Perspective

The time has finally arrived. I go back to work on Monday. I've been dreading this day just because I will have to leave Ava. I think that I need to *try* to change my perspective though. I have had 11 weeks to spend with my baby girl, one more than I had originally planned - bonus! I have gotten to learn her semi-routine, how to make her smile and how to bring her comfort. While I will miss her like crazy I know that she is going to get some amazing, quality time with her daddy. I know that she will be in good hands - and those hands love her just as much as mine do. It's hard not to be sad though...I know I will make it. You better believe I will be rushing out of those school doors as soon as I am able though. I've gained a new perspective in these past 11 weeks. Being a mommy will make me a better teacher I think. I believe that I will have more patience and more compassion for my students now. I might stop and think how my baby would feel in given situations. She has given me a new view on my day-to-day. On the same note, I will no longer be the first one there and one of the last to leave. (Not that I was there late every day, but those days are gone.) Perspective. I will do my job to the best of my ability in the time that is allotted during my workday - but I have another job now too. My job is to be there for my little girl and not miss those important moments. Of course I would stay home full time if I could, as would most of us, but I will take my time as I can. I will make the most of the moments I have. Perspective. So in 11 weeks my world has changed. I am in love with my baby girl. I am in love with my husband in a whole new way. I am excited to see the world through a new pair of eyes. Perspective. Do you have yours?

Loves her baths!

Last Week

This is my last week with my sweet girl before I have to go back to work. :( I am so sad! I know that I am so fortunate that there will only be one month 'til summer break but facing that month seems terrible. I have cherished every bit of time I have had with Ava. I know that she will be just fine-it's me that will have the problem. So this week I will make the most of everything. But I will be counting down the days until school is done!

My Hiccup Monster

Ava gets hiccups all the time. I think it's hilarious. Here is a clip of one of her hiccup episodes.

Ava's First Easter

We had a very busy Easter weekend! To begin, we colored eggs! Ava was a big help. We learned that the pink color is not very effective and the magic crayon did not work it's magic. Nevertheless, our first egg coloring was a success! On Saturday we spent the afternoon with my family for Easter and then after church on Sunday we spent the afternoon with Scott's family. Ava got her first Easter basket and went on her first Easter egg hunt! The first picture at the top has a little bunny in it, that was actually my bunny, it was made by my Grandma - so Ava's Great Grandma!

Story about the last picture: Ava was laying in her bassinet sleeping. I heard her wake up and do her typical talking and kicking around. I checked on her and she was fine, still just playing. A couple minutes later I checked on her again and this is how I found her. She has a future in gymnastics, that or Cirque du Soleil, haha. She's so funny.

Ava's acrobatics

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.