"You Are My Sunshine..."

I'm not sure where this came from, but I am constantly singing " You Are My Sunshine" to Ava and because of that I found myself giving her the nickname "Sunshine" :)
For Gretchen and Deena...and all my other blog readers out there, here is a quick update while Ava takes a nap!


So, I have quickly learned that my life now completely runs on Ava's schedule. She is the boss-no question about it. The days of running out for some quick errands, hopping in the shower, or even quickly checking my e-mail are a thing of the past. Trust me-no complaints here! I feel like if stop to blink I might miss some the amazing things that she does each day. She's already a completely different little girl from the one we brought home from the hospital.

These past two weeks have been amazing. I have to attribute most of those glorious days to Miss Ava AND the fact that my Mom and Dad were here to help Curt and I take care of her. Oh-and for those of you that didn't know, Grandma and Grandpa came here as a surprise to me. Curt was in on this again and did an excellent job keeping the plans under wrap. Either he's really good at surprises or I need to pay attention more to what is going on around me. :)


So while they were here, Grandma was on Night Duty whether we liked it or not. (Trust me, we LOVED it). It pretty much went like this: I would nurse Ava and then Grandma took her to change her and put her back to sleep. It was awesome. Grandpa was great as well. He was always ready to hold her on the couch while the rest of us moved all around trying to get some chores completed. I was so upset to watch them go, the 10 days they were here just went way too fast.

Curt and I had a big dose of reality last night when we realized that Ava wasn't feeling like her normal self (aka: gas and such...) and was up for quite some time testing out her crying/screaming skills. Of course this happened right after my Mom and Dad left. Ava planned that one well. :)

Life is settling down now, as much as it can, and now that Curt is back to work Ava and I are holding down the house. Life is good...

Oh- Gretchen and Deena wanted the scoop on my Labor and Delivery but because I talked to them on the phone yesterday and gave them the "good, bad, and the ugly" I can give everyone else the shortened version! I must say that I was so impressed with the way the hospital took care of Curt and I are from start to finish. We had an EXCELLENT experience and I'm so thankful! Anyway, here is the timeline of Ava's trip into this world:

Monday: October 6th, 2008
5:15am- My water slightly breaks...
6:30am- Breaks a little more...
7:00am-Curt gets THE CALL at work and immediately darts home.
9:00am-Head to Lakenheath Hospital.
10:30am- Admitted into Labor and Delivery with confirmation that my water did in fact break!
11:00am-Pitocin started to get my contraction's moving along faster...dilated at 4cm.
5:00pm: Six hours later I'm STILL only at 4cm...
6:30pm: Start the epidural and I proceed to read magazines for the next few hours while Curt takes a nap. :)
9:00pm: Now at 5cm during what is starting to feel like the LONGEST day ever...

Tuesday, October 7th 2008:
2:25am- Finally at 10 cm!!!
2:53am- Miss Ava arrives kicking and screaming and we love on her immediately! (9.9 on the Apgar, BTW!)

Here are a few pictures that my Mom took while she was here. We have a brand new fancy-pants Canon XSi camera that Curt picked out and even though we're still pretty clueless on how to work all it's great features, we still managed to take a few pictures of the newest love of our life. Enjoy!

Ava and Dad playing:


Wrapped up like a Caterpillar:


Trying to let me know she's hungry:


Ava loves her Daddy time!!!:


4 Days old at First Friday:


I promise her mouth isn't covered:


Yawn!!!!:


Hangin' around...looking like her Dad:


Me and My Sunshine:


Curt, Ava and I out and about: