessons for a couple of years now and she even has her own horse! She's a white pony named Maggie. (Side note: Maggie used to belong to my band director, Mr. Thomas! Small world, eh?) Lex had a horse birthday party so Maggie and her riding teacher's horse Cricket came. It was a fun time for everyone! Lexi's dad, Uncle Charlie had a birthday last Wednesday, the 13th. He is such a great dad! Aunt Melinda and Uncle Charlie are foster parents. I have never met such selfless, caring and nourishing people! Lexi was one of their foster kids and they and the whole family were lucky enough to adopt her! Chad the Dad turned 30 on the 20th. It's a running joke that Chad has been 30 for as long as I've known him. We had a little dinner here for him with his parents and sister and her boyfriend and my parents and sisters and my memaw. We didn't have horses, but it was a good time! As a late birthday present we get to find out what little Weavus is going to be! And finally for the October Birthday Shoutouts, the newest member of the Bush family is going to be born TOMORROW, the 22nd! My aunt, Emmie, is having her 2nd child, a little boy, Jacob Adam. Bless his sweet unborn soul, I've been telling people his name is James Allen. Jake has an older sister, Brooke, who is an entire blog entry to herself! She is quite a character for lack of other words. We're all waiting to see her reaction to her baby brother!

Cheerleading
My little sister Jessie is a cheerleader for the MCHS JV squad. They started their competitions last Saturday and OMG, she did SOOO GOOD! It was her first competition ever and I was a hot, nervous, sweaty mess! She did so good though! She owned the mat and hit every move and her facial expressions were dead on! She is a natural! Jessie has 3 more competitions and I can't wait to see how they do!

Mountains
My family took a little weekend trip to the mountains the first weekend of October. We all had a good time and laughed a lot at each other's expense. Isn't that what families are for? :) My sister took all the pictures and you can check them out on her facebook page! P.S. it was fah-reezing!

I think that's all that happened in October. I think. Next week I'll let you know WHAT WE'RE HAVING! And I'll put up a 20 weeks belly picture, because, believe you me, this baybay is growing out of control! I won't forget! I hereby, solemnly swear to keep my blog updated. Did you read that Cayce? You being my sole reader, don't let my slip up!

{12 weeks}

*12 weeks. Note my pants don't button. also check out the color swatch of our bedroom!

happy 2nd trimester to me! we had our 12 week appointment with dr. salley on monday. everything went well and we got to hear little weaver's heartbeat! 160 bpm and going strong! theory has it that 140 bmp and above means....it's a little girl! but, that's just a theory. we'll officially know in october, and believe me, it can't get here soon enough!! a couple of baby blogs i read have this cute little questionnaire, so i think i'll add it to mine!

how far along: 12 weeks and counting!

how big is baby: baby weaver is around 2 1/2 inches and weighs about 1/2 ounce. think the size of a fresh plum!

gender: AAAAAHH! it's driving me CRAZY not knowing! i can't stand passing up cute baby things!

weight gain: sigh. a little more than i was wanting to. 6 lbs in a month. BUT, in my defense, i've been eating things that 'stick' to me, and that means A LOT of carbs. i'm doing better, i swear...

stretch marks: none yet! hopefully never!

sleep: ha! Sometimes i CANNOT get enough sleep! this week, i've seriously gone to bed at 8:00 at the latest. after a nap after work. so sad. then other times i wake up at 5 in the morning, ready to start my day! once i even got up and ironed chad's clothes for work AND made him breakfast.

best moment of the week: hearing little weaver's heartbeat!

food and cravings: no cravings yet, but i do have some food aversions. i used to LOVE yogurt. not so much anymore. plain cheerios also taste garlic-y to me.

movement: not yet! soon though!

what i miss: hmmm...really the only thing i miss is sushi. well the raw stuff. i can still eat rolls that have fully cooked filling.

belly button: still an innie :)

looking forward to: starting on the nursery! it's next on our never ending list of home renovations!

milestone: the end of my first trimester! hopefully all the pregnancy discomforts will GO AWAY!

tune in next week! same weaver time, same weaver channel!

{Our First Appointment}

*8 weeks: no bump yet, but my pants are getting a little snug in the waist!

our first doctor's appointment was august 4, 2010. i was officially 8 weeks pregnant! our doctor is doctor salley at sc obgyn. i don't think i could have picked a better group to go with!

i really have been feeling ok so far during my pregnancy. tired, yes, but not terrible. nauseous, yes, but not terrible. things started to take a turn for the worse last monday. let's just say i had all day sickness and couldn't hold a thing down. our wednesday appointment couldn't get here fast enough. dr. salley wasn't in the office on wednesday so we just met with our nurse, sarah. who is wonderful. she made us feel very comfortable and she was very easy to talk to! we did all the basic health history questions, urinalysis, and lots of blood work! the results: surprise! we're pregnant! um, duh. :) nurse sarah also put me on a nausea medicine and switched my prenatal vitamin to flintstones vitamins! ten million strong, and growing... our first appointment was a success! i was also able to eat my first meal and keep it down. hooray! lunch has never tasted so good!

our next appointment is september 1, 2010. we get to hear baby weaver's heartbeat!

{A Bun in the Oven}

that's right! we're {PREGNANT}! after a few days of feeling funny, i decided to take a test, 'just in case'. well, that 'just in case' test had two little pink lines in SECONDS! almost instantly! so i'm sitting there, on the toilet, in complete shock. i finally call chad in there to tell him the news. this is the honest to goodness conversation:

{ME} chad! come here! i have something to show you!

{CHAD} ok! ok! *side note: he had no idea what i was doing*

{ME} chad! i'm pregnant! we're going to have a baby!

{CHAD} oh wow! that's great! i just put some left over ribs in the microwave. do you want some?
{ME} what? chad, i'm pregnant!

{CHAD} i know! do you want some ribs?

in chad's defense, he really was excited! just excited about his ribs too! after three tests, i finally decided i was, in fact, pregnant. ok. we can start telling family and close friends. everyone is very excited, but a few reactions stood out. when we told papa, my dad's dad, he was going to be a great granddad, he clutched his heart and swayed a little bit {hopefully just pretending} and said "ooooh my!" then immediately tells a donkey joke: i had a donkey once and asked him how much corn he wanted. that donkey said a few-ew-ew-ew. i'm not lying. at all.

the next best reaction belongs to my friend jessica. we were at a little get together with some old friends from high school. jamie and cayce already knew, so it was time to tell jess. "well jess, i have something to tell you!" her eyes got HUGE. "yep! i'm pregnant!" she began to freak out. "OMG! OMG! OMG! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU! OMG! OMG! OMG!" this is complete with arm flapping and all. and lasts for about 5 minutes! and i'm sure you all heard it from your houses as well. :) i really do have the best, sweetest friends!

stay tuned for our first doctor's appointment! august 4, 2010!