Week 9? Maybe? 3/1/2011

I've been slacking a bit on my 52 weeks of pictures projects. Well...I wouldn't call it slacking exactly. More like it hasn't even been on my radar until I see my friend post her adorable weekly pictures. And then *POOF* just like that! It's out of my head again. I was so proud of myself for remember this particular morning. Too bad the girls wouldn't look at the camera at the same time! This was on our way out the door on Tuesday. Natalie was on her way to preschool and Ava was on her way to her 18 month check up.

Which went well, by the way. Except for the fact that she had a bad reaction to her Hep B shot. Doh. Never a dull moment! She's doing ok now and it was nothing super serious, but we were a little worried. Her leg got very swollen and at one point had a fever over 103 (which she's never had) and wouldn't even walk. You could tell her leg REALLY hurt where she had her shot, so by the 2nd day of her refusing to walk, we called her doctor and he confirmed the reaction. Lots of benadryl later, she's a new kid and doing just fine. (And sleeping nicely too! HA!) She is 33 inches tall (90% for height!!) and 24lbs - she was 24lbs 5oz at her last appointment so she has lost weight (probably from her cast situation...) and that bumped her from the 75% to 50% for weight. Tall and skinny!

Natalie is starting a colors unit at preschool this month. She informed Jeff and I that leprauchans can be found at the end of rainbows and they have a pot of gold, but they won't share. Sounds about right! It is so much fun to hear her learning about these things. Then she mentioned to me that maybe we should beat the leprauchan up to get the pot of gold...which is PROBABLY the way to do it. But I'm not exactly where she got that idea from and we had to have a little discussion about not beating people up. Natalie has also decided that she'd like a Pinkalicious birthday party this year. It was originally princesses and then strawberry shortcake, so we'll see if this sticks!

What's not to love? Especially about the outfit.

She picked the entire thing out. All by herself.

Coloring!

How a load (or 5) of laundry almost gave me a heart attack.

Last week, I was home one day with both girls because they were sick with strep throat. You wouldn't know it from the following pictures. While they were having "quiet time" I thought it might be a good time to catch up on my never ending pile of laundry. Why on earth I thought this, I have no idea. Folding the laundry with these 2 around has never really been successful, as you can see below.

Within minutes of setting the basket down, chaos ensued. They (yes, Ava too!) ripped the clothes out of the basket and Ava climbed right in. Excellent. Just the kind of activity the doctor ordered for a child who just got out of a body cast for a broken femur.

Ava soon lost interest in the laundry and moved on to the toy room. Natalie, on the other hand, thought it would be a fantastic idea to flip the laundry basket upside down and use it to jump into the pile of laundry. Hmmm...lemme think about that. Ummm, no. No. No. Natalie, I said no. (And I roared my terrible roars and gnashed my terrible teeth. She didn't like that very much). And she stopped jumping into the laundry pile.

I'm standing next to the laundry basket and about 30 seconds later I hear this giggling and turn to find THIS:
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OF COURSE this isn't the exact position I found her in. I got a firm grasp on her before I yelled out to Jeff that he should most DEFINITELY get the camera for this one. OH. EM. GEE. This child is going to send me to an early grave. Oh she was so proud of herself! And man, she was quick - and stealthy! And poised to JUMP! Monkey see, monkey do, right?

Just look at the look of satisfaction on that lil' stinkers face!! She knows exactly what she did!! "Hey Mom, whaddya expect? I gotta make up for lost time!"

And she's not kidding.

In addition to her laundry basket climbing escapades that day, I can also share with you her dishwasher climbing escapades as well.  Luckily I was right next to the camera to take pictures and Jeff was right next to Ava...to save her.  I swear if there weren't dishes already in there, she would have climbed RIGHT inside. 

You CAN eat goldfish with a fork.

The other day, Ava thought she could eat her Goldfish crackers with a fork.  I tried and tried to explain to her that it just wasn't going to work.  

She thought it was pretty funny.  "Whatever Mommy!!"

"I'll show you!"

She tried so hard!!

And she proved me wrong.  You really CAN eat Goldfish with a fork.  The things I learn from an 18 month old.

A work of Art.

Natalie recently drew this for her teacher, but hasn't given it to her yet. Call me a mean Mommy, but I hope she changes her mind and let's me keep it! It is by far my most favorite picture she has drawn! It is just so pretty and I can't believe she is only 3 and a half years old! If she lets me keep it, it is DEFINITELY going to be framed and hung in the playroom or my sewing room.

