9 Months

I can't believe it, but our little baby is 9 months old already. The time is going by too fast!!! We had her 9 month check-up yesterday and the doctor said she is doing great! She now weighs 16lbs. 11oz. (15%) and is 29in. (90%)! I still can't believe she is in the 90th percentile on height. I knew she was getting tall and outgrowing all of her clothes, but she was in the 50th at both her 3 month and 6 month check-ups. The doctor said he thinks it is just her body type to be tall and thin. You can't beat that!

Ava is still trying to crawl, but she hasn't quite figured it out yet. She gets to where she wants to go, but it is by a combination of crawling, rolling, dragging, etc. She is at such a cute age! She is into everything!!

We are having Ava's 9 month pictures taken today, so I will have more pictures to post soon. However, here are some pictures we took of her this weekend at the pumpkin patch by our house. She didn't want to smile for the camera, but she had such a good time playing with the pumpkins.

Future Aggie...

This will have to be short because I am dealing with a sick baby that does not want to be put down! I just wanted to share some pictures of Ava in her "Aggie" gear watching the A&M game this weekend.

I'm an Aunt....again....

Okay, so I am almost a week late on this post, but I figured I better put it up here. Last Thursday, my sister, Jennifer, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Here he is...

Levi James
8lbs. 3 oz.
19.5 in.

I had the time to post on my sister's blog, but hadn't had a chance to post here. Caleb, my nephew, is being such a good big brother. He loves to kiss and hold Levi. Here are some more pics. I posted these same pictures on my sister's blog, so if you read both, they will be repeats. I am going to visit tomorrow, so I should have new pictures to post.

Caleb Kissing Levi

The Whole Family

Ava napping on Grandma while waiting to see Levi

Ava has been a mess today and has not wanted to take a nap ALL DAY!!! I finally got desperate and tried to get her to nap in her swing. I think she may have outgrown the swing...

Yes, we are alive!

Wow, it has been such a long time since I have posted. So many things have happened in the last month. We did get moved and are finally getting settled in. Moving was so much easier before Ava. This house would have been put together weeks ago, but Ava knows she runs the show. She has definitely kept her mommy busy!

It took a little while for Ava to get adjusted to the new house. I'm sure she felt our stress, but she didn't sleep very well for the first week or so. Kurt and I have been so tired! Ava was actually sick with allergies when we moved in. All the trips back and forth from city to city really did a number on her. Her allergies are terrible where we live now, so the doctor put her on allergy medication. The medicine has really helped and we are getting our sweet little Ava back.

I took Ava to the doctor today and he said we need to start her on table food. How is my baby already starting table food??? The doctor kept reminding me that she is a big girl now since she is 8 months old. I don't even want to think about it. I don't want Ava and big girl used in the same sentence. I want to keep her my little baby forever.

Beginning table food should be interesting considering Ava gags until she throws up when she is fed anything with a little texture to it. The doctor said if we don't start now with different textures and more solid food, I will end up with the child that will only eat chicken fingers and tortillas. For some reason, this comment makes me laugh every time I think about it. However, I will not be laughing when I post on here in two years frustrated that we can only eat at Chick-fil-a and mexican food restaurants. The doctor said with Ava's issues he is about 99% sure she will be the adult that can't swallow a pill to save her life. My poor baby! Hopefully, she will overcome all of these texture issues. Of course, she has a daddy that can't eat cottage cheese because of the texture and a mommy that can't eat pickles on a hamburger because I don't like crunchy things on foods that should be soft. Maybe she was doomed from the start!

I have received multiple emails requesting pictures of the new house. We are finally about done with it, so I will try to post some pictures this weekend. Again, this has been a very slow process. It is driving me crazy. I am very ready to have everything done so we can just enjoy the new house.

My sister is having her baby on Thursday, so check back to see pictures of the newest addition to the family. This may be a big week for my blog...my first post in over a month, pictures of the new baby, pictures of the house...

It is now officially my nephew's birthday, so Happy 2nd Birthday Caleb! We love you very much!

Let Me Clarify...

Hi sweet people. It's Jennifer again.

I just wanted to let you know that I did not redesign Kimberly's blog! Thanks for your confidence in me, though. :-) Right after I fixed a few things that actually brought a template back to life here, Jules from Everyday Design had Kimberly's redesign ready. She gets all the credit, not me. And if you're looking for a new design, check out her stuff. I only wish I were that talented!!

