Crowns, Crowns Everywhere!

Check out Baby Jase in his adorable bodysuit that came all the way from Sweden. Our fellow blogger friend, Linda, sent my mother and me a package. She sent us candy, Swedish Christmas napkins, magnet, a stocking that says Merry Christmas in Swedish, beautiful drawings by Olivia (her three year old daughter) and then this outfit that has Swedish Crowns all over it! It's kind of big but in no time he will fit in it. Thank you so much Linda, Olivia and Isak! http://lillasysteryster.blogspot.com/

Surprises from Ohio

Look at what came from my Titi (Aunt) Liany! She sent tons of great stuff. She even knitted a beautiful blanket, two knit caps and two pair of booties. There were some hilarious bibs, fun chime toys and pewter cross to hang in his room, two feeding spoons that have his initials and his name on them along with the silver cup that has his first and middle name on it. The baby's first christmas ornament is up on the tree already (as you can see in the last photo). This is a picture of Baby Jase with the blanket and one of the knit caps she made!! So cute. Thank you so much Titi Liany!!

First Week

Boy oh Boy has this been one of the best weeks in our lives. Baby Jase is the sweetest thing to happen to us. We have had many visitors and today is the first day that it's just the three of us. This morning Jason had to go to school to take a test so it was just me and baby this morning. Jase is eating about every two to three hours and I am just getting used to waking up about three times a night until it's finally morning. It's not so bad really, just something new. My body is feeling better and my stitches are healing nicely and don't hurt so much anymore. I have minor aches and pains in my abdomen that are slowly becoming less and less. My stomach is shrinking up and it's amazing that he was once in there!! My parents went home Sunday, Jason's parents came Saturday morning and left Tuesday evening and we also had a visit from Jason's brother, Tim, and his family on Sunday. It was so nice that everyone could come and see us. We had our first doctor's appointment Saturday morning since I am breast-feeding they wanted to see the baby within 48 hours to make sure he wasn't losing too much weight. Well he had not lost any weight since we left hospital so that is awesome. His next appointment is Tuesday 19th. Hopefully this next appointment will go a little more smooth. His first appointment was quite a comedy! First they tell us the wrong time so we show up an hour early, forget the diaper bag so we go to Target to get diapers and wipes and I also needed to get some newborn plain white onesies for his undershirts. So then we go back to the doctor and we have to change his diaper because he had pooped in it. So as we are changing the diaper he urinates all over the place and of course the whole time he is screaming because it is like antartica inside the doctor's office! We just busted out laughing because it was just so perfect to happen to us the "New Parents!!" It was awesome. He did so good when being examined and they said his coloring was good and he was a "keeper."

Happy Birth Day Jason Matthew Ames Jr!!!

We just got home from the hospital a few hours ago and I just wanted to let everyone see photos of our new baby. He was born December 5th, 2006 at 2:32pm, he weighed 8lbs 1oz and 21 inches long. Can you believe that was inside of me??!! We are so excited and in a couple of days I will share the entire experience in detail. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Last Day of Work

It's nearing the end of my 39th week of pregnancy and I will officially be 40 weeks!! The doctor has my due date as Sunday the 3rd. I am taking advantage of this day off tomorrow and getting some last minute errands done. After my errands I will be walking and resting and walking and resting. I want to help this little guy come out. We are very anxious to meet him and hold him. I feel great and am so pleased at how pleasant this pregnancy has been. I have been really lucky and I hope the labor is just as good. If I don't have this baby this weekend then my next doctor's appointment is Monday afternoon. He mentioned the possibility of "helping the baby along" on Wednesday but I want to wait and hope that Baby Ames comes on his own. So we shall see what happens.

Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend

Wednesday night my parents came to visit us for Thanksgiving celebration. Since we only have (hopefully) only one week left in the pregnancy we had to stay in the Augusta area to be close to the hospital. We cooked garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli rice and cheese casserole, Jason's macaroni and cheese and then Deep Fried Turkey!! We seasoned the turkey with so many seasonings and even coated it with honey. As soon as my dad lowered the turkey it turned BLACK and my father did not know it was supposed to do this and he thought he had done something wrong. Oops. It tasted soooooo good and was cooked perfectly. This is the picture of the perfectly charred turkey. My mother and I went shopping two days in a row hoping to help this baby drop into place to come out. My parents bought us this ginormous Christmas tree!! Surprisingly my feet didn't swell like balloons and my hips didn't even hurt the entire time we were out. My mother and I bought Christmas ornaments and a bunch of other things. Jason and my dad went shopping also and look at what my dad got...a Browning Rifle! Cool. Check him scoping out the view. We had a great holiday weekend, Thanks mom and dad for coming to visit us!!

