The Lunch Sack

So I really loved Isabella's new backpack, but wished it had come with a matching lunch sack. So what did I do? I decided to make one! Here's how it turned out...not too bad if I do say so myself! ;)

The Backpack

This is what the lunch bag looked like before, except in pink.

My creation!

Together...

Not a perfect match, but pretty darn good if I do say so myself! ;)

1st Day of School!

Well today was the big day...the first day of big girl school!!! Isabella was very excited about starting kindergarten. I was excited and nervous at the same time. And I was in no way prepared for the wave of emotion that came over me! I figured Isabella was in Pre-K, I'll have no issues...this would be a piece of cake. WRONG! Let me start at the beginning...

We woke up and looked to see if the tooth fairy left any money. No, Isabella did not lose another tooth. Somebody (who's name shall not be mentioned) found Isabella's tooth the day before and said "Isabella I found your tooth!" Uhhh...the Tooth Fairy was supposed to have it, so there had to be a quick cover up. Apparently the Tooth Fairy dropped the tooth and so we put it back in the pillow for her to come get...and this time Isabella wrote her a note and asked her to please not lose her tooth again :/

After that she got dressed and ate breakfast. The menu was mini waffles and bacon. She watched some morning cartoons while she ate.

Then we got ready to go! She put on her new super cool backpack and striked a pose!

We got to the school and picture time began! I took a picture outside her classroom and then took a picture of everything that we had to do in the classroom. First, we had to put a star next to what she wanted for lunch. Then we had to hang up her backpack. After that we went to find a seat where there was a coloring sheet. This is when Isabella started to say when are you going to stop taking my picture?!

We made a little video for Daddy after all the pictures. Then as I'm watching another little girl cry for her parents not to go, I just keep hugging Isabella. Once...then twice...then three times.

She finally asks, "Why aren't you leaving?" (Can you believe that?!)

I said, "I don't know!"

She said, "Is it because you're nervous?"

I said, "Yeah..."

She said, "I know...it's ok."

Uh...hello?! I was supposed to comforting her, not the other way around!!! So then I got up and waved goodbye...and waved again. Then I just realized I looked ridiculous and I headed to the car. Darted to the car was more like it! I had to avoid all eye contact with any parental/child relationship walking past me. I could feel the tears ready to spill, but I was not going to let that happen...not in public anyway.

Needless to say, I was thrown off all day. How do I have a child in Kindergarten?! Both my mom and Desmond said, well you have Ava now. But Ava doesn't replace my little Isabella...she's a completely different person. I want both my babies to be babies!

After school we had dinner and headed to the ice cream shoppe (aka Braum's) and had our back to school celebratory ice cream cone. I started this last year after the 1st day of Pre-K and decided to make it a yearly tradition.

And that my friends was our 1st day of school!

Meet the Teacher

Isabella had Meet the Teacher last Thursday (8/20) to meet her new Kindergarten teacher! I can't believe my baby is about to go to "big girl" school! Where has the time gone!!! Here is a picture of her in her new classroom with her school supplies. She is so excited and proud.

Tomorrow is the big day....the first day of school! I'll be sure to post pictures.

Introducing...Private Isabella!

She cracks me up!!!!

Isabella's "Big Girl" Room

After transforming the extra bedroom into Ava's room, I felt like we needed to do something special to Isabella's room. It was time for a make over! Isabella's room was never really put together...it was kinda some of her baby stuff mixed in with a few new things here in there. So I asked Isabella what kind of room she wanted and she said a rainbow room. So she picked out a comforter set she liked (see below) and we went from there. I found some pink paint and painted one of the walls in her room (all of them would of been pink over kill!). It's starting to come together quite nicely. I'm painting some canvas wall letters to match her bedding. Isabella even painted a cross (which I sprayed with a glitter finish for her) that looks perfect! Seriously, it looks like we bought this thing and Isabella painted it all by herself! I'll post pictures when it's all done. Now Isabella will have a big girl room just in time to start big girl school!

Seymour Rodeo

Last weekend we packed up the car and drove to Seymour, TX to visit my sister in-law. For those of you that don't know (and that's about everyone), Seymour is a tiny town near Witchita Falls...population 2000 something. Have you ever driven thru a small town and seen a house in the middle of no where and wondered about the life of the family that lives there? That's my sister in-laws house! ;) She has a lot of land, animals, etc.

This past weekend there was a big annual event...the Seymour Rodeo! Actually, people do come in from all areas for this rodeo. I was surprised to hear there were riders in from Weatherford, Palestine, and a few other places that sounded familiar that I can't remember. They also have a parade earlier in the day that goes thru the middle of town. My niece actually rides in the rodeo, and led the parade. Another neice of mine rode on the fire truck looking like a beauty queen.

