AVA OWEN ELLA

Alright Already

2010-03-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, after receiving death threats from friends and family for not updating the blog, I decided to push through my exhaustion at the end of the day and finally add a new post. But can you really blame me for not updating sooner??? ;)

Ava is almost 2 1/2 and amazes me everyday with the new things she does and says. I love that I can actually communicate with her and she can communicate back. She LOVES to count and LOVES to say her abc's. She can count to 20 in English and is trying to count to 20 in Spanish, but usually can only get to around 13 on her own. She enjoys learning the few Spanish words we teach her and what she learns from watching Dora the Explorer. I hate to admit that last part, but she actually does learn from that cartoon. This week she told the door to abre or open. Lol. She adores her little brother and sister to pieces. She wants to hold their bottles, bring me diapers and wipees, hug and kiss them constantly, give them toys, calls out to them and tells them she is coming and not to cry when she hears them crying from their cribs, and had a meltdown the other day when she saw them getting shots. It broke her heart that they were crying so hard from them-she kept telling them "sorry, sorry" over and over. I love her SOOO much. She makes me laugh every single day!!

The twins are getting big too. I still can't believe that they are already SIX MONTHS OLD! Aaaaaahhhh!! Time is FLYING!!! At their last appointment Ella weighed almost 16pounds and Owen almost 14. Ella continues to weigh a full two pounds more than Owen. He is soooo little, and I am just not used to having a small baby. I seem to make big girls. Ava is in the 95% for height and 100% for weight-wearing 4t clothes and a size 10 shoe... at TWO. Ella is getting close to moving up to 6-9 mo clothes and is in the 50-75th% already...and she is a PREEMIE!! My little man is only in the 5-10th percentile and at 6 months still wears 0-3mo clothes. He will catch up one day, but until then I am enjoying having one child that is not breaking my back.

The twins are rolling all over the place, play with toys while on their bellies, chew on everything and put everything in their mouths, are drooling like crazy, trying to crawl but haven't quite tried getting up on all fours...just push with thier legs causing them to scoot across the floor with their face on the ground, holding their own bottles, and just enjoying their big sister. They just light up when they see her! We haven't introduced food to them yet, I am still just pumping and giving them milk. Oh, and did I mention that they are still sleeping through the night...BOTH of them. I am been afraid to really mention it because I didn't want to jinx it. We put them down at around 8 or 830 and they wake up anywhere from 830-11 the next day. Yup, you read correctly a minimum of 12hrs a night to 14.5 hrs. I am truly blessed.

I also have them on a wonderful nap schedule during the day. Exactly one hour after they eat I simply walk them to their cribs, lay them down and they go to sleep on their own three times a day. They sleep for atleast an hr. Usually one will wake up after an hour and the other will sleep longer, but they both always go down for a nap at the same time. It is beyond wonderful having babies that will just go to sleep on their own without any rocking, patting, coaxing of any kind. Ava was a HORRIBLE sleeper. She didn't really sleep through the night until she was one, and was never really a good napper until 18 months. She was the kind of baby you had to rock to sleep, lay her down ever so gently in the crib, pat her on the bottom for another 5 minutes and then tip toe or crawl out of the room. UGH kills me just to think about those days. The twins are miracle babies in the sleeping department as far as I am concerned.

They are wonderfully happy babies as was Ava. They wake up smiling. Laugh and smile throughout the day and only fuss when they are hungry or tired. It has been amazing. It is a LOT of work, is VERY stressful at times (when everyone needs diaper changes or needs to be fed ALL at the same time), but for the most part has been a lot easier than what I was thinking it would be having 3 kids under 2. So many people shared their horror stories with me about having twins, but maybe that is because they had twins as their first kids. If I had had the twins first-being a new parent-I would probably have felt the same way. But since I am more laid back because I have been properly broken in, it has been great. I love it!! Every night I can't wait for 9 o'clock to roll around when all the babies are in their beds for the night, and I can just melt into mine, but then I can't wait for the morning to come so that I can see them again. They are all truly amazing, and I can't believe I have been blessed with these little angels.

And lets not forget about Hunter. At the end of February he turned 15. Yowzers. That is still so crazy to me. He can officially start learning how to drive. Eeek. He is 6'2", 220lbs, has outgrown his size 13 shoes, and wears a 36x36 pant. He might just end up being taller/bigger than his Daddy. Just imagine little ole 5'2" me trying to repremand a teenage boy of this size. Hahaha. He finished up playing quarterback for his freshman football team and is now playing 3rd base and pitcher for his JV baseball team.

I will leave you with some pictures I recently had taken of the little ones. Now that the main part of flu season is over the twins are allowed out a little more in public, so I took them to get their pics taken professionally. Let me tell you it was a HUGE undertaking. I went with my mom and little sis, and lets just say that it took all 3 of us adults to manage all 3 of them. There is no way just Jamie and I could have done it, and I will never try to.

Ava was somewhat cooperative, but with all the other kids running around outside she just wanted to go and play. Also, the photographer told her she could push the button on her camera to make it flash if she was good. Well, after she pushed the button once that is all she wanted to do the whole session and didn't want to do anything else. BIG mistake on the photographers part! We did manage to get a few good ones though.

Owen of course was a pleasure. He didn't cry once, and was very smiley the whole time...even though the photographer kept missing his big ones. :/ He is the most laid back, calm and gentle souled baby. His sisters are definitely going to run all over him.

Ella on the other hand has the nickname of the Queen, because she is every bit high maintenance. She wanted NOTHING to do with taking pictures and cried the entire time, only adding to my stress. You may not be able to tell from these pictures, but her face is red and she actually has tears in her eyes. I was tickling her and we were able to catch a few laughs that were cry laughs. Lol. Amazingly they look better than any of the smiles we were getting from good nature Owen. Go figure.

This is my absolute favorite picture of them together. They both have great smiles...love love love it!

We tried to take pics of all three of them together, but that is just next to impossible at this age. They just turned out like this...

...or this. Not happening. You can see in this pic Ella's true attitude to being forced to take pictures against her will. Lol.
I will leave you with my favorite picture of Owen. He is so cute sitting in the chair, and has the best laughing smile on his face. I would have ordered this picture, but then I noticed that my mom had put his shoes back on on the wrong feet. Hahahaha. Maybe that is why he is laughing so hard.
I will try and get back into the habit of posting a few pics every few days and not every few months. I really want to keep everyone up to date with news and pictures, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to do anything during the day because someone is awake at all times, and when all the kids are in bed the last thing I want to do is get on the internet. My brain is pretty much fried and my body is exhausted. I will though try my very best (ahem Stacey).

Oh, and one last thing before I go...in case you didn't know my sister Diana is expecting her second child...a BOY due one week after Maddy's second birthday. Yippeeeeeeeee! So so thrilled for her and Eric.

Holiday Fun

2009-12-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Last night Ava and I went to decorate "gingerbread houses" before evening services at church. We had so much fun and there was a very large turnout of children to decorate their own houses with their kids. Ava could not stop shovelling candy into her mouth from the large plate of treats, and barely put any on her house. Mommy had to do most of the work. ;)

Ava immediately digging in!

The kids could not believe their parents let them have a plate full of candy. ;0
Tara and Gavin were there too! And Baby Bella still in her mommy's belly. Can't wait for her to meet her new friends Owen and Ella.

Our finished house

Can you tell how we made them?? We covered a milk carton with icing and graham crackers. I thought this was a great idea!

Miss thang in her cute apron.

Trying to lure Gavin into playing with her...

Gavin decides to join in with a hug...Ava is luvin' it!

Soooo cute!

Face full of candy

Ending the night with a kiss from her best friend!

Happy Smiling Babies

2009-12-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

Owen and Ella have this whole smiling thing down. They smile the most right when they wake up. How awesome would that be to wake up in the happiest mood every time we get up. I just LOVE talking to them and have them smile back at me....totally melts my heart! Here are a few pics I managed to get the past couple of days. Sometimes it is hard for me to remember to grab the camera because I am so engulfed in their precious smiles.

Owen-My little 'Prince Charming'

Ella-the 'Drama' Queen

Trying to get them to smile at the same time....ya right!!

First only Owen was interested in smiling for mama

Luvin this smirk smile...

Then it was Ella's turn to smile for the camera...Owen totally lost interest in my funny voices and sounds.

This picture cracks me up. Owen looks so funny and Ella is trying to put on a big smile. Hahaha.

This is the closest pic to them both smiling...and Ella is doing some sort of Chris Farley double chin smile. ;) One day I will get that perfect shot.

Under Construction

2009-12-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

Time for Ava to share the spotlight with Owen and Ella and give them a piece of her blog. I am currently trying to revamp Ava's old blog-which is way over due. Hope to have something cute finished soon.

End of November

2009-12-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can't believe it is the end of November and my littlest babes are already 3 months old. Wow is all I can say. The time is really flying by. They still sleep the majority of the time, just found their fists and enjoy sucking on them, smile in response to you and are trying their hardest to coo. They are a little behind compared to most other 3 month olds, but Momma sure is proud. Little Owen is still so thin that he still wears Newborn clothes, but Miss Fatty is in 0-3month and can wear some 3-6 month onesies.

Speaking of proud, Ava is the most proud and happiest when she is holding a baby. Sweet girl!

Daddy, Ava and Owen

Getting ready for the cold weather.

Sweet little O. He has the most gentle spirit, the best sleeper, and so super loveable/cuddley. Gonna be Momma's boy for sure!

The Drama Queen and Chunky Monkey. Girl has a cry like an older baby and can go from happy to mad in a heart beat, doesn't sleep as well as Owen, but boy can she eat. Downs her bottle every time.

Watch out ladies....this smile will melt your heart.

Look at those chins! ;)

Model Pose...hehe

Happy from the moment she wakes up! She is already chasing me around the house.

I tried the twin hold with my Moby sling/wrap. So funny. They loved it, but boy was it heavy...walking around with them and Ava hanging on to my legs...typical day. (Just ignore how I look...that is what happens when you have 3 kids under 2 and you don't leave the house for days.)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We traveled to Dallas once again and stayed with my sister who also hosted Thanksgiving. We did all of the cooking, and it all turned out great.

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Dee Dee with our beautiful Turkey.

Jamie making the first cut.

Ava Jane

Precious Owen

Ava had the most fun playing with my mom's yorkie Tucker. She put the leash on him and was running the length of the house back and forth and just laughing. Tucker was a champ and let her do whatever to him. It kept her occupied for hours. Love that dog. I will say that the next day when Tucker saw Ava for the first time he started to throw up...guess he remembers.

Ashleigh, Lawson and Randy...such a cute family

Great Grandmomma and Owen...still have to wear masks around the babies until after flu season. :/

Granddaddy making himself right at home on the rug.

My brother Chase aka Uncle Doodie

Owen and Ella in their Turkey Day outfits. Wish I had gotten a pic of all three kiddos together.

My favorite pic from the trip...my sis Jessi fell asleep with her mask on holding Ella.

On Friday my mom and sis helped Jamie watch the kids and I got to do a little shopping and meet us with some of my friends. It was a MUCH NEEDED break!! Even got to go to lunch at Mi Cocina with Michelle, Heather, Katrina and some of Michelle's fam. Loved it. Missed you Stacey.

Before we left, we tried to take a pic of all 4 kids. It was pretty funny. Ava was of course super excited to be holding the babies, but Maddy didn't really want anything to do with the situation.

Love this pic...Ava smiling, Maddy screaming, Owen falling into the cracks of the two girls, and Maddy trying to figure out what is going on. Lol.

I finally caught a couple of smiles from Owen and Ella on camera. They are just too cute!!

Lady Charmer

Ella has a HUGE grin...

Two Years and Two Months

2009-11-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday we took the kids in for their well visits with the pediatrician. Ava for her 2yr and the twins for their 2month (even though they were 9.5weeks at the time). The reason we were a little late in taking them is that we had to get special permission from the doctor herself to bring all three kids in at the same time. Can you believe that? You are only allowed to bring 2 siblings in at a time. Doesn't make any sense to me...we would have to bring all three kids in the room at the same time anyway. And what if we just scheduled back to back appointments?? Just makes me mad that they wanted me to lug 2 preemies and a toddler to the doctors office twice. (Sorry just had to vent about that!!) Thankfully, the doctor gave us special permission, but we had to wait and let her schedule our appointments. So weird!

So here is the low down. Ava Jane is 36 inches tall and in the 95th percentile for height. She weighs 34 pounds and is off the chart or in the 100th percentile for weight. Hehe. She said it was time to switch her to 2% milk. There is not a problem with her weight since it is proportionate to her height. (Many ppl have asked)

I love her being two. Her vocabulary has started to explode after many months of just a few words. Literally every single day she is saying several new things that continue to amaze us. It is so wonderful being able to communicate with her and know what she is thinking, feeling and wanting. She can also recognize numbers, shapes, and can spell and recognize the letters of her name. Genius I say! :) She is the sweetest and funniest girl I have ever met. She lights up a room when she walks in, can make you laugh and have your heart melting all at the same time. Love love love her!!

