Susan & Morgan...

I talked with my aunt Susan (& cousing Morgan) today and she said that I needed to post some new pictures... and that with each post I do, there should be a requirement of new pictures. Apparently its the hightlight of their day when they get to see pictures.

So here are some new and relatively new pictures of Ava for Susan and Morgan... and everyone else too. Enjoy!

she found her thumb...takes after Mommy

Ava with Reese's Bear

hanging out with Lambie

(dumb picture rotated on me!)

she is learning to stick her tongue out

she didn't want another picture taken!

hanging out with Daddy

more sleep...

Last weekend we finally moved Ava from our room into her crib. She had been sleeping in a basinet next to our bed, it was the basinet that I used as well as my Mother and Grandmother when we were babies. But Ava had started to outgrow it. She would wake herself up when she moved her arms about at night because they would hit the sides... not to mention she'd wake me up as well anytime she moved around. So we figured it was time.

The first night was a little scary for me, for some reason I thought something would happen to her. But I was good and I didn't get up and check on her a thousand times, I actually slept. It was nice getting 4 hours of sleep in a row. But since then our sleep has increased and increased.

Yesterday I mentioned to Nathan that on Dec. 1, thats two Mondays from now, we should try "sleeping through the night in 7 days." By then Ava will be 3 months old and able to sleep through the night by herself. Actually they say any baby that is over 12 lbs doesn't need night feedings and should be sleeping anyway. Not so much the case with our Ava, but anyway.

So last night, just for fun, I decided to lay Ava down in her crib to see what would happen. She was tired anyway, and it was bedtime. She fussed for quite a while, although I didn't let her go too long. I ended up picking her back up and she almost immediately fell asleep. I walked downstairs with her, still sleeping, and turned off the TV and lights, walked back upstairs put her in her crib again. She woke up for maybe 5 minutes and then fell asleep. EUREKA!!! Then to top it off she slept until 6am! I couldn't believe it. I got almost 7 hours of sleep in a row last night.

Oh... there she is. I better get going, the princess is up. I'll try to update again soon, but wanted to share our exciting news.

Ava's Room

So we finally finished Ava's room a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to post a video of it for some time. Unfortunately I'm not camera or computer savy so the video is sideways... so please tilt your head to the left and enjoy!

Halloween and updates...

Happy Halloween...a few days late! This past week we not only had Halloween, but also Ava's two month check up. On Thursday she turned two months old and then Friday we went to the doctor to see how much our little pumpkin had grown... and man has she grown. Ava is now up to 11lbs 7oz (with a soaked diaper) and is 22-1/2 " long. That puts her in the 75% for weight and 50% for length. She is finally fitting into her 0-3 month clothes and we're (I should say "I", although Daddy thinks she always looks awfully cute) enjoying dressing her up when we go out.

front

back


our little pumpkin
the bow doesn't match but she needed it!



tuckered out from all the excitment

waiting on the trick or treaters with our Halloween kitty...

eventually we bundled up as much as possible and went outside to sit with our neighbor Casey. Apparently here in Cranberry people don't come to your door even if your light is on, they expect you to sit outside. It was nice sitting with Casey though, getting to know her better and together watching all the kids having fun. Plus it gave me someone to talk to since Nathan went to Jon and Val's house to help Jon paint the nursery. I am sorry I missed that experience as I got an earful of stories on Saturday night about what I missed.

relaxing with Daddy...look at that grin

not so happy about another picture, but she looked too cute to pass it up.

There hasn't been too much going on here in the Berry Ann household, but we're already looking forward to Christmas.... We planning on spending the holidays here at home as a family and then working our way around to see family probably after the new year. We have so much family to see we have to spread it out over several weekends.

We hope everyone had a great Halloween and ate way too much candy, I know we did!

side note: I really really hate how the layout never plays nicely!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Yes, we know its October and that Thanksgiving isn't until next month but this past weekend we took our first family trip down to Philippi, WV for our family's annual Early Thanksgiving. Every year we get together and have a Thanksgiving meal with the entire extended family and that way we get to see each other and its kind of like a small family reunion. And Thanksgiving seems to be a great thing to celebrate since we all love food... and we have so much to be thankful for!

