Little Miss Sunshine...

Peek-A-Boo!

I love waking up in the mornings...

Sometimes when I get too excited my eyes close up!

Just makin' sure Mommy and Daddy's bed doesn't go anywhere...

Am I a 'Pretty Princess' or what?

This is how I sleep in my crib...

...my Mommy lays me down on my back with my feet pointing towards the top of the picture and I like to roll over and sleep sideways.

Oh no! Mommy caught me!

Have you seen my sock? I seem to be missing it...

Laundry

Matt thought it would be easier to just put Ava in the washing machine instead of giving her a proper bath...

No, he actually wanted to know if I needed anything else folded and walked up to me with the clean clothes hamper. Little did I know that he had our little Slobbersaurus-Rex inside!

If you're wondering why our bed is unmade...it's because we had to change the sheets due to Ava spitting up on them :)

Daddy's Gone

Friday morning at 6am, Matt left for a TDY to Misawa, Japan. After his long week at work and the emotionally/physically draining previous weekend with his trip to Dallas, Matt never got a chance to unwind from everything that's happened in his world this past week. Instead, he got to sit in the middle seat on quite possibly one of the longest flights imaginable--from San Francisco to Tokyo. Technically, it's not the longest flight, but he managed to go from practically the end of the Earth's time zone to the very beginning of it. From Vegas, Tokyo is 16 hours ahead...so in essence, while sitting on the airplane he lost almost a day from his life. But, when he comes home, he'll gain it back (he actually gets back 2 hours earlier on the clock than when he leaves Japan!). He's like a real life time traveller!

Anyhow, with Matt gone, Ava and I manage to do things that we traditionally don't do when Matt's around...like play with puppies at Petland. Today, Ava and I took a 'field trip' to our local Petland to see what kinds of puppies they had to offer. There was a Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier, a Boxer, a Scottish Terrier, a wiener dog, a Boston Terrier, a Sheltie, and all the other standard breeds like Labs and Golden Retrievers.

There was one pup in particular that Ava really thought was funny...an Italian Greyhound. The nice sales people let us play with the Italian Greyhound pup and Ava just smiled and smiled at her (don't worry, she never touched the dog!)--all while making sure that the puppy wasn't going to take her toys!

Here are a few pictures of Ava at Petland today. She really liked the Chocolate Lab, the Wheaton Terrier, the Boxer, and the Italian Greyhound.

I keep telling Matt that we should get a dog, but he thinks Ava Bear is enough for us to handle right now. He's probably right but I want Ava to grow up with animals like we both did.

So, if you were wondering what Ava and I do when Matt's gone...just know that we let our hair down and have fun--at the pet store, at the library, and at the park. The pet store is the only place that we don't get to do when Matt's home. If we did go there while he was here, he would have us by the necks!

Ava's WORST Night

Last night was Ava's absolute worst night since she was born. Before we went to Colorado last week, Ava was sleeping about 7-10 hours in her long stretch, then waking to eat, then going back to sleep for an hour or two. While in Colorado, Ava did fairly well with her sleeping routine, but the high altitude really made it tough for her to breathe (so she would wake up several times in the night gasping for air trying to breathe).

Well, ever since we returned from Colorado, Ava's sleeping routine has been a bit rough. The first night she did pretty well (her long stretch was a little over 7 hours), but the past few nights have been hard--with last night being the worst. Ava Bear woke up screaming just about every hour last night. It seemed like just when Matt and I would get back to sleep, she would wake up again screaming. Sometimes she'll cry in her sleep with her eyes closed, but last night she had full blown tears with her eyes wide open--all while screaming bloody murder. The only thing that would calm her down was nursing her. We tried bouncing her, putting in a pacifier, rocking her, talking to her, and everything else imaginable during the wee hours of the day but nothing would work except for nursing her. The best part of the story is that yesterday I somehow gave myself a crick in my neck and back (I turned my head really quickly and ever since it's been painful), so it's been difficult to turn my head right or left. Just imagine getting up every 45 minutes to an hour to attend to a screaming child all while not being able to move your head! It was fun!

