Let's not forget!

So for Mother's Day Katie, my sister and your Aunt got a really cool gift. It was her blog put into a book! I mean HONESTLY!!!! How fun is that?! So when Hazel is older she will be able to read all about her delivery into this world and what happened afterwards. I thought blogging to Hazel was a great idea and that is how I started blogging to you. When I read the blog last week I realized that over a month had gone by before I wrote anything down. A MONTH?!

Do you know how much you change in a day let alone a month. Man! So, I just wanted to make sure that I remember to write all the big milestones and all the little accomplishments and even all the little funny things you do. Like pucker up your lips and stick out your tongue when you eat fruit.

Or the fact that regardless of when you fall asleep you wake up at 7am.

You are totally into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. When Mickey sings the Hot Dog song at the end of the show you squeal. I know you want to clap but you still haven't figured that out yet.

I swear you have said mom and your daddy swears that you have said dada.

Anyways Ava, I love you so much it hurts. I mean just look at how cute you are!!!

Hot Summer Days

It's May. The middle of May and it's in the 90's. Yeesh.
Although last night was a BEAUTIFUL night it is safe to say that summer is here.
Ava, you are 7 1/2 months old. You are crawling all OVER the place and pulling yourself up onto anything and everything. You want to stand up at all times.

You love, love, love the park and going on the swings. My heart melts watching you get that huge grin on your face. It's as if you can't smile big enough.

We go to a place called My-Gym and you are in the Tiny Tykes class. It's a great thing to do in the summer months. We have only been a couple of times but so far you LOVE it. The second I set you down on the floor you crawl right over to the baby sitting closest to you. You smile so big and then crawl up onto their mommy. At least I can say that there is NO issue with separation anxiety. It's so fun to watch you. You are always so intense and aware of what is going on around you. I think going to MyGym will be good for you and for me. It's good for both of us to socialize.

Let's see, You love to go swimming. We went swimming today with Aunt Katie and you are so comfortable in the water which makes me happy. You automatically start kicking your legs and you constantly smile. I wish you would wear a hat though. It doesn't take long to get sunburned, even with sunscreen on. You will learn this the older you get but I hope that you will be smart and ALWAYS put sunscreen on and wear a hat and sit under an umbrella. Your mama just wants to protect that beautiful skin of yours.

You are still a GREAT eater. You will eat pretty much anything aside from bananas. You simply don't like them. We have tried you on a few "big people" food like bread...you seem to do ok and know that you need to "chew" it quite a bit before you swallow. It is so cute to watch you eat. We are working on getting you used to the sippy cup. Some days you get the hang of it...others, well, let's just say I have had to clean up quite a bit of apple water up off the floor.


We have yet to hear you laugh or do much baby talk. For the most part you are a squealer and a grunter. You can hit some pretty high octaves for a baby.


Daisy and your Daddy always make things better. They make you smile so much. I love to watch your face when you hear your daddy come in the house. You know he is there and your eyes get really big and you start looking for him. When he finally comes around the your whole face smiles and you let out this long squeal followed but a grunt. Every time. It is the SWEETEST thing ever! Daisy is very patient with you. You will crawl right up to her and "pet" her on the face or eyeball and then tug at her ear. Daisy just lays there and doesn't move a muscle. I hope you two become best buds.

I love each phase of your life Ava and at the same time look forward to the next milestone. I am beyond thankful that I am able to spend every day with you Ava.
You bring so much joy to your Mommy and Daddy.

Life in motion

Ava, In two days you will be 7 months.
Your mama can't even believe it. This is all just moving too fast.

You are crawling, sitting up on your own and pulling yourself up into a standing position. This has become your new favorite thing to do.


It is so cute. You are so proud of yourself each and every time you stand up.
You use the tops of your feet to push yourself up though. It looks like it hurts.

You are a big squealer. No laughing yet and no words just squeals. Your daddy is DETERMINED to make you laugh. It makes my heart swell just watching you two. You give your daddy the BIGGEST smiles. I have to admit that sometimes I get a little jealous. :) You adore him and he totally adores you. It's so fun to watch.

As far as eating goes....there are no problems there. You are a great little chow hound. The only things that you don't really like are bananas. You will eat pretty much anything else. Oh yeah, except for mashed potatoes. You tried those about a week ago and made it very clear that you did NOT like them.

