One month

Ava is one month old! 

Can't wait to see what the next months hold! :)

(hey, that rhymed...should I keep going?)

We took these pictures after her FIRST day at church. She did great considering she was hungry. I fed her a bottle and she downed it (her 2nd time taking a bottle - I am so proud!) but those 2oz just weren't enough to fill her belly. So, she was a little fussy...but we got her to sleep after walking the hallways several times haha. 

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of half of my Sundays spent in the foyer and hallways. :)

Ava and me at church :)

Cute bath towel

We got a package in the mail the other day from my Dad. One of his co workers handmade a hooded towel for Ava and hand-stitched her name on it and everything. I have seen handmade hooded towels before, but this one is probably the cutest one I've ever seen!

Usually after baths, Ava cries and cries because she gets cold. We have a flimsy little cheap towel that was just not cutting it. The other night after her bath, I used her new towel and she didn't cry at all! She loved it! It's perfect.

Here's my little cuddly baby, all clean, warm and cozy and smelling sooo good. 

Nothing cuter than a baby after bath time!

Happy Halloween!

How in the world is it almost November already? 

This month has FLOWN by! 

I feel like I barely have time to think about taking a shower and getting dressed on a daily basis...let alone think about Halloween costumes! :) 

So...the day of the Halloween ward party rolled around today and we realized that we didn't have a costume for Ava. "No big deal," we thought at first. Then, when I was up feeding Ava this morning, I realized that this is her ONLY "First Halloween," and I have to do something cute so we can take pictures to show her when she's older. haha 

Yes, that exact thought went through my mind. 

I didn't want to spend $30+ on a costume that she would wear for 1 hour. So, I racked my brain trying to come up with something from clothes that we already have. 

And this is what I came up with:

Introducing: Ava the Ballerina. :)

We dressed her all up and then laughed and laughed, took about a million pictures and then laughed at ourselves for being such "new parents." 

The cute ballerina socks are from my Aunt Karen. She sent those to us right when we found out we were having a girl. I think it was our first "girly" thing. The tutu is from my friend in my ward, Vanessa. She gave it to me as a baby shower gift. The super cute flower clipped to her headband is handmade by my friend, Amy. It all came together so perfectly! Thank you everyone! :)

I LOVE watching Ava grow and learn a little every day. She is awake a tiny bit more during the day now and when she is awake, she is SO happy (until she gets hungry, and then it's DRAMA) haha. She is starting to smile in response to us! I love watching her whole face light up as a big grin spreads across her face. She is also starting to coo. The other night, Bryson would talk and talk and talk to her and she would coo in response. It was the absolute cutest thing I have ever seen. 

Check out that baby grin:

Her daddy LOVES her so much!

Even Ava thought her costume was funny haha. 

We went to our ward's Halloween party. Ava was asleep when we got there and Bryson the loud music woke her up. :) She looked SO confused when she woke up and I definitely think it was sensory overload for my sweet 1-month old haha. It was great to see everyone again - it feels like it has been FOREVER since I've been out and social! I really love our ward! 

Ava spent the day wearing her cute "My First Halloween" outfit from Grandma Becky. She had the cutest little Halloween socks and everything. 

It was a great day! :) We love you, Ava cakes! 

Happy Halloween!!!

Birthdays

Today, my sweet baby girl is 4 weeks old. 

Today also happens to be my mom's birthday. 

The twins, Sharon (my mom - left) and Karen (aka Auntie - right)

My mom with her baby girl (aka me haha)

What a wonderful way to celebrate my Ava's 4 week birthday than by remembering the wonderful, amazing, beautiful woman that my mom was. 

I know how much she would have adored Ava, how much she would have loved being a grandma, and how proud she would be to see her oldest daughter bring her own daughter into this world. 

Happy birthday Mom! I miss you, love you and wish more than anything that you were here to meet my beautiful baby. To hold her, kiss her cheeks...to love her just as much as I do.

I am so excited to teach her all about you and the amazing mother, sister, daughter, wife and friend that you were. 

I'm a believer!

I believe in the power of swaddling haha. 

I'm really not kidding. 

