Happy Father's Day !

Happy Father's Day, Patrick! Patrick had a nice day today! During Ava's first nap, I took him to breakfast at Waffle House. I know you're supposed to actually do something with you child on Father's Day, but decided to take advantage of her nap time and a sleeping Aunt Sarah who was around in case she woke up! So, that was kinda nice. Then we just had a regular Sunday at home. Here are Patrick and Ava having some daddy-daughter time.
Ugh! SOOOO cute!
Time for presents! Patrick got a few no so exciting things from me- a grill brush he needed and some new Tervis Tumblers (which we LOVE). But from Ava- he got some really wonderful, neat thing! Last weekend, I took Ava to a place called Do Art. It's a place that has already made ceramic stuff (dishes, frames, etc) that you chose how to decorate. Well, Ava and I picked out a mug and cereal bowl for Patrick. He eats cereal almost every morning and definitely drinks many cups of coffee daily! So, we picked out glaze colors and got creative! Since it was only a few days before Ava's surgery, I knew I wanted to have her foot print on something. So, this is what we ended up with.... one side of the coffee mug:
The other side! It has both of her feet on there, but I wanted to get a good pic of that sweet, perfect extra toe. :)
Sticking with a similar idea, I decided to do her hand print in the bowl.
These marks around the rim are actually Ava's little thumb prints! SOOO cute!
Michee got Ava this shirt to wear for Father's Day- "My Daddy Rocks!" It's not a great shot, but she's on the go these days!
So, anyway, we had a nice Father's Day. Sarah made a yummy new dinner, so Patrick got a little bit of special treatment- breakfast and dinner made for him!
************************************************************************************
Post-Surgical Update!
Ava is doing GREAT!!! It's as if nothing happened. She is WALKING on that cast like it's nothing! She does fall a bit more than usual, but she's getting better and better everyday! Today she walked clear across the living room many times from one person to another. I honestly am amazed by her everyday. She's such a tough, go-with-the-flow little baby. Here she is riding in her little car. She just loves this thing! (I know I haven't posted her 10 month update yet, but info about the little red car will be in that one! Look for that post over the next few days). See her little pink cast sticking out under her sweet zebra PJ's?!?
Here she is reading a book...."Gotta big cast on my foot? No big deal!"
Getting her balance to walk...as if there's not a huge, pink hard thing wrapped around her foot!! What a trooper!
At first, she needed a lot of help from the couch!
Bath time is quite interesting! I haven't really figured out how to keep the cast totally and completely dry. Each time, it gets a little damp at the top and toe area. It's wrapped in saran-wrap, then a grocery bag, then a ziplock bag...all with rubber bands around each part. Plus, I've shortened the bath to only a few minutes, and it still ends up damp somehow! For a few days, I didn't give her a bath, but today, I just had to bathe her. It's such a part of our bedtime routine, I really miss it! And so does she! She really enjoys her bath! So, I kinda can't wait to get that cast off...mostly so bath time can be enjoyable again!! "Hey, what's this contraption on my leg?"
She was still never bothered by this! So tolerant! I wonder if she thinks she's just got this thing on her leg from now on...and she's just got to get used to it!?!
So, we decided to sign the cast! So, here's a shot of all our well wishes! I mean, it's pretty cute!So, Ava is just doing so well. I'm so glad too, because if she was upset, I'd be really sad. Our next appointment is Thursday morning, and they'll be taking the cast off!!! I'm being realistic about how the scar/incision is going to look. I know it wasn't quite the way they left it after her surgery...so, we'll just have to see over time how it heals. Since she's really young and will be growing so much, I'm sure it'll change quite a bit in the next few years. Nevertheless, it'll be interesting to see how it looks just 8 days after surgery! Look for a 10 month old post in the next few days! Happy Father's Day to all you dads who keep up with the blog!!

New Pink Cast

We called the Ortho clinic early this morning and they agreed to see Baby Ava and take a look at her previously bleeding toe. When I arrived, they sent a cast-tech in to remove her tigger cast so the doctor could assess the wound. Ava had big eyes while he removed the cast, but he was very quick (less than 2 mins)! The doc removed the gauze and looked over the wound. She said that it looked great and looked exactly the way it did when they finished the first time. There is nothing else to do but put on a new cast! So, I decided to give her a pink cast this time. The cast-tech was so fast again; she got her new cast in under 5 minutes! She didn't like her leg held down, but other than that she was in no pain! Sorry about the crappy pic (from my phone). I'll get a better one up there later today.

