Bath time fun and Ava-Bunny

First things first - I've been searching high and low for a new bath tub for Ava for a very long time. She's pretty much outgrown the baby tub, and it just takes so much water right now to fill up the regular tub and I hate wasting. I wanted an inflatable tub but just couldn't find one I liked. So, we saw that Ava's pal Caroline was sporting a new tub, and I looked for one and couldn't find it either. Yesterday I came home from work and this was sitting on the counter:

Zach went and bought it yesterday while out yesterday. We're copy-catters but it was a super cute tub and it does the job perfectly. We try to buy gender neutral items in case we have a boy down the road, but Zach said she could have a pink bath tub! It's too cute - and it quacks when you squeeze it's beak! It made Ava giggle (which by the way is pretty much the sweetest sound in the world to me!).

First meeting - eyes wide with fascination

Giving it a test before bathtime

She was focused on all of her toys, she wouldn't look at me the entire time

But we did get her to look tonight

Today we went to NWA to do a few things. Can you believe it's almost April and soooooooooooo cold! It was snowing so hard up in Rogers/Bentonville. Craziness!! We spent some time at the mall and then had lunch at Abuelo's. I couldn't believe how hard the snow was coming down. We were back in town by about 3:00 and did a few more things to round out the afternoon.

Oh, and check out this cute Easter bunny!

Hello, old friend

Dear Crazy Driving Lady,

Hello, old friend. I can't say that I've missed you since I last saw you. Last year sometime, I began noticing that on my way to work, I was always around this one particular car with an annoying driver - and it turns out it's your car! You would pull out about a mile down from where our neighborhood is, and we would follow the same path, until we parted ways right before I got to work. Why do you annoy me you ask? You cetainly like to whip yourself in and out of whichever lane is the one moving and you are always right up on the bumper of the car in front of you. I can't tell you how many times you have been on my rear. I always worried you'd hit someone because you go super fast and you followed so closely and because you don't seem to care if anyone else is around while switching lanes. I know that on days when my lane seemed to be moving slow, I could look ahead and see you just weaving between the lanes. Or if there were days when I was a little early, I would sometimes look in my rearview mirror and your car's nose poking out and moving in and out. It's almost comical how you are such an agitated driver, Crazy Driving Lady! Seriously, if you're that enthused about getting to work, leave a little earlier! And it might be sad to admit, but I realized after returning to work from maternity leave that I wouldn't be seeing you on a daily basis anymore, because I was leaving earlier! And I'm happy to say it had been over six months since I had seen you...

Until today...

I have been leaving the house later this week since I am not making a day care stop. And I was riding along, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I saw your little blue car doing its dance between lanes! I just had to laugh. I think the funniest thing though was when we got the intersection where we part ways. You turn, I go straight. As we were coming up on the intersection, the car in my lane whipped in front of you when it realized that was the turning lane and boy were you mad! You can dish it out, but not take it, huh? Did you just not like someone doing to you what you do multiple times on a daily basis?

I just thought I would say hi to you, since it's been so long since we've seen each other. I'm hopeful that I will miss you again tomorrow, as I have been lucky enough to do for most of this week. If not, I'm sure we'll cross paths again this summer.

Until then,
Sarah

These are the days

Life is screaming by in our household. Zach and Ava are on Day 3 of Spring Break and have had a good week so far. We thought Ava might be a little sick of her "daddy time" on Monday. I went home for lunch and she was leaning so far out of her Bumbo for me to pick her up. Then, Zach had plans to golf with my dad that afternoon and was getting ready to take Ava over to my parents' house so Stephanie my mom could watch her. (I guess Stephanie found better plans.) Anyway, when Zach was putting her in her carseat he told her where they were going and he said she started kicking her legs and squealing. Then, when they got there, she actually reached out for my dad. (Sidenote: Ava has typically not done well with my dad. For some reason, she would generally cry whenever he would hold her. In the past couple of weeks, she's really warmed up to him.) We joked that it must have been really bad at home if she wanted her Grandpa!

So, Ava ran a slight fever Sunday and Monday. It was never over 100. I don't know if she has just a plain old cold, or if she's teething. Check out this picture:

She's practically frothing at the mouth! And see her outfit?! Yeah, bibs are much needed now. She has been really congested and really snotty. Also, she has this intense determination to gnaw on anything.

And not only does she want to gnaw, she's fanatic about it. She starts panting and trying as hard as she could to shove chosen object into her mouth. The best was when she tried to shove my forearm into her mouth. So, really, who knows what's wrong with her at this point?

She's enjoying staying at home, but she has sure enjoyed getting out a little bit each day. I'm curious to see her reaction when she returns to school next week.

Oh, how much I love this sweet girl (and her daddy!)! I wish more than anything I was at home with them on Spring Break this week.

And on another note, can you believe it is supposed to be back down into the 40s this weekend? Isn't it spring??!

I ♥ the weekend!

