Time

First, I just want to say that I'm a pretty bad blogger. We just really aren't very exciting, I guess. I thought I'd have all kinds of things to write about, but when I sit down to post something, I'm at a loss. I'll try to post more often, even if it's just a few pictures.

Now, in regards to the title...Why does it go by so fast?? Today marks Ava's 7 month birthday. She's closer to being 1 now than she is to being a newborn! I think back to her time in the NICU and some of the days when I felt like she'd never come home and can't believe how distant they seem. Ava is becoming such a big girl now. She rolls over, she eats cereal 2-3 times a day, she sleeps through the night (for the most part). I feel like I can't even blink because I'll miss something. Of course I'm excited for her to start crawling and walking and talking and to really see her personality, but I just want her to stay little! Oh well.

We're looking forward to a busy couple of months coming up. We have lots of stuff going on, so I should have some real things to post about over the next few weeks. Here are some recent pictures.

This is often how I find Ava when I go to take her out of her crib in the morning. She flips onto her belly almost immediately when she sleeps now.

The other morning, after flipping her over, I noticed that she had gotten her arm out of her sleeve and it was stuck in her jammies...haha

Posing for a picture with Aunt Erin on her birthday last Friday.

Modeling the new bow from Aunt Erin.

On a walk.

November is Prematurity Awareness Month

Each year more than 500,000 babies (that's one out of eight babies) are born too soon and prematurity has been escalating steadily and alarmingly over the past two decades. Some babies are so small that they struggle to live. We know firsthand how difficult having a preemie is and we try to support the March of Dimes whenever we can. We are one of the lucky families who now has a strong, healthy baby. Unfortunately not everyone has the same happy outcome. Please visit the March of Dimes to learn more about prematurity and find out how you can help.

You can also visit Ava's band to donate to the cause in honor of her.

Photo Shoot

My friend Jenny from college is a teacher, but also a very talented photographer. She lives near us, so I asked her to take maternity pictures for me back when I was pregnant. Well, that never happened for obvious reasons, so we rescheduled for this weekend to do 6 month photos of Ava. I haven't seen Jenny since graduation, so it was great to be able to spend the day with her and catch up.

We started out in her apartment and then moved outside since it was such a gorgeous day yesterday. She lives right across the Hudson River from New York City, so there were great views from the park that ran along the river. Ava was great and only got cranky when she was tired. She napped while we walked to the park and was in great spirits again when she woke up. After spending some time outside, we met up with Jenny's husband and got brunch at a nice restaurant. Jenny is an amazing photographer and already edited all of the pictures and put them on her website for us to look at and order from. She took almost 400 pictures, so we have some difficult decisions to make! I don't know how I'm going to decide which pictures to order.

Here are a few pictures from our day. I have to add that it was very difficult to choose only a few pictures to share here...there are so many great ones that I wanted to share!

We had to take a few with her Bob Marley onesie on since she loves his music so much.

Rolling baby

After much anticipation, Ava has finally rolled over! For a while, she was rolling onto her side, but would then go back onto her back. On Friday, she rolled from her back to her tummy, but couldn't get her arm out from under her so I helped her a little bit. Yesterday morning, Matt and Erin were playing with her and she rolled over but they missed it because they were too busy talking! Later in the morning, Matt and I watched her roll completely over and get her arm out from under her. It was awesome! Now she just has to work on going from belly to back. I can't believe what a big girl she is!

Halloween Weekend

I've been neglecting the blog lately. I guess sometimes things like this get pushed aside when you have an infant.

3 years ago, Matt and his brother started a tradition where they would get together and go to a New Orleans Saints (Chris' team) vs. Atlanta Falcons (Matt's team) game. Each year, they alternate cities and this year, Matt met Chris in New Orleans for the Monday night game. Since Matt was going to be away for the weekend, I went to my parents house for Halloween weekend. I think this is the first year ever that I haven't dressed for the holiday. Instead, I dressed up my baby. Funny how times change.

On Saturday, my parents accompanied me to the our wedding venue where I had a visit

scheduled to go over some wedding details. Since it was Halloween, we dressed Ava in her ladybug costume which got a lot of attention. It was exciting making some decisions about wedding stuff, but it would have been better if Matt had come along. Fortunately, we knew what decisions needed to be made, so Matt gave me his input beforehand.

(Ladybug costume courtesy of Aunt Erin.)

The rest of the weekend, we just hung out and relaxed. I always love being at my parents house. No matter where I go, it will always feel like home to me. Sunday, Ava and I helped her Danpa (Grandpa + Dan=Danpa) rake the front yard. She loves being outside and she was smiling almost the whole time we were out there.

Smiling for Grandma.

Tired out after a hard day of raking leaves.