Allergy Season

My allergies did NOT bother me at all last year, thanks to being pregnant I believe. I read in my 'What to Expect with Expecting' book that some women that have bad allergies dont experience them when pregnant. Yay for me!

This year NOT so much. It has been horrible. My contacts bother me, however I am keeping them in. Ava loves to pull them off and at work I have 2 monitors and looking at both and trying to work on a file can be annoying with my glasses on. I have been coughing, sneezing, and just icky feeling. I spend the day at work with cough drops in my mouth after taking my allergy meds and cough syrup. When Rosie on Q102 announces the pollen count every morning I dread hearing it. When it's over 10 I might as well count the whole day gone to being miserable. I absolutely love spring but how can I enjoy it if when I am outside I am either wiping my eyes or coughing. It has never been this bad and I am blaming the snow.

I know you are probably wondering why the snow? Well many have found that the snow was so much this year and moisturized everything so well that spring came a little early. You remember those beautiful 80 degree days when we were all wearing short sleeves and shorts. Well everything got a good drink and is now blooming like a triple dose. And its killing us with allergies. They are saying that this year will be one of the worst years for those with pollen issues. I am about ready to stop carrying my purse because I know I am carrying pollen on it and am trying to change clothes when I get home and do not go back outside and wash my hair as much as possible.

It's terrible but secretly I am wishing spring away just so everything will bloom be gone and I can move on and play outside with Ava and Patton.

And Patton...he's a whole other issue..he's outside all day with the wind blowing, so I have been wondering the past few days with the high pollen counts if he is carrying more of it inside then I pet him then its on me! See the circle.

This pollen has been crazy but it will be gone soon enough. Just got to bide my time.

Crawling

Last night around 7 pm Ava was playing on the floor, I decided to join her. She was having a ball playing with her plastic Easter eggs, I took one and went to the other end of the living room and called her name. Kenny also got down on the floor and tried to motivate her to come to me. She was smiling and bouncing. She saw the egg and yelled then she went from sitting up to on her knees and hands. I was sooo excited. Here she came towards me. She stayed on her left knee and used her right foot to crawl all the way over to me. She got her egg, sat up, and smiled at me. She was very proud of herself. I clapped yelled 'yay' and gave her kisses to let her know she did a very good job.

I quickly went to get my camera to record her doing this new and exciting movement. As soon as she saw the camera she was on the move towards me. She is so excited about crawling and Kenny and I are so happy for her.

Its a whole new world now. She is officially mobile and all over my house. I'm sure the baby gates will be going up soon, we have had them for a couple of weeks waiting on her to get to this point. She has been close for so long. As I have said many many times before watching her grow and watching her learn new things is just too exciting and I am so thankful for her in my life.

Sitting Up!

Ava has mastered the skill of sitting up on her own. She is so funny. She will roll over on her belly, scooch backwards and use her arms until she is sitting up, then she smiles and claps. She knows she is doing a good job and likes to be praised for it, so I clap with her and give her kisses.

At some point last week she was very close to being able to do this but just not there. Then last Wednesday morning around 4am I woke up to her sitting up. It amazed me, she was still sleeping though, I layed her back down and she went back to snoring.  Kenny and I didnt know whether it was just a fluke or was she actually able to sit up on her own. When Kenny picked Ava up from Becky on Thursday, Becky told him that she wasn't sure if we had seen it yet but Ava sat herself up on the couch while she was watching her, Kenny told her we knew. Over the weekend she kept practicing while playing on the floor. By Monday, she had it mastered. Now we are woke up every morning by her sitting herself up and yelling her version of "Hi" to wake us up and she is all smiles.

Now sitting up on her own has become a new way for her to launch herself all over my living room. She is getting closer to crawling everyday. I believe now that she can sit up and knows her legs work a certain way that she is understanding that they MOVE. It's so exciting to see her grow. She is learning more and more. The more she understands her body and the way it works the more she does. She will scoot a little, sit herself up, play with a toy, throw the toy, then throw herself back down on the floor to scoot some more. Its just amazing to watch her play.

The WONDERFUL world of TEETHING

Our Avabug is teething full force now. These past 2 weeks have been stressful for her. Not only did she get her 6 month shots, she got a cold with a runny nose and some congestion but I think those bottom teeth are moving upward. We havent seen any teeth pop through yet but her gums are rough and bumpy.

Her day sleeping pattern had changed, she was more irritable, and cried ten times more than she has since she was born. Our baby girl isn't a big crier, there are only a few things that have her mad: she needs a bottle right now or she can't reach whatever she wants. Unfortunately my sister, Ashley, got the brunt of this. Ava was on a great schedule, a 2 hour nap in the morning and usually at least a hour nap in the afternoon. She went from this to sleeping 20 minutes here and there and crying because she was sleepy but couldn't because of her pain. So we broke out the teething tablets, orejel, frozen teething rings, and tyenol. There is only so much you can do for a 6 month old.

