While the Girls Are Away...

If only the end to that title was the boys will play, but there was no playing for Dave last weekend. On Wednesday night, we began moving some furniture out of the bedrooms and packing for Avery and I to head to Chicago.  This was a big night for us, all of us, as it was Avery's last night in her crib.  She has seemed so big for her crib now for a little while, but for some reason, that night, she looked so little.  Regardless of size, she sure was excited!

Avery and I left Thursday evening and by the end of that night, our dining room looked like this:

(See what I mean about no play....Dave was all about work and getting things ready for our new carpet!)  Thankfully, his parents stopped by to help move furniture and tear out the old carpet.  

 

Meanwhile, on Friday, Avery and I went and visited my friend Jamie and her new little girl.  Avery loved the baby and asked to hold her multiple times.  

Meanwhile, back at the house, the carpet was going in in all three bedrooms!  Once that was done, it just meant that all that furniture had to go back too!

Saturday morning was a fun one for Avery and I as we got to spend the day with Aunt Judy and my mom choosing fabric for Ryen's bedding.  Here's a sneak peek!

That night while we were hanging out watching the Hawks win, Dave was at home busily putting our bedrooms (all 3) back together, including Avery's new bed!

Sunday we got to celebrate Lucas' upcoming 4th birthday (which is tomorrow!).  Lucas wanted to go  Chuck E Cheese and Avery was pretty excited too!  She loved waving to all the characters!

This may have been the only ride she actually went on...

Later that night, we went back to my parent's house and ate some really big and delicious cupcakes...

Monday morning we headed out to Rosemont to see the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit!  Avery was so excited the entire time and was more excited by the next dinosaur than the previous one.  

This was her "favorite guy" and really wanted to hug him.  Unfortunately, this was as close as we could get.

Coloring dinosaur pictures with Grandma

Dancing with Auntie Ashley...

Finally, it was time for Avery and I to head back home!  We couldn't wait to see daddy and Avery's new big girl room!  That night we eagerly tucked Avery in, but not before a little story time first!  

Someone was really excited to be in her new big girl bed!

She did a great job (and has every night since) and we found her all snuggled in first thing in the morning!

Pregnancy Update:

We are only 7 weeks away!  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy went and how close we are to welcoming a new little princess into our family.  Now that Ryen's room has new paint, new carpet, and the crib and changing table are in, I am starting to feel a little more prepared.  It has been a lot of fun going back through all of Avery's clothes and getting those sorted and ready to go.  Ryen moves a lot now and if I get about 2 hours of straight sleep, I consider it a good stretch of time. 

Here's a little belly picture update:

Welcome 2013

2013 is finally here and we are so excited about what this year is going to bring us...especially little Miss Ryen's arrival!  She has been the focus of much of our...er, Dave's attention recently.  With only 9 weeks to go, we figured that we should probably start working on a room for her.  Dave has been amazing!  Because of the pregnancy and someone needing to entertain the 2 year old running around, he has done 99% of the work.  Of course, Avery has had to try and help as much as she can!

Before (well, kind of before)  

Hard at work....

Then, it was Avery's turn to help.  She got to pull off all of the tape and then wanted to be a clown (?) and just made a bigger mess.

Then, while Dave was busy at work, she pretended to be a dinosaur and just ran circles around the room scaring him.  :)

Finally, she decided she was tired and thought Daddy's feet were the perfect resting place!

Not only did the room need to be emptied and painted, but we have also decided to put new carpeting in all three bedrooms before Ryen arrives.  So...now Ryen's room looks like this:

The new carpet will be here on Friday, so before then, our bedroom and Avery's room will need to be emptied completely.  Again, something Dave (and thankfully his dad) will have to do on his own.  How do I help out?  Avery and I are heading to Chicago for the long weekend!  I am excited to return to new carpeting, Ryen's room with furniture, and a little surprise for Avery!

