Happy Thanksgiving???

Well, I guess you could say our Thanksgiving was pretty craptacular. After being at Mom's house for 2 weeks because our house closing was delayed, Ava contacted the swine flu. Let's just say she was the lucky one since she only had it for a day. !2 hours later I had it. 12 hours later Pete had it. 12 hours later my Mom had it. It was pretty bad. We were quarantined indoors for 4 days. Taking care of an active and crawling 10 month old while you have a 103 fever is pretty tough. But, we survived and we all enjoyed our can of chicken noodle soup for Thanksgiving. I wish I had a picture to share, but I'm pretty positive you wouldn't want to see us. :-(

Great News!

After being on the market for a month, we got an offer on our house and are under contract! We put in an offer on a foreclosure property in Atlanta and got a great deal! So, we are moving November 11th! We are so excited to be 15 minutes from my Mom and Sister, 20 minutes from Pete's work, an hour from Pete's Dad and an hour from our friends! Please keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for us. Happy Halloween!

We have a crawler!

Ava has been working on her crawling skills all weekend and she really started to take off today. She was hanging out in the kitchen with me playing with her egg carton when I turned around and she was all the way under the table! After I told Pete the news, he came home from work and kept calling her and she slowly scooted over towards him! I guess we need to babyproof!

Mother Goose Storytime at the Library

We went to our first Mother Goose Storytime at the library today and Ava really enjoyed it! There were lots of babies her same age that were crawling all around. Maybe they will show Ava how to get the crawling thing down!

Clean Bill of Health!

Ava's pediatrician noticed something possibly wrong with Ava's hip and referred us to an orthopaedic specialist. After several weeks of me freaking out, we finally made it to our appointment. After several x-rays (Ava wouldn't sit still) the Dr. did not see anything to be concerned about. Just to err on the extremely cautious side, he does want to see us back in 6 months for a re-check. Both Ava (and I) were very pleased with the outcome.

Ava and Sasha

If anything gets Ava to crawl - it will be Sasha. Ava loves looking for Sasha, petting Sasha, "chasing" after Sasha a.k.a. Mommy holding Ava low to the ground while chasing after Sasha. Sasha is such a good sport and tolerates all of Ava's shenanigans for a few minutes before scurrying away.

Michigan!

Ava and I went to Michigan at the end of July with my Mom for a family reunion. This was Ava's first plane ride and she surprisingly did really well. Then, it was time for the 6 hour car ride up to the UP. That turned into probably a 9 hour car ride. But, all things considered, she did really well!

Here is a pic of Ava meeting her cousins Mara and Ella. So cute!

With her Auntie Beanie.

With Mom.

Feeding the Ducks at Bond Lake.

At Bond Falls.

At Copper Harbor @ Lake Superior.

More Lake Superior.

I love this shot!

Ava's Trip to the Zoo

Okay, well Blogger is stupid because you have to upload the picture you want last, first. So, we start with Ava pooped out after her first trip to the zoo. We tried to keep the trip short and only go around to the exhibits where we thought she would really be interested. When we first got to the reptile area we kept pointing at the animals but she didn't really see them. Finally we got to an exhibit where there was this brown rodent running across the bottom back and forth. Finally I pointed and said "Look at Sasha (our cat)." She immediately zeroed in on it and she watched it enthralled for several minutes. I wonder if she was thinking to herself "that isn't Sasha!"

Helping Daddy with yardwork.

6 months old!

Well, our little girl is really growing up. Since hitting the 6 month mark, we have seen a lot of changes in our little girl. She is more tolerable of a lot of situations and strangers. She is more content (at times) to play by herself. She is loving eating solid foods and likes trying new combinations. She has a very obvious attachment to Mom & Dad. She will tolerate going to the grocery store in the baby carrier for an hour (this used to be tough). She is really starting to be very interested in her toys and will cry if you take one away that she is engrossed in playing with. She LOVES our cats - especially Sasha. Sasha has always been a finicky cat who really wouldn't let you pet her unless she wanted you to. Now she comes around and hangs out with Ava (but arms length away). When I hold Ava near Sasha, at time she will let Ava pet her. Ava loves it when she can stroke Sasha's fur. She will squeal and start babbling to Sasha. Every morning when Ava gets up we have to go and "find Sasha." She instantly perks up and starts looking around for Sasha. It is awesome! Perhaps we have a little veterinarian or animal advocate in the making?

Below are a couple of her 6 month pictures I took. For those of you who don't know the story behind Arnold, he was my teddy bear while growing up. Santa brough him for me when I was maybe 4 or 5? You can see in some of the pictures he is a little worn. He has been sewed up numerous times. He also has an orange burn mark on his butt from when I left him on the stove. He also used to have little crusties on his back from when I sat him on top of peanut butter toast. Let's just say that he is a little worn and is an old man. He is currently enjoying his retirement!


I love this pic. It's like she is thinking "Hey, who is this sitting beside me?"
Let's play! Hey, what's this on your butt?

Ava is getting so big!

Ava just turned 4 months old and is growing like a weed! She is rolling over and constantly trying to put her feet in her mouth. She is amazed and very curious about Sasha (as Sasha is about her) . Luckily Sasha will sit by her while she is playing on the playmat so they can both watch each other intently. Ava still loves looking at herself in the mirror. Can you blame her? :-) Bath time is also a hit. We try and do a bath every night before bed and she loves kicking and splashing.