You are almost ready to take a bath in the big tub. You try and crawl out of your whale tub now. I want to wait until you are a little more sturdy when you are sitting before I try that out.

The outside is still your favorite place. When ever you are upset or bonk your head we just open up the door and the sadness stops immediately.
You are always looking out the window while we are driving.
Your daddy bought you a little pool so we can splash in it during the hot summer days. We discovered that you love being in the water. When ever Grandma watches you she takes you swimming. She will put you on your back and you just put those arms up behind your head, get a big smile on your face and enjoy the water.
It's really stinking cute.

Let's see. You are in #3 diapers. You can fit into some 9 month clothes. Crazy. Really crazy.
You are a sweet happy little girl. We are all waiting to hear your laugh. And to see what you will sound like when you decide to start baby talk.

You're crawling.
Sniff. Sniff. My baby girl is growing up so fast. (sigh)
You are also climbing up your crib. We had to lower it today. (Finally)


I tried not to laugh too hard at you but you were ever so proud of yourself for getting up all on your own. You would squeal in delight. It was so so stinking adorable.

You love Daisy. When you are on the floor Daisy is SERIOUS motivation for you to crawl. Right when you get close enough to grab a handful of hair Daisy high tails it outta there! But you just keep on following her until she lets you "pet" her.

I am thankful everyday for you Ava. Every single second of every single day.

Just a snuggly day

Yesterday was a great day.

I decided that the laundry and sweeping could wait till you went to bed. That is was ok if the dishes sat another day cause all I wanted to do was snuggle and play with you.

You seemed to be ok with this idea. You told me so by giving me a big slobbery open mouth 'kiss' on my cheek. I have to admit that my heart melted. M-e-l-t-e-d.
Maybe you liked the idea that I was hanging out on the bed with you and all your toys instead of being in your crib while I fold laundry. Or playing with you on the couch instead of you sitting in your highchair while I do the dishes.
I gotta say....I liked it too.
My mom today told me that I need to savor every second now...that there is no past and no future, only NOW. I understand what she means. Ava, you change so much and so fast. You are only moments away from crawling.

CRAWLING.
you prop yourself up onto your elbow now and can catch yourself from falling over (for the most part)
It is so fun to watch you but at the same time it is a glaring reminder at how quickly time slips away. A reminder to take the time to play with you on the floor. To get out a few books or go for a walk and let the sweeping wait. I mean that's what socks are for right? That way I don't even know that the floor needs sweeping.
We went to the doctor today for your 6 month check up.
15.5 lbs.
27 inches.
You LOVED the very loud and highly entertaining paper that is on the doctor's 'lounge chair'. (I don't really know what to call that, It looks like a chaise lounge, only higher up and uncomfortable) That was all you wanted to touch. You kept banging your hands on it to make noise. It was really cute.

Yesterday when you woke up from your nap I walked into the room to find you LEANING over your crib trying to grab a bottle of lotion! YIKES!!!! I guess it is time to lower your crib. It is still so mind shattering how fast you grow.

You stick your tongue out now when you are happy or excited. You still are not laughing but your whole face smiles, just no sound comes out. You are "chatting' more and more. I'm looking forward to hearing that laugh of yours.

I want to savor every moment with you, every change, every milestone. I am so magically in love with you Ava. You make me laugh every day!

Another month already?!

Ava, you are now 6 months and two days. I don't EVEN believe it. It astounds me how fast time flies by.
You are wearing #3 diapers.(The same as your cousin Hazel, who just happens to be twice your age)
You are eating solid foods now. You seem to favor squash, sweet potatoes and peaches. You hold the spoon and manage to get the right end of the spoon into your mouth. Some days you gobble down the solid food, other days it just sort of oozes out of your mouth becoming a liquid art media.
You are still eating 6 oz of formula every 2-3 hours.

You still don't nap very often or for very long during the day. You seem to be a power napper. I'm not going to complain because you are sleeping through the night. I'm very lucky and thankful for that!

