Monday, March 29, 2010

Poop EVERYWHERE!!!

I don't know how it happened or how it happened so quickly...I was in the process of feeding Ava and asked Nate to burp her and change her diaper while I ran upstairs to brush my teeth before switching sides during her feeding. Within five minutes Nate was running upstairs and said that he needed more diapers. As soon as he got back downstairs I heard, "There is s*** everywhere!". I go running downstairs to see what is going on and sure enough, there was poop Everywhere. Poor Ava was in the bassinet, there were three dirty diapers on the window sill and the one she had on was covered in poop. There was poop that had been shot onto the side of the bassinet, onto the blanket that lays over the bassinet, and it appeared as though the foot of her pj's had been sitting in a pool of poop and then somebody had painted her back, stomach, and legs with poop. I felt so bad for the little thing. I wanted to take a picture because it was so unreal, but I think Nate may have killed me (he didn't find the whole situation very amusing). I took her upstairs to clean her up and had to laugh. Somehow Nate had poop all over the outside of the diaper, but the inside was perfectly clean. Honestly, I don't know what happened in those short few minutes but I hope we don't have a repeat anytime soon. It made for a lot of laundry.

As for our weekend, Ava and I hung out together Friday evening while Nate went and watched basketball and played cards/shuffle board with the boys. Sat. morning I got to run to the mall to finish up some errands while Nate watched Ava. That afternoon our friends Kim, Eliott, and Eliott's parents came over to meet Ava. It was so good to see them again. They live in Caledonia and we don't get to see them much beyond their annual Labor Day Bash and a few times here and there throughout the year. We thank them for the visit and are so glad that they got to meet Ava. Saturday evening we went out for dinner with Uncle Wes and Grandma and Grandpa Veldman to celebrate my birthday. We went to La Grolla in St. Paul which is one of my favorite places. It was so yummy! Ava was well behaved and loved up by Grandma and Uncle Wes.

Sunday we headed off to church in the morning and then went over to Grandma and Grandpa Veldman's for lunch. Grandpa watched Ava while Grandma and I ran to the jewelry store to get my birthday gift. We got home just in time, as Ava had another blow-out (I feel like I should wrap the poor thing in plastic to save her clothes). She was so wide awake after lunch and even shared a few smiles. She's been smiling a lot more and I just love it!

Today was pretty low key. We made a trip to Target (I'll post a picture later this week of what we bought Ava) and were able to go out for a nice walk. I even wore shorts! Tomorrow is supposed to be around 70 degrees. I can't wait! Tomorrow evening we'll be having dinner with some of the girls from my work. Ava can't wait to see Molly again and meet Beth and Karina. We are looking forward to it!

Tomorrow morning Grandma is coming over to watch Ava. I have been having some blurry vision in my right eye since last Thursday and it's kind of freaking me out (I really enjoy looking at Ava and don't really want to go blind in my right eye). Nate was unable to get off work so Grandma was kind enough to rearrange her work schedule so she can watch Ava while I go to my appointment. Thank you SOOOO much Grandma!!!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

4 Weeks Old

Another week has already passed and Ava is now 4 weeks old (this sounds younger than 1 month to me so I like to use weeks). She is growing so much. The past couple of days she has started to smile more. I look forward to more smiles and giggles, and her "talking" to us in the weeks to come. She loves her tummy time while looking at her book (red, black and white pictures). We try to do tummy time each morning. This morning I decided to try to prop her up on her boppy pillow to see how she liked that. Well, I ran upstairs to brush my teeth and when I came back down she started to cry and had face planted herself onto the floor. The little wiggle worm scooted herself up over the top of the pillow. I guess I really can't leave her alone! Poor little thing, I felt so bad! She has been very good today, meaning that she's actually been staying awake after her feedings. Hopefully this means that we'll have a restful night tonight.

Nate and I did go out for dinner and ran a few quick errands at the mall last night while Grandma Veldman came over to watch Ava. It's amazing how fast 2 1/2 hours goes when you go out to dinner. We are very grateful that she came over so that we could get away, and were happy to hear that Ava was a good little girl while we were gone. It's funny because I was so looking forward to getting away for just a little bit. However, the whole time that we were away we just thought about and talked about Ava. Boy has she changed our lives!!!

