Ava's Baptism

On Sunday Ava was baptized at our church, Faith Presbyterian in McHenry. It was a wonderful day filled with family. Everyone came to the church followed by a luncheon at Scott's parents' house. Ava was such a good girl! When the pastor was praying over her we all got a giggle because when he said "Amen," she made her baby talk like she said it too. It was cute. We were so blessed by so many! Ava's Godparents, Steve, Scott's brother and Kristie, our friend stood with us.

 One of the best stories of the day, and I won't even do it justice, comes to us by way of Ava's friend Hannah (4 years old).

Hannah and Ava

 She is in our play group and was also at church that day. Hannah's mom, Jen, and Hannah came to see us after the service was over. Jen shared that she had been explaining what baptism was to Hannah and they were talking about it all week. Hannah understands that Jesus is always with her, but like most kids, doesn't understand why she can't see Jesus. So in the most sincere, childlike manner, when Hannah saw Steve, Ava's Godfather, at the front of the church, she (understandably so) said something to the effect of, "Is that Jesus? Did He come for the baptism?" You can look at the picture below to see why.

Ava's Godparents, Kristie and Steve

On another note, I had to go back to work on Monday. :(  The hardest part was actually leaving and giving her to Scott.  He had to tell me to give her to him.  I was teary eyed then and also walking into school, but after that I was fine.  Fortunately my days fly by and are nonstop.  Unfortunately, Ava did not do as well as I did.  A combination of getting up earlier than usual and not having me home had her screaming from 6:30 - 9:30 am.  Scott was smart and didn't tell me about that until after I had gotten home.  Today was much better for her.  We are all learning...we'll get there.  I am just so grateful that she gets this time to spend with her Daddy.  Only 21 days left!  (Yes, I most definitely have a countdown!)  My friend Deb at work was so sweet - she made me a countdown chain to tear off links and a special calendar.  It is so helpful to have so much support at work too! (Thank you Kim!)

Here are some more pictures from Ava's baptism.

Here are some pictures from our last pay date before I had to go back to work.  Don't worry, Ava is not missing out on the fun - Scott will be taking her to keep up with her social calendar.  :)

Hannah, Jen and Ava

Teri and Andi

Andi and Ava

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!