Look at this girl and her mouth full of teeth. I love her smile!! (She is eating ice-a bad habbit her father started-so she is not drooling...lol)

Ella weighed in at a whopping 10lbs14oz and is in the 50th percentile for weight and height for other girls her age. I was shocked. I knew she was our little chunky monkey compared to Owen, but had no idea she would be caught up to an average two month old. Yippee. Doc said I must just make some big girls. Lol

Owen weighed in at 9lbs 8oz and was in the 10th percentile for weight and height compared to other 2month old boys. Boys are typically bigger than girls, so that it why even though he is just a little bit smaller he is so much lower in the percentile.

They are both holding their heads up pretty well and are starting to smile at you sometimes. Even though they are getting bigger, it is hard to remember that they are still preemies, and since they were 6 weeks early they will be delayed developmentally 6 weeks until they are about 2yrs old. So they are 10 wks old, but only doing things a 4wk old baby is doing.

They are still taking a bottle every 3 hours during the day, but can sometimes go 5 hours during the night. Woo Hoo! My wonderful Husband still does one feeding during the night/early morning and I take the other so that both of us can get some sleep. I love that man so much! I would be dead meat without him!!!

All waiting patiently for the doctor-they have no idea shots are on the horizon. :(

The next day we were able to take the babies to get their first shot in a series of RSV shots. WOO HOO!! Finally. It took a while because for some reason the insurance company approved Ella and declined Owen for the shots. We are very thankful for the nurses who spent hours on the phone with them appealing their decision and working it out so that they both can be protected.

Sweet Ella sleeping after her second day of shots. Just love that squishy face!!

Owen was knocked out too!

Ava continues to be a wonderful Big Sister!! Her new thing is to ask to hold them all day long. She likes to hold their bottles when they are being fed, and moves your had out of the way so that she can be the one patting them on the back to get them to burp. She is such a helper that I find her trying to shove the pacifier in their mouths when they are asleep. :)

Ava got a new playhouse from some friends whose son had outgrown it. It is HUGE and Ava LOVES to play in it. Every day she looks out the window and says "My House".

I have been trying to capture Owen and Ella's first smiles on camera, but with three small kids I can't carry around my big camera and take pictures like I used to. Jamie was giving Ella a bath while I was dressing Owen after his and Jamie said she was smiling up a storm. Every time I ran in there and stood over her with the camera she would stop. I finally snapped this halfway smile after the third or so time running in there.

Mostly I just got this...

Daddy tried to force a smile for me. HAHAHA!!!
Will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible with pictures of the twins since they still can't go out in public. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! Love to all!!

Gotta Love It

2009-10-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

You gotta love it when one minute both babies are sleeping like little angels...heads snuggled right up to eachother and then a few minutes later...

all three kids wake up from their naps screaming...well, Ava was just yelling to get out of her crib...but still makes for some stressful moments. ;)

Birthdays and a Road Trip

2009-10-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

What a busy week and weekend we have had. On Tuesday the 20th my precious little Ava Jane turned 2! I can't believe it TWO!!! How has two whole years gone by since we welcomed her into this world??!!

She is really turning into a little girl and I am really enjoying being a part of her life each and every day. Her vocabulary is really exploding. She surprises us by saying something new each day. She can count to 5 on her own, can recognize numbers and shapes, loves to color (her fav color is blue), and LOVES her some shoes. Give the girl a new pair of shoes and she is in heaven. Not sure where she got that from. :) She is the sweetest little girl. When Owen and Ella cry she finds a pacifier on her own and takes it and tries to put it in their mouth. She also enjoys church on Wednesdays and Sundays, and usually cries when it is time to leave. I look forward to what this next year brings.

On the 25th Jamie turned the big 3-7!! WOW!! He is really getting to be an old man!

This past weekend we also did something crazy...we took our first road trip to Dallas. Having to keep the babies in the house at all times, means we have to stay home, and we felt like the walls were closing in. So we decided on a change of scenery. We loaded up the babies, Ava and headed my my sister Diana's house. It also gave some of my family that has not been able to come to Austin a chance to meet the twins. It was nice to get away, but it was a very long hectic weekened, and getting to Dallas and back was an adventure as well. All in all we had a great time, and hope to do it again soon.

Last week Jamie's parents came over to watch the babies for a few hours, and it gave us a chance to get out of the house and go to the Bastrop Varsity football game. We are currently undefeated. Ava had a blast eating popcorn, candy and watching the cheerleaders cheer. She also sang loudly along to the national anthem and had everyone laughing. :)

Ava on her 2nd birthday. Such a cutie!!

Even Owen and Ella got dressed for the occasion. Just over 6wks old.

Thanks Aunt DeeDee for my sweet cardigan/sweater!

Wow-it sure it hard to get a picture of all the kids!!

I think I have made Ava a little too afraid of fire. I did this to make sure she didn't mess with the gas stove when she was younger. She cried when I lit her one little candle, and didn't want anything to do with it. Lol.

Loving her birthday cupcakes!

One of the things Ava got for her birthday was a pop up book about different animals. Their mouths open and close and I guess this was a little scary for Ava. I think her face says it all. Sadly Jamie and I couldn't stop laughing.

Gavin even came over to play on her actual birthday. They are such great friends, and always have the best time playing together.

A quick pic of Owen and Ella getting ready to take baths. You can tell how much bigger all around Ella is than Owen. We put 3 ounces in their bottles, and Ella consistently finishes it all, while it is a struggle to get Owen to finish his required 2 ounces, and most of that comes out of his mouth while he is eating because he is still a weaker eater.

At almost 8 weeks they are just about to move out of preemie/newborn diapers and into size ones, and are wearing newborn clothes. Size 0-3 months still swallows them whole.

We had a birthday lunch for Ava and Jamie while we were in Dallas.

Again...afraid of the candles...

She got to open a few gifts...her favorite was a Dora the Explorer backpack kit. Dora is one of her new favorite cartoons. Pooh and Mickey are her other two.

We also enjoyed going to Boo at the Ft. Worth Zoo while Grandma Sher Sher stayed with the babies. This was her second year to go. Since Owen was a bee and Ella a bouquet of I stuck with the theme and made Ava a ladybug tutu costume.

Diana, Eric, Maddy, Jazmin, Ashleigh and Lawson also joined in on the festivities. Maddy was the cutest little bee.

Daddy and Ava in front of the giraffes.

Mommy and Ava checking out the Elephants.

Lawson was an adorable dinosaur. Hehe

Having fun at the carnival section of the zoo.

Me and my baby sister Jazmin

By the end of the night Ava was pumped up on candy and making some crazy faces for the camera.

On Jamie's actual birthday we sang to him with a doughnut and some whipped cream.

I leave you with some pictures of family holding the babies with their masks. :)

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Grandma SherSher and Owen

Granddaddy Jimbo and Ella

Grandpa Rick

Uncle Eric

Sorry for so many pictures, but since I haven't blogged in a while I had a lot to post in this one and the next.

Long Over Due

2009-10-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Okay Okay, it has been FOREVER since I have update the blog, but hey, can you blame me? :) Things have been super crazy, but so worth every single minute. The babies are getting so big and doing well. Can you believe they will be 8 weeks old this Friday??!! Boy time flies. Even though they are almost two months old, they still act like newborns. We wake them up to eat every three hours, and then they usually go right back to sleep until their next feeding. Just recently have they started sometimes staying awake for a short while between feedings. It is nice because it gives me a little break to take care of Ava and give her some attention and try to do some things around the house. I say try because it usually does not work out that way and my house is disasterous most of the time. :/

We are starting to adjust to life with three small children, but it is very very hard and stressful at times. When all three are crying at the same time needing your attention, you definitely feel outnumbered. But when things are calm we have time to take a breath and appreciate how truly blessed we are.

Here are some pictures taken over the past several weeks....

Hunter coming over to see the babies for the first time at home. Ava really wanted to be treated like a little baby too.

LOVE how they sometime are in the exact same sleep position. Hehe.

Since the babies are still too immature to breastfeed, I pump every three hours. I think Ava has seen me do it one too many times. I walked around the corner and this is how I found her. HAHAHA!! (Putting my pump bottles up to her chest.)

Ava holding Owen. She loves them both SO SO much!

Owen-16 days old.

Ella-16 days old. Looks like she is doing a cheerleading jump.

Ava just HAD to have a bottle of her own.

Owen (L) Ella (R) 2 weeks old. They have already changes so much from this picture.

On our way to the doctors office. Ava got booted to the 3rd row. If Hunter was in the car we would be officially out of space...in a Suburban....YIKES!!

First doctors appointment at a little over 2wks old. Owen-5lbs6oz Ella 5lbs9oz both just under 18in long...their length is different than what they told us in the hospital. We are trying to get them RSV shots, but since they are over $1000 a shot they are hard to get approved by the insurance company. They come in a series of 3 or 5, so I can see why. Otherwise, the doctor does not want them to go out in public until after the flu season ends in February. WOW! They will be 6 months old before they see the outside world!! And if anyone comes over to visit they have to scrub down and wear a mask when around the babies. What a crazy life with preemies.

Ella's first bath

Owen's first bath. They both LOVED the water and have continued to enjoy their baths since then.

Lots of sleeping pics over the weeks....

Aunt Dee Dee and Maddy came to stay for a week. It was so nice to have help with Ava and for her to get some special attention while I dealt with the babies. They had a blast playing together. Here is where they played a lot of the time...both in a laundry basket on the floor with toys.

We also got to take them to feed the ducks at the front of our community.

The night that DeeDee and Maddy left, we noticed a spot on Ava's upper right butt cheek while we were giving her a bath. I had an inkling of what it was. I popped it and put her to bed. The next morning the spot was hard as a rock and she had a low grade fever. I was right...it was staph. We took her to the doc on where they drained what they could and sent us home with antibiotics, nose cream and special soap for everyone in the house. That night she woke up with 104 fever that lasted for days. Long story short, she had to have two surgeries to remove the staph, she battled a high fever for days, hardly slept at night, didn't eat for about a week, threw up every time we tried to give her medicine (she had 3 different ones that had to be given several times a day...you can only imagine the stress), and got so weak she could barely walk. It was the hardest most stressful week of my life. Taking care of preemie newborn twins and an extremely sick 2yr old who was in and out of the hospital was beyond hard. Another reason why I haven't updated the blog.

Hunter was so sweet to lay with her on the couch when she was sick. Such a wonderful big brother!

Her bottom hurt her so bad, one day I found her sleeping standing up in her crib. Didn't even know it was possible. After her second surgery it took a few more days but we eventually got our old Ava back. I NEVER want to go through that again. Ava is now petrified of doctors and the doctors office. Even allowing us to change her diaper was a struggle for several weeks...she thought we were going to hurt her again. :(

Miss Ella Cate-little over a month old. You can see she is starting to get some cheeks!!

Mr. Owen James-he is still a lazy eater and is significantly smaller than Miss Piggy Ella.

Here are some pics of them in their Halloween costumes that I crochet'd. Owen is a bee and Ella is a bouquet of flowers.

Home Sweet Home

2009-09-19T08:30:00.003-07:00

Yesterday it finally happened...two weeks to the day after their birth, we were released from the hospital and NICU. WOOOOO HOOOOO!!! They still have to take vitamins, iron, and have NEOSURE added to their bottles every day. Upon release Ella weighed 4lbs15oz and Owen weighed 4lbs14oz-both have surpassed their birth weights. Looking good. They have also both been downing 60cc's almost every feeding which is 2oz's-way to go my little preemies!!! They are going to be chubby little monkeys in no time at all!!

Our first night home was not too bad. Jamie and I switched off every other feeding so we both got some sleep! :) I think this schedule will work for us for a while...until I decide whether or not I am going to switch to exclusive breastfeeding or not. I am still pumping and they are getting 100% breastmilk, I just may stick to the bottle feeding during the nights to get some sleep...if Jamie will agree to keep doing that!

Today is the first day that Owen and been sleeping better and longer than Ella. I think Ella has had some troubles with gas today. Momma has been having to give her some extra lovin' and holdin' time which she hasn't objected to one bit!! I have been enjoying getting to know everything about them-having missed out on all of the little things for two whole weeks. Now that they are home it is hard to remember that they are actually two weeks old and not just born and home from the hospital...especially since they are SO small.

I can finally breathe now that they are home, and not have to worry about getting dressed and everyone ready and out the door to get to the hospital by a certain time each day. I think Ava will also enjoy getting back to a regular routine and not being watched my someone different each day. I know my toughest days are ahead of me, but I am really looking forward to the future and my three little babies at home. Three kids under two...here comes the fun!!

