Our Life in 2009

What a year 2009 has been! Josh and I have been blessed in so many ways. I wanted to do this post to highlight some of the best parts of our year.

January:

Josh and I started the year off in the Midtown district of Houston. We got glammed up, went out, and stayed in a hotel room that night. We wanted one last New Years Eve bash because we knew we had plans for big changes for the year.

A few days later, Josh received his White Coat. His school hosted a White Coat Ceremony to present it to him. He also started adjusting real clients in the clinic at this time. Josh's parents and grandparents came out to celebrate his achievement.February:

February was a quiet month for us. We had a nice Valentine's dinner at an Italian restaurant in Houston. At the end of the month Darus celebrated his bachelor party in Houston. All of his groomsmen got together for the party, and we had a crawfish boil at our house for the guys.

March:
March was a busy month! I traveled to LA in the beginning of the month for Jamie's Bachelorette party in Biloxi. We celebrated with a Champagne Brunch at the Beau Rivage and dancing and drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe.
The following weekend we went to the Texas Livestock Show and Rodeo. We saw lots of animals (including the longhorn) and watched the George Strait concert.March 21st was Darus and Jamie's wedding. We had a blast! Their wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had the chance to hang out with a lot of our friends and family.

April:

My mom came in to celebrate Easter with us, she was on her way to Mexico to take care of my Gigi, we had a nice visit while she was in.

Josh and I also went on our "baby making" cruise in April. It was an amazing vacation with just the two of us, we had a great time and made some new friends. But did not conceive a baby...yet :)

May:

The biggest event in May occurred on the 29th...after about 4 months of "trying" Josh and I found out we were going to have a baby. It is amazing how one little stick can change your life.

June:

June was the month of "morning" sickness, which can occur at anytime, especially if you work nights. It wasn't that bad, but definitely takes a lot out of you. By the end of the month however I was feeling much better and Josh and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary at Raising Cane's with chicken fingers :) This picture is us on the way to the restaurant, how excited am I?

July:

Josh flew home to LA in the beginning of July for Cole's baptism. At the end of the month we took a mini vacation to Philadelphia. My brother Josh, his wife Jonnilin and their beautiful baby boy Julian met us for some sight seeing. It was great to be able to spend some time with them.

August:

This was another laid back month. I was feeling much better with the pregnancy, and just getting used to the idea of it all. On August 24th we found out some more life changing news...our little jumping bean was a baby girl! I don't have any great pictures of the ultrasound...but here is a picture of the aftermath of that revelation. The girl will be well dressed!

September:

Josh got to feel Avery move for the first time this month. In the middle of September, I flew out to visit my mom and Gigi in Arizona. I am so thankful for the time that I got spend with her during this visit. She was recovering from another surgery so I got to take care of her, she also got to feel her great granddaughter move inside of me. This is the closest she got to baby Avery on this side of heaven. There were 4 generations together at this time.

October:

Josh and I took a "babymoon" at the very beginning of October. We went to Lafayette for his classmate's wedding, and we stayed at a very nice bed and breakfast out there. It was a great trip and a very nice time for Josh and I to reconnect with all the stressors of life and pregnancy taking its toll on us.

We had our 2nd annual Halloween Party at the end of October. I was FINALLY starting to show, and we wanted to show off the baby bump a little bit. We dressed like white trash, I am sure Avery will be mortified by these pictures when she gets older.

November:

Josh was gone two weekends in November. He went to Dallas to finish up his certification boards, and then he went to Chicago for an adjusting seminar. We ended the month is Louisiana. We were able to go home for about a week and celebrate Thanksgiving with Josh's family. While we were there we also had our baby shower. It was a beautiful shower, and we realized how truly blessed we are with friends and family that love us so much.

December:

We had about 3 weeks of Christmas celebrations in December. My mom was in town one week for a visit and we started in the Christmas spirit. Josh's parents came in the following week, and it continued on. We exchanged presents, went to look at Christmas light and just enjoyed our time together. Christmas Eve and day it was just Josh and I. Which was a change of pace from the years before. It was a little lonely being away from our families, but we made the best of it.

This year has brought many changes for us. We have matured and grown up and started to prepare ourselves for life with a child. It has brought us closer together, with all of the ups and downs of pregnancy. It has also made us realize how important family is. Being away is very tough, and we look forward to the day Josh graduates when we can move back home, with our family.

2010 will be a year of many more changes. This time next year we will "hopefully" be in the baton rouge area with an 8 month old. Our life will be totally different, but we look forward to the changes and the challenges. We pray that God continues to bless our life, our family and that He guides us in the choices for our future. I hope you enjoyed the recap of our year. I wanted to do something to document the amazing 365 days that we have had in 2009. Hope you enjoyed it!

Love,

Cherish, Josh, Avery and Izzy

Merry Christmas from the LeBlanc's

Josh and I celebrated our first (and last) Christmas with just the two of us this year. Every year before we had been staying with our families and celebrated with them. It took a little trial and error with the camera timer, but here is our official 2009 Christmas jammies photo: On Christmas Eve we went to church for cocoa, cookies and free family photos. This is us all dressed up before we left:

It was FREEZING and windy Christmas Eve night. After taking pictures at church we went out to eat then came straight home, and cuddled up in our pajama's with hot cocoa and "A Christmas Story"

We went to the 11pm candlelight service that night, but were much more comfortable in our warm sweaters.

Christmas morning I made Monkey Bread for breakfast. Santa came!

