Psycho Baby

Babies can be unpredictable, but with Ava, there are a few things you can count on:

1.) If you take something away from her that she should not have (a lamp, power cords, cat food) she screams like she's just been set on fire.
2.) She LOVES to eat her veggies, especially the green ones. A handful of peas or green beans and she's a happy camper.
3.) If you hide behind something and then peek out at her and say, "Rarrrr!" she will giggle uncontrollably and crawl toward you at top speed, only stopping when she bashes her skull into yours. (Assuming you are crouched down.)
4.) If you give her Duckie, she'll immediately stop whatever she's doing and cuddle him while sucking her fingers.
5.) She may be a loud sleeper (crying out, whimpering, moving around, etc.) but other than when she's congested or has an ear infection, she takes two naps per day at least an hour each nap, and sleeps for roughly 10 1/2-11 hours a night.

Well. #5 was completely blown out of the water yesterday when Ava launched a full-on sleep boycott. It started off fine: she took a good nap in the morning, we went to the mall, and at 2:00 I put her down for her P.M. nap. She would not go. I went back into her room after 15 minutes to check for poop or a lost Duckie (the only two things that prevent her from going right to sleep are a dirty diaper or losing Duckie over the side of the crib), she had a clean diaper and she had Duckie. For nearly two hours we let her fuss and talk to herself until fianlly it was pointless and we brought her downstairs. Predictably, she got tired around dinner time and dozed off for about 15 minutes, so I woke her up, fed her, bathed her, and had her down at 6:30. I figured she'd go down easy because during the entire getting-ready-for-bed process, she was fussy; rubbing her eyes and sucking her fingers.

She would not go down. We checked for Duckie, checked her diaper, repeatedly. We tried rocking her. We tried cuddling. We tried letting her cry. At one point she started screaming and crying so hard she threw up all over the crib. So, we cleaned her up, brought her downstairs, and let her play. I don't want her to think she can "win" like that--I'm a firm believer in not letting the kid run the show--but what can you do when the kid cries so much they throw up? And we only left her for 5-10 minutes, it's not like I'm some evil, coldhearted jerk who let her kid scream for five hours or something. Anyhow, as soon as she rubbed her eyes I gave her a bottle and some cuddle time on the couch, and at 10:15--TEN FIFTEEN!!!!!!--she finally went down. Did some screaming in her sleep about an hour later (no idea what that was about so I just rubbed her back for a few minutes until it stopped). Craig was certain she'd sleep in this morning (I highly doubted she would) but sure enough, she was up at 5:45. I'm actually grateful because it means we have a chance of getting back on schedule: she took a normal--but short--morning nap, and has been down for nearly an hour this afternoon.

I almost went completely crazy--Craig kept telling me that if I was tired just to go to bed and he'd handle it, but that wasn't it, I was freaking out because of HER lack of sleep. I was sure she'd never go down and just die of exhaustion or something. I know, totally irrational, but that's exactly how it felt. I seriously hope we have a better night tonight! Oh, and that she doesn't pull that business when I'm back at work. That would NOT be cool.

Sorry for the lack of posting....

...but Bubbleshare has been on the fritz and tonight is the first time I've been able to make a picture slideshow. It's only the first part of December though....Christmas pics will be downloaded and follow eventually. Anyhow, things are chugging along in the Haynor house: I've been off of work for a week (it's going by way too fast!) and about ten times a day I go between wishing I was always home with Ava and then being grateful that I have my time with her balanced with a job...don't get me wrong, I love her to death but she is a HANDFUL. She seems to have inherited my personality. That's not a good thing, because that means she's going to have some especially terrible two's. (Starting, oh, about two months ago!) On the upside, other than having a bad temper I never got into any REAL trouble growing up, so we'll see.

Our first Christmas as parents was sweet, watching Ava tear into her presents with Daddy's help and then attempt to devour the wrapping paper. We didn't travel, which, as much as we would've liked to be with family, was good--there's no way Ava and her *ahem* exuberant personality would have survived a two hour flight to Chicago. We would have been THOSE parents with THAT child, and that would not have been fun.

Anyhow, we had dinner with MJ and her family which was fun, because last year when we did Christmas together, our babies were still in the oven, so to speak. :o) It was really cool to think about how much our lives have changed in the past year, definitely for the better.

As for Ava herself, she's growing and learning new things so quickly we can hardly keep up!! She's able to take about two or three steps at a time before she falls or, more often, just gently lowers herself to the ground. Her lunches and dinners are almost entirely finger foods. She seems to understand all kinds of things, all at once: she'll clap if you ask her to, throw a ball, and occasionally wave or point. The CUTEST thing she's ever done happened yesterday: Grandma Pat gave her a baby carriage and a dolly for Christmas, and we're currently keeping them in her bedroom because she doesn't seem to really understand that the carriage is for strolling the baby, and she tries to throw it across the room. Anyhow, yesterday she was playing on her bedroom floor with one of her pacifiers (she's always just used them as toys, never for comfort) and she crawled over the the carriage, pulled herself up, and tried to stick the pacifier in the dolly's mouth! It was so sweet--I never realized that, still a baby herself, she could have made a connection like that. You've never seen two parents as proud as we were, watching her. Of course, the moment was shattered when she dumped a bucket of toys on the dolly's head but it was adorable while it lasted...

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Well, THIS is new!

I'm keeping this short, sweet, and picture-free because I'd really, REALLY like to get more than five hours of sleep tonight.... ;o)

Ava might have RSV...we're currently hoping, praying, and crossing our fingers, but it doesn't look pretty. Ava's buddy Will--her baby-sitter's little boy--came down with it last week and naturally Ava was exposed (RSV is basically a bad cold that can get REALLY bad in toddlers and babies--like, hospitalization bad) and sure enough, she started some terrible coughing on Monday. Thus far it's been a lot of heavy coughing but no real fever, tonight she had a temperature of 99.1 but I don't think something that low even counts. She did sound like she was breathing heavier but I could just be paranoid...at any rate, I'm going to just listen carefully and monitor her temperature and hope for the best! Poor little Will was very fevery and looked so miserable last time I saw him, so I'd say Ava is very lucky thus far not to be that sick! I have come to the conclusion that there is just no way to win--you either keep your kids in solitary confinement and then when they HAVE to go out in public they spend the next year very sick, or you expose them to the real world as babies and build their immune system up, but have to watch them be miserable in the meantime. UGH!!!
The doctor did listen to her lungs when we went for her follow-up ear appointment on Monday and said they sounded clear....and the right ear was infection-free but there was fluid in the left one, which may or may not turn into another infection. I'm hoping for NOT.

I feel so bad for her--Ava is such a solid sleeper when coughing, congestion, and painful ear infections aren't keeping her awake, it's just heartbreaking listening to her pitiful cry when she wants so badly to sleep but she just can't. Luckily the last few nights she's woken up at a not too horrible time (9:30-ish) and a warm bottle and some rocking have soothed her and seemed to alleviate the coughing a bit. I've always said I'd let my babies cry it out and thought it was silly to pick a baby up the first time they made a noise (plus I did read that a lot of babies cry to let off some steam before they fall asleep, or they cry out when they're falling into a deeper state of sleep) but really, we've been VERY lucky to rarely have to test our willpower on the issue: Ava either goes right to sleep for me, or does some fussy noises and playing in her crib for about 15-20 minutes before falling asleep. Occasionally she'll cry out in her sleep but by the time I'm fully awake, she's quiet again. The times she has really cried, it's either been because she had a dirty diaper or she's sick and in pain/unable to sleep. Which, of course, I consider definite exceptions to the crying-it-out rule. ;o)

Okay, I'm babbling. Lack of sleep and frantically trying to keep things together the last week before Christmas break will do that to ya....just pray for less illness and more sleep around the Haynor house! :)

Ava at 11 Months

I really can't believe that in only one month we will be celebrating Ava's first birthday--it has gone by so quickly! She weighs 23 1/2 lbs and is wearing 18 month clothing and size 4 diapers. She sleeps about 11+ hours a night and (usually) takes a good nap in the morning and then again in the afternoon. She is doing a lot more self-feeding and especially likes to feed herself bananas, peaches, bread, green beans (loves them), and various Gerber snacks. She'll drink her afternoon juice from a sippy cup and I'm working on getting her to drink her formula from it as well but that hasn't taken yet. She gets into EVERYTHING (and then eats it!), claps her hands (especially when you put her on your lap and say, "Ava, play patty cake!"), points, waves, and says the following sounds:

Ma-ma
Da-da
Na-na
La-la
Ba-ba

(Ma-ma and Da-da are just sounds at this point, I don't think she really associates us with them). She also sticks out her tongue and blows raspberries.

