Just the four of us

This weekend we spent a lot of time at home just hanging out. Ok, we do that every weekend now that Ava is in our lives. She has definitely slowed us down and it's those lazy days at home with just the 4 of us that I love the most. (Macy makes 4, you know that by now right?).

"Give me a sip Dad." She now grabs for EVERYTHING! It's cute but we have to be careful.

We put Ava in her Baby Bejorn facing front for the first time this weekend. Why have we not tried this sooner? She LOVED it! And so did we. The weather was so pretty this weekend that we spent a little time outside enjoying the nice breeze.

Macy saw a squirrel run up a tree at the park and so she now thinks that every tree has a squirrel in it. We tell her to go find the squirrel and this is what she does.

Really this is what she does, jumps in mid air to try and get up the tree. Silly dog. She amuses us.

If your happy and you know it

Here are some cute pictures that we have taken recently of our happy baby.

Still loves riding in the car.

She now sleeps entirely on her tummy when she is in her crib. We put her down on her back and before we even leave the room she has rolled over onto her tummy.

Good Morning!

Checkin out her new high chair. She looks like she is ready to go sky diving with all those straps! They will for sure end up in her mouth.

Turning into such a big girl

Last playdate with the Halvorsens

Yesterday we had another playdate so we could see Stephanie and Derek one last time before they move to Florida. Stephanie has become such a wonderful friend of mine. She is one of those people that you meet and just instantly connect with. She is so easy to talk to and makes you feel very special. She is a Corpus girl like me so we already had that common bond. We have worked together the last two years and grew especially close last year when we were both preggos.
Steph, you're a rare gem! Everyone that knows you just adores you. You are going to be terribly missed along with that precious baby of yours! I know we will be friends forever. Whenever you are in Corpus for the holidays call me so we can meet up at Kiko's for some yummy queso and margaritas! Enjoy Florida and don't make too many new friends. ;)

We're going to miss you Steph and Derek!

Best buds- Derek and Ava

Ava loved playing in Carter's jumperoo! Like her flower pin? It's my latest craft craze. Although I don't think it is suited for babies. She slobbered all over it and it "wilted" fast so I had to take it off.

Look at Carter sitting up all by himself! Such a big boy!

Ryan and Ava. She was staring at his pretty eyelashes.

Ava and Mommy

Our playgroup is expanding. There were two new additions yesterday and they were boys!

5 Months Old

Smiling and sucking on fists (two of her favorite things this month)

Little Miss Ava is 5 months old today! She is growing and changing by the day. This past month has been one with the most changes. Ava has hit many milestones in her 4 month and it has been so fun to watch her discover new things. The way she stares at our faces, her dog Macy, trees, flowers (just to name a few), reminds me to take a step back and admire God's beautiful creations as if I am seeing them for the first time too. Her eyes have been filled with such wonder and it makes me so happy to watch her soak up everything around her.

Here are some of her firsts this month:

*Sitting in bumbo seat

*Grabbing toes

*Rolling from front to back and back to front (this is not a daily occurence but has happened a few times so it is worth noting)

*Eating first solid food- rice cereal

*Giggling regularly (rasberries and kisses on the belly usually do the trick)

*Sleeping in crib (no more swing! woohoo! time to pack it away)

*Sleeping on tummy in crib

I often look back at her newborn pictures and it always brings tears to my eyes to remember those first precious moments with her. When we dropped Ava off at the hospital nursery shortly after she was born I had tears streaming down my face and our nurse, looking stunned, asked if I was ok and I remember just feeling such disbelief that she was really mine. I still

have those same feelings and emotions and I sometimes feel as though I am living in a dream.

Here are some more pictures from this past month that we wanted to share.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She did it!

Well, after almost 5 months of sleeping in her swing in our bedroom we finally put Ava to sleep in her crib for the night on Saturday. It has been a long time coming but I have no regrets for letting her sleep in her swing as long as she has. I think because of her torticollis she was much more comfortable sleeping in her swing and she has always slept great in it so we didn't want to force the crib sleeping until we felt it was necessary. Over the past 2 or 3 weeks she has been wiggling around more in her swing and lifting her head up so that was the first sign of her needing some more space and wiggle room. We knew it was going to be tough the first night or two because we are breaking her of so many things that she is used to having to fall asleep (being cradled in her swing, the swinging motion, paci, snuggly, and sleeping by our bed). Now that Mike is done with school and visitors have gone we decided Saturday was going to be the day. We have read Richard Ferber's book and wanted to try the "progressive waiting approach" where you lay them down in the crib (with no sleep aids) and you check on them in increasing time intervals if they are crying. Many friends have used this method and we were hopeful that it would work and quickly at that. I didn't want the crying to be prolonged any longer than it had to and I wanted her to be able to fall asleep completely on her own so that she could get herself back to sleep when she wakes in the middle of the night. So we braced ourselves for a long night on Saturday. I had butterflies all day long just thinking about it. Hearing Ava cry is the worst sound to my ears and I was not looking forward to it. When we layed her down in her crib for the 1st night she smiled back at us and seemed pretty awake. The smile didn't last long but it was really cute and I took it as her way of saying "mom and dad it's going to be ok, I still love you". I had to remind myself of that constantly while she was crying. She did cry for quite awhile that first night until she finally put herself to sleep. Mike had the 1st shift and so he went and checked on her during the toughest part. I could tell it was hard on him because I told him that I wanted to go and walk the dog to get out of the house while she was crying and he didn't want me to go. These kinds of things cannot be done alone and take total teamwork. I was not surprised at how long it took her to fall asleep the first night but I am surprised that she slept as well as she did once asleep. She woke up a few times off and on but most of the time she would just put herself back to sleep without us having to go in. There was only one time that I needed to continue to check on her but it only lasted maybe 30 minutes and then she was back asleep till the morning. Our 2nd night was last night and she did even better! She went to sleep within only a minute or two of fussing and she slept till 5:30!! I let her cry for a little while but then fed her because it was close to feeding time anyway and she didnt seem like she was going to go back to sleep. After I fed her she fell asleep again and slept in her crib till 9! We have not slept that late in a very long time. It was so nice! We will see how she continues to do, as I am sure there will be some setbacks, but considering what a big change this has been for her she has done remarkably well and I am very proud of her. :)