We had a blast! Isabella actually participated in the cow scramble, which shocked the heck out of me! Isabella is scared of flies, and she went chasing after a cow trying to pull the ribbon off it. That girl shoved her way to the front right before it started and then took off flying...in the wrong direction at first, but that is besides the point. She couldn't see the cow over the big kids...they let kids up to 12 participate. She found her way very quickly. The funny thing was she was soooo upset afterwards. In her mind, she was going to win this thing. She was so disappointed that she didn't win, because "she wanted to." Wow.

We look forward to going next year...Yee Haw! :)






That's my niece holding the American flag.


Little Ava and her grumpy face.


Isabella in the cow scramble!


Run, Bella, run!!!

It's been awhile...

Yeah, I'm a little behind. I need to play catch up. I'll get right on that...tomorrow. ;)

The Graduate

Isabella graduated from Pre-K on June 4! (sniff, sniff) My little girl is growing up! Of course my hormones were still all over the charts since it had just been a week since I had Ava and here I was attending Isabella's graduation. I was casting one out to big girl school and starting all over again raising another little one in this world. Wow.


Anyway, the graduation was precious. Isabella is nervous about going to kinder next year. She is going to miss all of friends and teachers, and she says the big girl school "smells." Hmm...I've got the rest of the summer win her over. We'll see how that goes.

Isaabella and her Poppy








The three Danos girls!


The Graduate!

Ava Marie is here!!!

We welcomed Ava Marie into this world on May 28th at 1:41 p.m. I was scheduled to be induced so we knew that the 28th was going to be her day. When I got to hospital and all hooked up my doctor came in and said that she did not want to break my water just then because she did not like Ava's position. She was back up against my bladder when she had been down in the cervix the week before. The doctor wanted to wait and let the contractions (which I could not feel at this point) do their work and push her back down. She was going to come back around 1:00 and see about breaking my water then and that we would probably have a baby by 6:00 p.m.

So it's somewhere around 10:30 in the morning and I decide to send out a mass text that it was going to be awhile. Well wouldn't you know as soon as I hit the send button my water broke on it's own. Soon I was experiencing pain that I had never experienced in my entire life. You have to understand...with Isabella, she was breech. So they gave me the epidural so that they could turn her before they ever induced labor...I never felt a thing. They finally gave me an epidural and guess what...it didn't fully work so they had to do it again! At this point they could of shoved ten thousand needles in my back...I did not care as long as I knew in the end the pain would go away.

So now Ava was ready but since I had 2 epidurals they knew I wouldn't be able to push. I could feel nothing...ahhh. We were waiting until a little bit of the epidural wore off so I would feel when I was able to push...until the nurse said her head was right there and to call my doctor because we needed to get this baby out. I was able to push her out with no problems. She was 7 pounds 7 ounces. My sister in law called her Lucky 7 because 7 lbs 7oz and I pushed her out in 7 minutes. Anyway she is adorable and I love her. Isabella is in love with her too and loves being a big sister. I've said it before and I will say it again...I am truly blessed. :)


Finally...relief! Knocked out after the drugs!



Mom...helping me thru the whole thing.



Like father, like daughter...the look of pure fear.


Ava Marie...only minutes into this world!


Mommy in-law and Ava

I look a hot mess...excuse the hair. ;)

I have a ton more pictures on my camera that I haven't downloaded yet. Most of these were from my Dad's iPhone. I'll try to post more.

Whine

I'm just going to whine for 2.5 seconds so bare with me. I'm usually not a complainer. I take what is thrown at me and go with it...like it or not. But I can't take this anymore. First of all, my life isn't what it used to be and that sucks enough (if you don't know what I'm talking about sorry, it's on a need to know bases at this point), but add in this discomfort on top of it I'm miserable. I'm ready for Ava to be here and to go on with the next stage of my life. My back aches, my hands and feet go numb, I cry too much, I feel all alone, I feel heavy physically and mentally...the list could go on and on. Only 2 more days...I just have to hang in there 2 days...can I do it? I guess, but I'm ready to be out of my misery.

*Sorry, that was longer than 2.5 seconds. But if you know me, it could of been a lot worse. ;)

38 week appointment

I'm now dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. Last week I was a tight 2 and my cervix was not thinning at all. So, I'm progressing! The doctor told me that I might not make it to the 28th, since I'm already making progress without her stimulating me. Honestly, I think it would be great if I could just have this baby this weekend...except that my mother in-law will be out of town this weekend. :( So I sit here in discomfort and wait...