What am I not thrilled with these days? Apparently, Ava has decided that 11 months is a good time to start....TANTRUMS! Why put off until two years old what you can do now? She flips out if you take something away from her or fish something non-edible out of her mouth and at first would just cry....then the crying got angrier....this morning I witness her full-on THROW HERSELF BACKWARD ONTO THE GROUND and shriek when I wouldn't let her grab at the laptop. Oh my. Since she's about to be one year of age, I fully expect that some people may start pestering me about when I'm having baby #2. And it's going to be very difficult to NOT punch them in the head.

Thanksgiving Pictures

Better late than never! And it took me forever to upload these stupid things so I hope you enjoy them! ;o)

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Thanksgiving and the Big 3-0

Warning: no pictures in this post. Just words. Pictures later, when I have time to download. ;o)

As you all know--or at least as you NOW know--I turned 30 on Thanksgiving this year (that's Nov. 27th). I was not looking forward to that number, although I did tell myself repeatedly that being able to turn 30 was better than NOT having a birthday and being dead, which would pretty much stink. ANYHOW--the good thing about having a holiday birthday is that there is a better chance of having family around to help celebrate! On Wednesday evening Craig and I went to Bella Monica for dinner--I know I've blogged about it before but I've provided another link because if you live here or ever visit the Raleigh area, you have to try it! We had buffalo mozzarella for the appetizer, I got some *very* good wine (I'd tell you the name but I don't even remember, our waitress recommended it) I had a Caesar salad and then pumpkin ravioli for the entree. It was one of their specials for the night and was fabulous! I know it sounds weird but I did read somewhere that pumpkin is a very traditional filling for ravioli--anyhow, if you ever have the opportunity to try it I highly recommend it. Afterwards we skipped dessert (I wanted some of their olive oil gelato--again, I know it sounds weird but I swear it's delicious! You can trust me....I'm not a very adventurous diner so if I say something strange is good, it probably is. ;o) and just enjoyed some hot chocolate at Starbucks. On Thanksgiving day, we had the usual turkey dinner and then two desserts--the pumpkin cheesecake that I make every year, and then an oreo ice cream thing my mom made for my birthday--both were VERY good. The best part of everything was spending time with the people I love, of course. (Although the Ann Taylor gift certificates were nice too! ;o)

On a side note (I have to finish up, Craig is waiting for me, he wants to play Uno...), my mom and I took Ava to see Santa on Wednesday...and she LOVED him. We really thought she was going to cry but she was very cuddly with him and even pulled away when I tried to pick her up off of his lap! Weird kid. Oh, and I am about 99% sure that her ear infection is back, which would make it the third one in two months. LOVELY. And on a weekend, no less. We're loading her up with the numbing ear drops and if she wakes again (I should say "WHEN" she wakes again :-P) I'll give her some Tylenol. The next time we see the doctor I'm going to insist on seeing a specialist, but I probably won't have to plead my case too hard, as the doctor said he'd recommend considering tubes for her ears if it happened again. Poor baby. :-(

Okay, so on a side-side note--I'm a phenomenally horrific mini golfer. I went with mom, Billy and Lauren (Billy's girlfriend) on Wednesday and it was not pretty. At all. Oh well....

Wii want you to vote....

...for Ava's baby-sitter, Christina--she's trying to win a Wii for her husband! All you have to do is follow the link and click on her name (for some reason it's listed three times, vote for the top one). Thanks! :)

In other news, my parents have been here since Saturday and Ava is having a great time playing with them. When they first arrived she was just waking up from her morning nap and was a little cranky....having people in the house other than Mommy and Daddy freaked her out and she sobbed for awhile before finally warming up to them. This morning, my mom got up with Ava and I slept like the dead for an extra 3 1/2 hours! (Complete with uber-weird dreams, I should add...) Billy and his girlfriend, Lauren, arrive tomorrow night (Craig and I will pick them up from the airport on the way home from our date at Bella Monica, where we will be celebrating my 30th birthday...or as Kathie calls it, my "second 29th birthday." ;o) Thankfully, Michael WILL be joining us and he arrives on Wednesday night!

Let's see....oh yes, Craig and I go tomorrow to pick out the granite and cabinets for the house. We have the same taste when it comes to color and style for homes I think, so I imagine it'll be pretty easy, at least on our end of it. It took us all of three minutes or so to pick out the outside colors....the realtors were pretty surprised, as they're used to seeing couples full-on battle it out over those things. I guess we just save our battles for other things, like when I threaten to throw him over the balcony if he continues to brush his teeth all over the bathroom mirror right after I clean it....

Finally, enjoy some pictures! (Or not. Whatever.) My mom could not resist buying a fairy costume for Ava (the wings are still in Chicago, they would not fit in the suitcase) and to her surprise, I really thought it was cute so we put her in it and subjected the poor child to a relentless photo session until I got a good picture to use on her 1st birthday invitations--which, thankfully, have FINALLY been ordered!

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Using the Sippy Cup

This is for Grandma Cathy, who is afraid of having a granddaughter who still carries around a bottle when she's a toddler:



The reason we don't use it more is because 1.) I hate the mess, and 2.) she usually has her snack at the baby-sitter's house and I want her to be more used to the cup before I have her using it at someone else's house (more for their sake than Ava's!). So don't worry grandma....the bottle is on its way out before too long! :o)

Stolen from Emily (I have nothing much to say right now...)

If someo​ne liked​ you right​ now, would​ you want them to tell you?
No, it would kind of weird me out.

What'​s somet​hing you eat or drink​ peopl​e would​ think​ is nasty​?​
Craig HATES that I love cheese-flavored snacks: cheese popcorn, cheesy pretzels, etc. Sorry! I love cheese!

How many peopl​e have you reall​y loved​?​
In a romantic way? Three.

Do you enjoy​ late night​ phone​ conve​rsati​ons?​
No! Let me go to sleep!

What’​s your hair look like today​?​
A rat's nest, which is par for the course. A somewhat tamer nest though, since I did have it cut on Friday.

Is there​ someo​ne you'​d like to fix thing​s with?​
Nope. People are either my friends or they are not.

How'​s your heart​ latel​y?​
Very emotional, lots of ups and downs.

What are you doing​ tonig​ht?​
Watching football with Craig (sound familiar? ;o)....messing around on the laptop.

Do you think​ you can last in a relat​ionsh​ip for three​ month​s?​
Long relationships were kind of my thing back in the day. I've been in one now for 7 1/2 years so I'd say so!

Could​ you go out in publi​c looki​ng like you do now?
Not without scaring people.

Have you ever made someo​ne so mad that they broke​ somet​hing?​
Probably one or both of my parents. I'm usually the one with anger management issues though.

What kind of mood are you in?
I'm a little down, actually, but generally not bad.

Plans​ for tomor​row?​
Work, as usual.

Where​ did you get the shirt​ you'​re weari​ng?​
Motherhood Maternity. Yes, I still wear a few of my maternity tops...they're comfy! Plus it's just a plain white t-shirt and it's fitted (well, on a pregnant person it's fitted).

What would​ you do if you won the lotte​ry?​
Right now? Give notice at work and then finish out the semester, totally deck out the house that we are building (or build an even better house on that lot), pay off student loans, pay off Craig's student loans, and buy some winter clothes....I am in desperate need since all of my funding last year went for maternity crap.

Do you regre​t anyth​ing from your past?​
Nah....I didn't make mistakes, I had "learning experiences." ;o)

Do you pay any bills​?​
Yes...generally it's frowned upon to NOT pay them.

Have you ever made a mista​ke?​
Nope....remember? "Learning experiences"

Are you shy?
In many situations, although with the right people I'm sometimes way too comfortable!

In the past week have you smile​d?​
Of course!

Have you told anybo​dy you loved​ them today​?​
Yes!

Do you think​ too much or too littl​e?​
Definitely way too much.

Do you put shamp​oo in your left or right​ hand?​
Left.

When you take a drink​ of somet​hing,​ do you hold your pinky​ up?
Sometimes. Then I realize I'm doing it, feel like an idiot, and put it down.

What'​s the most domin​ant color​ in your room?​
Pale sage green.

How many times​ do you knock​ on a door?​
Five

Does anyon​e compl​etely​ under​stand​ you?
I think Craig probably understands me more than I realize, but nobody really completely "gets" me. That's okay.

Do you write​ how you speak​?​
Yes.

Do you under​stand​ footb​all?​
Yes!!! Love it! GO BEARS!

What’​s the great​est thing​ that happe​ned to you today​?​
Just spending the day with my little family.

Does it take a lot to make you cry?
I don't know. In situations where you'd think I'd be bawling, I'm fine. Then sometimes I cry for little to no reason.

Last time you wore the oppos​ite sex'​s cloth​ing?​
A few days ago, I'm constantly stealing Craig's pajamas.