A couple of weeks ago you had your first major Boo-Boo. You fell off the couch and got hit your lip on the floor. And YES I was sitting right there! Gaads! Talk about a heart attack. One of your toys fell over your boppy and away you went- right over the boppy and onto the floor. Your poor little lip swelled to about 5 times it's size. If I wasn't feeling so guilty and panic stricken, I would have taken a picture. I did take you to the doctor since I was CERTAIN that something had happened. Fortunately Dr. Shultz did not laugh at me, she politely told me that "yes the first fall is always scary but she is fine and it certainly isn't going to be the last of her falls" Thanks. Your lip looked perfectly normal by the end of the night.

What else? When we are in the car you sit up in your car seat so you can look out the window. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

You have the sweetest little mouth and heart shaped lips.

You are going "bald" on the sides of your head. You are giving yourself a Mohawk. It's pretty funny looking.

You are DAYS away from crawling. You get right up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth with a look of serious concentration on your face. It's so crazy. I'm not ready for you to be mobile yet. I like the fact that you are still reliant on me.

You are getting more and more vocal. You like to sing opera ...or at least that is what Grandma calls it. It is at such a high octave it's hysterical.

I can't believe how much you change every day. I am SO thankful that I am able to be with you every day to watch you grow and learn. I love you Ava Virginia.

5 months

Oh Ava, I can't even believe it but you are 5 months. You are getting so big and changing so much. I am having the best time watching you grow.

You weigh 13 lbs 12oz and are 26 inches tall.

You are wearing #2 diapers and some of your 6 month p.j.'s are too short.

You rode in the "big girl" part of your stroller the other day, meaning no car seat. It was a big moment for your mamma, and a happy day for you. You loved your new found freedom. You could stretch your legs out and could see the world coming at you instead of trying to peer around at it in your car seat.

We are trying you on baby food everyday. You are kind of getting the hang of it. You do open your mouth for the spoon but only really "eat" every other bite or so, otherwise you just push it out. You don't crinkle up your nose anymore though so that is a good thing.

You are starting to roll over onto your belly when you are sleeping. Since you are able to roll over on your own "they" say that it is ok that you do this. I just need to keep an eye on you and make sure you haven't scooted your face into the bumpers.

You don't talk much but when you do it is loud. You still don't make any noise when you laugh....well I guess it isn't laughing yet, just a HUGE smile that looks like it should have sound to it.

You have VERY little patience with books. I hope this changes as you get older. If it has lights and noise on it then you are all over it. Otherwise....don't even bother.

You are putting anything and everything in your mouth. Everyone says "oh she's teething" but how do they really know. Did you tell them? Did you whisper it to them when I wasn't looking. "Psst, hey, don't tell my mom but I can feel my teeth coming in. That's why I'm drooling all over myself."
I don't feel anything on your gums and don't see anything.
Speaking of teeth, your cousin now has 4!!!! on the top and 2 on the bottom. It is soooooooo crazy. Ava, your mouth is so teeny tiny I can't picture it full of teeth.

Your mamma's hair is still falling out at a ridiculous amount. How I even have any hair left on my head is a mystery to me. I hope my hair follicles get back into their regular routine. The novelty of it wore off weeks ago, now it is just down right annoying.

You smile so big at everyone. I love it. Your whole face smiles. you get this little wrinkle on the right side of your nose when ever you smile.

You love love your jumperoo.....THANK THE LORD!!!! That is life saver....I can shower, do dishes, laundry.... it's fabulous. You are as happy as you can be in that thing and chat up a storm! You want your mamma to know all the cool things you are playing with.

I'm having so much fun with you Ava. Everyday is amazing. An absolute gift!

Sidenotes

I sleep more soundly and peacefully now than I ever have in my life. Maybe my brain understands that a nights sleep now does not guarantee a full 8 hours so it limits the chatter and allows my body to shut down for the night. It's wonderful...and maybe I am still enjoying the comforts of the bed after being so UNCOMFORTABLE while I was pregnant. What ever it is, it's fabulous.

Ava, you "ate" peaches today. Yay! You make your mama so proud. You reach for the spoon to put in your mouth and usually wind up gagging yourself. But you keep right on gumming that baby food. Once you get the hang of this eating thing I will start making our own baby food.

You wake up every morning between 5:30 and 6:00 to let out some serious gas. It's so funny. You don't cry or anything, you just toot. And then you are up for the morning or at least 2 hours. Then it's nap time again.

You LOVE your baths. You get this very serious look on your face when you splash the water and then you smile so big. It is so adorable.

