Ava is 1 year old! I have a big girl!

So Friday we celebrated Ava's 1st birthday. It has been a busy year. I am so happy to be a mom of a one year old. She has learned so much and is so different. Her personality is nothing like I could have dreamed of. She is so bubbly and happy most of the time.

So lets recap the last few months:

• Ava began walking in July and is now running through my house.


• She began eating a lot more solids over the summer and less baby food. (no teeth for a lot of the food I would love to feed her)


• She finally got her first and second tooth in August and September! YAY!! I thought she was going to remain toothless.


• She is now wearing 12 months even though a lot are still big on her


• She now has a pair of sneakers


• She is saying a load of words: mom, mommy, daddy, sit, up, baby, nanny, go, yes, yea, hi, bye, ash, jess, what sounds like its going to be becky, oocy (Lucy), tim, no, uh huh, yum yum (yogurt), and theres probably more but I cant think of them


• Still no hair up front but its getting thicker in the back (mullet alert)


• She now will point her finger while talking on her phone and give the person on the other end a mouth full (LOL)


• We now have to have daddy on speaker phone when he calls from work so she can hear him too


• She's dancing!


• Shes learning to climb up and down

This past year has certainly taught me a lot and she has grown so much. To think that this time last year she couldnt raise her neck or really move at all...and now she is running and talking and learning so much so fast.

The Longest labor ever....

So I have never really gotten into detail about the loooong labor it took to get Ava out into this world. So as my baby girl is turning 1, I thought I would give play by play until the world got to meet our little girl!

So on the 22nd of September at 4:00pm Kenny and I arrived at the hospital so that I could be induced. We called and emailed everyone. We both were thinking that within 24-36 hours we should have a baby in our arms. Super Excited!!!



My contractions began around 6pm that evening and everyone stayed home, thank goodness, Kenny and I got to spend some time together and prepare for our little girl. We were up all night, contractions around 5 or so minutes apart, I told Kenny that I wish I could have been doing that at home, it was boring in the hospital bed. Around 5 am I asked for pain meds, morphin. My back labor was getting intense. They kept checking me: 1 to 2 cm. Ugh!

The next morning, the 23rd of September, people started arriving, this was going to take awhile and Kenny needed breakfast and a shower, so my mother in law came in and sat with me. Then my mom and sisters and sister in law visited. My labor pains were getting worse, they began at the side of my stomach and arched around and up my back. People trickled in and kept me company, Kenny took advantage to get out of the room for a bit. It was boring and intense all at the same time. We just wanted her OUT!

Around 3pm that day, I asked everyone to leave and I requested my epidural. My back labor at only 2 cm was terrible. My back was so tight, I couldnt move during contractions. The epidural helped a lot. I got a compliment from Kenny that he was surprised I went so long without the epidural. To be honest I didnt want it at all, but who knew I was going to have back labor? So from them on, I was confined to the bed.

My brother in law and father in law and step mother in law came in, we thought hopefully Ava would come that evening. I kept getting messages for her to hold out until someone's birthday or anniversary. People! LOL

Poor Kenny had to sleep in this recliner looking chair that was too short and very uncomfortable. I think the best thing for him was that his co-workers kept him with good food around dinner time. Contractions kept going, but the pitocin kept messing with Ava. Apparently they wanted me up on level like 25 to 30 and I couldnt get past 12 because Ava couldnt handle it. That was a little scary.

Dr Anderson came in around 11 that evening (still the 23rd) and broke my water, yay! I thought this should get things going a little faster. Nope! At 3am I was still only MAYBE 3 cm at the most. This kid just didnt want to come out. I told Dr Anderson, she was more than welcome to take her. I was all for a c-section at this point. I just wanted her out.

So here we are on the 24th of September. Kenny's family was preparing for a wedding and trying to keep up with what was going on with me. Finally around 11 am, 12 hours after my waters had been broke, I enter ACTIVE labor, as the nurses told me. I was up to 5 cm and things were moving along. Nurse told me she thought Ava would be born by 6 pm. We put everyone on alert. So that evening everyone was at the hospital, waiting. Around 4 that evening I asked for everyone to leave the room, I had had visitors all day and was getting depressed. I just wanted my baby. They kept checking me, I was 7 cm around 6 pm.

So since I kicked everyone out the room, they begin texting me! This made me mad and I made everyone mad by sending a nasty text telling them to STOP!

Dr Anderson and I had lived at this hospital for 3 days, I wanted to leave! She came in around 7 that evening and checked me, almost 9cm. She said she was going to come back around 9 to check me and if I hadnt gotten to 10 cm then we would take c-section.

FINALLY!!!

The nurse that was assigned to me that evening, checked me around every half hour. I was still at 9cm at 9 and 10 pm. So around 10:30-11:00 (24 hours after my water had been broke) Dr Anderson gave the order to begin prepping me for a c-section.



NERVES!!! My mom said the waiting room was a little jumpy by then and when Kenny told them we were going to have a c-section the worry set in. They watched me be wheeled back to the operating room and waited.

11:50 pm on September 24th Ava was born. Lifted out of me and taken to be cleaned up. Kenny stayed with her while they put me back together. I slept for 2 hours in recovery then got transferred to my room.

Shortly after that, I got to see and hold my baby girl. My life was changed, changed forever.

Ava's 1st Vacation

So we went on our first family vacation. We traveled not far but far enough with an 11 month old, to Lancaster, PA. (Amish Country). Ava slept most of the way there and woke up to eat lunch with us at Sonic. She insisted on getting out of her carseat (who can blame her 2 and 1/2 hrs in there) and sitting on her daddy's lap.

Once we checked in, she came alive!!!! She absolutely loved our hotel room. She was walking everywhere, checking it out and making herself at home.

We went to dinner Monday night but then headed back to the hotel. We woke up early Tuesday morning and after some breakfast we headed to the Railroad Museum in Strasburg. Ava hadnt taken her morning nap and talked the whole way there. We were walking through looking at all the trains, when her eyes became heavy, so we reclined the stroller and let her sleep while we looked at all the displays.

They had really old trains and lots of facts. It was very interesting seeing from the beginning to now how everything has been done and created.


(Kenny and Ava ringing a bell)

At the Choo Choo Barn, we got to see a whole room full of models that moved and worked. It was very cool!! Everything worked! It even became 'night time' for a couple minutes and all the street lights came on and things stopped.

Ava liked it alot and tried to get some of the models out of the display.

After a long day out and about, we went back to the hotel and got baths and went to bed. Ava absolutely loved the tub. She loves water anyways so I think she really enjoyed being in a big tub.

On Wednesday we went to Kettle Kitchen and spent the morning shopping and venturing. After lunch we went on a buggy ride! The buggy place was nice and even had a little play area for the kids while they waited for their turn. (No pictures of the buggy ride, did not want to capture the Amish guide if he didnt want to be in them)

She found another baby in our room!!!!!

Our last morning was quick and fun. Ava helped us pack up and clean the room. She was pulling everything out I was putting in. I am so happy she loved the vacation and she was so well behaved the whole time. It was like she knew we werent home and she was to be on her best behavior. She did not act up while we were in any of the many resturants we went to or the museums we spent a lot of time in.

And she even came back home with a new tooth broken through the gum. All that in a week!

Church Picnic

A couple weeks ago, we attended our church picnic at Lazy A Campground. Ava had been feeling a little cranky but after some orejel and motrin she perked up and I got some pics.