This has been a GREAT weekend! For me, it was a 3 day weekend (woo-hoo!) and for Zach it is only the start of a week long break! I got an unexpected day off from work on Friday. The school district made up a snow day, and Ava's daycare was schedule to be closed, so I took the day off to stay with her! It was soooooooooo nice and much needed! We spent a fun morning at home playing and after a long nap, we headed to Shoe Carnival where I got some shoes for an upcoming wedding and to Target where we picked up a few things. Then we headed to Sonic:

Who doesn't love Happy Hour??

When Zach got home, I did a quick trip to Wal-mart and picked up groceries. That night we went to my parent's house for dinner to celebrate my future sister-in-law's acceptance into her first choice program for her residency next year. Congrats, Kelsey!!

Saturday started out a little rainy. We went and ran a couple of errands in the morning. That afternoon, I went to a wedding shower for my long-time friend, Sandy. It was through Sandy that I met Zach. He lived with Sandy's fiance in college.

A slightly blurry pic of old friends

Today we headed to church and came home afterwards. Zach played golf this afternoon and Ava and I went to see my sister's newly decorated room, of which she was so proud. Miss Ava isn't feeling the best today - she had a slight fever earlier but has perked up a little this evening. If she's still running a fever in the morning, she'll be heading in to see the doctor. She's drooling excessively today so I just wonder if another tooth is on its way in.

Did you have a nice weekend?

Ava's Pictures

Go here to see some more pictures of our sweet baby girl!! LOVE these pictures!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Ava!!!

Six months ago we got to see this sweet face for the very first time!!!!!! How can the time have passed so fast???

Ava turning six months old is so bittersweet for me! I miss that teeny, tiny newborn stage, but I absolutely adore how she is right now. She is so much fun and she never ceases to amaze me!

She continues to grow and change each and every day. I was looking back at pictures from her first few days and it has absolutly amazed me how much she has changed since then!

Little girl just a few days old

Big girl on her six month birthday!

The day we brought her home from the hospital

This morning before leaving for school

Slowly waking up on her 6 month birthday!

Giving Mommy some smiles

Ava is staying super busy these days. She talks and coos and laughs and spends a large portion of the time with her feet in her mouth. She can sit up and is now sleeping through the night (a feat which her mother thought may never happen!). She has also started eating some baby veggies. Her favorite so far is carrots, with squash coming in a close 2nd. We are anxious to start fruits soon too.

This little girl makes my heart melt! I can't wait for all the future holds in store for her!

Sneak peek

Over the weekend, we had some pictures taken as Ava is almost 6 months old and I wanted to have some shots of her at this stage. Our great friends from Beaty Photography came and did a session with us and I got an email yesterday with this preview:

I loooooove it! :) I'm so excited and cannot wait to see the rest of the images!!!

Do you watch?

I have to say, I'm always excited when a new season of DWTS begins! I love watching the dances and how bad some of the celebrities are. Last week's season premiere promised to be another season of some interesting characters. Tonight is one of my favorite dances - the quickstep! I think this season's early front runners are Shawn Johnson and Melissa Rycroft. I also think that Steve-o, Ty Murray, Lawrence Taylor, and Steve Wozniak are going to have a tough time. So, do you watch? Who do you like this season?

Got diapers?

I apparently didn't. (Caution: poopy post ahead!)



Just a little preface to my story: I keep several diapers in Ava's diaper bag and routinely check it before we leave to make sure we're covered. While at daycare, Ava is in two rooms each day. Sometimes they forget to move diapers from one room to the other, so they grab one out of her bag if need be... and now for the rest of the story.

Ava and I were on our way to church this morning (Zach went to the early morning service) and we were almost there and I got a whiff of something. I was hoping that what I was smelling was just gas and not a poopy diaper. We got to church and I went around to get Ava to see if I could tell what was going on. My daughter has impeccable timing, and did in fact have a dirty diaper. So I got her out of her seat and started digging around in her DIAPER bag. Except today it was just her bag. There were no diapers in there!! I started getting a little nervous (read panicky) thinking, "what in the world am I going to do???" Then I had some not so nice thoughts about her daycare using her last diaper (although I realize it was as much my fault for not checking). So I laid her down to assess the damage. I was oh so fortunate in the fact that it was of a consistency that was easy to pick up with a wad of napkins and that there wasn't really any on the diaper itself!!!!! So I did what I had to do - removed the poopy with the wad of napkins, cleaned her up, and put the diaper back on! I felt sorry that I didn't have a clean diaper, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Oh, the things that mothers do!

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And just to note: even though they used her last diaper, I still love Ava's daycare and the ladies who watch her! We're very blessed to have her there.

Update and prayer request

I've had a few inquiries about the sleep situation and I'm pleased to report that since the post last Friday about Ava sleeping through the night, she has done it every night since! Most nights we don't hear a peep but there have been a few where she's woken up and then put herself back to sleep! I'm so happy we don't have to wake up and feed her in the middle of the night!!!!! I hope it lasts!

