Nursery in progress...(part II)

This weekend we have made major strides in Avery's room. The furniture got delivered on Saturday and Nate quickly went to work putting the crib together. Of course, there's a lot of details and decorating to be done, but the major stuff is finished. Enjoy!


Nate putting the crib together.


The finished crib.


The closet organizer.

30 weeks down--8 to go!

I have officially been pregnant for 30 weeks. All in all, it has been a wonderful and healthy experience, which I am extremely thankful for. I will say, however, that in the last week or so I am getting more and more uncomfortable, and two nights ago a not-so-fun side effect began...heartburn. Now, I have never gotten heartburn, and honestly thought that it was "no big deal". Well, let me tell you, I thought I was having a heart attack and was in tears for an hour at 2AM. After nearly 24 hours of horrible pain, I discovered Zantac, and it has been a lifesaver.

In other news, school has been challenging lately. I'm getting tired more easily, which is not a good thing when you're trying to keep up with 35 eight-year-olds. I'm looking forward to my maternity leave, that's for sure. Whether or not I go back next year or take a year off is yet to be determined. I will have to see how my 6 weeks off go, and if I'm stir-crazy or not. I'm sure that no matter what, it will be difficult to leave Avery for any amount of time.

Well, I think that's all I've got. I know Nate wants to add some stuff, so I'll pass off to him.

From Nate:

While Brittany has been struggling with being uncomfortable and heartburn what is it that I have been doing you ask ... well I spent this last weekend skiing until my legs felt like they were going to fall off in amazing Winter Park, Colorado with my brother. Hold on a second though ... before you say, "WHAT!!! He went to Colorado and skied all weekend and left his pregnant wife at home all alone?!?!?!" I would like to clear up that the only reason I was in Colorado is because I have an amazing wife who surprised me last week with this trip. I had no idea that she had been planning this weekend for me since November, but boy am I lucky. Well, the weekend turned out absolutely incredible ... the snow was pristine and you just do not get ski runs like that anywhere close to Las Vegas.

And now we hit the stretch run. EIGHT (that's right eight and counting down) weeks to go until our little Avery arrives and hopefully I can take care of Brittany how ever she needs to be cared for in these next two months. Each new day I learn something new about babies and what I am going to be called on to do to care for our little daughter. Lately, I have been reading "The Happiest Baby on the Block" in preparation helping our baby to be just that. Well, that's all for now... until next time, bye!

Love,

N&B

Let the Cravings Begin!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen I am pleased to inform you that you do not mess with a pregnant lady when she is craving a particular type of food. For the past seven months I have been surprised by the lack of specific cravings that Brittany has had, but over that last week or so the cravings have arrived. In the last few days Brittany has 'required' various foods and it has been quite fun seeing the different foods that she craves. I also am interested in seeing and hearing the many different foods that she will be be craving over the next 10 weeks until Avery is born. However I fully understand (from the small 'taste' of pregnant lady cravings that I got this week) that you DO NOT mess with a pregnant lady and her cravings. Thus, I shall be doing my best to help Brit fulfill her culinary desires. I will be checking back in with the random foods that my wife eats, so check back in!!!

- Nate

Let the Nesting Begin

I must say that getting things checked off of a To-Do List is one of the most satisfying things in my life. Between Thursday and Friday, Nate and I got so much done, it's ridiculous. Here are just a few:

-Nate filled out and turned in his graduation application
-We took Chloe to the vet to get her shots
-We ordered the glider for Avery's room
-Seriously cleaned the house

Now, when I say cleaned, I don't just mean dusting and vacuuming. We spent nearly five hours getting the house "baby ready". Nate was so helpful and cleaned the whole bathroom and scrubbed the shower since I can't be near the cleaning chemicals.

After all of that, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We got all dressed up and went to Spago (pic above). A few minutes into our starters, we noticed a girl sitting at a table in the back wearing sunglasses and a hooded sweatshirt. A few minutes later, when her food came, she took off the "disguise" and of course it was Paris Hilton. Let me just offer a word of advice to all of you celebrities out there...wearing ridiculously large sunglasses and a hood is not the best way to be discreet.

