A friend in need

What has it been now, 2, 3 months since my last post? What can I say, I've been super busy with an active 14 month old and wedding planning, so please forgive me. But, instead of updating you on our lives over the past several months, I'm dedicating this post to a friend who needs our help. I'm actually just copying and pasting from my friend Jessa because she just posted the same thing and it says everything that I would say, I just tweaked it a little. (Thanks Jessa!)

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to tell you all about the mommy of one of Ava's June birthday buddies, Barrett. Barrett's mom, Kim, was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer while she was pregnant. In fact, if it weren't for her pregnancy, the cancer may have gone unnoticed much longer than it did. Barrett was delivered via emergency c-section at 31 weeks,(actually just 3 days after Ava was born) in order to get Kim started on treatment for her cancer. Barrett is now a bouncing, active 14 month old, but Kim continues to fight for her life everyday. You can read about her battle in the blog she keeps with her aunt, Fight for Barre.

Recently, Kim was told that the medical center she has been going to for treatments will no longer be treating her because her tumors keep growing. Having lost her job just before her diagnosis, Kim has no medical insurance. Her options are very limited. And perhaps hardest of all, she is raising her amazing little boy on her own. Barrett's father has had very little interaction with his son since his birth, with only minimal visitation on a very irregular basis. I don't know how Kim does it, but she continues to put up a fight. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of courage and faith this young woman must possess to even get out bed each day.

I met Kim through a discussion board on BabyZone.com, an area for moms and moms-to-be to gather and discuss their experiences in parenting. While those of us in the June 09 Birthday Club have never met Kim in person, we all want to do something to help her to know she is not alone in her struggle. We are planning a card shower for her, and we are inviting anyone who is moved by her story to participate. The plan is to send Kim a box of cards to let her know that there are people out there thinking of her and hoping for her cancer to go into remission. Some of us plan to include gift cards to help her with the day to day costs of raising a little boy on her own while being unable to work. While I'm sure she will appreciate this generosity, I think even the cards alone will bring a big smile to her face.

If you would like to join us in brightening Kim's day and letting her know that even strangers are holding her in their thoughts and prayers, let me know. I can give you the address of Tori, the girl who is organizing the card shower, so you can send her your cards for Kim. Tori will be putting the box together and sending it to Kim on July 18. Thank you in advance for sharing any kind words you have to offer to Kim. You never know how much of an impact your actions can have on someone, even if it's something as simple as sending a card.

If there is any other way that you can think of for us to help Kim, please let me know. Every time I think about Kim, my heart breaks. I just cannot imagine how hard things must be for her. Barrett needs his momma!

What IF...

I was just catching up on my friend Jessa's blog and read about her friend who suffers from infertility. She and her husband made a video that brought me to tears. I couldn't stop crying as I watched it. I know people who are unable to get pregnant, and before I had Ava, that was always one of my greatest fears. Women just expect to be able to get pregnant and have kids, but it's not that easy for everyone. Please watch this powerful video and help spread the word.

What IF? A Portrait of Infertility from Keiko Zoll on Vimeo.

California

After starting and saving this post for the past week, it feels good to finally publish it!

Two days after Ava's birthday, we headed out to California for the wedding of Matt's friends from college, Matt and Stacey. I had never been to Los Angeles, so I was really excited about the trip. I was also excited because my good friends from Utah, the Ahles family, met us there for a reunion. We hadn't seen them since we moved to PA two years ago!

Hollywood!

I was so proud of how well Ava did on the flights. She actually laughed while we were taking off on our first flight. And on the second one, she fell asleep just as we took off. She is a fantastic little traveler and she helped to ease my flying anxieties, too. I didn't even have time to get nervous about it. Ava did have a difficult time with the 3 hour time difference, but we were expecting that, so it wasn't a surprise.

Having fun on the flight to LA

We flew out on Thursday morning and got into LA around noon. After getting our rental car, we headed to our hotel and were planning on just relaxing for the afternoon and evening. Nicole, Tim, and Cohen were staying with Nicole's aunt and they decided to head down to see us. It was so great to see them and to be able to catch up. Ava and Cohen, who is just one month younger than Ava, got to meet for the first time and were so cute together.

Ava and Cohen meeting for the first time

On Friday, we went to The Griddle which is a great breakfast spot. We even saw Ian Ziering, from the original Beverly Hills 90210! After eating the biggest pancakes I've ever seen, we did some touristy things and went to the Kodak Theater and the walk of fame. There was some event going on and we saw Mel Brooks.