Daddy feeding Owen his last bottle in the NICU!!

Freeing Owen from all of his wires!! Happiest moment for me. You can tell the twins don't wake easily when there is commotion around them. They are used to all of the movement from eachother! :) Ella is still completely passed out!
Mommy holding both of her babies for the first time without being hooked up to any monitors. So strange...

Owen in his carseat ready to roll.

Finally ready to head home.

Daddy carrying the babies out into the world for the first time.

Yippee!! Out of the hospital

In the car! We are going to have to reconfigure where all the carseats go. With one of the twins behind the drivers seat, Jamie can't get the seat back far enough to drive comfortably. :( How do we have a Suburban and feel like we don't have enough room. Oh ya, bc we have 3 carseats and one 6ft+ teenage boy. WOW!!

Home at last.

Hehe....love them!

Ava hadn't fallen asleep yet, so Jamie went and got her out of her crib to see the babies. She was SO SO SO excited to see them. She couldn't wipe the smile off of her face with just made my heart explode with sheer joy!

She kept going back and forth between both carseats just checking them out, rocking them, petting them, hugging and kissing them, and just beaming!!

Ava calls them Ooooooh and Lella...too too cute!!

This is where I find her most of the time...reaching over into their pack n play and trying to touch them-she can actually touch them- I just try and stop her before she does. Usually she doesn't listen. She also tries to put toys and books in with them...this is going to become a problem if she doesn't start listening to Momma and Daddy. :)

They already feel right at home!!

Moving in Fast Forward

2009-09-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so yesterday they were moved to all bottle feeds. Well, today when we went in at 11:30 they had already been evaluated by the Nurse Practitioner (which happens at some point every day), and they were already promoted to bottle feeds every feed amount as tolerated. The last step in the process for them to come home. Basically they put more than their minimum amount in the bottle and let them eat as much as they want, as long as they still finish their required minimum.

They both did fantastic and completed all of the extra that the nurse put in the bottle-which I think was an extra 10cc's. So I asked to speak to the NP to see how long they had to stay on this regiment before they were allowed to come home. The NP came over and said, well if they do good for the rest of the day and through tonight, then they can go home tomorrow. What? WHAT? Tomorrow? REALLY?? I was beyond excited and I was not expecting her to say that AT ALL!!! SO SO SO THRILLED at the thought of bringing my babies home!!! Now, there is still a slight possibility that they will not finish all of their bottles, but I really doubt it. Good thing we threw in Ava's old car seat for them to test Ella in. We also packed Owen's new one in the car so that we could exchange it. (I started reading some bad reviews on the one we had picked out for him, and they all complained about the same thing so I decided to return it.)

Ava's old car seat failed their tests, so we had to leave and go buy two new car seats. Ava's car seat was a little too big, and the straps wouldn't tighten enough. At this point I will pay any amount to get my babies out of there. So after lunch we headed back to the hospital with two new car seats. They had just finished another full bottle each-which just reassured me that they would be coming home tomorrow. They also scheduled Owen's circumscision for later that day. I was so sad I would not be able to stay and be there with him to comfort him after it was all done. :( My poor little man.

Soooo, tomorrow morning all they have to do is review the car seat tests and review their eating from the night before, go over care for the babies and for Owen's circ, finish up some paperwork and we should be on our way. I can't believe they are coming home two weeks to the day that they went into the NICU. I feel like I have missed out on two whole weeks of bonding time with my babies. I know it is going to be hard, and a lot of work, but I am so looking forward to getting to know Owen and Ella.

This may be my last post for a couple of days until I can figure out a schedule for the family. Wish us luck!!!
.

Mommy and Owen

Ella completely passed out drinking her bottle. Hehe!

Notice anything different?? They also got their feeding tubes taken out!! She still has a little bit of tape on her cheek in case you were wondering. I am SOO looking forward to them not having a million tubes connected to them!

Maybe one of the last pictures of them in their NICU crib together. Bittersweet.

Ella in Ava's old car seat. It is crazy how small they look in their seats.

Getting Close...

2009-09-16T20:43:00.001-07:00

I was so exhausted yesterday that I couldn't bring myself to get on the computer and post a blog. The hospital I delivered at offers something called a courtesy room for parents who have babies in the NICU-and I stayed in one last night. Basically if they have an open hospital room we can stay in it for free. It was amazing to be able to spend so much extra time with the little ones. With the two hour round trip drive from our house to the hospital, I usually only get to stay for one feeding before I have to leave to get back to Ava. So, I really enjoyed seeing so much more of the babies, and getting some time to myself between feeds. Since I am a nursing mother, I can still order room service when I am staying in a room as well. (Not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but my hospital actually offers room service. There is a menu for breakfast, lunch & dinner and you just call in what you would like to eat and they deliver it to your room. The food still isn't that great, but it sure beats being delivered a tray of mystery food.)

So much has changed with the babies since I last blogged. Yesterday they were switched to the bottle, bottle, tube schedule and did great on it. They finished all of their bottles. So today they were moved to all bottle feeds. YES!! I have been looking forward to them getting to this point for so long. I really hope that they are strong enough now to finish each bottle every three hours. They hadn't been evaluated by the doctor before I had to leave today, and after they were the doc gave me a call. I believe she said that if they do well on this schedule for 48hrs then they would be able to come home. I am not getting my hopes up quite yet, just in case I misunderstood her (I was woken up from my nap when she called so I could have been hearing what I wanted to hear) ;) .

She said that we needed to bring their carseats up there so that they could be tested sitting in them to make sure there are no problems with the fit and that the babies don't have any breathing problems while they are in them. She also asked if we would be rooming in the night before they were released. It is not mandatory, but they offer a room with a large king size bed for parents to stay in the night before they go home just to make sure they feel comfortable taking the babies home. You also still have their NICU nurse at your disposal all through the night just in case anything comes up. I don't think we will be doing this, but I am still going to talk it over with Jamie.

Just having the doctor talk to me about these things really makes me think that they are getting super close to coming home. I mean they could be here by this weekend!! Again, trying not to get my hopes up, but it is SOOO hard. Today I had my first real breakdown leaving the hospital. I literally had to force myself to start the car and pull out of the parking lot. I almost went right back inside to stay for another feeding. I think being able to stay the night and spend so much extra time with them made it that much harder to leave them. I really haven't had good quality time to bond with them. There are always nurses looking over your shoulder and checking in on you. Granted all of the nurses have been wonderful, I just want them ALL TO MYSELF!!

I am hoping tomorrow will be a better day. It is just getting so hard to leave them knowing they are so close to coming home. In the beginning I knew in my heart that they needed to be in the NICU, now my heart knows that they need to be home. I hope tomorrow I will have more positive news. ;)

Jamie didn't spend the night with me at the hospital, but we did have a wonderful date night before he left. We went to our favorite restaurant-Z Tejas-and had the BEST dinner. It may be the last dinner we have alone together for a long long LONG time. Don't even know when we will be able to eat out as a family...two carseats and a high chair for Ava??? Yikes, we are going to have our hands full. Anyway, we held hands, talked, just really enjoyed our time together. I have the best husband in the whole world...don't know how I would have made it through the pregnancy without him, and would be a complete mess these past two weeks with the babies in the NICU if he wasn't by my side. Love you Jamie! Look forward to our next date night in about a year. :)

Sister yesterday...pretty in purple. She looks like a little doll.

Daddy holding Owen...thinking he is trying to tell me something. :)
Snuggling with little sister. She is so content after her bottle.

Pic from today. Not sure if you can tell from this pic, but they are really starting to fill out in their faces. UGH I can't wait to get these two home!!!

Catching On

2009-09-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Another great visit today. Owen and Ella are really getting the hang of bottle feeding! They are starting to finish all of their bottles. I am SO proud. I am going to talk to the doctors tomorrow, but I think the next step is two back to back bottle feeds then one tube feeding...right now they are almost bottle feeding every other time. We are slowly working up to bottle feeding every time-which is what we need to do to go home. I am so anxious for them to come home, and yet so nervous. How am I going to handle two newborns and a toddler? I keep telling myself..one day at a time.

They are also catching on to gaining weight. Tonight O weighed in at 4lb11.2oz and Elle was 4lb10.8oz. In just a few days they have really packed it on!! I guess that NeoSure is doing a great job.

Look how tiny their little feet are. Their fingers and toes are so unbelievably small!!

Little Owen...totally awake as usual. I have noticed that he is really becoming more alert and active.
Holding both the babes...Ella really wanted to give big bro a kiss!
Typical pic...Owen wide eyed, and Ella passed out the second she is done with her bottle. Atleast when they come home I will have one good sleeper on my hands.

So sweet!

Back snuggled in their beds. So hard for me to leave after I get them back in their beds all wrapped up. I just have to keep snapping pics of them. I love that Owen's paci is as big as he is. ;)

Can't wait to get these two precious wads home!!

Big Sister

2009-09-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post a few pics from the last dinner we had out a couple of days before the babies came.

Ava and Daddy waiting outside for a table. Amazing how when I told them to say "cheese" they both gave me their best fake smiles. Lol.

I can't believe Ava's hair is long enough for a double french braid! She is getting SO big!

We met Tara, Damon and Gavin at Hill's Cafe. Gavin is such a cutie...check out that smile!!

They really adore eachother. Gavin starting to flirt, look how coy Ava is acting.

Gavin putting on the moves...going in for a kiss...

Aaaaahhh!!!

Hahaha....look at Ava's face...cracks me up!!! Guess Gavin is a pretty good kisser! Hahaha. They kissed a couple of more times before we had to make them stop. Could this be the start of something???

First Solo Flight

2009-09-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today was my first visit to the NICU alone. Ava came down with a little bit of a runny nose and was sneezing yesterday, and it carried over to today. She also had a slight fever, so we thought it was best that Jamie stay home with her while I went to the hospital. Now I am not supposed to drive for another week, but there was NO WAY I was missing a visit with my babies! I felt up to it so I was on my way.

The one downfall to my first outing was that I didn't have my husbands help in getting ready and out the door. He was busy taking care of poor little Ava. So...after getting to the hospital I first realized that I had forgotten the milk that I had pumped. No biggie I thought, I am about to pump again when I get to NICU and can just leave that. Well, when I get my pump out I realized that I had forgotten all of my pump accessories at home as well. UGH! These were both things that my husband gets ready each day and makes sure are packed for the hospital. Luckily one of the nurses snuck me a pumping accessories kit (you only get one and have to pay for any extras) and I was able to use a hospital pump.

The bad thing was that it delayed the babies feeding schedule by 30 minutes. I felt like such a horrible mom! I didn't really try to breast feed today because I felt so bad-I just wanted to hurry up and give them their bottle. I will not make this mistake again. Lol.

The babies are still at 40cc's of milk, but today they told me they are adding NeoSure to their breastmilk. NeoSure is a formula like powder. The nurse said it is to help them gain weight. The downfall to this is that it makes their poop really stinky. I was like no problem. That is until I changed Owen's diaper and he had a little poopie surprise for me. As soon as I pulled back the diaper my nose hairs started to curl. It was such a noxious smell I can't even describe it. Similar to how vinegar is when it gets too close to your nose. Hopefully they won't be on this stuff for too long. Yowzers.

They did graduate to 4 bottle feeds in a 24hr period. WooHoo...progress. One step closer to coming home. Owen finished his bottle for me today in 30, and sister finished in an amazing 13 minutes!! I was so proud. I think she is finally getting the hang of it. Hopefully I will get a good report for the rest of their feedings tomorrow. Jamie will be back to taking me to the hospital, so hopefully we won't experience any setbacks. :)

I love it each day when I first arrive-walking around the corner and see them snuggled up together sleeping. I just love it! Warms my heart every time.

Please Mom...No more pictures! You know how I like my beauty sleep.

Ugh...could they get any cuter??!!!
Mommy and Owie..finally full and satisfied after having to wait forever.

Little Ella Bella downing her bottle like a champ. Today she is wearing a hat made by the nice ladies from Threads of Love. It is the cutest little beanie I have ever seen. I wish I could take it home with me.

Hey Mom this bow you put on me is too heavy for my little head!!

Ahh...thats better!

Counting down the hours until I can get back to see my babes. Praying for continued good reports! :)

Special Visitors

2009-09-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today Owen and Ella has some special people come to visit them....my Mom and Grandfather drove up today from DFW. Is was special to have the babies first great grand parent come to see them!

Not much has changed with the babies. They are in their open crib and taking 40cc's of milk. Still not finishing all of their three bottles in the 24hr period which we need them to do in order to move to the next step-which will be bottle feeding every other feed. Still no weight gain either...hopefully that is right around the corner. Although, their weight isn't what is keeping them in the hospital-just their learning to feed.

