25 Weeks 4 Days - Saying Goodbye to my Cousin Brad

Today, May 31st our family all gathered together to support my cousin Brad Kaufenberg who is headed to Iraq. There were over 700 service men and women at the convention center today, all with their families there supporting the troops. Brad will be leaving this week for Oklahoma and after he finishes basic training he will be headed to Iraq. Brad will be in all of our prayers. It was great to see everyone again and to spend time with Brad. We will most likely not see Brad again for a couple of years. I have promised to send him care packages full of chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. :) We are very proud of you Brad!

25 Weeks 3 Days - Great Surprise for Mommy

Yesterday afternoon I was pleasantly surprised by a beautiful bouquet of roses. My wonderful husband sent a dozen long stem roses to my work just to tell me how proud he is of me and to thank me for the support I have given him with his crazy ball schedule. Isn't he the sweetest husband ever?? I was so completely surprised and it absolutely made my day, well actually my entire week. He has done such a great job taking care of this mommy-to-be and I feel so lucky to have such a great husband. Tater definitely gets my husband-of-the-year vote! :)

Dinner with Melissa (6 Months)

Last Friday night, May 23rd I met my beautiful friend Melissa, out for dinner. It is always so great to hang out with her because we are honestly like two peas in a pod. Melissa hadn't seen me for awhile and was amazed to see how much my tummy has grown. During dinner I was able to ask Melissa a ton of questions about being pregnant since she is already a wonderful mother of two. She gave me such great advice and of course told me how great I looked. You can always count on your best friend to say the right things at the right time. :) After dinner we headed to target to add items to my registry since she has been through this before and could help me figure out what I needed. Being able to share my pregnancy with my friends and family is absolutely priceless. There are so many changes going on with myself and little Ava and I love being able to share that with everyone. When we finished with dinner I put my seat down in the car in hopes that Melissa would feel Ava kicking, but our little sweetheart was not cooperating. Ava is usually pretty quiet right after I eat and only starts to kick hard when she is hungry. That's my girl for ya. :) I feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends and a very loving family.

25 Weeks - Date Night at a Wedding

This past weekend Tate and I attended a wedding of one of Tate's good friends. I spent the day, along with Bailey in the stands on Saturday watching Tate's high school team play. It was a long day for this mommy-to-be to sit in the stands, but it was well worth it. The team won and advanced on. After the games, Tate and I headed to Rochester, MN to attend Craig Braaten's wedding reception. We were able to bring Bailey with us because the hotel we stayed at allowed pets. :) It was so nice getting dressed up for the night and to see my husband wearing something besides a baseball uniform. I had a pretty good-looking date. :) Tate and I saw a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in awhile and it was great catching up with them. We also made it out to the dance floor and Tate soon noticed the difference dancing with me now that I am pregnant compared to when I wasn't. As soon as we started dancing, little Ava began to kick pretty hard. I think she wanted to let her daddy know that she was there dancing with him too. :) The next day Tate and I had a nice lunch together and made it back to the Cities in time to go fishing. Unfortunately, neither one of us caught anything but at least we were able to spend some much needed quality time together.

24 Weeks 3 Days - Long Weekend - Yippee!

I am so excited for this long Memorial weekend. I have been pretty burnt out lately with work and the long commutes to and from work. Tonight I have plans to go out with my girlfriend, Melissa and then tomorrow is a big day of ball. Tate's Owatonna Highschool team was seeded 3rd in his division and the first game of ball starts tomorrow at 1:00 PM. The next game will be at 4:00 PM and after that we are heading to Rochester to attend a wedding. It is going to be a long day, but it will be really fun to see everyone again at the wedding. We can even bring Bailey with us this time because the hotel allows pets. Yippee! Sunday is going to be a day just for the two (actually 3) of us and Bailey to hang out on the boat and catch up on time together. I was able to talk to Tate for about an hour last night before I headed off to bed which is the most I've seen him since last Sunday. His schedule is really hard right now, but once high school ball is over, things will get much better. I talked to him last night again about when we can start painting the baby's room as the blue color is starting to bother me more and more. :) He said soon, so I will keep him to that. I am really feeling the urge to clean up everything and get the nursery set up for Ava. I would also love to paint the rest of the house, but I don't think I am going to get Tate to agree to that any time soon. :) Isn't this what they call the "nesting" phase? I am really looking forward to some rest and relaxation on Sunday and Monday. This little girl of ours must be growing a ton because I have been so exhausted lately. But, that is the price I will gladly pay to ensure that she is healthy.

