Ava at One Month

Ava's One Month Photo Shoot

Ava's not so sure about this tutu

This is her "you want me to do WHAT?" face

What Ava's doing at One Month:

1. She has started to look at mommy and daddy when we talk

2. She will follow our voice with her eyes as we move around the room

3. She has been a bit more fussy, but is still a very good baby

4. She likes her baths now that we know to leave the water running for the entire bath, as she likes the sound of running water

5. She has a nighttime routine....give or take 30 minutes from these times......8pm (mommy nurse) then sleep until 11:30pm (mommy nurse) then sleep until 3:30am (daddy does a bottle feed to give mommy a break) then sleep until 7am (mommy nurse).......we supplement 2 oz of formula with the 8pm and 11:30 pm nursing to help her sleep a little longer

6. She still sleeps in her swing at night, but we are adding in a few naps in her pack n play

7. She smiles in her sleep, which is the cutest thing I have ever witnessed and makes me so excited to see her smile when she is awake :)

8. She now has a wakeful time about 3 times per day.......these are still the best part of our day, as she makes lots of funny faces

9. We have gone on a second walk.......and are going to start a daily walking and eating healthy (for mommy and daddy) routine on Monday

What Ava's been up to......in first 3 weeks of life

We have spent the majority of Ava's first three weeks of life at home, as her doctor does not want her out & about much until after her two month vaccinations. It is such a blessing that I am able to be out on maternity leave for ten weeks and Clint is on summer break for eight weeks, so we can spend a lot of time just hanging out as a family of 3!

We let Ava try on some of her shoes. These are newborn size and WAY too wide for her foot. They looked more like clown shoes on her.

This was our first attempt at watching "Ava's movie".....Baby Einstein. She was not very interested.

We went on our first walk......at 2 weeks. This was the first day mommy was allowed to walk after delivery. We are hoping to get into a walking routine, but are still working at that.

Ava loves being outdoors, but wasn't so sure about the stroller, so mommy carried her the second half of the walk.

This was a little pallet we made Ava in the living room floor. She likes to look around and is always using her arms. We went to church when she was two weeks old. We broke the doctors rules on this one, but kept her in the sling the whole time. She slept through service.....praise & worship band and all. Clint and I really were happy to get out of the house and we really like our new church, Woodsedge. We found it two weeks after moving here and already feel at home.

Ava is very alert right after she eats.

Our new friends from Woodsege, Aaron and Julie, brought over Pei Wei one night and Ava had her first play date with their daughter. Lilly is 5 months old, so she was much more active, but I think her and Ava will be good friends in a few months.We were digging through Ava's bow drawer and decided the girls needed to try them on.

Uncle Alan (Gina's youngest brother) returned from his year of study abroad in Germany. He was very excited to meet his new niece.

Ava was excited too! I have been telling her about my 3 brothers/ her 3 uncles since she was born........Uncle Alan, Uncle Mike, and Uncle Jeremy. She will meet the other two next weekend, when my family comes to visit.

Ava at Two Weeks

I did a little two week photo session with Ava.

What Ava is doing at two weeks:

1. She is still sleeping in her swing at night.

2. She sleeps two 4 hour stretches at night.....praise the Lord that we got a good little sleeper.

3. She LOVES to eat. I developed mastitis (this is when baby gives mommy a staff infection from nursing.......and is horribly painful). I had 102 - 103 fever for two days and very little milk, so Ava had to take formula bottles while I recovered. She liked the on demand feeding, so now we breastfeed AND formula feed to keep her happy.

4. She can hold her pacifier in with her hand (as seen in the bunny photo above).

5. She mostly sleeps and eats, but has two VERY wakeful hours per day where she spends 2 hours looking around, watching us, trying to talk to us, and making funny faces. This is mine and Clint's favorite time of day with her. It is our little family time.