Cute little butt!
She looks so big sitting up without the help of any pillows here








Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Meeting new friends

Monday evening Ava got to meet her new friend Cora. Cora was born just a couple of weeks before Ava to our friends Mike & Kristi. So Monday evening our friends from Chicago, Joe & Amy, were in town visiting so the 5 of them came over to meet Ava (and maybe to see Nate and me as well?). It was so nice to see everybody, meet Cora, and catch up a little bit. The girls were in the swing and vibrating chair as we were having dinner. It was just kind of funny to determine who's child it was that was crying...I think that Ava might have beat Cora at the fussiness game. I've posted some pictures of the two of them. It may appear that they are not happy to see each other, but I think that they just show it in a funny way (screaming, crying on the floor). There is also a picture of Joe and Amy who look quite comfortable and happy holding two little girls...perhaps they will be next?!? :)

Tuesday morning we started out the day with bath time. It was very successful as it was the first time that Ava didn't pee or poop in the tub, and there were no tears. She seemed to kind of enjoy it. We headed down to the hospital around 11:30 to see some of my coworkers and introduce them to Ava. Well Ava made up for not peeing in the tub. Michelle was holding her and all of a sudden Laurie says, "What's dripping on the floor". That would be my daughter!!! Some how she had managed to pee so much that it was dripping out the side of her diaper, through her pants, on Michelle, and onto the floor. We wrapped her in a towel and off to the bathroom we went for a change of clothes and diaper. She and I then went to this "new connections" group offered at the hospital for new parents. It was kind of nice to hear what other people were going through and compare stories. At the end of the session we were able to weigh our babies. Miss Ava packed on the pounds over the past few weeks and now weighs in at 10 lbs 3 oz. I about died! I knew she went through a growth spurt but I didn't think it was that much. Ava continued on her wonderful streak of going through outfits. She had a massive "blow-out" after she was done eating. It went through her clothes and onto my jeans. So, outfit #3 for the day went on. Good thing she has a closet full of clothes!

Ava has decided for the past two nights that her new bedtime is going to be midnight. I'm really hoping that this doesn't last long because I am just exhausted. I was hoping for more like 10:30 (which she was doing previously). I'm working to get her on a schedule but she seems to have a mind of her own (I wonder where she gets that from). It is once again beautiful outside today so we were able to go for a walk this morning. She is now taking a nap so I should probably run and shower. It no longer seems odd to not shower until 2:00 in the afternoon.

Tonight Grandma Veldman is coming over to watch Ava so that Nate and I can go out to dinner for my birthday. We are not going anywhere fancy, but I am excited to get out, run some errands, and eat dinner with Nate without any interruptions. Hopefully Ava is a good girl while we are gone.


Getting ready for our walk today


All clean after bath time yesterday


Cora & Ava


Cora, Amy, Joe, & Ava




Monday, March 22, 2010

Meeting the Veldmans

Saturday was a big day for Ava. She got to meet the Veldman women at her baby shower in Bloomington. The "aunties" threw a wonderful shower and Ava finally got to meet them as well as "Nana" and many cousins. Thank you all for throwing the shower and for everybody who came. Ava was all dressed up in her party dress and was very well behaved as she was passed from person to person and adored. We got home that evening and relaxed with Daddy while we watched the UNI/Kansas game which was phenomenal! I think that I was actually more in to it than Nate was.


Sunday we headed off to church and then went over to Grandma and Grandpa Veldman's for lunch. They got a little snuggle time in with her before we left to run some errands to Target. Last night was another good night of sleep. She has been sleeping for about 4 hours straight, and then wakes up after 2 hours again. It's amazing how refreshed a person can feel after 4 hours of sleep! We can't complain, she has been very good for us with the exception of a few nights of what we believe were an upset tummy.


As I got Ava dressed this morning I became very sad. I put on the outfit that she came home from the hospital in...it's getting quite snug. Today will be the last day that she will be able to wear it. I just noticed yesterday how much her face is filling out, and her long legs actually have a little bit of fat on them. She barely fits on my lap anymore, as she is getting so long. I'm wondering how much she weighs. We are going to stop by the hospital tomorrow to say hi to the girls there and I might see if there is a place in the birth center where I can weigh her. My little pumpkin is getting so big so quickly!!!


Well I hear a little cry and it's once again feeding time!


This outfit was almost to big three weeks ago.


Look at those high waters.


Nana and Ava at the shower



Ava all dressed up and ready to go to her baby shower





Friday, March 19, 2010

Busy week

I've been wanting to update the blog all week, but it appears that 10:30 pm comes quite quickly these days. It's hard to believe how quickly the days go by and how little I actually get done outside of feeding Ava and trying to keep her awake for a bit before her naps. Then the cycle starts all over again. I still have yet to get a nap in this week, it's been a busy one.

