welcome to the world jack westen brummer

yay! my gorgeous nephew made his entrance into the world this afternoon and i just had to share this beautiful boy with you! he is just perfect! sounds like everything went really smoothly and mama and baby are both doing well (daddy is pretty proud, too!) big sister will get to meet him tomorrow...i can not even tell you how much i wish i was there to experience this special time with my brother and his family. it is so hard to live so far away all the time, but especially during these very special moments. i love ya'll so much and am so happy for you! he is gorgeous and with a name like jack westen he will definitly be a skydiving spy! ha! (d, that's for you!)

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bubble bath maternity set

some of ya'll may recognize the bathroom in this series...it's not ours (sigh), it's my dad and maryann's. i have love, love, loved this bathroom (especially the tub) since they bought, designed, and remodeled their house. i remember when i first saw it i knew if i was lucky enough to get pregnant again i would HAVE to do some maternity shots in that tub. it is definitly my dream bathroom, i think it is so beautiful (what can i say, my dad and step mom have great taste!). so today was the day! maryann said she would get some shots of me in the tub and then a few of bo and i together. these are just a few of my favorites so far, i haven't had a chance to go through them all yet. i did not have any maternity pictures with ava and have really regretted it, so i vowed to not have that same regret this time around, especially since it will most likely be my last pregnancy. even with body issues and insecurity, i had to have these pictures and they are already so special to me and i will treasure them forever. thank you so much maryann for helping me get these special shots! (and seriously...gotta love tan lines!)

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busy bees

vickie sent me this pic she took last time we got together...yes, that's ava covered in bert's bee's lip gloss playing with my ipod touch...the things you do to keep a toddler entertained so you can have some adult conversation! ha!

nothing exciting to write about...we've been super busy, mostly trying to get things ready for the baby...i have been trying to get things together for the nursery. hopefully i'll be able to start getting things put in there tomorrow...we still have a few things from the office to get out so it will be totally clear. unfortunatly, finding space for things in this house is getting harder and harder i've been parting with a lot..not sure how much more i can say goodbye to.

went to ikea today with vickie (ava spent the day with nonna). had such a great time and found so many wonderful things! can't wait to go back...there were some frames i was thinking about getting for the living room...wanted to think on it a bit, i know it's not something i will be doing anytime soon.

grams is in colorado with dathan, amber and kaitlin...jack is going to be born on wednesday so she went up for that big event! i wish i was there...would love to spend some time with the niece i miss so much and would sooooooo love to hold that baby boy when he gets here (and take some pictures, of course!) told grams she has to take a million to bring home of both those kiddos!

i am so tired tonight and my feet are so swollen...even my toes, they look so weird...i think i'm going to bed...definitly feeling pregnant today!

~a

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growing belly...

so i have gotten a bit behind taking belly pictures and was actually not planning on posting anymore, due to the general feeling of grossness and hugeness discussed in earlier posts...buuuuutttttt, i have had some requests. so these are for you lovely people that live far away and are just DYING to see how big i am getting! ha! i wanted to have bo take a few of me during his time off, but we were so busy doing other things, so today while ava was napping i set up the old tripod and ran around like a crazy person using the timer on my camera trying to get a few decent shots to share...anyway, here are a few of the hollis belly at 34 weeks...(fyi...i do not intentionally chop off my head in all the shots, our house is just so small that when i use the tripod, i just can't seem to squeeze it into the right angles like if a person was shooting them...so that's why i am usually headless...if you want the belly say goodbye to the head!)

next week i'm getting together with maryann and we are going to try to get some good maternity shots, maybe even with bo and the munchkin...our little threesome! i'll be sure to post some of those for ya'll, too.

yep...that belly is growing!

xoxo,

a

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blog love & nursery frustation...

okay...so i am totally smitten, head over heels, swept off my feet by this blog here. i mean seriously, the couple is awesome...the kind of people you want to be friends with, the family is adorable, the writing is wonderful and refereshing to read, photos...a favorite...yep...what's not to absolutly fall in love with! anyway, he did a post this morning about their new daughters nursery...it's gorgeous...you must go see! this post really sang to me because i had just returned from a trip to babies"r"us looking at bedding, decorations, etc. for hollis' room-to-be. i found absolutly nothing i was excited about and everything was waaaayyyy to expensive. i am trying to come up with any ideas for little man's room without getting too crazy with the checkbook & too cluttery (i have been working so hard the past few months to go through and get rid of all the things we don't need that are taking up our space and driving me nuts we live in such a tiny house and i really want it to be less cluttery....stop laughing mom...it is possible!). so far he has a black dresser bought off craigs list (love it!), ava's old white crib, and a denim rocking chair...so i have no idea what to do with this room and have found very little inspiration in the stores. calling all of you wonderful friends and family that i know check in on us here every once in a while, if you have any wonderful ideas or if you have seen anything amazing, you have to let us know! we have 4-6 weeks to get something together for this special little guy joining our family...thinking i should've have started this a long time ago.

leaving you with some nursery pics from ava's nursery (june 2007..right before she arrived)

my friend vickie made ava that gorgeous picture frame & it now holds one of my favorite pictures of ava and her daddy (still one of my favorite things in her room) and the seagull is from my cousin alex's childhood bedroom...my aunt sent it down. thanks toon-toon.

roxie and max making an appearance before their world was rocked by the arrival of missy ava.

her room has changed so much in the past two years, and now she's got that fancy big girl bed in there...time goes so fast.

xoxo,

a

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"wimmin"

went to gram's to "wim"...ava had a blast with all of us. daddy is off work all week (we have gotten absolutly nothing accomplished that we have planned to...baby's room, etc...but at least ava is getting lots of love from all directions...not sure what we will do when his vaca is over...could get ugly)
this girl is crazy in the pool, especially now that we have discovered the amazing water wings...she is soooo free and has worked out so many new things. it's amazing to watch her figure out how to work her body in the water to get to where she wants to go. and she is so good about grabbing on the side of the pool and going to the steps for a break! so cute! and no worries, we are never more than an arms distance away from her, so she's always safe! but seriously, i think she's part toddler, part fishy! & we totally adore her...could you tell?!

xoxo,

a

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the princess in the princess bed...

ava had another super night in her "princess" bed! i am so happy this transition is going so smoothly for us! it's wonderful! she loves her bed! crossing my fingers nap time goes a bit better today, but if i had to choose between naptime and night time...i'd definitly choose night time!!! anyway, here are a few snaps i got of her playing on her bed this morning!

xoxo,

a

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