Happy 7 months Ava!

Gosh, it's been over a week since I last posted--I suppose that shows how busy things are getting around here!! Being outdoors in this lovely weather lately has trumped blogging...but, as a result I have lots to share!

Happy 7 months to our lil peanut first of all! Her little personality is shining brightly these days! This child is all over the place--rolling and scooting that is, no crawling yet! :) She scoots backwards and sideways and shimmys forward to get where she wants to go. Pretty darn cute!! She doesn't quite sit up yet for very long periods at a time. She will sit for a couple minutes-with me close by to break her wobbly fall. She's gettin' there!

Hmm...what else is new with our munchkin. Oh, she is obsessed with tags!! Never met a baby so crazy about the simplest things! As I've said before, she hates binky's but will suck on the tag on her blanket forever. Very funny. When we lay her down for a nap we rock her & she sucks on the tag of her blanket and it puts her right to sleep. Who woulda thought? :)

It's fun to watch the excitment in her eyes when she discovers something new. She scooted off her blanket onto the hardwood floor the other day while she was playing in the living room and discovered that the floor makes a loud noise when she slaps it--so she slapped it over & over & over--then looked up at us and smiled. Ha! She is too cute!!

No teeth yet, either. She loves to eat though (as if you couldn't tell ;)!! She is on a pretty regular schedule...she eats cereal & bananas in the morning, pears at lunch, and usually peas or squash & cereal at dinner. So far so good on food--she eats just about everything! She's a little funny sometimes about green beans but I pureed them a little thicker so I think its the texture that confuses her. I made some peaches today so I'll introduce those next week. And maybe some prunes soon too--her bowels would benefit. :) Still takes her bottle every 3 hrs as well--growing girl!

She babbles up a storm all day long!! I hear da-da in there--but I'm sure she doesn't relate the word with her daddy yet. She babbles to herself in the morning before I go in to get her like she's having a conversation with someone--I just lay there in bed and listen to her...its too cute!

I love how portable she is!! I can take her anywhere and she loves watching everything around her--which keeps her occupied while I get my shopping done and errands ran. She likes to sit in the shopping cart and play with the little toys on her shopping cart cover--but what she REALLY likes to do is chew on the price tags of clothes!

Time for a new car seat for Miss Ava!! I've been doing my homework on these things since I hope to only have to buy one more that will last into her toddler years--these puppies are not cheap!! I think I have it narrowed down to 2. I would love to hear suggestions and/or comments on what others have tried and loved or hated. I have a 4 door car so it has to be somewhat compact, or at least easy to fit in and adjust in my car. Ava is right around 19 1/2 lbs so her infant seat is too itty bitty nowadays! I'm sad but also excitied that she is growing, growing, growing!!

Her hair is getting so thick and long! I can put bows in her hair! YAY!! I hated those headbands because they always left a big dent in her scalp but these bows I got are fantastic!! She leaves them alone, unless she sees the bow in my hand first--then she tries to grab my hand and the bow and stick it in her mouth--of course--everything goes in her mouth :)

She's been sleeping wonderfully at night! We increased her bedtime bottle to 7 ounces and she sleeps like a charm. She usually wakes up around 5:30 or 6--which is entirely too early for momma to get up on her day off :)--so I give her an ounce or two bottle and she falls right back into dreamland until about 7:30 or 8. She takes about 3 naps a day...about 2 to 3 hours apart. Her bedtime is 7:30-7:45pm on my days off and about 8:15-8:30pm on the days I work since I don't get home until 8:00 usually. Moving her bedtime back just a little has helped her sleep better at night as well. One would be amazed at how much better a baby sleeps when she is kept on schedule!

She wears size 12 month clothes and size 4 cruisers--she is rather long for her age!! Ok, and a little chubby--she's got no failure to thrive that's for sure! :)

Well, I think that covers it for this month!! :-)



Lil Stinker ...



Mommy & Ava



"Here's what I look like after mommy takes my bow out of my hair--now I REALLY look like daddy!"



Check out those thighs!! WOW! Man, are they kissable :)



Daddy & Ava



There she goes-- discovering again!! "Daddy, what are those things over your eyes? Let me check them out!!"



Enjoying the awesome weather!