The traditional orange in the stocking...thanks mom!

Candy!

Pens for work:
Gotta love the orange!

Izzy got a new Christmas toy: I got my diaper bag for Christmas! I did a lot of research and found the "perfect" one. Its got a bunch of pockets, its fully lined, and looks like a purse!

Josh got Versace cologne:

Unfortunately I had to work Christmas night, but we had a relaxing Christmas day. After breakfast and presents we watched some Christmas movies, played cards and took a nap. I got up before work and made garlic chicken, candied yams and green beans. The candied yams were much more candy than yams haha (it was my first time making them), but they tasted good! I have worked the last three nights, its been crazy up at the baby factory! But I have a couple days off then I have to work New Years Eve. I figured we wouldn't be going out and getting crazy so I offered to work that night. Josh's brother Drew, Meredith and Caiden are coming in New Years Day on their drive through back to San Angelo. We are very excited to spend some time with them, they are leaving for Germany early next year. Once they leave we will be in baby mode! I will be 36 weeks pregnant by then, so we will be getting everything Miss Avery's arrival. So exciting!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Last weekend Josh's parent and Summer came in to celebrate Christmas with us. We had a great visit! Saturday night we went to a restaurant to watch the Saints game. It was their first loss, but we had a nice night, eating good food and visiting. This is a picture before we left.Sunday we went to church. This is a picture of Josh and Summer in the parking lot, she loves her big brother!

Then Sunday night we had Christmas Dinner (ham, baked macaroni, green bean casserole) and opened up Christmas presents. Josh got to play Santa again :)

These are my goodies: I got some clothes, a new straightening iron, my Dolce and Gabanna Light Blue perfume and a little kitchen decoration. Santa Aleta is so good to us :)Josh got some XBOX games, clothes and set of golf clubs!The best part were his personalized, embroidered golf towels:It was a very relaxing visit. One night we drove around eating ice cream and looking at Christmas lights. But for the most part we hung out and visited.

I love this picture, the puppies are all cuddled up on Mr. Chris and Ms. Aleta:

Josh and Mr. Chris are playing poker AGAINST each other on two different lap tops!

Izzy loves her Aunt Summer:We are a high technological family, we had enough computers and Iphones for everyone to be online at the same time!

We are so blessed to have such amazing family. It really meant a lot to us, that they were able to so come up to spend some time with us before Christmas. We aren't really traveling anymore since I am so far along in the pregnancy, Avery has been behaving herself, but we would hate for something to happen while we were back home and so far away from my doctor and hospital. Merry Christmas!

Mr. and Mrs. Claus!

Josh got chosen to be Santa Claus at his school's Christmas party. It was at the clinic, so the patient's could also bring their kids to come and take a picture with Santa. He had a great time, and was excited to get to spend time with all the little kids.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus Little one month old baby:

The costume he dressed up in was really nice.

This little girl was so cute, she was scared of him for the longest time. Josh kept talking to her and asking her what she wanted for Christmas.

She very slowly warmed up to him.

I am officially 33 weeks today! I can't believe I only have 7 weeks left, it is flying by! We took these pictures right before my appointment today.

Here's the belly shot, still no stretch marks!!!

My appointment went well. Dr. Hernandez was at a delivery, so his nurse checked me out. My fundus only measured 29 weeks, so she told me to make sure he checks the baby's weight at my next appointment. Avery's weights so far have all been normal, so maybe she was just hiding in there more than usual. She was hiding her face on the ultrasound AGAIN, so no good pictures this time either. I gained 3 pounds since my last visit, which puts me at a whopping 14 pounds gained so far during the pregnancy.

Josh and I went to IHOP afterward, then I went out and finished my Christmas shopping. I am done, thank the Lord! Josh was even a sweetheart and wrapped all the presents under the tree! All I have left to do is wrap his stuff, and put our goodies in the stocking on Christmas Eve. Like I said this Christmas hasn't been very stressful at all, and for that I am truly thankful.

Josh's parent's are coming in this weekend. We have lots of fun stuff planned, and are looking forward to spending some quality time with them. Will try to update again soon!

Baby Avery

With everything going on lately, I haven't updated very much on the pregnancy. But luckily everything has been going great! I am 32 weeks and 4 days today. Avery is such a wiggle worm, and she moves the most at night! We will definately have a night owl on our hands when she is born. She weighed 3.68 pounds at my doctor's appointment a week and a half ago. She is definately getting bigger...you can now feel the outline of her little feet, knees, and elbows when she is moving around in there. Josh can always get her to move, all he has to do is put his hands on my belly and talk to her...she definately knows her daddy's voice. Speaking of her daddy, here is a picture of him with Izzy in Avery's carrier. Poor puppy puts up with so much! Here are some belly pictures. I was 31 weeks and 2 days in the first one and I felt HUGE! I was swollen and just felt like there was no more room for her!

And the funny thing is that in this second one I was 32 weeks and 2 days, a week later, and didn't feel as big. Its amazing how my uterus keeps growing and giving her more and more room.

We go back to the doctor's office on Thursday. Since I go every 2 weeks now, the visits are much shorter, they just check my BP and pulse, do a quick ultrasound, and make sure there are no problems. We did find out after my last appointment that I am GBS positive though. Its not that big of a deal, it just means I have to be treated with antibiotics during labor, so when I deliver Avery she doesn't get exposed to any bacteria that her immature immune system can't handle. That just throws out my plans of going to the hospital 10cm and delivering...haha, yeah right, momma needs an epidural!!!