Kimberly and I did decide to give the blog a new name since they already have their miracle child in their arms!

Say a little prayer for Ava today. She's not feeling well. They are on their way back to their old house to finish packing and will be back here tomorrow moving into their new house. It's been a long few weeks, and I think Miss Ava is feeling the effects of it all.

I'm hijacking the blog...

It's Jennifer...I'm hijacking Kimberly's blog today to make some changes to her template and let y'all know she hasn't been posting since they are in the process of moving. It's been pretty crazy for them lately, with trips to their new house (4 hours away) every week or so. After this weekend, they should be settled in their new place and hopefully life will begin to calm down soon. We're both excited about having family close by; I know Levi will love his Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kiki just as much as Caleb does!

I'm sure Kimberly will have lots to say once she finally has the time to sit down!

6 Months

I am a little late with this post, but Ava is now 6 months old. I can't believe she is 6 months already. She is definitely growing up too fast. She is getting so big! At her check-up, she was 14 lbs. and 26 in. long.

Ava is developing such a little personality, and she is definitely a Daddy's girl already. Her little laugh is so adorable. She is learning new sounds each day and talks non-stop! One big accomplishment is that she learned to sit up this week. We are a little late on that one, but she was very proud of herself. She is getting better and better at it each day.

We had her 6 month pictures taken today. They took so many cute ones that we had a hard time choosing. I wish we could have ordered them all, but we are running out of room! Before we know it, we'll be taking her in for her 9 month pictures.

Anyway, here are a few of the new pictures. Yes, I know her bow is really big, but we thought it was cute! :)

We're Moving!

It's official. We're moving. It has all happened so fast that I still can't believe it. In five days we sold our house and put a contract on a new one! If everything works out the way it should, we will be moving over Labor Day weekend.

The new house is great. It is everything I wish I had in this house. I really think you need to live in one house before you REALLY know what you want. It is a new house that will be completed at the end of August. They had already started the house, but it was like they were building it just for me all along. I can't wait to move in. I think Ava really likes it too. :)

The best part is that we will be closer to family. My sister will only be 20 minutes away. It will be nice for our children to grow up together. Kurt has lots of family in the area too, and his parents will be about 45 minutes away. Or I think they will be 45 minutes away. I really have no idea, and I am completely guessing about that. If you can't tell, I am going to be very lost in our new city. I told Kurt that I am going to have to program our home address into the GPS just so i can get home. I have NO sense of direction!!!

I never say where we live on here, so I am not going to say where we are moving. If you would like to know where we are moving, feel free to email me.

I have SOOO much to do in the next month. Labor Day seems so far away, but I know it will fly by. I can't believe I have to pack this entire house! I don't even want to think about it....

Mommy Brain

I started going crazy and losing my memory during pregnancy. I thought it would end there. Unfortunately, Ava is almost 6 months old and it is only getting worse.

Kurt had a softball game tonight, so by the time we got home at 9:15pm, we had to feed Ava her cereal and vegetables, hang up the laundry, and nurse Ava to sleep. The load of laundry that was in the washer was a load we do not dry. I do put it in the dryer on low heat for a few minutes to get rid of the wrinkles before I hang it up.

Well, I put the clothes in the dryer before I went upstairs to nurse Ava. After Ava was tucked away in bed I realized the clothes were still in the dryer (a good 30 minutes later) and I ran downstairs. I found Kurt hanging up the nearly dry clothes, so I just turned around and walked back upstairs. The next time I came down Kurt informed me that he had found a bottle of Dreft stain remover in the dryer. He said it was making so much noise that he thought our dryer was going out.

Yes, somehow I managed to put the whole spray bottle in the dryer with the rest of our clothes. I have no idea why I would have done this. I wasn't washing Ava's clothes. I hadn't even used the stain remover today. It wasn't in the washer with the other clothes. Apparently, I just decided to add it to the load of clothes before I started the dryer.

I had gotten used to doing things like putting the milk in the pantry and the cereal in the refrigerator, but this is an all time low. Does it ever get any better???

4th of July

Wow...I feel like it has been a really long time since I have written on here. I really think I need a second blog. There are a lot of things I would like to post about, but this is really Ava's blog.

