to tell you the honest truth

discovery

ava was so cute yesterday playing in the grass and discovering the little yellow flower there.  basically she wanted to eat it and i did have to take it out of her mouth a few times between taking the pictures.

i love her little hair sprout she has....see, it's growing!  yay! 

posies and pictures

I had fun making a couple head accessories (not really hair accessories yet) for Ava.  She needed some bigger headbands and I saw the cutest shabby posies on Cluck Cluck Sew.  It's a cute crafty quilty blog that's in my sidebar that I am too lazy to do a link for.  She used hers for broaches, but I thought it would be a cute idea for adorning Ava's head!  They were really fun and easy to make.  I just use a bobby pin on the underside of the posie to attach to the headbands and the hat.  That way everything is interchangeable! 

These first pictures are featuring the pink posie attached to a crocheted hat!  They also feature some brotherly love.  ;)  She's so lucky. 

Yes, this is Austin below with a haircut!  That will be another post! 

These next few pictures feature the red posie attached to a headband made from baby tights.  They also feature her latest favorite activity....sucking on her fingers.  Oh, and her chubby legs.  She's so squishable and kissable!

This photo was taken at a park on Memorial Day.

Here's me and Ava.  She's my sweetie pie and I can't help but kiss her a LOT every day!

Bye!

blessed.

A few weeks ago Ava was given her baby blessing at church by her wonderful daddy.  It was a special day to see little Ava looking like a perfect angel.  Pete adores Ava so much and Ava sure lights up big when Pete chats with her.  We were so happy to have my parents here for a few days so they could be at the blessing. My mom and I got to go shopping together and also made sure we got in on the Sonic hype.  What that means is that we got a new Sonic here in town and the lines have been OUTRAGEOUSLY long, but we couldn't resist.  My dad was great and played lots of Wii with my boys.  For the blessing we were so grateful that a few of our siblings and their families could also attend.  We loved having everyone over afterwards for a spaghetti dinner.  It was a wonderful day! 

The blessing dress that Ava wore was also worn by her slightly older cousins, Zoe and Maya.  We were so thrilled that she could wear such a beautiful dress!  A true heirloom!  Thank you Mom and Dad!  :)  Ava's darling headband was made by my sister, Talia.  I love it! 

Now I'm off to care for this little cutie pie!

a picture overload for your viewing pleasure

I THINK maybe, just a little bit, my life is slowly getting a tad back to some sort of a small smidgin of normality.  That could definitly be considered an overstatement, but at least I was able to do a little photo shoot with Ava yesterday.  YAY!  And I did have lunch with a couple friends a few days ago, so that was really great, however....The house is still a bomb and I still don't shower much and my kids generally watch movies, play video games and eat cereal and sandwiches.  Thankfully I have a husband that cooks so we all get saved by him as far as our stomaches are concerned.  All the while, I am bouncing and holding and feeding and more holding and walking and pacing and bouncing and holding.  Ava likes to be held.  Yes, one of those.  Taylor did this to me too.  She also likes to eat....a lot!  Every 2 hours like clockwork (or sooner).  Another footstep she is following of Taylor's.  Gee, I wonder if she'll throw those oh so lovely tantrums like Taylor too!  I DO hope she gets his long skinny legs!  :)  At this point, she is just totally chubbing out on us.  In a month the girl put on 2 1/2 lbs.!  At just 5 weeks, she weighed in at 11 lbs. and up in the 75% and 95% for her height and weight.  Happy and healthy....what more could I ask for???  Well, okay, more sleep, a shower and some more hands free time, but that will come all too soon.  For now.....just more of THIS:

The End!

more of ava.....(surprise, surprise!)

ava was making her cute little "ooh face", as we call it around here...

and more sleeping pictures....

snug as a bug.

well, off i go to stare at my baby.  :)

c-ya!

just a sweet sleeping baby

love her.

moving slowly

So, it's the joys of recovery now.  I am slowly doing better each day and Ava is doing just fine.  She is a sweet little baby and isn't giving us any trouble.  (I know I know, knock on wood.)  She sleeps alot during the day, of course, and likes her bottles and paci.  Sleeping decent at night too, as long as she is snuggled up with me.  Today I am engorged since I won't be breastfeeding, so that's always a lovely feeling to have.  Hopefully that will start going away in the next couple days.  I'm so lucky to have Pete around to be of help, something we haven't been able to do in the past.

We totally enjoyed having my parents here for a couple days to visit with us and help around the house!  They also picked up some food for us, made meals and took the boys to the movie.  We also appreciated so much Paul and Kerri staying with the boys while we went to the hospital.  Kerri had her 6 kids here, along with our 4 kids, ALL day long on Tuesday about 13 hours!? while Paul went to work, so we are surely feeling indebted to her.  We are grateful for the ladies at church who are also helping by bringing us dinners and I have appreciated all the sweet comments and phone calls, congratulating us on our new little Ava.  THANK YOU ALL! 