Okay--TURD BIRD! She took her diaper half off after one of her naps--I went in her room and said, "what in the world is this, missy?" and she was literally cracking up laughing. I was in stitches as well...what an ornery booger :)


Rocking away on her new butterfly rocker! She loves it ... the little antennae's on its head are squeakers so she pounds them with her hands and gets all excited! Daddy & Ava named her Maggie :)

Happy 6 months Ava!

Happy 6 Months to My Lil Sunshine Baby!

She sits up for longer & longer periods everyday...she sat up just like this the entire time I took pictures of her... a couple minutes at least.


Ornery booger ... :) I was happy to be able to put this outfit on her before she grew out of it... this was the first outfit I bought for her the day after I found out we were having a girl ;) I love the light blue & pink together. . .


Smiley face ... I have to turn the flash off the camera nowadays because she closes her eyes for every shot!! Unfortunately, my camera does not take great pics without a flash ...


I don't think she could fit anotheer finger in her mouth ...


I love these 'baby legs' ... they're kind of like knee high socks without the foot part ... just there to keep her chubby baby legs warm & protect her knees from the carpet & hardwood floor. Too cute!


Outside on one of the gorgeous days we had this weekend! She loved going on walks ... I think we took three everyday it was nice!


Her left eye was really boogering up from the pollen, especially since it was so breezy this weekend. Darn tear duct ...


"Gimme those toes!"


I love these cheeks ... and those eyes cannot get any bluer ...


6 month pic 'milestone' pic ... I always seem to take these in the evening--right before her bath--and she always has the most disgruntled look on her face...like, "honestly mom, do you have to do that now? I'm tired and over this day."



My lil peanut at one-day old ... so tiny and fragile.




She snatched my phone out of my hands and ravenously gummed away at it!! She has a serious obsession with our cell phones ... we bought a play phone for her and she just flaps it in the air and flings it across the room ... it was a good attempt.


She loves her toes ... she's always been so long (and chubby) that she could barely reach them for the longest time--now we can't keep these things out of her mouth.


There she goes again ... :)



Well, we're half-way to the 1-year mark!! Half-way! Over the hump, as I like to think of it. Babies seem to get much more interesting it seems from 6 months on. Of course this is just my observation...we could be in for a real treat from here on out. ;)

Anyway, Ava seems to be growing and developing right on target. Where do I begin? I feel like a lot has happened in the last month.

*She eats about 5-6 oz every 3 hours...she also eats cereal or fruit in the morning and a veggie around 7pm. She has eaten peas, green beans, butternut squash, carrots (maybe once or twice, she threw up with those so I thought we'd hold off for a bit) & bananas--she doesn't care much for green beans, but loves peas, squash, and bananas. She only takes a couple teaspoon fulls at a time.

*She rolls all over the place--including in her crib--she'll get stuck in some position in the middle of the night and start wailing away for someone to come rescue her. She's gotten much better now though...she likes sleeping on her side or tummy. It used to be a reflex for her to roll right onto her tummy as soon as I laid her down for a nap and then she would get super mad that she couldn't get turned back over--I thought "girl, you've been rolling over from your tummy for months, just roll back over!" goofball. ;)

*She still takes naps every 2 hours...just like clockwork...a very predictable baby she is. I've been rocking her until she's quite drowsy and then laying her down in her crib. She'll startle awake most of the time but I walk out of her room and she talks herself to sleep ... sometimes whines herself to sleep, but rarely do I let her get into a full blown cry. Her morning nap is the easiest to do this with...as the day goes on she needs more help relaxing before her naps.

*As for bedtime... she still goes down like a peach. :) She is always ready for the craziness of the day to be over. It's never a struggle getting her to sleep...its that 4-5am wake-up call that we dread. It's only dreadful now that we're trying to get her to sleep completely til 7am without a bottle. I tried the baby whisperer technique, which is basically the same technique our pediatrician told us about, where you go in her room every couple minutes and try to soothe her with a pat on the belly and reassuring words, but I feel it is just as evil as letting her cry herself to sleep. My gosh this girl just SCREAMS...and screams...and screams...and my presence in her room every couple minutes only makes her scream louder! She thinks, "MOM what in the world are you doing to me!" Oh and trying to give her a binky just makes her ticked-off! Not just extra fussy...or a little more cranky... she gets absolutely TICKED! So, I'll forgo trying the binky again. I tried this two nights in a row, letting her scream (yes scream, not just cry and whimper) for 20 minutes with my intermittent "shh...shhh...shhhh" and a rub to her head and finally caved and gave her a two oz bottle. Nope, can't do this one ... I'll try reducing the amount of milk I give her ... we're down to 2 oz ... next week we'll go to 1 oz ... then eventually none. Hopefully this works better. However, there are occasions where she sleeps 8pm-7:00-7:30am without waking up for a bottle ... now how do I get that to happen every night? :)

