Welcome Niece Addy!

Last night baby Addyson Kay was born! On Monday Tiffany got her membranes stripped and then it all began!!! I am so proud of my sister. She did amazing (no drugs... go sister!) and she kept saying, "I can't believe I just did that!" I love her and I love that baby girl. I'm excited to have another beautiful niece.

7 lbs and 20 inches... only moments after birth (about 30 minutes)

Proud mama!

Happy uncle!

Easter, Baby Bellies, and Kidlets

Easter was weird this year. It started out with Chad and I taking Leo for a walk. It seems to not much matter what we try... basically our dog sucks at going on walks. Whatever. We still try.

We were both going to to go Chad's mom and dad's house in the early afternoon, but it ended up not working out timing-wise so Chad went over there before he played a show and I went to my grandma's and the two of us drove together to Cheryl's. It was a lot of fun once we got to Cheryl's and it felt nice and normal except for Chad not being there and my dad not being there. The family man is in North Carolina with his work guys doing clean-up after the tornado disasters, which I think is absolutely wonderful! I'm thankful that there are people like my dad who are willing to go help people in need. Though he will miss the births of his daughter's baby girls I don't think it really matters because he will always be in their lives and it is an amazing thing what he is doing. Plus, he gets to see the country! So far he has a shot glass and a magnet from every state they've crossed through, which is about ten!

The kids had fun hunting for eggs, and the sun even made a little appearance!

We managed to get some belly photos in before the end of the evening. I like this one of us girls and the colors we're wearing are super Springy.Though Chad wasn't there to join me in the photos I was finally able to get in some good belly photos with Cheryl, and I am SO GLAD! I have a feeling this baby is coming within the week, so I'm glad I was able to get some photos in.

The votes are in! Three people are calling April 28th, one says April 29th, and a couple of people think the first few days of May. I also think it is going to be sometime this coming week, and I think Thursday (the 28th) would be great! Let's see what this baby thinks.

Week 38

There has been quite a bit of action going on this week inside of me. I have been going on plenty of walks, have been eating pineapple and spicy foods, drinking a lot of red raspberry leaf tea, and doing the other things that supposedly help labor to come, and I have been feeling many exciting things happening.

On Wednesday night during my sleep I could feel the baby get lower down. I was contracting all night long and it was making it difficult to sleep because 1) I was excited and wanted to feel the contractions, and 2) because they were adding so much pressure to my bladder and making me need to get up to pee very frequently. I felt a sudden jolt of back pain and I thought, "is this it?" Everyone keeps telling me, "Oh, you'll know..." so I ignored the feeling. I knew that if it was the actual start of labor that I would know, and since I was able to ignore it and it went away that meant that it was not labor. My body is definitely getting ready though.

Then a couple of nights later I felt her drop yet again. This picture shows that now she's kind of starting to hang. When I walk and contract I feel like I need to hold her up. We'll see what the coming week brings!

Week 37

This week marked my final week EVER as a student teacher, and oh my was it a busy week. I got little to no sleep because I had so much planning to do for my last week with my kids. But I made it through and it feels wonderful!

Here's the belly.

On Tuesday in class my classmates totally surprised me and threw me a little baby shower celebration. It was so incredibly nice of them and I was not expecting it at all. During the break during our class I was talking to my professor and they were setting up the party behind me without me knowing. When they all shouted "Surprise!" I thought it must have been my professor's birthday and I felt bad for not knowing. Haha. They're so, so sweet to me!

They gave me gifts and goodies and so much!
Here are my lovely classmates. :)
On Friday, my last day, my kids and the teacher with whom I work told me I need to go see the principal (an attempt to get me out of the room) and when I walked back in there was pizza and soda, a beautiful cake and diaper cake, and little notes from my students. It was wonderful. The kids couldn't keep their cool all week so I know they had something planned but I wasn't sure what. The teacher I work with told me they were all so glad I left early on Tuesday because that's the day they made the diaper cake. The kids helped roll the diapers for it. This is the most immaculate diaper cake I've seen!

These roses are from the student of mine who gave me the most challenging behaviors. The day before my last day he told me, "you're the best teacher I've ever had" and then he gave me a dozen roses. Such a sweet boy.

On Friday night Chad played a show at Hell's Kitchen to celebrate Blake's birthday. I stayed out too late after a long week.

On Saturday Cheryl, Grandma Fran, Tiffany, Evelynn, and I went to go see the tulips in the Skagit Valley. It definitely was not the best weekend to go, as the weather was not great and most of the tulips were not yet in bloom. It was still a fun day.

Daffodil field on the side of the road.
A not super flattering picture of us... but I like showing updates of our bellies.
Oh, beautiful Spring!