So, today I'm drinking fully caffeinated coffee (I've been drinking half caf since Ava was born) and trying to function on negative sleep. Ava's smile keeps me going, although there haven't been as many of them as usual today. Neither Matt nor I could remember a night quite like last night. Even when Ava was a newborn, she slept pretty well for her 2-4 hour spurts and never woke us up every single hour. The only thing that we can figure is that she wasn't feeling well. She didn't poo all day yesterday (which is odd for her), so her tummy was quite taut and her gums have been really bothering her. It's been an off day for Ava, especially since she didn't want to play in bed with me this morning (she's never refused that before) and she cried the whole time I un-swaddled her (she usually laughs and smiles and starts to play when we unwrap her). She hasn't even wanted to play with her toys, play in her jumperoo, or lay on her playmat either. Hopefully she'll be back to her normal self soon. Even when she doesn't feel well, she's still a darling little girl. I'm sure the unusually persistent windging she's been doing today is like most peoples' normal day with their baby(or babies). We've just been so lucky to have such a happy baby who rarely ever cries--so when she does, it catches us off guard.

Here's Ava not wanting to play in her jumperoo.

Here are a few pictures I took of her this morning while she was attempting to try to play. I was able to catch a few smiles--despite her lack of sleep, her sour tummy, and her aching gums. Even when she doesn't feel her best, she's still so precious and cute!

I put Ava on her tummy this morning to play hoping it would help it feel better. These pictures were taken right after I layed her down, as her face quickly turned sour moments later!

Ava's 10 new friends...

Over the past 2 weeks, Ava's made 10 new friends that she likes to play with each day. She just thinks these new friends are the greatest things in the world and they provide her with constant entertainment. Sometimes she only wants to play with 5 of her friends at a time, so we've told her that playing with only 5 of them is okay and that the other 5 would just wait their turn. Here are some pictures of Ava playing with her 10 new friends over the past 2 weeks (the first 3 pics were taken in Colorado last week and the rest were taken yesterday after we got back from the Dr's office)...



Here she is playing with only 5 of her new friends...

Ava and her Daddy

It's been a long couple of days with us in Colorado, then Matt in Dallas to see Pa for 18 hours, and then a long work day for Matt yesterday. Ava was missing her Daddy, so she was so excited to see him when he came home last night. She just adores her Daddy and lights up when he enters the room...and her Daddy is just head over heels in love with her. Here are some pictures of my two monkeys playing together. Aren't they cute?

Ava's 4 month Apppointment

Today Ava and I went to see her pediatrician for her 4-month well-baby exam. Unfortunately, in addition to the pediatrician, we also had to go visit the immunizations clinic for her 4-month shots (there's 5 immunizations that she had to get). As always, Ava was such a brave little monkey for the entire visit to both clinics in the hospital. At the immunizations clinic, she was so good that she got not one, but two stickers--a "I was brave when I got my shot" sticker and a purple puppy sticker. Here are some pictures of her getting her shots...

Here she is with her 'Brave' sticker and her puppy dog sticker she picked out at the immunizations clinic...

Here are her 'battle scars'...

Ava now weighs 16 lbs, 2 ounces and is 25.75 inches long and her head is 17 inches in circumference. From her last well-baby exam when she was 2 months old, she has really lengthened out a lot and her weight gain has started to slow down. At her 2-month well-baby appointment, she was in the 95th percentile for her weight (13 lbs, 5.1 oz), in the 75th percentile for her length (23 inches), and in the 75th percentile for her head circumference. Now, she's dropped down to the 90th percentile for her weight, gone up to the 90th percentile for her length, and gone up to the 95th percentile for her head circumference. As you can see, she's growing like a weed!

For the past week or so she's started to teethe, so our sweet little cupcake

has been more like sour lemonade. Matt and I both feel so sorry for her, but know that this first bit of teething should hopefully be over soon. The pediatrician ok'd Infant's Tylenol and teething tablets, so tomorrow Ava and I are going to go hunt the teething tablets down at the pharmacy.

Ava truly amazes Matt and me each day with something new that she's learned to do. All day today she's rolled over (even in her crib during her nap and on the exam table at the pediatrician's office) and she surprised me with a new trick...she's learned how to kick the different buttons on her crib mobile to change the music from Mozart to Beethoven! I thought it was a fluke the first time she did it but then she kept doing it over and over again! Below are pictures of her little foot hitting the buttons on her crib mobile and of her on her tummy after rolling over while napping in her crib. She's a silly but undeniably wonderful little girl. She still is the center of our universe.

Here's another clip of Ava rolling over. I took it this morning while she was playing on her playmat (before going to the DR and getting her shots!).

Here's another video of Ava rolling over. This time she can't decide if she wants to hold on to her toys or roll over. Gravity wins and she rolls over. She's just so cute!

