The truth

We've all noticed that the frequency of updates on here has decreased significantly in the past few months.  Part of it is that our life just isn't that exciting.  The other reason is that I have not been feeling well over the past few months.  The reason why...

We have another thumb sucker

That's right, Baby V #2 will be making his or her arrival sometime around Oct. 21st. 

Ava appears to be excited about this, and likes telling people that she's going to be a " big brother".  What she means is that she wants a baby brother.  Even before we found out we were expecting Ava told me one day that she wanted a baby brother.  I asked her if a baby sister would be ok.  She adamantly said, "no, a baby brother".  She has not changed her mind about this either.  We could be in trouble!!!  We are still undecided as to if we will find out the sex of the baby during our ultrasound.  We didn't with Ava.  I think that all of this will be a shock, and a bit of a blow to Ava's ego.  She is definitely used to being the center of attention no matter where we go.  Hopefully we can go from everything being "mine" to sharing.  This girl even dreams selfishly.  A few nights this past week she must have had the same dream.  She'll be sleeping and say, "no, no, stop, that's mind".  Sad but true!

The past few months have been a bit rough as far as sickness goes.  I believe that it's better than when I was pregnant with Ava, Nate disagrees.  Luckily I haven't had the extreme exhaustion that I had with Ava.  I don't get to come home from work and take naps this time around.  I do usually hit the couch after dinner though, and Nate takes over Daddy duty.

With another baby on the way we would really like to get a bigger place.  Our current place has three bedrooms, but we would really like a fourth for when we have family in town.  We would also like a better layout with a toy room and a bit more living space.  With that being said, we're planning on putting our place on the market next week.  I'm praying that it sells and that we find something that suits us a bit better as a growing family.  However, I'm going to try not to stress myself out about it.  We will fit in this house and we don't HAVE to move.  It would just be really nice.  So, say a few prayers for us as we start this journey as well. 

Next time I'll put more updated pictures of Ava on here.  I still have some to download to the computer.  Just  thought I'd share the big news, and explain the lack of updates.  Thanks for checking in with us!

Easter

We hope that you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. This year we spent Easter in De Soto at Aunt Lisa & Uncle Brent's house. We loaded up the Traverse Friday morning with Mema, Boppa, the three of us, and all our luggage. Poor Mema got stuck in the back. We made a few stops on the way down, which helped to break up the trip. We got to stop and see Nana in Hollandale. We hadn't seen her for quite some time. She of course had yummy homemade treats waiting for us when we arrived. We then stopped in Clear Lake for a quick lunch. Our next stop...Tom & Judy's. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to visit with them, as we had to get to Aunt Lisa's to dye eggs. Ava had a great time playing at Tom & Judy's for the short time that we were there. She loved the kitty, and managed to drag out every single toy that they have. It was great to see them, even if it was for only a short bit. Mema & Boppa stayed there while we went on to De Soto.

Grandma Great, Aunt Lori, Zacky, and Reece greeted us at Aunt Lisa's. We were so happy to see everybody. Ava quickly put on some of Reece's "paint clothes" so that we could dye eggs. She was interested for about 5 minutes. Then she was off to play and read books.

Saturday morning Aunt Darlene, Great Grandma, and Grandma B surprised us and showed up at Aunt Lisa's. As soon as they arrived we left for a big Easter egg hunt that one of Aunt Lisa's friends put on in Des Moines. There were SO many eggs there!!! Unfortunately it was kind of cold and rainy. We left after collecting a ton of eggs and headed home for some lunch and a nap. That evening Aunt Darlene, Great Grandma, and Grandma headed back home and we went to church. Having Ava in church once again reminded me of how grateful I am for the nursery at our church on Sunday mornings! She is not a little girl who can sit quietly for an hour. She finally fell asleep about 3/4 into the service.

Sunday morning the kids woke up and found their Easter baskets. The girls (Jordan, Ali, and Ellen) came over later and we had another egg hunt outside. Uncle Brent and Daddy hid the eggs. They must have done a very good job because we are still missing one of Ava's eggs. They were supposed to be very easy to find so we're not sure if the dog took one of them or what happened to it. Ava had a great time finding all of her pink eggs though. After that we had lunch and it was then time for us to pack up, pick up Mema & Boppa, and head home. We ended up not getting home until about 6:30. The drive home seemed to last a bit longer than the drive down. About 30 minutes from home Ava decided that she "needed" to drive. She threw a fit, telling Nate that she needed to sit up front so she could drive. I have no idea when she learned to drive, but she was very adamant about it.

This week has been pretty low key. Ava spent Monday through Wednesday at daycare, and yesterday we ran errands in the morning and it was finally nice enough outside yesterday afternoon that we got to go for a walk to the park and play with some sidewalk chalk for a bit. Ava's bandage finally fell off of her belly a couple of days ago. Her incision looks great, I don't know if you'll even be able to tell it's there once it fully heals. We have her surgical follow-up appointment in a few weeks.

