Time flies ...

I can't believe its already December!! Where has the time gone?! I love December though...and all it has to offer! ;) Usually we have our christmas tree up by this time, but this year we've decided to find a really neat christmas tree farm and make it a tradition to return every year with Ava to pick out the perfect christmas tree!! :) The past few years we have just gone to Lowe's or somewhere and bought one of their pre-cut trees... they were nice and all but it doesn't compare to finding your own and cutting it down!! If anyone knows of a good tree farm in the Columbus area let me know!

12 things I love about the Christmas season...

• Sending christmas cards


• Driving around to admire the beautiful christmas lights


• Waking up to snow on christmas morning


• Spending time with those I love


• Making & decorating christmas cookies


• Waking up bright & early on Black Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season (although I had to skip this one this year)


• Giving christmas gifts


• Reflecting on past christmas's with family


• Listening to christmas music!! My car radio plays nothing but Sunny 95 until after New Years! :)


• Picking out the perfect christmas tree...as soon as we find the perfect christmas tree farm we will make this a tradition on the same day every year with Ava :)


• Decorating the tree with keepsake ornaments
  
• And a new one for this year... sharing christmas with my lovely husband and sweet baby girl for the very first time :)
  
  

As for Miss Ava, ;) she is growing, growing, growing! She is such a little sweetheart...6 weeks old already:) She is smiling at us nowadays ... cutest thing I've ever seen! :) She's getting such a personality! She is one of THE MOST active babies I've ever met! She's all arms & legs ... constantly kicking her lil legs & swinging her arms all over the place! She really watches every move we make too. She is really into her surroundings and likes to see what's going on at all times. :) OH, and she has started to coo and make all kinds of noises! Melt my heart! She acts so surprised when she hears what just came out of her mouth...haha, kind of like "wow, did that sound come from me?" Then she'll do it a couple more times and get bored of hearing that sound so she'll make some other silly noise. Such a lil turkey she is getting to be. :) And this girl likes noise! She falls asleep to the vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, dishwasher, running water ... it's so funny, she does not sleep well in silence that's for sure! She stills sleeps in our room at night in her bassinet and I swear she sleeps so well because our room is filled with noise ... we turn on a humidifier, play a lullaby CD (put it on repeat of course), and we have a little sound machine that plays the sound of crickets! I'm nervous about moving her to her room in complete silence so we're waiting until we can get a humidifier & CD player in her room so she'll sleep peacefully there too! :) So, there you have it ... the secret to keeping a baby asleep during the night, hehe :) I found this out when I laid her down in her crib today actually after she had fallen asleep in my arms and she stayed completely out of it until I started walking out of her SILENT room and just as I was about to get out the door the floor creaked & it startled her awake! So then I knew it ... the girl needs white noise to stay asleep, hehe ;) She looks bigger to me everyday. She's getting easier to hold now that she's filling out some and getting a little chunk on her! ;) She holds her head up really well now too... only a little bobbing now and then, hehe:) She had a little case of cradle cap there for awhile...that's getting better too. Although she didn't really get it too bad on the top of her head...it was worse in her eyebrows! Weird, I know ;) Wow, this post wasn't supposed to be this long !

Well, that's all for now folks! Hope you enjoyed the update ... stay tuned! :)

"Ok momma, I'm ready to find that christmas tree!!"

Portia & Ava ... neither one really cares much for the other ... oh well, they will grow to love one another :)

Here's Ava-cakes (as daddy would say:) at 6 weeks old ... that outfit is 0-3 months, I can't believe it's getting a little short already!





She loves to stare at momma :)

It's tummy-time! Doesn't her hair look much thinner!? Pretty sure her eyes will stay blue ;)

This is her "okay mom enough with the pictures" look... hehe

Cutest lil baby rump ;)

Happy 1 month Ava!

Happy 1 month Ava! (I know, couple days late;) I didn't feel it was official until she had her one month check up with the pediatrician:) She's growing like a weed!! She is now 9 lbs 13 oz and is 22 inches long!! You go girl! Looks like she was getting somewhere with all that nursing she was demanding... :) Anyway, we are all still doing great... we're falling into somewhat of a routine which makes things a little easier! Ava has been sleeping through the night for quite awhile now so there's no complaining here about no sleep;) She's obviously been a good eater as well! She's a happy baby girl...she loves to be held:) And who doesn't love holding and snuggling with sweet smelling cuddly babies, hehe. I love having the time off to be with her. I learn something new about her everyday;) Here are some photos from Ava's first month...I did a little photo editing and had to throw some of those pics on here as well :)

