Avelynn's Nursery & Newborn Photo Shoot

As I mentioned a few days ago our sweet baby girl, Avelynn, is here! She's a red head just like her daddy and has captured our hearts in crazy and awesome ways. And on top of that I get to finally see her in the nursery I made for her. It's such a joy to see her in the space I made for her arrival. I love how her red hair pops in contrast to all the cool tones in the space. My amazing friend Laura from Paraphrase Productions captured Avelynn and her nursery in amazing detail. She was great at capturing Avelynn and the room - and giving Paul and I wonderful experience. 

Avelynn in her crib (Ben & Noa lattice crib sheet) with some gifted stuffies and a blanket made by my Nana's sister just for my firstborn. I love how small Avelynn looks in comparison to the crib and stuffies!

Baby Morgan has arrived!

Well, here we are - our baby, Avelynn Elizabeth Marie has arrived! She took her time coming (12 days overdue and with over 48 hours of early labour) and arrived Friday, April 17th at 4:21am. I will take some time to write out her birth story shortly but in the mean time Paul and I are overjoyed to be at home with our sweet little girl. Slightly overwhelmed, and very tired, but definitely overjoyed. Welcome Avelynn, our blue eyed ginger - we are pumped to finally meet you!

Avelynn, btw, rhymes with Javelin, and is the Irish version of Evelyn. It means "well-wished for or longed for child," which indeed she is. Elizabeth is my middle name, and my mom's middle name and her mom's, etc. Marie, similarly, is the middle name of the first females on Paul's mom's side of the family, so she joins Nancy Marie and Katie Marie in the names. It was fun to honor both sides of our family with her middle names.

This parenting gig is both more exhausting and more amazing than I ever expected. My heart is also definitely more full of love for Avelynn and for Paul than I could have ever expected. And most certainly my heart is so thankful for my amazing support team - labour support (my sister Jenna, and friend Hanne) and husband, as well as my Post Partum Support (my Auntie Sandy) and Paul. I seriously don't know how people birth babies or take care of newborns without a support team. These folks rocked my world. Of course no post on this would be complete without mentioning the amazing folks at BC Women's Hospital - the nurses and staff were phenomenal! My Doctor also knocked it out of the park - from day one of pregnancy to post partum follow up she was supportive and helpful and always looking out for me and my family and I am so thankful for that. 

And sidenote: does our little girl not look extra tiny in her Dad's arms? It's pretty fun to watch them together.

And we had our newborn/nursery photoshoot! 

Can't wait to see the pictures from Paraphrase Productions - I'm sure they will be amazing as normal!

Baby B's Intro | Baby C&C's Intro

Dressing the Bump, Week 40

Week 41 has come - I'm 41.2 today. Week 40 finished off Easter (great church service, I got to host on my due date!) and was filled with resting and monitoring and waiting on this baby. Sleep is either amazing or illusive - it switches day to day. 

The thunder bump feels like it grew greatly this past week though - she's much heavier to carry around now. I'm doing lots of walking to try to get things started. 

I'm still loving being pregnant and haven't minded that she's been happy to stay inside - as I've said before, every day without her is a day without labour or diapers. I can be content knowing she is safe and sound and knowing that she will most likely be coming VERY soon. Tomorrow is my inducement date - they start slow, but they do start tomorrow. Currently I'm on day two of slow but steady contractions 15 minutes apart. Definitely isn't very painful - just like menstrual cramps and low back pain. I'm heading to the hospital now for another non-stress test after a morning of walking with my folks. I made sure to get good rest last night through the contractions - definitely seems wise to head into this as rested as possible! 

Friends and family have been so so so supportive! Lovely texts and phone calls and messages. Our students have been so helpful also. Paul is AMAZING and so sweet. I'm so thankful to have an amazing community around me - I feel pretty freaking lucky and loved. Plus it's sunny! Sunny! Cold but sunny. Life is pretty amazing and I can't wait to meet my baby girl - soon....or something!

Menu Plan Monday, April 13th

Menu Plan Monday with Laura at Org Junkie

Upcoming week: 

Monday: Man Pleasing Chicken with scalloped potatoes and vegetables Pizza

Monday has been spent downtown - I drove Paul into work then headed to the Pan Pacific Hotel and Spa Utopia. I checked in early for my massage and rested and relaxed. Then I had a fabulously relaxing pre-natal massage followed by more resting - I read my drink and drank tea in a champagne flute (amazing). After a shower and a time of doing my hair (they had a hair straightener for use! So smart)  I headed to the food court nearby for lunch - reading and eating, my favorite! Then I headed towards my old work building to visit my old colleagues and after that moved on to Paul's work to see him and his workmates. At this stage I'm waiting downtown for Paul to head home with him and I'm having fairly mild to medium contractions about 10 minutes apart - I am not sure if I'll end up making dinner then - I guess time will tell!

