What We've Been Up To..

So it has been a long time since the last post. It seeems like every time I have sat down to try and post, someone has been an unhappy little camper! What a week we've had!

Doesn't she look so happy?!

Feeding time!

Ava laying with Daddy while he is listening to the Razorback game

Sunday was a big day for Miss Ava. She got baptized! She had a beautiful white gown to wear that my parents got her. It was hand made and they bought it in Chinatown in San Francisco when they were there earlier this year. She got baptized with my cousin who was born about 4 weeks before her. These two little girls will have fun playing with each other as they grow up.

Isn't she precious?

So, we've hit another bump in the road. This poor little girl has had a rough little life already. Just when we get one issue worked out and think we're going to be ok, something else pops up. On Friday, Ava started getting really upset. She'd cry really hard and seemed to be in pain. This didn't go on so we thought maybe she just had gas or an upset tummy that seemed to go away. Saturday seemed to get a little worse and Sunday she wasn't quite right either. Monday was a horrible day. From about 7 am until almost 3 in the afternoon, I could not put her down. Every time I tried to put her down she would cry and cry and cry. It was a completely exhausting day and I was upset and frustrated because Ava was so upset and obviously hurting. So, when my mom called to see how things went that day, she said she'd come get her to give us a break and so that we could get a little rest in case the night was rough. Here's the little girl after a rough day before heading out into the cold.


I had called the pediatrician that morning because we wondered if she had reflux or if her formula was bothering her. The dr suggested trying a thickening agent in her formula b/c if it was reflux, this would help. Because of how upset she was, I didn't have a chance to get this before Zach got home from work. While Ava was with my parents, Zach went to get this and took it to them so Ava could get it in her next bottle. Well, apparently it made the poor baby hurt even more! (Side note: our pediatrician was my pediatrician when I was little and is still my sister's dr, so the dr is very familiar with our family and knows my parents well) So, my mom called the dr and told him it was much, much worse. He said to feed her Pedialyte over night and see what happened. She did a little better with that so yesterday we packed up and went to see the dr. Ava is now trying out some different formulas. She is either lactose intolerant or is allergic to milk. She is trying a lactose free formula first and if that doesn't work, she will try a soy milk. She has seemed a little better since starting the new formula. It's so sad watching your baby in so much pain but hopefully this will do the trick. We're just ready for our little girl to be happy!

One of these days we might get things figured out! I'll close with a couple more pictures of this darling!

Happy One Month Birthday Ava!

My Sweet Ava,

I can't believe you are already one month old. The time is absolutely just disappearing. You have changed so much since the day you were born. Each day is filled with new and exciting things that we discover together and I am so glad that God blessed us with you, sweet baby girl.

The day you were born was the happiest day of my life. Never in words could I describe what I felt when I first saw you. You were so small and sweet and you weren't crying - I almost had to ask if you were alive b/c you were so still and not moving. Then you opened your beautiful eyes and I knew I would never be the same again. Your daddy was so excited too. After the nurses got you all cleaned up, your daddy carried you over to show you to me. I watched him hold and love on you and it was the most beautiful thing in the world to me. He still loves on you and can never get enough of you. You are such a loved little girl and we hope you always know that.

So many people came to visit you at the hospital and everyone kept telling your daddy and me what a beautiful baby you were. You are still that beautiful girl and your little face just warms my heart. We had a rough few days at first and we were so worried about you when you didn't get to come home right away. All we wanted was to get you home! We finally did and what a ride it has been!

Being a mommy is something I wanted for my whole life. Never in a million years could I have imagined how wonderful it would be to be YOUR mommy. During your first couple of weeks, you would curl up and get all cozy when we would hold you and you would push your little rear end out - you used to do that inside of me too and I loved seeing you do that. You don't do it as much anymore, but we sometimes still get to see the tush. Also, from the first day you have had a very strong neck. The first night we had you, you were laying on my chest and you rasied your chest and looked at me with your gorgeous eyes. You're getting even stronger now and can lift your head and look around. You're getting to be such a big girl already! Another thing I love watching you do is stretch - oh, how you stretch! Sometimes we just laugh at you because you lean your head so far back you almost bend your body in half. You make the funniest faces when you stretch too. I have tried to capture all of them in pictures. I have pictures of them in my mind but am so worried they will fade over time.