Thanks again for thinking about Ava!

Patrick

10 fingers, 10 toes

So, Ava's sleeping for the night (hopefully!), and all-in-all, today was wonderful and went so smoothly! A quick summary of today:

We were the 3rd case of the day (starting at 10pm), and at first I thought it would be harder to stretch Ava that long without food or drink. (Remember, you have to be without food or drink for several hours before surgery). But, it actually worked out better this way because I had time to nurse Ava this morning! And surgery time corresponded perfectly with her regular nap time! So, that worked out nicely!

We got to pre-op at 9am this morning and all my favorite nurses were there! (Ava was at the same hospital that we use for our patients....so, I have worked with them many times). It was so nice to have the door open and have a familiar face ready to take care of Ava! After we got checked in, Ava started to deteriorate (which I knew would happen since she didn't get breakfast and it was nap time). So, we took out the trusty Nemo video with the portable DVD player, and just like that- Silence! Nemo is amazing. Watching Nemo.... Next, it was time to give Ava some Versed (which makes her droopy)....and that was just a load of fun! The taste isn't good, and we had to basically force it into the back of her mouth with a syringe and she cried and struggled, but we eventually got most of it in. And, OH BOY, ten minutes later, she was drooooopy!!! She was SO cute and was talking to everyone! When she became visibly effected by the Versed, that was the point where I started to get a little sad and worried....and yes, I started to cry. I couldn't help it. I tried so hard. But, I pulled it back together in time to put a gown on so I could walk Ava back to the OR and help get her situated. See the red eyes...on me! I thought she might be scare when I sat her on the table in the OR, but she was so high on her "happy juice" that she just looked at everyone while they put monitors and leads on her and talked away. She was very sweet. Then they did the mask induction which initially put her to sleep so they could get the IV and intubate. When she fell asleep, that was my cue to leave, and I kissed her several times and left. The second I got outside the door, the tears came hard, and there was nothing I could do about it. Thank GOD the surgery was only an hour!

So, long story short (sorta short!), an hour later, she was in recovery. She was breathing on her own, but she was still sleeping. They took us to see her, and she was sleeping so peacefully on a little pillow with her IV in the hand and a cast on her leg. :( She was so still, I had to make sure she was breathing! She slept for about 30 minutes after she was in recovery and then woke up. They brought her to me and she was pretty fussy for the first 20 minutes. Then ....we got NEMO! And, oh man, what a miracle movie that is. Even after surgery...it STILL WORKS!! Amazing!!! She had to have clear liquids before she could have formula (which is what she needed cause she was starving), but she doesn't really like water, and she's never had any other clear liquids...so, I wasn't sure if she'd like it. We tried some Pedialite, and that was a no go. Then we tried Gatorade, and after a few tastes, she decided it was yummy enough to drink! So, she drank several ounces of that and loved it. She was still pretty droopy and a little sad, but the Gatorade made her feel so much better. And I was very thankful for that. It was making me sad for her to be so sad. Shortly after that, we gave her a bottle of formula and she did great! We got to leave about an hour after she was in recovery. After that, she came home, played, ate, napped wonderfully, and was simply perfect. What a trooper. Kids are truly amazing. Here's her sweet little cast...with TEN toes! (It's a little weird that that sweet, extra bit of love it gone). Here's her princess band-aid where her IV was. So, like I said, she was wonderful and we are so grateful that everything went smoothly. Thanks to everyone's kind messages and prayers!

