TIme to Catch Up!

It's been a while since the last post...I have been having trouble uploading pictures to my computer (anyone know what a startup disk is?!?!). And we have to have pictures for the blog! I have found a way around it so far, but I have to figure it out!

Since that time, a lot has gone on! For our anniversary, mine and Ava's surprise project was to get pictures taken of us for Scott. We loaded them (and many others) onto a digital frame for him to keep at work. It was a successful present! Scott got me a 3-fold present - for my golden birthday, Ava's birth and our anniversary - it's a necklace that has two little feet with Ava's name engraved on them and her birthstone, Amethyst as one of the toes. It is adorable and I love it. Great job Scott!

We have lunched with friends, had friends over to meet Ava and all around just enjoyed our time together. Ava's smiles are much more frequent and I love each one I can get. She is "talking" a lot more now too. She is most responsive to "conversations" with Scott. She loves her Daddy and I love hearing them interact with one another. Ava has even seen 2 movies in the theatre already! Her first was Casablanca and then we also saw Hunger Games. That's really saying something because she has gone to the movies more often than Scott and I did in the previous two years. Ava also had her first bottle. It was an adjustment at first for her, but she got it eventually. That makes me feel better knowing that she will be able to eat out of the bottle when I have to go back to work.






I was so excited to figure out that I had an extra week of maternity leave! Even though I really would rather not go back at all this year, that extra week made me feel so good. I will return to work on the 23rd. It's coming too soon, so I am just focusing on our time now.

Ava is two months already!! She is tipping the scales at 10 pounds 10 ounces. She's still in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height at 22 1/2 inches. She is too long for most of her 0-3 month clothes so we are moving onto 3 month outfits. (It's funny because other than length they are huge on her, especially around her little waist, but we'll make do.) Her head has finally grown out of teeny, tinydom too! She is now in the 25th percentile for her head at 15 inches (I think she may be getting a big ego!) :)

This weekend we will have Easter with both of our families, complete with her first egg hunt on Sunday! We will even be dying eggs this year! I know that I am the one that is most excited about this - but you only get all of those firsts once, right? I will be updating with more pictures right after Easter! Enjoy your weekend and remember the Reason for the Season!

One Year

One year ago, today, I married my very best friend. And each day since then has been better than the last. Each day I am a better person because of Scott. Our journey has begun and I can't wait to see where it takes us. No matter the road that we are on, as long as I have him I know I will never be lost.

Play Date at the Park

On Wednesday Ava and I joined our favorite friends for a play date at Veteran's Acres. It was a gorgeous day! Our little friends had fun playing on the equipment and going for a walk by the lake. Our little Ava slept through the entire thing - that seems to be par for the course with us and play dates. As she is getting bigger she is spending longer periods awake though, so hopefully we will actually get to play at a play date soon. :) Being such a beautiful, warm day I made a couple more errors.

Rookie Mommy Error #3

You should have sun screen with you at all times.

Rookie Mommy Error #4

A baby needs a sun hat.

Luckily for me (and Ava) my other mommy friends are more prepared than I am. Jen had a great organic sunscreen with no harmful ingredients and Teri had an extra hat. So we borrowed Andi's hat and put a little lotion on our cheeks and went about our nap (play date). Side note - Ava now has good sunscreen and 5 sun hats. What? A girl has to have options!

As the days are growing longer our little girl is getting bigger. I had to put away the newborn clothes this weekend (read: a sad little tear here), our peanut is so long that her little toes were curled at the end of her sleepers. She's so skinny though that all the 0-3 month clothes swim around her. Better to be comfy than scrunchy. As I said earlier, she is awake and alert more often now...usually at night, I mean past your bedtime at night. We'll get it eventually. :)

Here are some pictures of us and our friends.

A Beautiful Week!

We are loving the weather lately!! We were so excited to actually get outside and go for a stroll. Ava and I have been busy working on a surprise for Daddy to celebrate our anniversary - we can't tell you yet, but we will show you some photo evidence next week. :)

Last week we had our first bout with an upset tummy. I felt so terrible for our little girl. She'd cry whenever she had to go or when she had her diaper changed. I even took her to the doctor on Thursday - she is a whopping 9 pounds and 4 ounces now! Whether or not she maintained that wait with her extra output is another story. Thankfully that is behind us now. I know that it will only get harder when she is sick - it's tough when she's not able to tell you what's wrong or if she's dehydrated. Scott and I had many a conversation on whether or not her soft spot was sunken in to indicate dehydration. Poor kiddo, we kept staring at it trying to decide. At least we know the signs to look for next time.

