I can't think of a clever title

Today, we lost one child's belly button and watched another go for a swim in the toliet. Can you guess who's who? Well if you're just plain dumb I'll tell you...Ava lost the last bit of her cord today so now she's a real baby! And earlier tonite, I was putting Ava down when Elle started freaking out. I run in the bathroom and she's got her head and feet poking out the top of the toliet. She's bent in half and freaking out because she has fallen in the toliet while attempting to go potty. She was not very happy at all and it was so sad to see because she looked so bewildered. Later when she needed to go to the bathroom again she said "Mommy, I only want the little potty" meaning put the potty seat on instead of her just sitting on the big seat. I wonder why? Right now I'm going on hour number 3 of listening to Ava scream her head off. I don't know if it was something I ate or what but every time we have tried to put her down to sleep she has thrown an all out fit...on par with Elle....looks like we may be in for a very long night. Wish us luck!

Back in the real world

Yesterday I got a clean bill of health from my OB/GYN. She said I could start getting around a little more but to still take it easy for another 4 weeks. No sit-ups or running....I laughed when she said that. Anyway, today we decided to be really adventurous and head to Rockwall...it's 30 minutes from here and where we do almost all of our shopping. I had some things that needed to be done so we just plunged right in. We left around 9 this morning and went to Hobby Lobby first. I got to go in all by myself and wander just a little. Got a few really cute things. Then we headed to the tuxedo shop so Shawn could be fitted for my brother's wedding in 2 weeks. Next we headed to Target :) :) :) We looked at all kinds of stuff, but ended up with, pacifiers, breast pads (don't ask if you don't know), a mirror for the back seat of the car so we can check on Ava, a Halloween iron type wreath, some black dress shoes for Elle, and Elle's Halloween costume. We tried to get her to pick the Elmo costume but she had her heart set on the CareBears costume even though she's never really seen them. It was the only one she wanted so that's what she got. We need to try it on though because it looks pretty big, but maybe it can be a 2 year in a row type thing. Anyway, next we headed to Old Navy because I really needed a pair of jeans in a size bigger than I normally am. I'm in that awkward place between maternity and my old clothes and jeans are a must for me! We found a pair of jeans and also got Ava a halloween costume. It is TOO CUTE! She's going to be a cowgirl! I will send pics around that time! All the while, Ava never one time woke up. It was glorious. We never had a time like that with Elle and we are just very thankful that God has answered my nine months of prayers! I really prayed for a baby that didn't cry like Elle did! :) Then, we fed Ava and then headed to Johnny Carino's for lunch. I was almost in culture shock by this time...remember I haven't been anywhere but the dr. in almost 4 weeks! Elle behaved so well at lunch and of course Ava slept through everything. I think she's been awake a total of 24 minutes since 8:15 this morning and it's 2:06 right now! The only downside to that is trying to wake her up to eat! She ain't interested and when she is I must have Vicodin in my milk cause she conks out quickly after nursing! Well, enjoy the day. It's nice weather here and I am finally back in the realm of the living. By the way, I'm headed to church Sunday for the 1st time. Should be a circus of a day!

Training Wheels

A friend of mine gave us a little bike that her kids were too big for. Elle was very excited about her new bike. Shawn went out and got training wheels to put on the bike. He and Elle worked together to put the training wheels on. Elle said she was going to her job when she went to "help" put the wheels on. Also a random little thing...Elle has a cold or something like that and her nose is running quite a bit and yesterday Shawn went in to get her after her nap and she said "Daddy, my nose is running out!" Thought that was cute.

After all that hard work at her "job" Elle needed a rest.

2 week check-up

Ava went for her 2 week checkup today. She now weighs 8 lb. 7 oz. and is 21 1/2 inches long. Doctor said everything looked good but that he wished she weighed a little more. I'm not worried since I'm feeding her a cazillion times a day and she has loads of wet and poopy diapers. Still, he is having her come back in next wednesday for one more weigh in to make sure she's gaining well. We are all still doing good here. I am still running on fumes but hopefully in the next few weeks everything will settle a little more and I'll be able to get some more rest. Right now I don't think I could get enough sleep to make up for what I've lost! Anyway, Shawn has Elle right now for the rest of the night so I'm alone with Ava. We are just chillin. We are just 2 1/2 weeks away from my brother's wedding that Elle is a flower girl in. Then 2 weekends later, she is a flower girl in another wedding...should be interesting to see what she does when she realizes that she is suspose to walk down the aisle. I've warned both brides!

Wild Times on Canton Street

It's not that Ava is camera shy...she was really hungry.
Nana is pooped out and so is Ava.