Ava sleeps SO much better, quieter and longer when she is swaddled. 

We have a couple of those "SwaddleMe" things and a "Woombie" and LOVE them, as well as those nice stretchy blankets. Bryson is an EXPERT swaddler - much better than me! I love to ask him, "Honey, will you do me a favor and swaddle the baby?" when I am done nursing. I think he is secretly proud of his super-power swaddling techniques. :)

Sometimes Ava will seem annoyed when we first swaddle her...she will grunt and try to wiggle her arms free. But then the magic happens and she falls asleep so quickly and stays asleep much longer than when her hands are free. A few times I will hear her waking up from a nap only to see she has wiggled one of her hands out and she's moving her hand all over the place, scratching her face and everything...which is what was waking her up. So, I will tuck her arm back in her blanket and she falls back asleep instantly. 

This is my little nugget all nice and cozy, swaddled in her little SwaddleMe thing.

Also, Ava has been SMILING lately! I caught one on camera on my iphone. Ignore my annoying "Hiii, Hiii there."hahaha

Birth Announcement & Hiccups

This is Ava's birth announcement that we sent out. I had seen one that looked just like it on Pinterest and thought it was cute and simple. I decided that it would be easy to recreate it myself using Photoshop...so I did. :) Very easy and ended up being FREE to print on Shutterfly (50 free prints for signing up). LOVE! :) 

Simple, easy, cheap and sweet...just the way I like it. :)

Sometimes I just stare at this picture. What a beauty. :) She has already changed SO much! She was 5 days old in this picture - now she will be 4 weeks on Thursday. Her cheeks are getting much chubbier and she's really starting to chunk up. We LOVE it! She is barely squeezing into her newborn diapers, but size 1 diapers are a tiny bit too big still.

This video shows you her cute chubby cheeks. She had hiccups and she gets frustrated when she has hiccups sometimes. Cute, cute. :)

So strong

Ava is really good at holding her head up. Whenever she lays on Bryson's chest or I am burping her, she holds her little head up and looks all around. What a sweetie. 

I love how at the end of this video, she lays her little head on Bryson's shoulder. She LOVES to cuddle with her daddy and will lay on his chest forever and ever. 

3 weeks

Today Ava is 3 weeks old. 

3 weeks!? 

Time is going by too fast, but at the same time I feel like I've known this little person forever...

like I've known her little face, her little hands and little toes forever and ever. 

I never knew I could love anything as much as I love my sweet Ava. 

I love seeing her little eyes staring up at me as she's eating, I love that her one hand always finds a way to sneak its way out of her blanket when she's swaddled, I love her fuzzy hair and I love her soft baby skin. I love how happy she is getting her diaper changed, how she just softly fusses when she's hungry, and I love that she smiles and giggles in her sleep. 

I will rock and bounce her endlessly until her eyelids droop and she is fast asleep, but while she is sleeping I miss her and want to wake her up just so I can hold her again.  

Thank you for making these last 3 weeks the BEST of my life, sweet Ava. I love you.

]

2 week checkup

Today I took Ava to the Pediatrician for her 2 week check-up. She is actually 2 1/2 weeks...but close enough. :) It was our first outing, just us girls and it went very smoothly. :)

Here are her stats:

Height: 22.5 inches (98th percentile)

Weight: 9 lbs, 13.8 oz (86th percentile)

Head circumference: 14.49 inches (62nd percentile)

So, as you can see...she is LONG and actually pretty lean. She isn't chunky at all, just very, very long. She is gaining weight well - she is a champion eater, that's for sure! Her belly is starting to chunk up and I love that little rolly polly belly! :)

Ava has been sleeping for 6 hours straight for the last 3 nights! Once she wakes up from that 6 hour stretch, she eats and then sleeps for another 3 1/2 - 4 hours. I don't know if it will last...but getting 6 hours of sleep is nice! :) She has always been a good sleeper, so hopefully this will continue. :) When she was born, the doctor and lactation specialists told me to wake her up every 3 hours to eat. Today, the doctor said that since she is gaining weight so well and is over 9 pounds now, I can let her sleep as long as she wants to sleep. LOVE that! Thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

