Happy late holidays! We have LOVED getting everyone's Christmas card in the mail. Do not feel slighted...we are saving our Christmas card mailing for a special February occasion...

A lot has been happening in the Ward-Ward household, and most of it has to do with the impending birth of our daughter. As of today, Wed., Dec. 29th, Audrey is 35 internal weeks old. Scott and I have always used Christmas as an impending date signaling the coming of our daughter's birth, and now....Christmas has come and gone, which means it was time to get busy! My mom came up today and helped get some things on the walls and get a mattress ready for her crib. We had a lot of fun getting everything organized, clean, and ready. Here is a photo tour of our last couple of weeks...

Here I am, 2 weeks ago, when I still had a belly button. Kind of puts my summertime bump to shame!

Scott and I took a pic in my mom's backyard on Christmas Eve.
We put Luke in charge of photography, and he was very patient with his pregnant sister :)

On Christmas Eve the family went to church. We couldn't help but marvel at the thought that this was our last year without a daughter to spoil over the holidays. Scott kept reminding me that next year I won't be the one receiving the most packages, but little does he know I will always be the princess...It's my birthright!

When we got back from town it was time to build a crib! Scott and David worked really hard to get everything assembled. Although there were only 7 steps it took many arms to keep everything steady.

Tober supervised the construction by managing the tools. He was always right in the middle of the action, although he was never what you might call alert....


In all of our years of projects this one was by FAR our greatest success! There were very few cross words exchanged and very few pieces had to be taken apart and reassembled. You can tell by our smiling faces we were happy to be almost finished, but it's a HUGE step that we are genuinely smiling!

The finished product! Notice the blanket hanging over the edge. Anne is making me a quilt for her crib, but I couldn't help and show off my handy work. A week ago my mom came up for a few nights (to help with my holiday party at school) and she taught me how to make this baby blanket. I still have mine from when I was born, and hope that Audrey likes the one I've made for her. Of course, she will probably choose some soft blanket from a complete stranger to love forever, but a mother can dream!

My mom came up another day over the Christmas break to help me put some finishing touches on the nursery. We still have molding to attach and an alphabet to hang, but for the most part what you see is what she gets!





I'm so lucky to have so many family members that have contributed to our daughter's room. Even though we aren't close enough for everyone to physically help just having people call and check on how things are going, having people make and send things from afar, and having everyone so excited to meet our daughter feels like a total blessing. I can't put it into words how lucky I feel to have a family that is so excited to meet our daughter. We've received so many cards, gifts, phone calls, emails, and facebook posts it's amazing. I only hope I can return generosity to everyone, because it has been truly the most amazing experience. It's hard to believe in 5 short weeks all of this planning and excitement will open a door to a new chapter of the rest of our lives! (How cheese ball can I be?? Trust me... this only scratches the surface for how I feel!)

Well, it's time for a snack, and then some t.v. time. I'm pretty worthless around 5:00 these days, but I'm enjoying my couch time while I can. My days of watching evening t.v. are limited!

Even the Refs are Nervous

On Saturday the UNC Bears had a double header. That means 6 hours in a gym. NOT my favorite Saturday activity, but with Scott traveling so much, and being the devoted wife that I am, I dragged my pregnant self into the gym for some ballin'.

Little Audrey must have just popped out over night. The comments I receive have taken a 180 degree turn. No longer do I hear "You don't even LOOK like you're pregnant" or "Your SO tiny!" or "Are you sure you're due in February?"

Now I heard "Wow! You popped over night!" or "When IS your baby due?" or "FINALLY! You're looking large like I was when I was pregnant"

Even the referees are getting nervous. As I was sitting on press row shaking the hands of the officials, the head official leaned over the table and commented "You're not due tonight are you?"

In two days Audrey will be 32 weeks old. That means she could be born and her skin would not be transparent, and she most likely wouldn't need any machines to help her survive. What an amazing feat this little girl has accomplished already!

Now that we're getting to the end I find myself constantly checking to make sure she's okay by poking her little butt and feet. I feel like she likes to play when she kicks back but in reality she's probably already thinking "Darnit mom...STOP it!"

The other night I woke up to Scott poking my stomach, and when I asked what he was doing he said "I'm playing with her. You usually don't wake up... :)

I'm so excited to meet my daughter it's not even funny. I'm starting to have some hesitation about the whole "giving birth" process, but I remind myself often that if the girls on 16 and Pregnant can do it, then so can I!

Tomorrow, we intend to register. I find that I want EVERYTHING to be pink, which could prove problematic if SHE is actually a HE. I've started saving receipts...just in case :)