24 Weeks - 6 Months!!!

Yeah, today is the first day of my 6 month! It seems like such a huge accomplishment for me. I am continually amazed at my growing belly and how much Ava is moving around. According to whattoexpect.com little Ava weighs around 1 1/2 lbs and is approximately 9 inches long (crown to rump). My doctor told me last week that this month will be a huge growing month for both Ava and myself. She is going to be doubling in size so I can just imagine what my tummy will look like after these next 4 weeks. :) I promise to continue to keep getting pictures taken of myself so you can all see what I look like. I have already started to notice that it takes a little extra effort to get up from the couch and a little harder to get out of the bath tub. :) I can't even imagine what it will be like in 2 more months. But the truth is, I just feel very blessed to be able to carry our little girl around in my protective stomach. She has become my little buddy and I have already bonded with her more than I ever imagined I would at this stage. I love the fact that I am responsible for keeping her safe and healthy. She is my little peanut and I love her so much!

23 Weeks 6 Days - Back Aches....Ouch!!

Attention....here is your very first glance of Kris at almost 6 months! :) I am really sorry it has taken me so long to get a picture posted, but I haven't taken pictures of myself and Tate is never home to take one for me. :) So, I had a girl at my office take this snapshot of me today so you can all see what I look like. I will be posting more this week as well.

Today marks my last day in the 5 month arena. Tomorrow I will finally be 6 months pregnant! I can't wait. It is so amazing to me to think about how quickly the time is passing. Everything has been going great for the baby and I except for one tiny problem, baby aches. I tweaked my back the other weekend trying to hold on to our new boat by the dock while Tate went to get the truck and unfortunately, it hasn't been the same since then. Sitting on the bleachers this past weekend for 3 ball games definitely took it's toll on my and my back so tomorrow I have scheduled a pre-natal massage. My sister and I had purchased a few massages months ago during a promotion but I never ended up using them. Thanks goodness because now I can really use them when I need them. :) I am sure my growing belly hasn't helped my back at all either. But, other than that things are going great. Little Ava is kicking a lot harder now and it's great because I can finally see her move in my tummy instead of just feeling her move. Tate was pretty impressed to see how much she is moving around. I think she was trying to show off for daddy and it worked! :)

23 Weeks 3 Days - Received my first baby decorations

I was so excited today when a big box was delivered to my office. It was some of the baby bedding that I had ordered for Ava. It is soooo cute and I couldn't help but show it to everyone in the office. I only received the window valance, lamp and baby mobile but it was still so exciting. Unfortunately the actual bedding along with the diaper bag is on back order so I will not get that until the middle of June. I guess it gives us time to get things organized, little by little. The room is still blue, but I am hoping to change that very soon. I need some help deciding on the actual color so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know. Now that I know what the bedding will actually look like, I can start picking out the perfect color for the room. You will all be pleased to know that Tate has finally started to warm up to the idea of painting the room. Hooray! Other than that, there isn't too much more going on. Tate has his first games tomorrow night with his new amateur baseball team, the Owatonna Aces and I am really excited to see him play again. It's been a long time. I better get as many games as I can now before I start my "growing" phase and have a hard time sitting in the bleachers. :)

23 Weeks 2 Days - Visit to the Doctor

I had another appointment today with my Doctor and things went very well. I found out that my weight is right on target and my belly is growing as it should. My doctor told me today that I have hit the marker called the "miracle baby". This is the stage in the pregnancy when most babies who would be born at this time could survive with the help of machines and doctor's care. He told me that at this stage the baby has developed all of the essentials needed to survive. He also told me that the baby will double in size within the next month. This is a huge growing stage for little Ava so you can all expect my tummy to grow a lot more this next month. She is approximately 11 inches long now and weighs somewhere around 1 1/4 lbs. At my next appointment, June 11th, I will be tested for gestational diabetes. It's crazy to realize how quickly the time is passing. Ava is getting stronger by the day and her kicks are becoming much more frequent and a lot harder (even though it doesn't hurt). Tate really got a chance to feel her kicking last night and it put a smile on his face to know she is getting stronger. Our little growing family is doing well. :)

23 Weeks - We have decided on a name!!!!

Tate and I have officially decided on the name of our little girl. Are you ready? Drum roll............................our little girl will be named Ava Christine Cummins. I have loved this name for a long time and Tate likes it a lot as well. Christine was my great-grandmother's name and she was a very loving and wonderful lady. Christine is also a form of my name so now we will be able to have a Steenie #2 in the family. My dad has always called me Steenie since I was a little girl. It will be nice to finally call our daughter Ava instead of referring to her as little girl or baby Cummins.

22 Weeks 5 Days Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mothers out there. Even though I am not "officially" a mom yet, I still liked the fact that my sweet husband pampered me on Mother's day. Tate gave me a very sweet card along with a couple of bibs for our little girl (they are very cute) and a gift certificate for a pedicure. He put a smile on my face right away in the morning. We also had my family over for a Mother's day brunch to celebrate the day. Tate and my dad made breakfast for all of the women in the family and it was YUMMY. Mom brought her now famous home-made carmael rolls and we all enjoyed a nice breakfast together. Grandma was still very really happy about her exciting night at Mystic Lake. We were able to show everyone the crib we now have set up in the baby's room and I of course had to pull out all of the clothes I have already bought for our daughter. I can't help myself sometimes. :) We had a really nice day together and it was good to see my family again. I hadn't seen my family since I was 4 months along so everyone was really excited to see my growing tummy. Our little girl started kicking after brunch so my mom and sister were able to feel her moving around in my tummy. It's such a great experience to see people's faces when they feel what I have been feeling for awhile now. I love every minute of it. Tate and I also managed to make our way to BabiesRus to start the registering process. I have to give Tate credit, he lasted a lot longer than I thought he would. :) Mother's day was a great day for all of us and definitely one to remember.

