Our beautiful little girl!

We've arrived at 35 weeks and Ilyana is about the size of a honeydew melon! Yesterday we got to see our little girl with an ultrasound and they said she is weighing about 5 lbs. 4 oz., which is in the 33rd percentile for weight. She is head down but my cervix is still closed so it will still be a few weeks until her grand entrance. It was definitely a relief to know that everything is going well! The doctor expects her to weigh about 6.5-7 lbs. when she is born. It is so exciting to see a snapshot of what she will look like, and it was adorable to see that she sleeps with her arms up by her face just like me! I am absolutely in love with her adorable little lips! She's going to be so beautiful! Oh, and the ultrasound tech checked, she's still a girl ;)

I labeled some of the features to make it a little easier to see ;)

Last weekend I was blessed with a wonderful baby shower thrown by my sister-in-laws, Jenna and Jessica. It was an adorable circus theme, the food was delicious and we had a ton of fun. I was so grateful to receive a lot of the items we need for miss Ilyana! Jake and I have been finishing putting together the nursery which is almost complete, I'm hoping to do a post on it next week!

We're all expecting this year!

Information about Ilyana:

EDD: Feb. 27th (35 days)

How mom's feeling: I'm so excited to meet our beautiful little girl!

How dad's feeling: Trying to convince Ilyana to come soon, ready to meet her!

Maternity pictures!

Here we are at 33 weeks, these last few weeks are flying by! Miss Ilyana is a little over 17 inches and about 4.2 pounds, about the size of a pineapple! A few nights ago I was finally able to get a video of my stomach moving while the little miss was kicking (my phone can't upload it so you'll have to ask if you want to see it!), it was pretty neat! While in bed the other night, Jake glanced over and saw her sticking out a limb, his face was priceless! This week I've been starting to really notice the effect pregnancy has on my energy levels, I definitely have to remind myself that I'm eight and a half months pregnant instead of getting discouraged by how long it takes me to do different tasks. I've also been having an increasing amount of braxton hicks contractions lately, and some of them have been rather painful! But it's great practice for real labor! This past weekend, our good friend Megan from Sonshine photography was able to take our maternity pictures! We had a lot of fun and she did a great job! I'll put a couple of the pictures at the end of this post. I'm really looking forward to my baby shower this weekend with Jake's family and some church friends. It's going to be a lot of fun, plus it's the last "big event" we have planned before Miss Ilyana's arrival! Speaking of her arrival, don't forget to cast your vote of when she will arrive here!

Information about Ilyana

EDD: Feb. 27th (45 days)

How mom's feeling: Excited for the baby shower this weekend!

How dad's feeling: Freaked out by the belly movements!

What's in our hospital bag

We are kicking off 2015 at 32 weeks! My body is currently recuperating from a long weekend. I was honored to be a bridesmaid in my dear friend Jenny's wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding! By the end of the night my body was revolting against me and reminding me I shouldn't be on my feet all day though! Our little girl is now about 4 pounds and 17 inches. Over the past week I've started to notice some more painful braxton hicks contractions, I asked my doctor about them at my appointment today though and she wasn't concerned. Speaking of my appointment, the doctor decided that I'm not gaining quite as much weight as she would like to see so we're going to be getting another ultrasound at our next appointment just as a precaution. She's not too concerned and neither are we. I'm definitely tempted to feel anxious about it, but I'm combating those temptations with prayer. I am very excited to see our little girl one more time before meeting her though! Hopefully this time she will cooperate and not be so camera shy! I can't believe that we will be having a baby next month (don't forget to place your guess of when she will arrive! http://jashleyfam.blogspot.com/2014/12/ilyanas-arrival-date-contest.html )! We are feeling fairly prepared for her birth. Next on my to-do list is packing our hospital bag. Here's our list of items to pack:

Ash:

1. Brush     2. Hair ties (3)    3. Chapstick    4. Make-up bag    5. Toothbrush  

6. Headband    7. Toothpaste    8. Socks (3)    9. Slippers     10. Comfortable day clothes (3)

11. Comfortable pajamas (3)   12. Nursing pads   13. Nursing bra      14. Nursing cover

15. Lanolish cream   16. Birth plan (5) 17. Swimsuit top   18. Bears blanket  

19. Snacks   20. Gatorade   21. Phone/charger     22. Camera 23. Wallet      24. Birthing ball 25. Picture outfit 26. Birthing affirmations 27. Stool softener   28. Breast pump

29. Heating pad      30. Razor

Jake:

1. Phone/Charger   2. Day clothes (3)     3. Pajamas (3)  4. Toothbrush    5. Razor/shaving cream

5. Slippers   6. ID      7. Checkbook    8. Snacks   9. Diet coke :) 26. Picture outfit

Ilyana:

1.  My Brest friend      2. Coming home outfit      3. Mittens      4. Carseat 5. Carseat cover      

6. Heavy blanket     7. Receiving blanket      8. Boots 9. Hat/bow 10. Coat   11. Picture outfit

Misc.:

1. Nurse thank you gift   2. Gum         3. Extension cord

Can you think of anything else that we may want to add?