Lisa, Zackery, and Reece arrived on Monday afternoon. It was Zackery's first time meeting Ava so I'm glad that he was on spring break and was able to come up to visit. Reece is still infatuated with "Baby Ava (it comes out as "Baby Able") He always needs to know where she is and what she is doing. We spent Monday afternoon at the park and then had dinner at home with Nate after he got home from work. Lisa, Ava, and I then ran to Target so that Nate, Zackery, and Reece could have some "guy time". I think they played video games the whole time. I think that Nate really enjoyed having the boys around. Tuesday the weather was kind of crappy but we ventured out to Albertville to the outlet mall. That evening Ava and the boys dyed easter eggs. Ava wasn't really interested but went along with it for a couple of eggs before deciding that eating was a better option than dying eggs. Reece however loved it and left here Wednesday with a very green hand from holding his egg in the green dye. Wednesday morning we were able to go for a nice long walk as the temps climbed into the lower 60's. Unfortunately those temps are gone today, but we enjoyed it while it lasted. Lisa and the boys left Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday evening Ava and I headed to Apple Valley to a visitation. A friend of mine from work, Jane, who precepted me and all the other new grads at United Hospital for years passed away from cancer on Monday morning. She was an amazing woman and nurse and will be dearly missed by so many people. She was only 58 yrs old. Ava and I met up at my friend Molly's house. She was nice enough to let us come over for a little while so that I could feed Ava before the visitation. Ava also got to meet Molly's girls, Emma and Leah who enjoyed holding her. Ava recieved her first swimsuit with a matching hat from them...I can't wait to put it on her! :)

Yesterday was Ava's 3 week birthday. Don't worry, I'm not going to celebrate every week for the rest of her life. It's just hard to believe that she's already three weeks old. We went for a walk yesterday and then to the mall to get a dress for her shower that we have on Sat. Then last evening we went up to Lino Lakes. Nate had a special thing for work so we met him up there for a little while.

Today is going to be pretty low key for Miss Ava. Ariana (a friend of mine from work) is stopping by this morning. Nate is getting off work early today to watch the Gopher game so he'll be home by 3:00 so that I can go and get my hair cut and Ava can have some Daddy time. Tomorrow afternoon Ava gets to meet all the Veldman women at the baby shower that they are throwing. We can't wait to introduce her to everybody!

Thanks for checking in on us. We hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

St. Patrick's Day

Reece giving Ava a kiss


After dying easter eggs



Zackery holding Ava for the first time

Monday, March 15, 2010

Weekend

We had a very busy weekend with lots of visitors here to see Ava. Erin & Kevin came up from Des Moines on Friday evening and spent the night with us. Luckily Ava had a good evening and wasn't fussy all night long. Nate reffed on Sat. morning and then Nate (Voight), Meredith, and Jackson came to visit in the afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa Veldman came over to see them and Ava as well. Jackson will be a year old at the end of May and is such a big boy. It's hard to believe that in less than a year Ava will be crawling around like that and standing (at least we hope she is). Sat. evening was another evening of fussiness. We got little sleep, and it didn't help that it was daylight savings time so we lost an hour. I'm wondering when my body is going to adjust to living on four hours of broken up sleep a night.

We got up and headed to church on Sunday morning. Of course I couldn't keep Miss Ava awake long enough to feed her. I'm assuming she was exhausted from crying for half the evening. We headed home after church and Matt and Kelly, Mo, and Uncle Wes came to visit. The boys watched the Gopher game while I snuck in a 30 minute nap. I was able to take a short walk around the block, it was absolutely beautiful out!!! I love the extra hours of daylight and am looking forward to more warm days so I can take Ava out.

Nate headed back to work this morning. I was up feeding Ava when he left for the gym. I felt bad sending him off to work. It was so nice that he was able to spend those first two weeks at home with us. They just went by way to quickly! I'm sure that he'll look forward to seeing his little girl when he gets home.


He'll also be greeted by my sister, Reece, and Zackery when he gets home. They are currently on their way up here from Des Moines to spend a few days. Zackery will be meeting Ava for the first time, and Reece is evidently already in love with her as he wouldn't go to bed last night until he got to see her picture on the computer. It will be nice to see them all!



Well I should finish getting ready before Ava wakes up again. I need to take advantage of the time that she is sleeping. Hope that you are all able to get out and enjoy these nice warm days!