Can you say T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Gramme, Grandma, Aunt Emily, and Cousins Riley and Josey came for a visit today. It was a lot of fun watching Elle play with Riley and Josey. Josey has grown up SO much since I saw her last. Josey definately didn't like her momma holding Ava but that's okay. It was a fun visit and we are all pooped out. As I write this, everyone in my house is napping....so what am I doing on the computer???

First Bath

Time to get naked...but it's still a modest pose!

Washing the face and tummy.

Look at us...we're old pro's. With Elle we were sweating and tired and ready for a nap!

Big Sis helping brush her hair.

Unlike Elle, Ava thoroughly enjoyed her first bath. Of course we submerged Elle in her first bath and tried a different approach with Ava. She was as alert as could be and just as calm as could be also. She didn't make one peep the entire time but had a very intense look on her face. It was really neat to experience. Enjoy!

Pictures

Getting Ava awake and naked.

A happy baby cause she's wrapped up and being held by her mommy.
Dr. Justice checking her out.

Getting Ava redressed...she wasn't too happy by this point.

FRUSTRATION

Okay a few have asked if there were suspose to be pictures up....and the answer is yes. I have tried 4 times to get a few measly pics up of todays dr. visit and every time it says it's unable to after about 4 minutes of acting like it's processing the info. This blogspot is like a preschooler, no matter how hard you try to get it to do things your way, sometimes it just refuses to cooperate! I will continue trying to get the pictures to post so in the meantime just use your imagination. :)

1st Doctor's Appt

Ava had her first check up today on her 1 week birthday! It was at 8:30 this morning and that was EARLY considering my lack of sleep! But, I was pretty proud of myself....I actually shaved my legs for the first time in a while and did my hair and got dressed all before 8:20 am!!! I wish I had the will power to do that every morning because it makes me feel so much better, but when the alarm goes off it's just close to impossible right now. I actually wore a non-pregnancy shirt today to the appt and that was a big treat for me! Still in pregnancy pants and will be for a while but I have quite a collection of those so that should be fine. Ok, on to the point of the post. Ava is doing wonderfully. She was 8 lb 3.5 ounces today which is just 1/2 oz under her birth weight. That seemed to surprise the doctor for the good. He said her jaundice was going away just as expected (almost all babies have it when born). Everything about her checked out great and we go back next wed. for the 2 week check up. Funny thing happened while he was weighing her. Of course she was naked and as he started taking her off the scale she started peeing...all over the scale, then his hand, then the floor and finally the table where it dribbled off the side and pooled and even bigger puddle onto the floor. It was quite funny and I thought to myself "That's what you get for getting her naked in this cold room!" All is well. We are just settling day by day into this new crazy routine. I know things will settle as every day passes. At least the weather is nice and I believe fall has arrived which improves my mood drastically! I couldn't take another day of heat!!! Well, enjoy the pics and have great sleep tonite! Be thankful if you get to sleep all night!

Some pictures of our family

The four of us

The girls

3 days old

Honey, I'm Home!!!

Well, I have made it through child bearing once again! Actually I've made it through major surgery which produced my child....I didn't really have to "bear" it. Anyway, things are going very well. I am recovering pretty quickly from the slicin and dicin...not in too much pain. It gets better every day. Considering how much sleep I'm getting at any one time, I doing pretty good about feeling alert too. Ava is a joy to care for. She is MUCH easier than Elle was right off the bat. She sleeps very well and it's hard to put to sleep. She nurses GREAT!...when I can actually get her to stay awake for more than about 45 seconds at a time. But, having done this before, I know that things get better every day and that is a golden nugget to hold onto when you are just starting out with a newborn. She is eating about every 3 hours and we actually have to wake her up for many of those feedings! I know some of you are thinking...never wake up a sleeping baby....well enjoy your anorexic baby then! If we didn't wake her up she would probably eat about 3 times a day...not too good for a newborn. Plus I wouldn't produce enough milk and then I'd have to give her to CPS since I wouldn't be able to afford formula. Anyway, Ava is great. She is SOOOOOOOOOO cute and I'm not just partial. I compared a pic of her and Elle last night and I actually think Elle had longer hair but otherwise they are very close. Elle is doing well. She is so glad that we are home for good and she's going great although she's jerking her Nana around all over the place! Well, I am waiting for my mom to bring me lunch and then it's nursing, pooping, sleeping and all over again for the rest of the day. I will update as often as my new mommy brain allows.

It looks like who?

I found this picture, and bears a remarkable resemblence to my brother. The innocent party has been protected. I will see if I can find a picture of what Chad and Lesley's children will look like.
Shawn

Hello world!!!

Ava Kate
8.4 lbs.
19 1/2 in.

