Can't quite kick it

Ava can't quite get over this cold. She finished up her antibiotics a week ago and she was getting better. She never fully got over the runny nose, but all the icky eye boogers were gone. Now as of yesterday they are back. I called our pediatrician and I'm going to watch Ava for another day or two. If she doesn't get better then I'll take her back in to get her ears checked to make sure she doesn't still have an ear infection. She's just not her always happy self, and she's been waking up in the middle of the night for the past couple of nights. We do NOT want to get used to that!

Saturday afternoon Ava stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa Veldman while Daddy and I went tailgating and to watch a horrible Gopher football game. At least the company was good and the weather was nice. Ava tried pears for the first time that night and she is loving those! It was the first sweet fruit that she's tried (the only other fruit was avocado and that doesn't really count). We had it again last night and she gobbled it right up. We'll go back to veggies for a few days and then try apples.

Sunday Ava woke up with snot everywhere and eye boogers so we skipped out on church so she could get a good morning nap in. We then went down to Great Aunt Sandy's house to meet up with Garritt and Jill. They brought us some of cousin Rachel's clothes for Ava, which we greatly appreciated. Ava now has a full closet (nothing new for this girl)! I was supposed to go into work at 3:00, but they called me as we were leaving Aunt Sandy's and cancelled me, so we went to visit Uncle Wes. We had dinner there, and then came home.

Today was beautiful outside so Ava and I got the chance to take a nice long walk. It's supposed to be gorgeous all week, so hopefully we'll be able to spend some time outside before I have to work all weekend.

We hope that your week is off to a good start, and thank you for checking in with us!

Playing with the few leaves that we have in our back yard

Loving her new elephant pj's

Yep, still sticking that tongue out!

Ava found her tongue

That's right, Ava found her tongue and wants to make sure that everybody can see it by constantly sticking it out. She started this yesterday and thinks that it's so much fun to stick it out. We're going to Edelweiss Baby tomorrow for a little photo shoot and I'm hoping that she doesn't do it there (the little turkey).

Other than that, I don't have much of an update. I worked Monday and Tuesday evening so Ava got some extra Daddy time, and went to daycare on Tuesday. It's been rainy and gloomy here since yesterday afternoon. We did go to the mall today to get out of the house. We found Ava her winter coat and snow pants. I just laughed when I finally got her stuffed into them after arriving home (see pictures below).

So, like I said, not much of an update...but lots of pictures to share. :)

All of these are of her in her pj's this morning...crazy bed head and all

There's that tongue

Her new winter coat and snow pants

The weekend

We ended up having beautiful, but cool weather this weekend. Saturday morning Grandma, Ava, and I headed to Minneapolis after Ava's morning nap to meet up with all the guys (as well as Sarah & Linda) for some tailgating before the Gopher football game. Ava did a great job tailgating and enjoyed being passed around like a little football. She made it through almost the first half of the game, but then got disgusted with the gophers. She made it clear that she was tired of the game (actually just tired in general) and was ready to go home. So Grandma, Ava, and I went back to get the stroller to walk to our parking ramp which was a few blocks from the tailgating lot. Well, long story short...the keys got locked in the Tahoe so we had to take a trip to Maple Grove to pick up a spare set of keys. In the end, AAA ended up going and unlocking the vehicle. Ava luckily took a nap in the stroller on the way to the parking lot, and slept all the way to Maple Grove. She did wake up at 12:30 this morning crying. I'm not sure if she wasn't feeling good or just had a bad dream. She's done that only once in the 4 months, and that was last week when she was sick. Hopefully it won't happen again any time soon.

This morning we went to church, and then over to Grandma & Grandpa's. Sarah and Wes met up with us there for dinner to celebrate Nate's birthday. We had yummy fajitas, and some very very yummy bars that Grandma made. Nate installed Ava's new car seat in my car. I can't believe my little peanut has outgrown her infant car seat. It's going to be kind of a pain to have to take her out every time we go somewhere like Target, especially when she's sleeping.

It's back to work for me tomorrow. I'm working evenings, but Nate took a 1/2 day off tomorrow so no daycare for Ava until Tuesday afternoon! :) Hope that you all had a wonderful weekend!

Ava and her boyfriends Ryan, Daddy, & Nick

Ava & Grandpa ready to cheer on the Gophers

Tailgating

A Gopher family photo


Mommy & Ava at the game
Ava thought she would feed herself her oatmeal this morning. She hasn't quite mastered it yet.

