Baby Shower Weekend!

This past weekend I had a baby shower in Jax and my work baby shower in Vero, needless to say it was a busy weekend!
Charlotte & JJ threw a wonderful a shower. Everything was so nice and it was wonderful to see all of our Jacksonville family and friends. Charles and I are truly blessed to be surrounded by such sincere people. We cannot get over how generous everyone has been. Addison is definitely spoiled...she is not complaining though! :) Guy was our "photographer" and he did a great job. I will have to get some pics from him to post to the blog. Aunt Merc embroidered a bunch of onsies and some burp clothes for Addison and they were all so cute! One of the burp clothes said "I am cute, mom is cute and my dad is Lucky!"...all her creativity was one of the hits of the shower. I honestly think I will be the only mom in the world who gets excited when her child spits up or poops on her outfit because unless I change her 3 times a day she will never get to wear all the adorable clothes she has been given!
My office threw me a lovely shower Sunday afternoon. They are all so nice to me especially since I have only been there for 11 months! Everyone at the office went in together and got us our Pack and Play and a bunch of little things off our registry. Once again, we are just amazed at every one's generosity and cannot thank everyone enough! Now to find a place for it all!

34 Week Update-back on Bedrest!

So I had my 34 week Dr. apt Tuesday and much to my doctor's and my surprise we found out that little Addison might want to come a little earlier than we would both like. I should have known something exciting was going to happen because Charles was not at this appointment! After an exam my doctor realized that I am 50% effaced (the lining of the cervix softens, this usually does not happen until stage 1 of actual labor), I am a centimeter dialated (not that big of a deal) and that Addison has dropped deep into the birth canal (usually happens a week or so before going into labor). Also, as some of you might know when you get past about 25 weeks your doctor measures your belly at every visit and the distance corresponds to how many weeks pregnant you are. So at 32 weeks my belly was 32 centimeters....I have been right on schedule thus far...but at this apt my belly was slightly less that 32 centimeters which could just be because she dropped already or it could mean she is not growing as much (having an ultrasound to figure that one out). After the apt. I was sent to Labor & Delivery at the hospital to have a 2 hour non-stress test which monitors to see if I am having contractions. After 2 hours I did not have one contraction but my uterus did get irritable...so that is a good thing. I am however back on bed rest just to prevent her from coming this week. I can return to work on Monday because apparently it is OK if she decided to come after Sunday!

I had an ultrasound today, Charles came with me, and they guesstimate Addison to weigh 5 pounds 2 ounces. Their estimates are give or take 12 ounces! The ultrasound looked great but she is on the small side based on her due date. Her thigh bones are long so the tech said she is probably very long! (takes after her daddy) We could see her little eyes opening and closing and her mouth moving. She was also stretching out her toes and curling them under. It was very neat to see!!! We will not get the full story of the ultrasound until next Wednesday so I will keep you posted as to what the Dr says. Until then, I am back on bed rest trying not to freak out over all the last minute things I still need to get done!!!

Missing our Baby Bella

I know it has been awhile since I posted to the blog. I really appreciate every one's kind words during this tough time for Charles and I. All I really have to say about it is that I miss her terribly and wish she was here. I know she would have been the best big sister to Addison.

Baby Bella's Journey

I know news travels fast in the Bond household, but for those who haven't heard, Bella passed away this weekend of an accident.

We went out to the hunting camp this weekend for a weekend of goofing off. As always I took the girls so they could play, exercise, and get as dirty as possible. Bella had a great time chasing animals, eating who knows whatever she found to put in her mouth (probably cow poop), and cuddling up next to her daddy to sleep in the bed (dogs aren't allowed in the bed at the house so I spoil them at camp)!

Saturday afternoon we took a buggy ride and I decided that the dogs could come along. For those who haven't seen the buggy, it is 6 feet off the ground with big ol swamp tires. While we were driving Bella jumped off and rolled under the buggy and got run over. :( She didn't seem to be in any pain and looked to be fine from the outside. The buggy caused internal injurys and she passed away about 5 minutes later.

I took her down to one of my favorite spots and buried her. She has always been dear to me and I cant wait to go hunt in her spot and visit. It will be a typical trip for me... Charles and the dog napping in the woods! :)

I dreamed about her last night. She was up in heaven playing Chuck-It and swimming in the biggest pond she has ever seen. She told me not to worry; there are plenty of walls, leather couches, and table chairs to chew, and there are plenty lotiony legs to lick. She has all of the stuffed animals to destroy she wants and doesn't have to sleep in a cage anymore. She is free.

We love you baby and you will be missed!

Love,
Daddy

PS - She told me she was planning more pranks to pull on her Uncle Adam. Adam... the next thing that breaks in your house think about Bella. She has the master plan and the powers to carry out such pranks now. You should be warry.

Aren't we all feeling better now?

Megan is feeling better now! :) yipeee!

Quick Update

Megan went to the Dr yesterday. Everything was great.

I went to lamaz class. Everything wasn't so great.

Megan is sick. I am not.

Can't Forget About our Kids

Here are so recent pictures of Tootsie & Bella. Our friend's Danny & Vannessa and their little girl came into town this weekend for the shower and they have a little girl who will be 2 in July. Bella did great with her and Brooke really loved Bella!