That's all for today. I try to keep track of all your changes and milestones so that when you are older you will be able to look back at all these entries and maybe know yourself a little bit better.

You are so loved Ava. So dearly loved. I can't wait to hear what your laugh sounds like....we all are wondering.

It's Sunday

It's Sunday, February 27th. Tomorrow you will be 5 months old Ava.
Woa.
It's crazy. Crazy. Where does the time go and how can I get it all back? Seriously. I wanna go back to the day we brought you home. When I was tired, scared and in pain but so incredibly happy and proud to have you.
Oh Ava...it's so wonderful to have you in my life.
Let's see, you are a hungry girl. You eat every two hours (give or take a few) and you eat a minimum of 5 ounces.

You still aren't much of a regular napper but you are pretty regular about bedtime.
You are getting pretty animated and are starting to chat more. You still don't make noise when you "laugh". It's really cute.

I try to get most of my things done after you go to sleep at night, with the exception of dishes. It's too loud and I don't want to take the chance of waking you up.
Tonight, however, I watched the Academy Awards. Ann Hathaway and somebody Franco were down right awful. Uugh. She was, well, annoying. There is no other way to put it and he was a snoozer. That was 3 hours of my life that I can't get back. 180 minutes of wasted time. Oh well.

Okay. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. I'll just post some pictures of you to capture what's been going on with you these days.






P.S. I love you

Hi Ava....

Hello sweet baby.

How are you?

Getting bigger, you say? I know. You can wear some 6 month clothes and certainly cannot fit into NB anymore.

What's that...you're hungry? I know that too. Today you ate 6.5 ounces at one feeding. Although, you still don't like the solid food yet. You gag, crinkle your nose and push the food right out. We tried Oatmeal and applesauce yesterday but that didn't seem to tickle your fancy either. We'll keep trying.

OH...sweet pea, I know. I know you love to be outside. It's your most favorite place to be. You could be screaming your head off but the minute I step outside....all is right in the world. You open up those eyes, quite your crying and take in all that nature has to offer. Your Grandpa Bill says your daddy was the same way....Guess you take after him in more ways than one. When ever Grandma babysits she plops you in the stroller and away you to go. YOu love it and it's good exercise for Grandma.

What else is new? Your practicing your rolling over? Oh, I know.....You almost steamrolled right off the bed today. Almost gave your mama a heart attack. You prop your head up when on your belly and you finally realized that your elbows are a big help when on your belly. You want to sit up SOOOO bad. It looks like you are constantly doing crunches. It's totally adorable.

Oh Ava, I love you too. Your daddy loves you too. He loves how your whole face smiles when you look at him. You are such an amazing gift to us. I cherish and treasure EVERY SINGLE second with you.

Zip it Ma....

Sometimes I should just keep my big mouth shut.

Stop jinxing myself. Just when I thought I had it made with Ava and her night time schedule she goes and changes it on me.
Kids.
Now she has started waking up at 10pm again for a late night snack only this time around she is M.A.D. And I mean mad. It is exhau....sting.
I don't get it. I guess I'm not meant to "get it".
It's what everyone says.."just when you think you have it figured out, they go and change it on ya."
Great.

Now my neighbor, my certifiable crazy neighbor, is having a "moment" outside. I swear, if he wakes her up I will have a fit myself. Then we'll all be screaming.

It's February!

I can't EVEN believe how fast time goes by now.
Hazel,sweet little baby Hazel is now 1. She is ONE. Wha? Really? Already? My goodness. She blows kisses, waves goodbye and hello, eats avocado, steak and mashed potato's. Formula is no longer needed. She takes baths in the big girl "real" tub. She knows sign language and has taken her first unassisted steps. (granted it was only about 3 or 4 but hey! she did them all on her own!!!) She has teeth!!! Teeth for crying out loud! She takes actual bites of food. Her two top teeth are huge and so stinking adorable. She is the cutest and happiest baby I have ever seen. (aside from mine of course)

And speaking of you Ava, you are changing and growing every second! I love it so much. You still scream for half of the time when ever Grandma watches you. I feel AWFUL for Grandma cause I know how exhausting it is when you are screeching and can't be soothed. Grandma says it's because you miss your mommy and daddy since you stop crying instantly whenever Daddy comes to pick you up. :) You just miss us huh? I can live with that just maybe some days you could give Grandma a break.

