Name

We have a name.... a first and a last name and the middle name(s) is still under question..... hoping to avoid Surtain (this is Nicki writing of course)

Maddox Ripp

I feel so relieved and strange to have a name before he is here... so not the way Ava was. But as I am so busy with Ava and I do not feel as connected to him as maybe I did Jobina because I was not chasing one around already so a name is making him so much more real and his own little guy. We love you Maddox and cant wait to meet you, what a wonderful son and brother you will be. But cook a little longer... you are still a bit small to join the world.
XOXO
Mommy

baby boy update

Yesterday we all went to the Doctor with mommy. Ava lied on the table lifted up her shirt and wanted her belly to be examined as well. She also really liked listening to the babies "boom boom boom" heart beat. Keegan had not been able to go with me for a while so it was nice to have him there. We are 35 weeks and she said she would induce at 38 weeks because I am really uncomfortable and my back is killing me but both Keegan and I would much rather things happen naturally. Part of the excitement is gouing into labor at home and timing contractions etc. However, my OB's office shares shares call with another one so that is a little nerve racking that it could be someone I have never seen before... and Keegan would love to deliver this baby as he did with Ava but that may have been a Dr. Ribail special treat... so we will see. Things are moving and this little guy will be here so soon. holy shit.

playroom ready for two to play

trying to introduce the baby idea to ava and rufus..... neither care right now



its amazing all the toys we have accumulated in 2 years..... but I must say Ava plays a lot with her toys and often entertains herself

baby boys room

well i have been holding off to post pictures of babies room as it is not finished, although I now know if you have diapers and wipes and boobies your set for the first chunk of time, however, I also know that with two kids and fall approaching and many trips to playground there will be little time to do room work let alone laundry around this place. Sadly we are still trying to figure out how to get the fabulous huge airplane of my dads to Texas so that it can hang from ceiling over the room... so we are missing the plane. Hoping my mum can somehow bring it when she comes next week as two checked bags... I mean they will only be like 6 feet each and when my dad tried to mail it, it was like 6 times more expensive to mail then we expected so that is our problem. A few pictures on the wall.... aviation maps will go behind the crib and a plane of some sort some day hopefully soon er than later will fly over the room but not into the city sky line. we are not creating September 11th here... it sort of all just came together like this.

Ava's big girl room and well the guest room when you come

so far she sleeps well once asleep...... prolly better then in crib once asleep but its getting to asleep that is the problem. Napping is not an every day thing any more and well bed time is either easy cause she has no nap and passes out exhausted, as do I or it is a long process of a lot of me lying there and often falling asleep as well while she pulls out all the tricks to keep herself awake. Including running out of room and if daddy is home giving him lots of kisses cause she knows she will not be in trouble for kissing daddy.

playdough shoes

Well its over. I have to say I woke up Wednesday morning feeling kind of empty and lost without having to go to swim team and rush to get everything done and everyone taken care of. Last week I did not go to the gym before 830 once.... that felt like such a treat, although when its over by 630 when you go early it makes waking up in your bed at 645 a bummer and wish you already went that is for sure. No but the season was incredible. The kids did so well, we grew by 20 kids this summer from last and had about 20 kids qualify for all stars, that is after placing third overall against two teams bigger and full of year round USA swimmers. So proud. Monday was brutal at all stars for 12 hours in the heat but exciting nun the less and I had a few kids come home with gold and even more with silver. What a season and I think if I do in next summer we would grow to about 75 kids which would be my ideal number. Tuesday night was the banquet, held at shenaniganz ( i have connections) and each kid gets about a minute speech about themselves and their season before their name is said and then they come get their trophy. I was panicked getting speeches written ( i procrastinate all season as its so hard to say all the stuff about some kids and so hard to say something genuine about others) and making sure I got all the thank yous in that I needed too... Ava was less than cooperative that day, I was a wreck and got really frustrated and angry and had several melt downs. Some how I did it and I think the kids had a great time at the dinner, getting awards... and watching a really cute slide show some of the parents put together and then they got to play whole team lazer tag. Ava was exhausted from 3 days with no nap but she was able to come and see some of the kids and then run around with Keegan as he made sure the banquet went smoothly. Keegan also got to see the team and hear how great they did which besides 10 mins of a practice he really has not been able to see anything in action. But he does know all the kids first and last names as he helped me get through the season with the new computer system (which is amazing... HyTEk team manager its called... not user friendly at all but saved me hours and hours of work) and much of the data entry that accompanies this job. Then he brought Ava home to bed as I wrapped things up at Shenaniganz and got her to sleep in her bed by himself, very happy daddy for sure as she has been saying daddy get out every night he is home and will only let me lie with her. Oh the joys of the big girl bed. grrrrrr.