9 months

Okay technically this picture is for my 39th week but hopefully I won't be looking like a big ol' preggie by my real "9 month" picture. If you want to have a little fun, scroll back through the months and watch as my belly gets bigger and bigger! So, tomorrow is the day. I went to the hospital today to do final paperwork and they told me to be there at 5:30 am tomorrow....we'll see. I'm a morning person, but that's just crazy! I am doing lots of piddling today but the day is going decently fast. I slept pretty good last night so that helps. That has been the first thing I've prayed for every night lately....a good deep sleep! Well, I have one last scrapbook page to do and then I'll be totally caught up on all scrapbooking stuff. Of course tomorrow will bring an onslaught of brand new stuff to work with. Next time I write I'll be the mother of 2 daughters and part of a family of four. FREAK OUT!!! I still see myself as an 18 year old just leaving for college life and living in the dorms. That was 10 years ago!

There's nothing to read...

Lesley asked for one more post before Ava arrives and here it is. Before I tell this funny story I will let you all know that sometime by mid-afternoon on Wednesday there will be a post of Ava and her numbers (weight and height). There will be no personal e-mails with pictures attached, sorry Chad I know I said I would do that. Now here's the story. The other day, Saturday I believe, we recieved a financial magazine in the mail, you know, one of those that has nothing but words, pie graphs, and financial jargon in it. Well Elle picked it up and said, "Mommy read it to me." To which Emma replied, "There's nothing to read, it's just a bunch of words!" In her defense, I'm sure the comment was made from a two year olds point of view. Please keep us in your prayers, as all of you are in ours.
Shawn

Last Dr.'s Appointment

Today was my last appt. before the big day. She just weighed me and listened to the heartbeat and took my blood pressure. Everything was right where it was suspose to be. We are a sure go for Wednesday morning around 7:15 or so. Say a little pray for us all on that morning. I have to go have some blood drawn on Monday as normal procedure before a C-section so at least that's one less needle I have to worry about for Wednesday. I am really dragging right now as the day gets closer and I'm pretty much in a vegetative state laying on my side on the couch at all hours now. I did the laundry for the last time today, and went to Walmart for the last time also. Those two activities just about sent me to the grave! Tomorrow I will be taking it a little bit easier. I think Elle and I will make a last trip to the library and then maybe go magazine shopping so I'll have something to read while I'm in the hospital. Here's a pic of Shawn and Elle drawing on the driveway with chalk. They love to do this!

Counting Down

I've always been a count-downer...Christmas, my wedding (started at 270 days away!), birthday, trips, and now the birth of Ava. I thought it would help Elle actually see how many days are left before she gets here since she doesn't get "only one more month". So at about 25 days and counting I made a pink and red chain and hung it from the ceiling in the kitchen. Every morning before breakfast she pulls a chain off and we count how many days are left. She has really enjoyed doing that and when I point to the last one and ask her what will happen when we pull that one off, she knows "Baby Ava will get here!" We are down to seven days! For those that are picking apart my math, I don't count today or the day of the birth! It's my little way of feeling that much closer to the date!

Not the labor day I was hoping for

This was not posed! It was so hot and I was so tired by the time Shawn snapped this one!

It has been a wonderful labor day, but it would be even better if it actually lived up to its' name! But, there are still 8 hours left of today so who knows! We spent a low key day at home today. It has been rainy and dark outside all day and we have LOVED it! We are so sick of sunshine that we couldn't have asked for better weather for our labor day. For lunch we grilled out hotdogs, made rotel, and had red velvet cake from Brookshires (a big splurge for us!) For dinner we are grilling out hamburgers, more rotel, and I'm working on homemade icecream! YUMMY!!! We also took my now infamous "pregnancy silhouette" pics today. I'm 38 weeks today so I felt it was a good time to do that JUST IN CASE I didn't get another chance to. I did these type of pictures in my first pregnancy, but I've gotten a lot better. I took pics of my sister a year ago today when she was in the early stages of labor. I also took pics of a friend from church in the same gown last year so I've really gotten a lot of use out of that gown. I should go into business!!! Anyways, enjoy the pics and have a restful Labor Day. I have a week and 2 days until my personal labor day! :)

What a night!

We went to Tyler Wednesday for a biannual event called Children's Clothing Consignment Sale. If you were selling anything in this sale you got a sneak preview buying time and I was selling so my time was Wednesday nite from 8-10 pm. As soon as worship service was over Shawn and I headed that way. It was a HUGE event and is known for it's well cared for 2nd hand clothes and VERY good prices. Before telling you what I got, if you want to check it out you can go to www.cccsale.com to see more of what's going on. They will have another sale April 15-21st, 2007. I've already marked my calendar! So, here's what I hauled in for Miss Elle:
7 dresses
1 pea coat
4 pairs of pants
3 sweaters
3 long sleeve shirts
5 pairs of shoes
3 pairs of tights
3 pairs of PJ's
How much do you think that all cost me??? I am curious to see what your guesses are. Don't do like Shawn and guess so low that it makes it no fun to tell you the actual total!!!

The haul!