Birthdays!

Well its official...my babies are growing up...WAY TOO FAST!

Addison turned 3 on Nov.27th.



Really, my Addy G is 3 already???? Seems just like yesterday we were at the hospital, holding our precious baby girl for the very first time.

Ok lets move on before I start to puddle on the keyboard...

Addison had a Strawberry Shortcake theme birthday party at our church fellowship hall.

She really had a great birthday party celebrating with lots of friends and family and got lots of great gifts!

Ava turned 1 on Dec. 5th!!

It's crazy to think its been a year since she was born on that snowy Saturday! That girl has been surprises from the VERY beginning!

Ava also had her birthday party at our church fellowship hall. It was an owl theme of "Look WHOOOO'S Turning One"!

I am so thankful for my beautiful, healthy baby girls! Sooo blessed to have the Lord give me them as my daughters!

I WON A BLOG GIVE A WAY!!

Check out these ADORABLE winter/Christmas hairbows!

I won them from my good friend Kimert's blog! It's the first thing I've ever won from a blog giveaway and I LOVE THEM!!

Thanks Kimert for the great giveaway!

It's been a while!

WOW! Its been nearly 4 months since I last blogged! With having an active 2 year old and a high maintenance infant I didn't have the time to post a blog. I like to have time to gather my thoughts and perfect a post before putting it on the blog. Im a perfectionist when it comes to some things. So now that Ava is a little more content and a little less high maintenance I decided to sit down and blog.

Ava is now 6 1/2 months old. She has two teeth, is sitting up very well on her own and rolling around every where! I call her rolley poley.

Ava also loves her jumperoo! She has a great time jumping around in it!

Here are a few pictures of the last few months of Miss Ava.

Here are our gorgeous girls now! Ava still absolutely ADORES Addison! And Addison loves to play with and take care of her little sister!

Big news about Addison--SHE NOW USES THE POTTY LIKE A BIG GIRL!! Big woot woot for Addison!!! We are so very proud of her! She has been going potty every time she needed to pee pee or poo poo for a couple of weeks now! Its like she just woke up one morning and decided she would use the potty. She had a couple of accidents in the beginning but what kid doesnt? Addison even got to pick out her own big girl panties! Here's a pic of her:

God has truly blessed us with two beautiful and healthy baby girls and we couldn't be happier. Hopefully I will be able to blog more regularly but who knows :)

Ava is 12 weeks old/ Addison won't use the potty!

Oh my goodness my sweet little Ava is 12 weeks old!! Its so hard to believe that it has been about 3 months since our sweet, fiesty little girl with gorgeous dimples came into this world! And sweet and fiesty is about the best words to describe Ava. She can light up the room with her sweet smile and absolutely make a scene with her fiesty temper. Ava will definitely let you know when she is upset! And until you figure out exactly whats wrong (dirty diaper, hungry, gassy) she will literally yell at you until you fix it! And its not just a little baby cry..its a LOUD scream that you can hardly believe comes from such a little body! If you dont believe me ask anyone who goes to Piney Grove Baptist Church.LOL. She goes from happy to mad in about .01 seconds! But thats part of what makes her so great-she has her own distinct personality. As far as stats go she is roughly 13lbs and about 22 inches long. I looked in Addison's baby book to see how much she weighed in comparison to Ava and Ava really out weighs her! At Ava's 2 mo. appointment she weighed 12lbs 7oz and Addison didnt even weighed 12lbs at 3 months! But Addison has been taller.

Ava is also absolutely IN LOVE with her big sister! Any time Addison is in the room playing or talking Ava is just mesmorized by her and keeps her eyes on Addison the whole time. When Addison talks to her little sister, Ava's eyes light up and a GINORMOUS smile comes across her face! Its one of the most precious sights in the the world!

Addison has been an EXCELLENT big sister so far! She will help mommy with Ava when Ava is crying and mommy is fixing a bottle or if Ava needs her paci or if she just needs a little bit of attention Addison is willing to help. About 95% of the time you couldnt ask for a better kid than Addison, but the other 5% of the time its the TERRIBLE WHINY TWOS!! Its unreal how whiny she can get sometimes!