Well, with Christmas break winding down, I feel re-energized to take on the next ten weeks. New York was fantastic and having the last five days to be home with Nate have been wonderful. Getting bigger, I have started to get a little uncomfortable, and I know that being on my feet all day at school won't help, but getting to meet my little girl in less that three months will be so worth it. And I must say, I am really looking forward to being home with her for six weeks.

Okay, that's all for now. We are blessed to be going to the wedding of two of our friends this evening and I want to sneak in a afternoon nap :)

Brit

Back from NYC

Happy New Year everyone! We are back from NYC and luckily have the next six days to get stuff done before we go back to work. New York was great, here's a rundown of some of the highlights...

-We saw Wicked, which was hilarious. It's cleverly written, and the performances were awesome. I highly recommend seeing it if you ever get a chance.
-We ate at Gotham. Being major foodies, we were really looking forward to experiencing Alfred Portales cooking. I can honestly say that it was the best meal I have ever eaten, and Nate said that it is a close second to our Victoria & Albert's seven course experience. We have some pretty great restaurants here in Vegas, but it's something totally different to eat at a place where a James Beard award winning chef actually cooks in the kitchen on a daily basis.
-Jacques Torres, which recently got voted "Best Hot Chocolate in the World".
-Getting to go to dinner with Chris Crow and Wendy Batt.

The trip mainly focused on food and shopping. We took the subway all around the city, which was nice since I am getting tired so easily these days. We picked up some cute things for Avery and Nate bought me a new ring to wear since I'm too swollen to wear my wedding bands anymore.

Since we had been to New York a couple of times before, we skipped most of the touristy stuff we'd done before (Empire State Bldg., Times Square, etc.) and just enjoyed seeing new parts of the city.

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I feel like I have so much to do in the next week. I know that once I go back to school on Monday, time will disappear. Avery will be here in a little over 10 weeks and I feel ready to have her but still unprepared. The nursery needs to be finished, we still have to take our childbirth class, register at the hospital, and interview pediatricians. I know it will all get done, but I can't help but stress a little.

Okay, I'm off to make a to-do list...making lists always helps me to feel better!

B

Christmas break-here we come

So today was the last day of school, and as of tomorrow, I am officially on break for two weeks. I can't even begin to tell you how much I need this vacation! Nate gets almost a month off, but he will be working most of the time. His parents came into town on Wed. night and we've really enjoyed hanging out with them. We haven't done much exciting, but it's been nice having them here. Nate's parents leave on Sunday evening and then we will spend Christmas day with my family. Christmas is pretty low key at my house; we always have a big breakfast, open gifts, and then just lay around and watching movies all day. Early Tuesday morning (like 4AM), we get up and head to the airport to catch a 6:00 flight to New York City. It'll be nice to get away for a little bit, although it will most likely be freezing! We come back the night of the 31st, and then as of January 1st I am officially not allowed to travel anymore. I will be ten weeks from my due date, and I feel like that time will fly by. I can't believe that Avery will be here so soon, I still feel like there's so much I need to do!

Well, we hope that everyone has a blessed and relaxing Christmas. I will be sure to post some pictures when we get back from NYC.

Merry Christmas!!

B

Goings on

Well, I have a pretty interesting doctors appointment today! After some careful consideration, together with my doctor, we decided to schedule an induction for March 13th. We're doing it for a couple of reasons, but mostly because it's what's best for me and the baby. I'm excited to know when Avery's going to be here, especially since it'll be a couple weeks early! Also, a side bonus is that the next week Nate is on Spring Break, so he will have the whole week to spend home with us girls. I can't believe how fast the last 24 weeks have gone, and now we only have 99 days left! There is still so much to do, but little by little, we'll get it all done. And if we don't, we don't.

We scheduled our birthing classes and hospital tour. We'll spend three Wednesday nights in February at Southern Hills Hospital learning how to birth a baby. We also registered, which was more overwhelming than "fun". Finally, the nursery is coming along quite nicely. Nate and I spent Saturday afternoon putting up and painting the chair rail, and it turned out better than I could have imagined. (I enclosed a pic below)

Avery is kicking all the time now, and especially likes to keep me up at night! All of my bloodwork, labs, and ultrasounds show a perfect baby girl growing like a weed. She's measuring about 5 days ahead, probably because she's on the tall side. We just feel so blessed to have a healthy little person on the way. As always, we thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We love hearing from all of you!

Love, B