*Whew, now that that's over ... She has an interesting curiousity in her toes... looves her toes, sucking them, chewing them, grabbing them & swinging them around ... its hilarious to watch.

*At her pediatrician appointment yesterday she weighed a healthy 18 lbs 8 oz and was 27 inches long. 95th percentile for both. I know, chunky monkey :) You gotta love those rolls, though. Her doctor said her growth will probably plateau at this point and she'll drop down into the 70th percentile range after awhile.

*Her tear duct is still clogged. It's getting better though so her pediatrician wants to hold off on referring her to an eye surgeon to see if it completely opens on its own.

*She looves Portia ... I just have to mention this because I am amazed at how much she loves to watch animals. She gets up in the morning and as we're walking downstairs she catches a glimpse of Portia and does not take her eyes off her! Thankfully, Portia is a sweetie to Ava :)

Hope you enjoyed the pics! I posted a lot this time ... just can't help myself ;)


Here are the shots I typically get from her ... darned flash!

Happy 5 months Ava!

Seriously? It's been a month already ?? Oh my, where is the time going ... really. Since I've gone back to work the days and weeks just fly by! I feel like Ava grows and changes everyday. I go to work and come home (especially after working two 12's in a row) and feel like she's grown so much! Our days are filled with routine and busy-ness. :) As a mom to this squealing, babbling, wiggling 5 month old I have to say that its not possible for me to love my life with her any more than I do right now! She is a ray of sunshine to us... our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. :) I love being her mommy!

We started green beans with the munchkin ... this is her first food since rice cereal. She gives me the bitter-beer-face with almost every bite, hehe. We do cereal in the morning and green beans in the evening. I think we'll move on to peas next week.

Ava naps about every 2 hrs. She takes a long nap in the morning (about 1 &1/2 hrs) and then 30-40 min naps the rest of the day. She is super crabby without her naps. :) I LOVE rocking her for her naps. Its our time to really cuddle and we both enjoy it. I love watching her eyes drift into a sleepy slumber ... and I LOVE how she reaches her little fingers up to my face and "talks" to me as we both rock back and forth. I will never forget the one time when she put her hand on my chin and started cracking up laughing ... it was kind of a, I'm-so-sleepy-I'll-laugh-at-anything chuckle ... cutest thing ever, just out of the blue started laughing as she held onto my chin. Silly girl.

She has recently discovered her thumb. :) She doesn't really suck on it, but gnaws on it with her toothless gums. She doesn't suck on anything really ... occasionally she'll take her binky for naps but not often.

She's been talking up a storm lately. She's throwing in some consonants in her babbling ... I'm hearing some m's and b's in all that gibberish. :)

Here are some pics for the month ... can't wait til this weather breaks and we can enjoy the outdoors a little more!!


Smiley face!!



So serious ...


Silly girl



Gnawing on her thumb ... :)





Cutie pie ...



Green bean deliciousness :)

Ava's 4 month's ... Part Two :)

Ava had her four month pediatrician appointment on Monday. Here's a run down of her updates :)

*Weighs 16 lbs (90th percentile) and is 25 1/2 inches long (also 90th percentile).

*Wears size 3 pampers cruisers :)

*Had her 2nd round of shots ... this girl didn't even CRY! What in the world!? She's a trooper :)

*Wears size 6 months clothes ... some 6/9 months if they run small. I know, she's growing outta control!! :)

*Eats 5 oz of formula every 3 hours ... 6 oz before bed.

*Grabs EVERYTHING! And proceeds to explore it with her mouth.

*Laughs hysterically when we tickle her chubby lil thighs. My favorite.

*Still has that crazy clogged tear duct ...

*Takes 3 one hour naps during the day.