We try the rice cereal pretty much everyday but you still aren't too interested in it. It just sort of sits on your lips and you give me this look like "ummm...could you please get this stuff off my lips"

I set up your jumperoo...you last about 10 minutes TOPS. It's super cute though. Your feet don't come close to touching the floor. hee hee.

You are not much of a napper. You will take about 3 30 minute naps a day. This sometimes makes it hard for your mamma to get anything done. But that is ok...I like spending time with you WAY better than doing laundry and dishes. You do however, sleep straight through the night. Going to bed at about 8pm and sleeping till about 6:30. This makes your mom and dad SUPER happy.

You like lots of action and activity going on. The busier the better for you. Outside is still the most interesting and entertaining place for you.

You are putting EVERYTHING in your mouth. Including your new favorite thing...your hands.

You grab onto your feet all the time now and can roll over like a champ. You tend to favor your right side when rolling over.

You like to watch Mikey Mouse Club House but you are only good for about 30 minutes then after that the T.V. just isn't that exciting to you anymore. Which I guess that is a good thing. (but I have to admit that sometimes I wish you would be content to watch it for a little longer than you do)

I totally adore you Ava.


I mean, come on, how could you not adore this face. This adorable little face. With your hazel/blue eyes and little button nose that crinkles up when you smile.

.....sigh....
You make my heart swell Ava!

So....What else is new?

I have come to terms with the fact that I am one of those moms. You know the kind, the ones whose topics of conversations consist of her new baby and only her new baby.
Yep. That's me.


Ava is my world. She is so amazing to me and I love her so much it hurts. My heart actually aches when I look at her cute little face as she sleeps. A-mazing.


But as much as I am involved with her and the joy that I feel when I am with her I have to remember that there are other things going on in the world. There are other people in my life who deserve my attention as well. Time doesn't stop...it actually goes by faster than I ever thought possible. It seems that I wake up, blink once and find myself wondering what we are going to do for dinner because somehow the ENTIRE day has gone by and I haven't even thought about dinner. Today I actually planned ahead. I was at the store at 3pm with a specific meal planned. I felt pretty dang good about that.

So....what else is new?

Hazel, sweet adorable Hazel is now One. I CANNOT believe an entire year has gone by already. HOLY MACARONI! She weighs 17 lbs....she is now in the 3rd% for weight. She such a shrimpy. It's so adorable. We all went out to dinner at Outback for her birthday. I think I sat down for a total of 25 minutes. Ava was having one of her "don't even THINK about sitting down" moments. uugh. It was a hectic whirlwind of a dinner. It was fun but crazy. Hazel doesn't want to sit still and neither does Ava.

Oh yea.
I now have bangs. Not too sure how I feel about that decision.

Anyway...back to Ava.
She went to the doctor the other day. She is 25 inches tall and weighs 12.13 lbs. I think 8 lbs of that 12 are in her legs and the other is in her cute little double chin. You wouldn't think she was only in the 25th percentile for weight.


Thank you Ava for coming into my life.

Growing so fast!

My baby girl, my Ava, is growing too fast.

Ava, you are 4 months already.
You have gotten the hang of rolling over from your back to your belly but sometimes you seem to get stuck on your arm and are not sure how to get it out from underneath your belly. :)

You had your first major poopy diaper blow out the other day. Mommy's friend Danielle was here to witness the major flow of poop running down your leg. I have to say it was pretty nasty.

I LOVE how you sleep with your hands behind your head.

I still can't get over how amazing it is to be your mom. Everyday you change. You reach for EVERYTHING now and you are getting pretty good at grabbing things. Your control is still a little off but you are getting the hang of it.

You sit up (with support) so good now. You are going to be a scootin machine once you figure out you can support yourself of your arms. You already "climb" over your boppy but don't know what to do once you finally get over.


You LOVE to listen to music.

Outside is your absolute favorite place to be. Today we sat outside and watched daddy give Daisy a bath. You were as happy as a clam. Speaking of Daisy, your are starting to smile and giggle when you see Daisy and reach for her. I still don't think Daisy is too sure about you yet. She is very patient with you though and sits still so you can pet her.

You are as cute as you can be Ava Virginia Dolwick.
Mommy and Daddy love you to pieces.

