Three Months

Jim and I spent some time this weekend looking at videos of Ava from the past three months. Let me tell you, it's so humbling. I guess because we saw her everyday and all day that we didn't realize how tiny she was! She looked like a little monkey... there wasn't an ounce of fat on her. But now, as you can see- she has plumped out to be a healthy twelve pounds or so and is finally growing out of her newborn outfits.

This is my last week home with Ava and to be honest, I am in complete denial. I feel like I am a pretty strong person, but yesterday I was just holding her and thinking that I only have a week left to just look at her all day, and I started to cry! I hope that I don't choke up during a math lesson in two weeks. I can't think of why a math problem would link my thoughts to Ava, but you never know. I hope I can keep it together. When I get mad about going to work, I just think of how lucky I am to have a job with the summers off, I have to work 55 days (yes I counted!) and then I have three months again with Ava. I cannot wait, and will count the days.

Ava's personality is starting to come through a lot more now. She recognizes family and is starting to squeal at us and her toys. It's the best sound in the world! It's so funny to watch her emotions and her facial expressions when she finds her hands or a toy or a light. It's like the simplest things are so interesting and funny.

What is lost... can be RECOVERED!

All 500 of our beautiful pictures of Ava are from our new camera that we got as an early Christmas gift from Mom and Dad Thorburn. However, there were a certain 10 pictures or so that a nurse captured of Jim and me and Ava during her first minutes of life with a camera I bought over 4 years ago before I went to NZ. It was on the fritz but hoped to get one for Christmas- plus, Ava's arrival wasn't supposed to come until AFTER the holidays.

We got home to find that those first and precious pictures were, at some point, destroyed by all the magnetic equipment in the hospital. I have heard words come out of Jim's mouth that I've never heard before when he went to pull them up the day we came home. On top of Ava staying at the hospital and us coming home without her, we didn't have these pictures. He was so upset, as was I.

Someone at Jim's work (thank you George), suggested some software that you can buy to recover such disasters. And, Voila! $29.99 later, the pictures we thought we would never see, were recovered (along with some from our summer vacation with the Chapa's). Here is one of the newly recovered: it's worth a million dollars in my mind.

10 Weeks

Ava had her 2 month check up on Monday and she is now 10 pounds, 11 ounces and 22.5 inches long. Her cheeks are getting so chubby, her face looks smaller and smaller! She is really filling out her clothes and is finally starting to fit into her 0-3 month outfits. I bought a ladybug outfit for her and her cousin Sophia for their pictures in March and I am afraid Ava's may not fit her then! She is smiling a lot and has figured out how to kick her feet and flail her arms.

We spent SuperBowl Sunday at Jim's parents. It was really fun- Kim, Randy, Nick and Sophia were there and so were the Compau's. It was very loud and fun to watch all the kids! April and I went to a baby store in Birmingham on Tuesday to get these cute cute cute socks that look like socks with Maryjane shoes. We loaded up my Envoy and headed down in the small window we had between Ava nursing and Ryder's lunch, plus is was a super frigid cold day (I think it was 9 degrees). When we were loading the car, April looked at me and said, we would NOT be doing THIS 2 years ago... funny how fast your life changes. April is expecting a little girl in May and we were wondering if 3 car seat will fit in the backseat. Guess we'll find out! Now I see the point of Minivans. No, I will not be getting one. That evening, Ryder kept wanting to kiss Ava, so I had him hold her and he was so sweet. We hurried and snapped a picture. It'll be a great one to blow up at their wedding. :)

Ava went to daycare on Monday for a half a day while Jim and I practiced getting ready in the morning. It went pretty good. I kept myself really busy for those 4 hours. It was harder for Jim because he had to take and leave her. The best part of the daycare situation is that it's April's mom who watches kids from her home, so I'm sure it's a lot harder for people who have to leave their babies with people they don't know. Ava will be spending the days with her best buds (the Compau kids) so it'll probably be her favorite place.