We are also trying to potty train miss Addison and so far she has wanted NOTHING to do with it. I am going to really try hard in the next week or so to really get down to business with it. I am going by the Farmers Almanac to see when they say the best time to do it b/c we did that when we took her paci away and it worked beautifully. So hopefully I will have the patience and Addison will have the willingness to particpate. I know that if she's not willing then it probably wont work but Im gonna give it a go! Hopefully by this time next month there will be some potty training progress!!

The first 6 weeks

Wow I cannot believe that our sweet little Ava is 6 weeks old!! Where in the world has the time gone?? As I have sat here and pondered the last 6 weeks my memories seem to be in a sort of fog. Its been very VERY tiring and both physically and emotionally draining but also VERY VERY rewarding! I have had moments when I wanted to pull my hair out and scream and moments where all I can do is cry, but I've had more times when I've smiled and laughed at the beauty and wonder that are our two girls.

Ava is fiesty and has the most gorgeous dimples. She also has an unreal appetite. The girl weighed 10 lbs 2 oz at her 1 month check up! (She was technically 5 weeks at the appointment but still gaining over 3lbs in a month?LOL.) And Ava is already taking 4-5 oz at every feeding, which could be every 2 hours or every 3-3.5 hours. Just depends on her mood. Im tellin ya the girl is FIESTY and LOVES TO EAT! She is starting to smile a little more all the time and its one of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen. When I am feeding her at 4 am and all I can think about is how bad I just want to lay down and sleep all Ava has to do is flash that cute little grin at me and I realize all over again why I love being a mommy. The lack of sleep is so worth it to have my 2 beautiful girls. Thats why I believe the Lord makes babies and kids so cute and adorable- to remind us that every ache and pain and all the sleep deprevation is ALL WORTH our children.

This video is Addison singing "Jesus Loves Me" to Ava.

Addison has been the BEST big sister these past few weeks! She absolutely adores and loves Ava! She is all the time talking to her and kissing her and just wanting to touch her. Addison tells her little sister all the time she loves her and she has even told Ava she missed her when Addison has left and comes back to the house. Addison is also in the middle of the TERRIBLE TWO'S! AAAHH!! She has a bad habit of talking back to mommy & daddy and gets in these HORRIBLE whiny phases! Now some of it at first was just in response to the new baby I am sure, but a lot of it is the terrible twos and her growing up. She has become more independent and plays in her room by herself more than she used to. All part of growing up. It makes me so sad and so proud at the same time to see her growing and learning and becoming so stinkin smart!

So to sum up the first 6 weeks as a family of four-exhausting, joyful, proud, excited, lots of smiles, kisses, hugs, and love!

Ava is here!!

That's right! Our precious baby girl was born Dec. 5,2009 at 3:57 pm! I was scheduled to be induced on Monday Dec. 7th but Ava had other plans! She wanted to be born on Saturday apparently while my regular doctor was out of town. Ok so here's the story....

At our last doctor visit on Wednesday Dec. 2nd my doctor, Dr. Friendman, scheduled our induction for the following Monday, the 7th. We had our normal visit of the non stress test and ultrasound. They measured Ava on the ultrasound and said it looked like she was approximately 6lbs 11 oz. Nice size baby, not too big not too small. Well because Dr. Friendman was going to be out of town that weekend he asked if we would mind to meet with the on-call doctor for that weekend so that just in case I was to go into labor we would be familiar with the doctor. We said of course we'd like to meet him. Dr. Shoutko was new to the hospital and practice but not a brand new doctor. We met him and immediately had a great feeling about him. He has a great bedside manner and is a humble Christian man. Dr. Shoutko asked us a few questions and then checked to see if I had dilated any more and I had. He said I was between 3 & 4 cm and that was a good starting point for induction. So we left the doctor's office prepared to come back to the hospital on Monday for our planned induction. Little did we know that our plans would go all to pieces.