The picture of Bella is of her wearing a shirt that was too small on Charles.

Addison is Showered with Love Again!

This was another wonderful day! My friend's Jessica and Kristin threw me this shower for all of our girlfriends from high school and college. The first picture if of Heather, Me, and Vanessa...the 3 preggers. They are both due the first week of June and of course me, April 2nd. The 2nd picture is of everyone at the shower (excluding Kristi, she had a wedding to go to). The next picture is of the hostesses Jessica (left), me and Kristin (right). The next is of the "Vero" girls giving the belly some love! And last is Clare, mom and I. It was such a great day.

There was a cute clothes line of adorable girl clothes and shoes hanging in the main room and then they had the personalized m&m's everywhere (everyone knows I LOVE M&Ms). Jessica & Kristin had been asking me over the past few weeks if I had been having any cravings and honestly I really haven't BUT since I got pregnant I could live on ice cream. SO, they came up with a great idea and had an ice cream sunday bar. They got waffle bowls from Marble Slab and then had any great topping you dream of. It was DELICIOUS...a pregnant girl's heaven! I received lots of beautiful gifts and I did get lots off our registry which was very exciting! Addison now has her infant car seat & stroller, her bath tub spa (everyone knows how much of a clean freak I am), her boppy bouncer chair, her Alphabet Mat to play on, and lots lots lots more. Everyone was asked to bring a book instead of a card so needless to say she now has a mini library to go along with her closet full of stylish clothing! I cannot thank everyone enough for their generosity and love! This has been such a wonderful experience and having great friends and family makes it that much special!

Definitely a Bond

So it is official, our little girl is a stubborn 'ol Bond just like her Daddy and her Pa (of course she doesn't get that trait from her mother). When we went for the ultrasound to find out her gender she sat indian style almost the entire time. When we went for the 3D/4D ultrasound last night to see her pretty little face she kept her arms crossed over her face for 56 out of the 60 minutes. The picture above is the only glimpse we were able to catch. That was after I jumped up and down and had the tech and Charles pushing all over my belly to try and wake her up! You can see part of her forehead, her adorable little nose (looks like the Lembo nose to me), eye sockets and her little lips. The blob that is covering her chin is her little hand. Only the portion that is in the box receives a clear image so everything is really just shadows and blur since it was not in the box. We were able to confirm for sure she is a girl and that she has ten fingers and ten toes so that is exciting! We are counting down the days till we get to see her sweet little face in real life. Less than 8 weeks away!!!!!

Charles made it!!!!

We had our first child birthing class last night and I will say I was very nervous to see how Charles would handle the video of actual delivery. I am happy to report he did make it through but even the teacher noticed that he was white as a ghost. He is not very confident that he will make it through all of labor and delivery without ending up on a gurney. Lucky me!!!! He did do a great job of massaging and coaching me for breathing. He is a pro at the relaxation techniques...now just to keep him from passing out and he will be a great coach! We have one more class to go.....To Be Continued

What a Wonderful Shower!!!!

This weekend my sister hosted my family baby shower and it was perfect! The shower was at my house so that all my out of town relatives could see the nursery. Clare did an excellent job, the food and decorations were all great! I know she had some help too from my mom and Mrs. Sammons and of course the aunts pitched in once they got here! Clare also came up with a neat idea of having M&M's personalized that say "It's A Girl! Addison D Bond" on them and they will be at every shower I am having. If you didn't know already I absolutely LOVE M&M's.

We played a game where everyone had to cut a piece of this paper to the length they thought would wrap around my belly. I will say some people were nicer than others, in the end Kelly won and was the nicest to me and my rapid growing belly. The other game was "Don't say the word Baby". Everyone was given a clothes pin and if you heard someone say "baby" you got to take their clothes pin. I lost mine right away. Judy Werner and my mom were on a mission stealing those pins!

I cannot thank everyone enough for making it such a special day for Addison and me. I will say, Addison will be such a stylish little girl. Her closet and dresser drawers are pretty much completely full now just after one shower!!!! I will have to take a picture of the closet, Charles put in her organizer Sunday after the shower so that I could give everything it's place and of course organize by size. :)

Baby Class Update

Ok... So here we are... one week after infant safety class.. and guess where I am off to tonight? Lamaz (sp?) class. Being the perfect husband that I am, I have not pitched ONE fit about going to these classes (although snide remarks to slip out from time to time).

Last weeks Infant Safety class was GREAT. we learned a lot of critical things when it comes to bringing a baby home. This was the one class I was very excited about. I did not know much about babies (changing diapers, bathing them, feeding them, etc) so it was very informative. These babies are strange things to me. Being that I know just about everything there is to know, it is weird learning new things.

The more I think about it, really the only kids I have been around have been my cousins when they were little (yes thats you Kate and Molly) and now my nephew Caleb. What I have learned is that the exposure I gave kate and Molly growing up has had a direct result on their intelligence and common sense. I am sure the same will be for my Nephew... and of course because of Addison being my own child she will be perfect.

So if i can make it past this class tonight without passing out, going into cardiac arrest, and not needing to be on a feeding tube the rest of my life then I can just about survive anything. :)

wish me luck!