Friday, May 23, 2008

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!

Another naptime pic :)

Mommy and Ava after Ava's first Sunday Mass.


Daddy and Ava after Ava's first Sunday Mass.

Family picture!! :)

Friday, May 16, 2008

More Pics


Grand-pa Charlie


Mommy and Ava taking a nap.
Ava napping in her bassinet.
More napping pics.
Sooooo cute!
Her froggy PJ's.

Mommom and Poppop



Uncle T.J.


My first baths at home!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Ava Katherine Henley

Our first family shot :)
Ava Katherine
So small in her car seat on the ride home.
And the belt was too big for her too!
Welllll....


I think everyone has heard the story about our new addition. Although-I'm not sure who I have and have not talked to in the past few days!! Thanks to everyone for their prayers and gifts and phone calls! Stephen and I reallly appreciate it!


Wednesday morning Stephen and I went to the doctor's for a check-up, because the doctor had seen me the week before and said that the baby was a little on the small side so she wanted me back to keep an eye on her progress. So we had the sonogram and the tech told us that everything looked normal and she was where she was supposed to be.


We went in to see the doctor, however and after an examination, she said: "Well, I think you'd better head on over to Labor and Delivery." And that was that.


So that was at about 10:30am and Ava Katherine was born at 8:15pm. I guess that sounds like a long time, but honestly we sat around watching tv and movies for most of the day. We spent the next couple days in the hospital, everybody getting used to everybody else :)


Now we're home-we arrived home yesterday around 5pm. Ava is doing well-a bit jaundiced but apparently that's to be expected with a baby who decides to come a month early. She's going to have to get used to the nice Florida sun quickly so we can get rid of it! Above are some pictures-we know everyone wanted to see them and emailing them seemed a bit tedious-so here they are!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Stephen and I by the new car :)


Stephen and I at the Senior Cocktail party! So cute :)




Kilty, Mary Kate (who's also pregnant and due in late May)
and myself at the Senior Cocktail Party.

8 months

Krista is now 8mths. Her official due date is June 8th. This week is finals week, and Krista and I both finish tomorrow...finally! She has turned in her thesis of 30 pages, of which she wrote on Jane Austen.

My thesis began with the idea of reader response which is the idea that the meaning of a novel begins not within the work itself, but within the reader because of the separate experiences and ideas they bring to the work. I started with this idea and then moved into the idea of a constructed narrator, or a narrator who is created within a work as a character of the novel. I developed this idea to speak about how this constructed narrator, through other literary devices comes to shape the story and the reader's response to the story and finally that this is all done in an effort to convey a specific message to the reader. As examples, I used Jane Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

But, sorry to bore you all :) I finally finished that, and I have not heard back from my professor yet, much to my relief! As Stephen started to say, I have my last final tomorrow for my Samuel Johnson and Jane Austen class, which should be a breeze. Stephen and I both took a biology final this morning. We both came out feeling fairly confident, and very glad that biology is all over! This afternoon Stephen, along with two classmates, had an oral final for his Living in Christ class-which went very well! He answered each of his questions completely and reported that his professor seemed pleased with their answers. So that's over-I'm sure that Stephen will find that he's aced that exam as well. He also turned in a paper for his directed study today.

Stephen is (as of this moment) making tea and getting ready to finish studying for his last oral final tomorrow for Catholic Political Thought. He's a bit stressed, but I'm sure he'll do well! Both of us having grades slowly but surely trickling in-and we're both doing pretty well! (Say a prayer that it continues that way!)

This weekend is graduation weekend-a long time coming! Stephen's parents, my parents, my younger brother and our friends Kaitlyn and James Tutwiler are coming into town and all staying at our house. We're packed out again, but very excited to see everyone!

So we've been incredibly busy and yet again, apologize to everyone who has been loyally checking our blog to see what's happening! Too much!!! After graduation is over with, Stephen has drill at the end of the week. He's very anxious, thinking that I'll go into labor and he won't be here for it. I get a little nervous that that may happen, but I just try and take it one day at a time and hope for the best. When he gets back from drill, or perhaps prior to his drill, we're going to finish the baby's room. Yes, that is correct-it's not done yet. But I think, just as with everything else that we do, though it will have to be done quickly, it will be done well! We've already painted the room, so we just need to do some touch ups and the stenciling. The crib is assembled, but we're missing a piece so we're going to fix that up as well. Most of the clothing is set to go and we have a bassinet set up in our room already. There are a few necessities that we still need to get, so next week-it's off to Babies 'R Us, armed with gift cards and our new SUV.

Ahh, yes-the new SUV. We just bought a new car :) We had been talking about getting a new car for a while, knowing that we'd need the space and also, as Stephen has drill, if I have to stay here (as is often the case these days..) then he takes the car and I don't have any way to get around. Sort of a concern. So we looked and were in the process of trying to find a good deal when I happened upon a nicely priced SUV, with exactly the specifications that we wanted: black, 2006, and a mileage of 16,000. It seemed as though God had placed exactly what we needed in our path once again :) So after a trip over to Miami, quite a few phone calls, a bunch of paperwork, some illegal driving and a rather surprising sales tax, we have exactly what we wanted: a legitimate new car, complete with the part no one ever wants: a new fun car payment. Anyway-we're very excited to have the car and we've both tried our hardest to remain neutral about which car is whose...we'll see how long that lasts ;)

Well, I think that about wraps it up for now-more to come of course, but it's study time!!

7 months




These pictures were taken in late March, early April. Krista was about 7mths here.