You are also a dramatic little girl. We will have our hands full with you in the future, I'm sure. From the day you were born, you've done the funniest thing - when you get really upset about something and you cry, your little chin quivers like you are just so sad! At first we thought something was really wrong, but then we quickly realized it's just something you do - and another of the million things I love about you.

You had issues with your weight after birth and dropped down to 7 lbs. You also weighed that at your 5 day check up. At two weeks old, you'd made up some ground and weighed 7lbs 15 oz. But then we had some more problems, and weighed the exact same thing at 3 weeks. We took you back to the dr at almost 4 weeks and you weighed 9lbs 4 oz!!! You have turned into quite the little piggy. Your Daddy and I love to laugh at you when you eat because you get so excited you start panting like a dog. You want your food and you want it now! You also don't like when we make you eat it slow so that you can make it last a little longer. When you are finished eating, we often give you a pacifier because you cry that there isn't more. You usually suck on that pacifier like you think if you suck hard enough, something might come out of it! You know better though - today you looked at my with big eyes after I gave it to you and your face said to me, "Yeah right, Mom - I'm not stupid. There's nothing there!"

I know that I will never be able to remember all of the things that you do throughout your life, but these are the sweet things I will always remember about you. You are already so unique and I am so proud to be your mommy. I never get sick of hearing people say what a pretty girl you are. You are my little miracle and I love you more than you know.

Happy one month birthday, Ava! You have brought more joy into mommy and daddy's life than you will ever know. We know that we have lots of learning to do but we love you so much and will always do what we think is best for you. You mean more to us than anything and no words could ever describe how happy we are that you are ours! You'll always be my sweet little girl.

Love,

Mommy

So far this week..

We haven't had a whole lot going on here in the past few days. It's been kind of quiet, but that's ok. Sometimes those are nice days. We're in the process of trying to get Ava more on a day/night schedule that matches our own instead of being awake all night. Sunday night she was awake all night so she slept all day on Monday. Then she was awake all day on Monday night too. Not fun... So I've been trying little things to keep her awake. I've had all the windows open and all the lights on during the day. I even leave her light on while she's napping. When she's awake at night time, we keep all the lights off. I've also been putting her in her crib to nap and not wrapping her up like she likes. I've noticed this way she doesn't go into quite as deep a sleep and she wakes up more often. She did great with this yesterday - in fact, I tried to get her to take an afternoon nap and she just wouldn't. We had much better luck with the sleeping last night as a result. Today wasn't quite as good as yesterday but it was still better than it has been. She was awake for quite a bit but alot of the time today she was cranky whereas yesterday she was pretty content. Hopefully we'll get this worked out soon.

She just continues to keep us entertained. I have started getting some big, awake smiles. They are so cute and I love it when she does that. She's also getting extremely alert and is looking around and focusing in more on things. Yesterday I had her laying on her tummy and I looked away for a minute and when I turned back, she was holding her head up and looked from one side to the other! It was short lived, but she did it. She is also grabbing and holding on to things now.

It is funny to me how some things can startle her like crazy and others don't. Today I was working on organizing some things in her room while she was napping and I wasn't exactly being quiet. She slept right through it. Then later on I was feeding her and she was asleep, and she burped so loud she scared herself and woke up! It was too funny. I love watching everything about this sweet girl. She's so wonderful!

I'm going to close with a few of the pictures. Some are just random ones I have taken and the others are some that Jon and Emily got for us! They are wonderful and we love them!

Sweet girl enjoying her Boppy pillow

Big eyes!

I can't get my pacifier so I will eat my fingers!







This last picture, along with the one I posted on a previous post are my two most favorite pictures of her! I just love her little face and these two pictures just make my heart melt every time I see them!