In the waiting room getting ready for the first group of people to go back. My mom is signing to Ava "I Love You". I love Ava's face because she is just looking up in pure adoration. She LOVES LOVES LOVES my mom. Cries if they are separated for any amount of time when she comes to stay with us. ;)

In their new crib. Gives us SO much more space in their tiny little nook. Before Jamie and I were so squished trying to both fit back there once the curtain is drawn to block off our little spot.

Peacefully sleeping together.

Today they were swaddled together in the SAME blanket. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen!! You could tell they were just SO content!! I hated to unwrap them to wake them up.

Hehehe...could they get any cuter??!!

Owen taking his teeny tiny bottle. He did great today and finished the whole thing!

Ella's turn to wake up. I had to snap a quick picture of her with her eyes open. Not sure if you have noticed the trend yet, but when we wake Owen up to eat he is wide awake. Will keep his eyes open the whole time. Girlfriend LOVES her beauty sleep. Hates to be woken up, and can barely keep her little eyes open when she is eating. Today she almost finished her bottle, but had to be tube fed the very last few cc's. She just couldn't keep herself awake...despite all of mommy's efforts.

Grandma Sher Sher and Owen. She got to feed him his last little bit of milk so I could start on Ella.

The special man of the hour-Great Granddaddy and Owen

Great Granddaddy and Ella. He was so happy to be there visiting with him. It was truly a special day!

I thought I would show you a few pictures from around the NICU. The ones I could take anyways. Here is where you scrub in for 3 minutes like you are going in to surgery before you are let back into where the babies are. Even your camera has to be wiped down before entry, and you have to use paper towels to touch and carry back any bags you are bringing back with you. Once you are back there, once you touch anything other than your baby you have to sanitize your hands. I usually end up using the foam hand sanitizer about 30 times when I am back there. Lets just say my hands are pretty dry. :)

Just outside the NICU is the Ronald McDonald Room. They offer snacks, drinks, two computers with internet access, a couch and 2 recliners for all of the parents with kids in the NICU. It is a very nice thing to have, and super convenient. With so much time spent up there I just think it was awesome they did this for parents!

Hoping to get a good report of the kiddos tomorrow. I really want the nurse to tell me that they finished all of their other two bottles from the feeds after we left. Don't know how much longer I can take my babies being away from me. I am not pregnant anymore, but sometimes I feel like I didn't have babies at all. When we are at home it is like life was before they were born-like nothing at all has changed. I REALLY want them here with me. I am holding up better than I EVER thought I could. Please keep praying that they come home soon!!

Free At Last

2009-09-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

No, not free from the hospital, but the babies are free from the "lid" of their isolette. It was so nice to see them in the open air. Today also marked their one week birthday. ONE WEEK!! Where has the time gone? I can't believe they have already been here for one whole week. Time is just flying by in a blur.

They both finished one bottle each in the night, and finished their bottle for us today as well. Slowly but surely they are getting stronger and learning how to eat. Now it takes them almost 30 minutes just to drink 38cc's of milk (which is barely anything) but it is progress none the less.

I also got to try to breastfeed them for the first time today. I tried with Owen first. I was shocked that he was actually rooting for me, but he was just too small and weak to really latch on and suck. I didn't want to tire him out, so I didn't try for too long. Ella did the same thing in that she rooted for me. I was shocked because they don't root for the bottle, and are not really interested at all in the nipple of the bottle. We have to basically push it in their mouth. She was also too weak to really latch on and nurse. I get to try to nurse them once a day and am hopeful that they will catch on to nursing quickly once they get stronger.

Tomorrow they should be out of their isolette and in a crib. They will also be increased to 40cc's of milk. I think they are approaching their goal amount of milk they will need to take for each feed, but we will see.

Daddy changing Owen's poopie diaper. Better Dad than Mom. :) SOO glad not to have to change diapers through the arm holes anymore!!!

Little Owie clean, happy and ready to eat! I think he may even be throwing a peace sign. hehe

Mommy and Ella....soooo tiny!

Two little snugly bundles

No lid...woo hoo!

With all the talk of babies, preparing big sister for her new siblings, someone has decided she wants to start acting like a baby herself. She found an old pacifier and has it in her mouth constantly. She also has a little baby bottle that she likes to suck on. We don't have the heart to make her stop-since all of the talk and attention has been on the new babies and her little world has been turned upside down. We just love on her and call her "Baby Ava" when she does this. ;)

Reunited...And It Feels So Right!

2009-09-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

Every day the babies make great strides, and today was a very special one. Today they were moved to one isolette or incubator. It really warmed my heart to see them back together-like they were in my womb. I am sure they were happy to have one another again too! The only downfall is since they were moved to one crib, they got relocated to a different part of the NICU. They did have a private room spacious room to themselves, now they are out in the open with just a curtain to close us in when we come to visit. :( And on a side note, this NICU is huge. They are almost to capacity...last I checked there were 31 babies in there, and they have beds for 38. WOW!!

They are on the lowest heat setting in the isolette, and since they are holding their body temps, they will meet another milestone tomorrow by being moved to an open crib. Woo Hoo!! One step closer to coming home!

They are also up to 36cc's of milk which is leaps and bounds from the 10cc's they were started on just 4 days ago. They are still on just three bottle feeds a day and are doing well with it. Today Owen completed one of his three bottles, and so did Ella. They usually drink a little more than half of their other two bottles, and have to finish the rest in their iv's. We are moving slowly but surely on the whole bottle feeding thing. Ella lost an ounce and is now at 4lbs6oz. Owen gained just enough to be considered 4lbs8oz. Gotta fatten these puppies up!

Today was also the first day we were able to bring Ava to visit the babies. I had a vision of how it would go. She would be very excited and interested to look at the babies, and we would all be able to take a family picture together. Well, things did not go as planned. I am not sure if it was all of the sounds from the different monitors she didn't like, the close quarters, or the fact that she had to be held, but she lasted only a few minutes. She looked at the babies and I was able to snap a quick picture and then it was meltdown city. She started screaming for no reason, and Jamie's mom had to rush her out of there. I guess that is why they have the rule that siblings under 18 are only allowed to visit once a week. This was a time I wish we still had that private room...I was so embarassed.

I can't wait to get back up there tomorrow to see my babies in an open crib. I also get to try and breasfeed them for the first time! They are not interested in even a bottle, so I am not expecting them to do anything at all, but it is a start. For now the doctor is letting me try once a day. I will "try" and nurse them and then they will get the bottle. Babysteps....

....

Ava colored sweet messages for her new brother and sister.

Checking out Owen and Ella for the first time.

Changing Owen's diaper through the holes of the isolette. Let me tell you it is very hard to do and takes some practice to get used to it. Not only is it hard to maneuver your arms in there, but they are so tiny and there are tons of wires to work around! The babies are so small that the preemie diapers are too big!! They have to be folded over. :)

Momma and her sweet baby boy both in green. (And we didn't even plan it...hehe)

Sporting the new hat Momma made and a non hospital blanket.

"Momma that flash sure is bright!"

Snuggly little Ella.

She got a new hat too. The pics of them are a little funny bc I was balancing them in my lap and taking their pictures. Daddy had to leave to check on Miss Thang.

Together in their isolette. They are SOOO cute together!!! They are so small they can both fit in a regular incubator and still have plenty of room. :) Tomorrow there won't be a glare in the picture bc the top will be gone!! Yippee!!!

My precious little angels. It is so hard to leave these little bundles behind....

Introducing....

2009-09-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

OWEN JAMES BENJAMIN

and

ELLA CATE ROSE

born on Friday, September 4th. Owen was born at 11:16pm weighing 4lb11oz and 18in long. Ella was born at 11:18pm weghing 4lb12oz and 17in long.

What a Friday that was. I went in to Labor and Delivery for some back pain unrelated to labor around 6pm. They monitored the babies for a while and eventually the oncall doctor came in to check me out. The pain she was guessing was due to me being so small and the babies just squishing everything in my rib cage. She decided to check my cervix just in case. She told me I was dialated to a 3 and thinned 75%. I was SHOCKED. She asked what I was the last time I went to the doc. I said I wasn't anything at all. She asked when he checked me last-I said two days ago. She decided that was enough to keep me overnight.

Once I got admitted into a room my braxton hicks contractions started getting closer together and stronger. I also started having some real labor pains with some pressure. Once I told her this she immediately went and got the oncall doctor from my OB's practice. He came in, didn't check me, but just said we had better get these babies out before your water breaks. WOW. Things were moving so fast.

The nurse came in, hooked me up to an iv, and gave Jamie his OR outfit. They slapped a hat on my head and whisked me away to the operating room. This is not how I saw the evening going when I first got there. I mean, I almost drove myself to the hospital because I thought I was going to be in and out. I just wanted some pain meds to help me sleep. Now things were moving in fast forward and I couldn't catch my breath.

Before I knew it I was layed out and the babies were being pulled out of me. It was all such a surreal experience. Luckily the babies were healthy just small and premature. The hardest part was not being able to see the babies until the next day.

They never had to be put on oxygen which was such a blessing! They were put on an IV for the first 24hrs before being introduced to milk. What is amazing about my hospital's NICU is that they use donor breast milk until your own milk comes in. You actually have to request formula! I just loved that!! They want all the premature babies to get all of the help they can get by giving them all of the antibodies and other things you can only get from breastmilk. Now they are off the IV and solely drinking my milk.

They are almost all of the way off the heat in their incubators, and are maintaining their body temps. Woo Hoo! Both of their weight has dropped to 4lb7oz. They are so tiny!! I mean teetiny! It took me a while to get comfortable changing their diapers and holding them. They are only bottle feeding 3 times in a 24hr period and being tube fed the rest of the time. We started out bottle feeding every time, but they were just too immature, and were getting too tired. Feeding for them is like exercise...if you try to feed them every time and tire them out, then they end up burning more calories than they are taking in. So, we are tube feeding them so that they can get stronger, save their energy, and really work on learning to suck, swallow and breath on the few bottle feeds they have.

I have been released from the hospital, and today was the first time we drove to visit them. It was so hard to leave them in the hospital, but with Ava needing us at home, it made it a little easier. I feel like my heart is being torn into two places...home with Ava and the hospital with the twins. I can't wait for them to come home!!!

I will try and update the blog as much as possible. I am just so completely exhausted from pumping every 3 hrs, dealing with Ava, and going to visit the NICU. Please pray that they will learn how to do this whole feeding thing and will get to come home soon!

(If there are any spelling errors or something doesn't make sense I blame it on lack of sleep!)

Here are some pics from our whirlwind experience...

Getting ready to go to the OR. Scared out of my mind!!!!

Jamie in his get up! HAHAHA!

Last pregnant pic ever!

Owen. He came out SCREAMING and then was completely fine...

When Ella came out she didn't cry. It was only when they started cleaning her that she got mad. :)

Happy both babies are born and doing well.

Owen

Ella

Ella (L) Owen (R)

Getting set up in the NICU just after their birth

Checking Ella out for the first time. I had to wait until the following day until I got to see my babies! :(

Checking Owen out for the first time

with Owen...

Big Brother Hunter and Ella

Admiring her first SON.

Momma holding BOTH of her babies for the FIRST TIME!

Proud Papa and his babies.

Uncle Eric checking out Owen

Grandma and Owen

Grandma Sher Sher and Owen

Ella's dark hair. She has quite a bit!

Aunt Dee Dee and Miss Ella

Miss Tara came to visit!

The happy parents. Can you tell we are already sleep deprived. This was our last visit before we left to go home. :(

My first visit after being released. I was SOOO happy to see them! Although it is hard to leave them in the NICU, I know they are in GREAT hands and are where they need to be. We love all the nurses up there, and have had nothing but good experiences so far.

(today)

Little Man

Owen

She loves to sleep with her mouth open. Hehe.

Ella

Our Summer

2009-07-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

WOW!! What a summer we have had so far. Filled with so many different things.

A week after the accident we took a trip to the coast with several of Jamie's family members. It was so nice to get away from reality...especially since I was suffering from panic/anxiety attacks and post traumatic stress. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because of that. :(

When we got back Hunter started his CRAZY hectic summer sports schedule-all of which HE wanted to do. He signed up for 3 different football camps/clinics (most he would attend in the same day), private quarterback lessons, Little League All Stars Baseball AND a 9th Grade Bastrop Summer Baseball Team. Not only was Hunter extremely exhausted EVERY SINGLE DAY, but so were his parents from driving him to and from all of his camps, practices and games. So glad that the summer is coming to an end along with all of this craziness. I just feel sorry for Hunter that he hasn't really had any time to relax and enjoy the summer before he starts high school.

Ava cheering on her Bubba at one of his practice football games.

Ava and her Grandma Sher Sher

Ava and Momma

Ava and Daddy...she doesn't want to take her eyes off the game for a second!

