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 :)

Library Books... (not a pregnancy related post!)

Today, one of my students brought up a book from our library that he had checked out. The following is our conversation.

S: Mrs. Ward, I think there is a picture in this book that is inappropriate for school.
Me: Well, let me have a look. Which picture?
S: This picture, right here. See how it has a poster? I don't think the girl on that poster is dressed appropriately.
Book: A picture of Times Square in New York. On one of the ads is what looks like a Rockette in a furry two piece bikini, definitely not appropriate for a second grade book, but only about 1 cent. tall. This kid had to be lookin'.
Me: Yes, I can see what you're talking about, but I don't think this picture is what you think it is. She's going to be in a show. This is her costume.
S: Oh. Okay. But don't you think it's inappropriate for a bird book?

Me: Turn the book over. The title of the book....Great American Birds.

Apparently, birds live in the Northeast, and the best way to describe New York is with a picture of a half dressed woman in Times Square :)

29.5 weeks

It's an interesting thing, growing a human. It is so gradual it's hard to feel like there are any changes at all and at the same time things change over night and it's undeniable that something new is a-brewin'! It seemed over night that I went from looking *perhaps* a little pregnant to having complete strangers congratulate us as we are out around town. When did the switch occur? At what point are people so confident that I'm brewin' a human that they feel they can, without hesitation, congratulate us and ask us questions? Seriously, it was over night. And it's all around us! Last Friday, at a basketball game we were congratulated by a fan that sits behind press row. People at Target stop and smile a knowing smile. The comments at work have switched from "Are you SURE you're pregnant?" to "Wow! She's growing like a weed! There's no hiding it now!"... and so on and so forth. It's actually quite amazing.

Looking over pictures from last June, when we started taking pictures of the growing belly, I remember being so impressed with my little baby bump, and now, that bump is a distant memory! Gone are the days where the bump was only visible to Scotty and I. Gone are the days where I could wear my regular pants with just the top button undone. Gone are the days where my regular shirts still reached my waste, just with a little tightness in the middle. Gone are the days where I could roll over in bed without a massive all out plan of attack. Gone are the days where putting on socks didn't make me lose my breath. Gone are the days where I only had to go to the bathroom when I woke up, after school, and when I went to bed.

This afternoon, at a women's basketball game, I could sit on press row, and visually see my little girl rolling around in my belly. Anyone sitting right beside me could have seen the bumps and wiggles the little girl was doing. It's truly amazing. As excited as I will be to have this little girl in my arms and in my life forever, there is something amazing about having this time alone with her. Only I can tell when she's awake or asleep. I have to let other people know when she's moving around. She and I dance in the car on the way to work, and she and I enjoy the nighttime snack right before bed that make her dance as I'm drifting off to sleep.

I can see why people get addicted to pregnancy. It's amazing, and awkward, and terrifying, and interesting, and lovely all at the same time. With 11 weeks to go, I'm sure things will only continue to become more interesting...AND uncomfortable at the same time :)

My husband is sleep deprived but we have a painted baby room!

I think the title of this entry says it all. Who else, but the Ward-Wards decide to paint their baby's nursery on the busiest week of the fall so far! Scott stayed up WAY too late to get the room painted, but painted it is! As I sit typing this entry I can look down our hallway and see the yellows and pinks that will welcome our little girl in February. It's unbelievable!

Here is the "Before" picture. The first step was to tape the walls of course! I was able to help with this part. You can see my contribution to the baby room along all of the baseboards (the only part I could tape sitting down...)

Lowes was more than happy to provide us with all of the necessary supplies. And Tober was more than willing to investigate these supplies consistently. He was a BIG fan of the blue tape...

Here is the happy dad painting away!

Not only did Scott GET to paint some yellow walls he also got to paint some pale pink!

Wait for it....the FINISHED PRODUCT!

The yellow is paler than it appears in pictures, but I haven't figured out the setting on our camera. Where there is a beige stripe will be a white wooden chair rail, but you get the idea.

And the green wall is now a lovely shade of pink. I can tell our little girl loves it already, and Scott did such a BEAUTIFUL job. It's really starting to come together!

swing

This may not be exciting to anyone else, but Scott and I are thrilled at the baby swing we found today. It is so cute and swingy, and we can't believe it is actually ours, for someone we will meet in February!

Delicious!

Today, I went into Noodles and Company, and little Audrey was kicking around so I was rubbing my stomach, and the guy behind the counter gave me a free rice crispy treat! He said it was because he couldn't imagine being kicked from the inside. All I can say is that was the BEST free rice crispy treat EVER!

AND! We bought paint for little girl's room :) Pale yellow and paler pink with only ONE minor meltdown along the way! (choosing paint is very daunting I tell you!)

It will look similar to this, only much cuter. The yellow is paler in person. Trust me, or we wouldn't have chosen it. After much deliberation and some help from the master paint selector at Lowes, we are about to begin making a home for our little girl!

Click this link

http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/explore-colors/color-selector/index.html#1

Well, perhaps the link doesn't do what I was hoping...but if you go to Valspar our colors are "peach tickle" and "pink kiss" Very little girl appropriate :)