*Sleeps 8pm to 4am ... again, finally :) Oh by the way, no more diarrhea ... OR diaper rash :)

*Becoming increasingly more interested in Portia and the kitty ... she always want to grab them as they walk past her.

*Loves to smile ... you don't even have to work for her smiles ;)

*Can spend more time playing independently ... her favorite is playing in her activity gym ... what we like to call "the jungle" :)

*LOVES watching the TV ... especially Bachelor Jason :)

*Infatuated with sticking her tongue out.



She is our angel for sure!!!

Happy 4 Months Ava!

Our munchkin is 4 months old already!! Each month I think, "Wow, she is really getting to be so much fun!" This month has been no exception ... she gets chubbier, cuter, sillier, and more curious everyday!

She has been through the ringer this month though, for sure. She started the month with a bout of the flu ... seemed to get over that rather quickly. Then about a week later she got some serious diarrhea. :( Her pediatrician said the flu bug was just running through her and it was nothing to worry about ... still eating like a champ so we thought, "okay, this should clear up in no time too." Wrong. She still has diarrhea ... and an awful diaper rash to go with it! :( We tried everything in the book ... desitin, a & d ointment, balmex ... nothing was even touching her poor bottom. Then our babysitter gave us the suggestion of using a mixture of Aquaphor & Maalox and slathering that on her bum. This stuff works like magic!! I was so pleased to see that after one night of using this concoction her bum was 75% better!! We're still battling the diarrhea ... although it has slowed down, but the aquaphor/maalox has made a big difference. Her pediatrician said the diarrhea will probably stick around for a couple weeks. :( On top of the flu & diarrhea ... Miss Ava has decided to stop sleeping through the night. Yep, our dream days, or shall I say nights, are over. We believe that she has been waking up more frequently because of the diarrhea & diaper rash ... she never used to poop at night and now we're changing her nonstop!! Isn't it funny how very weird it would be for me to be talking about anyone other than a baby's bowel habits ... hehe. So, we're adjusting to that ... and hoping every night when we go to bed that this will be the night that she starts sleeping 8-9 hours straight again. :) I also believe that she's been waking up more frequently because she is sleeping in her room in her crib now. We decided to make the transition at the beginning of this month when Eric got the flu and we didn't want to keep her up all night with his coughing.

So who knows, we'll keep trying her room a few more weeks ... if things don't get better for any of us then back to our room she goes!! We'll have to do what makes us all happy. :) Eric & I have no problem with keeping her in our room where she feels safe & cozy. :) I don't believe all that rubbish about babies developing dependency by sleeping in their parents' room ... shoot, she slept in my belly for 9 months ... why shouldn't it take her at least 9 months to be comfortable sleeping away from me. :) Just my theory. She has exceeded the weight limit for her bassinet so her crib was the next alternative...otherwise she would still be at the foot of our bed. :) The transition might be hardest on Eric, truthfully. He's so paranoid that we won't hear her wake up and cry that he gets no sleep at night ... keep in mind, her bedroom is right across from ours, we sleep with all the doors open, and we use a baby monitor -- which he turns the volume up so high on that we can hear her clock ticking on the monitor. I try to remind him of the set of lungs his daughter has ... if she really wants us to hear her she will certainly make it known! :)

We've also started rice cereal with Ava this month! So much fun! I decided to give it a try when I noticed her reaching for my food and mouthing my glass at the dinner table. Once I gave her a tiny bit of ice cream from my spoon and she got so excited for more that I thought she was going to wiggle off my lap! We decided it must be time for some cereal for this little girl! She loves it and does really well ... we haven't been very scheduled with it quite yet ... for now we're just giving her some here and there to get her used to eating from a spoon and adjusting to the texture of cereal. It's so much fun feeding her ... she gets her hands in her mouth and then touches her hair and my hair and by the time we're done she's covered with cereal from head to toe, including the inside of her ears! :)

She's a blast! We've had to buy some new toys for her lately too ... she's at the age where she's ready to explore! This past weekend was Daddy & Ava's weekend since I had to work ... he took her out shopping and came home with all kinds of goodies for her. :) He's so sweet with her... it totally melts my heart. I came home Sunday evening after work and felt so betrayed ... she hardly acknowledged that I was home the little turkey! She just carried on smiling and staring at her Daddy. C'mon girl ... you can't look exactly like your daddy and give him all your attention! :) She's funny. I feel so super blessed to have such a wonderful family. :)

I think that covers the 4 month news for Ava. We are all doing great ... we'll be even better when that pesky diarrhea clears up completely!!