Oh Ava...

Ava,
You are 14 weeks a 6 days. You change so much everyday.
You now will hold your head up and prop up on your elbows (kinda) to look at yourself in your mirror

You are sleeping about 10 hours each night and have worked your daytime napping into a pretty good schedule, I use that word loosely.

You no longer need your "net" in your bath tub. You seem to like this new found freedom by showing much excitement with your kicking legs.

I moved the shoulder straps up in your car seat and took out the head support. I'm so excited for you to get older but at the same time I don't want you to. It goes by so fast. I try not to plop you in front of the T.V. (even if it is Baby Einstein) so I can get some sweeping and laundry and dishes and blah blah blah. I try my hardest to do that while you are napping...since you now will nap in your crib. Yay! I want to be there to relish in every thing that you do, every second of the day. But some days......that is hard to do, my sweet pumpkin. Much to your mama's dismay.

Uncle Marc and Aunt Andrea were in town this week. We all went to your FAVORITE place, the Botanical Gardens. You slept through most of the day. Then we all went out to dinner. Your Aunt Katie, Uncle Dave and Hazel were not there to join us this time :( They are in Kansas enjoying snow for the first time in years. (yes...I'm jealous)

Let's see...what else?
You have formula on a regular basis now.
You are starting to grab at certain toys and bring them to your mouth. You have a slight affinity to giraffes's, maybe because you have about 7 toys that are giraffe's. Go figure.


You don't scream for tummy time anymore. In fact you are just about ready to roll over from your back to your belly. You just can't seem to get past your arm. :)


You are chatting more and more.
You are becoming very interested in Daisy, she still isn't too interested in you though. She will be once you start becoming mobile and tugging on her tail.

Just when I think I can't possibly love you anymore you do something that almost makes my heart explode.

You are so much fun Ava.

The end of a Year

2010 comes to an end in one day. I cannot believe that a whole year has gone by. It has literally felt like I blinked and it was over. So many things have happened this year. So many emotions and events have taken place in these 365 days.

January was a sad month. Andy's mom, a wonderful, loving and hilarious woman, was very ill. She had been sick for much of the latter part of 2009. On January 27 Virginia Ann passed away. It was a very hard month for Andy and his family and the days since then have been met with a silent sadness. I miss her very much and wish so much that Ann could have met Ava. I will make sure to tell her stories of her Grandma Ann with the huge heart and hilarious sense of humor. I'm glad Ava's daddy has her Grandma's sense of humor.

February was met with birth and new life. One week from Ann's passing my niece, Hazel Jane Anderson was brought into this world. A beautiful magnificent gift.
12 days later I found out I was pregnant. Wha?
That was quite the Valentine's Day gift. Surprise! Who would have ever thought?!
It was a very overwhelming couple of months here at the Dolwick house.

March brought the Michigan Haidle's. It's always so great to see them. I wish we could see them more often than once a year. That trip was met with celebrations and introductions. Kelli certainly has a way with babies...Hazel was as happy as she could be in her Aunt Kelli's arms.

April. I turned 37. Big Whoop. Next.

May. I started my babysitting job with Hazel. This was the beginning of a 3 month period in my life that I will cherish forever. I am so very thankful for those days and the time that I got with just Hazel. It was helpful, educational, magical, hilarious and it made me happy that I could help Katie and Dave. May also brought the end of my working for the next 4 months. I was put on "bed rest" because I have aa short cervix. They thought I might go into premature labor. BWHAAAHAHAHAHA! Whatever.
So that will take care of June, July and August. Not much going on those months. Just spending time with Hazel, progressively getting bigger and bigger and being broke as a joke. (whatever that saying means)

September. Aaaah. The beautiful month of September. Great songs about September. Great people born in September. One in particular...Ava Virginia Dolwick. 9/29/2010. 7.15 lbs. 21 inches. Born at 1:15 on a Tuesday afternoon. Man. What a day that was.
Ouch.

November. MOM MOVED DOWN!!!!! What a great early Christmas present. Mom moved down the week after Thanksgiving. I know it was a hard move for her. She has been with Sam and Kelli for 9 years. It was a very emotional time for all of them but I am so thankful and so happy to have her here. I love love love that Ava will be able to grow up around Grandma and Grampa. It makes my heart smile! Also in November Drew became a teenager. She had her 13th birthday!!!! Scott and Tina came down to see Ava and celebrate with Drew. I can't believe she is 13. She is so mature. She is such a funny girl. She is very witty and very smart.