She was doing great this afternoon, she wanted to crawl and pull herself up to standing. She seriously acted like there wasn't a big orange cast on her leg (you were right, Carmen)! Her doc said she could bare weight on that foot since she's still small. Here she is carrying on as if nothing happened! This was right after we got home. She's still pretty droopy...we're watching Nemo here. It was the only way she'd stay still for 30 mins to let her wake up more. (I told her she could watch as much Nemo as she wants for the next few days)!
Well....this afternoon, we glanced at her foot, and it was bleeding. Damn. We looked in the tip of the cast, and it looks like a suture or two popped and it was an open wound. I paged the orthopedist on call and they said to call tomorrow to make an appointment to come in. If it's left the way it is now, it wont heal properly and will look like Ava has a bump on the side of her foot. We'll see what our options are tomorrow, but the on call guy said that they may need to take her back to surgery to take the cast off and fix the incision. :( I got really sad about this cause I just felt like the whole day went so well...and it was stressful. And I don't want Ava to have to go through that again. So, I'm feeling a little sad right now. My dad, of course, said that in the big scheme of things, this is a little problem that is fixable. So what if she has a funny looking toe?!...which is true. BUT, we went through all this to fix the funny looking toe! So, anyway, we'll see what they say tomorrow, and I'll keep you posted. Here's Ava taking a walk around the block! This is after we discovered the bleeding and we were trying to keep her off the foot for the rest of the night. HUGE challenge. This worked quite well, though! The balled up blanket was an attempt to elevate her foot (yeah right!) and the sock was to cover her toes so (hopefully) they would have less of a chance of being scraped any more!Wow. This got freaking LONG! So sorry. Y'all must think I'm insane...I think I am.

Post-Op

As you can see, Ava is back home and doing so great! She is currently sitting on Mom's lap and enjoying her favorite movie (Finding Nemo). The procedure lasted just under an hour and the docs said everything went as planned! I'm sure Meaghan will post more details and pics later.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Surgery Time

Ava's surgery time is scheduled for 10am Wednesday morning. We'll get there at 9am to be pre-op'd. I think the whole process should take several hours before we're back home, but I'll keep everyone updated!

Thanks for all the nice messages on the blog and through email from everyone! We appreciate everyone's support.

Two for One Special

So, some of you loyal Ava followers may have noticed that we got a little extra surprise when she was born. After they delivered Ava and got her breathing(!), they asked Patrick if extra digits ran in our family!!!! (I was totally out of it and didn't hear any of this conversation at all). Of course, he said, "No, WHY?!?!" Well, turns out Ava had an extra toe on her left foot! An extra big toe to be exact! So, when they were counting away.....10 little fingers and 10 little t....wait a minute! 11 toes?!?! Yep, we got the two for one special! :) It's usually hereditary, but as far as we know, it isn't anywhere in our family. In case you haven't noticed, here are a few pics of that cute little toe that we've become so fond of! So, we've seen a pediatric orthopedist a few times, and the last time was this past Thursday. They usually do the surgery to remove extra toes like this somewhere around the age of one. Not because it would affect her walking or balance (obviously!!), but more for the sake of being able to wear regular shoes. Ava hasn't had the need to wear shoes yet since she hasn't been walking for long. But, now she does need them since she wants to get down and stand in places other than our living room! When she was smaller, the extra toe was smaller and didn't really stick out enough to interfere with shoes, but now it is a problem. Her foot is bigger and so is that toe! Sooooo, back to the doctor visit. We went on Thursday, they took another xray and said, "Ok, it's time to do this." It does have it's own little bone in there. You can see it on the xray.So, that sweet little extra toe will be no more. (I've gotten used to it...I think I'll miss it). :) She will have to have general anesthesia for somewhere between 30-60 minutes. So, that's a little scary. BUT, while I was on my anesthesia rotation, I spent a lot of time watching all the anesthesiologists and I picked the one I thought was the best and most gentle with the babies. I asked her if she would take care of Ava, and she agreed!

So, the next step was to schedule the surgery. (When my patients sign up to be seen in the OR for dental treatment, the wait list is about 3-4 months long). But when we went to schedule a date, June 11th and 25th were the options!!! I was thinking, you mean in 6 days?!?! So, I freaked out a little, made a whole bunch of calls (checked when my anesthesiologist was available-only on the 11th, told Dr. Silva so they can make other arrangements for my patients, called my parents, etc). So, everything worked out, and Ava is scheduled for surgery for this Wednesday, June 11th. SO fast!

Ava will have to wear a cast for 7-10 days post-op :( basically to provide protection from a 10 month old's curiosity! If an adult were to have this surgery, they would just bandage it up, but a baby will take the bandage off SO fast, so they have to put a cast on it to allow the site to heal. Maybe we'll get to pick the color!

So, anyway, keep Ava in your prayers for an uneventful and safe surgery! I'll keep you posted of her status as soon as I can!

Walking, talking, clapping!!!

Okay, so I HAD to add this video of Ava because she it TOOOOOOOO cute for me to possibly explain! She is getting so good at walking, and today she was so excited and was clapping and making lots of noises while she was showing off her new talent! I just cannot get over this! What a wonderful thing to come home to at the end of a long day at work!

