Thanksgiving

Every year at Thanksgiving time, we always take time to reflect on how thankful we are for all that we are blessed with.  This year, more than ever, we have sooooo much to be thankful for!!  When I think about all that we have in our lives, I feel very overwhelmed.  In fact, last night as I was rocking Ava, I was talking to her and telling her how lucky I am to be her Mommy and I just started crying.  It is amazing how much love I have for our beautiful, precious baby girl.  I feel so extremely blessed to be the mom of our Ava.  And, of course, to be Oreo's Mommy--as you know we consider him our child, too.

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We spent Wednesday evening through Saturday morning with TJ's parents, siblings and their spouses, and our nieces and nephew.  We had a great time catching up, playing games, eating delicious food, and shopping on Black Friday.  Being it was our first overnight visit out of town, I was nervous about how Ava would do.  Overall, she did great.  Grandma Kathy had everything she needed--a pack n play, a play mat for the floor, and all the baby necessities.  Ava enjoyed seeing everyone again as well as meeting some of her uncles and aunt for the first time. Saturday afternoon we headed to visit my side of the family.  We stayed with Grandma Cindy overnight.  She, too, had a pack n play for Ava.  Ava got to meet several other of our great family friends for the first time.  It was so nice to see everyone again as it has been months!  Sunday morning and early afternoon was spent with Grandpa Ralph and Grandma Lynn and my siblings and their spouses/significant others.  Ava got to meet two new aunts and uncles for the first time.  She was sooo well behaved.  No crying/fussing all day!  Oh, another note about Saturday...Ava turned 2 months old!!

Today we took Ava to her pediatrician for her 2 month check up.  It was another good visit.  She now weights 9 lbs and 3 ounces (I may be off by an ounce or two...it might be 4 oz) and is 21.75".  So she has gained a little over 3 pounds and grown 3 inches since birth.  After getting her measurements Ava got 3 shots.  She did much better than I thought. She only cried for a few minutes and then calmed down.  I was so sad to see her get her shots because she was in such a great mood and smiley prior to receiving them.  While at the doctor's office, we spoke with the doctor about some of Ava's tummy issues.  She has been spitting up again--even after we switched formula--and seems to be very uncomfortable at times.  He gave Ava a prescription and we are hopeful this will help and we will see some real changes within the next couple of days.

That's the update for now.  Below are some of the pictures from our Thanksgiving visits. Enjoy!

 2 months old today!!

8 weeks old already

Man oh man has time just flown by since Ava was born.  It is hard to believe that she is 8 weeks old already!!  The pregnancy seemed to go sooooo slow but now that she is here it is going soooo fast.  On the 12th I went back to work full-time and Ava went to daycare.  We are very fortunate to have found such a great daycare.  It was recommended by a friend and we couldn't be happier!  The providers take such great care of Ava.  They encourage us to call (which I have refrained from doing so far:-) ) anytime we want to check-in. We get a detailed report at the end of each day, which is very nice. 

Ava is much more alert and content.  She still enjoys her jungle gym (probably not the real name but this is what we call it) and will lay on it for about 30 minutes at a time a few times a day.  We are borrowing a small swing from a family friend. At first Ava didn't like it, but now she really does. When she is crying sometimes the swing is the only thing that she wants.  Although I know it is too early, Ava acts like she wants to roll over. When she is laying on the floor, she gets to her side pretty well. She arches her back and it looks like she is very close to rolling over.  Ava has decided that she doesn't want her paci as much as she used to.  She really likes her hands.  She will get several fingers in her mouth at one time. I am wondering if she is going to be a thumb-sucker because I've seen that in there a few times.  I know this can be a hard habit to break, but it does look very cute.

She is up to drinking about 4 ounces at a time. We just had to switch formula again. When we first started formula, we had her on a "name" brand. She seemed to do well, but we decided to try a generic version of the same formula because it would be less expensive. We thought she was doing ok, but in the last week or two she started spitting up quite a bit throughout the day. This past weekend we went back to the name brand and it has made a world of a difference.  I don't think we had any spit up yesterday!  Ava is doing much better sleeping at night. We usually have one shift that is between 4-5 hours--much better than 2.5-3 hours. We are so proud of her!

This is the update so far. We are very excited to spend a few days this week/weekend with friends and family. We will try to take lots of pictures with everyone. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone. Travel safely!

November 17--7.5 weeks old

 A few more pictures before the volleyball game.  I just love Ava's outfit and headband!!

 November 5--6 weeks old. We watched Ava's friend, Lexy, for a little over an hour.  What fun it was to have two infants. They were so cute playing together on the floor.  I couldn't resist taking a picture when it looked like they were holding hands! :-)

1st Panther Game

We took Ava to her first Panther game on Saturday.  She did very well!  She slept for most of the game.  We had a special visit from both TC and TK. After the game, a few of the cheerleaders were kind enough to take a picture with Ava. 

Enjoy! 

Halloween

I forgot to post Halloween pictures.  We didn't go trick or treating, but we did dress up both Ava and Oreo for a few minutes.  We thought they were both adorable!!  What do you think?!?!

 Grandma Cindy watched Ava all day on Halloween while I took care of several appointments.

Grandma Kathy was also here on Halloween.  She got Ava this adorable Thanksgiving dress. 

 Getting all dressed up in her duck costume

Ava recently discovered her tongue.  She makes all sorts of funny faces.  

 We couldn't get the bat ears to stand up straight...

The Warren Family

 

Probably one of the cutest pictures of Oreo yet!

 

Ava and her BFF Lexy.  They are 6 weeks apart in age.

 How cute are these two pictures?!?!

I told you, she makes some of the cutest faces.