Ava Rolling Over

Well, today I was able to get Ava rolling over on camera. I was so excited, as I have never actually seen her roll over, much less been able to catch it on film. She tends to roll over when my back is turned or when I'm cooking dinner and not staring at her. Matt has seen her roll over multiple times, but I've only been able to catch her either before or after the roll. Anyhow, here is the footage I took today of Ava rolling from her back to her tummy. She actually rolled over again after I took this footage (but it was from her back to her tummy then to her back again) but I didn't have the camera in hand to film it. The clip is pretty long, as I just knew that she was going to flip onto her back again...but she decided to wait and flip back over right after I pushed the 'stop' button! Figures...she is Matt's and my child afterall.

Hope you enjoy the clip!

Ava Laughing at Matt

Last night before Matt headed to Dallas to see Pa, he put Ava in her Jumperoo so that he could unpack from our trip to Colorado and re-pack for the trip to Dallas. Well, it ended up that he played with Ava instead of packing. It was a good thing though, as it was the first time we were able to catch Ava laughing on camera. She laughes so much now and she has the most precious little giggle. Here she is laughing at Matt while playing in her Jumperoo...

Ava's FIRST trip to the ER

Well, Ava started rolling over a few weeks ago, but her first major roll-over two weeks ago ended up with us taking a trip to the ER. Matt was gone to Virginia Beach and I was trying to fold some laundry in the living room while Ava was napping on the couch. Well, she woke up and flopped right off the couch (from tummy to back). I didn't see it happen (I was about 10 feet away) but heard it as she immediately started screaming. Of course, I freaked out and called the pediatrician within seconds of her falling off the couch--who told us to go to the closest ER since she was so young. So, I picked up Ava (I asked the pediatrician if I could pick her up since I was afraid to touch her in case she had any spinal injuries), put her in her carseat, and headed to the closest ER (all while sobbing hysterically on the phone to Matt), which was at a brand new hospital that opened in January called, Centennial Hills Medical Center.

Ava was admitted to the ER and after a quick exam by a triage nurse named Cassie and the ER doctor, Dr. Houston(she weighed about 16 pounds with her clothes on!), she was scheduled for a cat scan to ensure that there wasn't any head trauma that wasn't visible since she hit the back of her head when she fell. All the nurses and Dr. Houston ensured me that I wasn't the first mother to have her child fall off a couch and that it wouldn't be the last time it would ever happen. Their words were comforting but they didn't take away the guilt I felt and the heaviness of my heart. Seeing my little girl in pain (and scared) just about killed me.

Ava did so great and layed perfectly still in the cat scan machine, so they only had to make her do it once--the nursing staff was pleasantly surprised.

It ends up that Ava was perfectly fine and she survived the fall without any bumps or bruises. When she fell, her head hit the yoga ball, so that broke most of her fall, which was a blessing. Regardless, I was an emotional wreck the entire night and kept thinking Child Protective Services was going to take her away from me.

Ava probably doesn't even know she ever fell and she'll only know about it from the story I have to tell her when she's older. At almost 4 months, she's already got Matt and me beat...neither of us have ever had a cat scan!

Blog Update

Well, the blog has pretty much come to a stand still these past 7 months (sorry!) due to moving across the Atlantic Ocean, trying to find a house to call home, finding that house that is now our home and trying to move into it, giving birth to our precious baby girl, the littering of holidays and family visits, the trips home for Christmas, the trips we've taken for fun, the sleep deprivation that being a new parent brings, and now the lack of time I have to devote to the blog. BUT, I know that none of the 'excuses' mentioned above are good enough for my lackluster blogging.

SO, with my new-found ability to prioritize my time as a mommy (it's taken me 4 months to figure out!), I've pledged to get back to blogging. All of our family has bugged me about it but in the small spurts of time that I do have to get things done, the blog hasn't made the list. Now, I've decided that the load of laundry or the dishes can wait and that the story of our lives written in this blog will take priority. After all, the only thing that I will have to show for in a year or twenty years are the thoughts I've written down and all the small details of Ava that I will have otherwise forgotten, as there will always be dishes and laundry to be done.

So, from TODAY, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, it is my challenge to keep this blog updated with random thoughts, fun stories, and heart melting pictures of our Ava Holt. Ava's already grown so fast and accomplished so many firsts that we want to share with you.