Mel Brooks giving a speech

Ava getting a lift from daddy

We then decided to head down to the Santa Monica Pier and introduced Ava to the sand for the first time. I didn't know how she'd react, but she LOVED it! Maybe we should trade the snow for the sand?

Our little beach bum

I had to include a video of Ava playing in the sand.

After a long day, we were ready to go back to the hotel and relax. We checked into our hotel which was on Sunset Blvd. and it gave us a great view of downtown LA. I was dreading the infamous LA traffic, but it really wasn't that bad. Ava and Matt took a quick dip in the rooftop pool before we started getting Ava ready for bed. Matt went out with a bunch of his friends and as he was going to bed at 2:00, Ava decided it'd be a good time to wake up! Somehow Matt managed to sleep through Ava screaming about 4 feet away from him.

On Saturday, we just hung out around the hotel. We spent a lot of time at the pool. It was nice to lay out in the beautiful weather. Nicole offered to babysit Ava while we went to the wedding, so she came over to our hotel as we were getting ready. This was the first time that I had left Ava with anyone other than family members, but Ava always does great with other people and I had total confidence in Nicole, so I wasn't too worried.

Ava playing with Nicole before bed

We headed to the Four Seasons Beverly Hills where the wedding was held. Earlier in the day people had seen Russell Crow and Scarlet Johannsen, so I was keeping my eyes peeled, but I didn't see anyone. The ceremony was held outside and it was gorgeous. Stacey looked beautiful and Matt (the groom, not my Matt) made me tear up as he watched anxiously for his bride. After the ceremony, we headed inside for the cocktail hour and then the reception. Everything about the wedding was just beautiful and I'm happy that Matt and I went.

The newlyweds, Matt and Stacey!

We got back to our hotel around 1:00 which Ava thought was a good time to get up. Luckily I hadn't had too much to drink so I took the early shift while Matt got some sleep. Matt wouldn't be happy that I'm sharing this, but he doesn't ever read the blog, so whatever... at one point, I told Matt to wake up and watch Ava so I could go to the bathroom and the next thing I know I hear a thud which was Ava falling off of the bed...Thankfully she was okay.

On Sunday, we went to a brunch that Matt and Stacey hosted and got to visit with them a little more. They also got to meet Ava which they were really excited about. After brunch, we went to Manhattan Beach which is where Matt lived when he was out there. We met up with Nicole, Tim, and Cohen and the kids played in the sand while we hung out. It was a pretty cloudy, windy day, but it was still fun to spend a little more time with the Ahles clan. After a while, we said our goodbyes and headed to our respective places.

Matt and Stacey meeting Ava

At Manhattan Beach

Nicole, Cohen, Ava, and I

The next day, we woke up early and headed home. We had a good flight and Ava did really well. We had an awesome trip and I won't hesitate to fly anywhere with Ava again!

Tuckered out from a fun trip!

1 year!!!

Wow, I can't believe how ridiculously overdue this post is... I really don't even know where to start.

Ava turned 1 on April 19. A week later it's finally starting to sink in that I have a 1 year old. I can't believe how quickly the past year has gone by. We had Ava's birthday party the Saturday before her birthday and we had a great time. She got her first taste of cake which she loved. My sister baked Ava her own special cake with no sugar so that it was a little healthier than regular cake. It tasted a lot like banana bread and clearly Ava enjoyed it.

Erin and I posing with Ava's awesome cake.

Ava is going to town on her cake!

Matt's parents came down for the party and brought a surprise with them-they flew Matt's brother in from New Orleans! Neither of us had any idea that he was coming, so it was a great surprise. He hadn't seen Ava since Christmas and I think that he was pretty impressed with how much she had grown and how much is able to do now.

A few friends were here for the party too, but there weren't too many people. It was nice just having a small group. It definitely kept things mellow and not too overwhelming for Ava. She was able to play with my friend Teisha's son Gavin who is 7 months, and her daughter Adria who will be 2 in July.

The birthday girl in her big girl chair from Aunt Erin and Uncle Mike.