Ava's first taste of solid food

On Wednesday we fed Ava rice cereal for the first time. At Ava's 4 month check up the pediatrician said I could start Ava on solid food but I wasnt quite ready to yet and she wasn't really either. I wanted her to be able to sit better in her bumbo seat and have a little better head control before starting. Over the past two weeks she has been sitting better in her seat and she has been very interested in watching us eat. I took that as our cue to start solids. I didn't expect her to like it as much as she did! I mixed the cereal with breastmilk and made it very runny for her first taste so maybe she thought I was just feeding her breastmilk from a spoon. Ava has been doing her little motor mouth sounds a lot these days and my mom warned me that if I keep encouraging it she is going to do it when she is eating and spit everywhere. Mom, you were right! You can see her doing it a little bit on the video. It's really funny so I don't know how I am going to put a stop to that.

By the way, I didn't realize when the video was rolling or that I was even in the video! Excuse any long pauses or weird faces on my behalf.

Weekend Update

We recently had all of the grandparents in town to help us celebrate Mikey's graduation. It was so sweet of them to come in town and show their support. We are all so proud of him. Ava got her fair share of lovin as well! She is the first grandchild on both sides so there is no shortage of hugs, kisses, and gifts for this little girl!

Ava, Great Granny Jean, Papa Mike, Me

Ava and Granny Jean

Ava showing off her SMU pride in her daddy's honor

Papa Jim, Gramielle, Gigi, B-Pop

Bri, Kay Kay, and Ava

Ava is so cute to watch these days. Her hands continue to take residence in her mouth, I am expecting a tooth to sprout any day, but lately she has been staring at her hands and fingers more. I love watching her wiggle her fingers and stare at them so intently. She is already practicing her ballet hands.

She also loves to touch faces, especially her dad's.

Ava is doing great with her physical therapy. Her PT has been pleased with her progress. Here she is doing one of her neck stretches. It's a good one because it tilts her head in the opposite direction of her torticollis. She doesn't mind it either which is a great sign.

Smile pretty girl!

My mom and Bri stayed with us till Wednesday and while they were here my mom did crafts! She decoupaged some things for her and her work friends. They turned out cute!

Mom and Bri always watch Ava so we can have a date night while our "babysitters" are in town. Take 1... what is he doing?

Take 2...acting like adults and posing for a real picture! ;)

Baby Giggles and Baby Crushes

She did it! She finally giggled and it was the cutest thing ever. I am not surprised that this was the week for her to burst into laughter. She has been such a happy baby lately. I credit it to good rest. Her naps are getting so much better. She is taking at least two long naps and a few short ones later in the afternoon and still going to sleep around 7:30 at night. Go Ava!

We also had a playdate at my house with Leanne and Carter, Stephanie and Derek, and Amy and Brinley. Ava loved staring at her friends and talking to them. She is so interested in other babies.

Carter, Derek, and Ava telling secrets during tummy time. Derek was not digging tummy time. He's still so little to really enjoy it.

Derek did however like laying by Ava. She was talking so sweetly to him and touching his chest. You can't help but grin ear to ear when you see things like this.

Brin, we are sorry we didn't get any pictures of you and your sweet mommy! Ava loved your jeans. She wants a pair!

Look What I Can Do

Sit by myself and play in my exersaucer

Grab my toes

And roll from front to back

Friend and Family Fun

We had some fun happenings this week with friends and family!

Ava finally met her friend Sally. She loves her big red Texas hair! (Rikki and Sally moved to Oklahoma recently but we know they are Texans at heart!) We were so happy that they stopped by when they were in town.

This picture makes me laugh. Ava's cradle cap is finally starting to loosen and it must be itchy because she has started scratching it. It's funny to see her scratch it and I am just so amazed that she now realizes her hands are functional.


Just a cute picture of my cutie! She is changing by the day!


Wednesday night I met some sweet friends at a restaurant for a baby shower honoring Julie and Kathleen. They are both expecting their 3rd baby, yes I am friends with some true experts! When I joined their bible study several years ago Kathleen and Julie were both pregnant with thier first babies. Since then we have celebrated numerous births in the group. I was always the listener when it came to baby talk and now I can participate in the conversation. I appreciate each of them very much and feel very fortunate to call them friends.

Do I even need to say why I posted this one? Nothing like seeing your baby in your husband's arms! She loves her daddy I tell ya! We usually sit out on the patio in the evenings because Ava loves being outside. It helps calm her during those fussy evening hours.

Balloons and champagne to celebrate the end of grad school!

Granny Jean and Kassandra stopped by for a visit. We try and see Granny Jean at least every other week because she can't stand to not see Ava. She absolutely loves that little girl and just melts everytime she sees her. I love seeing them both so happy to see one another.