Since so much has happened in the past 7 months, I'll just summarize the minor events and give full details to the exciting things (like Ava) that have happened. Sorry for the lack of detail for every event but 7 months of full details would take me about 7 months to blog and I don't have that much time!

So, I hope you enjoy our renewed blog and that you keep falling in love all over and over again with our little Ava as much as we do each day.

The meter says it all...

Baby Garrison's FIRST headshot

ACTUAL ultrasound picture

EDITED ultrasound picture (for those of you who have no idea what you're looking at)

Here's Baby G's FIRST head shot. It was taken last Thursday, August 16th at my 28 week visit (and last visit with the German Krankenhaus). She didn't want to have her picture taken during the appointment, so this is the best picture the DR was able to get of her (the others were really really bad--either her hands were covering her face or her head was resting on the placenta, which is bad for ultrasound photos). Anyhow, the best thing is that she is healthy and growing according to schedule. Across the board, her growth is pretty average for her age, so we're happy with that (I'd rather hear that her size is average for her age instead of too big or too small!).

Baby Garrison is doing great and is still kicking and squirming around. I'm still feeling great, so that's a blessing, especially with us flying home in a week. Other than this new head shot, there's not really anything new to report...which is a good thing. We just can't wait to meet her!

Mugshot

Here's Baby G at 24 weeks (my last visit). Of all the 25 ultrasound pictures the DR took, this was the only one that they gave me. It's a little blurry (some of the others were much better), but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Well, this appointment was the one where the DR was able to see that she was a girl. Matt had to fly and couldn't make it to the appointment (it ends up that he had a ground abort--and didn't end up flying--figures!), so I told the DR to not tell me the sex if she could see it. Instead of telling me, I asked her to write it down on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope so that Matt and I could find out together later that night. So, when the DR was able to see her little tush and girl parts, she told me to turn my head and said that she was about 85-90% sure she knew the sex.

I was so anxious to open the envelope, but waited until later that night when Matt and I could open it together. Well, when we opened the envelope we found a little piece of paper that said, "90% girl."

That was our excitement for the night and will continue to be for a long while. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we do...

We've Got NEWS!!!

Well...on Thursday, July 19th (yes, I know, that was a LONG time ago!), Matt and I found out that we are having a little GIRL! That's right, a G-I-R-L! We are both so incredibly excited and can't wait to meet our daughter in a few months. We'll have to explain to her someday that we referred to her as a 'he' for 6 months of her life, but I don't think she'll mind!

Our little munchkin is moving around all the time and is apparently nocturnal, as she's the most active at night when we're trying to fall asleep. She loves kicking me to let me know that's she's doing okay and Matt and I are still in awe each time she kicks and my stomach jumps. That has been one of the coolest things we've ever experienced.

The shopping hasn't completely begun yet, but don't worry...I'm getting my bearings for all the fun girl things out there. We've already ordered Baby G's car seat and pram here in Germany and are anxiously awaiting their arrival. Hopefully they'll get in before we leave (I'm seriously crossing my fingers). We only had to put a deposit down when we ordered them and don't have to pay for them until we pick them up, so Matt's dreading that bill already. I told him that this is only the beginning :).

Matt's really thrilled to have a baby girl and he's already wrapped around her little finger...and he says that he's going to be the 'disciplinarian'--yeah right. We're just starting to think about names now that we know she's a girl (Matt has three inputs thus far 'no,' 'that's horrible,' and 'that's weird'), but I think it's going to take us a while to find a name. I need to go buy a baby name book and get serious about it, but I'm hoping a name will just come to us without us getting all neurotic about it.

Sorry it's taken me so long to update the blog. We've just been so busy lately and are in the process of moving out of our house. I'll fill you in on the past month as soon as I get a chance to breathe--hopefully that will be sometime next week! Until then...thanks for your patience.

Still in the D-A-R-K...

Well, Baby Garrison is already showing us that he is one STUBBORN little child. Matt and I went to the DR on Tuesday for my 20 week appointment (and with the hopes that we would find out if Baby Garrison is a boy or a girl) and after three attempts to see his 'parts' during the ultrasound, the DR said that he couldn't get a read what-so-ever. The reason being--that our stubborn (yet precious) little one was straddling his umbilical cord. We could see the cord and all its knot-like looking curves go from his stomach straight down in between his legs. The DR tried rubbing my stomach to get him to move and I tried talking to him to get him to move (I told him to cooperate!), but N-O...he wouldn't budge. So, much to my complete disappointment about not finding out the gender, we're going to have to wait 4 more weeks until my next appointment to get another look into the inner-workings of Baby Garrison's organs.

