The Veldmans: Back from Iowa

We have made it back from our 5 day trip to Iowa. We left on Wednesday and got home this evening. We stayed very busy and the time went by far to quickly. I feel like there is never enough time when we go to Des Moines and stay with my sister and her family.

Like I said, we left on Wednesday. Ava turned 6 months that day. I can't believe that a half of a year has gone by already. She has grown so much and changed from this little infant who lays around and sleeps into this big girl who chats and now sits up on her own and eats cereal. She has become her own little person. She has taught us what unconditional love truly is. She brings so much happiness and joy into Nate and my life. We love to go into her room together in the morning and see her big smiles that greet us...there is no better way to start the day. We have been so blessed!

We stopped to see Nana on the way to Des Moines. We enjoyed our visit even if it was short. Reece was waiting anxiously to see Ava when we arrived to his house. We were there in time to meet Zackery at the bus stop after his first day of school. That evening Lisa was kind enough to watch Ava for us so that Nate and I could go and have dinner with our friends Erin and Kevin. It was so nice to see them and catch up.

Thursday Lisa, Nate, Ava, and I went to the mall. Ava got her first pair of "skinny jeans". I can't wait to get them on her...they are so darn cute! That afternoon/evening Lisa and I picked kids up and dropped them off while Brent with Nate went golfing. Life with 5 kids is crazy!!! I'm not sure how Lisa and Brent do it.

Friday morning Nate, Ava, and I went to the cemetery to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hinds. We're pretty sure that they've met already, as Nate and I believe that Grandma helped hand picked Ava for us. Before Grandma passed away I has asked her to pull some strings and send me a little girl. Ava is such a good natured little girl, and has been very easy on us as first time parents...we believe Grandma had a part in that. Ava's middle name is Maxine, after Grandma Hinds. While we were at the cemetery I was holding Ava and moved her from one arm to the other. I looked down and noticed that there was baby poop on my shirt and all over her leg...what great timing. So, we march back to the car and hope that nobody sees us lowering an infant into the trunk of my car. We gave her a quick wash down with the wipes and headed back to Lisa and Brent's so that we could both change clothes. After we were both in clean clothes we headed over to "Grandma Judy's". There we had a wonderful visit and lunch with Judy and Linda. It was so nice to see them again and spend a little time with them. Judy hadn't seen Ava since her baptism, so she had changed a lot. Judy, thank you so much for having us. We wish we could have stayed longer to see Tom and the rest of the family, but we'll be back again sometime!

Friday night Brent, Reece, and Nate went to the campsite to drop off the motor home and then headed to the Valley vs Ottumwa football game. It was a great night for a game. Unfortunately Ottumwa lost, but Nate had a great time seeing some old college friends and watching the game. That night "the boys" camped out while Lisa, Ava, and I stayed home for a girls night, and fell asleep early.

Saturday Grandma Great and Grandma and Grandpa Becker arrived. We all headed to the campground except for Nate. He had a tee time with Kevin at the Des Moines Country Club. Ava took her first trip to the beach after lunch. She loved running her toes through the sand. Nate was at the campground by the time that we got back from the beach. Aunt Lori and Dave joined us that evening as well. Ava decided that night that she did NOT like camping. She could not get herself to sleep. For the first time in 6 months I rocked her to sleep in my arms. The poor thing was exhausted. She then woke up again at 9:30 and we sent her back to the house with Grandma and Grandpa. After her bad day Nate and I decided that we wanted to go back to the house as well in case she got up some more. So no, we still haven't spent a night away from her yet. As our friend Anne wrote the other day, When I'm with my kids I think about how nice it would be to get away, and when I'm away from my kids all I can think about is them". So true!

So this morning we hung out for a bit and then headed home after lunch. Ava did great in the car, and caught up on some much needed sleep. She is now sleeping soundly in her crib, and I imagine that she's happy to be home and hopefully back into her routine shortly. We have what will hopefully be her last PT appointment in the morning. They wanted to see her until she was sitting up, and now she's doing that. I have an eye appt. tomorrow so Spencer will be coming over to watch her. Then it's back to work for me on Tuesday, and back to daycare for Ava. Hopefully she'll do ok. It's been a lot of traveling and moving around over the past couple of weeks. We thought we would try one more new thing this week...solids (besides cereal)!!! We'll be purchasing some avocados tomorrow and see how she does with that. I have a feeling that that girl will eat anything we put in her mouth. I'll keep you posted!