6. We went on our first walk.......and Ava enjoyed the first half, but had to be carried by mommy the second half.

Visitors.......in first two weeks

I tried to take a picture of everyone that visited Ava once we were home from the hospital. These pictures are from July 5th until July 15th. Thank you so much to all our sweet friends and family that came to meet our new addition to the family!

Clint's cousin, Allison, brought 3 of her 4 children to meet Ava. Kayla was so excited to meet her cousin!

Debbie was able to drop by on her way home from Dallas.

Nikki and I work together and she had baby Joe 4 months ago, so she has been such a help in the mommy advice department!

Chrissy is also one of my best friends from Houston. We became instant friends when she joined a bible study that I taught in my home. We have so much in common with each other........it could only be a God thing. She is pregnant with Caden and due any day. I am predicting he will arrive in the next week. In this picture Caden is kicking Ava through Chrissy's belly and Ava appears to be smiling. We called it their first play date!!!

Cassie is our first REPEAT visitor. She is in love with Ava and I think the feeling is mutual. She is already scheduled to keep Ava for a party we have in two weeks. Cassie is a dear friend of mine and has YEARS of baby sitting experience, so I know Ava is in good hands!

Kaylynn and her husband were our Sunday school teachers for the brief 10 months we spent in Victoria for Clint's rotations. It was so sweet of them to take the time to st

op by on their way home from picking their daughter up from camp. Seeing them with a preteen made me realize how fast Ava will grow up.

Auntie and Faith came from Nederland to meet there great niece and cousin. Auntie has worked with babies for years, so she was a natural. Her grand daughter Faith seemed to be a little star struck by Ava, but really liked just looking at Ava.........rather than holding.

Thank Heavens for Grandmas

When Ava first came home from the hospital, my mom spent 5 days at our house & then Clint's mom came on Sunday and spent 4 days with us. They cooked us meals, washed laundry, cleaned house, held baby Ava, and even got up in the night with her! We are so thankful to have such a great moms and grandmas.........that are both willing to drop everything and be here for me, Clint and Ava.

Grandma Polly with Ava

We love you Grandma Vivian & Grandma Polly!

The first week at home.

We have survived the first week at home with Ava. I must say that when people warned us that we would not be sleeping and a "baby changes everything", I just thought, "How hard can it be?" Well, the first week is VERY hard. Everything you are doing with your baby is new........first baths, first feedings, first diaper explosion, first need for a fingernail trim. That all sounds like easy stuff, but when it is your precious baby, it seems so critical. The hardest part for me has been the lack of sleep. I have had nights of 1 hour of sleep and nights of 5 hours of sleep..........the days following nights of sleep go much smoother.

Here are pictures from our first week at home.

She looks so sweet when she sleeps. I can kiss her cheeks for hours!

She loves her Fisher Price lamb swing. She actually prefers to sleep in it at night rather than her Pack n Play, so we got the okay from her pediatrician and this is her new bed......for now!
Sweet baby girl.........
One of her first baths. Daddy added the fig leaf.
I thank God everyday for this beautiful baby girl that He has entrusted to me and Clint. She is a wonderful baby!

Ava's latest stats...........we are working very hard on nursing to get her weight % up with the others.

Length: 20" (49%)

Weight: 6lb 15 oz (16%)

Head Circumference: 35.5 cm (48%)

Ava meets her Mamaw, Great Aunt Barbara, and Cowart Cousins

We had some very special visitors one day this week. Clint's Mamaw and Ava's Great Mamaw came to meet her. Nell is our only living grandparent, so she is very dear to us.

Clint's Aunt Barbara also brought her three granddaughters to meet Ava.

Ava is thinking, "I sure hope I grow up to be as pretty as these girls!"Grandma Polly had met Ava at the hospital, but she needed to get in her snuggle time as well. Polly brought us prepared meals from a restaurant in Beaumont called, The Main Dish. Clint's cousin owns it and the meals are prepared at the restaurant and all you have to do is pop them in the oven or skillet when you are ready to eat them. Talk about making life easier!!! If anyone lives in the Beaumont area, here is the website http://www.yourmaindish.com/