Ava's first ride in her "big girl carseat"
Ava getting a ride on Daddy's shoulders before bed tonight

Slowly on the mend

Ava is slowly on the mend from her ear infection and cold. She still has an awful runny nose and cough, but the fever and eye boogers are gone. Unfortunately the antibiotics are now causing diarrhea. We had our third outfit on by 9:00 this morning. Last night was the first night that I didn't have to get up and suction her nose out though. Hopefully each day she will continue to feel better, making sleep a little easier.

Ava spent Wednesday at daycare. Yesterday was a big day at our house. Daddy turned the Big 30!!! We picked up a birthday cake and went to visit him at work. That night Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch Ava so that Daddy and I could go out for a nice dinner. We went to the St. Paul Grill. We had a wonderful meal, and enjoyed the evening with just the two of us.

Tomorrow we're hoping for nice weather. Ava will be making her first appearance at TCF Stadium for the Gopher vs USC football game. Grandma, Ava, and I will be joining everybody else for tailgating after Ava wakes up from her morning nap. We're taking two vehicles in case Ava decides she wants to make an early exit as well. Wish us luck, and have a great weekend!

How can you help but fall in love with that face?!?

Ear infection+Bad cold=Bad sleep

That's right, Ava's cold has turned ugly. She woke up at 1:30 on Saturday morning with a fever of 100.5, and crying. She hasn't woke up in the middle of the night since she was 10 weeks old. I undressed her, fed her a little, and back to sleep she went. Grandma came over on Sat. morning since I had to work my 12 hour days, and Daddy went to the Gopher home opener. Grandma gave her lots of extra cuddle time, but even that didn't cure her. Daddy ended up sleeping in the spare bedroom Sat. night with the monitor so that I could sleep. Ava has been coughing all night long every night since Friday. For some reason Daddies can sleep through that. So, I didn't really see my little peanut until Monday morning and she looked so pitiful. Her eyes were full of gunk, the skin around her eyes was all red as if she hadn't slept in 3 weeks, she had snot and boogers just about everywhere. Those poor little eyes were glazed over. She had her 6 months appointment scheduled for Monday. We kept the appointment but opted not to do the shots. I didn't feel like punching her while she was down. So, we'll be going back in Oct. for her 6 month shots plus a flu vaccine. Our Dr. said that she looks great except for the cold and the ear infection that she has (I contribute this to daycare). So Ava got her first dose of antibiotics last evening. Lucky for us our child eats anything. She gulped it right down. Before I forget, Ava weighed in at 19 lbs 10 oz, and is 27 1/4 inches long. This puts her in the 90th percentile. It's reassuring that there are 10% of children out there that are fatter than mine. :) With that being said, only 3% have smaller heads. Yep, Ava falls in the 97th percentile for head circumference. Hmmmm....I wonder who she gets that from.

As for today, Ava's fever is now gone and her eyes look so much better. There's still snot everywhere and she's coughing a lot, but she greeted us with smiles from her crib this morning. She then took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning. Unfortunately I am now not feeling well. I'm hoping that if I get some good sleep tonight (that's if Ava stops coughing) then maybe my body will recharge and I'll feel better. I rarely get sick, but I think my body is just so sleep deprived it's giving up. Ava and I have to get healthy to help Daddy celebrate the big 3-0 on Thursday. Grandma (and possibly Grandpa) are coming over Thursday night so that just the two of us can go out for a nice dinner.

Ava thinking "What is going on, why is this happening to me?"

Smiling in spite of the running nose, droopy eyes, and eye boogers. I love my little peanut!

First cold

We have been so lucky that Ava has not been sick for the first 6 months of her life. Everybody says that when kids start day care they get sick. Well they were right! Ava now has her first cold. The poor little thing wakes up so congested, it's hard for her to breath when she's breastfeeding. We heard her coughing in her crib this morning and just felt so bad for her. Hopefully it doesn't last too long. She has her 6 month Dr's appointment on Monday afternoon.

Ava also has been having a few constipation issues since starting her "real food". We went from liquid blow-outs to tiny pebbles. Don't be mistaken though, those pebbles are packed full of odor. I've never seen something so small that smells so bad! We're going to try peas tonight and if that doesn't help then I'm going to have to cave and give her some apple juice. I don't know why I'm so opposed, but I just don't want to give her juice. I feel like she's to small to be having all that sugar. I sometimes forget that she isn't a newborn anymore though. Her diet is expanding, as she's now had avocado, bananas, sweet potato, and tonight it will be peas. She loves eating her big people food. Heck, she just loves eating...that's one thing she gets from me I guess. :)

This afternoon she'll head back to day care for a 1/2 day. The full days are kind of hard on her because she doesn't get much sleep. At least when she goes in the afternoons she gets at least one really good nap at home. I had to drop her off yesterday for the first time. It's much more fun picking her up than it is dropping her off.