On the flip side of my disappointment, there is great news to report. The baby is doing great and is growing perfectly (he's already about 306 grams--or .674 lbs). He's developing according to schedule and is healthy--which is the most important thing. So far, his nugget is in the 'normal' size range, so unless he goes through a cranium only growth spurt, his head should be more the size of a normal human being's and not the 'plus-size' of Matt's...which is great news for me since I don't look forward to the possibility of a broken tailbone like Laura got when giving birth to Matt.
The DR took about 10 different pictures of the baby and took all sorts of measurements, so here is the ultrasound picture he gave us to take home. I wanted to ask if he was kidding--because of all the really cool pictures of the head and body, he gave us the one of his leg. But, beggars can't be choosers, so I guess eventually (when we move) I'll get my whole file filled with all the other cool ultrasound pictures. Even though it's just his leg, I still think it's pretty cool. For those of you who look at ultrasound pictures and have no clue what you're looking at (I'm that way), here's a little explanation...

Baby G's right leg is at the very top of the picture. He happened to be upside down the entire visit, so just imagine that he's doing an upside down 'L.' From left to right in the picture, you can see his right foot (and little heel!), his right fibula/tibia (shin bones), the bend in his knee, and his right femur bones inside his leg. It's pretty cool how much you can see and how developed he already is (and he's only half-way 'made').

On a funny note, our little darling already knows when I'm talking about him. Since our appointment on Tuesday, every time that I say the word 'stubborn' in reference to him, he kicks me! It's kinda cute and funny now, but I know that as time progresses I'm not going to think it's so cute (I'll probably think it's more annoying!).

Well, we'll let you know if we find out the sex earlier than 19 July (my next appt.)...and chances are that we will. I just can't wait that long (we might pay another OB in Bitburg to do another ultrasound before my next appt.), so we'll see.

Amy's New Toy...

Well, despite Matt's objections, I rented myself a new 'toy' to use over the next 4-5 months. Matt thought that I would be obsessive about the toy and that it would do nothing 'positive,' so since receiving it in the mail, I haven't used it...up until yesterday. So, at this point, you're probably wondering what kind of toy I rented...so I'll spill the beans and fill you in on my excitement.

The 'toy' I rented on-line is a Fetal Heart Rate Monitor. It's a high-tech Doppler with a 2 MgHz probe. The company I rented it from is run by an OB/GYN and the Doppler is really safe (it's the same type that they use at the DRs offices-- and I had to get my OB's okay on it before I was able to rent it). The reason Matt didn't think it was a good idea is because he thought I would be using it all the time and get worried/freaked out if I couldn't find the baby's heartbeat every minute of the day. Since I didn't use it until yesterday (and I've had it for about a month now), I think Matt realizes that I'm not going to get obsessive compulsive about it. I have been really proud of myself for not trying it any earlier, as I was so excited when it came in the mail, but I wanted to prove to Matt that I wasn't going to be freakish about having it.

Well, yesterday, we were having a lazy day and slept in (until about 9am) and I thought I felt the baby move. I've thought I've felt him for a few weeks now, but I haven't been sure, so I haven't really made a big deal about it. Yesterday's movements felt a little bit different than what I've been feeling so I asked Matt if I could pull out the Doppler and try it out. When it came in the mail he said that he didn't want to have anything to do with it, but yesterday he said sure. So...we covered my lower tummy with some ultrasound gel that came with the Doppler and the search began. It was kinda hard to find the baby's heartbeat (my heartbeat was so loud) but after about a minute we found it. It was such an amazing feeling to hear the little pitter-patters of his tiny heart just thumping away.

The coolest part of the Doppler is that you can connect it to your computer and record the heartbeat to your hard drive as a wav file. So, after finding his heartbeat yesterday, I ran downstairs and connected the Doppler to the laptop (in hindsight, it would have been easier to have brought the laptop to me!) and recorded his heartbeat so that I could post it/email it out today. As the weeks progress, I'll keep posting new recordings on the site for you to hear. If you didn't notice, the link to hear Baby Garrison's heartbeat is over on the top of the page on the RIGHT.

I think it's totally cool and hope you do too...especially since we are so far away from everyone during this exciting new experience.