What's Going On In Our World

Ava has the best sleep schedule. She wakes up at 7, takes half-hour to hour-long naps at 9 and 12 and 4 and then she is awake until 8 or 9 cause Daddy is home. Once it is dark she is asleep for good unless we are out doing something. Se eats every 3 to 5 hours at night. When we are out the world holds her attention too much and she resists sleep until we get home where she crashes. We went on a double date with Mike's brother Dave and his girlfriend Bonnie to Applebees on Saturday and Ava did really well even though she had a little fever of about 99 degrees. I'm still not sure what that was. It was gone by the time she went to bed.


This is the look she always has on her face. Strangers tell me she looks mad all the time. But I know that it means she is trying to figure out what she is seeing. It's a very serious face for a very serious baby. New people and people she doesn't like get this look. I love it. Nana says that out of her three kids Mike was the only one who made this look too. Can that sort of thing be hereditary? She tells us that Mike would scowl at almost everyone and didn't like to be cuddled or picked up by anyone but family. Ava is exactly the same. Someone at church (who shall remain nameless lest I expose her) commented that Ava is never put down. She said it like it was a bad thing! I love it that she is never alone - I think it will make her a confident and well socialized baby and child.

I had to include this picture because it is so cool. We were outside - the weather here has been downright chilly and beautiful lately. Well, the place where I put down the blanket had this cicada shell only a foot away. This bee was eating something inside or on it. It was really fun to watch him chewing away.

Ava just liked looking at the tree blowing in the wind above her. Poof - natural mobile!

Geting those hands working to the detriment of any kitty tails resting nearby! Funny thing is, MoMo has gotten so used to LuLu fighting his tail that this didn't phase him in the least!

Ava has been sleeping really well lately. She is starting to figure out how to fall asleep on her own now so there are a lot less tears and crying when she is sleepy. I used to have to take her in the bathroom and turn off the lights so that she had no stimuli. Now she's figuring out how to work through the stimuli in her life and she can get through it now. A big plus for mommy who could have pulled her hair out everytime little Ava got tired.

She has reached another weight milestone (at least as far as we are concerned). She now weighs 15 lbs - as much as our kitty MoMo! She is doing really well and has only had two illnesses. The first was a gastro thing that we all had but it didn't seem to phase her. The second was a head cold that still seems to be lingering a bit. Her nose is stuffy when she wakes which only makes her mad. She never cries about it but she grunts and snorts in frustration.

When there are toys within reach she now has control of those tricky hands. Today she switched a toy from one hand to the next! And a few times she has taken her pacifier out of her mouth, played with it and gotten it back in which leaves Mike and me saying, "Did you give her her passy?" "No, did you?" It's a really special trick! She has a very special toy - her favorite - that is a rubber ducky with plastic ropes all over it. This one is easy to hold on to and she is perfecting the toy-to-mouth trick and likes to chew the ropes. Frustration is around every turn for our super star. She wants to do more than her body allows and you'll most often hear her yelling at things when they won't do what she wants. The chair she's in in this picture vibrates and she calms right down when she's in it. It's her T.V. chair. Something I resisted doing for a long time but it's the only way to calm her down sometimes so I've promised myself that we will teach her the rules of T.V. instead and limit it.

Ava and her cousins are very close. Shawny and Ava match every Sunday for church, something Shawny adores! She tells EVERYONE about "baby Ava."

We have noticed that Hunter is very protective of Ava. We call him her little protector. Unlike the other two, he wont leave her side to go play after a while. He also doesn't beg to hold her like Shawny and Preston. He prefers to watch her and make sure she's ok. It's like she has a big brother!

Preston is ready for Ava to be bigger so he can take her outside to play on the "cabin" (what the kids call the jungle gym/swingset at Nana's house). He has had the twins to play with for so long he thinks Ava is indestructable like they are and we have to watch him closely when he holds her. He thinks he's strong enough to walk around with her and that's just a little too scary for mommy.

Thats all for now, as I'm writing she's getting hungry but I had to update everyone because my computer went kaput for a while and I missed getting some things on here.

All our LOVE!

Getting Advice From My Mommy

Me and my mom...


Ava and I are still battling the Thrush-Monster. It makes meal times very painful and difficult. Last Monday, I asked her doctor if she still had it and she said no. I wanted the pediatrician to swab her mouth and make sure we had beat this thing but she wouldn't do it and assured me it was gone. I wish doctors would listen to thier patients. At least we got rid of the symptoms for Ava. She was really uncomfortable when she first got it but now it's just killing me. I guess I can handle that as long as my little one isn't suffering.


This is just one of the many things I have gone to my mom about since I became a mommy. She's been there and done that and I'm sure at times she laughs at my inexperience. A little giggle every now and then thinking back to how she handled things and how finally I crave her advice rather than abhor it! It helps that she knows medical advice too. I think she sent this to me once upon a time...


Views of a Mother

4 years old: My mommy can do anything!
8 years old: My mom knows a lot, a whole lot.
12 years old: My mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 years old: Naturally mother doesn't know that either.
16 years old: Mother? She's hopelessly old fashioned.
18 years old: That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 years old: Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 years old: Before we decide, lets get mom's opinion.
45 years old: Wonder what mom would have thought about it.
65 years old: Wish I could talk it over with mom.