Tomorrow I have the day off. We'll be going to Maple Grove tomorrow morning for Ava's last physical therapy appointment. I'm assuming that they will sign off on her without problems. I work this weekend and Grandma V will be coming over on Saturday to watch Ava while Daddy, Uncles Wes, and Grandpa going to the Gopher football opener. Hoping for nice weather and a win. Have a great weekend!
Ava helping make apple crisp on Monday.

Do you think that this may have something to do with her thighs and cankles?

Big eyes...

that go with her big beautiful smile!

The unofficial end of summer

We headed up to the cabin for the Labor Day weekend. We made it a short trip to try to avoid some of the traffic, and succeeded. We went over to Grandma Veldman's Friday evening and had dinner over there. We then packed up and headed out. We got up to the cabin around10 pm or so. Ava slept most of the way once Grandma stopped talking to her and playing with her (Grandma was going through withdraw from not seeing her for 2 weeks). :)

We spent Saturday and Sunday relaxing at the cabin...play cards, going for walks, and playing toys. The boys took the docks out on Sunday and then we went for our last boat ride of the season. It's crazy how quickly the summer went. Nate, Ava, and I left for home around 7:30 last night. Ava slept the whole way and there was no traffic...how nice!!!

Today the three of us went shopping to the mall and Babies R Us. We had to get a new car seat for Nate's truck. I weighed Ava on Friday and she weighed in at 20 lbs on Grandma and Grandpa V's scale. That means she's 2 lbs away from the max on her infant seat. So, our big girl has now graduated to the nice expensive car seats. :)

We hope that you all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend and got to spend some time with family and friends.

PS- A Big congrats to my sister and brother-in-law for selling their house. We are SOOOO excited for you!!!

Ava in her skinny jeans at the cabin (her shirt is a little skinny too, but not on purpose).

Loving those jeans! :)

This picture is SO not flattering of Ava's double chins. However, she is loving Grandpa's Gorilla Tough hat.

Our last boat ride of the season (don't worry, we are still at the dock here, I put her lifejacket on before we pulled away)

This is how Ava has spent most of her boat rides

Home from a walk with Grandma

Getting ready to go shopping for her big girl car seat

The pictures are in...

Our photographer, Angela, (angelacourtneyphotography.com) dropped off Ava's pictures tonight. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are no smiles...but I still think they are cute. Hope they bring a smile to your face and brighten your day!

I just love this one for some reason. I just have to wonder what she's thinking about. (I know, she's probably wondering why I've dressed her like that)

A couple of rough days

Ava was so happy and excited to be home on Monday. She was so full of smiles and giggles. We ended up not having her PT appointment on Monday morning. They called me 15 minutes before we were leaving and informed me that Ava's appointment was a "pool appt", as in water therapy. The scheduler scheduled us with the wrong therapist. Needless to say, Ava does Not need water therapy and I rescheduled. I did have my eye appt. and they are now saying that it may be a bacterial infection and I am on antibiotic drops and will be switching contacts. I'm praying that with the switch my vision will be back to how it was 6 months ago!

The past couple of days have been pretty rough on Ava. She went back to day care on Tuesday, it was her third day. She hardly slept at all, and I could tell last evening. She tried so hard to take a nap in her crib when we got home. She would lay down and suck her thumb for 5 minutes and then cry for a few seconds and then lay down again. She did this over and over for about 20 minutes. We ended up feeding her early and put her to bed before 7:00. She tried avocado for the first time last night. It's the first time we gave her "real food" (not counting her rice cereal). She gagged, gave us a whole body shiver, made an awful face, and was done with that. She enjoyed her cereal much more! We tried again tonight with the avocado and it was a success. She ate all that I had prepared, and then ate her cereal and breastfed. And I wonder how she gets all those rolls! :) She had a better day at day care today, but was still exhausted. She was sleeping when I went to pick her up so I had to wake her. She was once again kind of cranky this evening and was in bed before 7:00 again. The poor little thing! She'll be back at daycare tomorrow, but then home with me on Friday.

Well I'm exhausted so I'm going to wrap this up. I think I'm also coming down with a cold. I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the week and a fabulous Labor Day if I don't update before then!

PS-I've decided that I hate camping even more than Ava...I have poison ivy on my leg!


I'm not so sure that white leggings are the most flattering on her. :)