So for the next couple of days we made plans and got things ready for the arrival of Miss Ava for Dec 7th. Jason, Addison and I went to West Town Mall Thursday night to get a couple of Christmas gifts and really enjoyed our time there. We just walked around in no big hurry and picked up a few things. I enjoyed the walk and hoped that it would help me dilate so that the induction wouldn't take as long as it did with Addison (16 hours of labor with her from time of induction). While we were walking I did have a contraction that made me stop in my tracks and say "ow that kinda hurt". Which up until that point my contractions had only been strong enough to notice and had never stopped me from what I was doing. Well Friday was just a normal day for us and we went about our normal business friday night. I cooked a big supper so that we could have leftovers for lunch the next couple of days and I managed to get Addison's over night bag packed so that I wouldn't have to wait until last minute Sunday night to do that and chance on forgetting something she might need while she was at Grammy's. Ava's bag had already been packed and ready to go but we decided to wait until Saturday to pack mine and Jason's things for the hospital. Friday night wrapped up like any normal night at our house and we all went to bed.

Sometime between 3 and 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning I was woken up by a contraction. At first I thought I had just moved funny and gotten a side stitch b/c I had done that a few times before. I got up to go potty and then laid back down. Well about 30 mins later another pain hit and this time I knew what it was. The contraction was painful enough to have to breathe through but I didn't wake Jason up yet because I figured it was just a couple sparatic contractions and nothing to really worry about. Well from that point on the contractions got closer and closer and I never was able to go back to sleep. In the 5 o'clock hour I was timing the contractions and they were coming about every 10 minutes. So at about 5 til 6 am. I woke Jason up and said "I think I'm gonna call the doctor because I'm having contractions about every 10 minutes". I don't think I've ever seen Jason wake up so quick LOL! He said "Uh yeah I think that'd be a good idea". So I called the doctor and they said to go on to the hospital and they would check me out to see if I was in labor and if not they would send me home. So here started the phone calls to our moms and some friends and church people and by 630ish we were out the door and on our way to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital we went straight to labor and delivery and got set up in their triage room to monitor the baby and my contractions. The pain got worse and worse with every contraction and finally around 8 or so a resident doctor and nurse came to check my cervix and found that I was 6cm dilated and boy were they surprised-and so were Jason and I. So this got the team movin and got me into a room and soon I found relief in my wonderful epidural!

For the next few hours we waited and waited for me to dilate to 10cm. It took a little while longer than expected but around 3:30 pm the nurse checked me and I was ready to push. I started pushing around 3:40 and about 15 minutes later Ava Marie was born weighing 7 pounds and 19 3/4 inches long.


That was the second time I got to experience my child being born and that feeling and experience is like none other. The second time is just as wonderful as the first time! Its one of the most wonderful AMAZING miraculous experiences EVER! How anyone could witness such an amazing event and not see God is beyond me! I will never forget this blessed day! I praise God and thank Him for being with us and giving us another healthy baby girl and for blessing my family so richly!
To view more pictures of Ava's arrival please click on these links:
Part 1 & Part 2.

It's Almost Time

My due date is officially in 1 month! How fantastic is that?! We are soooo ready to meet little miss Ava Marie!!
After my doctor's appointment on Thurs. Nov 12, the doctor said she will definitely be born no later that Dec. 12th because of my gestational diabetes. So PRAISE THE LORD we know she will be here in less than 4 weeks! As any pregnant woman knows, the last month is the worst and the longest and you can't wait for the baby to be born. You can't sleep, can't get comfortable, you've got cankles and hideous stretch marks, you go to the bathroom what seems like every 30 minutes and you just feel like people look at you and think " What is Shamu doing waddling around here?"
But anyways at the doctors appointment they measured Ava by ultrasound and she is weighing in at about 5lbs 8oz-which is in the 27th percentile. Small but still healthy. Our doctor is not concerned about her small size one bit. He says that it seems that she has more of my genes than Jason's and is just genetically a smaller baby. As long as she is healthy thats perfectly fine with me! Not having to squeeze out another 8 pound baby is A-OK with me :-)
The doctor also checked to see if I was dilated any and I am dilated 1 cm but still not thinned out at all and baby is still very high. I've not had very many contractions but I am hoping I start getting more so that if I do have to be induced that I can have a pretty good head start and not be in labor for 16 hours again like I was with Addison.
Well as we get updates we will continue to post! Hopefully we will be meeting Ava very soon! Please keep our family in your prayers for a happy and healthy rest of the pregnancy and delivery!