No More Cast!

A much more interesting and detailed post to follow shortly, I promise! But for now, a quick picture!

Aunt Katie came to visit!

YAY!!!!! When Ava fell and broke her leg, I felt such a wave of relief when I heard from my sister that she would be flying up the following Friday and staying until Monday. She was so helpful, gave Jeff and I a break (when Jeff would let her - HA!), went shopping with me, played with the girls, hung out with my friends, and helped out with Ava. Words cannot express how grateful and thankful I am that she was able to come and help us. We all miss her a lot. (My Mom also came this weekend and helped a lot too!! And we miss her a lot too!!!! We can't wait until she comes back when Ava gets her cast off!)

Week 3: 52 Weeks of Pictures

1/17/2011
Just before I was going out for neighbor night. Clearly Natalie and Ava were SUPER interested in having their picture taken :)

Week 2 - 52 weeks of pictures

Here's week 2. 1/11/11

It was the first full day at the babysitter for both girls and the first full day of work for me since Ava's injury. Clearly, we were all tired. And not everyone was feeling cooperative.

Week 1 - 52 weeks of Pictures

My friend Staci shared this idea with me. Wouldn't it be cool to take a picture with your kids every single week for a year? And it doesn't have to be a perfect picture - just a picture. With your kids. What a great idea! I love it!

Here is week 1. I think it's a perfect representation of where we were at the first week of 2011. We were adjusting to Ava's injury. I was exhausted and not showered. Natalie was being very goofy. Ava had finally gotten her appetite back and was eating nonstop.

Love her.

3 more weeks.

That is how much longer Ava will have to be in her cast. I'm bummed. But the good news is that her leg is healing well and 3 more weeks in the cast ensures that her leg will be 100% by the time it comes off. We went to the orthopedic clinic today for xrays and her appointment and the doctor was very pleased with how well her leg was healing.

Ava has been doing well this week. She had a great week at the babysitter. She's also learned how to crawl forward!! She's still been having difficulty sleeping at night, but we're working on that.

Aunt Katie comes to visit later this afternoon - yay!! And Nana is coming again tomorrow. Double yay!! I had to share a picture of Ava NOT smiling. Everyone thinks she's smiley all the time. And yes, she does smile a lot. But she has her share of tantrums and cranky periods too!!!

Oh!!! And a little disclaimer...Ava is NOT going to be a big sister. At least, not any time soon. She is just wearing Natalie's Tshirts while she's in the cast. :)

Why won't she just SLEEP?!

These kiddos of ours. They just don't realize how freaking good they have it.  They can take a nap WHENEVER THEY WANT!!!  They can go to bed as early as they want.  They can sleep in as late as they want.  But for some reason, Ava just does not want to sleep.

She has always been a tough sleeper since she was about 8 weeks old.  She didn't sleep through the night until she was about 7 months old.  And even then there were nights with multiple wakings.  And she just fights her naps - or takes just 45 minute naps.  A stark difference from Natalie who took 2 solid naps a day (2 hours!! EACH!) and slept 12 hours straight at night.  And slept through the night by the time she was 12 weeks old.  Even now, at 3 and a half years old she STILL takes up to 3 hour naps! (Although not as frequently as she used to!) 

Since Ava's accident and her stay in the hospital, she has been less than interested in sleeping.  I thought naps were a struggle before...HA!  And that easy baby that always went to bed...right at bedtime?  GONE.  As I type this, Ava is going on 1 1/2 hours of crying/yelling since she went to bed.  But she was TIRED!  Rubbing her eyes and yawning, TIRED!  All I can think of is that she just doesn't expend enough energy with this cast on.  Last night she cried for an hour before going to sleep.  The night before she was up, screaming from midnight-3am.  This kid REALLY doesn't want a younger sibling someday!! 

In good news...she has been great at the babysitter so far!  YAY!

On the bri

Some good news today :)

Not related to Ava, but the Natalie-monster.

We went to visit Dr. John today because just after Christmas, Natalie had to be rechecked for her VUR.  They do that through a renal ultrasound and super fun (**insert sarcasm here**) test called a VCUG. 

The good news is that her VUR has decreased from a Level 2 in both ureters to a Level 1 in only 1 ureter!  YAY!  That means she will most likely outgrow it.  She will have to have another VCUG in 18 months, but we'll deal with that when we get there.