Quick update

Here are just a few videos to tie you over until her 10 month post! They're not exciting, but they're really cute cause she's just really cute. :) The first one is her just sitting on my lap in her bathing suit. She just sat there forever while I talked to her! She had just clapped for the first time, and I was trying to get her to go it again...but to no avail. But she sure was cute!




The second is documentation of how she manages to get food everywhere when she eats! Zucchini, chicken, and plum....pretty much everywhere! :) Enjoy!

Ava's First Steps!

So, Ava is 9 1/2 months now, and the newest and biggest news of all is that she took her first steps yesterday!! Can you believe it??! She still seems so little to me, and I find it hard to believe that she is already starting to walk!! CRAZY! Yesterday, I just happened to look over and she had just pulled herself up next to the chair...then she just started walking! She took 4 steps then sat down! A little after that, I was filming her playing and crawling around, and she crawled right to me and stood up....and I was able to catch her 2nd "first" steps. So much fun!! Here's a little video!

Ava's doing great these days. She is SO MUCH fun to be around! She loves the game where one of us dips behind the couch and then pops back up. She will laugh hysterically for many minutes playing that. She's getting so smart and will look over the edge of the couch to try and find us. Of course, she still LOVES hide and seek...one of her favorite games! She talks constantly and makes all sorts of crazy funny faces. She's becoming so much more animated! She's just so much fun to be with!

Patrick and I went to the beach with some friends for Memorial Day weekend. We left Ava (my first time away from her!!) at home with Aunt Sarah. Bobbi and Grandpa Mike came to help out as well. They had a wonderful time with her! I tried really hard not to cry when we were leaving, but I couldn't help it. :( I was excited to go to the beach, but really sad to be without her for 3 days. Since I'm still nursing, I was a little nervous that she wouldn't continue nursing when I got back since it was several days...but she is so go-with-the-flow, and she took right back to it without any problems. What a great baby I have!

Ava's got some more teeth coming in! Her top two teeth are on their way...starting to poke through her sweet little gums! So, I'll be looking forward to a 4 toothed smile pretty soon!

Here's Ava with her Grandpa Mike. He came for a very quick visit a few weeks ago when he was passing through Gainesville for work.
Ava and Aunt Sarah...in her fishing dress!
Ava with zucchini and sweet potatoes all over her face!
A sweet pic of my baby...
Just hanging out with Dad. He's always doing weird things to her...but she just tolerates them!
Here are just a few more pics of Ava at 9.5 months. There aren't very many...I'll have more for the 10 month post!

Hide and Seek

Ava had her 9 month check up appointment today. Basically....she's perfection. ;) Just kidding....well, no I'm not. She is perfect! :) So, anyway, everything looks great and she is doing well! She weighs 16lbs and 13oz (25%) and is 28 inches long (50%). My little peanut! She got one shot and was not very happy about that! I scooped her right up, but she didn't calm down quite as quickly as she has in the past...and she had the saddest little tears. :( But she has done great for the rest of the day and wasn't fussy at all! What a sweet little girl.

So, everything looks great, and we wont go back until she's ONE YEAR OLD! Yikes! So, anyway, that's about it. It was pretty uneventful, which I guess is good.

So, Ava has been having so much fun with Aunt Sarah. They play hide and seek together everyday, and here's a little video Sarah made for me when I was at work! SOOO cute! Ava is so lucky to have her!!

9 Months!!

I CANNOT believe Ava is already NINE months old!!! Time FLIES!!! We have had a fun past two weeks! Michee came for a visit for a few days, and that was so much fun. Ava loves it when her grandparents come to visit! :) Can't wait to see you again, Michee!