She had been sleeping all night and began waking up once or twice just crying or wanting a bottle or just cuddling. Which not only made for a long night but for a long day when I was at work trying to concentrate on files, when I would be wondering how she is feeling or doing for my sister.

I felt so bad for her, why do babies have to go through all this pain for their first few teeth when they are just going to lose them in a few years anyways?!?!

She has been drooling and chewing on her fingers for months. She hasnt had much discomfort until this past week. I can really tell when she is being bothered by them because she will shove my finger or Kenny's finger in her mouth and look peaceful chewing on ours. I guess our fingers being a little bigger and thicker feel better for the chewing process of getting those teeth to come up.

I just hope that the first tooth comes soon. The past couple of days she has began to get back into her normal routine. I believe how ever much that tooth moved forward it is done for now until the next time. She is back to sleeping all night with the occasional wake up and napping a little better during the day. Her mood has perked up and she isnt crying as much through out the day and is back to playing and laughing. I just cant wait until she is old enough to tell me what is wrong because it has been a guessing game.

We couldn't ask for a better kid though, she is absolutely a great baby. Even when she isnt feeling good she smiles which makes you feel worse because you know she doesnt feel good. But shes doing better and back to scooting all over my house and yelling and trying to talk and jumping all over us. Shes so full of energy.

Central Chapel Softball Season has BEGUN!

Our church softball season has started and the first game was exciting! I have no clue who we played, whether we won or not, but it was an evening of catching up with friends and family. Central has opened their own softball field so we had to travel a whole 2 minutes to get here which was great because Ava wasnt in the carseat forever.

The kids had a ball playing in the dirt and enjoying the nice weather.

My wonderful sister in law, Erika, was there, Ava had a great time jumping all over her. During the game we had great conversation with Jess, Jodi, and Julianne, and all the other family members there. Sitting around and chatting while listening to the kids play was too much fun. Some of the things that come out of their mouths when they are playing is unbelievable. And when dirt is involved you never know what they will do.

Ella and Ava got to see each other. Ava loves Ella. She was super hyper when Ella came by. Ava kept waving and jumping forward to try to get to Ella.

Hopefully the weather will keep getting better, by the middle of the second game we were begging for the end, as the air had gotten chiller and it was getting darker.

Our Babies!

Our babies are GROWING!

Both had doctor appointments this past week. Patton is now 16 weeks old and getting so big. He is taller and heavier than when he first entered our family. His doctors appointment went well, he got shots and weighs a whole 23 pounds. I am waiting for him to weigh either close to me or more than me as fast as is he is growing. He has learned for the most part for a pup how to behave in the house and is learning that he should go to the door if he has to go to the bathroom. Since the weather has become nicer, he is spending more time outside. Kenny bought him a nice long chain to run and a doghouse and he loves being outside. He plays and watches the birds. When he comes inside in the evenings, he runs towards the bedroom (where Ava and I usually are) and jumps around and plays for a while. He usually gets comfy on the floor on my side of the bed and snores really loud until we put him in his crate for the night. He is also getting better with the crate, he doesnt wine nearly as much as he used to and is getting used to our schedule.

Ava had her doctors appointment today and she is 25 3/4 inches long and a whole 13 lbs 12 oz, which is tiny but the doctor is very happy with her height and weight. She also got shots. She only cried for a minute and settled down after I could get her off the table and hold her. We got the 'green light' to begin some table foods and milk. The doctor told me to begin encouraging her to use a sippy cup which we have been and right now its a mess but shell get the hang of it. Ava is bouncing around everywhere and trying to become more mobile. She rolls or pivets her way around my living room and will easily try to jump out of your arms for something she sees that she wants. She is laughing all the time, giving open mouth kisses, and has begun to wave. She is sooo mouthy but with the family she is in, it is welcomed! She is happy most of the time and sleeps great at night.

They are both growing so fast and learning so much. I am happy to have them both. Ava and Patton are in love and are usually very excited to see each other at the end of the day. When she cries out, he is right there and I love that. He can take care of her and she has a playmate.

Ava's First Easter

We started Easter a little early. I gave Ava a few eggs and her bunny basket. She played on the floor with them for a long time.

Her first Easter Basket.

Easter Morning, after playing in bed for a little bit, we headed out to the living room and I handed her the Easter basket. I just placed it in front of her, I wanted to see what she would do.


She dug right into it!

She kept looking at the chocolate bunny in the wrapper so i took it out and handed it to her. Again, I wanted to see what she would do. She handled it like she had been given chocolate everyday. She took both hands and shoved it right into her mouth.

After we finished with our Easter morning, we cleaned Ava up from all the chocolate on her face and put her in her Easter dress and got ready for church.

After church, we started our busy day of family dinners. We went down to my grandmothers, then over to my moms.

Ava got to spend some time with Emily. They love one another so much.

After mom's we headed home. It was a long day, but her FIRST Easter. It was so special. She had a good day.