I can't wait to feel back to normal so I can really start enjoying all this girly fun. 

Love at first sight. 

 

It's that 'looking for food ' face.

 

 

Grandpa Carlsen and Ava

Grandma Carlsen and Ava

I don't have any hats or bows yet (I know, it's shameful!) so I have been using the ribbon I have to tie into her hospital hats.

Isaac and Ava

C-ya!

welcome baby ava!

Ava Noel was born at 5:41pm Febuary 16th 2009   8 lbs. 4.oz.  20 1/2"

All is well, will do more updates when we get home!  The laptop is kind of annoying to use, especially for the pictures, so I only did a couple.  We plan to go home tomorrow evening!  YAY!

  

sympathy o.k.

Would have liked to have made this, but not really happening these days.  From nanaCompany.  Love her things!

I cannot believe I am this close to my due date!  We are hoping it is because she is a super laid back spirit and is busy daydreaming and not noticing the date.  Anyway, your sympathies ARE allowed at this point!

Earlier today I was thinking, hmmm...which is worse, me not in labor yet (or cuddling a newborn already) or Natalie not knowing the gender of her baby!??!  I cannot decide, but both are worth your sympathetic thoughts.  I seriously feel for ya Natalie!   

SO..........what happens from here?  My doc gets back into town today at some point, but I can't get into the office for a visit until TUESDAY (remember it's president's day on Monday, so he is not in!), MY DUE DATE.....the girls at the front desk told me to be there at 9 am on Tuesday and I will pretty much be pleading my doctor for a delivery that day.  I have no doubt that he will get this baby show on the road, so...........I'm pretty much hanging in there until then. 

My ultra sound was interesting on Wednesday because the pictures were less clear, kinda blurry.  She said it was because the bones have calcified now so it is harder to see things.  It was amazing the difference from just last weeks ultrasound.  The baby is DONE! 

My "substitute" doctor predicted around 7-ish lbs., so we'll see.  My doctor hasn't ever given me this kind of prediction, so I was interesting to hear a guesstimate.  I am measuring between a 34-35.  I think that is the only reason why I have been mentally able to handle going FUUUULLLL term, because I figured maybe she just has needed the time to grow more and that is the most important, that she is ready and healthy, not that I do what I can have the baby just because I want to be done.  I mean it's not like I will be pregnant forever or something.  HOWEVER, at this point, she will be fine so I know it's okay to ask the doctor for some help!  :)

Hope you are all having a Happy Valentine's Day!  Pete brought me some red roses and some See's chocolates.  Perfect.  I also tried making some cookies from the Bakerella blog, but they weren't so great, but the kids ate them anyway.  That's about it around here! 

     

39 weeks

Taylor said he couldn't wait until she was born and I said "yeah, well she seems to be taking her time" and he giggled and grinned and said "Like a girl!". 

So here I sit, at 39 weeks, wondering and waiting.  I did check myself into the hospital the other night because her movements have slowed down and it was making me a nervous wreck.  She was moving, but I just wanted to know that her heart rate was okay.....and it was, but I was really glad I went because of the peace of mind.  However, as much as I want to meet little Ava, the hospital gave me the willies.  I was happy to be going home and at the same time, I just wanted to have her.  It's a strange, exciting and totally unpleasant experience to be going to the hospital to have a baby.  That's my opinion anyway.  One I am grateful for, but still....ug.  Anyway, on to to brighter thoughts and pictures.  I have Ava's hospital bag packed and I finished her little baby blanket.

The backing is pink chenille and it measures about 25" X 30".

Here's some of the cute fabrics, most of these are japanese imports:

Here's the bag and it's contents:

Super soft velour outfit from Gymboree.  I love the ruffles on the arms and legs and of course the argyle giraffe.

Soft and cuddly polka dot outfit from Carters.  Aside from it's polka dots, I love the little deer patch and the ric-rac on the collar and pockets.

I need to wash the onsies, don't you think?  So they aren't itchy on her skin?  I haven't taken tags off or washed anything yet.  Should I wash the outfits first?  I can't remember what I did with the boys.  I don't think I was as worried about them because I just knew they were boys.  I have been shown girl parts 5 times though, so what should I do about the washing?   

Kerri brought over this little matching hat she had leftover from her Etsy shop.  I hadn't found a hat yet and this one is perfect since it matches the booties she made.  I thought they would look cute with the polka dot outfit. 

So, that's that!  Now, I guess I need to get my bags ready....oh and something for pete, and make sure the video camera is charged.  We are planning to take the laptop so we can do some updates and pictures while we are there. 

C-ya!