Other than that, it would be a fairly low key weekend. Nate is running his first 5K tomorrow. The weather should be nice, so hopefully he'll have a good time. Hope that you all have a great weekend!


Dying Easter eggs
Ava trying to get a good look at what's going on in that cup

Our rocker chick, who looks like a rocker dude in Reece's clothes

Reece & Ava ready for Easter service

Playing Peek-a-boo before church

Sadly enough, this is one of the better pictures of the three of them (the other ones Ava practically has her legs up over her head, she's so lady like)

One of the Easter egg hunts

Zacky helping Ava find some eggs

I found one!!!

Hunting with Daddy

This would be the giant bunny that Aunt Darlene brought for Ava. It is still at Aunt Lisa & Uncle Brent's house because we only had room in the car for the bunny or Mema...Mema won!

Reading her book that was in her Easter basket

Finding her first egg on Easter morning

Surgery

Ava had her surgery yesterday (an umbilical hernia repair) and recovery is going better than I could have ever anticipated. We were a little uncertain going into things on Monday morning. We received a phone call from our surgeons office at 2:30 Friday afternoon saying that his father was ill and he was leaving town, however one of his partners could do the surgery at the same time on Monday. We debated about this since I really fell in love with "Dr Steve" at Ava's pre-op appointment. We opted to go on with the surgery as planned since we had the day off and had been trying to prepare Ava for the day. We met Dr. Rich just prior to Ava's surgery. I must say that I was not impressed. He planned on intubating her rather than using an oral airway, planned on giving us no prescription pain meds like Dr. Steve had planned on doing, and was not going to do her surgical dressing how I had hoped. When all was said it done, she did fine with the intubation, she didn't need the oxycodone, and I got my surgical dressing.

Ava was a rockstar at the hospital. I have to say that Children's does such a great job catering to the kids, making things as not scary as possible. Everybody that we encountered was friendly and had a smile on their face. They have redone the surgical area since we were there last year. It is very nice. We got to stay in the same room pre and post op which was nice, and had the same nurse. The child life specialist came in and went over the "princess mask" with Ava before she went back to the OR. Nate went back with her again. He said that she did a great job and didn't seem scared or intimidated at all by all of the stuff in the OR. He held her until she was out, helped put her on the operating room table, and was then sent out. I then sent him out to get us lunch while we waited for Ava. If you're stuck in the hospital you might as well enjoy Cossetta's. :)

I think that Ava almost enjoyed yesterday. She woke up and had Jello and apple juice for breakfast. She had never had jello, and we don't allow her to have juice. She got to play with some new toys as we registered at the hospital. She got to smell lots of lipsmackers and spread them around for her "princess mask" (oxygen mask to put her out). She got more juice, and pretty much spent the afternoon watching Dora and Mickey Mouse before going for a walk.

I was worried that she would wake up in pain this morning since the local anesthetic was obviously gone and the Ibuprofen I gave her before bed had worn off. Then at 6 am I hear a little voice on the monitor singing "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed". I have to say that it was the cutest thing. She sat in her bed talking and singing to her animals for 45 minutes. She was then up and as active as ever. I didn't even have to give her any ibuprofen today. I would have never guessed that she had surgery yesterday. I am a little concerned about her incision. There was some bloody drainage on the steri-strips last night (which I wasn't surprised about), but her belly button looks a little odd. I'll take the tegaderm off tomorrow and will hopefully be able to better assess it. We don't want any problems with it over Easter weekend.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend!

Ava REALLY wanted to wear her rain boots and "mambo skirt" the other day

Enjoying a nice drive while we waited to go back to the pre-op area yesterday morning

Storytime with Daddy before surgery.

Ava snuggled up with Mommy and her apple juice watching some cartoons right after surgery

She looks like she's ready to go home.

It's been awhile

Every night I think to myself, I'm going to update the blog tonight. And every night I go to bed thinking, Darn I didn't update the blog tonight. So, today is the day. Here is a little update as to what we have been up to. There are few pictures, as I was away for a few days 2 weeks ago.

Two weeks ago Thursday I boarded a plane and headed south to Kansas City to visit my friend Lisa, her husband Craig, and their new little guy Nick. Nick was born in February and I've been dying to meet him. I wondered how I would do with being away from Ava for four days, as I had never been away from her for that long. Knowing that she was hanging out with Daddy and having a great time with Mema made it very easy for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and it was good for me to get away for a short while. It was relaxing and SO nice to get to catch up and spend time with Lisa, Craig, and Nick. Nick is such a cute little peanut. I can't wait for Ava to meet him. She is always asking to see pictures of "Baby Nick". I know that she will love him up! It was hard to say good-bye when Sunday came, but I'll look forward to seeing them again this summer. Thank you guys for a fabulous few days. I love that little guy of yours and can't wait to see you all again! Ava and Daddy met me at the airport. Ava was so exhausted from all the fun that she had with Daddy & Mema that she was asleep when they picked me up.