Finally....she gets to see her Bubba!!

Hunter, Ava and some of their cousins after one of Hunter's baseball games.

We also got to enjoy one last "big" vacation before the twins arrive. And what better place to celebrate that Disney World!! The crazies thing of all is that some of our closest friends had also planned a trip to Disney during the same time we were there and we had NO idea beforehand!! Even crazier is that they were planning on staying at the SAME hotel as we were, so Michelle, Austin, their son Banks, and Michelle's mom Donna made sure to get a room right across the hall from us. We had a blast, and were so lucky to be able to share this experience with great friends. Not to mention Ava had a little buddy to play with while we were there!!!!

At Magic Kingdon in front of the castle.

At the restaurant Banks and Ava were having the best time!

Banks grabbing a hug after some dessert.

I love Michelle

Every restaurant we went to there was a balloon artist. Ava got her fav....POOH!

Even at Denny's she got a balloon animal! Lol!At the hotel's sandy lake area

Trying to show Ava why she can't swin in the little lake. She REALLY wanted to get in!

Michelle and Banks in their Mickey ears.

Hunter and Ava getting ready to see a 3D show at Disney

Riding the train around Disney

She loved it!!

Hunter and Ava in their Mickey ears. Ava was hot and tired...

We spent another year celebrating the 4th of July at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort. We used to drive to the one in San Antonio, but when the new resort opened and it was only 2 miles away from home, we made the switch. We ate dinner, swam and watched fireworks on the lawn with Damon, Tara, Gavin and some of Damon's family.

Our family of 4...for now...

Momma and Ava...patiently waiting for it to get dark.

Gavin and Ava. The best we could get for two toddlers. I love Ava's face....guess she's not so sure about holding hands. Hahaha.

Ava luvin' on her some Damon. She always gets SO flirty/shy around him!!

Damon, Gavin and Tara

Hunter and Ava

The fireworks finally start. Ava was scared of the loud bangs, but still wanted to watch the "balls" in the sky as she says, as long as we covered her ears and held her tight. :)

The weekend of July 11th was quite an eventful weekend, and was also the last weekend I was allowed to travel. It was Maddy's FIRST BIRTHDAY as well as my first shower in Dallas.

I can't believe that Maddy is already one. She is growing so fast and I hate that we live so far away and miss large chunks of time from her life. We really enjoy the time we get to spend with her, and were so thankful we got to enjoy her first birthday with her!! Maddy had a pool party/cookout and everyone had a blast.

Ava sitting by the pool with Great Aunt Terri waiting for Maddy to wake up and for the party to get started!!

Finally awake and ready to party in her grass skirt and bathing suit! ;)

Sun screen can sure do crazy things to a girls hair. Hehe.

Dressed and ready to tear into some presents.

Ava's Aunt Dee Dee and Maddy

Blowing out her first candle!

And tearing into her cake. She ate it ALL!!

Just had to throw this picture in. She was slurping up this spaghetti so loudly and so quickly I couldn't believe it! Hahaha. I love you Maddy and can't wait to ring in several more birthdays with you!!! MUAH!!

The next day was my first shower. It was perfect. My mom did such a wonderful job on all of the food and I got to share it all with friends and family. Thank you all SO much for all of the wonderful gifts you brought for the twins. They are going to get such great use out of them all!!!

Ava and Mommy before the shower. Ava actually crashed out in the bedroom and missed the whole thing.

Only 27 weeks here and already HUGE!!

Can't believe Ava is going to be a BIG sister!!

So glad I got to share this with my closest friends. I love you all!!!

Thanks Dee Dee for organizing the shower. You did an amazing job.

Things are pretty quiet now. I am not allowed to travel, but wouldn't choose too anyway since I am getting SO uncomfortable and it is just WAY TOO HOT outside to want to go anywhere!! We are taking it easy and enjoying our time with Ava and Hunter before things get hectic with the twins arrival. Now we will be focusing on finishing the nursery and other projects around the house before we forget what its like to have a free moment to do anything. Lol.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. I will try and get better about updating the blog! ;)

THANKFUL

2009-05-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

I did not want to blog about this, but since I have so many distant relatives and friends wondering about it, and I emotionally can't talk to everyone about it, I thought it best to just do it all at once on here. Even sitting down to write this blog is one of the hardest things to do.

This past Wednesday evening Ava and I were in the Suburban on the way to church. Jamie was following behind me in our work van that we were going to drop off after services. Our church is in Austin about 30 miles from our house in Bastrop, and we take a small highway to get there. There are two lanes in one direction and two going the other with a grassy median in the middle. There are several small country roads intersecting the highway and you have to cut across the two lanes to make it to the median to get on the highway to go the other direction.

I am sure you can see where I am going with this. Ava and I were going 65 MPH when someone tried to cross over the highway at the very last second and we were in a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE accident. It all happened in slow motion and there was nothing I could do to avoid her. I did everything I could in those few short moments, but unfortunately, I T-boned her directly in the drivers side door. She was in a small sports like- older two door car.

I slammed into her throwing her car off to the side and luckily was able to stop in the grassy median before heading into incoming traffic. I remember every detail of the accident very vividly. I will forever remember the screams from Ava in the backseat after the impact. I am sure I will never hear that particular scream again either-except for in my head. Of course the airbags deployed hitting me in the chest and stomach. I stumbled out of the car and just went to lay down hoping that my little twins were ok, and that I wouldn't go into early labor. By the time I stumbled to the back of my car Jamie already had Ava out of the car and was telling me she was ok.

I could not believe what had just happened to me. I couldn't believe that I was alive at all. It was someones worst nightmare coming true. I layed there in the grass just praying for the other driver. I could feel my arms burning- burns from the airbag-and my legs hurting-but I knew for sure nothing was broken. Ava only cried for a short while after being out of the car, and I knew in my heart she was fine as well. I just kept praying for the other driver. Since everything happened in slow motion I knew I had hit a woman, but that it was bad.

I was taken to a nearby ER via ambulance. All of which was something I never want to experience again. Too many needles and IV's all at once...so much chaos. They immediately did a sono and both of the babies were perfectly fine. What an enormous blessing from God. How was that even possible after what I had just been through???

Eventually Jamie was able to get back to see me while they were still running tests in the ER. He told me Ava was doing great. Running around like nothing had happened, and just had seatbelt marks on around her neck and chest. Praise the Lord again. He also told me that the driver had died...probably on impact. Wow. I still don't think it has fully sunk in. Even though it was 100% not my fault, I was in an accident where someone died. I have some bruises and neck and back pain, my daughter has some small marks, and the other person passed away. I can't even wrap my mind around how truly truly truly blessed we were and still are.

There was also a passenger in the car that is in a coma. I heard her hysterically screaming the whole time in the background after the accident, but had no idea she was the passenger and never saw her. Not sure how she came to be in a coma after that. When I layed down in the grass I subconsciously layed down with my back to her car. I am glad that happened. Not sure I could handle remembering the images that were going on just mere feet from me.

We later found out that the woman driving was around my age, had no drivers license, was driving a car that was not hers, and was in possession of cocaine. They are doing an autopsy to see if there were any drugs in her system. I pray though that this is not the case. This is just information that was given to me by the DPS.

So, today I am THANKFUL to be alive. I am thankful that my precious little girl is alive. That the two babies growing inside of me are still alive. I am thankful to have walked away from such a horrible accident with only a few bruises and pains. I still can't believe that. I am thankful to have been driving a huge Suburban. If I had been driving anything smaller everything could have been different. I will never drive a small car/van again. EVER!! I am thankful that I had both hands on the wheel and I wasn't on the phone, messing with the radio, handing Ava a toy, getting a drink of water...any number of things. I was in a position to do everything I could do right at that exact moment. God was most definitely watching over us that night...in so many ways.

Now I just have to get through dealing with the daily emotions of reliving the wreck. I also feel so horrible for Jamie. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him watching his pregnant wife and baby girl get into such a horrible accident. Not sure if when he reached us if we were even going to be alive. I just can't even imagine.

I would like to ask for prayers for the other woman that is now in a coma. I pray that she survives the coma and whatever other injuries she sustained. Please please say a prayer for that other woman...that if she isn't a Christian, she will become one after this accident.

Thank you to all of the friends and family for your continued prayers, calls, and kind words. I know that those prayers truly have helped, and will continue to help me through this very very difficult time. I could not get through it without you all.

Never take any moment or day for granted. Do not live life for tomorrow but for today-you never know when something unexpected can change your life forever. Tell everyone in your life how much you love them and how much they mean to you, and NEVER pass up an opportunity to tell someone about Christ. It very well could be their last day as well.

I love you all, and thank you once again for helping me through this.

Love, Lauren

My New Friend

2009-05-12T10:39:00.001-07:00

Jamie has been wanting to take Ava back to Build a Bear for a long time to get her a new "baby." You would think I would be the one to be begging to take her there, but no, it is my cute husband. Last time she got a bunny. This time she got a snuggly lamb.

Picking out the heart.

She was NOT sure about this lady, and was really scared of the stuffing machine. She has become really scared of noises lately.

Jamie had to help her put in the heart, because she didn't want to get close to the lady. :)

"Washing" her new baby.

Carrying the box herself! Hehe.

After she took the lamb out of the box she tried to trade it for a cookie these ladies behind her were eating. Just like her momma....loves her some Great American Cookie!

Excited to have her new baby.

We just have to pick a name. She snuggles with the both now at night in her bed. So cute!!

My First Ponytail

2009-05-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Ava's hair is long enough for a real ponytail! My little girl is growing up so fast! It makes her look SO much older! These were the best pics I could get. She is hard to keep still for pics sometimes. (Ava says please excuse her pj's). ;)

Drum Roll Please....

2009-05-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last week we found out for sure what we are having. I say this because two weeks prior to that my doc told me he was 100% sure of one and 95% sure of the other. I told family and close friends, bought bedding, even narrowed my list of names. Come to find out 95% sure just wasn't good enough. He was wrong! He said, "Well, I did give myself 5% wiggle room".

We were shocked to find out there had been a change. The best surprise in the world!!! I actually hit the doctor on the arm and started laughing and crying when he told us the news. I couldn't stop for hours afterwards! We are totally excited about the change in plans! Now he says he is 100% of both. So without further ado....

AND

As you can guess, we were first told we were having two girls. I was a little bit disappointed when he told us the second was a girl, because I thought for sure it was a boy. You see, before I even had my first positive pregnancy test I had a dream that I was pregnant with twins...one was a boy and one was a girl. So, I was sure that was what I was going to have all along. Turns out my premonition was right. SO crazy the dreams pregnant women have!!

(Sorry it took me so long to post, but I have had a really bad head cold that moved to my chest, in addition to taking care of Ava, the blog didn't get much attention.)

Now I am back to the drawing board picking out names and trying to figure out the best way to decorate a nursery for a boy and a girl! The name part is actually more of a challenge. (I have a very hard to please husband!!)

The babies are already becoming very active. I feel the boy more often than the girl. Don't know if it is because he is more active or stronger. I have a feeling this is just a sign of things to come. I can also sometimes feel them with my hands. Already! I think because it is already so squished in there that they are getting pushed out against my stomach more. Totally crazy!! I still can't believe I have TWO babies growing inside of me!

They are both growing right on track...measuring the exact same. I will go back in two weeks for another sono. I pray things keep going so well with the babies growth and development. (And that we don't have any more changes!)

Can't wait to share the names and nursery once they are decided!

MUCH LOVE TO ALL!!!!

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful Mothers Day it was this year. My last one with just us two girls. It was a very relaxing day. Church, lunch, an extra long nap courtesy of my husband, church again, then dinner cooked by my husband. If only it was like this every day! :)

I can't believe that next year I will have two more little ones surrounding me!!

I love Ava's face...I am thinking she is shocked by the belly. Hehe

She was in such a good mood taking these pictures...I love this one!!

Kissing her babies. She gives one kiss for each side of the belly and then one big hug every time!!

18 WK belly shot. This thing is gonna get HUGE!!

Quirky Girl

2009-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Ava loves to play in the tupperware cabinet. Her latest obsession has been this old plastic colander. She is so funny. She takes it with her all around the house, and when she gets to her destination she puts it down and then sit in it. She is such a funny girl...it cracks me up to see her carrying it around everywhere just to sit in it. I love her quirky personality!!

Happy (Late) Easter

2009-04-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

The little bit of Easter we did get to experience was wonderful. The Thursday prior to Easter we had a minor pregnancy scare and I was put on restricted activity. It was nothing that effected the babies, but is was still scary. So on Friday we attended our church's Easter Egg Hunt. It was so much fun to be around great friends and enjoy a picnic lunch before the hunt.