Ava says, "Oh my goodness, I'm 4 months old already!?"


Chubb-o at 3 months :)


2 Months


1 Month ... lil bird legs :)


My sweet baby at 1 day old :)


Loves her bumbo ... the inventor of this one was a genius:)



Now this keeps her busy!! :)



Dinner time! You can't help but make this face when you're feeding a baby ;)


Yea! Good & Messy! :)

Happy 3 months Ava!

Our big girl is 3 months old today! She is really beginning to blossom :) Her little personality is starting to show through more and more everyday!



** 3 months **



** 2 months **



** 1 month **



** 1 day old **







**Classic 3 month pose ... sucking her fingers and playing with her hair :) **



** Mid-giggle **



** Sucking on her bottom lip ... another one of her favorites :) **



** Happy girl loves her baths! **


Some updates on our little one ...

~She is rolling over from belly to back ... and almost back to belly... she'll be there sooner than we think I'm sure! She rolls onto her side from her back and sits there for a little bit...she can't quite figure out what to do with the arm on the side that she's rolling on, hehe!

~Still eating 4 ounces every three hours.

~As you can see from the earlier post, she is giggling nowadays! It's so cute to hear her giggle!

~She sleeps from about 8:00pm to 5:00am. Sometimes she throws in a 3am wake-up call, but for the most part she sleeps til about 5am...sometimes 6am :) She's ready to be up for the day around 7am.

~She's using her hands more and more ... she keeps them right in front of her all the time. It's cute how sometimes she holds them together in front of her, or grabs her left arm with her right hand and moves it around, hehe.

~Still has that stubborn clogged tear duct on her left eye :( I've been trying to massage it at every diaper change but it doesn't seem to be opening. Her pediatrician last month said that usually they open by 4 months, if not, then she will see an ophthalmologist by 6 months to have it opened. Hope we don't get to that point!

~She grabs the toys in her activity gym and holds onto them instead of just batting at them.

~She is getting way more vocal! I think she likes to see how loud she can be, haha, she'll screech & scream as loud as she can and then look at us and giggle. :)

~She's right around 13 lbs. We don't have a baby scale but when we weighed her while I held her it came out to be about 13 lbs.

~She's wearing size 3-6 month clothes. Size 2 diapers.

~She has recently discovered her bottom lip! hehe She sucks on that thing all the time!

~She has recently discovered that she has hair. She reaches back behind her ear and plays with her hair while she sucks on her fingers. hehe, too cute!

~She's a mama's girl :) She has been getting a little weird lately about being around people other than me & Eric. When we go visit my friend Christy, who is also going to be babysitting her here and there when I go back to work, she gets really fussy. She used to have no problem at all being away from home, but she's changing her ways on us. :) She also gets funny around Eric's dad & Christy's husband. She throws that bottom lip out and starts wailing after about 2 minutes of them talking to her! Poor Papaw :( I'm sure she'll grow out of that though.

On a side note, I go back to work this weekend. Bummer!! This will definitely be a huge adjustment for Ava, and for Eric & I. Luckily, I only have to work 3 days a week, but they're long days, so I'll be away from her for 12 hours (more like 13) at a time. :( I hope she adjusts well to the change. I hope we all do! I know many mothers work, but I feel bad for "leaving her." I've thought about not going back to work, or only going back to work on weekends, but our finances unfortunately won't allow it. I was fortunate enough to have this long off with her. We've done some wonderful bonding for sure. :) I know Ava loves her mommy & being in her own home, so I'm sure she's not going to be a happy camper for a few days at least. Poor baby...but we will get through this next transition with grace (hopefully)!

On the upside of that, I think my returning to work will be a little refreshing for me. A little adult conversation and companionship will be nice. Being able to eat lunch without also entertaining an infant might be nice as well. ;) I definitely have a new respect for stay at home moms!! It is a tough job! So, Yaaaaayyyy to all you stay at home moms!! I think you are wonderful. :)