Our big girl!!!

Alabama - here we come!!

Hello all,

Our family is moving to Alabama at the end of this month! Chris accepted a student/worship pastor position at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa! The senior pastor of the church was on our team during our mission trip to India in 2010. We're SO excited about the church and how God is going to use us to minister there.

So now we're attempting to pack, which I hate doing. And Avery sort of complicates things, haha! We try to get as much done during her naps as we can :-) So far, most of our packed boxes are books - we have a TON!! We found a great house, and we're waiting on our loan to process. Hopefully our closing date will be the 28th, because Chris's 1st Sunday is the 30th!!

Things have been good - but so busy! I wish I could adequately describe to you how much God has provided for us, and how he has taken such great care of us through these past few months & last several years!! It's amazing!!

Well, I'd love to say I'll post again soon....but it will probably be a while, lol!! I'm excited to get to AL and start painting and decorating our new home!! And I'm even more excited to make new friends :-)

Love ya!

Michelle

It's almost Fall!!

Hello all!

The weather is finally starting to calm down a bit. Hopefully our days of temperatures over 100 degrees are over until next Summer.

We're doing well! September has been an extremely busy month for us. First we were able to visit Edisto Island with some families from our church in TN for a week, then we went to TN to visit our families for a week, and this coming weekend we're flying to AL to visit a church! Shoo!! We're very excited to see what God has in store for us, so this weekend is a huge deal to us. I'm nervous about flying with Avery, so if ya'll could pray for us this weekend, we'd really appreciate it :-)

It looks like we're going to be moving somewhere new soon. I'm really hoping to buy a house, and finally have a nursery for sweet Avery! I'm going to have a blast decorating!!

I recently finished helping my office out, and so now I'm home full-time. I can't even begin to explain how wonderful it is to spend all day with my sweet girl. God has blessed us beyond what we could have ever imagined.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Love always,
Michelle

Happy 4 Months Avery!!

Whoops...

So I haven't done a very good job of updating, have I???

Avery's 3 1/2 months old now & growing like a weed! She already has one tooth :-) She's very use to her routine & is doing so well! She hates napping more than anything, and will scream to keep herself from getting too sleepy, haha. Her 4 month well-check is in 2 weeks, and we can't wait to see how much she's grown since her last visit. We just bought her a Baby Einstein entertainer, & we know she's going to love it! She's obsessed with bright lights & music.

I've been working the last month to help out my office while they train a new tech. So Chris has been on Daddy duty every day, lol. He & Avery have had tons of bonding time. Avery adores her Daddy :-)

We're looking forward to going to the beach next month - Avery's first time!!

I'll post again soon!

Love,

Michelle

Avery's here!

Avery was finally born on 4-26-11 at 4:57pm! We went in to the hospital early that morning, and I had to be induced. She weighed 8 lbs & 2 oz and measured 19 1/2 inches long!

Tomorrow, she'll be 4 weeks old! Can you believe I'm just now updating our blog, haha?? This month has been insane. I really was unprepared for how hard parenthood is. The first few weeks of Avery's life were the hardest of mine. But she's so perfect & beautiful, and I already can't imagine life without her.

I'll try to be better about updating the blog. It's tough when your little one never wants to be put down, lol!

Love to all,
Michelle

No baby yet...

Avery's due date has come and gone and so far she doesn't seem to mind... We go back to the doctor tomorrow for an ultrasound and non-stress test to make sure she is still doing well in the womb. If everything's fine, then we'll schedule an induction for the next week (apparently it's tough to get into the hospital). If not, then they'll send us straight over to get things rolling.

I'm DYING for her to be here!! We've been waiting so long and looking forward to the 18th, and my patience was already thin, haha! I keep hoping and praying that my water will break at any moment, or that I'll start having consistent contractions. I've been walking a ton every day, but even that's not causing any discomfort :(.

Please pray for us as we wait for the big day. We're praying for a smooth delivery and that Avery will be healthy!

Love to all,

Michelle

Only 20 days to go!!

Avery is going to be here before we know it :-) We only have 20 days until her due date!

The past month has absolutely flown by... I had 2 more baby showers, one at our church in Durham, and one thrown by the ladies at my office! They were both SO great! We've been trying to get all of Avery's new things organized. I'm going to be writing thank you notes for the rest of my life!! I have my hospital bag packed, but we still have several last minute things to do before Avery arrives!