We were also lucky that at the beginning of the month (yep, going backwards) that we were able to get a good amount of snow.  We were so excited because we had no snow last year and Avery couldn't wait to get out there and play in it!  I think Dave was just as excited too!

And then it was time for hot chocolate and marshmallows!  

Pregnancy Update:
We are at 31 weeks along!  Ryen is moving constantly and at all hours of the day and night.  We had our last ultrasound about 2 weeks ago and everything still looks great.  They are sticking with the March 17 due date and are guessing that she is already about 3lbs 4oz.  (However, they told us that Avery was going to be about 8lbs the week before she was born and she came out 6lbs 9oz!)  We are at the point now where dr. appointments are every two weeks and I feel like that will just make the time fly by.  Other than being tired, I am still feeling great.  Avery loves reading and singing and talking to her baby sister and keeps asking when she will get out.  Ahh...if only it was that easy!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2012 has come and gone and it surely had its ups and downs.  The week before Christmas Avery caught the stomach bug that is going around and was sick Tuesday-Thursday.  We were thankful that she was healthy and ready to go for Christmas.  Then, Saturday, it got to Dave.  Thankfully by Monday morning, Dave was feeling better too!  I was holding my breath, refraining from kissing my sweeties, and sanitizing every chance I could.  I wasn't going to get it.  So I thought.

Christmas Eve morning was our little family Christmas.  Avery opened up her gifts from Dave and I.  One of her favorite gifts was her very own tool set- just like daddy's.  Now she can help daddy fix things.  

Christmas Eve is usually spent with  Dave's mom and dad, but they were able to spend Christmas with Dave's sister in New Jersey this year.  This meant that we were able to spend Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family at my grandma's house.  About 20 minutes from her house, it hit me.  So instead of spending Christmas Eve with my family, eating Portillos, opening presents and singing Christmas carols, I spent the entire evening upstairs sounds asleep.  Not fun.  Thankfully, between Dave and my sisters, I got some pictures of Avery and Dave enjoying the festivities. 

 Just a little silly time before presents

I was so happy to see her waiting patiently for presents  :)

All smiles with Papa

Christmas sing along with Papa and Uncle Skip 

Lucas' new flashlight was the highlight of their night.  Maybe not everyone else's, but they were really enjoying it.

We stayed the night at my parents that night and woke up to find that Santa had visited!!  Auntie Ashley was there for the morning too. 

One of Avery's favorite gifts came from Ashley and Patrick and it was her very own kitchen.  

And thankfully she was able to open the giant package of food that Avery also got!

                                    

For Avery, it was a day full of Doc McStuffins!  All Avery has talked about this season is how much she wanted doctor stuff and thankfully Santa was listening.

Later that day, we went to Robyn's for the rest of Christmas.  I was starting to feel better and managed to only take a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day, so I thought that was pretty good.  And I got to snuggle with Avery for an hour of it....that made my Christmas!  

Such a sweet picture...

One of my favorite gifts given that day was for Ryen from her Auntie Robyn.  My sister made her this blanket which has all sorts of tags and rings and things for Ryen to play with.  

By the time we got home that night, we figured Avery would be exhausted (I sure was) but it was not the case.

This past Saturday we had our third and final Christmas, this time with Grandma and Papa Glacinski.  She loves visiting their house because of all the toys that Grandma has!

Then of course it was time for more presents...

New furniture for her dollhouse

And a new riding toy!

While at Dave's house, we got to go through some old pictures and came across this one.  This is Dave the day he was born.  If there was ever a doubt (not that I think there was from anyone), Avery's newborn picture looks just like Dave's.  

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and that everyone was able to stay healthy.  Things are going great on the pregnancy front.  We are officially a week into the final trimester.  We have a very active baby on our hands already!  She moves non-stop!  I think that I have technically started the "nesting" phase.  Every day of break I have woken up and want to take apart another part of our house.  Poor Dave has been great and just goes with the flow.  We have settled on a paint color and are close to starting that job.  She is going to be here before we know it!