22 Weeks 4 Days- Happy 84th Birthday Grandma!!

It was my Grandma Irene's 84th birthday and my parents brought her to the Cities on Saturday, May 10th to spend a night at Mystic Lake Casino with her family. We had so much fun together. We started off the night with a huge buffet style dinner where the waiters sang happy birthday to grandma. As grandma blew her candle out on her cake, she wished for our little girl to be healthy. :) Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? After that, my mom, sister, grandma, Aunt Sue and I all decided to try our luck at bingo. I haven't played for years and it is a lot different than I remembered it to be. First of all, it is extremely hard to talk to anyone while playing because you have so many cards to look at and so little time in between the numbers being called. It was definitely not a place for someone with a low attention span because it is very easy to get lost quickly. None of us were able to yell out "bingo" but we all had a great time together. I managed to stay up that night until 11:00 PM which is a HUGE accomplishment for me nowadays. :) Everyone says that they get a lot of energy in their 2nd trimester, but I have kind of remained the same. I have a lot of energy throughout the day, but when it is night time, I have a hard time staying up. It must have been the extra excitement of the night with my family that allowed me to stay up past my bedtime. :)

22 Weeks 3 Days - Baby Bedding has been Ordered!!

I am so excited because I have finally ordered the bedding for Baby C and I can't wait to put it in her crib. I got Tate's approval yesterday to go ahead and order it so I wasn't going to waste another minute in case he changed his mind. :) The bedding is called Raspberry Truffle. :) Sounds yummy. LOL Once the bedding is delivered, we can figure out which color would be best on the walls. Yes, I think I (actually we, with the help of others) have finally convinced Tate to paint the baby's room a different color. However, it hasn't happened yet so I will let you all know if I need some reinforcement. :) Blue walls will definitely NOT go with this bedding and I have a good feeling he will realize that once we get the crib decorated. It is so much fun getting things for our little girl. My next task is to purchase the changing table I have had my eye on for quite some time now. I have been saving up a little bit here and there so we can complete the necessities of Baby C's nursery. I already want her to have the best of everything. She is going to be one very loved little girl.

22 Weeks and 2 Days - First Maternity Shirt

Today is the very first day of wearing maternity shirts. I searched my entire closet and realized that all of my old shirts have now become too tight around my tummy and no longer wearable. It's amazing to see my body changing so much lately. It's great knowing that as my tummy expands, our little girl continues to grow and develop. I came downstairs this morning still not sure about the whole maternity top and my sweet husband took one look at me and told me how great I looked. It truly made my day. Last night Tate told me my tummy looked great as well. I know he is really enjoying watching my stomach expand and I feel the same way. It's so nice to have a husband who makes me feel beautiful on days when I am not feeling very beautiful at all. I promise, I will get pictures of myself posted on here as soon as possible so you can all see the "transformation" taking place. Baby girl continues to move around a lot and we are pretty close on deciding on a name for her, but for now it's still underwraps. :)

22 Weeks!!! Braxon Hicks Contractions

I have officially hit 5 1/2 months today (22 weeks) and I am definitely starting to look pregnant. I will try and have Tate take a picture of me this week so I can post it for everyone. It's amazing how hard my tummy has gotten. I tried laying on my stomach this weekend when Tate was going to give me a back rub and I quickly realized that it was not very comfortable. I know have this round, tummy in the way. :) I have also been experiencing some "warm up" contractions called Braxon Hicks contractions. They are completely normal and very common. They have nothing to do with pre-term labor so I have not worried about them at all. It's a very crazy feeling though. I felt one this morning and it almost stopped me in my tracks, but it went away shortly afterwards. It just proves that my body is changing and trying to make room for this little girl of ours.

Tate and I went for our first boat ride on Sunday with our new boat. It was pretty windy out on the lake, but it really felt nice to finally sit in a boat that was comfortable. We are still learning the in's and out's of the boat, but we did manage to catch 3 whole Sunfish! :) It will be so much fun to spend time on the boat this summer when the weather is really nice. It was so much fun in Florida watching her move around while I was laying in the sun. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with our boating plans. :)

21 Weeks 2 Days - First Baby Clothes Purchases

I have finally allowed myself to start buying cute clothes for our little girl. The GAP is now my favorite store for baby clothes. I was able to find a lot of great deals on all of these clothes and it was fun trying to picture how cute our little girl will be wearing all of these things. :) There are so many adorable things out there to dress little girls up in. I know this is only the very beginning of many more shopping sprees for her in the future. :)