Anyway, Ava has been up to a lot since I posted last. She is rolling over now. I have it on video, so I'll try to post it soon. She doesn't like to perform, so I am not sure people really believe us that she is rolling over. She is also trying very hard to sit up. She just doesn't have the balance yet. She would be completely happy if she could have me hold her in the sitting position all day. She is getting very tired of her bouncy seat or anything else that reclines. She wants to sit straight up like a big girl.

Oh...you are not going to believe this!!! Ava is sleeping in her own room now! It only took 5 1/2 months, but she has been in there for a week now. Daddy did bring her back into our room one night, but was overly tired and very fussy that day. I have to admit that it was much easier to let her sleep in our room that night.

I didn't post for a while, but Ava was sick for two weeks after we got back from our cruise. She had bronchitits and then strep throat. She is finally feeling better after a round of antibiotics. She was very needy for those two weeks and really didn't even want me to put her down. She is finally playing again, sleeping 11-12 hours a night again, and acting like her old self.

Also, Ava has started eating solids. It is so cute! She loves her rice cereal and attacks the spoon. Of course, she gets it all over her face. She has also tried peas and squash. We just started squash last night, but she really seems to prefer the peas. Maybe she just needs more time.

I can't believe our little girl is getting so big! She will be six months next week. That doesn't seem possible! I just want her to stay little forever.

Here are some new pictures!

Ava with Aunt Jennifer and Caleb

It was impossible to get both Ava and Caleb to look at the camera at the same time.

Ava with Gigi and Pops (Kurt's parents)

Ava with Gigi and Boompa (Kurt's grandpa)

I just thought this was a sweet picture.

Ava in her 4th of July outfit

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures of our cruise. I have more to write and a video to post, but Ava is ready to go play. I'll try to post more later today.

Vacation Photos

We are back from vacation. We had a great time! Here are a few pictures. I'll post more later...

Update

Once again, I have been scolded for not updating my blog, so here we go...

Ava is now over 4 months old. I can't believe how fast she is growing. At her 4 month check-up, she weighed 11 lbs. 6 oz. and was 24 1/4 in. long. On the 4 month chart, she was 10% on weight and 50% on height. They said she is doing so well that there is no need to move her back to the 3 month chart. She is meeting all of the developmental milestones for a 4 month old and is even doing great with her neck and back muscles. The doctor said she doesn't think Ava is going to need physical therapy, but we are continuing with the evaluation process just in case. Apparently, Mommy's baby boot camp is working! We were very excited to finally get a good report.

Now for some cute stories about Ava...

When we took Ava for her check-up, we were still very concerned about her neck muscles. We had never seen this doctor before, so I was filling her in on Ava's issues. She said she would take a look at Ava's head control. First, she sits Ava on the table while holding her at the waist. Ava just sat there looking at the doctor and did not bobble her head one time! She had never done that before. Naturally, I start explaining that she really does have a problem and if she would put her on her stomach she would see that Ava is not able to lift her head off the table. So, the doctor puts Ava down on the tummy and Ava not only lifts her head, but she puts both elbows underneath her, raises her chest off the table, and starts looking around. Kurt and I just looked at each other in disbelief. Once again, she had never done that before. She was just showing off for the doctor. The doctor now thinks we are crazy. Oh well... at least Ava is doing better.

This is actually a cute story about Daddy(Kurt). A week before Ava turned 4 months, Kurt and I decided that it was time Ava moved to her own room. She had been sleeping in a cradle right beside our bed since she came home. So, we went through our before bed routine and put Ava down in her own room around 10:00pm (this was actually early for her). She went right down and fell asleep immediately. Of course, Kurt and I checked on her a million times and watched her with our video monitor from our room. Around midnight, we were turning off the lights to go to bed when Kurt jumped out of bed and said, "I'm not ready for this." A few seconds later, he was walking back into our room with Ava in his arms explaining to me that Ava was not ready either. He said we moved too fast moving her from right beside me to her own room. He then moved the cradle a few feet away to the wall and said Ava will sleep there until they are both ready. Almost three weeks later, Ava is still in our room. Apparently, she will be ready after our vacation in the middle of June. We may have her out by the time she is 5 months!!

I was going to tell a few more stories, but this has already turned into a novel. I will get to the part people really want to see...pictures and video. I finally got around to uploading video to our computer, so I will post several more videos once I find the time to edit them. The one I am posting today is of Ava laughing. She thinks Daddy is soooo funny.