If you could​ move somew​here else,​ would​ you?
Yes....which is why we're moving to a new house in Youngsville in the spring!

Do you ever think​ "​what if" about​ anyth​ing?​
Yes. Like, "what if I won the lottery?"

Are you happy​ with the way thing​s are going​?​
Mostly!

In the past week have you cried​?​
A few times.

Do you have a reaso​n to smile​ right​ now?
I have many reasons to smile. :)

Has anyon​e said they love you in the last week?​
Yes

Do you think​ you would​ be a good paren​t?​
I don't know...I hope I don't screw Ava up too much, poor kid...! I try my best.

Do you usual​ly have weird​ dream​s?​
The WEIRDEST.

Do you like your bed?
I love it! I wish I got to spend more time with it!

Is there​ anybo​dy you wish you could​ be with right​ now?
Well, my family, but they'll be here soon.

Did you get a full 8 hours​ of sleep​ last night​?​
Well, six straight hours before Ava cried out at 5am...one more hour until she woke up at 6am....and then two more after she went down for her morning nap. So I got about nine hours but not all at once. I'm not complaining!

Why did you kiss the perso​n you last kisse​d?​
Because I felt like it. Being married is pretty cool. :)

What do you usual​ly do right​ when you wake up?
Try to think of ways I could cut corners in my morning routine in order to be able to stay in bed a few moments longer.

Do you find the oppos​ite sex confu​sing?​
Nah, I actually envy their simplicity.

Tatto​os?​
No way.

How long does it take for you to take a showe​r?​
At least 15-20 min.

What'​s the last thing​ you ate?
Tarragon chicken with rice, and zucchini in cream sauce. Yay for having time to cook on the weekend!

What time did your alarm​ clock​ get you up today​?​
No alarm, just Ava.

How did you feel when you woke up today​?​
Tired.

Is someo​ne on your mind right​ now?
My family.

Do you curse​ a lot?
I'm going to have to plead the fifth on this one...let's just say I'm trying to watch what I say these days....

Are you too forgi​ving?
It really depends on the situation. In some cases I'm very forgiving...in others, not so much.

Ava Unplugged

So last night, the kid woke up around 11:30 doing the coughing-fussing thing. Inevitably it turned into crying so at midnight I gave her a bottle (I would not have been so quick do this but she hadn't finished her dinner bottle, so I figured she was thirsty). Afterwards, she went RIGHT down to sleep but there was still intermittent coughing, occasionally followed by a whiny, fussy noise. This is normal for when she's sick and usually that stops when she goes into a deeper sleep but I was DYING....after two hours of sleep the night before and only being asleep about 1 1/2 hours before she woke up, I was at the sleep deprivation breaking point. So, I took a big step and I opened up both of our bedroom doors and unplugged the baby monitor. That way if she cried for real I'd still hear her, but I wouldn't be getting coughs/fusses amplified directly into my bedroom. It took me about a half hour to fall asleep (even though I was dead tired) because I've NEVER gone without the monitor, but then I slept until the alarm woke me! And obviously Ava is fine--so from now on, unless I am worried about her for some reason, the doors will be open and the monitor off once we are all in bed. She's almost a year old, anyhow...not like she's a newborn. We'd been talking about doing this recently but just hadn't taken the step, so I had to do it out of necessity and it worked just fine! It was probably harder than anything just to have my bedroom door open--I have a thing about doors, I always have to have them shut. I can't teach in my classroom with the door open. I can't sleep (well, I guess I can now) with the door open. That includes bathroom doors and closet doors. When Craig is out of town, I close off all of the rooms that we're not using--he's gone right now so the only door that's open upstairs is my bedroom door. I know, I'm a freak, and now I'm definitely going to have to get over it if I want to keep off that stupid monitor. :)

Meltdown Update

Got Ava in to the doctor this afternoon...two bad ear infections, and they tested her for RSV as well because her lungs sounded bad. Ugh. Didn't get home until 6:15 or so and then it was a mad dash to get the kid fed, bathed, and in bed. Fussed before sleeping but nothing unusual...pray she stays down, I'm headed to bed as well!

The Meltdown Post

I did a great job of getting to bed at a decent hour last night! I was in bed by 9:15, and looking forward to a solid night of sleep, which I especially needed to help fight off a cold. Ava had a meltdown at 10:00...I figured she just had a bad dream or something, however, this was followed by NO LESS THAN FIVE MORE MELTDOWNS. Here's a list:

10:00---first one, I assume it's a nightmare and rock her back to sleep. Cries when I put her in the crib, stops when I rub her tummy for a few min.

10:30--next meltdown...I give her a bottle and then notice she's somehow peed all over her sleeper, there must've been a gap in the diaper somewhere. Change her clothes and put her back to bed. Cries when I put her down, settles down with a few minutes of rubbing her back.

11:00--I bring her to bed with me after this meltdown. She flips all over the place, scratches at the pillows (I think she liked the texture), and kicks me; and starts having a coughing fit. We go downstairs and cuddle on the couch for about a half hour while she coughs, I give her Tylenol in case all of the coughing is hurting her lungs. Bonus: the Tylenol seemed to help coat her throat and ease the cough as well. I rock her to sleep but she again cries when I put her down, rubbing her back helps.

12:00--I let her cry, she eventually stops.

12:30--Starts babbling to herself, then sobbing her head off. I go into the room and she has thrown Duckie over the side of the crib, and has pooped. Retrieve Duckie, change diaper, put her back down. Cries, gets back-rubbing for a minute or two, calms down.

1:00--Cries. I leave her alone and this is the last meltdown until she starts fussing at 5:00

At this point I could've worked in about four hours of sleep, but no, I am sick to my stomach for the next hour. (This sometimes happens from the drainage when I'm fighting a cold....FUN!) So when all is said and done, I end up with roughly 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I considered staying home today but Ava did not have a fever this morning and nobody was throwing up, and those are now my only two conditions for staying home, since I can't afford to use up all of my sick days. I've already used more in less than one semester than I usually use for the entire year!!! Ugh. Please cross your fingers/hope/pray that things go smoothly tonight, or I will completely snap....

Trip to the Mall

I know--two posts in one day--I'm so ambitious! Ava is down for her afternoon nap (a little late, oh well!) so I thought I'd post a few pictures. We had fun walking around the mall: I'm on a sort-of mission to find a green sweater to match a skirt that I have, but I didn't find anything and I'm not even looking that hard anyhow. I did find a cute outfit for the kid, and I think I want this GAP dress for her first birthday:



It's so cute! I even found a little black shrug sweater in Macy's that would match....but I'd really like for them to go on sale first (the dress is already, not the sweater...although I could probably find a cheaper one elsewhere). Anyhow....here are the pictures:

Ava, playing on my bedroom floor while I got ready this morning



Happy and silly at the mall:




I'm not sure what was going on with her in the mall pictures--I bought a pretzel (didn't share, it was way too buttery so I gave her some of her Gerber crunchies and juice) and we sat down so I could eat, and she was being very silly...turning her head sideways and looking at me, giggling, stretching out her neck and smiling. It was pretty cute, but of course not long thereafter she started fussing so we headed home for naptime! It was a good day overall, and a nice treat to spend it with her in the middle of the week.

Then and Now

So, we have today off from work (Happy Veteran's Day!) and I was just thinking how funny it is, the difference between a typical day off now and how I used to spend those days:

THEN
1.) Sleep until 10am
2.) Lunch out somewhere with a friend
3.) Going to the mall, looking for sales at Ann Taylor
4.) Watching movies and wasting time on the computer
5.) Making a nice dinner

NOW
1.) Up around 5:30am
2.) Breakfast at home with a baby, something for lunch if I'm lucky
3.) Going to the mall, looking for sales at Baby Gap
4.) Watching Baby Einstein and keeping the power cord from the computer out of Ava's mouth
5.) Completely unsatisfying and un-nutritious dinner after the baby is in bed

I'm not complaining...it's just amusing! Ava and I are actually having fun so far, and later I will take her to the mall, she loves to people watch and I have to start thinking about holiday shopping (yuck). We'll probably share an Auntie Anne's pretzel: last time I got one I gave her a few little pieces and she loved it! As her mother, it is my duty to introduce her to all kinds of things, including the exotic cuisine of...the mall food court.

That's about it here! The day off will make the week go by a little faster, and then we'll only be one week away from the Thanksgiving holiday (yay!) and my impending 30th birthday (boo!).

Welcome!

If you are reading this, you got my invite! (DUH.) I got sick of random, stupid people leaving me snarky comments. Seriously...if you don't know me, don't understand my sarcastic humor, and don't like my blog, why don't you go away? Is it necessary to send me a comment? So, I decided to just do away with open blogging. If you know people who read and I didn't send them an invite, just email me. :o)

breaking news--Ava has a cold!