A few days after her birthday, we went to the doctor for her 12 month check up. Ava's doctor told me that she looked perfect, which I know but is always good to hear from a trained medical professional. She has slowed slightly on her growth, the doctor said that she will start to grow at her own rate now since she doesn't have to catch up anymore. Here is a comparison of her 6, 9, and 12 month stats:

6 months 9 months 12 months

weight: 15.6 lbs. 18.3 19.1

length: 25 1/4" 28" 29"

head circumference: 16 1/4" 16 3/4 17.5

Ava also had her appointment with a NICU doctor at the developmental clinic. They do this every 6 months for the first 2 years. They were very impressed with how well Ava is doing and said that verbally she is at the 12 month mark and beyond. She is right on target with her gross and fine motor skills, as well. I really wasn't worried about anything because I think that she's doing great and I know she's perfect!

After the clinic and before her dr. appt., we had some time to kill, so we headed up to the NICU to visit some of the nurses. They had just started building a new NICU when Ava left the hospital and it is almost all finished now. It's awesome. It's so much bigger and seems much more quiet. As nice as it is, I hope that we never have an extended stay there. The nurses and the head neonatologist were all excited to see Ava. They remembered her well and were so surprised with how big she has gotten. Ava charmed them and was showing off the whole time. It was great to see some of the women who helped care for Ava when she needed it the most. They will always have a special place in my heart.

Big girl

Well, a lot has been going on here over the past couple of weeks. After getting up on her hand and knees and rocking back and forth for about a month, Ava finally crawled for the first time last Saturday. I'm excited, but believe me, I was in absolutely no rush for her to become mobile. I think she was just letting us know that she was able to crawl because after that initial showing, she was using rolling more as a means of getting around for the next few days. But she is now getting pretty good at crawling and is more steady and doing it much more. Here's a little video from early last week of her crawling.

She has also started parroting us much more lately. She's had dada down for quite a while and she recently started saying mom and mama (it's about time, I've only been trying to get her to say it since she was about 5 months old). This past weekend, she started saying Danpa which is what we're having her call my dad. At first, she would just repeat it after my mom said it, but then she made the connection and would look at my dad and say Danpa. Saying he was excited is an understatement. Here's a video of Ava and I quacking.

Another new development is that Ava pulled herself up to standing this past Saturday. I went into her room to get her up from her nap and there she was, standing in her crib. I'll admit, I teared up a little bit. I just can't believe how quickly everything is happening now. She really is getting to be such a big girl. And to think that 11 months ago I was sitting in a hospital bed terrified about having my baby so early because there were so many things that could go wrong. I know I've said it at least a million times, but we are just so lucky. Which reminds me, if you haven't already visited our March for Babies site, go check it out. I know that March of Dimes had a big hand in helping us in those scary early days.

Congratulations Chris and Niki!

This post is way overdue, but I just wanted to announce to all of my loyal followers (the ones who don't know anyway) that my big brother is getting married! He proposed to Niki just after Valentine's Day and she said yes!

Here is a picture of her ring. It is halo style and the center stone is a beautiful green sapphire, which Chris loves because it matches Niki's eyes in the sun. How romantic, huh? This ring just fits them so well and it is gorgeous. They are thinking about a summer wedding in 2011. We're so excited to add Niki as an official member to the George family!

Syracuse is #1!

Last weekend, we all went up to Syracuse for the Syracuse/Villanova game. Last year, Matt, my dad, my brother and my brother-in-law went to the game at Villanova. This year, they decided to go see them play at the Carrier Dome. Mike had never been to the dome and it's Matt's alma mater, so everyone was excited to go. All of the girls, my sister, my future sister-in-law, my pseudo-sister, and me decided that we wanted to go too. So, my mom, being the amazing mother and grandmother that she is, volunteered to stay behind at the hotel and watch Ava.

Ava showing her support

Our hotel room photo shoot

After a rough lunch at the infamous Dinosaur BBQ, Matt went to hang out with his friends, while my family and I went back to the hotel to relax and play Catch Phrase. (I won 2 out of 3 games.) We went to go meet up with Matt, only to find a line outside of the bar that he was at. Lisa and I waited in line, while everyone else headed up to the dome to get out of the nasty weather.

Waiting in line at the bar

Finally made it in the bar

After a couple of hours at the bar, we made our way to the dome and met up with Erin and Niki. Our seats were pretty far away, but we had an amazing time. It was so much fun and of course Syracuse killed Villanova and is now ranked #1 in the nation headed into March Madness! I really have the best family and I always love it when we are all able to get together. I have more fun with them than with anyone else and they really are my best friends.

