Go, Go, Goers!

We visited cousins Dawn and Tayla this afternoon, and had a great time catching up! We're so fortunate to have such great family members close by - they are so supportive and kind, and always are available to listen to any concerns/questions I might have. And Tayla is going to be a great baby-sitter in the future. This photo is from when they first visited us after we brought Ava home. After we came home from visiting, Ava decided she was done napping for the day, so she was up from 3:00-10:30pm last night without a nap. And she was CRANKY by the time bedtime rolled around...we had tried to get her to fall asleep several times during that time period, and she absolutely refused! We gave her a nice, warm bath, wrapped her up in a cozy blanket, and then I gave her a bottle (just to make sure I was feeding her enough). That did the trick - before the bottle was empty, she was out! And she ended up sleeping until 4:30am today, so she must have been REALLY tired. We've got o

I had heard of the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" but I didn't know what kind of advice it would have. A few of my co-workers mentioned that it was a great book, and one of them had a very colicky baby. I feel like I've read so many books since I got pregnant, and now that we've had Ava, even more books on raising kids. I decided to take a chance and buy "The Happiest Baby on the Block", and so far, I'm the Happiest Mommy on the Block! It's been a very easy read, and it seems like the techniques listed in the book to calm babies down are simple, and easy to do. Ava started to fuss this morning, and once I swaddled her like the book recommends, she calmed right down - and she always resisted our earlier attempts at swaddling! Not that I'm looking forward to her next fussy-time, but hopefully I'll get the chance to see if the other techniques listed work as well as the swaddling did. She ate almost 3 oz from a bottle last night befor

Ava and I went to have her 1-month photos taken yesterday at JC Penneys in Edina. I was a little nervous to take her since it's never a guarantee if the baby will be in a good mood...and boy was she crabby for a portion of it! The photographer did an amazing job, and despite all of the cries, we managed to get some adorable shots of her. I highly recommend the studio we went to - it's a Life Touch studio, so they are very professional. We'll be going back when she's 3 months for another round of photos - it's amazing how quickly they change the first year! And for the non-professional photo...check out Ava's up-close interaction with Darla (the most laid-back of all of our dogs.) Such a patient beagle!

It's hard to believe that Ava has been here for over a month now. I feel like we've learned so much the last 5 weeks - most importantly, we've had the chance to get to know Ava, and learn about her personality and how she expresses herself. Most of you know the stats on her, but as a reminder, Ava joined us on Wednesday, June 18 at 1:59a.m. She was 7lbs, 12oz, and 20.5". At her 1 month appointment last week, she was growing well: 8lbs, 13.5oz, 21.5". She took her 2nd Hepatitis B shot like a pro - but it broke my heart to hear her cry. Also, our appointment with the cardiologist at Childrens turned out good. They did an EKG and her murmur is an innocent one. We will go back when she's 6 months to make sure that everything is still ok. Whew - talk about two worried parents! She's becoming more interactive now - she's started to coo, grunt (that's my favorite), and there is definite tracking of objects. Check out this video - I was playing aroun