Because that's, like, unusual. RIGHT. I'm going to start making announcements when she ISN'T sick. Anyhow, either because of the not feeling well or by coincidence, she did NOT want to nap or go to sleep all weekend. By Saturday afternoon I found a simple solution--I had to give her some significant cuddle time or rock her in order to get her to sleep. I'm not complaining!! I've tried rocking her before just so we could have that time together but usually she stands up on my lap and jumps up and down (apparently I am a trampoline?) and tries to rip down the curtains behind the rocking chair. So, cuddling/rocking it is. :o)

In other news, I apparently speak Chinese or babble like a moron, or speak in a frequency that only dogs can hear. There is a particular math concept that some of these kids keep wanting to make up fake shortcuts on. I've explained that it DOES NOT WORK...that by using the shortcut they are trying to use, they can't even get the right answer by accident...that's how far off base it is. I say, "DO NOT DO IT THAT WAY! I PROMISE YOU, YOU WILL NEVER GET THE RIGHT ANSWER THAT WAY! THERE IS NO SHORTCUT....YOU HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY TO GET THE CORRECT ANSWER!" All they hear is, "blahblahblah do it however you want..." UGH!!! You want to know why I'm now getting copious amounts of gray hair? THAT is why.

First Halloween!

I didn't realize it had been awhile since I updated! The last week or so has been exhausting and it doesn't look like things will slow down anytime soon. I'll try to give a play-by-play of what's been going on, and I'll end with some pictures.

--Halloween was okay. I'm not a big fan of it...I hate dressing up in costumes and as an adult, the thought of an entire holiday in which kids go door-to-door and get complete strangers to give them candy seems pretty absurd. (I know, it's almost like I'm a cranky old woman trapped in an almost-30-year-old's body... ;o) But, whatever...I'll get into it for my kids, I suppose--this being Ava's first Halloween, we didn't do much: I borrowed a ladybug costume from a friend and she wore that over a shirt and jeans...I didn't even get black pants to make it match. It stayed on for maybe two hours. Anyhow, I DID get some cute pictures! There were a lot less trick-or-treaters this year...not sure why. Usually I buy a bunch of really good candy so that I have good leftovers to snack on, but I didn't feel like spending the money this year (and there's usually little left) so I bought the gigantic bag of cheapo candy and....we have most of it left. Ugh...thank goodness for teaching, I can take it to work and give it to the kids! I think the best part about Halloween was that at Ava's bedtime, we put a note on the door requesting that people knock quietly and not ring the doorbell and EVERYONE was kind enough to respect our wishes--they even whispered when they said "trick or treat!!" I put "baby sleeping" on the note as well and one little girl said, "I hope your baby stays asleep. I LOVE babies!"

--Ava helped me vote on Tuesday! It's so funny, I remember after the 2004 elections I said to a friend that the weirdest thing would be that at the 2008 elections, I'd probably be dragging a kid along when voting! Indeed...
Anyhow, we were very fortunate that there was NO wait. None at all...only about three people were even there...the most time we spent was talking to the workers, who were gushing over the youngest voter they'd seen that day. (Ava...not me! ;o)

--Only two weeks until the family arrives for Thanksgiving! Thus far it will be my parents, Billy, Lauren (Billy's girlfriend), and I have my fingers crossed that Michael will be able to make it as well.

--We've chosen colors for the siding, trim, shutters, stone, and brick on the house, as well as picked the style of window...they should be breaking ground any day now! This whole process takes forever and involves a lot of fighting with stupid builders who are trying to get out of building the house according to the blueprints we agreed upon, and now probably won't be done until April or May. What a pain....I just want to be moved already!

--Ava's favorite thing is a little blankie we call "Duckie." Duckie is a soft little blanket (about 1 sq. foot) with a duck head on one end...it's like some new thing so that babies don't carry around big old mangy security blankets, I guess. We try to restrict Duckie to the crib, but will sometimes bring it out if we want Ava to settle down in preparation for bedtime...it's like a signal to her that it's time to go to sleep, and she'll cuddle it and suck her fingers. Well, the original Duckie was given to us by Craig's Aunt Liz, and was purchased at a little boutique up in MA where she lives...so when I set out to find another one as backup I had no luck! Anyhow, Pat (Craig's mom) asked Liz about the duckies and she was kind enough to go back to the shop and find/send us two more! I gave all three Duckies to Ava at once and she was overwhelmed...she immediately started sucking her fingers and grabbing at each of the duckies! Ha!

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Magic Butt Cream

That is the name of the prescription--yes, prescription--medication I picked up today for Ava's neverending diaper rash. It even says it on the label on the jar...you know, where prescriptions usually have more dignified things like, "Amoxicillin" or "Hydrocodone" written. Magic Butt Cream. It's like they have middle schoolers working for the pediatrician now...

Ah well. I got a good laugh out of it. ;o)

dodging the sickness bullet

Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, but I think Ava and I are escaping with only minor colds this time! Her nose is still runny but with the Vick's plug-in, the humidifier, and keeping her head elevated; she's not faring too badly at night. The worst is when she's too congested to breathe out of her nose at all, because this prevents her from sucking her fingers, which is how she falls asleep. Last night she woke up around 10:30 and could not get back to sleep (she couldn't suck her fingers and I think she had a little bit of a tummy ache) so I just brought her downstairs with me...we cuddled on the couch and watched one of her Baby Einstein videos (one with just music, no talking) and this calmed her enough and she slept until 7:30 this morning! I don't like to get her off of her schedule and would've preferred to get her up earlier but she (and we) needed the sleep. She was much better today and has fallen asleep without any fuss....hopefully she stays down all night. I, on the other hand, woke up with such a miserable sore throat and headache that I thought maybe I was getting strep throat. I've never had it. I looked up the symptoms and it didn't quite seem to match so I just took a bunch of Tylenol and some throat spray and went back to bed--Craig was on baby duty so after I helped get Ava's breakfast ready (he didn't need the help but I wanted some hot tea for my throat anyhow so I just took care of it) I crashed until 10:00. Luckily, that seemed to do the trick and I felt much better today! (Plus, I took Zicam...I swear that stuff works.) Craig has graciously offered to man the monitor again tonight so I can get another night of rest under my belt and hopefully completely kick this cold. I have to say, he has really stepped up lately and taken on more baby responsibility, and I've been able to let him do it without trying to micromanage everything. It has made things much easier on me.

On another note...in four weeks my family will be here for Thanksgiving! Sadly, my aunt, uncle and cousin won't be able to make it due to my cousin's commitments at school; and Craig's parents won't be able to make it due to his mom needing back surgery. And my brother Michael might not be able to make it, but I don't want to think about that....I'm being optimistic on that one. Billy will be bringing his girlfriend, so that'll be fun and balance out the testosterone a little bit! ;o) Can't wait to see everyone!

Belated Grandparent Pictures

Sorry for the slacking...here are the pictures from when Craig's parents visited two weeks ago!

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I've been very busy since we tracked in two weeks ago, and am now getting sick, as is Ava. It feels like it never ends...we finally get better, and then everyone is sick again. She's also got a persistent diaper rash that whatever prescription they gave her a couple weeks ago did not clear up, so if it isn't gone by Monday morning I'm calling the doctor. Again. Because, why not? We practically live at their office. I should've married a pediatrician. No--I should have become a pediatrician and married a masseuse. Anyhow, I'm feeling very overwhelmed right now to the point where sometimes I think I'm just going to shut down. Between work and taking care of things at home by myself half of the time, it's really wearing me down...probably why I'm sick. I can't believe school has only been going for two weeks and I'm already in desperate need of another vacation.

Anyhow, aside from feeling like I'm going to collapse at any moment...today we met with the realtors and picked out the color of our siding (Hardieplank, not vinyl, so hopefully it won't grow algae or mold or whatever that green stuff is that grows all over half of the houses in NC...although, our house is going to be a light brownish-greenish color--it's prettier than it sounds-- so that should hide a lot of it anyhow). We also chose the brick foundation and the stone accents. Nice! We have to pick up paint samples and choose our trim, shutter, and eventually wall colors as well. Knowing that someone else is going to be painting the walls for me is such a great feeling!

All right, that's about it. My mom did point out that on Ava's nine month stats I listed her as being 19 3/4 inches long...no, she did not shrink from her birth length of 21 inches! It should have been 29 3/4 inches, oops! ;o) I'm going to bed now and hoping I can shake this cold with a good night of sleep, Craig has offered to man the baby monitor AND get up with Ava in the morning. Usually whoever was on monitor duty doesn't have to get up in the morning, since Ava tends to fuss at night and needs to be readjusted in her crib, especially when she's sick. We're trying to keep her schedule more consistent so instead of bringing her to bed with us after she wakes up for her bottle at 6am, we stay up with her and give her breakfast at 8am and she goes down for her morning nap between 8:30 and 9:00, just like during the week. It kind of stinks but at least whoever got up can go back down at nap time!

