Too cute for her own good...

Ava doesn't like having the sun in her eyes while we are in the car. She makes a face that looks like she is sucking on a lemon! So today she got to try out her 100% UV protection baby sunglasses. She smiled when I put them on her and then she proceeded to act as if she has worn them all her life (all 3 1/2 months of it).

She is still getting used to the idea of napping in her crib. She has also started making some of the funniest faces and noises. She is still on the verge of a giggle, but not quite there yet....she holds her breath and balls up her fists and shakes all over....it looks a lot like a seizure, but is actually an internal giggle-fest!

It has been a crazy month since we last posted!

Ava has changed so much in the last month! She is now about 3 1/2 months old and on the verge of a giggle! She babbles nonstop....many of you may find that hard to believe, but it's true. She is such a good baby. She is very busy and anxious to sit up on her own. She is constantly lifting her head off the bed and struggling to be upright. Drooling heavily is her new thing and she is going through multiple outfits each day because of it. She is pulling anything she can find into her mouth and has recently discovered her thumbs. She is so excited to have two of them that she routinely puts them both in her mouth at the same time. Her smile absolutely melts us!! As soon as I can figure out how to upload video I will add some.

Oh the drool!

Poor MeeMaw....I hope it washes!

A rare shot of Ava in her crib!

There is so much here to play with!!

Poor sick baby! Ava caught that dreadful cold that is going around after spending 1 whopping day in daycare (if you can call it that). She ended up with a ruptured eardrum! Bless her soul! She is in remarkably good spirits in spite of it. Needless to say, she is no longer in said daycare as when I picked her up on her first day, there was 1 teacher there with 8 babies (against state law), she was filthy, her face was red/swollen from crying and she was being fed another baby's bottle. Nice. So I am currently just working per diem when I have family/friends who can watch her until we get into a REAL daycare. BTW, I did leave the woman "caring" for her at that daycare in tears and am quite certain she will need therapy after our "conversation".

Just waking up from a nap...all smiles!

Ava got her 2 month shots today (Feb. 5th)! God bless her heart.

The face of an angel!!!

If you want to get a lot of new photos of Ava, all you have to do is ask Nana to babysit! You end up with lots of great pictures!

One day she will actually sleep in her nursery!

Ava in her Bumbo seat. She loves it! She still has a little bit of a bobble-head, but is getting stronger each day!

Don't you wonder what they could be thinking?

She looks so small on the couch!

Ava watching Baby Einstein videos in her Bumbo seat. She is actually more into CNN and Sports! Honestly, anything that makes music or that "talks to her" makes her smile.

My Heart!

Yeah!! We won South Carolina!! I can't wait for Super Tuesday!

Look who is active in politics at 9 weeks old!! God bless her! Can't you see how excited she was as we watched Obama make his very inspiring speech tonight! She was overcome with emotion....she even cried for a bit.

Daddy's Girl

Just another lazy Sunday chillin with Daddy and watching football. This is one of her favorite things. We think she likes the sound of the announcers voices. Either that, or she just loves curling up on her Daddy and listening to him yell at the TV. Either way, she eventually falls asleep on him and sleeps through all of the excitement. We just want to eat her up!

Look who slept through the night!!!!!!

Ava hasn't slept more than 3 hours in a row since she was born. She very much likes to be awake, although not always happy when she is! We saw the midwife who taught our childbirth classes the other night and she asked us if Ava was sleeping through the night....we just laughed. She told us we didn't pay close enough attention to her and to "swaddle that baby tight" like a pea-pod and she would sleep through the night. We told her that Ava likes to have her arms out of the covers. We now don't care if Ava wants her arms out or not....it's pea-pod time!

We swaddled her up tight and placed her in her swing next to our bed and she slept from 11pm until 6am. I didn't sleep at all. She ate at 7pm and we got home late and Brad swaddled her up and she promptly fell asleep without eating. I figured she would wake up to eat at any time, so I

stayed awake to feed her. I kept trying to feed her until finally at 2am, I gave up and put her in her swing next to the bed. Every 15 minutes I checked to see if she was breathing. She managed to sleep all night and I didn't sleep a wink. Finally at 6am, Brad said, "Just get her up". I am exhausted and she is WIDE awake!

Merry Christmas!!

We all had such a nice Christmas! This year I got what I have wanted my entire life and it didn't come in a box. I have wanted a family of my own....and I finally got it. I have the most amazing husband a girl could ask for and a beautiful new daughter as well as an amazing and precious step-daughter. I couldn't ask for more! Plus you all know how wonderful my family is and his is just as terrific! I feel tremendously blessed! Above are some of our photos from the holidays.