The view from our seats

Niki, Lisa, me, and Erin at the game

And here's a video of Ava in the car on our way up to Syracuse. I figured I'd add it because she's just so cute! And of course, that's her Bob Marley Rock-a-Bye Babe cd on in the background.

10 months

This is a little overdue, but really is anyone surprised? On February 19, Ava hit the 10 month mark! I can't believe that in just 2 short months our little baby will be 1. Wow, how quickly the time has gone by.

Not much going on with us. Ava is teething yet again and this time around it seems to be a little harder for her. Last week I noticed a little blood on the sippy cup that she was chewing on (yeah, we're working on drinking from it) and I didn't feel a tooth until this morning. So, it's taken a while for this one tooth to come in but hopefully now that it's cut through her gums it won't be as painful. I have noticed a few more that look like they're ready to come in...her poor gums are so red and swollen and look so painful. I'm actually hoping that she just gets this next round all at once. That's how it seemed to have happened with both her two top teeth and two bottom teeth. Now, she's getting the teeth on both sides of those on the top and bottom. Tylenol and teething drops have been our friends this past week. And Ava loves medicine, so it's not hard to get her to take them. We're not sure yet if we should be worried about this or happy that she willingly takes it.

Here are some recent pictures.

Playing in the big snow we got a few weeks ago.

It won't be too long before she's crawling.

Happily eating her Cheerios.

I don't know what it is that I find so amusing about putting my baby in a hamper. She had just woken up from her nap and was helping me with the laundry. Just look at that face, she's so cute!

March for Babies

As you all know, infant prematurity is an issue that is very near and dear to Matt and I. A brief recap of our story...

On April 15, I was admitted to the hospital because I was having contractions. I was just under 30 weeks pregnant. The normal gestation period is 40 weeks. I was barely into mythird trimester. My doctors had no idea why I was in preterm labor, but they did everything that they could to stop it. It took the better part of 2 days to stop the contractions, but they were finally under control. But we weren't in the clear just yet... Through continuous monitoring of the baby, my doctor became very alarmed when Ava's heart rate kept dropping. We were told that if her heart rate dropped for a period of 10 minutes or 3 times in an hour, I would have an emergency c-section. On April 19, four days after being admitted to the hospital, my doctor made the decision to do a c-section to get Ava out of me because it seemed that she was in distress. I was 30 weeks 3 days pregnant. Ava was almost 10 weeks early and weighed just 3 lbs 13 oz.

That is when the real journey began. Ava was in an amazing hospital with a fantastic NICU, but without all of the research and advancement done in part by the March of Dimes, our experience could have been much worse. A couple days after I had Ava, the head neonatologist told me something that has stuck with me all this time. She said that they really don't know what causes preterm labor, and because of that, it's really hard to completely prevent them. Because they can't stop preterm labor, they did the next best thing: make sure that those babies born too early get the best possible care by developing equipment and best practices to give them a fighting chance. It was a long and bumpy road and it had its ups and downs, but after a 59 day stint in the NICU, Ava finally came home. I'm so happy to say that Ava is now an 18.5 pound, healthy, active 9.5 month old.

We were among the lucky parents of a preemie. I have heard so many stories of babies that don't make it or have severe disabilities because of their prematurity. And that just breaks my heart. We are so very fortunate to have a preemie that is healthy and thriving. Many people can't believe it when I tell them how early Ava was born.

We are participating in the March for Babies walk because we know how important it is to raise awareness and funds to help the March of Dimes cause. If you can, please join us for the walk on May 2. If you are unable to attend, please consider making a donation to sponsor our team, Team Butt Butt. (Matt and my sister called Ava that right from the beginning, even before she was born, and it just stuck. Weird, I know.) Click on this link to sign up to walk or to make a donation.

http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1364492

Thank you so much for your support!

Love,

Casey, Matt, and Ava

Photos

Since I don't have much of anything to write about, I'll just post some recent pictures of Ava...

Her hair is long enough to put barrettes in!

Ava hanging out with daddy

She's chewing on a bottle of teething drops. She loves these things and as soon as she sees the dropper, she starts waving her arms all around and smiling because she's so excited that she gets them.

I think she looks so much like Matt in this picture.

Ava and mommy snuggling after a long day.

Perfection

This is the word that Ava's doctor used to describe her today. She said that she is perfect. Just what every parent wants to hear about their child!