Tagged by Emily!

1. Clothes Shop
Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft...odds and ends at other places but mostly those two. Honestly, most of the clothes I buy now are for Ava. :o)

2. Furniture Shop
Rooms to Go and Target....Ava has beat the crap out of our cheap Target coffee table with her toys and it doesn't even have a scratch....awesome.

3. Sweet
I'm addicted hardcore. My addictions-of-the-moment are homemade snowball cookies and peanut butter M&Ms. Over the summer it was Swedish Fish and Haribo Gummi Bears. Yes, they had to be Haribo.

4. City
I miss living near Chicago like you wouldn't believe. Best big city ever! I love where I live now though too...but I miss it.

5. Drink
Hot tea, vanilla, cinnamon, or pumpkin spice lattes, Sierra Mist, grapefruit juice, raspberry wine. I like drinking things.

6. Music
Mostly rock/classic rock....Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi.

7. TV Series
The Office, CSI: Las Vegas, Desperate Housewives. I'm watching Heroes but not that into it this season. I guess I'll watch Lost when it comes back, and if they do any more Beauty and the Geek, I will be all about it!

8. Film
Star Wars (original trilogy, none of the new ones with the heinous acting), LOTR, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Goonies, Zoolander, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Billy Madison, MST 3K...you know, the classics.... ;o)

9. Workout
I carry Ava around, does that count? That's about all I get these days! Gonna start working on the abs any day now...

10. Pastries
Ohhhh I love me some cake donuts from Daylight Donuts.


11. Coffee
Already covered that. :)

TAGGED--Jen D, Christina G, Christie S

Nine month stats

As of last Wednesday, Oct. 8th; Ava is 21 lbs. 11.5 oz. (90th percentile), 19 3/4 inches long (97th percentile)...her weight seems to have slowed down a little bit but she's still getting so much bigger every day! A lot has happened in the last week...I'm going to make the update as short as possible, and I'll have to do pictures in another post.

First of all, the child care situation: a woman I worked with for four years, who now stays home with her two little kids, is Ava's new sitter! Ava has stayed with her three days now (two last week for my work days, and today when we tracked back in). She is having a great time playing with 2-year-old Will and 7-month-old Adeline, as well as chasing around some new cats. :o) She is happy and taking great naps again and we're very thankful to have someone we trust watching over her! Of course, she is protesting the change in environment (even though it's a good change) by not drinking her bottles while at the sitter's house...it's getting better, and I remember she did the same thing when she started day care so I'm sure it will pass before too long!

Next--Ava had some more visitors this past weekend: her grandma and grandpa on Craig's side. We very much enjoyed seeing them (it had been about six months) but unfortunately, Miss Ava decided to be a crabapple and fuss most of the weekend. :-/ I thought it was because of all the changes in routine--we quit day care, I was home on trackout, my mom was here for a week, the new childcare, etc.--but after some weirdness today on her part, it looks like she's going through a stranger anxiety phase, which my mom said is typical around this age. Hmmm.

Anyhow, that is about it for now....I have to go get dinner ready for the kid so I can get her off to the bath and bed. Picture update to follow whenever I get the chance! :)

Your daily dose of Ava

I had an actual post written but somehow I hit a button and deleted it while trying to prevent Ava from biting my ankle. She went from cute and happy to mischievous and busy to cranky and whiny in the last hour. Yeesh.

A somewhat politically-inspired rant

(I promise--this should be safe to read no matter which side of the fence you are on! ;o)

I saw something today that touched off a nerve in a major way with me. It was on a random blog, but honestly, I would've expected better. The author of the blog was complaining about Sarah Palin, not because they disagreed with her politics (which they didn't), but because she's made the choice to have both a family and a career. Apparently it is wrong to do that and it means you are neglecting your family. Obviously as a working mom, that made me pretty angry. I am so sick and tired of this woman being judged by people on both sides for this! Her kids are FINE, the fact that she has a job is NOT going to hurt them....give me a break! (Yes, I know her daughter is pregnant but guess what? I know plenty of people who got pregnant as teens/before marriage who had stay-at-home moms, so clearly that has nothing to do with it.) I don't know much about being a governor orVice President, but I'm guessing it's not a strict 9-to-5 type schedule like mine (minus track-outs of course) and she'll still get plenty of time with her family. How much were Gore and Cheney harassed about how their jobs would interfere with their family time? How much are Obama, Biden, and McCain being harassed? Not to mention....HELLO! She has a husband, and last time I checked he wasn't in a vegetative state and is perfectly capable of caring for the children as well! Honestly, what century is this?!? I do most of the work with Ava, but that's because Craig is gone a lot and naturally it falls on me...but anytime I say, "Hey? Can you change her diaper/see why she's crying/take care of bath time/put her to bed/feed her/stop her from eating that power cord, etc.", he does it. (Okay, sometimes he tries to get out of it.... ;o) but he's CAPABLE of caring for our daughter and does a great job.)

Look--working moms work because they feel that, for whatever reason, it is the best decision they can make for their family. I work so that we don't have to live on a tight budget, so that we can afford to raise our kids in a nice, safe neighborhood, so that I can get them into an excellent school when the time comes, and so that I'm not giving up a great job when I know that in the future I"ll be paying for things like college. I'm sacrificing some time with Ava now (luckily I have a job where I still get lots of time with her!) but it will be so much better for her and any subsequent siblings in the long run. How is this in any way ungodly or wrong? Sarah Palin is doing the ultimate for her children--running for VP because she believes she can make the country a better place for them. I assume that's why both Pres/VP candidates are running, so that they can make things better in a way that they see fit...so why do we have to harass the lone female candidate (and not even Presidential candidate)? You don't have to agree with her politics or the politics of anyone else running this year, but LEAVE THEIR PARENTING OUT OF IT. For people to be that judgmental and act like they are somehow better than other people just because they don't work...that is so arrogant! Is Sarah Palin somehow neglecting or abusing her children because she works? Am I neglecting or abusing Ava because I work? HARDLY.

/rant. There....I feel a little better. Thanks for listening!

Oh, and to all of the wonderful stay-at-home moms I know who read this blog...THIS IS NOT DIRECTED AT YOU BY ANY MEANS. :o) You are very kind-hearted and are doing the best for your families as I am...this was inspired by a random blog so don't feel like I'm pointing a finger or anything! :o)

Two Weeks Down

I can't believe the first two weeks of track-out have gone by so quickly, and in one short week it'll be business as usual! Sooner, if you consider that two days this week will be devoted to workdays...but at least no students will be there. Anyhow, we had a great time with my mom: in addition to just spending time together, we also took Ava to the park (met a set of twin girls with the same exact birth date as Ava...her mom gave birth down the hall from me just hours before Ava was born!), went to a pumpkin farm, went out to lunch a few times, hit the outlet mall in Smithfield (worst outlet mall I've ever been to...I thought the purpose was supposed to be cheap prices? Hardly. Good stuff but I might as well have been to the local mall, which is five minutes away!), and had Ava's nine month pictures taken. Craig and I went to one more dinner (Cheesecake Factory) since it will likely be our late "date" until Thanksgiving break when the families are here and we go out to celebrate (or in my case, mourn) my 30th birthday.

That's really about it--Ava is finally done with her antibiotics and is all better, thank goodness! We still have the numbing eardrops so if we end up with any more ear infections, we can at least give her some pain relief until we are able to get her to the doctor for the antibiotics to clear it up. Hopefully it'll be a long time before that happens again. Or better yet...how about NEVER?

All right....here are some pictures from the previous week, mostly of the park and pumpkin farm....we took a lot more but I just don't have the time or energy to post them! I did get a chance to bake strawberry almond muffins today, woohoo! I miss that. I didn't get to work on my photo album over track-out, but I did work on organizing/writing down more recipes and got in a few baking sessions. :)


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Grandma is here!!!

My mom arrived on Friday, and for the past two days we've all had a great time hanging out!! Ava is slowly but steadily improving thanks to the antibiotics and ear drops, which is also great. Tonight, Craig and I went out on our first real date in what feels like about a million years, we went to Ruth's Chris steak house first and then went to Starbucks and walked around North Hills for awhile. It was very relaxing and a very good time! (Although, the restaurant was utterly ridiculous price-wise...very good food but I think next time we'll go somewhere a little more unique if we're spending the money...honestly, when we splurge on filet mignon at The Fresh Market and Craig cooks it on the grill it's just as good. But it was nice for a date, anyhow! The last pic on the slideshow is us before our date.) The night just ended for us about five minutes ago--with the Bears beating the Eagles 24-20....woohoo!!! Poor Craig, that's his team. Honestly, it could've gone either way...neither team was playing that hot but I'll take the victory!

