Ay Caramba!

Sorry for the late post friends but we are continuing to adjust to parenthood- which translates to not a whole lot of free time- and a malfunctioning modem.

We survived our trip to Naples without incident. Ava seemed to enjoy the ride down as we sang songs and napped the four-hour drive away. The day back wasn’t nearly as much fun. We have discovered that while Ava loves to go for a drive, she does not love to be in her car seat. This is something we will not budge on. So, frequent stops were required to soothe our screaming infant. Our four-plus-hour trip seemed like an eternity.

The first Saturday in May we held our annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta with Ava as the Guest of Honor. Michael had purchased an adorable little bikini for her to wear but even though it said 0-3 months it was way too big for her. She is still so tiny even though she is filling out a bit. Fortunately, I bought her a one piece that fit just fine…and was just as adorable. We’ll have to save the bikini for our trip to Mexico in September. Ava went in the pool for the first time and she loved it!







We celebrated Mother’s Day with breakfast and a day of shopping. We took a few snapshots of Ava in the children’s play area before it became over run with “big kids.” At home I had flowers, a beautiful card and a very special gift from Michael. But the best gift of all was Ava!

On a sad note, I returned to work on May 10th. I only cried twice but I thought the day would never end in order for me to get home to my precious baby! She seemed content with Whitney (her nanny) but I insisted on holding her and kissing her until she finally fussed with frustration. But I can’t help myself she’s so adorable and I love her so much!!!

This week Ava was finally seen by cardiology and had an EKG and an echocardiogram. She does have a heart murmur but not VSD (ventricular septal defect). She is perfectly healthy and the cardiologist said he will see her in 42 years! Woohoo! Ava handled the whole experience like a champ with no fussing and an impromptu game of peek-a-boo.







Ava currently weighs 11 pounds and 2 ounces. She is 23 inches long and absolutely beautiful if I do say so myself…and I do! She gives us enormous smiles and her giggle will melt your heart- at least it does ours. She loves to “talk”. She also enjoys watching Ellen. Apparently she thinks Ellen is very funny and will sit in her Boppy pillow and laugh at the TV. She sleeps through the night- most nights. We start her bedtime routine around 7 p.m. and she is usually asleep by 8 p.m. Now that we have finally figured out her monitor she sleeps in the crib in her room until it is time for us to go to bed and Michael transfers her to the bassinet in our room. We may need to work out a better system but this works for now.

Ava loves it when we read to her. Thanks to some very generous family and friends she has a very large (and growing) library! Michael put together her very first doll house/ book case this week. I will try to post a photo of it soon. I am sure it will not be the last time he will stay up late to put a dollhouse (or some other toy) together for Ava.

We are looking forward to our upcoming trip to Atlanta. Ava will finally meet her Aunt Jennifer and cousin Ian! She will also get to see her Granddaddy and Grandma. We have planned a trip to the Aquarium and the Zoo (weather permitting). Hopefully we will have some great photos to share upon our return! For now, here are a few photos from Ava’s weeks 8 to 12.