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. :)

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!

Nana & Ava. Ava turned 6 months old on this day

Linda, Judy, and Ava

Silly little girl

Grandma Great & Ava

Ava getting a photography lesson. Doesn't she look like a pro?

Reece, Ava, & Zackery celebrating Zackery's 10th b-day at the beach. Happy Birthday Zack!!!

Looking out at the water

Ava & Mommy on the beach

Ava & Grandma

Ava checking Grandpa out

No smiles

Ava spent the day at home with Daddy since I had to work today. She was evidently a champion sleeper, taking her two morning naps, and then a two hour nap this afternoon. She Never sleeps that long for me! I got home from work and she was all smiles. I thought to myself, "this is great, she's going to be so happy for her pictures tonight". She even laid down for her 5:00 nap and was sleeping so soundly. Ang got here at 5:30 as scheduled so I went and woke up my little sleeping beauty and got her dressed. That darn little turkey didn't smile once the whole hour that Ang was here!!! Every time that we've had her professional pictures taken her smiles go away. You would think that she's the most serious and unhappy child on earth. At least we have our home pictures of her smiling. I'm sure that she'll be all smiles once again tomorrow.

We're leaving for Iowa in the morning so I'm hoping that she'll be all smiles. We'll be stopping to see Nana on the way down. We hope that you have a great rest of the week!

Uncle Wes feeding Ava her cereal on Sunday. From what I hear he did a great job, especially for it being his first time feeding a baby.

A little sneak peak of one of Ava's "outfits" from her photo shoot today.