To be honest with you, I can't even remember what happened last week. I guess that it wasn't really that exciting. Friday afternoon we did have an appointment with a pediatric surgeon to take a look at Ava's umbilical hernia. He said that the hernia is not super big, but that it is off to the side and with his experience those do not close on their own. Since there has been no change in the hernia since she was born, he recommended that we get it fixed. So, Ava will be heading to surgery on Monday April 2nd. Yes, that's soon! Her surgery is scheduled for 11:30 AM. I'm hoping that the hardest part is not being able to give her any solid foods all morning. She can have liquids up until 8:00, but then nothing. Sadly enough, the first thing she says when she wakes up is "let's have breakfast". I did buy her some apple juice to have for breakfast on Monday, so she'll think that's a treat. Yes, I'm the mean mom who doesn't let her kid have juice. I did buy the juice for tots that's already diluted so she won't be super high on sugar. The surgery is at Children's Hospital in St. Paul. It's an outpatient procedure that takes about 30 minutes usually. He said we should only be at the hospital for about 3 hours. He'll send us home with some liquid oxycodone for pain. We're hoping that she'll be up and running by the next day. I feel really good about the surgeon. If you ask Ava what Dr. Steve is going to do she'll tell you, "fix my belly button" as she lifts her shirt to show you.

Saturday was my birthday. I actually picked up a day shift at the hospital since I get paid extra for working my birthday. I worked in the ER and actually had a pretty good day. Nate and Ava surprised me with treats and a Dora balloon. I was feeling a little under the weather that evening so we stayed in and did dinner at home.

I had the last couple of days off so Ava and I have been hanging out. Unfortunately the weather has not been real nice so we've been stuck inside. We did story time at the library on Monday, and yesterday we had her pre-op physical at her primary doctor's office. I'm back to working evenings tonight and tomorrow, and then I work all weekend.

I hope that you have all been doing well, and thank you for checking in on us. I'll keep you posted on how the surgery goes Monday. Please say a little prayer for our peanut that all goes well!

Here is Baby Nick. How can you not love this little guy?!?

Ava was super excited that she got to ride her bike. Her favorite part was going through the mud puddles.

Don't worry, she now has a new Dora helmet that fits her much better!

2 yr. appointment

Last Thursday Ava had her 2 yr Dr's appointment. She was actually very excited to go and see Dr. Plotnik. However, it usually sounds more like "Dr. Picnic". I made the appointment for the morning since I feel like they are always running behind in the afternoon. It was great, our appointment was at 9:10 and we were out of the office by 9:40. Ava checked out great for the most part. She weighed in at 32 lbs 6 oz (95th percentile), is 36 1/2 inches tall (97th percentile), and had a head circumference of 19 1/2 inches. The Dr. said that she's perfect and not to worry about her belly. I've been a bit concerned that her belly is too big and that we need to start eating salads instead of fish sticks.

I thought that we were going to be able to get out of there with no needle sticks. I was wrong. We started the appointment out with a finger stick to check her lead level, which was normal. The poke didn't bother her at all, and she watched as they milked the blood from her finger while telling me that her blood is red. It was the bandaid that sent her over the edge. She was adamant that she did not want to wear a bandaid no matter what little cartoon creature was on it. Unfortunately she is a bleeder and we had to put a little pressure dressing on there for a bit. We finished up the appointment with 1 immunization. They gave it in her arm this time which surprised me. She cried for a second, but then the tears dried up as soon as she got a sucker.

The one thing that we need to follow up on is Ava's umbilical hernia. We were told that she had it when she was born, but that most children's resolve on their own by the time that they are 4 yrs old. Ava's hasn't really changed in the past two years so our pediatrician is recommending that we see a pediatric surgeon to see about getting it fixed surgically. She said that we could wait another year or two, but that children Ava's age do better with surgery and that she doesn't think that it will resolve on its own since it hasn't changed over the past two years. We go to see the surgeon on the 23rd. We'll find out more then. The thought of Ava having another surgery makes me cringe only because she won't know what's coming and can't really understand. Besides, nobody wants to see their children go under general anesthesia, and then wake up in pain. On the upside, maybe it's better that she doesn't know what's coming...then she can't be scared.

The Dells

Here I am again, a little behind. Let's rewind a week and a half ago to March 2nd. Ava and I started our day out a music class. We got home, had lunch, finished packing up the car, and headed to Minneapolis to pick Daddy up from work. We then hit the road for what Ava calls our "trip".

