The Veldmans: 3 month & 3 yr old pictures

We've had a busy week with ECFE, preschool, doctor appointments, and getting pictures taken. I had last Tuesday off so I was able to attend ECFE (early childhood and family education) with Ava. She always had a great time there, especially since she gets to do all sorts of crafts that we don't usually do at home because they are so messy. :) When we get there the teachers usually take Grant so that I can spend some one on one time with Ava. I really enjoy this time and think that it's so important since she's had to share so much of her time since Grant came along. This is 30 minutes where it's just me and her doing whatever activity she wants to do.

Thursday was Valentine's Day. No, Nate and I didn't have a romantic dinner out. I went to work an evening shift and he was home alone with the kids. Ava had a great time at preschool that day, as they had their Valentines Day party. She was very excited about her Minnie Mouse valentine's that came with Minnie pencils. She showed me all of her valentines that she had received the next morning, as well as a picture of her class from pajama day. She pointed out her boyfriend Alex who is this cute little boy who wears glasses. :) After I dropped Ava off at preschool Grant and I went to his doctor's appointment at the cranio facial clinic. We went to be evaluated for his slightly deformed head. They think he has a bit of torticollis (shortening of one the neck muscles on one side, Ava had this). So we are now doing daily stretches with him, lengthening his tummy time, and going to PT once weekly for the next month and then biweekly for 2 months. While we were there the Dr. was concerned that Grant's skull has fused to quickly. He named some condition and recommended that we get a CT scan so that he could better evaluate it. The only way to correct this is to have surgery to take the plates in his skull apart and rearrange them. He had a head CT at 7 wks old after a little accident at a birthday party so the Dr. looked at that one. I spoke with his nurse on Monday and thankfully the Dr. said that the CT looked good. We follow-up with him in two months so I will speak with him more about any concerns that he may have or anything that we should be looking for. We are so grateful that his CT looked ok. I can't imagine sending my baby into neuro surgery!

Saturday we went to the mall to run some errands and get Grant's 3 month pictures taken. We went to Penny's, which was a nightmare. We will never be going back there again. We ordered some pictures, but none that I love. That afternoon Mema & Boppa came over to play and brought us dinner. It was great to see them and have the kids play with them. Sunday morning we headed to Woodbury to get Ava's 3 yr old pictures taken. This was a much better experience than from the day before. We even got some of Grant and the both of them. I posted some below.

Monday the kids got to stay home with Daddy since he had the day off and I worked. Today I had to call in since our sitter's son had a fever of 102. The Dr. said that Brady was fine to be around other kids but I just didn't feel comfortable sending my babies over there. So, I spent the day with the kids and I get to be home with them again tomorrow. They'll head back to Cyndi's on Thursday.

We're anxious for Ava's birthday party on Saturday. We're really hoping that the weather holds out so that everybody from IA can make it up here to help us celebrate. I can't believe that my baby girl will be 3 yrs old on Monday. I love her beyond words and can't imagine my life without her in it. Don't get me wrong, we have our moments of frustration, but she brings so much joy into my (and Nate's) life.

Hoping that you all have a wonderful rest of the week and a fabulous weekend!