Oh, & I have to post a few milestones that I think are worth mentioning :)
~She's losing her baby hair:( My baby's goin' bald..hehe. You can't really see it in the pictures b/c she still has a lot of hair, but she's starting to get a receding hairline..haha
~She has grown out of her newborn clothes... ALREADY! She's so long that her NB onesies barely snap anymore and her NB pants are high-waters...hehe
~She's wearing size 1 diapers ;) By the way, Huggies have really been letting me down lately. Pampers have won that battle!
~She eats about every 2 to 2 &1/2 hours (that's a big one;)
~She can follow objects with her eyes & focus! She loves staring at my hair--if I get close to her face she just stares at my hair! It's so funny--must be b/c it's bright?



1 month old

1 week old

1 day old



Tuckered out after a long Thanksgiving day with family!

1 month picture with daddy!


Ava with cousin Allie!


3 peas in a pod :) Cute as can be!


I looove her cute little baby feet!


Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving week!! Good luck to all the black Friday shoppers!!

Your weekly dose of Ava :)

I guess it's time for a weekly update on our lives:) We've all been doing great!! Ava & I have gotten out of the house a few times... we've made trips to Granny's, Target, Starbucks:), Christy & Kurtis', we even got to go out to eat with her TWICE!! She did AwEsOme!! I was pretty nervous...since she's been nursing so frequently I thought I would never be able to make it out of the house with her for longer than 1/2 but she falls right to sleep riding in the car and usually takes a realllly good nap, like a 2 hr nap:) So, getting out of the house has been refreshing for both of us... well, at least for me:) She was 3 weeks old yesterday... time is really flying by! The days go so fast when all I get done doing is nursing and trying to squeeze in a minute for myself... I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've managed to squeeze in a shower everyday..hehe:) Okay, it's about feeding time & this lil girl gets demanding so I have to quick post some pics of our munchkin:) Enjoy!!



* Milestone!! She lost her cord stump...haha, I know only a mother would care so much:)


*Fresh outta the tub :) She's taking "real" baths now!

*Look at those lil curls! When her hair is wet it gets all curly... I love it!


*She looks a little unsure here, but really she loves taking a bath:)

*OuT CoLd! Don't you wish you could sleep that good:)

*She's like a lil monkey! Clinging to her mommy ;)

*She's got momma's lips ;)

*Getting some play time on her activity mat :)

*Notice she's wide awake in her swing... yea, this baby does not fall asleep in her swing -- unfortunely:)

*She even gets a little fussy sometimes:) It was probably time to eat!!

More pictures :o)

We love her many goofy faces :)


I was taking her clothes off before her bath... she was sound asleep before I started messing with her:)


hehe...what a face...


Giving us a lil smile...probably making a mess in her diaper:)


"Why on earth are you trying so hard to wake me, can't you see I'm really, really relaxed here"


A little cross-eyed here:)


Ruffle-bum :)


I love waking up next to this lil sweetie... except now she's been sleeping in her bassinet, like such a good girl, but sometimes I miss her in our bed:(


Our lil mummy :)


Daddy's first bottle... I worked very hard to get those 3 little ounces of milk out for her:) And what do ya know half of the milk poured out around her mouth and she hated the bottle! We'll keep practicing:)


First time in her bouncy seat:0)

Update on the Williams Household... ;o)

Well.... I know it looks like I've been slacking on the blog updating but our desktop has been out of order while Eric finished up our spare bedroom:( So I have 122 precious pictures of Ava just waiting to be shared!!! :) We have had a blast with her lately... she is such a good baby. Those first 4 days or so were pretty rocky, but now Eric & I are getting into the swing of things with this parenting business :) It has been AWESOME having Eric home to help with everything... especially since I've been nursing Ava every 1-2 hours! I feel like that's all I get done doing... just call me mama-milk-machine...hehe. She has picked up nursing like a charm, and it's finally becoming enjoyable for me too! For a few days there I didn't think I would make it long enough to keep breastfeeding, but I'm glad I stuck it out... the hard work, tears, pain, & frustration have paid off :) The one thing I'm really surprised by is how well she sleeps at night! (*oh boy, knock on wood*) I feed her before putting her to bed and she usually sleeps for 4-5 hrs straight before waking up! I can't complain about that:) Basically, Ava's daily life right now consists of sleeping, eating, and pooping :) Oh & my favorite, cuddling! She loves to cuddle:) Okay, well let me get to some pictures...


















