She's Here!!

That's right....Ava Grace Beaver is here!! Born December 12, 2010, 5 lbs. 14 oz. 18-1/2 in.

I always said this baby already had a mind of her own and boy was I right! Here's a little rundown of her arrival:
My due date was actually Dec. 24th Christmas Eve, so I begged the Dr. to please let me go a little early so I wouldn't be in the hospital on Christmas and be home enough before to get adjusted. So, Dr. Hall said we could schedule my induction for a week early, Dec. 17th. I was suppose to go on the 15th to pre-admit & get ready for the early trip to the hospital on the 17th. With that being said last weekend I wasn't feeling like myself..mainly just tired. Saturday night we had taken the girls along w/ my parents to my cousin's church to see the Live Nativity. After we got home I was so tired so I went on to bed. About 3:30am I woke up to what I thought could be mild contractions. Robbie woke up & asked me if I was ok & jokingly if I was in labor. To his surprise, I said yes, I think so. I got up, took a shower to see if the pains continued, in which they did. By about 5:20am I came through the kitchen and in an instant my water broke. I was stunned b/c my water never broke with the girls so I was a little anxious as to what would happen next. I hadn't packed anything for myself yet, just Ava, so I had to hurry & do a load of laundry, call my mom to come get the girls and then my dad called right back to ask if we had looked outside? Um, no? Well, to our surprise there was at least 2 inches on snow already on the ground and it was still pouring!! It hit me then...pure PANIC! We hurried to get the rest of what we needed & left the house around 7:45am. The roads were not in good condition and we had to stop a couple times due to accidents along the way, but managed to get to the hospital safely & checked in by 9:00am. My contractions had tapered off since my water broke so at 11:00 I was given the dreaded IV drip of pitocin. After about 12 hrs. of labor, 4-1/2 of which was on the pitocin and no pain meds, our little bundle of joy made her entrance into the world. She was 12 days early...born on the 12 day of December at 3:21pm in room 321. I know that God & Ava had that part all worked out!! We are so blessed! Today, she is 6 days old and more perfect that I could ever imagine. We are looking forward to Christmas at home together, all of us this year!

Here are a few pictures of our beautiful blessing! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

This year, as the season changes, the leaves fall from the trees and moon & stars shine as bright as I've ever seen, I think on the thoughts of what I am thankful for this year in particular...
*I'm thankful for my family & friends, each & every one that make it up and the togetherness we get to experience, especially around this time.
*I'm thankful for my children and the ablility to be called MOM by the two little girls that can make my day so much better in an instant & remind me of their daddy so much. And, for the little one on the way...and how I can't wait to see & hold her & have all those baby/mommy moments all over again.
*I'm thankful for my husband, who has so unselfishly spent time away from his family & friends to serve his country and be away last year, and this year has sacrified even more of his time to make sure we were provided for and loved.
*I'm thankful for my Lord & Savior, who is the one why we celebrate & have Thanksgiving. That, one day he gave his life to take away & forgive all my sins so I might live & have eternal life with him in Heaven & that's it's him that makes everything we have & do possible.
*I'm thankful for a place to worship, a place to call home, a place to work, and a place to send my children to school.
*I'm thankful for the simple yet most important things such as food, shelter & time, and the ability to feel emotions & experience all ups & downs of life and then apply & learn from them.
*I'm also thankful this year for memories. I've thought so much this week about my grandmothers that are already home with the Lord and how many things remind me of them and how even today, I long still to be a little more like them. I also think sometimes how I'd love for them to be able to meet Ava, but then I think somehow they already have!

I know there are things I've forgotten & I know my list could go on and on, but I just want to leave you with the thought of..."What are you thankful for this year?"
Hope each of you and your families have a blessed Thanksgiving!


"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."

A Few More Pictures!!

The Beaver family had the privilege of attending our first family photo shoot this weekend. We went to The Bluffs of Wilson Creek & The Coves to take our pictures. We were very pleased with the sneek peak we got today & can't wait to have them all! Cindy Craven, the photographer, went to high school with Robbie & I, and recently moved back to Caldwell Co. and started her own photography business. She does an excellent job and we had a great time! You can visit her website here:
http://cindycravenphotography.weebly.com/

Here are a few of our favorites we thought we would share with you!