So, I'm enjoying track-out very much and part of me is thinking, you know, this staying at home thing really isn't so bad after all! I could get used to this! *sigh* I know it's no longer possible what with the new house and all, and we really do need to make the move because we feel like it's the best for our family, and I have to work regardless so that I can keep the great job I have and Ava can get in that school, but still. Oh, I know that probably after a couple of months I'd go stir-crazy but for now, I'm having one of those grass-is-greener moments. I'll get over it. ;o)

Oh, BTW--you'll notice Ava's new car seat in some of the following pictures. Yes, I know she's technically not supposed to face forward until after she's a year old, but she's well over the weight limit (20 lbs) for rear-facing and even though I got a car seat that can go either way, if I face it to the rear her knees are practically touching her chin and the seat is so upright that she leans forward. It's terrible, and not really possible for us to put her like that (plus it obstructs my view out that side window completely, and half of my view out the back as well). So anyhow, don't yell at me. ;o)


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On the Road to Recovery

Well...it seems like Ava is feeling better. Her appetite hadn't improved as of last night when it comes to actual food, but she's drinking her bottles, so as long as she gets the hydration and nutrients from the formula I'm not worried. We've had one dose of antibiotic thus far and I gave her the eardrops at bedtime, and she slept ten straight hours last night with no coughing!! It was great! I, on the other hand, did not sleep...always happens when I'm fighting a cold...I got about 5 hours and could've used a full 8, but oh well. Ava did not go back down after her 6am bottle (she coughed on some mucous and threw up all over both of us, and the process of cleaning her up fully woke her) so we went downstairs and she played while I had a cup of tea. She tires quickly if she doesn't sleep after her morning bottle, so when she started getting cranky at 7:45--into the crib! She fussed and banged on her music maker (the musical part of her mobile, the actual mobile part has been taken off) for about 10-15 minutes and then fell asleep, which seems to be par for the course with naptime these days. I'm wide awake (not rested....but awake....) and debating: do I get myself ready for the day, or do I clean the house? I'm thinking get ready, because I can clean later when Craig gets home.

So, that's about it here. I can't believe we're almost done with the first week of track-out...ugh!! Anyhow--here are a couple of pictures I took on my phone yesterday of Ava at the doctor's office. You can tell she's not feeling well because she didn't bother to rip the hat off of her head. :o)

Our First Ear Infection(s)

They really need to have a sticker on Ava's baby calendar to commemorate the event--we were lucky enough to escape the dreaded ear infection for 8 1/2 months, but now we've got two of them. In addition to a red throat and rattly lungs (apparently it could turn into pneumonia if we didn't treat it. Obviously, we're treating it.)....I knew something was really wrong beyond the usual cold or allergy attack when Ava 1.) lost her appetite and 2.) absolutely flipped out when I layed her down for her morning nap. Screaming her head off, arching her back, flipping over, sitting up--refusing to go down even though she was obviously tired. Anyhow we did get to the doctor (God bless Jeffers, Mann and Artman! They're awesome at last minute appointments!) and get a diagnosis and drugs so hopefully she'll be on the road to recovery soon. I probably got about 5-6 hours of sleep last night, not all at once, so it's better than the previous night's three hours but I'm in bad shape with a sore throat and headache, which will turn into a cold if I continue to lose sleep.

Anyhow, we'll pull through, no doubt kicking and screaming, but it'll be okay! I felt so bad last night--I finally went in to check on Ava when she wouldn't go down and was really sobbing, and the minute I picked her up, she snuggled against me and fell asleep. I guess she just needed some extra cuddling. :o( I rocked her for twenty minutes and then put her down and there was a lot of coughing and sneezing (like, ALL NIGHT) but no crying, at least for awhile.

I can't wait for everyone in this house to be healthy again, all at the same time!

HEEEELLLLLPPPP!!!!!

ANYBODY! PLEASE! HELP! My sweet baby who goes to bed without fussing? Yep--she's apparently been abducted by aliens and replaced with an evil look-alike. We've never had to let her cry it out before but that may be starting now....my question is, how do you do that? How long to you let her cry (she's 8 1/2 months old)? At what point do you need to go in there? I understand leaving her if it's just some fussiness but what about full-on sobbing? And what if she's sick? Do normally good babies suddenly freak out and not sleep when they're sick? Should I comfort her if she's sick or still let her cry? Because honestly, I thought she'd pass out.

I'm completely lost. I'm alone this week. And if I don't get more than three hours of sleep tonight (like last night) I am going to DIE.

Payback

My mom likes to tell me stories about what a devious child I was when it came to getting into things. I used to love hearing those stories....however, observing Ava in recent days, it seems as though she's inherited that from me. We don't have a baby gate yet (I don't know if one will even fit on our stairs) so we just wedge these two giant, heavy throw pillows at the base of the steps to keep her off of them. Moments ago she plowed right over the pillows (I have no clue how, they're bigger than her!) and made it up about three stairs before I grabbed her. Ohhhh boy.

Oh yeah....last night the weirdest thing happened. I was chewing gum and I blew a bubble....I thought this would amuse Ava, but instead she started CRYING!!! Tried it again later....same reaction and she watched my mouth fearfully for the rest of the evening. Strange....

Tracked Out

Thought I'd start out with a couple of pictures--both were taken on my phone this week. In the first one, Ava is crawling under the end table...she likes to crawl under/behind things now. In the second one she's desperately trying to destroy everything on the coffee table. (Please note: our coffee table is now completely bare.)

Anyhow, as you can tell from the title of the post--we are now on fall track-out! Even though I have a good group of students this year and I do enjoy my job, this track dragged on like never before--I think it's because I look forward the breaks so much because I can spend a lot of time with Ava. I've also needed the rest, physically and mentally...there is a lot going on here. Let's see....

**We are going to be quitting day care. The situation with the new teachers not having any clue how to care for Ava just got worse and worse: they never filled out her paperwork correctly so I never knew if/when she got diaper changes, or when she napped, or how much she ate. On Monday she had an unexplained bruise on her face, they seem to think she fell in or around a crib. That's fine--I expect a lot of bumps and bruises in this pre-walking phase--but to not have any idea what happened and to not have an incident report for me, even though I requested one TWICE, is not acceptable. She has come home with poop still on her from previous diaper changes--three times. She had the wrong diaper on one time (A SIZE ONE!), and an extremely tight diaper when she already had a terrible rash. She's filthy when I pick her up, too. ANYHOW--a former co-worker of mine (I worked with her for four years) now stays at home with her two little kids (including a girl Ava's age) and has offered to baby-sit, so we're going to meet up and work something out over-track out and hopefully Ava will be going there after track-out! It will be such a relief to know she's being well cared for again.

**We've not sold our house, in fact, we showed it today for just the second time since we put it on the market. However, we signed a deal with the realtor that he'll buy our house if it doesn't sell by the time we're ready to close on the one that we are building so that's good!! There are loads of paperwork but hopefully in another week we'll be able to commence with the actual building.

**Ava's 8th tooth poked through her gums this morning--with four on top and four on bottom, her mouth is starting to look a little more normal! No more vampire fangs.

**Our daughter is now completely mobile, crawling around and pulling herself up and walking around furniture like a crazy woman. She likes making monster noises at us---"RARRR! RAAAAAARRRRRRR!!--and has tons of energy, though she still seems to take pretty good naps and sleeps about 9 hours a night. (For some reason though, she slept a solid 11 1/2 last night, awesome!!)

**In less than a week, my mom will be here to visit--yay! We're very excited to see her, and Ava will have a lot of fun with her grandma! This also means that Craig and I will be going out on a real date, the first one since....I don't know. It's been quite some time now. We're going to a nicer restaurant than our last date, which featured lots of other people's screaming children. American Express sent Craig a $50 gift certificate for Ruth's Chris, a really nice steak place (even though I totally don't understand the name)....all he has to do is pay for the meal with the AMEX card. I think they sent it as one of those rewards for being a good cardholder, since he uses it for all of his business expenses. At any rate, we will enjoy a great meal for a discounted price. Can't beat that!!! I'm guessing we'll probably try to catch a movie as well, but we'll have to see what's out.

**I have big plans to read a few books (I have a Koontz, an Evanovich, and at least one Patterson to catch up on), and to work on my scrapbook, over track-out.

