Our Baby is Growing!

Ava is growing! She looks so healthy and happy these days. We are settling into a routine and enjoying our time together as a family! Ava had been sleeping great but then decided that she wanted to wake up about 6X or more a night and be rocked back to sleep every time (by mommy). Also, she had decided she didn't want 2 naps a day, or any naps some days. I was getting very tired but she is doing better (mostly) now! Also, it took 3 weeks but she likes her bath now! We had to very slowly get her used to the water, now she really likes it and reaches out when she sees water running.

Ava is doing new things every day and she said her first words!! They were "Dada" and "Ava"! She has also said, "duck" and "Bye". It's kind of funny her first word was her own name...but I guess she hears it enough! She is trying to say other things too...it's very cute! Here are some more pictures!

Ava's first haircut!

Here's what she thought! Of course her bangs are crooked because she was squirming!

Mommy's helper :)

Reading with Grandma

Playing with her bib & Spencer.

Bath time in the ducky tub!!

With her cousin Ben.

New Pictures

The sweetest face in the world.
Playing Guitar with Daddy!
She loves her playpen! Mommy does too!!
Making Music!

All Dressed Up

Ava dressed up for her first meeting.

She slept through most of the meeting and then woke up and started charming everyone with smiles. She seemed a little overwhelmed with all the attention before we left but she did really well.

More than one baby in the house...

Spencer found Ava's pacifier and was running around with it in his mouth! He thinks he's still the baby.

Visit with Great Grandma

Visit with Great Grandma, Grandma and Auntie (and cousin who is not yet born).

Visit with friends. Ava really didn't want to be held by anyone but me or Jason as you can see. She is very shy and thankfully very attached to us already!

Life With Ava

We are adjusting to life with Ava very well. It feels like we have been together so long...so much longer than a week! We can't imagine life without her! She is such a blessing from Jehovah!

First taste of applesauce.

She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING! We have to watch her every second!

Her new hat. Can she get any cuter?!

Her new walker ($5.00 on craigslist!)

She was so tired after a long day (Dr. visit and blood test) that she fell asleep eating her dinner.

Home at last

We finally made it. It was a very long trip, but Ava did great. We fed her a bottle for takeoffs and landings, and her ears didn't seem to be an issue. She got a little fussy from Amsterdam to Boston, but she really did great. Amsterdam was wonderful too. They have baby rooms with cribs & dim lighting, so we spent our layover there, and Ava was able to crawl and play which I know she enjoyed. Here's a picture from the crib there:
Royal KLM and Northwest were fantastic. We had bassinet seats for both, and the flight attendants were great. We have a "First Flight" certificate from Northwest, and little airplane wings, and they even gave us a bottle of champagne! They really made our flights easier. We had a 2 hour delay in Boston, but that actually went ok (outside of the grouchiest TSA employees on earth). We were on the smallest plane I've ever been on - 1 seat on each side, no luggage overhead etc, but the pilot was very nice to us through the delay. Checkpoints in our airports were simple, but I think we have Ava's beautiful face to thank for that. The scanners weren't much of a problem as Ava carried no contraband:
My family met us in the airport, even with the delay (thank you!!) and Ava was a little overwhelmed. All the faces were looking at her and smiling and she just stared at them, like she wasn't sure quite what to do. The car seat was not her favorite, but she fell asleep just before we got home. She went to her crib and slept for about 4 hours:
All three of us are very tired, but we're doing ok and Ava seems to be adjusting well. Being home as a family is just incredible. The feeling kind of hit both of us late last night as we did some needed unpacking before going to bed. After all the time, paperwork, travel and frustration; we have our daughter, and it is better than we could have imagined.

Coming Home

We are coming home tomorrow! We leave for the airport at 5:30am and will be home Sun. night. I'm sure we won't be posting for at least a few days after we return home.

Right now we are very tired. Jason still doesn't feel good and Ava has had an upset stomach too. Ava does not want to be put down at all when she doesn't feel good so I am very tired! She still gives us lots of smiles, squeals and noises though!

Here's a cute picture from today: