My Husband - The Good Sport

Story Book Character Day at school was Friday - so naturally, I wanted to participate. I had to think of something to include Augie though. He is such a BIG part of me right now!!! Then, I had it, Thing 1 & Thing 2! Me and Augie - perfect. But not quite . . . I felt like something was missing! Something was . . . it was Dad!!! This was a Staats Pac Halloween - and I was leaving out an important part of that Pac!
At first, there was great reluctance from Gus (because I requested that we paint our hair blue), but when we found inexpensive blue wigs instead . . . everything was good to go! It was pretty much the easiest, most inexpensive (I think we spent $10) costume to put together EVER, and we received A LOT of compliments!


You may be wondering how Augie was incorporated into the equation . . .

That's right . . . He was our "Little Thingaroo!"

Great participation from the whole family!!!

Halloween - Here we come!

I was SO excited to get to carve pumpkins this year! We were busy traveling during our honeymoon last year (not that I minded at all), and we did not really celebrate Halloween. This year, we're dressing up on Friday (for work), and we carved pumpkins, and we're going to hand out candy on Saturday.



The most exciting part of this is that I didn't even get out the camera to take pics of our pumpkin carving - Gus did! It was very heart warming - he said he wanted Augie to see what his "first Halloween" was like!
I'm really glad to be getting some more pictures of us together too - our last few days (hopefully only days now) as a happy couple. Soon we'll be a trio and our lives will change!!!

This one is for you Jess!

I have once again become overloaded with the school year's schedule of events. Trying to keep my head above water and get ahead to be prepared for my little Augie's arrival has been anything but easy!!! I am still lining up lesson plans to make sure that whether early, on time, or late, I'll be ready to leave it all and spend the full time needed with my son when he decides he is ready to make his entrance. At least all of the big events will be past by the time he does come!!!

Updates:
I have carpal tunnel - awful! My fingers (especially the finger tips) are asleep all day long. I have to wear braces on both hands at night and keep them elevated to be able to sleep. I have moved from the bed to the couch in the den. It helps to make it easier to sleep during the night.
I can't wait to be back in my bed, laying down, and sleeping horizontally!!!

As of the doctor's appointment and final sono last week, Augie is doing great! He is still head down and kicking. They estimated him to be about 6lbs. 6oz. (for now). I was already at a 1 (as far as dialating) with 50% efacement. We're hoping that means he might come a little early, but . . . we'll see!!!

I go back in this Wednesday at 3:45 to see if there has been any more progression/changes.

This past weekend - Sunday - was our 1 year anniversary!!! We canceled our Bed & Breakfast reservations to stay closer to home just in case. Plus, we didn't want to pay to be uncomfortable and out of town. We had a great time - visited Grapevine, and had a small replay of our honeymoon - stopping in small shops, eating at a wonderful Bread Baking Co. for lunch, and ending with an amazing dinner at Mi Piaci (our favorite Italian restaurant). We just skipped the wine drinking part! :(

On sunday, we unwrapped our cake from the wedding, and enjoyed a nice slice of wedding sweetness. We really had it wrapped GOOD! It kept very well - and was quite enjoyable!


All together - it is a busy, but wonderful time of the year - and we're looking forward to it getting even busier and better . . . as soon as Augie is HERE!!!

Still waiting - Still Smiling!

Belly Pics

I have had a few of you waiting for these!!! I am officially SHOWING! There is no hiding my baby bump, and everyone tells me everyday, "WOW, your belly just gets bigger everyday!"

At first, it took some getting used to hearing it. I just wasn't used to hearing about how BIG I was . . . but as long as my baby is growing, healthy, and happy . . . I'll take all the BIG compliments I you can dish out! (I'm really not THAT big!)




I am definitely truckin' along though, and got big enough to take belly pics! All of these posted are a few of our favorites!!!