Ava didn't eat much...I think she was too excited! :)

Picture time before the big event. Ava gave me a great big kiss knowing she was about to get a ton of candy from us.

Hunting up the eggs. Ava knew exactly what to do.

This picture cracks me up. She makes this face or sticks out her tongue every time the wind blows! Hehe!

Here's a better one.

Checking out the goods.

All she wanted to do was throw back out the eggs and pick them back up again.

Helping Gavin check out his loot...of course she was helping him unload his basket.

Playing with Gavin

Daddy blowing bubbles that was found in one of her eggs.

The fam. You can kinda see the belly poppin out.

Damon, Tara and Gavin. Gavin was giving me his best flirty eyes. :)

After the egg hunt, we headed to Dallas to spend Easter with my side of the family. When we got to my sisters house, we took the girls on a wagon ride. They loved it! Maddy is getting so big...it makes me sad to be so far away from her! Now that Maddy is getting older and more active, they are really starting to have fun playing with eachother.

Maddy, Ava and little Mikey getting ready for the ride!

Go faster Aunt Dee Dee this is fun!

After dinner they took a bath together. They had a blast!

Check out those do's!!

I think Ava is teaching Maddy how to be a little crazy!!

Unfortunately early Saturday morning I had another scare, and we ended up having to pack right back up so that we could see the doctor the next day. I was crushed. I really was looking forward to Ava getting to spend her first 'real/big girl' Easter with family. Since we had to go in on Sunday morning, we had to miss church. Ava's Easter outfit had to be shelved until next Sunday. :( The on-call doctor was able to find the source of the problem, which did not effect the babies one bit, and was just prescribed more restricted activity. I haven't had any more scares, and am looking forward to what the doctor says at my next appointment.

Well, we will just look forward to next years Easter. It is crazy to think that we will have a whole brood of little bunnies hunting next year. AAHHH!

Long Haired Beauty

2009-04-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

Ava's hair has really started to grow long and thick these past few months. I love it!! So much so that I was able to do a little french braid on the top of her head. She is so good when I fix her hair. She always sits so still and patient while I do whatever I want. I hope it never changes!

February

2009-04-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

The only two big events that I missed blogging about in February...besides finding out we were pregnant...was our trip to Long Beach, California and Hunter's 14th Birthday.

We travelled to Long Beach for our annual Chick fil A Seminar...all expenses paid by corporate! :) It is a really neat experience. Every year it is a different location, and for a week they have different speakers and events planned for all of the owner/operators in the US. This year I got to meet Kirk Cameron (he was one of the guests....soooo petite in person!!) and Dave Ramsey. I have never heard him speak before...I thought it was going to be boring since it was about money and saving, but he is absolutely hilarious!! I really enjoyed him. The bad thing was on both occasions that I met them I didn't have my camera. It is a pretty big/heavy thing to lug around when you are 6wks pregnant and feeling like crap!

This was the only picture Jamie and I took together the whole trip. We were heading in to hear a symphony that Chick set up just for our group! It was so neat!!

We also got to rent a car and drive around Hollywood, LA, and even drove down Rodeo Drive. We stopped and ate at the famous Pinks Hot Dogs. I didn't eat much of mine since hot dogs don't really sound good when you are pregnant...but from what I tasted it was good. And boy was there a long line!!
I can't believe Hunter is now 14!! It blows my mind that I have a step son that will be starting High School shortly! He sure is growing and taking after his Dad. He is 5'10 or taller now, wearing a 34x34 pant and a wait for it...a mens size 12 shoe! Holey Moley! Makes it kinda hard to repremand him when he is so much bigger than you at only 14!
.
He celebrated his birthday out at the ranch with a slumber party with a few of his friends, and then the Harris families coming out the next day for activities, cookout, and cake.

Ava LOVES riding on the 4-wheelers when we are out there! LOVES it!!

Our family pic after a very long day!

OKAY....OKAY

2009-04-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

So it has been FOREVER since I have posted a blog. I hope that I can be forgiven since I have a pretty good reason. I am sure many people have guessed, so I am saying it to everyone...I am pregnant! It is so crazy to be pregnant again. So many things happen to your body that you forget about. :) I am glad that you forget most of how bad the bad stuff is...because it really makes you not want to be pregnant again. Guess that is why after we give birth we forget it all because we have this beautiful little life in our hands!

Sooo...here is a sono pic at 12 weeks....

...and here is another....

....and here they are together (9wks)...

...yup, you read correctly...we are having TWINS!!! (7wk sono)

It is still so crazy to me to say twins out loud. When the doctor first started saying things like "baby A and baby B" it was mind boggling. I don't think it has still really sunk in. I think my brain won't let it. I keep saying to myself "ok, the next sonogram I will believe it is really happening". But when we leave I start saying the same thing about the next visit.

The few times I have REALLY thought about it, bringing home two babies and a then almost 2 yr old, I get such anxiety that my chest hurts, and I have to think about something else. :) I know I can handle it all, it is just all so crazy.

So this Monday I will be 15 weeks along, with my full term due date (40wks) being October 12th. Remember Ava's birthday is on October 20th. My doctor won't let me go past 38 weeks, which would be on September 28th. I have a feeling that I won't even make it to 38, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. My immediate concerns are being put on bedrest early, and/or going into early labor. It is stressful enough worrying about the health/growth of one baby inside of you, but two is doubley hard on me.

Speaking of doubley hard...the first trimester was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I felt SOO much sicker with this pregnancy...starting before I even had a positive pregnancy test... sick night and day...even during sleep...for the first 12 weeks. Talk about being miserable. I felt so bad for little Ava. All I could do was lay on the couch during the day and have her come to me to play. Even now I can bend down and do too much with her because I start getting a little crampy.

The past few weeks I have felt tons better. I can eat (not a lot at each meal, but I get hungry very often), and very rarely do I feel sick. I think that is the part of pregnancy I hate the most...feeling sick all the time. I am getting more tired/run down these days, have HORRIBLE headaches everyday from all of the extra hormones, and already having problems with a pinched nerve on my left side. But I will take those over feeling sick. :)

I am also really starting to show. It is crazy how it just popped up overnight. I feel like I look like what I did when I was 20wks along with Ava. I am sure some of you will start wanting some belly pics. I am a little worried with how little my torso is, how I am going to fit two babies in there. I asked the nurse if that made a difference on carrying the babies to full term, and she said no. We'll see.

My doctor wants me to gain atleast 55lbs with twins. EEK! And I have to gain the majority of it in the second trimester since in the third it will be hard to eat/gain weight with the babies smooshing on my stomach.

No really big cravings yet. Well, except stuffed jalapenos from Jack in the Box...gross I know...but for some reason I am luvin them- even for breakfast! :) With Ava I couldn't get enough Taco Bell. Thing is, when I am not pregnant we hardly ever eat at these places. I am a big sweet tooth, and with this pregnancy I really do not want to eat sweets. I try, but after a few bites it is not doing it for me. It really freaks me out! Lol. On the other hand, I am liking fresh fruits and raw veggies.

I think that about brings the whole absence and pregnancy up to date. Ava has no idea that she is going to be a big sister. I keep trying to tell her, and ask her where the babies are...but she just likes to stick her finger in my belly button and laugh. Maybe at 2, when they come, she will understand. Hunter hasn't really said one way or another about having two more siblings. I think he is worried about how it will affect all of the travelling we like to do. Not really gonna happen this summer when I am big and miserable...and not gonna happen with 3 babies and 3 pack n plays loaded up, diapers, toys, etc. :/ (Insert anxiety chest pains here).

We go to the doctor on Monday, and hopefully I will have more to update. I am really going to try and not let as much time pass during posts.

Hope everyone is well!! Much love to all!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Sher Sher!!

2009-02-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

Last week while we were in Dallas, we got the family together to celebrate my mom's 54th birthday. I have to say she is the most beautiful woman I know, and does not look her age one bit!! I hope to look half as good as she does at that age! Love you Mom!!

We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, and they don't really have seating for larger parties, so we had to sit at booths across from eachother. My brother Chase and his wife Nikki, Mom, Sis Diana (aka Dee Dee) and Maddy.

Me, Jamie, Ava, Tio Roland, Eric and Rick (Poppy to the grandkids)

Ava was in rare form...and hamming it up for the camera with several of her funny faces!!

Yes, she was closing her eyes and making this face on purpose. :)
She loves doing the squinty eyes. They crack me up!
Making funny faces with her Poppy

It is one of her favorite faces to make. Lol.

My mom and sis.

Ava, Poppy, Great Tio Roland and Maddy.

My mom and three of her five kids after dinner. Don't know where Chase and Mom are looking.

While we were in town we got to enjoy some special times with Miss Maddy. Here she is sitting up in a cart on her own for the first time. She is just getting too big!

Ava also got to feed Maddy by herself for the first time. She likes to help with babies, so of course when she saw her Aunt Dee Dee feeding Maddy she wanted to give it a try.

She did a great job, and actually got the food in her mouth!

The only problem is, Ava too a litte too long getting it to her mouth...and it was driving Maddy a little crazy. You don't mess with a hungry girl!!

She eventually just grabbed the spoon from Ava...and stuck it in her mouth herself!

and stuck it in her mouth herself!

As always Maddy, we loved seeing you and can't wait to come and crash your place again!

Fun with Friends

2009-02-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

We recently went to the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort for lunch with our good friends Damon, Tara, and Ava's partner in crime Gavin. They had a great time eating together and chasing eachother around afterwards. We love going to the Hyatt...there is always so much to do!!

Ava and Gavin at their own little waiting table.

Ava loves to be chased!!

My little cheese ball heading out to the park after lunch!

She is such a ham!!

Better hurry up Gavin...she's a man eater!!

Cindy Lou Hoo?

2009-01-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

Ava took her bow out to get ready for her bath and who should I see...

but Cindy Lou Hoo Standing in front of me!

(She even tried to give me the BIG Cindy Lou Hoo teeth. Hehehe)

First Time with PigTails!

2009-01-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

OK, so Ava's hair isn't really long enough for pigtails, but I decided to try anyway. She looked SO cute and like such a little girl...not a baby. Oh I can't wait for all of the hair styling days to come! :)

The look I get lately when I try and take posed pictures with Ava. Lol.

You might recall the last time was for Christmas card pics. I don't know why she does it, but it is so funny to me.

Look at that cute girl with pigtails!

I just can't get enough of them! Don't be surprised if she has them next time you see her. (even though half of her hair is hanging in the back and some in the front. hehe)

Love that toothy grin!

Christmas Festivities

2009-01-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a Christmas it has been! We were on the go the whole time. We started out by staying the week of Christmas with my sister and her husband in their brand new house in Keller. My Mom, Stepdad, and two baby sisters even came out to spend a couple of nights with us all. We celebrated Christmas Eve with my Dad and my Stepmom's family. We had a wonderful Christmas Day experience with my Mom's side of the family, and were so blessed to share in Maddy's (and Lawson's) first Christmas together. We didn't get Hunter until the day after Christmas, so Ava had half of her Christmas in Keller, and the other half in Bastrop.

The weekend after Christmas we went to College Station to spend the night with Jamie's parents and visit with his family. Jamie's oldest brother, his wife and three kids came back to Bastrop with us and stayed a couple of nights.

We rang in the New Year at home after church. You just can't stay out/up late anymore with a toddler. ;)

The weekend after Christmas Jamie and Hunter attended a youth retreat at a wonderful camp just outside of Leakey, Texas near San Antonio. They had an amazing time at a beautiful nature campsite (according to the boys), and Hunter really got to bond with some of the other youth at our church, and got a lot out of the lessons.

Phew! Now that the holidays are over, we look forward to relaxing and getting back in to our old routine. We loved being able to visit with so many family and friends over the holidays and do look forward to next year!!

Christmas morning at Aunt Dee Dee and Uncle Eric's house. Santa made sure to find Ava here! He left her her own pink pram stroller!

Ava's stocking complete with some of her favorite characters Pooh and Piglet.
"WHaaaaat? I can't believe my eyes! Santa came!!"
She loved her stroller!!

She hadn't opened any other gifts yet, so Grandma Sherri put Tucker (her yorkie) in the stroller for Ava to push around. She thought it was too much fun!

Tucker stayed in there the whole and never tried to jump out, even with her wreckless driving! ;)

Ava after her Christmas breakfast. Apparently is was finger licking good and relaxing.

Ava opened a few gifts before all of the family arrived. She got a doll for her stroller. I don't think it is the exact doll she asked Santa for! HAHAHA! I love that face...for some reason it is a recurring face when opening gifts....

"Don't worry Mom, I love her!"

All pretty in her Christmas dress, ready for more gifts...

...or maybe not. There is that face again. Guess this time the gift wasn't big enough.

Ava and I opening gifts. I was the Santa who handed out all of the gifts, so I had to wear a hat.