A View of Miss Ava

For my birthday this year I wanted to do a little something different. I requested that we spend it getting to see our sweet baby girl, since this would be my last opportunity to do an ultrasound. So, I booked an appt. in Hickory with Baby in Me 4D Imaging. It was amazing, I'd never had a 4D ultrasound done before. We went on the 14th and tried to take a look at her, but she was a bit stubborn (like her daddy) and wouldn't get her foot or hand out of her face, so we had to reschedule for today to finish up. She still didn't want to cooperate much today, but we did get to bring home some pictures & a DVD. The computer at the clinic also went down so I still have to go back next week to get our hard copies, but I thought I would share a few of her pictures! She's quite the little stinker already!

She opened her eyes for just a second!

Showing us her foot!

Giving us kisses!

Big Yawn!

Already got her mad/pouty face down!

A little smile!

What a sweet face!


We love you Ava Grace & we can't wait to get to see you & spoil you in person!

Back to School!!

It's official, I now have a 1st and a 5th grader! Today was the 2nd actual day for both of them, but they have both come home each day saying what a good day it had been. The first day I had to go to the school anyway so I took them & walked them in. Kayla quickly abandoned me as soon as she saw a friend down the hall, but that's to be expected. Emma was a little nervous about finding her classroom again all by herself so I told her I would walk with her to make sure she got the correct room. Sure enough though, she remembered where it was & walked right in, stopped & unloaded her bookbag & planner & never even turned around to say goodbye! I was a little surprised, but so proud of my big girl!

Kayla is going to have a little more of load this year. She has 3 teachers, each teaching 1 of the 3 main courses for the EOGS in the spring. I'm a little nervous for her. This is the year when you for sure start to see differences in kids and of course little attitudes forming. I am on the verge of having a pre-teen and it scary!

It was so sad this year when I compared pics from last year's first day of school to this one. I couldn't get over how much they have changed & the fact that they were growing up right before my eyes! For now though, I'll hold on to my babies as long as they'll let me!

Here are the two pictures that brought me to tears....

Aug. 25, 2009














Aug. 25, 2010

It's a.....

GIRL!!!


Today was the big day and all went well. We were amazed at how precious she is already. She is going to be a hoot we can tell b/c she was putting on a show for the ultrasound tech. She had to chase her around to get a good picture of her & didn't much want to have her picture taken. She turned flips and was waving arms & legs! We are thankful to have had a normal ultrasound & that's all we could have asked for. Poor Robbie...he's never going to stand a chance with all these girls but he's the greatest daddy ever and I'm sure she'll have him wrapped in no time!

Unless we change our minds...at this point her name will be Ava Grace!!

Things that make us say...Yippee!

Following is a simple list of the things that have brought the Beaver household joy over the last few weeks & we just thought we would share a few of them....

*Robbie's brother is home from the hospital and while still on meds/oxygen doing much better.
*Spent some quality time w/ our families cooking, fishing and playing games.
*Ball season is OVER...while this may not bring my hubby too much joy, it does me. All the running was wearing me out!
*Cleaned out the garage & had a yard sale earning $150!!
*Started the crazy process of moving Emma in w/ Kayla & got their new bunkbeds & chests put together.
*Emma got her ears pierced! This was a HUGE accomplishment!
*Robbie finally got a used truck so I got my car back!
*Started feeling the baby move/kick/hiccup and love it!
*Ultrasound is scheduled a week from today!
*Got the newest Thirty-One products today from UPS...man it has been like Christmas!
*Went shopping w/ mom & finally got some maternity clothes & at a great deal!

I'm sure there's more things I could mention and some obviously more important than others, but I thought today I need to make a list of all the good things that's happened & not the bad which is so easy to do. God has been good to me and my family & I need to thank him more often for it! So, what's on your Yippee list??