On Tuesdays our local roller skating rink has "Tiny Tots Skating" in the morning for children 6 yrs and under. I LOVED roller skating when I was a child, so I thought I would take Ally and see if she had any interest in it. I wasn't even sure if we would get the skates on without her screaming, let alone get her out onto the rink. You can only imagine the joy that came across me when she willingly sat on the ground and put the skates on all by herself with a little help from mom.
We only made it around the rink two times before she was all tuckered out and ready for her snack (raisins).
I wish I could have video taped her holding onto my hands and trying to keep her balance on the rink. She looked like she was trying to run on ice. Her feet were all over the place and most of her weight was depending on mommy holding her up. She became over confident and wanted me to let her go . I am sure you can only imagine what happened. Yes, she fell flat on her face and I heard the saying I hear quite often with my daughter....."I'm afraid, I'm afraid!". She gained her confidence back and finished her lap. After that she was ready to run around with her shoes on and do the chicken dance and the hokie pokie. I didn't have the camera for that precious moment, but I did catch her running around the rink.
After we finished painting the room, Brian headed to Lowe's to buy supplies to build a closet. We didn't have much to work with. The closet is so small that if you hang an adult size hanger in the closet you can't close the door all of the way. After Brian finished building the shelves we had carpet put in the bedroom and in our stairway. We still have some cosmetic items to add to the room like pictures, curtains, etc., but that can come later.
As you can see we are already stocked with plenty of 0-3 month clothing for Blake thanks to Mike and Dawn (Brian's brother). They have 3 boys ages 5, 4, and 2, so you can only imagine the income of clothing we will have for our son. Since we began our family a few years ago they have been more than gracious to hand down many of their baby items to our children. Thanks again Mike and Dawn for your giving hearts.
We have a little under 2 months before Blake is due to be here, but at the rate he is growing I am quite sure I won't go to full term this time either. The picture above is from 2 weeks ago, so I will try to post updated pictures soon. This has been an interesting pregnancy the last two months. I had really been struggling with tons of contractions and shooting pains throughout my body. Knowing something wasn't right I had requested to be checked at each doctors visit to make sure I wasn't dilating. Each time I got a great report. This wasn't making since to me, so at my last appointment I requested that they do some cultures on me. They got the results back and I have a UT infection. Thank you Jesus for letting me know I am not insane. Since the doctors haven't been able to find anything going on with me, I just learned to suck it up and deal with it. I stopped strenuous activity and changed some of the foods in my diet to try to get some relief, but none of it seemed to help my symptoms. Now that they know what it is they have started me on some antibiotics that have cleared up most of my problems. My nurse informed me that since I am carrying the group B staff infection they will have to put me on an antibiotic drip during labor to protect Blake from contracting any infection. I was hoping to not have to be hooked up to anything during labor and delivery, but I learned with my first pregnancy that your birth plan has to be flexible and ready for change at any point. With this delivery I didn't want to have an IV in my arm. That way I could walk around and get into the tub without having to drag around a big metal bar on wheels. Also, when I went into the hospital to be induced with Ally they hooked me up to an IV of fluids as soon as I sat down in the bed. The nurses got the fluids flowing and never thought to stop and take them out when my labor wasn't starting. Two days later Allyson decided to make her grand entrance into the world. You can only imagine how much water was being pumped into my veins over a matter of 48 hours. Usually after delivery you drop quite a few pounds, but that wasn't the case for me. I believe I had gained 8 pounds of water weight. The nurses thought it was funny that when I would take my hand and press down on my legs there would be a permanent hand print left in its place. My body was so swollen with fluids that my skin acted like a memory foam pillow when you pushed down on it. I wish I would have taken a picture of my legs for the memory books. I think they defined a whole new definition for the word kankles. 
While looking at this picture and reflecting on mothers day I can't help but praise God for His indescribable gift and blessing of Allyson in our lives. Our family is continually told that Allyson looks so much like I did when I was a child. I still see alot of Brian in her, but the pictures below would make you believe that she definatley is a product of her mother.
The last time we had Allyson in the sand was on our trip with my parents to Jamaica when Ally was just 11 months. She was completely content the entire vacation just sitting in the ocean water and picking up the sand. Unfortunately most of that sand ended up in her mouth. Ally's Mamaw and Poppie went out last week and purchased a new sand box for all of the grand kids. This will be the closest thing to the beach for Ally here in the near future. 
My brother has kept himself quite busy this last week. Not only did he become a new daddy, but he also turned 30 years old on April 29th. My mom couldn't resist putting together a surprise birthday celebration for him. I failed to take very many pictures, but we had a full house of people come through. The poor birthday boy was exhausted by the end of the night after a week of sleepless nights with a newborn. Tyson is already doing much better now. He started out waking up every hour each night. In just a weeks time he has learned to go atleast 3 hours at a time. Let me tell you this little tyke is going to be a big boy. He left the hospital weighing 8lbs. 2 oz. and at his doctors appt. 5 days later he weighed 9lbs. 1 oz. He basically gained a full pound in under a week. Here are a few b-day pictures. 