Momma took time to open a gift for herself, guess Ava wasn't too happy about that.

Another disgruntled face. Hahaha. I had no idea there were so many until I started looking at all the pics. Just cracks me up! Guess she is just a little princess.

Getting ready for Christmas #2 with Bubby.

The damage after all of the gift opening!!

Ava's big gift...a motorized 4-Wheeler! She loves it...Daddy thought she just had to have it!

Hunter modelling one of two skii jackets he got, new skii pants, and a new skii hat. (If you can't tell, our fam is big on skiing.) ;)

Our Christmas tradition...going to eat breakfast on Christmas morning in our pajamas. (No makeup for the ladies). Since we didn't have Hunter on Christmas Day this year, we had to go the following morning after we got him. It was still just as much fun! You should see all of the looks and smiles we get when we walk in. Just spreading the Christmas cheer!! So much fun! I have been doing this with my family since I was in high school or earlier.

Hunter and Jamie had matching pj's and Ava and I had matching. Hehe...

"Cheese!"

Visiting with Jamie's family. Our fam with Jamie's grandmother. The last time we saw her was last Christmas when Ava was just a few months old. I was so glad she got to see Ava so grown up! ;)

We hope everyone else had as wonderful a Christmas as we did!

Meeting Brylee June

2008-12-20T18:46:00.000-08:00

While we were in Arlington, we had the pleasure of visiting Tanna and meeting Miss Brylee June. She is SO SO cute and tee tiny. It is hard for me to remember Ava ever being that small. It was almost uncomfortable holding something so small. :) Ava had fun running around playing, and wasn't jealous at all of me holding another baby. Brylee was beautiful and slept the entire visit. It was neat getting to visit with Tanna, and just hang out with our little girls. We hope to visit them again soon!

Ava was very sweet when we sat her next to Brylee. She kept trying to stick Brylee's pacifier in her mouth even though she was sound asleep. Ava is OBSESSED with pacifiers even though she never took one herself when she was a baby...she likes to steal them from other kids and chew on them now.
Checking her out...very gently.

Giving Brylee a hug as best she can.

The Big Move

2008-12-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday Ava and I loaded up and headed to Arlington to help Diana and Eric pack up and move. Since Diana couldn't take off of work, I packed up her house. I don't mind helping pack, move and unpack when it is not MY stuff. It was not stressful in the least. My brothers friend had a moving truck, and we had plenty of help loading and unloading. It was an easy move, and by the end of the day we were hanging decorations in the new house! We look forward to hosting Christmas in her new house soon.

Ava all bundled up ready to watch everyone load up the moving truck.

Loading up the old house in Arlington...

...Diana and Maddy getting ready to walk into their new house for the first time on moving day...in Heritage Trace in Keller.

Ava did her part helping squash old boxes after unpacking in the new kitchen. She was so proud of herself.

Ava watching me pack up the car getting ready to head back to Austin. She was making the funniest faces up against the glass. I wish I could have caught more of them, but I couldn't get the camera out fast enough. IT WAS COOOOLD!

CONGRATS ERIC, DIANA & MADDY ON YOUR NEW HOME!!!

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

Well we managed to get a few pictures taken for Christmas cards with one teenage boy and a one year old girl. PHEW!! Neither one had a very long attention span or patience for taking pictures...but we were able to get some good ones!

Ava started out by giving us the evil eyes...I think she knew what was coming.

We started out trying to take some outside, but all Ava wanted to do was play...so we got a very fake smile out of her while Hunter was trying to hold her down.

I love Ava's smile in this one. We had to start taking them standing up because Ava would cooperate on the ground. :)

Out of all of the pictures, this is the only one where Hunter showed his smile full of braces. Ava was just trying to escape.

So we moved inside to the fireplace. Hunter was getting tired, but Ava had some great teethy smiles. She is so cute in this one!!

We ended in front of the Christmas tree. I love her 8 pearly whites....Hunter is DONE by this point!!
...but he posed for one final one...letting his baby sister kiss him on the cheek! Could they be any cuter??

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2008-12-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

WOW!! I can't believe I have gone THIS long without blogging! Bad bad bad!

I hosted Thanksgiving for Jamie's side of the family this year (around 20ppl), and I think the weeks leading up to preparing for Thanksgiving got me a little stressed and the blog got neglected.

It was a successful Turkey Day. I made my first ever turkey, and no one ended up sick. :)I would definitely want to host it again. We painted a football field on our front yard (the guys were in heaven), had a cornhole tournament, and hooked three wagons to the back of our lawn mower for rides around the neighborhood for the kids. It was a blast! Oh, and Jamie's little sister announced that she was engaged...to someone we have never met, nor knew existed before Thanksgiving, so that was interesting. ;)

Riding on the "Turkey Express"

My FAVORITE thing about the holidays....all of the desserts!!!!

Ava has also had another bout of RSV/Bronchiolitis this winter. She had it last winter when the weather changed, so I already had the breathing machine and medicine. It lasted about a week along with fever for a week, and if she even smelled or tried to eat food she would vomit because the drainage was so thick. Poor baby. It turned into an ear infection, and she had to take her first antibiotics. She is better now, but the breathing machine is still handy.

Hunter had another spot of staph come up again...this time on his arm. NOT FUN! We think he keeps getting it from school. Although football season is over, he still has athletics. They are lifting weights, and have to change into school provided work out clothes. Hunter has special permission to take his home every day and wash them, but every other teenage boy has to lift weights in clothes that only get washed once a week. YUCK!! So needless to say staph is brewing all around him, and he is very susceptible to it. More meds (for the whole family), more doctors visits, and more strict cleaning. :(

Ava is getting SO big. I can see her changing before my eyes every day. She can sign eat, drink, baby, more, ball, all done, and milk off the top of my head. She is obsessed with birds, and LOVES to watch My Friends Tigger and Pooh on the Disney Channel. She still loves giving hugs and kisses, and has finally starting giving kisses with her mouth closed. Woo Hoo!

We have really been enjoying the cooler weather. We have been reading outside in the hammock wrapped up in a blanket, wagon rides around the neighborhood, dinner and Smores out at the Hyatt Lost Pines, and Christmas Light shows around town.

I finally finished putting up the Christmas decorations that were strewn all around the house. I actually have most of the presents wrapped and under the tree which is pretty amazing even to me. I have a few more things to buy, but mostly gift cards. I am beyond excited for Ava to open gifts and participate in Christmas this year! It is going to be so much fun!

Such a cutie in Winter clothes!

Ava LOVES books. She prefers "reading" a book over playing with toys....

especially reading in the hammock!

"Go faster Mama!"

Getting ready to go eat some Smores...mmmmmm

Our Christmas tree with a few of the gifts underneath.

"The stockings are hung by the chimney with care..."

Ava is obsessed with the dancing Santa! As soon as it comes on she starts dancing too!

Ava has her own Christmas tree...complete with pink bird! She has to see it every day.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

We hope to see you all soon!

Places I am finding Ava

2008-11-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Ava is really enjoying climbing on and into things. This particular morning I found her playing IN her toy basket. When I found the camera she gave me a big cheese smile!

The next thing I knew she was crying because she got herself stuck in the drawer of her little oven. The drawer was only open about 6 inches, and I still can't figure out how in the world she got herself in there! It is the tiniest drawer, and it was filled with all her pots, pans and bowls.

I can't turn my back for a second!!

Jamie's Birthday in Lexington

2008-11-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went out to our land in Lexington (Texas) for Jamie's birthday with his side of the family. His three older brothers and their families, his parents and little brother were all there. The first time in years that we were all together out there. All that was missing was his little sister.

Ava had so much fun. She got to..... visit with the cows- (which she found out she DOES NOT like. They are too big and when they moo it is just too loud. She clings to you tightly and is almost in tears.)

Checking out the cows with cousin Jessica from a safe distance.

...Play in the dirt...

....take a walk down by the pond with Aunt Pam...

....and most importantly she got to ride around with Momma on a 4-wheeler. Girlie LOVES anything motorized! 4-wheelers, go karts, lawn mowers, you name it she wants to ride on it and try to steer. Daddy is in trouble!!
When it got dark we celebrated with cake, smores around the camp fire, and a fireworks show.

Happy Birthday again Big Daddy!

Little Milestone

2008-11-09T13:53:00.001-08:00

Ava ate for the first time ever in a booster seat! WOW. She did great and didn't try to get out once. So proud!

GO AGGIES!

2008-11-09T13:28:00.001-08:00

The day after Halloween, we all got up and got ready to head to College Station to attend the A&M game. At the last minute Stacey called and offered up tickets to Michelle, Heather and I to go! Jamie and Hunter found some seats online, and so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go.

Before we left we went and had breakfast with Damon, Tara and Gavin. D&T both attended UT, so they of course dressed in their Longhorn attire and us in our Aggie gear. I think every single person in the restaurant stopped by and asked how in the world we were friends. I wish we could have all taken a picture together. I guess you could say opposites attract.

Ava in her Aggie cheerleader outfit. I know they don't actually have cheerleaders, but isn't she cute?

Look at those cuties!

Don't look too closely...no makeup on yet :(

With the girls before the game...eating a little grub.

Michelle, me, Stacey and Heather.

Finally in! Michelle and Heathers first ever A&M game! They are in for some fun! I could actually see Jamie and Hunter from our seats. What are the odds!

WOO HOO the Aggies won!

After the game out on the field being silly!

Aren't these ladies gorgeous?

After the game we went to pick up Ava and then all went out to eat. Afterwards, Jamie and Hunter headed home with Ava, while I got to have a girls night slumber party in College Station. I think it was the first time ever to stay away from Ava. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We got coffee, watched a chick flick, and stayed up way too late talking and laughing until we cried. We all four tried to sleep in one bed, which really didn't work out. The next day we all went shopping before they took me home. I can't wait until January when we all get together for another Fabulous Five Weekend....this time WITH Katrina and her baby belly!

Frightfully Fun Halloween

2008-11-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun on Halloween. Damon, Tara and Gavin came over to go trick or treating with us. It was so neat to have Gavin and Ava go out in their costumes together. They had so much fun!!

Ava in her chick costume getting ready to leave.
Gavin was SO cute as a turtle!

What a family picture! I went as a farmer with Ava as my chick. Jamie found a wig at the store and had to have it, so he went as a disco guy. Huner was a redneck...complete with dirty blonde mullet , pork chops and tattoo arms! Telling eachother ghost stories with their flashlights.
They started off trick or treating door to door in the wagon with Big Daddy......but we had to let them walk up to a couple. Aren't they so cute from the back?

When we got home we let them have one sucker from their bags. I have NEVER seen so much drool come out of two small babies. Their mouths must have been going CRAZY with that much real sugar!! My floors were covered with stickiness! Literally...like two faucets of drool!

Damon and Tara stayed for a slumber party!! We all played Wii and ate candy until we were all sick! It was a BLAST!

I can't wait until next year when the babies will understand more of what is going on. Hopefully our Halloween slumber party will become a tradition!! Tara-your house next year? ;)

BOO at the Zoo

2008-10-28T09:21:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday Ava and I went to Boo and the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was so much fun! We met up with Michelle and Austin at their house to get the kids ready and try and take a few pics before we headed out.

Guess what Ava is going to be for Halloween.....

A chick!!

Her best chick impression!

While we waited Banks gave Ava a ride in his John Deer Gator. Ava had a blast riding around in the back. She was actually belly laughing!

Banks had such a serious look on his face while he was driving....all business.

Cooper joined in on the fun too! I was laughing SO hard and Michelle was just running along behind making sure the girlies didn't fall it. It was hilarious!

My little chick! Isn't she so cute?

This was the best picture we could get with all three of them.

Best buddies!

This little chick was so fluffy, she barely fit in the stroller.

Some of the animals were still out when we got to the zoo. She got to see a gorilla, elephant, zebra and giraffe. Her eyes were SO big looking at these large strange animals. I can't wait to take her back during regular hours with her Daddy.

Checking out the animals with her Uncle Austin.

There were several Treat Stations set up throughout the zoo where they handed out candy for the kids. There was also a carnival type section for little and big kids for prizes. Ava enjoyed them all!

There were all kinds of intricately carved animal pumpkins in their pumpkin patch. We tried to get one with the gorilla head.

Matt and Heather met us out there as well. It was definitely fun, and we can't wait to go back next year!

We came away with lots of candy and fun memories with friends. We just wish Jamie and Hunter could have been there to share in Ava's first Boo at the Zoo experience.

Arlington Visit

2008-10-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon we headed to Arlington. I had a doctors appointment on Monday morning, so we decided to go down a little early to attend a birthday party and go to Boo and the Zoo. We had fun while we were there, but always seems like too short of a visit!!

Ava and Maddy playing with the exersaucer....

...Maddy did not like sharing her favorite toy with Ava....