The Countdown is ON!!!

Do you realize that I will have a baby in 9 days?! OMG!!! Isabella asked me how many more days yesterday and I told her 10...she said "Finally she's gonna come!" That child is so excited. So am I for that matter...I'm ready to have this baby in my arms and not in my belly! I have my 38 week appointment tomorrow...my last appointment before I get induced. Eek! It will be interesting to see if anything has changed from last week. We'll see...

Mother's Day

My dad took Isabella, my mom and I to Coast Global Seafood for Mother's Day. I had never been there, but the food and atmosphere was excellent! It's over in the Shops of Legacy if you ever want to go out for a nice meal. Here are some pictures. And yes, that is the same dress that I had on at my baby shower a few posts down. This big bellied momma has a limited wardrobe of clothing that still fits her and actually looks nice. ;)

The sun was in our eyes...

Progress...

So I'm finally making progress on Ava's room. It seems like I have had something to do every weekend (Isabella and her birthday parties) that I haven't been able to get much done. Well, I'm officially in crunch now that my mom is here to help me! This weekend I made some headway.

Things left to do:

-I'm still have to get the dresser/changer up in the room which I plan to do this weekend.

-Waiting for the valance to arrive to put on the window

-Note there is no mattress in the crib...ordering and waiting to arrive

-Need to make another piece of artwork...in all my spare time. ;)

-Convince Isabella that she does not need a red & yellow room like Ava. For someone who was so upset with my color choices now that she sees it, she loves it. I want to do something different for her room...

Took a picture of the fan so you can see how the green ties in with the bedding and the wood ties in with the rocker, dresser/changer & mirror.

Ava or Nahla?!?!!!

So last night I had a dream about Ava. I was in the hospital and I delivered her. She looked nothing like Isabella. She had a little bit different skin tone, lighter curly hair (the curls were looser than Isabella's) and her eyes were this clear greenish/blue color. She was bigger than Isabella was too. At first I was just so shocked that she looked so much different...she had so many more of Desmond's features than mine, and I didn't know how to feel about that. But then she just looked at me with such innocence and love that I quickly got over it! Isabella was a little jealous of her eyes, but she too quickly got over it and we showered her with love and affection. Having my two beautiful girls next to me felt like nothing I had ever experienced.


It wasn't until I got to work, I realized who Ava looked like in my dream. Halle Berry's baby! I had Halle Berry's baby in my dream. Crazy!


Look at her...she kinda has some of Desmond's features. And look at Halle...could that not totally be me holding her?! Seriously...if you took a picture of me with my sunglasses on from that angle, that's what I would look like (now if I only looked like her from the front)! ;)

36 Week Appointment

Again, I still can't believe I'm 36 weeks...

I had my doctor's appointment today. From now until the birth of Ava I will be going every week. I'm already dilated to a 2! My doctor said that my cervix is still long, but really I could go into labor anytime from now thru my induction date. She also said that if I don't already have my bags packed for the hospital to go ahead and get them ready. Otherwise I will be scrambling around and forget something...don't you so see that happening to me?! ;) It all seems to be happening so fast now. With everything going on in my life I just want to make sure that Ava has the best possible life that she can have. I already love her so much. I can't believe I'm about to have two baby girls! I always wanted two girls...Desmond said he always wanted girls too. I guess we got our wish on that. Ava is truly a blessing. I'm getting all hormonal and teary eyed now so I'll stop. ;)

Peek-A-Boo

Where's Ava?



There she is!!!



I'm loving the fact that you can't tell from the front or back in pictures that I'm pregnant! But boy can you ever when I turn to the side!!! Wowsers, look at that belly! There is no hiding that! I can't believe that today I'm 36 weeks today. After this week, I will be considered full term...full term is anywhere from 37-40 weeks. So it won't be long now! Clearly I could blow at any minute, and let me tell you I'm ready! All the sudden the aches, pains and discomfort have set in. I'm ready to see what my baby girl is going to look like, and so is Isabella!

Speaking of Isabella...again I have to tell you that she is the sweetest little thing. I came home from work last night and she had thrown me her own little baby shower! She blew up balloons and everything! She even had a present set out and she didn't even forget the card! That child thinks of everything. The "card" was a picture of our family she drew. And the present were some of her Beanie Babies that she no longer used to give to Ava. So sweet!




Oh and this is just a cute picture I got last night. We had bought a bead box for all of her beads at Laura's garage sale over the weekend. Her beads used to be all mixed together in a big box, but she finally finished sorting them out yesterday. She was very proud...as was I, because I was tired of helping her sort those things out. ;)