Last Weekend

What a special treat, Maria came to visit me before the baby was born. She came last Friday night and my parents picked her up from the airport at almost 11pm and they got to Augusta at about 2am. I sat up waiting for them to come because I was so excited. It was a very nice weekend and we went to a Christmas craft show, out to Wild Wings to eat some appetizers and watch some football. We did a belly cast of my torso but it's a little obscene to post on the blog. As my dad said, it needs a bra on it. We had a great time and I am so glad that she came to visit, it meant so much!!

Stylin' Babe

I was looking for some cool onesies that would match some of Jason's shirts but they were all so expensive. After searching online I found some iron-on decals. I went and bought some black clothing dye. The first time I dyed them they turned out a gray color so I had to dye them again to get them near black in color. Now Baby Ames can be cool like his daddy. Speaking of cool dads, Jason has made us all so very proud. We will be staying in Augusta two more years after Jason graduates from dental school. He has been selected to be in the Endodontics program at MCG. He is the first student to enter the program straight out of dental school in all the years the school has been opened. Cool, huh?

Birddawg's Bedding

Check it out ladies and gentlemen!! It's Baby Ames's bedding that my wonderful mother-in-law, Cheryl, made. I picked out the fabric and pattern and she made the bumper and sheet. She even made a quilt to go with the set but since we have not chosen a name yet, the quilt is on hold because his name is going to go on it. We love the set and it's so cool. How about the awesome rocket pillow??!! That is an original creation by Cheryl. Then she even made a diaper stacker and a box to hold the baby wipes. Those are the finishing touches that just make the room so special. Thank you Cheryl!!



















So now that I am 38 weeks pregnant, the swelling is getting worse. The proof is in the picture, look at what my feet looked like when I got home from work and I took off my socks. NASTY!! Not only are they swollen but they do get sore in spots, almost liked they are bruised and then they itch like crazy sometimes. I have woken up in the middle of the night scratching one foot with the nails of my other foot. I am assuming the itching has to do with the lack of circulation but who the heck knows. Otherwise I feel great. We are very anxious and just waiting for this little fellow to come.

Is this for real??

That is the question I have asked myself several times over the past nine months. I just can't believe it's almost coming to an end. It will then be the beginning of our next step in our lives together. Last week I started my weekly visits with the doctor and tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon is my next visit. They will be checking to see if I am dilating and all that cool stuff that happens with labor. My braxton hicks are getting to be more frequent and stronger which at times can be uncomfortable. Sleeping is becoming more and more difficult. I toss and turn all night long with pillows flying everywhere and my body aching with every move. Plus my head is full of thoughts of this baby coming and that keeps me from getting restful sleep. Jason and I went to our birthing class on Saturday all day long. It was the best thing for us to just do the one day class versus the 4-6 week class. Most of the information is stuff I have already read or knew. It was nice to go to the hospital and get a tour of all the rooms and get comfortable with that aspect of what is ahead of us. My coworkers threw a baby shower for me last Thursday and they gave us a huge gift certificate to Babies R Us. So, yesterday Jason and I went to use it and came out with a carseat and stroller. We are very grateful for that and it's one less thing for us to worry about. Here are some pictures of me after I got off work. Everyone at work made a fuss about what I was wearing and here it is. By the end of the day my toes were killing me and all I kept telling myself was "This is nothing compared to labor." But darn the swelling was really getting to me and my feet were screaming to get out of the boots. Next time I wear them it will be for a short amount of time and not and entire work day!! I hope you enjoy and next time it won't take so long to write.

Happy Halloween

Last night we handed out candy at home to all the precious trick-or-treaters. It was so funny because some of them were so little they barely reached the doorbell and they would ring and ring the door bell until I would come. There were
many Batmans and Supermans and Pirates. I can't wait to take our kids trick-or-treating. At the last minute we decided to go to a Halloween party that Jason's classmate was throwing. We decided to paint a pumpkin on my belly and that would be my costume. I bought a 10 pack of poster paint (non-toxic of course) to use to decorate with. I get home and we open the box and would you believe there is no BLACK, I mean who doesn't need black?? The even had turquoise but no black. H'm... So we had to get creative and found a dry erase marker and used that. Here is a picture of it right after being painted by the artist Jason and then a picture of me trying to dry it quickly so that we can leave. Then a picture of us at the party. The belly was a big hit and everyone thought it was hilarious. So for Sue's first Halloween, he was a pumpkin. What do you think he will say about this?

It's Official...