Ava had a good morning!  She also had an appointment with Dr John just so he could take a look at her.  I really appreciate that he wanted to see her and talk to us for himself.  He's so involved in the girls' healthcare and you can tell he cares so much about his patients!  Some doctors just don't care and would just take the report from the hospital and move on. 

I think Ava was really excited to get out of the house.  She barely even cried when she was dropped off at the sitter, which is GREAT!  She's been having separation anxiety for the past month or so.  I hope she enjoys being with the other kids.  Natalie had a really tough time at drop off - she didn't want me to go to work AT ALL.  Just breaks my heart into a million and ten pieces!!!  The poor thing has had me home for 3 weeks - what a tease, right?  Maybe I'll be home more, someday.  :)

Here's hoping that the day went well at the sitter and that Ava sleeps better than she did last night!  She decided to scream last night from midnight until 3am.  Maybe longer.  I think 3am is the last time I remember opening my eyes.  Until Natalie came in our room at 4:45am announcing to us that she threw up.  We have yet to detect any signs of throw up in her room, or ours.  She climbed into bed with us and went back to bed.  8pm bedtime for me tonight!

Tomorrow will be 1 week...

Hard to believe that tomorrow will be 1 week since Ava got her cast on. One week ago today is when she fell. Still having a hard time believing that this is really our life right now!! It feels so surreal.

First of all, I need to thank all of the special people in our lives that have helped us. My Mom came on Thursday morning and has been a godsend. I was really getting into a funk and she has helped me come out of it. And she makes it look so easy to take care of all of us!! And I'm so happy she is coming back next weekend, along with my sister. I'm really looking forward to that!

I'd also like to thank Jeff's Mom and Dad, Gary and Sue. They helped take care of Natalie while we were in the hospital and helped us out a ton when we got home from the hospital. Uncle Steve and Aunt Sara sent us a yummy welcome home gift too!!

A big thank you to our wonderful friends and neighbors. Wow, I feel really lucky to have all of them in our lives. Michelle and Enza brought us a super yummy dinner, Jessica made us a fantastic chicken noodle soup, Jen brought us chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits, Carolin and Boris sent us an edible arrangement while we were in the hospital, and Maansi hosted a girls night on Thursday to help get my mind off of everything. On top of that, Michelle and Maansi also took care of Natalie for us when we took Ava to the ER - THANK YOU!! Everyone has offered to take Natalie ANYTIME we need it. And another HUGE thank you to Michelle, she has helped us out with getting Natalie to and from preschool, brought us MORE food (chicken pot pie!), has had Natalie over to play, AND came up with the idea to use her backpack to cart Ava around in. THANK YOU!!!!

I'd also like to thank my friends Jenessa, Dana, and Sheila for the care packages they've sent to us - filled with lots of special treats for Ava and Natalie!! And thank you to everyone for all of the kind words, messages, and prayers to get us through this. We are humbled by the kindness, support, and generosity everyone has shown us.

Ava is doing pretty well considering most of her body is in a cast!! We are all finally adjusting to our new "normal." It has been tough...and I think the next few weeks will still continue to be tough. I just hope it goes by FAST! Ava has been in pretty decent spirits, however her fuse is SHORT! She gets frustrated easily - can't blame her! As long as we keep her busy, she's good. Yesterday my Mom and Jeff took her outside in the backpack and went snowshoeing. She LOVED it. We're going to try to get her out for a walk as often as we can. We also bought a bean bag chair (who even knew they still made those?!) for her to sit in and she really seems to like that. She is also starting to get mobile. She's trying to figure out how to crawl, she's getting good at going backwards and sideways and she's great at rolling over.

She is SOOOOO heavy with her cast. Makes it hard for me to carry her around for any length of time. Diaper changes are getting less challenging, but her cast is starting to get a little stinky. :( Oh and her cast is rubbing on her hip really badly and it looks like she's getting some bad chaffing. We go visit our pediatrician tomrorow, so I am hoping he'll have some suggestions for us. If not, we go to see the orthopedic clinic on Friday.

Enjoying her new chair.  Oh and did I mention we bought her a bazillion new toys too?? 

Getting ready for her walk!

More pictures...day 6

Nice hair.

Ugh, Mom, enough with the pictures!!

Daddy has had enough of the pictures too.