So my very favorite TV show is NCIS. I don't miss an episode, and that includes most reruns - I've probably seen all of the older episodes at least 3 times. One of the main characters, Gibbs, has these rules that he abides by, and his fellow agents are always reciting them. Being the NCIS nerd that I am, I have started a list of said rules, so I have a hodge podge of random rules listed (they aren't in every episode and they aren't in any order.) What is the point of this story? I'm glad you asked.

I am starting my own list of "rules" only they are not rules. They are "Rookie Mommy Errors".

Rookie Mommy Error #1

Do not give your baby that still has no control over her flailing arms a hard toy to hold on to.









I chose the soft rattle after that.


So as I mentioned earlier, we were able to go out for our first stroll today. We were very ambitious and even took Scooter with us. He did such a good job though. I was so shocked! Usually on a walk he tugs and runs ahead but with Ava he walked right next to us at a nice leisurely pace. We still have to work on when he sees his "friends" along the way. He was a little too excited when that happened. That walk leads me to my next error.

Rookie Mommy Error #2

Just because your baby has on sunglasses and a knit cap does not mean her face is protected from the sun.

She was a bit red when we returned. I am hoping it is from being a little warm and not sun-kissed cheeks. I knew there was a reason for the hoods on the car seat. :) I think she will be fine.





We are very much looking forward to the rest of our week! We have our first picnic with Ava's friends tomorrow and we are hoping to get more walks in (minus the sun in her eyes) each day. Stay tuned for our surprise project!

One Month

Our little girl is one month old already! I cannot believe how time has flown by. It has been the best month of my life.




For her one month birthday yesterday, we had her one month check-up. She is now 8 pounds 14 ounces (25th percentile), 21 inches (50th percentile), and her head is 14 1/8 inches (10th percentile). The doctor said she looks great and all is well. We are still trying to figure out how to help her belly, but other than that, things are pretty good. She had to have her first shot :( I think it would have been fine except for when the nurse stuck her with the needle, she let go and the needle fell sideways - while inside of her leg!! I couldn't believe it. Of course Ava screamed. I felt so bad for her. When it was over I was able to pick her up and she calmed down. Fortunately, we don't have any more shots for another month. I'm afraid that soon we will be moving out of newborn sizes and onto 0-3 months. I am really sad about this. I wish she could stay tiny for just a little bit longer. It is amazing to see her grow and change each day though. She is awake and alert more often and developing her own little personality. Her eyes are still a grayish blue color - we will see if they stay that way.




We have had a lot of firsts these past couple of weeks. We had our first bedtime story, Goodnight Moon, and have read our stories almost every night since. We had our first play date with our friend Andi. Ava was so excited that she just slept the whole time. Oh well, it was good for Mommy. We have started tummy time - which we are not thrilled with yet, but she seemed to enjoy playing on her play mat. We took her to church for the first time and to her first restaurant. Fittingly enough, her first restaurant was also the same place Scott and I had our first date, Chili's. (Same chain - different building) :)






We have been so blessed this month. We are very much looking forward to all of the wonderful memories still to come.

21 Things I Love

Ava is 3 weeks old! To celebrate, I have a list of 21 things that I have loved about these 21 days...
I love...
1. Being a Mommy
2. Seeing how calm she is in Scott's arms for a bath
3. Her yawns
4. Watching Scott be a Daddy
5. Scooter's concern for her
6. Her tiny hands and feet
7. Her smile (even if it is from gas)
8. Her little nose and her sneezes
9. The way she snuggles in when laying on my chest
10. Her noises
11. Holding her
12. Her eyes - taking everything in
13. Being able to comfort her
14. Kissing her little face
15. All the funny faces she makes
16. The way Scott reads her a bedtime story
17. All the nicknames she already has
18. Her scent
19. The way she sticks her legs out and up when they are being rubbed
20. Staring at her for hours
21. Our little family