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Tacos

If I haven't continued in labour then I'll be making these super super easy tacos. Also I'll be having another non-stress test to monitor our sweet little babe.  

Wednesday - Sunday: YOYO (You're on Your Own)
Wednesday is induction day. Since things are already starting to heat up I think I'll plan not to plan further. We have Pizza's and such at home if I haven't had a baby and if I have then my house is on their own until we're home! After that my aunt will be over to help for a week. 

Dressing the Bump, Weeks 38 & 39

As the weeks have progressed I have definitely been feeling more and more pregnant. Week 38 ended with my first pair of heels in a few years - a strange time to finally decide to buy heels. 

As week 39 approached I wore more and more comfy clothes. I love how giant my belly looks in these side shots.

For most of Week 39 as the sun came out I seemed to switch between some favourite stand by's: cuffed jeans, my grey cowl neck sweatshirt, my navy cardigan and my spring flats. 

Currently I am in my turquoise zip up and black slim joggers - I definitely appreciate comfort in a new way lately! 

One of the many little jobs I wanted to do before baby comes was to get a new bedspread for our bed - the old one was the wrong size. The duvet was someone much smaller than the duvet cover and it drove me nuts. It was off by almost a foot. You can't see the issue here, but this beige blanket was what we've had for a few years. It's been fine but not amazing. 

After searching for a long time, finally I found a new comforter that went with the room and most of the bedding - except for the three big printed blue pillows. I was so happy with the look generally except for those three pillows. Now the pattern was just too much. 

Paul suggested we sub in three grey pillows instead of the pattern and after a quick trip to Ikea to pick up some of the Gurli cushion covers for only 4.99 we had a nice and newly updated look that I was very happy with - Paul too! I had to admit to Paul that he was right, that grey was the way to go. My suggestion of white would have been way less awesome. 

While out and about I also picked up this white tray to add to our dresser to help corral the random papers and mess that normally end up landing here. 

It was a busy weekend for nursery projects as well. I'd been wanting to finish this last decor task for sometime but finicky jobs like this frustrate Paul to no end and being short I definitely needed help. For the sake of our marriage, it seemed wise to enlist help. I asked Paul's sister Katie and her boyfriend Joel to come over to help and man was that the best decision. Joel was ON IT. He was organized and efficient. Between his mind, his patience and Katie's patience and long arms we were set! We started with the clock centerpiece and built out from there. 

Some last minute touches! See how my arms would never reach the top?

It is finished! I love how it came together. 

While I was out shopping for pillows and trays I also picked up this grey and white striped pouf which perfectly matches the Land of Nod baskets in the Kallax shelving. Also seen below is my exercise ball for labouring and for helping my back when sore. And I love that it's grey, to match the room - though really it was free from a friend.

I love how vibrant the pouf feature is! Also I love the sweet white and pink blanket below sent as a gift from some of Paul's friends back home. 

Things that also make me happy: two weekends in a row we have spent time with this cute guy. Last weekend at a birthday brunch with a big group, and this weekend we had Dim Sum with him and his parents. Love, love Dim Sum and time with the Chibota's. 

As of Sunday my due date has come and gone and still no baby! I had three other friends who shared my due date and all of them have had their babies...I guess one of us had to be the late one! I'm starting to get a bit more uncomfortable though. Still having heartburn most days, but not too badly. Other than that somedays my sleeping is great and some nights I'm up at 3am and can't sleep again. It makes me extra thankful that I'm off of work. I choose to rest a lot more and man, it's helpful and nice. They say babies like coming when mom is rested so I take that to heart. Much resting is done. It's a real priority. I also try to walk regularly. I have a weekly walk with my parents, and then add some walks into other part of the week as well. And that is that, for now. Who knows when baby will come - for now I'm off to rest and nest some more!

Menu Plan Monday, April 6th

Menu Plan Monday with Laura at Org Junkie

Upcoming week: 

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Tacos

Tuesday is an at home day. I will rest and prep food for the week, and also do some small jobs around the house. 

Wednesday: Italian Baked Chicken with roasted peppers stuffed with rice & vegetables
Wednesday is women at prayer in the morning (love it) and then off to my weekly check in with the doctor. Also resting.

Thursday: Man Pleasing Chicken with scalloped potatoes and vegetables

Thursday is a walk with my parents in the morning - usually I'm pretty tired after these walks so I'll be resting for the afternoon and then hanging out with my sister in the evening. 

Friday: YOYO (You're on Your Own)
Friday is a wedding for two dear friends - so this is when we find out if we get to go to the wedding or we're home with baby? Who knows what the end game is! Will baby be here? Will we get to attend this wedding? When we first heard about their engagement I remember wondering, will we be able to go? Will we have a baby by then? And less than  week before the day I'm still wondering!

Saturday:  Maui Ribs served with baked potatoes & vegetables
Saturday we have no plans. Again - who knows if baby will be here! 

Sunday: YOYO
Sunday is church. And I don't want to cook :)