Here she is acting just like Daddy...

Too cool!

Ava loves Dr. Seuss!

3 Months Old!

Well, Ava is growing like a weed! She is smiling at us, cooing at us, rolling over on her side (no full roll yet) and I swear she giggled at me yesterday! She is such a joy to have around and cuddle with. She loves looking at herself in the mirror - especially when Mommy is holding her. She will smile and then tuck her head under my chin and grin. She loves it when Daddy comes home as she greets him with all kinds of big smiles. Pete has this amazing ability to put her on his chest and she just falls asleep! She won't do that with me... She loves to greet us with smiles in the morning. She is now sleeping in her crib at night which is great for all 3 of us! She is sleeping a 5-7 hour stretch at night which is great for Mommy & Daddy!

We go for a follow up appt. tomorrow to the Pediatric GI regarding her dairy/soy intolerance. I am hoping for great news. I have been on a bare bones diet for 2 weeks now (mostly meat, fruit, veggies, brown rice, etc.) to try and get the remaining dairy/soy out of my system. That soy is so sneaky as I found out it was in my chewing gum and even in my lemon pepper seasoning! If there is still blood in her stool we will need to try and give her Neocate Formula. Which is a prescription formula that costs $100 every 2 days if not covered by insurance! So, please keep your fingers crossed that we don't have to go that route. I really want to continue nursing her. I will post back tomorrow with an update.

Happy Easter!

From Ava!

2 months old!!!

Ava had her 2 month appointment today and she is getting so big! She is in the 90th percentile for her weight. She now weighs 10 pounds 6 ounces and is 23 inches long! She is so long that she has outgrown her 3 month sleepers. :-( I guess Mommy needs to go shopping for some more! :-)

On another note, she still has blood in her stool which is worrisome because it should have been cleared up with removing milk/soy from my diet. I am frustrated at this point and we are wondering if she is allergic to something else as well. I am meeting with a nutritionist and doing some research to decide our next step. Wish me luck!

Ava's Best Friend Forever!

Here is Ava's BFF - Lily! Lily came to visit a few weeks ago and we had so much fun with her. She is crawling around and pulling herself up. She will be walking before you know it! She even gave Sophie some exercise chasing after her. It was destiny that they were to be best friends - they have the same outfit!

My future floral assistant?

A budding artist in the making...

A visit from the Grandma's!

Ava was so lucky to be able to see three of her Grandma's over the last three weeks. I think they thoroughly enjoyed holding her and spoiling her as much as she did!

Here is a picture of my Mom or Emme (Finnish for Grandmother).

Here is a picture of Pete's Mom or Bapcia (Polish for Grandmother).

And, here is a pic of Brenda or Oma (German for Grandmother).

What a happy baby!

Ava has started smiling - A LOT! I was able to capture several of her smiles yesterday after her 3.5 hour nap. This just shows you how well she is doing now that I have adjusted my diet. What a cutie!

Not so good dr. apptointment...

Well, I listened to my Mother's intuition and took Ava to the pediatricia for her non-stop fussiness. Everyone kept telling me that she was just a newborn and newborns cry. Well, I knew something was up. So, after listening to her symptoms, the doctor decided to test some of her stool. Turns out, she has a dairy and soy allergy. Since I am nursing, I have to cut all dairy and soy out of my diet. Sure, sounds easy enough - just don't eat milk and cheese. Well, little did I know that soy is found in everything! Soy/Soybean oil is used in salad dressings, mayonnaise, crackers, granola bars, soups, bread, etc. And, of course dairy is used in all the good stuff - cookies and ice cream. :-) After a defeated trip up and down the grocery store aisles, I have found some staples to get me through the next 10+ months. I am committed to nursing so I will just have to make this work. If we were to even think about putting her on formula, of course due to the allergy she would require a special kind of formula that is extremely expensive.

So, with all of that being said, I have been dairy/soy free since Friday and we have noticed an immediate change in Ava's disposition! And, her eating and sleeping patterns have improved. She slept 6 hours straight last night (this deserves a post of it's own!).

Luckily, the pediatrician said that there is a very good chance that when she gets older she will not have this intolerance to dairy/soy. Of course we will need to introduce new foods to her very slowly to make sure there is no allergic reaction.

So, that is where we are. It will be tough, but it is something that must be done!

Family Photos!

Here are some pictures from our first family photo session. The fact that we got so many great photos is amazing because Ava was crying practically the whole time. Most of these were taken in between crying sessions!

Sophie Gets Jealous...

Of all the attention Ava is getting.

Ava discovers herself in the mirror!

Ava has never enjoyed bath time - until she discovered herself in the mirror! And, look at that tiny little leg and toes!

1 Month Old!

Ava didn't really want to cooperate for this picture. Something pissed her off majorly. Either it was me, or it looks like Arnold might be grabbing her butt!

Entertainment!

So, we thought Ava needed some stimulation so we bought her this activity mat that has lots of cool toys and a little polar bear that plays music. Sometimes she likes it and sometimes I think she gets overwhlemed. :-)

Mommy's Little Pearl Jam Fan...

Here is Ava rocking her Pearl Jam onesie. Thanks Aunt Crissy!!!

Daddy's little Yankee Fan!

Ava can't wait until baseball season starts. I don't think Daddy can wait either...