we have a toddler on our hands!

Okay, so it's been a long while since I updated. But to be fair, it's a lot of work taking care of this little munchkin and her Daddy and all the puppies!

In the last few months, a lot has happened...

Timothy is now working at HP in Conway, in the printer department. Which means we'd get discounts on HP products if we ever need them AND it means he works in a fancy building.

I got a job at Conway Regional Medical Center in the Labor & Delivery department. Yeah, probably not the best idea to put me around newborns all day - talk about baby fever! But I come home to a screaming child and am reminded why I'm not having another one for awhile. :)

Ava is now ONE YEAR OLD! Can you believe it? Our little sugar nugget is growing up, and so fast! She learned to walk around Easter after a brief courtship with crawling. She basically runs the house now and does whatever she wants. I'm glad she can't reach the pedals in the car or I might have to worry about her running off. She can say "mama," "dada," "baba," as well as assorted weird noises, she can shake her head "no, no, no" and her Daddy swears she said "Batman" the other night. I don't know about that last one.

We had two birthday parties for her. The first party was with her cousin Sam, who turned one just a few weeks before she did. They had a super cute farm themed party. Then we had a little get together the weekend of her birthday at our house. Just to celebrate how awesome she is and Daddy's new grill.


We went to her one year check up a few weeks ago at Central Arkansas Pediatrics. The good news is that she's basically the most amazing child ever seen. The bad news is that she still can't drink whole milk. So, even though Daddy and I were super excited about never buying formula again, it turns out we still do. She's currently drinking Enfamil Enfagrow Gentlease. Yeah. Hopefully it doesn't last long because Mama sure doesn't like all the money going to formula.

Not a whole lot planned for the next couple months. We're working on the patio with my wonderful parents this weekend, and the deck is already finished. Lots of days at work in the future, but really hoping to take a vacation sometime when the weather gets to a desirable temperature (say, March).



Maybe I'll update again soon. We'll see what happens. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, world! Ava decided it was time to update this thing. She'll be five months old this week! Crazy, isn't it? She's growing so fast, her Daddy doesn't know what to do! She's outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes now. So glad we have so many clothes in bigger sizes! We just started her on solids not too long ago. So far, pears are her favorite thing to eat. But I'd say squash is a close second. We're taking it slow, though, since technically solids don't need to be started until 6 months.

 Boy, I am a mess!

It's fall now, and the weather in Arkansas is just now becoming bearable for me - which means Timothy is miserable from the cold. Thanksgiving is coming up, though our plans are a little funky. Tuesday is Thanksgiving with the Hill family, Wednesday is Thanksgiving with the Jennings family. Timothy has to work on Thursday, so Ava and I are going to stay home and enjoy a quiet day at home. Which means we're going to watch The Backyardigans all day! Woot! She loves that show. We especially like the Mexican penguin, Pablo.

Cousin Sam & Miss Ava. Can you believe they're only a few weeks apart?

We'll update again soon, hoping to take a lot of good pictures of Ava over this holiday week. She's got some super cute outfits to wear. :)

New cousin!

Miss Ava Claire is super excited to announce the birth of her newest cousin! Congrats to the Rieske family on their first boy! I bet their daughters are going crazy over this cutie pie! We can't wait to meet this little (pretty large) nugget! :)

Corbin David Rieske
Born October 21, 2010 at 8:40am

9lbs & 2oz and 21 inches long

Being a parent...

You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.
The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
You respect your body... finally.
You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
Your heart breaks much more easily.
You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.
Every day is a surprise.
Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
You become a morning person.
Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have.

You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.
You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one.
You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late.
You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place.
You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother's perspective and it breaks your heart.
You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them.
The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you'd expect.
No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!"
You want to take better care of yourself for your child.
You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo."
- babycenter.com -

Now I can say that I know what love at first sight is.

Hummingbirds hate shoes... but they love puppies and tutus!

Update, finally! Our little Chunk has been doing very well. Growing like crazy and she's way too smart for her own good. She's finally growing out of some of her newborn size clothes and into her 0-3 month stuff. I even got her into a black tutu last weekend! We also learned that she hates shoes - like mother, like daughter? I think so. We're trying to train the nugget to say "hello" as her first word. Silly, maybe, but it's so cute when she tries to mimic us when we say it. We say: "Hellooooooooo, Ava!" She says: "Ooohhhhhhhhhhh!" We'll get there, I promise.

Our baby girl sleeping on the way to visit some of the Hill family.

Mommy has finally gone back to work believe it or not. The difference is that I quit my job at the ER for a job working at NEW with Timothy. Crazy, right? I'm in training right now, Monday through Friday 8a-5p, for the next few weeks. At the end of September, Timothy and I will be on the exact same work schedule and on the same team at work. The team name is the Carnies. Fitting? Maybe. Going back to work has been pretty rough for me. I've been having some mom-guilt about not spending enough time with Ava. If I miss something important, I don't know that I'll ever forgive myself.

 Ava cuddling with her new BFF Gloria the hippo - who for some unknown reason has a really long tail...

AND! Winnie had puppies! YES! My firstborn is a mom, haha. She and Casper are the proud parents to three beautiful puppies. Two boys and one girl. I've named them Lock, Shock, and Barrel for the time being. They're just too cute. Winnie is a wonderful mommy!

 TOO PRECIOUS! :D

Today, Miss Ava got a visit from my Aunt Kelly and Granny Lola. I hadn't seen them in ages! It was nice to have some of my own family down here to see her. With our work schedules and lack of PTO, it's unlikely we'll get to visit anyone for a good while, so I'm hoping family visits like this become more frequent. I honestly can't imagine anyone not wanting to come see this little sugar nugget.

Coming up this month...
Papa Tim & his band will be playing at Jebb's on the 10th - Super excited to see them play again!
Ava's Grandma Bonnie (my wonderful mom) will be having a birthday on the 20th! - My favorite old coot!

A hummingbird meets an angel :)

Today, one of my good friends, Jessica Darr, finally had her baby girl! Kyla Michelle Darr was born at 2:27pm at St. Mary's in Russellville. She weighs 8lbs, 2oz and is 20.5" long - yeah, about the size Miss Ava is at 7 weeks old! She's really just beyond beautiful and I hope she and Ava are best friends! Praying that her little girl is less of a drama queen than my own little nugget, haha. We're so happy for the Darr family!

Ava says "Hello, new best friend!"

In other news, things are going rather well for this little family. We've got a busy couple of weeks ahead of us and Mommy will be going back to work soon - where is currently undecided. Mommy and Daddy are also trying a new thing... it's called "being healthy." We'll see how that goes.

 

Now here are some new pictures of my own little princess. :)

 

"I'm naked... but do you like my new hat?"

 "Hi, this is a new outfit. I look like an Amish nugget! Mom, I don't need a bonnet, really."

"This is what mommy was talking about when she said drama queen. Boy, I'm a mess!"

A rough day for our hummingbird

Ava got her first round of immunizations today. She did very well, though, 'cause she's a strong little nugget. Her Daddy took it hard, but that's to be expected. He's wrapped around that little girl's finger. The pediatrician also said that our little hummingbird might have thrush and acid reflux - which could explain her drama queen fits. We got two prescriptions for her and we're hoping that takes care of things. If it doesn't, we're going to try switching formulas.

Our poor baby girl :(

Sadly, Miss Ava Claire's bad day had only just begun. When we got home from the doctor's office, she was in a lot of pain because of the shots. Tylenol is a mom's best friend. Hopefully, she's all better tomorrow. At least she has another two months before we have to go through that again.