...I have lost it! I went to my four o'clock appointment today and found out that the appointment was YESTERDAY! Aaaaahhhhhh.... Silly me, I kept telling myself that the appointment was Thursday the 25th and I even requested the afternoon of the 25th of work off. Well after working all day and knowing it was the 26th I showed up for my appointment and was told that the doctor doesn't even work on Thursday afternoons. They say pregnancy may cause you to feel absentminded, I guess that is what you can call what happened to me today. Oops. All day yesterday and today I have felt very swollen in my lower legs, ankles and feet. I was wearing some flats and the skin was overflowing my shoes. Gross, I know. Here are two pictures of what it looks like. You can even see that the swollen part goes all around to the back where the Achilles tendon is. I mean how is that possible? I guess I need to elevate my feet and drink more water. They say it's normal, especially at the end of the pregnancy. With five more weeks (or 35 days) left I guess I am doing good.

Hangman

Sue goes on his 1st football recruiting trip to UGA

Jason and I were able to go to the Georgia football game yesterday and watch them play against Mississippi State. We got two free tickets from my friend April's coworker. So my dad went and got the tickets from April and then he and my mother met us just outside of Athens in Watkinsville (about 50 miles from their home) to give us the tickets Saturday morning. We only got to see them for a few minutes because the game was at 1pm and we needed to find a parking spot and make it in time to walk to the stadium for the kick-off. Jason was a little nervous because it's a long trip from the parking deck that we normally park at and it's all up hill to the stadium that's about a mile away. I told him I could do it but it may take us a while due to me needing some pit stops. As many of you know that have been pregnant before, walking can be painful in the hip and pelvis region, especially with only 6 weeks left! So we tailgated by ourselves for a little while and Jason enjoyed a couple mixed drinks while I drank a Non-Alcoholic St. Pauli beer. It is quite tasty and tastes just like a regular beer. They are not light beers so they fill me up fast, especially after chugging a lot of water in order to be hydrated for the day's event. We began our journey to the stadium when we came upon some buses taking people from the parking deck to the stadium. THANK YOU!! Jason and I were more than excited because this meant we would make it before halftime and he didn't have to listen to me moan and whine about how badly my body was hurting me. I fully intended on trying my hardest not to complain about my body's aches and pains, but now I was let off the hook!! The weather was perfect and our seats were great, as you can see in the photos. During the game we got some hot dogs and french fries to snack on. After eating those, I leaned over to Jason and said "If you see the Cotton Candy guy, get me a bag." He thought this was hysterical and shortly after the Cotton Candy guy appeared. Jason was so astonished by me eating the cotton candy (because normally I do not eat such sweet, sticky items) he had to take pictures of me eating the light and fluffy delight. The Georgia Bulldogs did not play their best but we had a magnificent time otherwise. Sue says GO DAWGS!!!

Future Traveler

The door bell rang tonight as Jason and I were putting this little bookshelf together. Neither one of us wanted to answer it because two nights ago some people came and were talking about wanting us to be members of their church. So we just sat there and continued to put the shelf together. We then heard a big truck drive away and we knew we had a package at the door. Low and behold there is the box from www.paper-source.com where I ordered these darling suitcases. The aren't real suitcases but they can store small items and I thought they would be great additions for Baby Ames's room.

Baby Shower

We had our first baby shower last weekend. Jenny put it together and it was so much fun. We ate at a restaurant called The Globe www.globeatlanta.com and it was so special. Fun food and great company, what more could a girl ask for? Oh yes, PRESENTS!! My friends are extremely generous and gave us all sorts of goodies. Here is a picture of the diaper bag April gave us. A precious bunny coat that I can't wait to have Baby Ames's pictures taken in. Check out this pillow that Ashley gave, I am just going to keep it on this side and not tell you what the other side says. We even got a TV monitor for the baby's room...talk about high tech baby. Diaper genie for stinky diapers, air purifier for clean air, Booster Seat for home and on-the-go, many necessities such as baby wash, lotion, powder, nipple cream, petroleum and gauze (to protect his circumcision wound in his diaper), his first bathrobe, diapers, shoes, fun saying onesies (Erin knows me), a few outfits, washcloths, hats, shoes, pacifiers, some other great things. There is a picture of everyone that attended minus Cathy and Brooks. I had to post the shoes that I wore to the shower. No one could believe it because I never wear shoes like that so I had to share the one time affair. The last picture is of one of my friends that I used to work with, Kimberly. She is five weeks ahead of me and about to have her baby. Jenny even gave out M&M's that said "It's a boy" and "Ames Baby". Thanks everyone for making this a memorable occasion and Jenny for hosting it.