On another note - if you are the praying kind, could you please send up a prayer for our girl? She has started with a nasty cough again, similar to the one she had a couple of months ago. This poor girl just can't seem to get well and stay well. I'm wondering if this is associated with teething again, but I'm not sure. I just know she sounds awful and I'm just praying that this doesn't turn into a full blown sickness.

Thanks in advance and happy Wednesday to you!

What a weekend

Saturday morning, Ava and I packed up and headed out. We went to Little Rock with my mom and Stephanie for Steph's volleyball tournament. We spent Saturday morning doing some shopping and then headed over to where the tournament was held. We dropped Steph off, and I met up with my dear friend, Chenin. She took Ava and me out to her fiance's house to meet their puppy (and to show me where she'd soon be living!)! We had a good little visit with their pup and then headed back into Little Rock. Chenin dropped me off at Starbucks to meet up with another friend of mine.


This is Ava with Jennifer. Jennifer and her family lived in Fort Smith and we were the best of friends in junior high. It was so wonderful meeting up with her and catching up! She is expecting her sweet little baby boy, Parker, any day now, so it was especially fun to see her all cute and pregnant and talk about mommy things! I can't wait to meet her little man!

After our visit, Jen dropped Ava and me back off at the volleyball tournament. We caught two games that evening. Afterwards, we met back up with Chenin and her fiance, Chuck, for a fun-filled dinner at Macaroni Grill! By the time we got to our hotel, it was almost 10, and with the time change occurring that night, it was like it was 11:00!

We woke up on Sunday and headed to church. After that we had lunch and stopped back at the mall for Stephanie to get some clothes we didn't have time to get the day before. We went to Steph's afternoon games. Chenin came back up to watch and spend a little more time visiting, and I'm so glad she did. Of course, Ava didn't really care about getting her picture made with Chenin. It was almost the end of the day at this point, and Ava had had enough.

Ava with Stephanie's 2nd place medal


The drama didn't start until it was about time to leave. Stephanie's team had to ref the last game so I headed out to the car to load up Ava, her stroller, etc. She was incredibly tired and cranky and was hopeful she'd fall asleep and get some rest. I had started the car so the air would be on and thought it started funny, but didn't really think about it and proceeded to load everything in. When I got in, it said there was reduced engine power. I turned it off and started it again and the same thing happened. So I turned it off, and then it wouldn't start AT ALL! I tried several more times with no luck. Chenin came back to see if she could help and the dad of a teammate came out too. That car just wouldn't start. Chuck (Chenin's fiance) brought some tools out so he and the dad could try a couple of things, but no luck. By this point it was almost 6:30. Zach and my dad started out to head down to get us. Stephanie ended up leaving with a teammate so Zach ended up staying and my dad continued on. Chenin so graciously offered to drive us halfway to meet my dad so we weren't just sitting there waiting idly. I'm so glad she did because we would have been sitting there another two hours and wouldn't have gotten home until after midnight. Mom had to leave her car sitting and they had it towed and taken in this morning to find out what happened. We finally got home last night around 10:30 and it felt so good to get here. What a mess that was! But, thankfully it happened somewhere where we had people to help us and weren't just stranded. There is never a good time for something like that to happen, but it could have been much worse. Overall, we had a fun weekend!

(To see a couple more pictures of our weekend, go here and here.)

She did it!!!!

SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!

THE WHOLE NIGHT! I couldn't believe it. For the past few months she'd been sleeping more or less until about 3:30-5:00 and just couldn't seem to make it that last little bit. (And while she was sick, she started waking up even earlier, and several times throughout the night.) I woke up last night at 3:45 and realized I hadn't heard a peep from her all night. I went and checked on her and actually touched her because I couldn't see her little chest moving. Even my touching her didn't wake her up! I did hear her babbling around 5:15, but when my alarm went off shortly after 6, she was sound asleep again! She woke up for good around 6:30 - that's 10 whole hours of sleep people! I thought I'd never see the day! I'm sure I'm totally jinxing myself by writing about it, but this is as much a record keeper as it is to inform, so there ya go. Here's to an encore performance tonight!

Rambling and a makeover

So long time no post. We've been pretty darn busy around here. It seems like every time I turn around another day has passed! It's crazy!

Miss Ava seems to finally be fully recovered from her ear infection. She had a few more cranky days but appears to be back to her normal, sassy self. On Saturday we gave her her first tatse of baby food - she had some yummy carrots. She ate them up and we've only tried once more. We'll get more consistent with those foods here pretty soon when she's a little older.

We finally got a picture that shows her two little teeth - they're so cute! She gnaws on her fingers and toes and sometimes accidentally bites herself and gets really upset. I feel bad for her, but it is kind of funny!

We have a big weekend planned and I'm very excited! Ava and I are going out of town! We're headed to Little Rock Saturday morning and I'm looking forward to a great time. We'll miss Zach of course, but I know he's looking forward to a full, quiet night of sleep!

Unfortunately, life around here has been pretty boring. It's nice that way sometimes. I hope everyone is having a good week and hopefully we'll have more to report soon!

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