Let's start with her stats:

Weight- 18 lbs. 3 oz. (40th percentile)

Height- 28" (60th percentile)

Head circumference- 16.75" (5th percentile)

What does this all mean? It means we have a tall, average weight baby with a little head. We're clueless as to where this height is coming from Unfortunately for Ava, she'll probably follow her parents, and her peak in height will probably occur sometime in middle school. She'll be one of the tallest people in her class in 6th grade and then will only grow a few more inches to reach her full adult height. But, who knows, genes wosrk in mysterious ways sometimes, I suppose.

We also learned that Ava is getting not one, but four teeth. That's right, she has four teeth coming in at once! She's such a little champ and hardly complains at all. I could tell that she was starting to get these new teeth just by looking at her gums, but other than that, you'd never know she was teething. I consider ourselves extremely lucky as I know a lot of people who have had a really tough time with teething babies. She does have a little diaper rash which is common when babies are about to get teeth, but even that doesn't seem to bother her. I guess I'll just keep letting her chew on everything until those little teeth poke through.

Developmentally, Ava is doing great. Based on what she's doing now, the doctor predicts that Ava will be crawling within a month. That gives me about one more month to prepare. Although Ava never has liked to do things according to other people's timelines, so I'll probably have even less time to get ready for a crawling baby.

She only had to get one shot today and she was such a good girl. She cried only for a few seconds. Once I picked her up, she put her thumb in her mouth and stopped crying. Yes, she's a thumb sucker now. It's her left one too, just like her mommy. That just about wraps up our visit. We have a perfect, healthy, happy, adorable baby. I feel so blessed and fortunate that she's is doing so amazingly well. She certainly has come a long way!

And now a special note from Ava:

b vhb

vbv gfhj jrckckcz

Here's the babe, tired out from her big appointment. Have a great weekend!

Hello there!

Lots has been going on lately. First and foremost, Ava is 9 months old! We cannot believe how quickly these past nine months have gone. She is nothing short of amazing and I absolutely love this stage! Ava is getting way up on her hands and can push herself up onto her knees a little, but she's not quite ready to crawl yet. Which I'm actually just fine with...once she starts crawling, we'll be in trouble as I'm sure she'll get into everything! She's eating all kinds of solid foods and we actually just started giving her cheerios this week. She's still working on getting them from her hand into her mouth though. It's so cute to watch. We go for her 9 month check up tomorrow, so I'll post an update with her stats after we're done.

She loves bath time!

She love her dog, too!

Another big thing is that I have begun babysitting for a friend of mine. Classes started back up for her this week, so her daughter, Eily, will come over to play with Ava and I on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Eily is almost 7 months old, actually she was born on my birthday! And she is just such a little sweetheart. She's such a good little girl and is so content, for the most part. Ava has down really well with having to share her mommy, too. The girls are so cute together as they learn to interact and play with another child their age. Aside from helping out a friend, I'm happy that Ava is getting this socialization and is able to play with another kid rather than just hanging out with her boring mom every day.

Ava and Eily

I also recently signed up for an at-home study course to become a medical transcriptionist. Not very glamorous, I know, but I was starting to feel like I needed to contribute more financially since I wasn't, well, at all. The course is self paced, so I can finish it as slowly or quickly as I want, so there's not really any pressure which is nice. It's exciting to be learning something new. It's also great because I'll be able to work from home when I'm done which is the main reason that I decided to do it. I don't want to have to send Ava t0 daycare especially after being home with her for so long. I think I'd have a meltdown if I had to leave her every day to go to work!

And last, my sister has convinced me to do a triathlon with her in June. I'm only writing this on here so that other people know and can hold me accountable. I have to admit, I'm not in the greatest shape right now and I'm just not happy with my body. I guess that's what having a kid does to you. So, with the impending wedding, what better time to get back in shape? I'm actually really excited to have something to work towards. Erin has been awesome at helping create a training program and get me motivated to get off my butt. She even volunteered to watch Ava a few days after work so that I can get to the gym. (They have a kids club, but I'm a little neurotic when it comes to germs...) Ava and I have gone on a couple walks this week, but I'm officially starting my training program on Monday! I'll let you know how it goes.

So, those are our big updates. You are now all caught up on the happenings at the West-George household.

And here's one of Matt and Ava being silly. Ava has a spoon hanging out of her mouth, too.