Well, the day after posting the last post, would you believe my water broke at 7:45 am Sunday morning, Nov. 8. Things didn't quite go as planned, bore 12 hours of labor, begged for an epidural at 9 cm. and 4 hours later still had not dilated to 10 cm, and had a C-section. But, it didn't matter, when I heard my Isabella Claire cry for the first time! (Bella). She is so sweet and beautiful and wonderful! (Just wish she'd sleep more at night ;) She was born at 10:58 pm weighing in at 8 lb. 12 1/2 oz.! 20 inches long! No wonder I couldn't push her out . . . .

Come on Baby!!

So baby Bella was due on Sunday, Nov.1, but she is quite comfortable in there and doesn't want to come out. I have tried lots of things, walking, aerobics, cinnamon oil baths, primrose oil, walking up and down stairs, breast pump. Last night I was having mild contractions about every 40 minutes through the night, I even got in the shower thinking I better "get ready" to go to the hospital, then all the sudden around 5:30 am I laid back down, and then next thing I know, I wake up and its 12:00!! What happened to the contractions???? They stopped! Why is this so hard??? I just thought bam, my water would break and my body would know what to do!! ?? I didn't think I'd have to coax it into labor. What the heck? Well, if I don't have this baby this weekend they are going to induce on Monday - yikes yikes yikes, I do not want to be induced, scary!!!!

"Summer Happenings"

Well, so far this summer we've been traveling a lot! 1 First we went to the Outer Banks, all the sunning and swimming was fun, but apparently we forgot to reapply the sunscreen! Oops! Sunburn is so miserable! But it was really nice at the beach, not too hot, and a nice breeze blowing, but only Chris and Kristine could brave the ice chilling water.

2 Next, we went up to Washington D.C. for Chris's sister's wedding. It was really beautiful, and I will post pictures of this when I get them. While up in D.C. Chris and I took a night to ourselves, hopped on the metro (the Red Line, which I might add crashed two days before - I figured if we were on it togeher at least we'd die together). But we didn't die, instead we had a blast at the Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals baseball game! We were fortunate to get some tickets someone was selling right outside the stadium they were a great price on the first level behind first base line. David Ortiz hit a homerun! Youkalis really DOES have the weirdest batting stance, and Pedroia really IS a midget but he is still Chris's favorite player! It was really cool! Again, I will post a picture of that game when I can find the attachment to our camera.

3 Last, we headed up to Williamsburg with the Aycocks for a Busch Gardens trip! I actually have pictures of thisb/c I stole them off of missy's facebook page, yay! I was hoping I would be allowed to ride the Roman Rapids or something, but to my dismay expectant mothers are not allowed on anything. But, fortunately Busch Gardens has some neat wildlife including eagles, clydesdale horses, and wild wolves to go and see, and I think we saw 3 or 4 variety shows. And there was Katie (3) and Fischer(2) to tow around with us (Mama and Jenny are not fond of rides).

It's A Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Friday we went to the doctor and had an ultrasound, and sure enough, its a little girl!!!! The first thing I told Chris was that he was not allowed to spoil her rotten . . .

We are still deciding on names, trying to narrow it down, we have a lot! Thanks everyone for your support and love! (p.s. sorry friends w/ private blogs I tried to send you comments but couldn't- so let me "in" if you can)

Sooooooooooooooo yes its been decades since I posted last, but I'm back now! And, we are expecting a new addition to the Oliver family some time around the end of October. We are very excited. We find out the sex of the baby in two weeks, any ideas on baby names would be greatly appreciated. We love you all!

Valentine's Day . . . and other stuff . . .

So, Valentine's is coming up. Chris says its just a holiday that was invented as an excuse to give women presents. Well, he has gotten some pretty sweet things over the last few years. In my family we sort of do homemade gifts a lot, like I made a homemade fried chicken and cheese biscuit dinner one time, a picnic dinner in the park where we had our first date, a card made of conversation hearts, etc. Maybe that's cheesy, but its just what I grew up doing, of course, there are times when you need a big gift, but for little things like valentine's mother's day, we are more of the making present, breakfast-in-bed type. Anyhow, I like V-day because its a celebration of love! yay! . . . . the other stuff is that I am really enjoying my new job at GR Whitfield. I am really loving the kids and the staff I work with is great. Chris is super busy as a grad assistant and his own classes, its like double the schoolwork, bless him!!!

Happy "New" Year! A little late, I know its already Jan. 18, 2009, but I've just been procrastinating and honestly I couldn't figure out how to change my blog background, and thecutestblogontheblock website was down, so now I finally figured it out! yay! well, Chris has started back grad school after a nice long break, and he will be working as a Graduate Assistant, I am starting my new job as a reading intervention specilialist at GR Whitefield School in Grimesland this week, so its a new year with new changes. Also, I was "tagged" by Gloria Rowe, so here it goes: 8 Things Tag:

8 Favorite Shows:

1. 24
2. Lost
3. Smallville
4. The Cosby Show
5. Seinfeld
6. Everybody Loves Raymond
7. House
8. Reba

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Made breakfast bacon & eggs
2. 4 loads of laundry
3. dusted
4. cleaned all glass surfaces
5. organized computer room
6. swept & mopped
7. planned primary lesson
8. Jillian Michaels workout video

8 Things I Look Forward to:

1. Reading "Midnight Sun"
2. alone time w/ my hubby
3. bubble bath
4. sleeping :)
5. sleeping in tomorrow morning - its a holiday!
6. getting a back rub from Chris
7. eating cake
8. having a baby

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Panera Bread
2. Outback
3. Boss Hog's
4. Quizno's
5. Olive Garden
6. Dixie Queen
7. Waterman's (Edenton NC)
8. Baskin Robins

8 Things on my wish list:
1. for Chris to find his dream job
2. children
3. new car
4. new house
5. pearl ring
6. tropical vacation for me & Chris
7. see # 1
8. see # 2

8 People to tag:
1. Lauren Hancock
2. Susy Estes
3. Susan Robbins
4. JoAnna Robinson
5. Regina Wait
6. Ashley Anderson
7. Elizabeth Browning
8. Mary-Courteney Greene