Time flies..

How can my sweet baby girl already be 3 weeks old?? I cannot believe how fast time is passing. I wish some days I could stop the clock and enjoy this time with Ava forever. I'm going to miss my time with her so much when I have to go back to work. I'm trying to soak up every moment that I can now.

This has been a little bit of a tough week for us. Ava was quite cranky and fussy the whole week. She'd fall asleep and the moment we'd put her down she'd start screaming and she'd only be happy if we were holding her while she slept. Now I love holding her but at 4:00 am going on 1 hour of sleep I would just want her to lay down. I finally decided I didn't think she was getting enough to eat. So, yesterday we packed up and went to the pediatrician's office and sure enough, he confirmed what I'd thought. Ava had not gained one single ounce since she had been there the week before! Poor baby was just hungry! So, we decided to start using some formula again to help her get full. It was a really tough, emotional decision for me, but she and I are both so much happier today and I know that will help us really enjoy our time together much more. So, I would expect from now on she'll start growing like a weed!

Another issue I'd been struggling with was what to do with Ava when I go back to work. The day cares here all seem to have extremely long waiting lists and even though I've been on several since March, we'd had no luck. On Tuesday of this week, my aunt called me to tell me the preschool where her little girl goes actually watches infants and that they were about to have an opening. My mom and I went up there that afternoon and really liked what we saw. I had a few issues I needed to work out so Zach and I discussed it and decided to send Ava there. It's a church run facility that is an accredidated day care. It's also about 3 minutes away from my work so that will be convenient for drop off and pick up and will also give me the chance to go see her at lunch time or go check on her if I want/need to. I felt a huge burden lifted off my chest once we'd decided to send her there. It's wonderful the way the Lord works things out when we can't see a way. I've said all along that I knew He would provide and that He did. We're so blessed.

Here are some pictures we've managed to capture. There'snot a whole lot to capture since she is either sleeping or awake for a short period or crying! We try our best though - I know it will be hard to always remember her like she is now so I'm trying to get as many pictures of her as possible!!

After her "beloved" bath time!

She loves to stretch!

Her tummy time as recommended by the pediatrician

Oh how I love this sweet face! I could look at it all day long!

Sweet baby asleep today at 3 weeks old.

Cool Ava with her Uncle Stephen!!

Due Date

Where does the time go? Our precious girl is almost 2 weeks old. Today was her due date and it's hard to believe we've already had her for two weeks. This week has been long but not too bad. Zach went back to school on Tuesday so Ava and I have been working on making it on our own. We did cheat a little though and haven't been completely on our own. On Tuesday my mom came and picked us up and we went to her house. I slept in my old room and she watched Ava for a couple of hours. Wednesday I had to go to the mall to get some vitamins at GNC and Mom offered to watch her so that I wouldn't have to take her in. So we've had a little help. Today we were completely on our own and we made it just fine. We even survived a trip to the pediatrician. For all my worries with Ava's eating, she is a little piggy - she gained 13.5 ounces in a little over a week! She now weighs 7 lbs 15 oz so she's 4 oz heavier than her birth weight, so I shouldn't be too worried about her anymore. She seems to be doing just fine. I've heard that babies who are early sometimes are a little slow at waking up and that around their due date they turn into a completely different baby. I haven't seen that with our girl yet but I'm waiting. I"m really trying to soak up my time with her and I love the moments we get to spend together. She makes a lot of hilarious faces and I'm trying to capture them on camera because I know they won't last forever! We have our moments, but she really is a good baby. She only cries if she wants/needs something and she is generally happy. I hope that sweet disposition stays the same! I don't have a whole lot of time to post pictures tonight but I will post one. Last weekend, Jon and Emily came and took pictures of Miss Ava. It was quite the session and I think we had about 5 or 6 potty accidents in the course of pictures without a diaper! She even got her daddy very wet in one of the last shots! Anyway, here is one of the pictures we've gotten to preview. I adore this picture and cannot wait to see the rest!