She's here!!!

Well, while Miss Avery is sleeping in her bassinet next to me, I figured I'd upload some pics and please the masses! I finally figured out why she always seemed to be moving around in me - she moves while sleeping too! : ) Anyway, please enjoy the pics! I'll narrate as we go!

Our final family of 3 photo last night

Dylan giving his baby sister one last kiss in the belly

Waiting for the surgery to begin. Don't let the smile fool you, I was scared shitless!

The surgery has begun!

Avery Erica Wikoff making her debut into the world at 8:13am. She weighs in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces and is 18.5 inches long.

Avery's pretty profile - looks very similar to how Dylan looked when he was born.

Avery's first picture with her parents

Avery's first bath (I was still in recovery, so Eric documented it)

Out of recovery and holding Avery for the first time!

Dylan arrives to see his new baby sister. He walked into the room with the biggest smile on his face! He's been waiting for this day for so long and we can tell he's already quite smitten with his sister. He had to check out all of her parts - hands, feet, nose, forehead, etc. Hopefully she gets used to him doing that b/c I really don't see him stopping doing that!

Avery on "autopilot." Thats what we call the first couple weeks - cuz this is all babies really do at first - sleep. Therefore, allowing me time to post this lovely blog post! Look for the amount of posts to decline as Avery gets older.

The proud big brother holding his sister for the first time!

Our little lady, relaxin' in her hospital crib.

Well, thats it for pictures right now. Clearly there are more (over 150 so far!) but I don't have the patience for blogger's madness. That and my stadol is making me kinda loopy (was given it to stop the itching that happens after having a spinal). Thanks for stopping by to see our gal! We love her so much already and can't wait to get to know her more and more each day! As of now, it looks like I'll be here until Friday or Saturday. Eric is hoping for Saturday so that I don't have to be bothered by the concrete pour, but we'll see. Right now, I am kinda enjoying my alone time! I wasn't expecting that! So we'll see what the doc says and go from there. So far, I've been feeling really great, so I'm pleased. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight b/c I didn't sleep a wink last night due to nerves. Well, again, thanks for stopping by to check out Avery!

Our last weekend...

...as a threesome has just come and gone!  We took lots of pics and here are a few of them.

D playing on his swingset

He's been pretty photogenic these days.  The sunshine always makes for great photos tho.

I was peeking thru the railing and he thought that was hilarious!  I know, I try.

On Saturday we went to Brainerd to pick up a few supplies for the garage and for the yard.  Dylan's reward for putting up with all the errands was a stop at his favorite park in Brainerd.

Now that he has his own swingset and slide at home, he's been a lot more brave and willing to go down on his own.  Finally!

A lovely dragonfly.  They must have just hatched cuz they were ALL OVER THE PLACE on Saturday.  Mux was enjoying trying to murder them and I think Eric was wanting to murder her.  He loves them, you see.

And on Sunday morning, we woke up to find in the Sunday paper that we had been ripped off royally by Menards and Cub Foods (items bought on Saturday were on sale on Sunday), so we decided to go back to Brainerd and collect our money.  Cub Foods sucks, they wouldnt give me the difference so screw them!  And Menards tried to give us the runaround, but in the end we got it straightened out.  But then we ended up spending that saved money on a lovely new paver border for by our front patio!  Eric keeps saying that this is my 1st anniversary present b/c it was "my" idea to do this.  However, I only came up with the wood chip idea.  The pavers were his idea.  So does this mean that this is my gift to him as well!?  I think so!  HA!  Take that Eric! The progress he made on them is down lower....  

And here's D in the tub.  He likes to lay down in there now and listen to the water running and then after the water is off he likes to pretend he can't hear us.  "What'd you say Mommy?  WHAT?!"  

This side got completed.  

This side, not so much.  It started raining and also, as usual, we didn't have enough pavers, wood chips, etc.  And, as you can see, we need more perennials Gma Puppy, so don't forget to bring them!!!  Its coming along nicely tho.  I like it.  Good work landscaper Eric!  A+!

Well, I suppose our next blog will be about Miss Avery's arrival.  She will be arriving on Wednesday, June 3rd.  Time is TBA.  They won't let us know until Tuesday sometime.  So I guess you'll all just have to check back for updates on her.  I don't know how well the internet connection will be at the hospital, but since they seem to think that I have to stay there for days upon days due to my c-section - HOPEFULLY the internet will cooperate enough so I can update during my copious amounts of free time in my cell.  We shall see.  Anywho, wish me luck!  Am getting nervous about the surgery, but am ready to be done with pregnancy.  For good.  : )  

Thats all for now!  Later!

Happy Memorial Day!