Luckily, I'm a little bit ahead at the 35 year old range! I ask my mom about almost everything that bothers me. She is the first person I think of and the first number I dial when I'm upset. I have gone to her for advice on everything from finances to dinner. Aside from my husband she is my very best friend. I'm so glad that our relationship is such that we can confide in eachother and that she feels comfortable talking to me about anything. I hope that Ava feels the way about me that I feel about my mom. Only time will tell - but I'm positive she will. :)

So last Saturday we took all the kids to the fair. Here are some pictures of that. It was fun. Ava loved the lights on the rides the best.

Baby's First Words???

Ava is blowing raspberries and trying to babble. Mostly it sounds like "Boo" or "A-boo" or "Uh-Guh". :)

I can't wait for her to start really communicating with me. For now she laughs and smiles a lot. It started by by being just when I lifted her over my head but now she laughs when I tickle her, when I pretend to eat her fingers, and when I blow raspberries back at her. All this in a matter of days! Isn't the infant mind amazing?

(Ava fell asleep in Nana's arms)

I love this journey.

Laughter... By Far the Best Yet!!!

My baby laughed today!

I was playing with Ava today doing "pushups" over my head and making faces and saying "zoom!" and suddenly she started giggling and doing big belly laughs. I got tears of joy in my eyes to hear that first happy sound. Mike got her to giggle the other day but I was in the shower and missed it. She is a very quiet baby. She hardly ever cries and usually smiles at me but it has been rare to hear her babble. And suddenly - laughter. Ah bliss!

We went to a lactation meeting today and met two more moms. One was from Utah so that was a little weird. Their babies were around 2 weeks each. They were so tiny! Ava was so big when she was born - 9.5 lbs - so seeing a baby that is 6 or 7 lbs is so strange. They look so frail, tiny and wrinkly and it makes me count my blessings that my little one is so big!

It is funny to look back and seeing those babies all sleepy and newborn was just another happy moment to see how far Ava has come already.

Poke, Poke, Poke... Cry!

Ava had her first set of shots today. No, that's not true, her first shots were in the hospital but I'm sure she doesn't remember those. And there's also the fact that they took her away to do that to her in the hospital. Mommy didn't have to suffer too.

The first shot she just looked at me like "what was that?" But the next one she turned beet red and then the third came and she wailed! Luckily her comforter is being breastfed. There's one of the many reasons why breastfeeding is awesome. I think I freaked the nurse out when I whipped out my breast and attached my baby to it. She quieted down instantly.

It's funny how I am such a modest person (by today's standards), but when my baby is hungry, I lose all inhibitions and take care of her needs at all costs. Mind you I would never do it around a man, but women all around me beware... if my kid is screaming, you may just get a peep show!

Ava weighed 13.13 this week. She is 24 1/2 inches long and her head is now 15 1/2 inches. I asked the doctor about her size and she says she is normal for her height, which is normal when you look at me and her daddy. I am comforted a lot by this info.

We also got a bunch of zucchini from someone at church and I am looking forward to testing out some new recipes (cooking is my favorite hobby now). And there are a few old recipes I like with squash that I am happy to be able to cook again. I'm really looking forward to trying zucchini bread for the first time - wish me luck!

Also, we got a pet frog. His name is Kermit! LuLu loves him - or wants to eat him, who knows?

Ava is here...

AVA (9 1/2 Weeks Old)

I have been looking for a way to keep in touch with family and friends for a while now and happened across a friend who was doing a blog. It looked so good I thought I would give it a try. This is a great way to post pictures of Ava for our loved ones who don't have Facebook.

I have been doing so well. I think I am facing the challenges of motherhood in stride but I'll admit at times it's all I can do not to scream at people. Having a newborn out in the world is hard. I constantly worry about things that could happen. I am working on relaxing more and letting people hold the baby. That is probably the hardest part. Trusting others to care for her as well as I do. I know when she laughs, why she is laughing... why she cries and what she wants... when she makes a face what it means. How can I trust others to know her as well as I do? I spend 24 hours a day with my mini-me. -Sigh- Time to focus on letting the stress go.

My-oh-my how the time has flown. Ava and I are in a wonderful schedule now. She sleeps through the night. First for five hours and then eats then she's back to sleep ever so easily and sleeping for another three hours and then another three after a quick bite to eat. She's so happy when she wakes up. She smiles a big toothless grin when she sees my face right when she wakes up. She is sleeping with me still. It is so much easier to pull her to me to feed without waiting for the desperate cry that I dread hearing when she is really hungry or unhappy.

She is turning into her own little person now. No longer the shapeless newborn that she was. Her face is developing into the beautiful little girl she will be. Being the mother of this child is the fruition of everything I have ever wanted. How the good Lord could trust me with this precious life is beyond my understanding. I just hope I can do my best and be every bit the mother my mom was/is.

Ava will be 10 weeks on Saturday. We are really looking forward to her meeting Noni Trudy and Grandpa Bearden in October when they come to Columbia. She will be around 5 months old then. I wonder what will change by then!