*I LOVE baby toes ...

Just some cutie-pie pictures!

*Ava's first buckeyes football game...had to put the gear on her ;) Even though it was a little big...


*At the hospital...with that big ole classic hospital binky in her mouth....it smells good but looks awful in a baby's mouth!



* Ava's first bath :)

**Stay Tuned...We're finishing up our spare bedroom, which is where our desktop computer is located (and disconnected at the moment) so as soon as its finished I can upload lots & lots more pictures!!! **

Sleepless in Columbus...

Wow... what a wonderful baby Ava is! We absolutely love her to pieces!! We've just been adjusting to life with a little one these past few days. It's been a little rough I will admit...recovering from labor & delivery is tough enough! Then you throw in the breastfeeding woes, roller coaster emotions, and lack of sleep.....oh, just talking about it exhausts me;) Those of you who said it were right...now the fun really begins!! hehe. But I will say that even though it's only been 4 days, things get easier and are more enjoyable with each passing day. I know this awful breast engorgement is only temporary...THANKFULLY!!! I didn't even know it was possible for breasts to be this hard & uncomfortable!!!! Ava nurses about every 2 hrs, sometimes once an hour....which is nice for the engorgement, but doesn't give me much time to do anything! But she's getting the hang of it...her favorite place to be is lying on her boppy & nursing...makes her all relaxed & comfy:) So precious....

Here are a few pictures since we've been home...

**Snuggling with Mommy

**Snuggling with Daddy

** Going home!

**Going home!!


**Lil buckeyes girl

She's Finally HERE!!!

Introducing...


Ava Gabrielle Williams
7 lbs 15 oz
21 inches
October 22, 2008
9:31 AM




** I'll post more later...we're at the hospital now & our laptop takes forever to upload;) **

Well, after 19+ LONG hours of labor here is the result....the most precious gift in the world!!! And I survived...WE survived!!

My contractions started at 2:40pm on Tuesday and were pretty quick to pick up to once every 4-6 minutes, so I gave Eric a call around 4:00 and we were at the hospital by 5:15ish. After sticking me on a monitor for a couple hours they decided to admit me.....thank goodness because I told them I was not leaving without a baby:) hehe. By 11:00pm they started me on pitocin to move things along a little quicker because my contractions had slowed down a little bit. Let me tell ya, pitocin=evil ;) That stuff causes some mighty severe contractions!! So, needless to say I was in much need of the epidural by 2am. Those things are AMAZING.....at first:) I was so thankful that I could rest a little bit....and rest was all I could do, there was no sleeping through the night for any of us really. By 5am they broke my water and I was 6 cm dilated. And the epidural began to wear off :( 7:30am I was 8 cm so I figured I wouldn't actually deliver until closer to noon...nope! 8:30 rolled around & I was nearly 9 cm, with a WHOLE LOTTA pain from the contractions!!! Soon enough it was 9:00 & time to push!!! The rest is history....! We are sooooo blessed to have such a sweet little bundle of love!!!! Cutest darn baby we've ever laid eyes on... hehe

The wait continues...

Well, unless I go into labor right now :) it looks like all those October 18th guesses have no promise either:( Sooooo....we'll see what tomorrow brings.....nobody guessed the 19th ;) maybe that'll be the day!!!

Either way, we'll have this baby by next Thurs. Oct 23....that's my induction date if she doesn't come sooner ;) So this time next week our lives will have changed forever and we will be parents!! It's more reassuring to think of it like that....I have to remind myself that I WON'T be pregnant forever ;) hehe

Due date has come & gone... :o(

Still pregnant... boooooooooooo! Just wanted you all to know ;) We get so many phone calls and emails asking the big question and I know everyone's curious if it happened yesterday :) Nope!

Oh by the way, Eric is SOOO not blog-savvy but I will do my best to teach him so he can be the official updater while I'm a little preoccupied :) We'll definitely take our laptop to the hospital...someone will be able to do some updating!!

OH Karina, have I ever been trying to sleep!! Even that's not going so well anymore... I lied awake from 2:30-4:15ish last night after my nightly trip to the bathroom:( This is getting old..... ;o/

We're going mattress shopping today (gotta get that spare bedroom squared away!) .... and maybe to the Circleville Pumpkin Show. I'm over trying to relax and take it easy... this is getting just plain boring!! I need to get this labor moving!!! I am off work now ... with no baby to occupy my time ... I NEED to go in labor. OKay, enough with my rantings.... hope you all have a wonderful day!!