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This is Ava sitting in her bumbo. Once again, she can actually sit better than this, but Mommy is not very quick with the camera.

Yesterday, I put Ava under her play gym while I did the dishes. She must have played really hard because when I went back in a couple of minutes to check on her, this is what I found.

I promise to post more often. These last few weeks have been very hectic. Grandma and Poppa are coming this weekend, so I am sure I will have more pictures to post.

Pictures

We have received several requests for new pictures of Ava, so here they are. Several people have also asked to see pictures of her holding her head up, so those are included also. She can actually hold her head up better than she is in the pictures, but Mommy and Daddy are just not very quick with the camera.

Ava in her Easter dress

Kurt, Ava, and I on Easter

Ava in her original coming home outfit

Ava before church

Ava holding her head up

10 Pounds!

Ava is officially over 10 pounds. We weighed her at the doctor today and she weighed 10 lbs. 4 oz. Our little girl is getting so big.

Unfortunately, Ava is sick. We took her to a new pediatrician today because we really disliked our old one. Anyway, Ava is running a fever and just acts like she doesn't feel well. The doctor said it looks like she just has a normal childhood virus. We finally get to start taking her out and she gets sick! I guess it had to happen eventually.

I mentioned to our doctor that I didn't think Ava was holding her head up as well as she should. The doctor took a look at her and said she should be a lot farther along with her muscle tone than she is right now. She suggested an Early Childhood Intervention program. The program comes to our house for an evaluation and then sets the child up with an in-home physical therapy program if Ava qualifies. I really hope we don't need any of their services, but I will feel better once we get Ava checked out. If the therapy doesn't work or she isn't accepted into the program, the doctor wants Ava to be seen by a neurologist. I feel like we can't catch a break!!!

Anyway, that's enough for today. I am emotionally exhausted. I just want to be done with all of this and have a normal, healthy, strong baby.

Stay-at-Home Mom

As of last Monday, I am officially a stay-at-home mom. My maternity leave ran out on Friday (the 13th), so I resigned from my position on Monday, April 16th. Even though I haven 't been working for the last three months, it still feels a little strange to not have a job anymore. I am very excited though. Ava and I are very fortunate that Kurt's job allows me to stay home. I realize that staying home with your children is a personal decision and is not right for everyone, but I couldn't imagine taking Ava to daycare every day. I think it would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do.

I wrote the paragraph above last week and never got around to publishing it, so that's why it sounds so weird with the dates. I had to make a few modifications. :)

Ava is now 3 months old. Can you believe it??? The time has really flown by. She is close to 10 pounds now and really starting to act grown up. She is getting so strong now too. She is holding her head up most of the time on her own, smiling like crazy, has laughed a couple of times, tries to stand up in my lap, and is starting to grab things. I miss my little baby!

Ava went to our church for the first time yesterday. It was so nice to get out of the house and be back at church. Of course, Ava wanted to eat right in the middle of church, so I missed most of it. It was still nice though. It was so good to see everyone and feel like a normal person again.

We are very fortunate that Ava sleeps all night, but she definitely keeps me on my toes during the day. She has days (like today) where she doesn't want to sleep at all. She is not in a bad mood, but she wants mommy to entertain her all day long. It is days like today that Kurt comes home from work and it looks like I just rolled out of bed. Today he said, "I'm glad you got dressed up for me." We just didn't make it that far today. Oh well!

I am amazed every day by how much I love this little girl. I loved her from the beginning, but I think I love her more each day. She is so sweet and is developing such a cute little personality. I really don't think you can understand how much parents love their children until you have one of your own. She better watch out because I can already tell that I am going to be just a tad overprotective! :)

I need to post new pictures of Ava. I will try to upload some new ones later today or tomorrow. I really need to post Easter pics. She looked so cute!

Quick Update

I don't have much time before Ava needs to eat again, but I wanted to post a quick update and some new pictures. Ava is doing really well. We weighed her last night and she weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. Our pediatrician does not seem to think this is very good progress, but that is another story. I think she's doing great.

She is really developing a little personality. Morning is her favorite time of day. She is in such a good mood and smiles at everything. She also loves her Baby Einstein play gym. She loves to look at herself in the mirror. We may be in trouble. :)

Here are some pictures we took this weekend...

Ava smiling at Boompa (her great-grandfather)

Ava and Aunt Kirby