The Nursery

I know we put a picture up of the decor for the nursery when Dad and Kathy bought us the bedding (THANKS AGAIN DAD STAATS AND KATHY), but at that point we had no baby furniture!

Shortly after, we received the chest of drawers and the night stand, but the crib was on back order until August 28th. So we weren't quite as excited about everything - because we couldn't get "the full effect."

Well, the crib came in ON the 28th! (THANKS MOM STAATS AND GRANDMA GATES!!!) We picked it up that night, set it up the next day, and then got an itch to put the rest of the room together! We have taken advantage of some coupons and purchased our first box of baby detergent, a matress, and a diaper bag! We promise not to buy anything else until he's here!!! We couldn't let the coupons go to waste - especially the matress one. I really wanted to set the room ALL up once we got the crib.

So we now have an almost complete nursery! Crib, chest of drawers, night stand/changing table, nursing rocker, decorations on the walls, bedding set up . . . and we have shelving, but we haven't hung it yet.
Pictures? . . . BUT OF COURSE . . . This is just one wall, but it's the main one. I can't get the whole room in one picture. It is really coming together though!!!

We hope you like it little guy!
XOXO, Mom and Dad

Augie Update

I forgot how much school can take over your life at the beginning of the year! I keep thinking about blogging, and the next thing I know, I'm falling asleep at my computer. Well, at least on weekdays. Today is probably the last Saturday that we don't have something on the calendar . . . until November! I have all of my schedule in my phone calendar, and it just keeps filling up by the second.

We have made great progress since the last blog though - I'll put them in a few short blogs so not to bore anyone too much! And yes, I'm blogging at 6:00 in the morning on a Saturday, because Augie kicks and punches me until he gets fed - starting at about 5:00am! The early morning feedings have already begun.

SOOOOOO - let's have an Augie update!!! I went in for my last appointment/sono/finish up the paperwork not very long ago. There's a new pic of Augie below, and he's not quite as HUGE as we thought he was . . . YET! He's "about" 3 lbs. right now. The Doc says my fluid looks good and I'm right on track! He is already head down and will probably stay that way . . . my dad thinks he's going to come early . . . so be ready for anything!!!

PS - in this picture, he's laying on his left side. His head is in the pic. If you look closely, you can make out his eyes, nose, and mouth. And the two things beside his face are his arms. He likes to move them around a lot!



This was by far, the most exhilarating experience of my life! I get to feel Augie move all the time, but to see it on the screen was just amazing. He opened and closed his eyes. He opened and closed his mouth. And for now we'll laugh and cry at the fact that he even stuck his tongue out at us!!! What a precious child. I can't wait to meet him!

A Busy Weekend!

So this weekend held two major events for the Alexander Family! Elena Rae had her 2nd Bday party and Alexa Lee had her Baptism. What a handful.

It all started on Saturday - the Birthday Party! Elena invited all of her cousins and friends to hang out at Grandma and Pops for fun in the sun . . . swimmiing, water balloons, and a slip and slide . . . and A LOT of kids running around!

And her beautiful Nemo and Dori cake truned out perfectly. It even came with little sqeeze toys on top that she played with in the bath tub.


Gifts consisted of several new outfits . . . and a 2 year old girl's best friends: a tea set and a play kitchen of her very own!



And then on to Sunday! Alexa's Day!

We get to church and she almost leaked out of her diaper onto her white gown - it was a close one. So Marci quickly changes her, comes back to sit down for mass, and she lets a big one rip . . . AND SMILES!!! I love how babies think that it's funny to pass gas and poop. It makes me laugh! We made it through mass, and on to the Baptism.
Alexa is just such a happy baby. She slept through the beginning of the ceremony and didn't cry at all when Father Don poured the holy water over her little head.

Then she proceeded to enjoy the wonders of passing gas while the priest blessed her - and, again, smiled really big after each bubble was released.

WHAT A HAPPY BABY!!!

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and got to have a lot of family time! It was a GREAT WEEKEND!!!