(Bad picture, but it was all I had!)

Information about Ilyana:

EDD: Feb. 27th (53 days)

How mom's feeling: Ready to meet our little girl! Excited to see her again!

How dad's feeling: Ready for the pregnancy to be done!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we sure did! We really enjoyed the opportunity to see our family and celebrate Christs birth. I have also really enjoyed Jake being on break from both school and work, we've had a lot of opportunities to just relax and spend some quality time together. I am now 31 weeks pregnant, 8 months. I can't believe how quickly time flies! Miss Ilyana is now about 16 inches and 3.3 pounds. I also noticed the other day that she is starting to 'drop', which has helped a little with breathing issues (but has made the bathroom my new best friend). I have been experiencing braxton hicks contractions more often and some of them have started to become a bit painful, but it's all good practice for her birthday. Although not nearly as bad as the first trimester, I have been struggling with some nausea again. I bought some 'sea bands' the other day to try out (they work through acupressure to relieve nausea), and they seem to do a pretty decent job. I mentioned last week that I haven't been sleeping well and was going to try out lavender oil. I am happy to report that the lavender seems to work! I have been sleeping so much better!
Don't forget to cast your vote on when Miss Ilyana will arrive!

Information about Ilyana:
EDD: February 27th (63 days)

How mom's feeling: Pretty good, just slightly uncomfortable. Excited for the faithwalkers conference this week!

How dad's feeling: Pumped for faithwalkers this week!

Ilyana's arrival date contest!

I'm excited to announce that we're going to be having a little contest to guess when Miss Ilyana is going to arrive! Here are the rules:
1. Everyone will get 1 guess.
2. Each guess must contain her birth date, time, weight, and height.
3. Guessing will stay open until January 31st at midnight (unless she comes before that of course!).
4. To guess you must comment on this blog post.
5. After she is born, whoever has the closest guess will get first dibs on holding her for 1 month!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Note: a few people have had issues commenting while using their phone. Jake suggested clicking 'preview' before clicking 'publish'. I hope this solves it!

Fantastic Friday

Today has been a fantastic Friday (who doesn't love a good alliteration) to mark the beginning of 30 weeks! We are 3/4 of the way done with pregnancy. Miss Ilyana is about 3 pounds and 15.7 inches. The doctor said she is measuring perfectly and we should have a small (in a normal way) baby. I've noticed over the past week or so that her movements have been a lot less jerky and more of a fluid motion. She also seems to be claiming her space, the other night I was resting my arm on my stomach and she kept kicking it away like "hey! I wanted my foot there! Move it!". She does the same thing when I lay on the side she was laying on or when Jake rests his arm on my stomach. She definitely makes us laugh!
This morning we received some spectacular news! First, Jake received his official job offer from Rockwell and it was even better than we had hoped for! He has since accepted that offer and will officially be a full time Rockwell employee as soon as he graduates in May! The other fantastic news we received this morning came in the form of a picture:

They've broke ground on our house! Woohoo! We're so excited about everything finally being set into motion. Today has been a great day and God is SO good!

Also, the contest I mentioned last week will be up within the hour, stay tuned!

Information about Ilyana:

EDD: Feb. 27th (70 days)

How mom's feeling: still not sleeping well, however I'm going to be trying some lavender essential oils tonight, I'll update how that goes next week!

How dad's feeling: Ecstatic about everything that is going on!

Our little butternut squash

Let me apologize for the late post this week! I was intending to write it this weekend but never got around to it. I'm sorry! We are now finishing up week 29 of pregnancy! I wanted to give a big thank you to my mom and grandma who hosted my baby shower 2 Sundays ago! It was for my family and my parents friends (I'm excited to be having another one with Jakes family and our church family in January!), and it was a lot of fun! They did a great job hosting, there were some very funny games, and lots of very delicious food! Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate our sweet little girl and thank you for all the gifts that we received! I'll put a couple of pictures from the event at the end of this post. Little miss Ilyana is now 15.3 inches and weighs about 2.5 pounds, about the size of a butternut squash. She's been very active this week, I've even seen a few limbs sticking out of my stomach (It kind of freaks me out a little)! She also has been getting the hiccups a lot, which is really cute. It's so much fun to watch my stomach moving around with her! I've been trying to get a video but she seems to be camera shy. This past week, I've been fighting off a bit of a cold as well as feeling sick. I'm not sure if it's a stomach bug, hormones, or a friend mentioned it could be acid reflex (which seems most likely since I feel the most sick after eating a lot). Whatever it is, I'm really thankful that I'm able to stay home and just take it easy. I've also been struggling to sleep lately. It's difficult to find a position that is comfortable and allows me to breathe. But I'm not here to complain, I really am so thankful that we are pregnant.

Quick side-bar, there will be a small contest on the blog sometime in the coming week, so keep your eyes peeled for that! :D

Information about Ilyana:

EDD: Feb. 27th (73 days)

How mom's feeling: Feeling the effects of the 3rd trimester. Falling more in love with this little girl every day :)

How dad's feeling: Incredibly excited to be done with finals so he can start focusing more on the baby.