That's about it here! We're (mostly) healthy and happy, and now that the day care issue has been all but settled there's little to complain about. :)

I should be sleeping

But, I have been really lazy about posting lately so I'm going to do an update. Things around here are pretty crazy: I stayed home from work last Tuesday with that stomach bug, and my stomach went all wonky again on Friday so I missed another day of work. I'm kind of freaking out about that, but what can you do? Craig felt icky all weekend and is now taking antibiotics again....Ava's allergies (I'm assuming that's what her persistent "cold" is) are under control but she has a rash under one eye and in the past day or two has also had a raging diaper rash. Bad enough that she's screaming and practically shaking, and I'm crying whenever I have to change her diaper. There are new workers at day care during the afternoon and they are nothing like the original people, who were very on the ball with everything. Today, Ava's daily report sheet was incomplete (documents diaper changes, when she ate/how much she ate, nap times, etc.)....I rely on that report so I can keep up with her schedule. They also threw away one of her food containers and one of her bottle lids is missing. Her face wasn't clean when I picked her up, either--the other workers were pretty anal about keeping the kids clean, which was absolutely fine by me! I'm going to see how it goes tomorrow--maybe it was just a really crazy day or something--and then talk to the director if it doesn't seem better. Then there's one week until track-out so if worse comes to worse, I'll have three weeks to find something else. I'm seriously disappointed. Anyhow, parenting has really got me down lately....I just feel so helpless lately, and I constantly feel like I'm doing something wrong. We're on a new feeding schedule and I'm trying to introduce chunkier foods but I have no idea what I'm doing. I hate feeling so lost.

ANYHOW--the past weeks haven't been without their good points! Ava is babbling away like a maniac, constantly making shrieks, squeals, and growls that crack us up. She crawls all over the place, tries to climb the stairs, pulls herself into a standing position, and today she removed the cat bed from under the end table and tried to crawl under the end table but then changed her mind and tried to lay in the cat bed instead. I got a few pictures, but they're still on the camera. When she gets up in the morning on the weekend, we bring her back to bed with us after the 6am bottle and she will snuggle and sleep there with us for up to 3 hours! We never did get to take her to the petting zoo so I think we'll just wait until my mom is here (IN TWO WEEKS!!) and go during the fall festival. YAY! I love fall....even if the weather isn't very fall-like around here yet. Still hot. But, we've had a lot of dreary, rainy days this week and that always makes me happy. I know it sounds ridiculous--usually sunshine makes people happy--but I like a few days of steady rain. I find it very soothing and it reminds me of home.

Okay, there's the update....here are a few pictures from last weekend. And I need to go get some sleep! :)

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Bleh.

I was up all night throwing up. Feel awful today. Not as bad as when I had food poisoning but it still pretty much sucks...think I have some kind of stomach bug. Ugh. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, this is my second sick day this year--usually I use 2-3 for the entire YEAR, not for one quarter!! Glad I toughed it out when I had a cold and went to work, unless Ava is sick I'm not using any more days on myself unless I'm throwing up.

NOT. FUN.

EDIT: I almost forgot....Ava has a THIRD tooth coming in...three at once...poor baby! It's her other front tooth so pretty soon she won't look like a vampire anymore. :)

Three Day Weekend

This weekend--weather and Craig's health permitting--we are going to take Ava to a somewhat local petting zoo. She thinks animals are hilarious and laughs whenever she sees one up close. If we make it out, I'll definitely be taking a lot of pictures and maybe even some video. :o) Living in the south pretty much since college, I've really missed autumn, and strangely enough, pumpkin farms. We get beautiful, drawn-out autumns here in NC (as opposed to NOTHING in Florida) but no pumpkin farms...or so I thought. The petting zoo where we are taking Ava--yep! Pumpkin farm! They even have a fall festival that will be happening at the same time my mom is visiting so that will be a LOT of fun. (If you are from up north, you understand the pumpkin farm obsession... ;o)

In other news we're cutting two more teeth! (Ava, not me. I have plenty.) One on the top left (Ava's right), next to one of her current vampire-like teeth. I'm hoping the other top tooth isn't far behind...the other one coming in is on the bottom right. This explains the copious amounts of drool and the sudden diaper rash, but not the rash she now has under her eye. There is no winning with this child and her health, but I think that's probably true about every baby, isn't it? The Zyrtec seems to be helping her cough and runny nose, so that's good...I'll give it another week and then call the doctor: we discussed what to do if it didn't work but not if it DID...does she continue to take the medicine? Do we just keep it on hand and give it to her whenever she seems sick? I don't get it...oh well.


I have no artistic skills or concept of color. The background is yellow and the inside of the mouth is grey simply because white was boring.


In house news, things are progressing slowly. Technically we've bought the lot and signed the paperwork to have a house built, but we have to get the builder and the bank to agree on something as far as if we don't sell our current house, if that gets us out of the contract, etc. The deal isn't off if they can't agree, it'll just make things more difficult for us. We'll see....we're determined to do whatever it takes at this point!!! Our house has only shown once so far and already I'm over it, I don't care if it sells next week and we're stuck in an apartment for six months, I just want it sold! Having to keep the house in showing condition 24/7 and having to vacate the premises with a baby at a moment's notice is kind of stressful. Bleh...oh well...it all ends with us in what's essentially our dream house, so I won't complain too much!

Faith, Hope, and Love

This is going to be one of those sappy posts. Just thought you deserved a fair warning...

When Ava was born, one of our neighbors gave us a few baby gifts, among them a pink onesie with the words "Faith, Hope, and Love" on it. It's a 6-9 month size, so Ava is finally able to wear it. The reason I bring it up is simply because every time I see her in it, I can't get over how perfect those three words are to describe our daughter:
Faith--because when we encountered obstacles in the trying-to-have-kids thing, I had to have faith that there was a greater plan at work than any that I could make; and no matter what, things were going to work out for the best. Faith that someday, every bit of frustration was going to be worth it.
Hope--even when I was able to accept that I was not in control and was able to let go of the anger and anxiety, I was hoping for the best.
Love--Ava is without a doubt the greatest joy and love of our lives. We don't love her more than each other, but in a way that is so completely different, it's altogether amazing and indescribable. I start getting impatient every day after lunch because I just can't wait to see my baby again and when I do see her, I can't take my eyes off of her. I want her to stay little forever but at the same time, I love watching her learn new things and enter new phases of her life. I can hardly even remember my life without her. Was it worth the frustration, and the pain (physical and emotional), and if I could, would I do it all over again? Absolutely.


Ava at three months

Moving FORWARD

There's a lot of movement right now...in addition to moving to a new house in February, Ava has started to move forward--she started to crawl on Saturday!! It was so cool, seeing her finally figure out all the movements and put them together, giggling the whole time. We caught it on video and I'd like to say I'd post it but I'm not that ambitious...at least not for now! She's still a little bit unsteady but will get up on her hands and knees and slowly make her way towards whatever catches her interest, usually a toy or a cat or a speck on the carpet that I have to go grab so she doesn't stick it in her mouth. I can't adequately describe what it's like to see her go from one stage to the next, but it's amazing and also a little sad to see her losing her "babyness" a little bit at a time. Parenthood is frustrating, exhausting, scary, and without a doubt the best thing that's ever happened to us. :o )

Speaking of frustrating. We went to the doctor YET AGAIN today and this time we're going to try treating Ava for allergies, since whatever she has isn't in her lungs (no pneumonia) and doesn't seem to be a cold. As much as it stinks if she's got allergies, at least it'll be something common and treatable. We'll see. I was worried about getting her to take the Zyrtec (grape-flavored, how awful) because more often than not, she gags on medicine and ends up spitting it up along with whatever she's eaten in the past week, and perhaps even things she hasn't eaten yet. So, I mixed it with her veggies at dinner and she never even noticed. Excellent!!

That's about it for now, I just looked at the time and we need to get a bath going! I'm coming down with a nasty cold myself so as soon as Ava is down I'm showering and going to bed. NOT FUN.

Movin' On Up!

Well it's a bit sudden, but...we're moving! Okay, the decision is sudden but the move itself won't be--we're going to have a house built and closing is currently set for Feb. 27 of next year. So this is what happened...

We started looking around at houses just for the heck of it a few months ago...we have kind of wanted to move for a variety of reasons but we didn't HAVE to move so we just started poking around to see what we could find. Turns out not much, because we're picky--we don't want to be right on top of our neighbors, we'd like a decent chunk of land. We want an established neighborhood, but we also want new construction so we don't have to spend the time and money cleaning up someone else's idea of interior design. We want a homeowner's association, neighbors who care about their property, and preferably a neighborhood pool although that was not a deal-breaker. Anyhow, mortgage rates started to go up and Craig got worried that if we didn't do something now, we wouldn't be able to afford to do something down the road, so he started talking to a realtor just to see what our house was worth, what's out there, etc. Well--this guy works with a lot of builders, buys and sells a lot of properties and lo and behold, he had exactly what we were looking for. There's a beautiful neighborhood up in Youngsville (about 15 min from our current house, in the direction of my job, I'll be closer in miles but about the same distance time wise) that's been going up for awhile so it's well-occupied and the houses are beautiful--there are a few left for sale and a few empty lots for sale as well. It's only about 60 houses, wooded, and almost all of them are nicely landscaped and kept up by the owners. There's a homeowner's association and a pool. So, we found a really nice 1-acre wooded lot and a house to put on it--they wouldn't come down on the price so we negotiated by getting them to throw in a bunch of crazy upgrades...it's a custom builder, so it's got all kinds of nice details and we get to pick out everything: paint, flooring, appliances, fixtures, etc. How could we pass it up?? It's EVERYTHING we were looking for! Not to mention, this is the kind of house you stay in forever (or at least until you retire and move to the beach... ;o) So, we signed all the papers with the builders yesterday and next week we square things away with the bank, and building will commence shortly thereafter. YAY! I have to say it IS a little sad to see the "for sale" sign in our yard..oh well.