It seems our beautiful weather has come to an end for the weekend, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to update the blog.  How lucky for all of you!  We had gorgeous weather on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - high 70's, sunny and no wind!  Summer is finally here it seems!  So we spent a good portion of the weekend outside enjoying it.  Our friends Erika and Josh came up for a visit too.  Dylan had fun making everyone play on his new swingset and for the first time this year - his pool came out!  Here are some pics from the weekend:

He wanted me to take his picture, so I obliged.

Again, he is posing just for me!

Here we are on Pontunia! (with Erika and Josh)

Dylan going down his new slide.  Its super fast, so it took awhile for him to get brave enough to go it alone.  I went down it and nearly belly flopped - which would NOT have been good!  The swing set is not fully complete in this pic.  The decorative crap on the roof had not yet been installed.  Some stakes were also attached later on - not that this necessarily needs staking.  

And here is D climbing the rock wall.  The decorative crap and the stakes are now in place.

Dylan going down the slide without someone catching him!  Progress!

Josh supervising Eric putting the stakes in.

The yard.  Summer is so much nicer than winter, me thinks!

Dylan's pool finally got to come out!  

And here is my 38 week belly photo.  Thanks Dylan for displaying that sweet set of bunnies for the picture!  Avery is still nice and snug in there.  Her new birthday is June 3rd.  I would say "mark your calendars" but who knows if the date will stick.  I'll believe its her birthday when she is actually born that day.  So if you want to write it in in PENCIL, go for it.  I don't really feel like I'm at week 38.  I remember week 38 being A LOT more unpleasant the last time.  My only real gripe right now is the constant peeing - seriously CANNOT wait to have my bladder TO MY SELF.  Other than that, just chillin' and waiting for Miss A!  

Well, thats it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

By request...

Here are some pics of the progress on Dylan's new swing set from Gpa and Gma Hodgson, the progress on Project New Garage and of course, what post would be complete without some pics of DD too!?

Here is Eric sorting out the parts - all 10 billion of them.

DD and his dandylions.  

And here is where Eric got to yesterday with the swingset.  He plans to start and finish the roof of it today.  Is good practice for building the roof for the garage, me thinks.

And here is what remains of our crappy old "garage."  

Thats it!  Hope you enjoyed the special post just for you Gpa Danny!

Weekend Wrap Up Time!

Well, the pictures are all out of order thanks to Blogger's crappy uploader!  So bear with me!

Here is DD the boat captain.  To see another pic of him driving the boat, check out our shuttercal webpage!  www.shuttercal.com/calendar/dylansmom

The boys enjoying the views on Platte Lake (the lake connected to our lake)

Dylan has wanted to play a game of croquet for the past few days.  Today he finally got his wish!

He hits with his mallet very similar to how he hits with a hockey stick - you really have to WATCH OUT.

Here's one of my purdy flowers. (click on this one, its spectacular up close!)

And here is Miss Avery and I on the boat (thanks Blogger for uploading out of order!)

37 weeks pregnant today.  Many days to go (more on that in a bit) before Avery arrives.

Here is Dylan a few days ago marching towards the bridge.  I thought he looked so tall and grown up, so that's why I posted this pic.  Eric was in Illinois, so it was just him and I.  As you can see, he's about 10 paces ahead of me.  Apparently my waddle is too slow!

Here they are trying to blast away the silt that is around our dock and swimming area.  (by the looks of their outfits, one would think it's fall weather outside!  It was.  The weather has been very lame around here lately.)

And here is Dylan making his mom a sand castle.  What a nice boy!

Alright, no more pics.  Blogger is such crap.  Anyway, as I said up above, Miss Avery will be staying in Casa de Mom a bit longer than we expected.  The dang doctor and the Brainerd Hospital pulled a fast one on me (changed their c-section policy - I must be OVER 39 weeks pregnant to have one and my old date of May 29th was 2 days shy of that) and added 6 more days to my sentence.  So as of now (and I'm not holding my breath that this date sticks either!), Avery's new birthday is set for June 4th.  Clearly, I'm not happy about doing this for an extra 6 days, but I will if I have to.  I think in the long run, Avery would be happy to have a June birthday instead of a stinky May birthday.  So really, her mother should just suck it up and deal.  Who knows, she could still surprise us and pick her own birthday, right?!  So for the next 17 days, I'm going to TRY to be zen mama.  Take this time to enjoy my son and my husband and our sleep.  Because once she arrives, all hell will be breaking loose!  Did I mention that they are pouring the cement for our new garage starting on June 4th?  Oh yeah.  Its going to be good times around here.  Once the cement is poured, garage construction will begin and Daddy will mysteriously disappear leaving.....Zombie Mom to care for the children.  Zombie mom is coming!  Zombie mom is coming!  AHHHH!!! Run for your lives!  Does anyone want to come visit?  I swear it will be fun!  Zombie Mom might say some really whacked out stuff and from what I hear - she mixes a mean martini!  Come on, people!  You know you want to!  We have a lovely guest suite! : )

Well, thats it for now.  See ya next week!