...so how does Ava decide to get her to stop crying? Stick her finger in Maddy's mouth of course. It worked! Ava just kept it in there and continued to play with her other hand. ;)

That night we went to Landrie's 1st birthday party. She was born a week after Ava. We didn't tell anyone (besides my sister) that we were coming in to town. It was a nice surprise for the family when we showed up!

My little brother Chase and Maddy! He was lovin on both of his nieces all night!!
Chase and Ava. Ava was not too happy about being held. Now that she is a walker, she hardly ever wants to be picked up and held.

Chase's wife Nicole and Maddy
Diana asked if she could eat the giant cupcake that was used as decoration.

Diana and Madison (aka Maddy #1) enjoying the yummy cupcake!!

I didn't get one picture of Landrie. :( I was too busy chasing Ava all night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDRIE!!

We can't wait to come play with you again!!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

2008-10-28T08:39:00.001-07:00

My dear husband turned the big 3-6 this past Saturday. YIKES he is getting OLD! It is so neat that his and Ava's birthdays are just 5 days apart. Last year with celebrated at home with our 5 day old daughter. This year we ate at the nicest restaurant in little ole Bastrop...Nancy's Steakhouse. ;) After dinner we went to Starbucks (yes we actually have one in our small town), sat on the patio and enjoyed the cool fall weather, some coffee, and some homemade pecan pie (Jamie's favorite!). It was a wonderful evening and Jamie really enjoyed his birthday celebration.

I think Ava was caught off guard in this pic....mid bite....hehe. Doesn't Hunter look SO old? He is turning into a young man before my very eyes!

ONE YEAR PICS

2008-10-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

I took Ava to her last monthly photo session the Friday before her birthday. Her "first year" frame with a picture each month from birth to one year is full. Just putting in the last picture was so sad for me. I thought it would take forever to fill it, but sadly time flew by.

I had these pictures taken and put them up around the house for her party, along with her first year frame and a slide show of pictures from her first year of life on the tv...just so people could look back on her life with me.

Now we will be like normal people and only go in every 3 months or so, and then taper off to once a year. :(

She was kissing and hugging the big bear!

I made her a candy themed cake to take pictures with....

...she ended up just wanting to play in it with her foot. ;)

Poor Hunter!!

2008-10-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

So here's the story on Hunter. Last week Hunter noticed a bump coming up on his stomach. He didn't think anything of it, until it started getting bigger (about the size of a large marble) and got a black dot on it in addition to a fever. Hunter's mom along with Jamie decided to take him to Dell Childrens Hospital. In addition to that large bump there were several small ones surrounding a large scrape Hunter had on his knee from football practice. It turned out to be Staph. That was last Wednesday, they sent him home with oral antibiotics, and told him to come back on Saturday...the day of Ava's party (why I look so ragged in all the pictures from her party).

That morning when they went back for a follow up, they told them that he was not responding to the antibiotics, and that his cultures came back and it was a much more serious for of Staph than they had first thought. He would need to be hospitalized and put on an IV antibiotic. They had to cut open all of his sores to clean them out, and have a 12 inch wicking system put in each sore to drain out the staph. OUCH!! They had to change these daily and only gave him Tylenol with Codine for the pain. I felt SO bad for him!! I can't imagine having that done....having someone yanking out 12 inches of long packing out of a sore with barely any pain meds. You feel so bad and so helpless when one of your kids has to go through something you yourself would dread having happen.

He did well in the hospital and was released on Monday. He will miss the rest of this week of school...which means he will miss a week and a half of school which I am not too happy about, and cannot play football for the rest of the season. They don't want him to bust open any of the healing sores. :( I feel really bad about him missing the rest of his season.

So, you may be asking yourself how did Hunter get Staph?? Well this part makes me REALLY mad!! Every day in football they have to be in full practice uniform to practice. Imagine for a moment 60 or so 13 and 14 yr old teenage boys out in the Texas heat every day in full pads practicing and sweating! Well, they only wash these uniforms ONCE A WEEK!!! SO GROSS!!! We had NO idea! So, Hunter kept rescraping his knee and then putting on his disgusting old sweaty clothes that had been stewing each day in yesterdays filth and sweat...containing all kinds of gross stuff....including staph and fungus. Oh, did I mention that one if his armpits is covered in a fungus??!!

When we contacted the school they said that they would clean the locker room and wash the uniforms, but that there is no way for them to wash the uniforms every day. They are school property, so the boys are not allowed to take them home and clean them. Disgusting right?? Isn't this some sort of health code violation?? If I were a parent and I made my kids wear the same clothes every day and only washed them once a week, wouldn't I get in trouble with Child Protective Services?!! Would any of the coaches/teachers/school board reps work out in the same clothes every day and only wash them once a week? NO WAY!! But they are making these children do it, and now mine got sick because of it!! I don't know what I am going to do....I don't know if there is anything I can do....but I can't just do nothing. I bet you the majority of other parents don't know they don't wash their clothes, and that Hunter got sick because of it. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

Hunter, Jamie, Ava and I wheeling around Hunter outside the hospital. The first time in days he was allowed out of his room. (Can you see Ava licking Jamie's hair? She is obsessed with hair. She will pretend to pick at your hair and eat it...hahaha.) Playing in one of the water gardens outside the hospital. Dell Childrens is amazingly beautiful and has so many neat places and things for the children to do.
Uncle Bryan and Hunter
Bryan (Jamie's older brother) Laurie, Abbie and Jake. They drove all the way from College Station (2 hrs) just to spend an hour visiting with Hunter. SO SWEET!! It meant SO much to Hunter that they did that just to see him! Thank you guys!
Hunter and Ava. They both loved being wheeled around the hospital together...racing down the halls!

Hunter still has the wicking system in place. He went back yesterday and had it changed out. They said he is looking good, and will go back again in a couple of days. For Hunters sake, I hope that they take that stuff out for good! Please keep him in your prayers that he makes a full recovery....and that no one else in the family gets it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!!!

2008-10-22T09:13:00.001-07:00

Ava had a wonderful first birthday party this past Saturday. The weather was beautiful, and lots of friends and family came to celebrate. It was crazy getting ready for the big day...I had lots of family coming in that day to spend the night, and Hunter had to be admitted into the hosptial that morning unexpectedly, so Jamie was not there to help me get ready...which means I had to run all of his errands that morning and was not there when all of my family was arriving. Luckily they were there to help me get everything in place before the party started. I don't know what I would have done if they weren't there to help. I did run out of time, and had to just throw my hair up. :( I guess I am glad I atleast got to put on some makeup, and Jamie was able to show up for the party for a little bit before he had to head back to the hospital.

Ava had a candy themed party. I set up a candy bar for all of the adults and older kids to enjoy, and a mini baby bar with dried fruit and yogurt drops for the wee ones...in lou of goodie bags. We had a gumball guessing game and the winner got to take home a Candyland game. It turned out really great.

I made a large birthday cake and her mini cake and used colorful twizzlers as decoration.

We put tables on the front porch so that everyone could eat and watch their kids play at the same time.

Lollipops around the sidewalk leading up to our house. Banks was actually licking them! I mean he had to make sure! ;)

Lots of fun toys to play with!

Getting ready to open gifts.

Ava was so blessed and got so many wonderful things from her family and friends. Thank you all SO much!!

Mommy and Daddy got her a new red convertible!
She LOVES it!! Good thing her tutu fit!

Cooper shows us how she says CHEESE! Love those teeth!!
Banks had the MOST fun! All of the grandmothers at the party kept on giving in to him and letting him have more candy, even though momma said no. hehe. I think he really enjoy the candy party the most!!
Grandma Candy and Grandpa Jimmy

Maddy. She is getting to be quite the chunk!
Gavin enjoying some lunch and cake.
Grandmomma (my grandmother) trying on Shelby's (14 yr old cousin) glasses. HAHAHA

Poppi (my stepdad Rick) and Maddy (my sis Diana's baby)

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday

She LOVED everyone singing to her and all the attention!

She didn't know what to do when we gave her the cake. She kept looking at us like she knew she shouldn't be doing it. ;)

We had to put some icing in her mouth to entice her. I think she likes it!

She didn't like using her hands, so she just bit right into the cake. It was like she was in a pie eating contest and couldn't use her hands. It was too funny!

We had a great day! THANK YOU to everyone who made the three hour drive to come down and share in this special day!! It was so wonderful to have you all there!! I can't believe my little baby is ONE. She is growing so fast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY PRECIOUS AVA JANE!

Ava's A Cookin'

2008-10-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

So I decided to get Ava a kitchen for Christmas. I found a great deal online for a pink retro kitchen, and it was just too good to pass up. So I ordered it. I just couldn't resist putting it together as soon as it came in. I mean I had to make sure nothing was damaged right? I couldn't wait until December and then call if something was wrong right? ;) It is the CUTEST little kitchen!! She already has all kinds of accessories (pots, pans, food, utensils, etc.) to cook with. Maybe Daddy will forget this was supposed to be her big Christmas gift, and we can get something else. Hehe.

Ava seeing her kitchen for the first time after she woke up...hence the pajamas. I think by the look on her face she likes it.

Checking out all the doors and drawers.

Standing in the drawer.....

.....to reach the timer. Momma's gonna have to keep an eye on this.

I think the kitchen was a BIG hit!! She is going to have so much fun playing and pretending with this as she grows.

(Oh, and her Mrs. Tara got her the CUTEST apron from Anthropologie for her birthday. I will have to post a pic with her wearing it with her kitchen.)

Goin Bananas!

2008-10-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

This past Monday Ava and I, along with several other stay at home moms and kiddos from my church met up at Goin Bananas Playnasium for some fun! They have tons of bounce houses for kids to have a blast on. What I like is they have age limits on certain ones-even some for kids 2 and under! That way big kids aren't running over little kids. Now that Ava is walking, she was all over the place...of course never wanting to hold my hand or stay in one area for very long.

Here is one of the 2 and under bounce houses. It is one giant bouncer with several little inflatables inside. You just set them down inside and let them go!

Ava saying hi from the top of the little slide.

Ava and Gavin
Mommy and Ava going down the BIG slide!
She loved it and wanted to go again!
Tara and Gavin getting ready to go down.
Alana and Branna going down....Branna has the BIGGEST smile on her face!

They also had an area for smaller kids to play with toys and plastic houses/slides.

Gavin and Corbin

Alexa
Ava and Alexa. Can you believe Alexa is older than Ava? I think Ava is going to be tall!

It was also one of the moms birthdays, so Tara made us some wonderful banana pudding to have as a snack! It was SO yummy!!! (Esther & Alexa, Alana & Branna, Pieper & Olivia, Jamie & Corbin, Tara & Gavin w/Ava)

Jacob and Caroline
Happy Birthday Jamie!

We had a blast and will definitely be going back!! It was only $5 for the both of us!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful group of stay at home moms to have play dates with! I love them all!!

Sweet Day with Gavin!

2008-10-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

Gavin and Tara came over to play and help do a few things to help get ready for Ava's party. Gavin and Ava always have the best time together. Ava is having a candy themed party, so we all took a trip to the Sugar Shack in Bastrop to get a few specialty candies. We gave the kiddos their first suckers...sugar free of course...and they LOVED them!

"Mmmmm...this is good!"
Ava wasn't so sure about hers at first.
Giving it a try...
Luvin it!! Definitely can't live without these...

Going into a "sugar" induced coma.

After dinner, while Tara was loading up the car, I took a few pics of the kids. They were such troopers all day long! But as the pictures progressed, you could tell they were done for the day.

So sweet.
"Uh Gavin...what are you doing??"
"Mom, do you see where he is wiping that?" (look at her big eyes)

"GROSS!"

Poor Gavin is bored out of his mind! Thinking of a way to get Ava back for the previous pictures.

Guess whatever Gavin told her did the trick!

We had a fun time, and always enjoy their company. I hope Gavin won't be too upset with me for sharing these pics. ;)

Baby Calleigh Nicole

2008-10-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Crystal had her second child, a baby girl named Calleigh, on October 5th. I was lucky enough to be able to drive to Waco a few days after her birth to visit with her and her family. Jamie stayed home with Ava so that I could visit with Calleigh without chasing her around the entire time. She was SOOOO precious. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. Cute as a button with black hair. Totally opposite of Cameron, her 2 year old brother, who is very light skinned, light blonde hair and blue eyes. We had a wonderful visit, and I can't wait to go back and see her again!!

Welcome to the world Calleigh Nicole!!

Busy Busy Busy

2008-10-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have been extremely busy lately!! I have been getting ready for Ava's first birthday party coming up this Saturday, and all of the company that is coming to stay with us as well. Also, Ava has started walking...everywhere! I have no free time anymore-chasing her around, which is why I have been behind in blogging. I hope to be able to catch up! ;)