That's about it for now! We're all doing quite well...of course now that our house is going to be on the market, it has to look perfect at all times in case the realtor wants to show it. Bleh.

FINALLY.

Six month pictures from July :o)

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Seven months!

As you probably noticed from the ticker, Ava is now seven months old!! I can't believe it's going by so quickly--I'm already thinking about her first birthday party. (No, it's NEVER too early to think about these things...) She's babbling away like crazy and is always making us laugh with new noises and faces...she still sleeps well (naps aren't as consistently good but she NEVER fusses at bedtime) with the exception of crying at approx. 4am EVERY SINGLE NIGHT...but I think I have it figured out--she's uncomfortable for one reason or another. Sometimes she gets up on all fours in her sleep and can't figure out how to lay back down again, sometimes the covers are off and she's cold, etc. The good thing is that as soon as I go in and fix whatever is wrong she drops right back to sleep. She's almost crawling--gets up like a pro, can move her knees, but the hands don't seem to know what to do. She still has a cold and I'm considering calling the doctor and telling them to either do something or refer me to somebody who can. Poor kid has had a million checkups concerning her tailbone, kidneys, and hip joint--all of which appear to be fine--but nobody will do anything about what is REALLY wrong with her! It's extremely frustrating.

Anyhow--a quick update of the week. Monday we stayed home from school because Ava had a really rough night the night before, she was up most of the time, screaming with terrible gas pains. I didn't want to drag her to day care after that so we stayed home...good thing because she randomly came down with a fever of 102.2! What the heck? I really don't understand kids and fevers but luckily it wasn't serious and some Tylenol brought it right down. The rest of the week went smoothly except for me having a small meltdown Wednesday evening...I was just feeling really guilty about leaving Ava all day so I could go to work. I still think it's the best thing for our family and she's doing great, but every now and then I miss her more than usual and break down a little bit. Yesterday Aunt Kathy and Uncle Chuck came over for our (3rd) farewell meal, but this time they are REALLY leaving. :o( Going to Arizona in about a week. We're really going to miss having them around! Ava had fun hanging out but it stinks she's too young to remember it. Anyhow, this morning has been my morning on baby duty and it's been wonderful. She woke up at 4am of course, then again at 6:00 to eat--went down afterwards for about an hour and woke up so I brought her in to bed with me and she slept for another 1-1 1/2 hours! It was raining outside and there is nothing better than snuggling in bed and dozing while it rains outside. When she woke up for real, we sat on the porch in our pajamas and watched the rain. Now, she's bouncing in the Einstein jumper and I'm about to get her breakfast ready.

Lastly--if anybody knows of a photo site that sucks considerably less than Bubbleshare, could you clue me in? I'm trying to post photos but it's being a piece of crap and not working. UGH!!!!!

exhausted...

There's been a lot going on around here so updating has been the last thing on my mind! I wanted to wait until I could upload a few recent pictures but that may not happen. The new school year is getting off to a good start, but I am so tired I can't stand it...I've been either alone during the week or doing 90% of the work myself, and it is NOT working out very well. (For me, anyhow!) Anyhow, in Ava news--she's still fighting off yet another cold, and I'm going to choke the next doctor and/or nurse who tells me to elevate her head, use a humidifier, and use the saline/aspirator on her nose. THAT POOR KID HAS BEEN ELEVATED, HUMIDIFIED, AND ASPIRATED HALF TO DEATH FOR ALMOST HER ENTIRE TIME ON EARTH!!!! Clearly, it isn't helping! I'm really not buying that we can do organ transplants and create super-awesome artificial limbs for people but can't do ANYTHING for a baby with a cold. In spite of this she's still pretty happy and enjoying trying out new foods every few days--her menu includes rice cereal, apples, pears, peaches, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and green beans. She likes all of them. We had bananas for awhile but she didn't like them as much and they made her really gassy, even when we gave her Mylicon, so forget it. I hate bananas too so maybe it's just proof she's my kid. ;o) Anyhow, she has five bottles a day and two of those bottles have a meal with them--cereal and fruit in the morning, two veggies, cereal, and fruit at night. I think I'm allowed to start adding meat but I don't really want to go there yet....I'll wait until she's at least nine months I think. Same for yogurt.

Also--she is going to crawl any day now! In just this past week she's gone from kind of being able to tuck her legs up under her to getting up on all fours and staying like that for awhile. She can also sit up well when someone puts her in a sitting position, and really enjoys touching and rubbing things with different textures--I should probably get her some of those touchy-feely books.

That's about it for now! In other news, MJ finally had her baby last weekend, so Ava's future best friend is now outside of the womb. ;o) We were lucky to get to meet baby Sophia in the hospital, and mom, dad and baby are doing well at home. Congrats to them!!!

almost back to work

Last week was teacher week, which is why there was a severe lack of posting. Ava went back to day care full time and I headed back to work full time, although I don't really count it because it was just teacher inservice, which means meetings and lesson planning and setting up the classroom but no students. I usually go into psycho workaholic mode but because Craig was back on the road for the first time following his mono episode, I had to end the day at the regular time and come home to take care of Ava. Not that I mind--in some ways, it's a good thing that I'm forced to put work down and come home because otherwise I go a little crazy. (I told you--workaholic.) Anyhow there are a few loose ends to tie up so as soon as Craig wakes up to watch Ava I can go back and take care of them. Yesterday was my morning to sleep...today is his. Anyhow, I think this year will probably be good...or at least get off to a good start. From what I hear the kids have lower academic skills but are pretty sweet and they do try hard, which is all I can ask of them as a teacher. I'm so easy--if you do your work, try hard, and behave, we get along fine. If you don't, then we will have a problem. I don't understand what's so complicated about that to some kids.

ANYHOW--I got Ava's six month pictures yesterday and in spite of how much she freaked out at the photo shoot they did turn out pretty cute! I'll try to scan and post them but it may not be for awhile, since things are really busy around here with work and such. I think she's fighting a cold (and luckily seems to be winning) because she goes between having fussy sleep and sleeping like a ROCK. Three hour morning nap yesterday!! The rest of the naps were bad but in all fairness, we were dragging her to the store, Cheesecake Factory, etc. Last night she slept nearly 11 hours, much to my relief, and now she's back down after only about 1 1/2 hours of awake time which is unusual. Usually this is what happens:

6:00 or 6:30 am--eat
Go back to sleep until about 8:00
Awake and playing until 10:00
10:00--baby cereal and fruit, and a bottle
10:30--morning nap

We'll see. I would like to go to the mall after I work to take advantage of the Loft gift card Craig gave me for our anniversary + the 20% off coupon from Jen + the huge sale at Loft but who knows what will happen!

without further ado....

Some of the pictures don't seem to have loaded correctly, but I am so not doing this again...

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YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!

Don't expect pictures anytime soon. Or, better yet, don't expect them EVER. I just spent the better part of two hours resizing approx. 50 pictures--incorrectly the first time so I did it twice--and then uploading them to Bubbleshare and when I was FINALLY DONE, Bubbleshare chooses THAT moment to pop up a screen informing me that their server is down and they are "sorry for the inconvenience." And they suck about saving things (your album basically can't be saved until you go through the whole upload-review-caption process) so I lost the entire. freaking. thing. If there was something logical to take my anger out on nearby, I would be smashing something into little pieces RIGHT NOW.

If Craig laughs at me one more time, it might be his head.


UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

procrastinating the photo update

So I'm going to just post this: the best song ever, by the best band ever, performed in the best city ever, last week. And you can probably hear me singing along happily somewhere in the crowd.... ;o)



You'd think I'd be happy just seeing him once on this tour but I'm pretty bummed about missing the Raleigh concert...unfortunately, I don't know that many people here who actually listen to good music (sorry, it's true!) so at this point I'd pretty much have to go alone. Which I'm actually quite tempted to do. It's not like it's dangerous, the audience is just a bunch of older people and happy stoners, really. And the occasional random preppy math teacher/mommy, like me. ;o)