And now......the end of a year. My baby is 3 months! 3 MONTHS!!!! My darling little niece is going to be 11 months in 2 days! What in tarnation?! Drew is 13! She is a teenager. She has a boyfriend, for like 6 months now?! Christmas was a blast. It was a strange holiday season....it just never felt like Christmas until Christmas Day. We were all sick for most of the month, Andy and I never got a tree, I had to work on Christmas Eve, Drew was sick and none of us spent the night at Katie's. So strange. Babies sure do take up alot of your time. We broke a family record and opened presents until 10:03.... broke the record by 3 minutes. Not really because of all the gifts but because we took about 25 "breaks". Drew was beside herself. She was quite the trooper. She was a pretty patient 13 year old.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and I am not working for the first time in 10 years. I'm in unfamiliar territory. I'm not sure what we will do but what ever it is it will be perfect because I will be with the people I love.

This cracks me up!!!

I laugh out loud every time I look at this picture.
I love you my little goofy baby!

my oh my

Hello Ava,
My how you are growing.
You are 6 weeks and 6 days. I Can't believe it. Some days it feels like you just arrived yesterday while other days it feels like you've always been in my life.

Your hair is starting to thin out....much to your mama's dismay.

You are starting to make a few "baby noises" It's nice to hear something other than your hunger screams.

You don't really follow toys let alone focus in on them but you do follow people and faces. You look at us intently when we are talking to you. You watch Drew as she dances around the house.

You seems to love being on your changing table. You smile and coo constantly.

You don't go to "bed" until about 10pm. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to put you down. You still seem to like to be swaddled and in your "positioner". So when I haven't washed your postitioner it is a challenge trying to get you to stay asleep.

I love every single second with you Ava. Every single one of them.

Tonight we went out to dinner with your Aunt Tina, Uncle Scott, your two cousins.. Addey and Koby, Drew and Daddy. Then we walked down 5th Avenue while we ate ice cream. You were mesmerized by all the lights. You just stared at all of them...so content. I love the reactions from people when they see a little baby....It's like they have never seen one before. It's fun to watch them oooh and aaahh over you.

You change so much every day Ava. I'm so glad that I am able to be at home and watch each and every change.

I love you Ava baby.

5 Weeks.

Today you are 5 weeks old.

You are so adorable.
You are awake most of the day now.
You have baby acne.
You smile at the mobile when I play the music.
You eat like a champ.
You weigh 9 lbs 10 oz, your cousin weighed 9 3 oz when she was 2 months (crazy)
You grew one inch and have "exceptional head control and neck strength" Doctor's words.
You like to fall asleep on your daddy's chest. This makes my heart melt.
I love you Ava Virginia.

It's Fall

Well it is Fall here in SWFL. That means nothing to me.
Seriously. There is no crispness in the air. No leaves changing colors. No pumpkin patches that sell apple cider and apple donuts.
Nothin.
It's hot. It's humid and the pumpkins rot.
yay.
I guess I really shouldn't complain. It isn't healthy and there isn't ANYTHING I can do about it. It's where I live. I made the choice to move here. So I guess I should just shut up and learn to "live with it"
......sigh.........

Don't get me wrong. I'm beyond happy that I live here. I wouldn't change that for the world. My family is here and I found my true love here. I gave birth to my daughter here. My adorable niece is here. It's a no brainer to live here. But I REALLY miss the seasons and fall is my absolute favorite season. When I win the lottery I'm going to plan a mass family move up north. A bird pooped on me and Ava today.....apparently that is good luck so I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket tomorrow. ( I hope it's a 24 hour kinda good luck)

Anyway, I guess I get a little cynical when I have friends up north complaining about snow or posting pictures of them and their families at pumpkin patches in sweaters and cups of cider in their hands.
.............again, sigh...........

Drew graduates form high school in 5 years. Maybe by then we will all be ready to move away from the humidity and heat.
A girl can dream can't she? Ava will only be 5. She won't be emotionally devastated if we move away at that age. It's perfect. The 5 year plan.