So excited for Summer!

We are so excited that summer is here!  I have been thoroughly enjoying my time with Ava Bear and Scooter.  We have been very busy since our last post.  Before i get to all that though, I realized that I didn't put up any pictures of what I got for our anniversary and for Mother's Day.

 For our one year wedding anniversary, Scott got me this beautiful necklace!  It has many different meanings.  First, it is white gold for my golden birthday in January, it has Ava's birthstone, amethyst, for her birth in February and it has her name engraved on the feet as the product of our marriage in March.  :)  I love it!  You can just see the engraving on it if you enlarge the picture.

Ava was very busy for Mother's Day.  She made me this garden stone with Grammy and Grandpa's help.  Her feet are in the middle.  Apparently it is a little difficult to get a 3 month old to keep her feet still :)  It has a place of honor right by all of the flowers that Scott planted for Mother's Day.  She also, with the help of her Daddy, got me a digital photo frame to fill with her pictures and a story book to read together.  It was a wonderful day!

Now onto our summer fun so far.  Ava went to her first softball game a couple of weeks ago to cheer on her Daddy and Uncle Steve.

This leads me, unfortunately, to:

Rookie Mommy Error #6

Never, no matter how centered on the bleacher and how low to the ground it is, ever put a baby carrier, with said baby strapped into it, on a bleacher.  It will fall over.  

My heart leapt into my throat with the sound of Ava in her carrier crashing to the side.  Thank God the handle was up and she just went sideways.  For the record, the straps on those carriers work EXTREMELY well.  She didn't go anywhere, well except sideways in between the bleachers.  She was just looking at me like, "Hey, I'm sideways, what's going on?"  In the split second it took to happen I jumped to her and quickly righted the seat.  Much to my chagrin, it was before the game and ALL of the guys on the team immediately were saying, "Did you drop the baby?!?!"  I took her out and walked her over to Daddy and he reassured me that she looked fine...and then proceeded to ask Ava, "Did Mommy drop you?"  Yeah, 'cause I didn't already feel awful.  The following morning when taking her inside to Grandma's before work I noticed some orange stuff on her ear.  I was so worried about it that on my way to work I googled what the color of brain fluid was.  I felt just terrible.  Of course I overreacted - it was ear wax.  Oh well.

When it was nice and hot this past weekend Ava got some pool time in.  We were all very excited for her to get in for the first time.  

We practiced inside the house before it was filled too!

Sporting her swimsuit cover up.

Her first dip in the pool!

She loves "floating"!

Mostly we have just been hanging out at home, enjoying our time together.

What are you lookin' at?

A girl and her dog.

Driving Daddy's car

I did not pose her - she fell asleep like this.

Cheese!

Tummy time with Scooter.

 I was feeding Ava in the wee hours of the morning the other day and as I was sitting in bed with her, with Scott and Scooter asleep in the bed too, I realized that I have everything I could possibly ever want in that bed with me.  Such an amazing, full feeling. :)  I can't believe our peanut will be 4 months old tomorrow!  Time flies...

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Our lil' cutie has started to laugh! Her first one was on Friday.  It has only been a few times but we managed to get one on video.

The first time she did it we were eating dinner, not entertaining her in any special way and she just giggled.  We both dove for our phones to get it on video but of course she stopped.  She adores Scott and he is the best at making her laugh so we kept trying until we finally filmed one.

Today is my very first Mother's Day.  Ava and Scott spoiled me.  We spent the afternoon planting flowers and relaxing.  (I use we very loosely - Scott did all the planting while Ava, Scooter and I watched.)  :)

I am counting down the days until I can be with Ava! 7 full school days and 1 hour until I am free.  I can't wait to spend this whole summer together!  We will be busy, but in the best possible way.  Ava will be at her very first softball game on Monday cheering on her daddy!  We will also be taking her to a Cubs game and a Sox game at some point this summer too.  Did I mention that we think she may be teething?  Constant drooling and hands in the mouth...I hope it's not it yet.  She's getting too big too fast.

Rookie Mommy Error #5

Giving your baby her first injury involving blood - be careful with nail clippers.  :(

I didn't even notice that I did it at first.  She didn't cry at all, I just noticed a spot of blood on my shirt.  Unfortunately it was on the tip of her thumb, I think I just knicked it, but it still kept bleeding.  I have decided to stick with the nail file for a while.  On a happy note, today it is just a little spot - no bigger than a pin prick.  I'll be more careful next time (or just make Scott clip her nails).

3 Months Old

Our baby girl is 3 months old!  She is growing and changing every day.  At her appointment today she was 23 1/8 inches long (still 50th percentile), she weighed a whopping 12 pounds and 6 ounces bringing  her up to the 50th in that as well and her head is now 15 1/4 inches - in the 20th percentile.  Ava is now "talking" like crazy and loves being on her play mat with her birds.  She has discovered her hands and they are constantly in her mouth.

Being away from her all day has been tough.  I most definitely rush home as soon as I am able.  Here is a video clip of my reason to race home each day.

She has been having a fantastic time with Daddy though.  I get daily photos and videos sent to me so I can see how she is doing.  They even went to a play date last week, I know the girls made Scott feel welcome.  :)  Only 14 more school days and I will be with her again!  My kids were so sweet when I came back though.  They made me a huge sign, wrote a book on how to take care of Ava and made lots of cards and letters.

I am already making plans for all that my girl and I will be doing this summer.  Lots of play dates, walks and hopefully learning to sleep through the night.

It was so hot inside we just went with the diaper.

First ride in her big girl stroller

She actually grabbed it!

How you doin'?

BFF

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