This year was of course Ava's first Thanksgiving and she got to meet so many people. I think by the Sunday afternoon she was so tired of being passed around, she just couldn't stand it anymore and the fussiness set in. Needless to say, she was also very spoiled and wouldn't let me put her down at all on Monday or Tueseday!

This year was also very special because Ava got to meet her Great Grandpa Jack. Grandpa Jack was recently diagnosed with stage 2 Pancreatic cancer, and so we wanted to get down and see him since he has been sick. Plus, we haven't seen that side of the family since Christmas and we were having withdrawl.

Ava and her Great Grandpa Jack

Ava and her Great Grandma Judi

Ava and Ellis, the two newest additions to the family!

(this is what happens in our family when you fall asleep first)

On Friday night after we had gotten a chance to visit with everyone for a while, we headed up to the college (A.B) for the homecoming dinner. Grandpa was being honored at the dinner for his service to the college. Years ago, about 13 I think, the college named the baseball field after my Grandfather. A big sign saying "Jack Funk Field" was put up and we all attended the ceremony. Well, not too long ago someone took down that sign, so at the homecoming dinner my uncle JD, who happens to be the athletic director at AB, unvailed the new 4'x18' metal sign that is going to replace the old sign. My Grandfather is an amazing man, just ask anyone who has ever been to Philippi... everyone knows Jack Funk! I know he was truly honored by what the college did, although I'm sure he felt he didn't deserve it. We had a lovely time at the dinner and even took a picture of the family that was there.

back row from left: Dad, Nathan, Uncle JD, Uncle Ort, Uncle Don, Chelsea

middle row from left: Shelley, Aunt Linda, Amanda, Aunt Susan, Morgan

seated row from left: Amy, Sarah & Ava, Grandma Judi, Grandpa Jack, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Judy

front row from left: Jack, Danielle, & Andrew

We also got a 4 generational picture of Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Ava, & Myself, but I don't have that one to share... maybe one of my cousins or Aunts could share that with me? (hint hint)

Then on Sunday after our Thanksgiving dinner, we headed home with a quick stop in Morgantown to visit our friends the Smiths. We hadn't seen the Smiths in about two months and we wanted to meet their new little girl Addi. We headed home around 7:30 and like I said Ava's fussiness had set in and we had to stop on our way back and feed her. Other than that she had done wonderfully in the car, she actually slept all the way down to Philippi on Saturday.

Hopefully we'll get back down to WV soon to see our family again. We always love seeing them and as Nathan always says, he is usually a little sad that we have to leave. Of course I am too and I'm sure Ava will be one day. And after our visit this weekend I am already looking forward to next summer when we can head down and go to the lake and share that new experience with Ava as well.

So even though it wasn't the "real" Thanksgiving, it was a great weekend to give Thanks to God for our wonderful family. We truly have been blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(silly format, don't have time to fix it, as my child is waking up from her nap!)

not entertaining...

I thought this was too cute not to share.

On Tuesday night Nathan and I finally put together Ava's crib. It had been on backorder and so we didn't receive it until two weeks ago and hadn't had time to put it together. We decided we better get it done and out of the way.

Here is what we did:


And here is what Ava did:

apparently we weren't entertaining enough!

I think she ended up having more fun sleeping then we did putting the crib together, even though it wasn't tough and only took 45 minutes. We were both thankful that she let me put her down so I could help.

Updates about our first trip to WV with Ava after the weekend. Have a great one!

scissor-happy

Its definitely not what I asked for but it isn't terrible by any means. I think my stylist got a little sisscor-happy yesterday when she cut my hair.... or I wasn't clear in what I wanted. I thought what I asked for was pretty simple, keep the length in the front and shorten the back giving me a slight, but not too dramatic angle down towards my face. (I hate haivng the back of my hair longer than the front, so I'd rather have it shorter) Yeah, that didn't happen. It started off just fine with her shortening the back then... WHAM! she chopped off the front too. Oh well, it will grow. Oh, and there is no angle, just the normal same length all the way around "bob cut."