baby sale...

Just wanted to throw this out there, Old Navy is having a huge sale on baby clothes. Everything for babies is $5 (0-24mos). They have some pretty cute things out right now for Spring, so its a great time to stock up. Ava and I just went back today to get a few things for her new friend Hali, we got Ava quite a few things on Saturday. If you get a chance, run over to Old Navy and check it out, the sale only lasts until tomorrow (Thurs.) and its well worth the trip!

welcome baby Spanik...

Hali Anna Spanik is here!!!!!

She was born this morning via C-section at 10:02. She is 8lbs 9oz and 21" long. A happy, healthy baby GIRL!!! (I still can't believe it)

Congratulations Jon & Val

videos...

As promised, here are a few videos of Miss Ava. In the first two videos she is playing with her new lollipop drum that she got at Kindermusik. I don't think you'll have any problem telling that she loves her new toy. Its also pretty obvious she'd rather use the stick as a microphone and eat the drum.... it is a lollipop after all.

I will do anything to make Ava laugh, as is apparent in the following video. Ava seems to think Nathan is funnier though, and he can get her to laugh in seconds where it takes me a bit longer. But I found one thing a couple weeks ago that did the trick.

We're finally at the end of our colds, and Ava only has a slight runny nose, but that could also be from her teeth. We think she is starting to get her top teeth in, as she has been drooling like crazy again, chewing everything in sight, and tugging at her ears. (no fevers to indicate an ear infection and the dr. said her ears look great). We'll try to update again soon, and hopefully we'll have news about Jon, Val, & their new little baby.

And on a side note CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley and Patrick McBride on the birth of their son Benjamin. If you get a second, check out their blog (link to the left) and see some adorable pictures of their little man.

just a little more...

On a regular basis, I don't buy Pampers, they are a little too pricey for us, and Luvs seem to work quite well. But for the first month or two I did buy Pampers and I loved them. Since then, Pampers and Unicef have joined together to raise awareness about maternal and newborn tetanus. These types of things tug at my heart and make me want to help out, but I just haven't done it. That is until today.

Ava is ready to move up into a bigger diaper size, and it was time to buy new diapers anyway, so I added diapers to our grocery list and headed to Walmart. In the back of my mind was the thought of buying Pampers, but I fully intended on buying a pack of Luvs. But to my surprise (not really, Walmart often runs out of Luvs and I have to go to Target), there were no small packs of Luvs size 3. There were bigger packs, but I really didn't have room to get the bigger box today. So as I stood there and refused to buy the generic diapers (please don't judge!) I saw the Pampers, and there at the top of the package was the unicef banner with all the brightly colored babies.

Yeah, I spent just a little bit more on a pack of diapers, and yeah, I probably didn't get nearly as many as I normally would in a pack, but I feel like I've helped out in a way. I know its just one tetanus shot, but if there is one other Mom out there who decides to buy Pampers this time, thats two tetanus shots, and so on. I like to think we can make a difference, even if its a one time thing, or a every once and a while thing. Just think, by spending "just a little more," and we're talking maybe $2 or $3 here, we can help save a life!

If you'd like more information about the Pampers & UNICEF campaign visit: http://www.pampers.com/en_US/unicef/

A new look & updates...

So I thought it was time for an update, especially since Ava is now 6 months old and just had her 6 month check up.

Our little girl is growing up fast and her stats are the proof. Ava is now 17lbs -11oz (70%) and 27" long (90%). In the doctor's words, she is perfect...and I'm not making that up! No matter what anyone else says, we think she is perfect too.

After we got home from our appointment Ava came down with a cold... too bad she couldn't have had it while we were there, it would have saved me a phone call. Anyway, a little sniffle has turned into a waterfall of a runny nose and a resulting cough. The poor thing is miserable. She is taking naps every few hours, and last night she slept for 13 hours.

This is how we spent our morning:

propped up on the boppy so she could breath easier and wouldn't get choked on drainage. I spoke with a nurse at our Pediatrician's office and she said we were doing all the right things (humidifier, nose suction, vaseline, etc.) and that they are seeing this cold last about 2 weeks...2 WEEKS! What torture, more for Ava than us. Although I desperately hate it when I have to suction her nose because she screams uncontrollably. Even the cats have started coming over to her and meowing when I do that and she cries. They must feel bad for her.

Hopefully Ava will be back to her normal smiling self soon. I have a video to post, but it needs to be edited for time, blogger has a hard time uploading anything longer than 20 seconds. So I'll get on that and try to have it up soon. In the meantime, here are two pictures of our happy girl in "healthy" times.

also as you can see, we joined in with everyone else and changed the look of our blog...what do you think? New year, new look

Got Milk?...

So I was thinking of putting this post together when I read on Facebook (I don't know that I can do a fast like Ashley...sometimes this is where I escape) that my friend Lauren is having to go on a non-dairy diet like I did. Let me tell you, it is NOT fun, but well worth it for our little ones. I hope I had some encouraging news for Lauren though when I told her that I was finally able to add dairy back into my diet about two weeks ago! YAY!!!

When Ava was about 3 weeks old, she started to get really fussy. She would cry and cry and was very hard to console. The doctors kept telling us it was colic and it would pass eventually... maybe when Ava was about 3 months old. Nathan and I both agreed that the thought of our daughter crying for no reason was torture, for us and her. So after talking to our pediatrician and reading as much as I could, I decided to remove all dairy from my diet. For a short period of time I even cut out coffee.... I soon found out that was a crazy idea and added it back in. Thank goodness flavored creamers are non-dairy!

It took some time to see the results, dairy can stay in your system for about 2 weeks, but Ava seemed like a different child almost immediately. Since then, I've slipped up once or twice, but since correcting the problem, we've been doing quite well. And I figure Ava is much happier this way, especially since her tummy doesn't hurt anymore.


Ava is now 5, almost 6 months old, and two weeks ago I finally added dairy back into my diet. Its been nice to add a few things back in, and I know Nathan is happy that I can go back to making "good" dinners again. I had been cooking with soy milk so I could eat things too, but there are only so many things you can make without dairy. I'm still trying to be careful with dairy, I know its not the best thing for you, but I am enjoying making caseroles again and having cheese on my burgers, not to mention a glass of milk if I really want it. (I love milk with pancakes on Saturday mornings)

It took some time to get used to not being able to eat/drink dairy. I guess I was lucky that Ava wasn't super sensitive to it. I was still able to eat things that were made and baked with dairy, ie cookies and cakes, I just had to stay away from dairy in its raw form... if that makes sense. The hardest thing I guess was the holiday season. There was tons of great food around me all the time and I couldn't have half of it. But we made it through, and I've already said that if we are blessed with another child in the future and I have to do this again, I'll do it, its worth it.

I thought I'd end this post with some pictures of our little one... she seems to be the reason everyone reads this blog anyway! Enjoy!

Ava was trying out our new bed, we finally got bedroom furniture....and it all matches! After it was all set up last week, Nathan and I both thought that our bedroom finally looked like it belonged to adults and not to kids right out of college with mismatched furniture.

our fly girl... just having some fun

oh so happy

new babies...

Just a quick

CONGRATULATIONS

to our friends David & Sally Ann Mertens as well as Daryl and Lauren Reynolds as both couples are expecting little ones this summer and early fall, respectively.