Ava did a great job on the drive which was about 3 1/2 hours. She sang, slept, and had a little snack. When we got there she was ready to go. We hit the water park Friday evening, all day Saturday, and again Sunday morning before we headed home. Ava had more fun in the water than I could have imagined. She even talked Auntie Kim (who is deathly afraid of water) into taking her down the water slides multiple times (thanks Kim for being such a trooper). They had a great area for small children that was only a foot and a half deep so Ava could go down the slides there, walk through the water, play with the fountains, etc. To my surprise, she even liked going down some of the bigger water slides with Nate and me. This girl loves the water! I am unsure however who had more fun...the kids or the grown men! The "boys" went down for a fun filled 2 hours on Saturday while the mommies and kids took a nap. We stayed at Chula Vista in a large condo. There were 5 couples with 4 kids ages 2 and under in this condo. It worked great. It was so nice to be able to take the kids back for a nap, be able to cook our own meals, and have a space where we could gather together to visit and let the kids play.

I went to college with this great group of people, and many years ago we started doing an annual Valleyfair trip. A few years ago we stopped doing it, and decided that this year we should start up the tradition again, only pick a different venue that's a little more family friendly for small children. It was so great to see everybody again, catch up, and see the kids. We are already looking forward to next year!

This isn't from the Dells, but it's one of Ava's new favorite things to do...drink her cereal milk.

Ava and Cora having a nice phone conversation

Ava LOVED going down the slides.

The whole gang; Kim, Eliott, me, Nate, Ava, Joe, Jackson, Amy, Bill, Riley, Miles, Mike, Kristi, & Cora

Luther's future: Cora, Jackson (only 4 1/2 months old and the only one smiling in the picture), Ava, & Miles

This is our exhausted little girl Monday morning when Daddy had to wake her up in order to go to day care.

The party

A week later I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. There were so many pictures taken last weekend it took me a while to sift through all of them. Ava had a wonderful birthday. Grandma & Grandpa arrived late Friday night so that they were here when she woke up Saturday morning. She started her day in their bed reading lots of stories. Later that morning Grandma Great, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brent, Zacky, Reece, Kristin, & Luke all showed up. They all had a chance to read Ava lots of stories as well. Ava was in heaven!

After nap time we went over to Mema & Boppa's where the party was. We thank everybody who took time out of their weekend to help us celebrate our little girl, especially those who had to travel from IA. We were grateful that everybody had good driving weather. Ava is a very lucky girl to have so many people who love and support her. She had a great time at her party. She loved her Dora/Hello Kitty balloons, dominated the art of opening presents, and was absolutely beaming when everybody sang Happy Birthday to her. The cake and ice cream topped everything off.

Sunday morning Daddy made all of us omelets before we headed over to the hotel to go swimming with Uncle Brent, Aunt Lisa, Zacky, & Reece. Ava is still talking about swimming with them, Luke, & Grandma. She had so much fun in the water. Unfortunately, she did slip and fall on the pool deck. The poor thing got out of the pool, took a step and spun around onto the ground. It happened so quickly. I grabbed her to pick her up right away, and she instantly had a bruise on her cheek back to her ear. I had never seen anything like it. She cried for a minute, shook it off, and got back in the pool. The bruise has now faded and thankfully she no longer looks like we punched her in the face. I'm just grateful that it happened after her 2 yr pictures. :)

After swimming everybody came over for lunch before they headed back to IA. Ava must have been exhausted from all of the excitement...she slept for 2 1/2 hours. Again, we thank everybody who helped make Ava's day special. We are truly blessed to have you all in our lives!
Ava was Very excited to open the bracelet that she got from Grandma & Grandpa B. Look at that face!

A very happy birthday girl!

Doing a puzzle with Grandpa

Snuggling with Grandma

More story time with Daddy & Abigail

Ava had to feel Luke's whiskers. He spent a lot of time reading to Ava over the weekend. She is still talking about him. Watch out Kristin, she may be after your man.

Ava LOVED when everybody sang Happy Birthday to her.

Swimming with GrandmaLearning proper technique with Grandma & Aunt Lisa

Daddy & Ava enjoying the pool

This would be Zackery, Brent, Nate, & Luke...how lucky we are to have these amazing, mature men in our lives. :) (you should have seen the waves that they made)

Splashing and loving it

Reece, Ava, & Zacky

Ava finished the weekend off trying to use the potty while enjoying a nice Dora book, with no success. She did however it use once at daycare this past week. I was a little hopeful until yesterday. That was when I had her sit on the potty for about 10 minutes. After getting off she immediately walks out to the love seat and pees on the carpet. I think we'll be investing in diapers for awhile yet.