Taking a nap after church







Friday, March 12, 2010

2 Weeks Old

Ava is now two weeks old and the honeymoon is over! Last evening was a very trying evening in our house. Ava spent the afternoon/evening Screaming. From about 2:30-10:30 last night she spent most of the time screaming except for when she was eating and an occasional few minutes of peaceful silence. I think that her tummy was a big ball of gas. We gave her Mylicon drops but that didn't seem to help much. She got two baths last night; one was planned, the other was due to a major "blow out" that went up her back. She finally fell asleep on Nate's chest about 10:30 last night. She was so exhausted from crying all evening that she slept until 3:00 when I woke her up to change her and feed her. She was back to bed a little after 4:00 and then got up at 7:00. So, at least we were able to get some sleep last night. I'm praying that we don't have a repeat performance of yesterday this evening. Erin and Kevin are driving up from Des Moines this afternoon to spend the night with us so that they can meet Ava. I informed Ava that she is having company and we would all appreciate a nice quiet evening together. We'll see if she cooperates.

We've had a fairly busy week. Monday Lisa and Craig came to visit. Ava was on her best behavior. They were up visiting from Kansas City and we were so glad that they were able to come by to meet her. It's always great to see them and hard to say good-bye. Oh how we wish they didn't live so far away! We thank them for taking the time to come over when they had such a long drive ahead of them. Tuesday we took Ava for a weight check at the Dr. She weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz, which was good. They wanted her back up to her birth weight by 2 weeks so we were right on track. We did a little shopping at the mall and then went to visit Grandma Veldman at work. Everybody just loved her. I hope that little girl doesn't get a big head. All she ever hears is how beautiful and precious she is. :) We spent Wednesday at home, which was nice. We had things to get done, like cleaning bathrooms and working on thank yous. Nate was very helpful and cleaned the upstairs bathrooms (that is my job, so I was very grateful when I found him doing it). Nate went to a basketball game that night while Ava and I stayed home. She was kind of fussy and I didn't want to take her to a game that was going to be super loud if she was already not a happy child. Yesterday we ventured to downtown Minneapolis to have lunch with Uncle Wes. She slept through lunch which was very nice for us, but was ready to eat by the time we were getting ready to leave Target. Shortly after that, the screaming began.

As for this weekend, Nate is reffing Sat. morning and we'll be having visitors in the afternoon. We're hoping for a nice weekend together before Nate heads back to work on Monday. It will be strange not having him around. These past two weeks have gone by so quickly.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!












Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The weekend

We had a very nice weekend at home. Saturday Ang came over and took Ava's pictures, I posted some of them below so that you can have a sneak peak. She looks so precious (of course I'm a bit biased). If I could I would have her pictures taken daily. I just don't want to forget these days where she is so little. I know that the days to come will be fun and exciting though too, as she will begin to interact more. But right now I just love holding my little angel and enjoying all her little fingers, toes, her mouth, nose, etc.

Sunday morning we ventured out to church, which we did make on time. Grandma Veldman and Uncle Wes made sure that she wasn't neglected and held her the whole time wrapped up nice and warm in her blanket. After church Nate, Ava, and I headed to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa Becker as they returned home from DC. We went back to our place where both sets of grandparents and Uncle Wes were so that we could have lunch and visit. It was nice to see Grandma & Grandpa Becker again, even if it was for just a few hours. They love to snuggle her! We'll be looking forward to seeing them again at Easter.

Today we will be heading to the Dr. for another weight check. The feedings have been going much better the past 24 hours. Ava seems to figure out how to latch on much quicker, which makes feedings go much more quickly and smoothly. She's constantly wet and dirty, which makes me believe that she's getting enough food. Yesterday we had our first "blow out" which was quite a mess and not very lady like. At least we know her bowels are working I guess. She slept like a champ last night, from 10:40-2:15, and then back up again at 5:45. I hope that this continues!!!

That's all for today. Thanks for checking in on us. I hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as I do!











Saturday, March 6, 2010

1st bottle

Ava was unfortunately introduced to the bottle this morning. She woke up at 6:00 am for a feeding. After an hour of trying to get her to latch on I was in tears and extremely frustrated. I decided to just pump and had Nate try to give it to her via the bottle. She sucked it right down! I told her not to get used to it because that was hopefully a one time occurance for quite awhile. I was hoping to not introduce the bottle until she was 3 or 4 weeks old. Once again I am reminded that I'm not totally in control. There is now another princess living in this house! :)

Ava had her first photo shoot today. She was a rock star once she finally got a full belly and a clean diaper. Our friend Ang (angelacourtneyphotography.com) came over to the house for Ava's 1 week pictures (actually 9 days, but that's the soonest we could get her). We are anxious to see them and share them with everybody. Below are the pictures of her when she really was one week old.