Also, we are very lucky to have the world's best nanny for the summer....Aunt Sarah!! She moved in last week and will be living with us for the summer. She'll be taking care of Ava during the day until I get home...this way I don't worry if Ava is being loved enough, and Patrick can get work done without having to constantly follow an on-the-move 9 month old!! We love her and are so glad to have her! Ava didn't have any stranger anxiety with her at all and already knows her! Ava lights up when Sarah walks in the room. What a lucky, loved baby girl Ava is!! Here's Ava and Aunt Sarah hanging out in the pool! Ava's doing all sorts of fun stuff now! Her new thing is squealing! I love it. It's adorable. I realize that I may not always feel this way about this high pitched squealing sound, but as for now, it's the cutest! So, the basics...she's now standing up and balancing quite well! (See video below). Everyday she's getting better and better and can balance longer. She's pretty good at falling too...she's learned how to lower herself pretty lightly to the ground. (Although, she does bonk her head several times a day...luckily, she's only bruised a few times...usually it's red for a while then goes away)! Her teeth are still coming in...but no sign of any others quite yet!
Ava's had lots of new foods. Here she is after her first taste of pureed chicken!Just today, she FINALLY clapped! I have been trying to get her to clap forever...and she would do it, but both of her hands were still clenched....today, she actually opened them up and made a clapping sound! I was so excited! She did it several times already! We haven't really gotten more than about 3 waves out of her. We're still working on that! :)

Here's Ava sitting in the top of our closet. Patrick thought it would be funny....it was!
I just thought this face was hysterical! :) She's sitting on my lap here.
Hanging out at the park!
Patrick always wants Ava to cuddle with him, and for the most part, she's too much of a busy body to do that. But for 5 whole minutes she laid here with Patrick while they watched TV. How cute!! I got this pic from every angle!
So, you know Ava has been standing up in her crib. She's getting smarter by the day and is now very aware of us coming in to her room. She now stands and STARES at the door and waits for us to come in! She'll stand there, perfectly quiet, staring at the door for 10 minutes (before OR after a nap)! We watch her on the monitor, and I just love it!

Ava loves to crawl around with Sarah, and she always finds her way to this corner of the hallway. Once she's behind the wall, she sticks her head out from behind it like she's looking for us! Isn't she cute?!?
In one of her bathings suits that Aunt Sarah got her!
More giggles in the pool!
Ava has fallen in love with reading. I've read to her since she was very young...but now she really looks forward to our reading times. We read before naps and before bedtime at night. Now....after bath, lotion, and pj's, she sits on my lap and turns her head to the left (where her books are) waiting for story time! I'm so glad she enjoys the books...hopefully she'll love to read when she gets older too! So, things are really great right now. I am enjoying Ava so much, and I just love her more and more everyday! My first Mother's Day was wonderful. I'm just so lucky that I have such a wonderful baby...I love her so much.

Here are MANY pictures of her at 9 months. Sarah is here while I'm at work, so she helps add to my already ridiculous number pictures....so, be prepared!

2 new things!

Her two favorite new things to do....squeal and stand with no hands!!! :) Here's a little clip of both! More to come in the next day or so!

4 Year Anniversary!

Patrick and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary today! It was a great day! I was able to make it home for lunch for a while today, and we opened presents! He had a dozen roses sent along with a new pilates mat and some running clothes! (For those of you who don't know, I am currently training for the 10K Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on the 4th of July. Brutal for me! So, I need cute running clothes to encourage me to go)! :) So, anyway, it was great! I got him some running stuff along with some other things!! Then, tonight, we went to a very nice place for dinner called Mark's Prime Steakhouse. It was so good and so filling! Just perfect! Now I'm about to get right in bed and sleep on a full stomach....my favorite! :)

So, happy 4 years to us!! Time FLIES!!!

Happy Birthday Michee!!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Michee
Happy Birthday to you!!

Michee visited for a few days this week, and here are just a few pics! I'll post the rest in about a week for Ava's 9 month birthday!!!

We tried to get Ava to hold the sign nicely...She did pretty well at first....
But that was the end of that!
Michee and Ava getting ready to go to the park! (...in Ava's cute new outfit and hat that Michee got her)!

She WAVES!!

Ava waved "bye-bye" for the first time today! It was the CUTEST thing ever! I was leaving for work and Michee was holding her...I waved bye-bye...just like I've been doing to her for weeks...and there it went...her sweet little arm little arm going up and down, up and down! OH MY GOSH!!! It was so much cuter than i imagined it would be! :) I don't have a video yet...she doesn't do it every time yet...but I'll work on it!

ALSO! I went in to get her from her crib yesterday after her nap, and she was STANDING UP!! She has pulled herself up to standing in the living room against the couch, toys, or the wall, but she hadn't yet pulled up in her crib. But, when I walked in, she was standing with the biggest smile on her face! I DID get a pic of that! (Click on the pic for an up close shot). She's growing so fast...what fun!