11 weeks & one more to go

Ava turns 11 weeks old today. I took 12 weeks off work, meaning that at this time next week I will be at work. :( I can't believe how quickly this time has gone by. Three months seemed like such a long time before she arrived. I was supposed to learn to cook while I was on maternity leave...when in all reality I was lucky if I got to sit down to eat the food that I microwaved for lunch. Sorry Nate, looks like you'll have to continue making dinner. The thought of going back to work and leaving Ava for such a long period of time makes me so sad. I can't stop thinking about it as she coos and smiles at me throughout the day. I'm going to miss that so much!!! I'm going to miss our little chats, story time, tummy time while I cheer her on, snuggling with each other, going for walks, etc. I'm so grateful that I was able to take off the 12 weeks. However, I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this and am not so worried about everything and now I have to leave her. Thank goodness that it's only part time.

Although I am dreading leaving Ava to go back to work, I'm also hoping that I have a job to go back to. Our contract is up at the end of the month and negotiations are not going well to say the least. I heard yesterday that management walked away from the table yesterday without even talking. That was the last day of negotiations. So I'm pretty sure that the contract will not pass unless there are some changes before next Wednesday. I spent yesterday afternoon picketing outside the hospital at the informational picket. We had a great turnout to say the least, in spite of the weather. It was very well organized and encouraging to see so much support from other unions and people in the city. Ava was going to come with me, but it was so cold and then started to rain. So thank you Grandma for coming over to watch her. Nate and I were also able to meet up for dinner after I was done so that was very nice! So, if the contract does not pass we will strike on June 1st. Please say some prayers that we'll be able to negotiate on a fair contract so that we don't have to strike.

Ava continues to grow as you can see from her 11 week pictures below. We went to our New Parents Connections group on Tuesday. Ava weighed in at 14 lbs, 9.8 oz. Usually I weigh her with some clothes on, but she only had a diaper this time. Why you ask...yep you guessed it, she blew out her outfit again. So she was all cleaned out and naked when she weighed in this week. I've tried to post a video of her "talking" on her but I haven't quite figured out how to do the video yet. I'll keep working on it.

Waking up from her nap on this dreary, rainy day