Saturday night after the tulips I went to the Rainier's game with the boys and it was SO MUCH FUN! They drank A LOT of beer since it was free. The only bad part is that we were out really late again... and I was so dang tired by the end of all this.

Sunday was nice though because I had my last prenatal yoga class and I did not have any stress about what to plan to teach for the week since I was all done teaching at this point. Woo! Now I only need to finish up my classes, my crazy amounts of homework assignments, my Master's project, and my competency notebook (I guess that's still quite a lot...).

Milestone: Entering My Due Range

It is official! Today is the start day of week 37... full term! I have made it this far and boy does it feel soon. Today marks the first day of my last week teaching my kiddos, which I am excited for because I would LOVE a little break before my baby makes her appearance into this lovely world, but at the same time I sure will miss them. They add a little more light to my life.

Updates coming soon!

Week 36 - Welcome to the Ninth Month!

I have been pregnant for eight months!!! Wow! Here's the 36 week belly:

According to the babycorner.com "The baby is now about 18-19 inches long and around 6 pounds. [She is] gaining an average of an ounce daily." Next week I enter my due range. This is nuts.Yesterday the boys, Paul and Blake, painted the baby room with a coat of white semi-gloss paint. I needed some new paint on the walls so I could stick stickers to them. Becky and I put up this lovely little tree. I love how well it matches the changing pad cover.

Then last night after a nice little nap I met up with Whitney for a pedicure. Man, was that nice. I hadn't been in that nail place since the day before my wedding... eight months ago! Then Whitney and I went to my sister's house to see her adorable baby room. She also had a bag of clothes for me. Though the bag doesn't look super full it actually is. This baby is all set with clothes now! The room only needs a few more things go to be COMPLETE!

Week 35

This week was the first week of spring quarter. I arrived on a very gray campus Monday afternoon to the oh-so beautiful cherry blossom trees in the quad. Every year they amaze me! Classes seem great so far, and I have A LOT of work to do this quarter. I think I can... I think I can...

I received an adorable card from one of my students this week. I love children.

"Dear Mrs. Asheball... I know that deep down in my heart I know that your baby will be the most specilist baby in the whole world..."

On Sunday we had dinner at my mom and dad's to celebrate David's, Chad's, and my birthday. It's always lovely to see my family and to see the kiddos whom I absolutely adore.

Week 34

This week we had Baby Shower #2! Some people think I'm weird or greedy for having multiple showers, but I'm doing it all for good reason. My bridal shower felt too packed and it seemed to have too many groups of people... my family, Chad's family, friends from college and work, and friends from growing up. I was overwhelmed so I figured that separating the showers up and having multiple ones for different groups of people would be better. It seems to be working, though I'm learning a bit more about how best to do it each time.

The shower was a lot of fun! My aunt Cheryl let us have it at her house and my lovely friends helped me put it together. I was amazed, once again, by the amount of wonderful things we received. People truly are amazing. I know some great people.

After the shower Becky helped me unpack some things and organize the baby room a bit more... and then my headache turned into a migraine. It was awful! For the VERY FIRST TIME since I've been pregnant I had to take acetaminophen. In the entire eight months I have gotten many headaches (still don't know what the cause of these is) and I have been able to combat them all. This time, however, it was bad. I called Dr. Mom and she told me to tell Chad to go to the store and get me acetaminophen. She said that if I want pickles and ice cream that he has to get me that, too. Haha. I love moms. So after another gruesome hour after getting my meds my headache finally went away. The result: not nearly enough sleep and a very tired week.

PICTURES TO COME! I'm waiting for my shower pictures.

How a Pacifier Might Save Baby's Life!

Pacifiers might reduce the risk of SIDS -- the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends pacifiers for napping and bedtime during baby's first year. While breastfeeding proponents say you should start a pacifier after your feeding routine is established, there's no proof that a binky will cause nipple confusion. When babies use a pacifier (and sleep on their back) their risk of SIDS plunges by two thirds compared with babies who sleep without a pacifier, says Dr. Keenan. One possible reason it's effective: Babies who suck a Binky don't sleep as deeply. Don't force your baby to take one if he refuses, and there's no need to reinsert it if it falls out.

Breastfeed, if You Can

When the AAP Task Force wrote its report in 2005, it concluded that there wasn't enough evidence to say that breastfeeding reduced the risk of SIDS. But research in the last few years has confirmed that nursing does offer protection. Most recently, a German study found that exclusively breastfed babies are only half as likely to die and that even partial nursing is beneficial. It may be that breastfeeding, like using a pacifier, keeps babies from sleeping too deeply. "Breast milk has anti-inflammatory effects as well, and this may be protective," Dr. Hauck says.

from parents.com