Tomorrow is going to be a full day. Grandma and Grandpa Becker fly in from Washington DC and we're going to pick them up at the airport after church. We'll see if we can get to church on time now that we have a newborn. I feel like the mornings fly by on a normal day, so hopefully we can get some sleep and be up and out of the house by 8:45 am. Grandma & Grandpa will come over for lunch and then head back to IA tomorrow afternoon. Grandma & Grandpa Veldman and Uncle Wes are planning on coming over as well. Hopefully there will be time for a nap at some point. The days have been flying by with little time for naps...I'm not sure where all the time goes (I feel like most of it goes to breastfeeding).











Thursday, March 4, 2010

1 Week Old

It's hard to believe that it's already been one week since we went to the hospital and our sweet angel was born. I know it's only a week, but it makes me sad...I feel like she's already getting to old. She's taught us a few things about taking care of a newborn in the past week. Nate has learned that when bringing Ava into the bathroom for her bath that he should wait to take her diaper off until he reaches the bathroom. Last night I was running her bath water and he brought her in. All of a sudden he's yelling that she's peeing. There he stood with pee running down his arms and his shirt. I had to laugh. And I've learned that when she poops, she may need a few minutes to finish up. During her 3:30 am feeding the other night we went through 4 diapers in 20 minutes. Lessons learned!

Ava had a visit from a home care nurse on Tuesday. This is something that I had requested upon leaving the hospital, just for piece of mind. The nurse was concerned that she may be a bit jaundice so we moved our doctor's appt. up to Wednesday instead of today. I was glad that we did, since she had been sleeping so much (a blessing and a curse, since I worry about everything) I was worried that her bili level might be high. Unfortunately our pediatrician was in Hudson, WI that day so Ava had her first out of state trip yesterday. Nate was not impressed that her first trip out of state was to WI. Anyway, we met our pediatrician and I absolutely love her. They checked Ava's bili level and it came back at 11, which was not concerning to the Dr. We did however do a little sunbathing in the window for the past couple of days just to help (since her level was 5.4 at the hospital). She did wake up a couple of times for feedings last night (the previous two nights I had to wake her up). So, I'm hoping that we might just be blessed with a beautiful little girl who likes to sleep at night. Nate has been very lucky, as he has not had to get out of bed in the middle of the night since she has come home.

The sun has been shining here and the temps are right around 40 degrees. We decided that most of the ice had melted on the streets so we loaded Ava up in the "Baby Bjorn" and headed out for our first walk around the block tonight. It was so nice for me to get some fresh air. She slept through the whole thing, and stayed nice and warm against Nate's chest, covered by his coat. She was also sporting her bear hat that Mike & Kristi gave her. I'll be looking forward to more warm weather so we can spend more time outside.

Getting ready for Ava's first walk outside today





Tuesday, March 2, 2010

More pictures

Honestly, what did you expect? Of course we're going to have tons of pictures of her. Hope you enjoy! :)

Ava's first time in the swing


Getting ready to head out to the mall. She already looks so big!




Little miss Sleeping Beauty

Pictures

Reece checking out "Baby"

Virg, Bruce, & Sara made the trip from IA on Sunday to visit

Grandpa & Grandma Becker when we arrived home






Lots of family from IA greeted us when we got home from the hospital






Monday, March 1, 2010

Ava's first outing

Ava had her first outing this afternoon. I thought it would only be appropriate that a girl's first outing be to the mall. She slept through the whole thing, which made it quite nice for Nate and me. Now hopefully she'll sleep tonight.

Grandma and Grandpa Becker left for Washington DC this morning so it's just Nate, Ava, and me tonight. I won't lie, I'm a little anxious. It's been very nice to be able to go to sleep and just wake up to feed her. I woke up at 3:00 this morning thinking, "wow, I can't believe she slept that long. I need to go and wake her up to feed her". Well I walked into her bedroom and there she sat in Grandpa's arms. He had been rocking her for 2 hours. I told her that we will not have a repeat performance of that tonight...we'll see what she thinks. Let's be honest, she's the one in control.

We have a home care nurse coming in the morning to check her weight and just check in on the two of us. Hopefully she's getting enough to eat, I'll be eager to see what they say.

Well I'm exhausted and have one more feeding before bedtime. Wish us luck tonight, I'm hoping to get some sleep (I'm a little worried about Nate too, he's not used to not sleeping). I'll try to post more pictures tomorrow.

PS-Thanks to Virg, Bruce, and Sara for coming up Sunday. It was a pleasant surprise to see you, and so nice of you to make the long trip from IA to just visit for the afternoon. Nate and I truly appreciate it, and are so grateful to everybody in my family who drove the 10 hours round trip to visit for a few hours.