Chris is still doing really well in school this semester. He just had mid-terms and is waiting to see how he did. I'm super proud of him! And I can't wait for him to graduate!

Well, I'll try to post again soon!

Love to all,

Michelle

And the craziness continues!!!

February is going to be the death of me, haha! Chris & I have been SO busy, and every weekend is full!

My TN showers were amazing! I was completely overwhelmed with everything! We got so much great stuff for Avery - and it's all so adorable :-) I couldn't believe the decorations & food at my Cupcake shower - my friends definitely outdid themselves! And my church shower was beautiful and I was happy to see tons of women I haven't seen in ages. It was a fast, but super fun weekend!

I've been training my replacement at work this week, and I've had to stay on my feet a lot more than I normally would. By the time I got home each night this week, I was about to drop w/ exhaustion. And my poor feet! They look terrible, lol. I have to work tomorrow - ugh, but then I have a baby shower to look forward to at our church here on Sunday afternoon! Yay!

Chris and I went and purchased Avery's stroller & pack n' play today!! I'm very excited to put everything together, but for now the huge boxes are still in my car. Poor Chris has to carry them up our 3 flights of stairs...

Time is flying by. I'll be 33 weeks on Monday, so we don't have much longer til Avery comes!!

Love you all,

Michelle

Busy, busy, busy...

Hello all,

Today is my 27th Birthday! Chris and I are in Myrtle Beach right now and it's been so much fun :-) I love the beach any time of year! We've done a lot of shopping and eating, two of my favorite things!!

Things have been crazy since I last posted!

Chris and I endured our childbirth classes at Rex. We had to go 2 Saturdays in a row for 4 1/2 hours. We watched some not so exciting videos about labor & birth, and had to practice breathing techniques and things like that. I was excited to tour the birth center - it's SO nice :-) And Chris is excited about the good food in the cafeteria, haha. He missed the newborn care section of the last class because he had to sing at a wedding. So I made him practice changing a diaper on a teddy bear at home! He did great for his "first diaper change."

I'm finally in my 3rd Trimester - and I've already noticed huge changes that I'm not enjoying so much. My face and hands are starting to swell, and my feet ache constantly. I'm also having leg cramps pretty often. I guess I can finally say I FEEL pregnant. My stomach seems to be growing daily too, lol. I survived the glucose test - it wasn't bad at all! I was happy to find out that I don't have gestational diabetes - I've been eating TONS of sugar!! Chris and I were able to have a 3D/4D ultrasound last week, and it was SO amazing. Avery didn't want to cooperate at first...she had her arm right in front of her face. Dena, our ultrasound technician, had me get up to walk & bounce around, and that did the trick! We have a whole CD of photos of Avery's sweet face & body.

Next weekend, I'm heading to Greeneville for two baby showers - yay! I can't wait to see everyone! My good friends are throwing me a cupcake shower on Saturday, and then my home church is throwing me one on Sunday. Chris can't go, so I'm very thankful that my best friend Allison is going to ride to Greeneville with me! It'll be a fast but fun weekend! I think it's going to make everything seem much more real when I come back to Raleigh with lots of baby stuff...

I'll make sure to update after next weekend. I have to go to the doctor every 2 weeks now since things are getting so close! My next appointment is this Tuesday.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love always,
Michelle

SO Ready for Spring!!

Hello all!

I am so tired of this icky cold weather! I can't wait for Spring! It's my favorite time of year :-)

Chris and I have been doing really well. He just finished a week long J-Term class at the Seminary, and was also able to travel to Gaitlinburg, TN recently to speak at a college retreat. He starts his last semester at the Seminary this Thursday. How exciting!!

We finally decided on a name for our baby girl: Avery Elizabeth!! I'm SO glad we finally have a name - yay! Chris picked Avery out of our baby name book, and Elizabeth is a family tradition for middle names. Avery means, "a wise ruler, or of the nobility."

I've been feeling great, the 2nd trimester has really been easy. I'll be 27 weeks on Monday, which means I start my 3rd trimester in a little over a week. It's going by so fast! We only have 93 days until our due date!! I can't wait until our baby showers! My next Dr.'s appt. is the 24th, and it'll be glucose test day, ugh. I'm not looking forward to drinking the orange goo...

I hope everyone is doing well! Hope we'll get to see many of you soon at showers!!

Love always,
Michelle