35 week check up... 36 weeks (tomorrow)

This is a picture Kelly snagged at her little girl's birthday party 2 weeks ago, but it's a good belly shot! lol.  Ava Grace is definately growing!

How Far Along:

36 week tomorrow.  According to my doctor, after tomorrow if I go into labor, I will no longer be considered "pre-term," so any time from here on out is a go!  :-)

Size of Baby:

My belly is measuring right on target.  Dr. Hamrang said "she isn't measuring large or anything" - so that's good!  She estimated her to be almost or just over 5 lbs at this point.

Total Weight Gain:

19 lbs (still on target for staying under 25 lbs total weight gain!)

Maternity Clothes:

So thankful for stretchy maternity clothes!  I live in maternity jeans and long sleeved fitted tees.

Gender:

GIRL!  And our house looks like a pink bomb exploded in it!  All of Ava Grace's stuff is against the kitchen wall in anticipation of our move!  We are starting to feel like hoarders! lol

Movement:

She is one busy girl and she keeps my belly hoppin' (literally!).  She like to have a 4 AM party every night!  She is most active in the evenings between 7-9.  Her new trick is stretching her legs and tucking her feet under my ribs.  Her daddy likes to wake her up by poking and shaking my belly and she usually pokes right back in protest.  No more rolling around - not enough room!  Dr. Hamrang checked me for the first time yesterday and said, although no progression has begun, her head is right there and she is in position!  She moves her hands a lot too, and that hurts because it's so low, but she's worth it!  :-)

Sleep:

Hard to come by! lol.  I wake up several times a night to turn over or make one of many trips to the restroom because she likes to use my bladder as a pillow.  I also have crazy dreams!

Symptoms:

Not much!  Heart burn, but now that she is fully head down, it's gotten a little better.  I still crave sweets and milk, lol.  I have to eat more often, but can't eat much at one time.  There's no room in there!

What I Miss:

I am looking forward to a nice glass of wine on the couch in the evening!

Cravings:

Milk and Sweets!

Best Moment This Week:

Going to the doctor and finding out that she is in position!  :-)  AND getting everything signed for the new house so we can move in before Christams (fingers crossed) and set up our nursery - and the rest of the house for that matter!  :-)

What I'm Looking Forward To:

Seeing what our sweet girl looks like and holding her in my arms!  We are so excited!

Catching up...

OH MY, how busy we have been!  I can't begin to catch everyone up on everything, but I can tell you that we have....

1. Been to court for some Lily stuff (success!)

2.  Shopped for a house (success!)

3.  Found the PERFECT house (2200 sq feet, full basement already plumbed and wired to be finished, 5 beautiful acres - basically our dream home, at a dream price, in a dream location - God is AMAZING and seeking His will and waiting for His timing ALWAYS pays off!)

4.  Reached "full term" (as of this Friday anyway) at 36 weeks - growing and ready for baby as soon as we move.

5.  Been preparing for said move - hoping they can have us in before Christmas!!

...and all that is on top of "normal" life of work and coaching for Chris and house work and mommy stuff and Pampered Chef for me!  Whew!  To say we have been busy would be the understatement of the year!  This is why I haven't posted a menu plan (and won't for a couple weeks - too much time on the go and too many things being packed up! lol), and why I haven't posted, well, much of anything!  But today I wanted to post some pictures and catch you up on a few of the many things we have had going on!

Last night was Lily's Christmas program at school!  It was so cute!  I have posted a few pictures - check out Lily's facial expressions!  She was trying SO HARD not to smile every time she looked over at us!  It was a PACKED house with standing room only!  As soon as she found us the crowd she kept sneaking peeks over and she'd try so hard not to smile at us - it was SO funny and SO cute!

 She was dressed as a penguin for the program...

 ...and sang so many cute Christmas songs!

 I don't know why she didn't want to smile at us, but we were cracking up the whole time!

 Here's Daddy and our little Penguin!

In our opinion she stole the show!  :-)

 It was a very fun night!! 

In other news, ever since Pinterest entered my life, I have been dying to do more crafty and DIY stuff!  I have always liked the thought of sewing and making my own stuff like Mom did for us when we were little and I have wanted to make hair bows for a while, but didn't have time.  The other day I took some time for myself and sat down to give it a try.  Remember these are my very first attempts, I am sure they will get better with practice, but...

 Here's my first ever hand made hair bow and...

 ...felt flower hair clips!

I thought they turned out pretty good for my first try and I can't wait to make more and experiment with different types of bows and clips!  :-)

Speaking of bows and clips...

 ...Lily likes to experiment with them too! 

On her Daddy's head!  :-)



I will wrap up the randomness of this post with a couple pictures from this past weekend!  We had our hospital tour on Sunday, followed by our final shower!  We are all ready for Miss Ava Grace now!  :-) 

 My dear friend Beth threw me a wonderful shower on Sunday afternoon!  It was a drop-in and it was so fun and relaxing to sit and visit and catch up with friends!

The cake matched my bedding was was strawberry filled - SO yummy!  For the food she did a biscuit buffet!  It was so cute!  She had different sized biscuits fresh from the oven along with bacon, sausage, baked ham, chicken, fresh butter, and a variety of jellies!  It was such a neat idea for a shower and everyone enjoyed it so much!  I made sure I ate plenty for myself and for Ava Grace!  ;-)

Thank you for a wonderful shower Beth!

Well, hopefully you are now caught up on most of the business that's been going on in the Hooper household here lately!  Now I am off to a doctor's appointment (they are weekly now), and then home to do some cleaning and packing!  :-)  I'll try to update again VERY soon... but no promises, lol!

Menu Plan Update...

Just a little note to say the Cheddar Beer Chicken featured in this menu post and found on Pinterest was a flop!  I have deleted it off my board.  Just didn't want anyone to waste their time trying it.  The pre-minced potatoes were not good at all and when left in the crock pot for that long turn to mush.  I saved the chicken to use in a casserole, but the rest was a waste.... we ended up having Pizza!  lol.  Never know 'til ya' try!