The doctor also checked Ava's neck strength by having her lay on her tummy and seeing if she can hold her head up. I have noticed that Ava is really good at holding her head up. When I hold her up on my shoulder to burp her or lay her on her tummy, she holds her head up really well and for a long time. I looked up online when babies are supposed to be able to hold their heads up and it said that by the end of the 1st month, they will be able to hold their head up briefly. Well today, when the doctor put Ava on her tummy, Ava pulled her head up and held it there for a long time and the doctor was SO impressed. She said, "OH my goodness, that is SO good for a 2 week old!" That's my girl! I am one proud momma haha.

Anyway, we love our sweet Ava Loo. :)

On my own...

Today, my Dad and my brother left. 

All of a sudden, my apartment is empty and so quiet. 

I'm not going to lie, I felt a tiny bit of panic as they walked out the door...can I really do this alone?! 

My dad was SO incredibly helpful while he was here. He definitely spoiled me and took such GREAT care of baby Ava. Every morning after I would feed Ava around 8am, he would take her, bounce and rock her, put her to sleep and then watch her and let me go back to sleep or take a shower and get dressed. It was truly a HUGE help and blessing to get just a couple extra hours of sleep every morning! Throughout the week, I watched him calm her and put her to sleep with ease and learned many new "techniques" of taking care of and soothing my baby girl. What a wonderful grandpa! :) 

He made many delicious meals, did dishes, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, replaced the blinker bulb in my car, took me grocery shopping, and helped keep my house semi-orderly (baby stuff has taken over our entire apartment!). 

My dad also helped me learn how to get out of the apartment with a newborn in tow haha. Does it sound pathetic that I needed help doing that? It was nice having him here to help me pack the diaper bag, make sure we had everything, carry the car seat and figure out the stroller, figure out how to put the car seat on the shopping cart and so much more! 

Thank you Dad! 

So, today was the first day that I was truly "on my own." Of course, I'm not actually alone...I have my Ava. My sweet, squishy cheeked, soft, fuzzy-haired Ava who I love so much! Today, I slept for a couple hours while she was sleeping and then she was awake for about an hour in the afternoon. She just hung out with me, happy as can be, sat on my lap and looked around, taking it all in. What a sweetie! 

Then, I put her in her crib for the first time (just for fun haha) and turned on the cute music box thing that Bryson's Aunt Harmony gave us. She just stared at it...completely mesmerized!

Ohh my gosh, I am in love. :)

Now I can start my countdown for when Granny, Papa, Auntie and Karley come! :) Can't wait!

Cute pictures of the baby

Today we went to the city to do the whole tourist thing with my dad and my brother. We went to the farmer's market at the Ferry Building, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, and then we drove down Lombard Street and around the different neighborhoods to see the Painted Ladies and the other fancy houses. Ava was seriously a trooper and slept and slept in her car seat. She stayed nice and covered, safe from all the people and birds flying over our heads. Sweet Ava has no idea what she slept through today haha. I, of course, was more interested in taking pictures of her than of anything the city had to offer. :)

Bryson and I with the Bay Bridge in the background.

Sleeping in the stroller

Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks?

Haha I LOVE that I caught her "smiling!" She makes this face all the time in her sleep.

Kaitlyn, aka Auntie Kait, bought this for Ava before he was born. :)

Like father, like daughter

Today, I got an iPhone! Bryson has been SO excited for months and months about getting me an iPhone. I would never, never, EVER have bought myself an iPhone only because they are so expensive and I don't like the idea of paying for a data plan every month...BUT Bryson really encouraged me to get one. So, today we went to the Verizon store and I got a white iPhone 4S. I walked out of the store the same way I walked out of the hospital after I had Ava - walking very slowly, very carefully, afraid I would drop it and break it. 

Everyone said that once I had an iPhone, I wouldn't be able to live without it. My sister said, "Ashley, once you have an iPhone, you'll wonder how you ever did without it!" haha. I'm not going to lie...it is pretty amazing. Much, much better than the piece of junk phone I've had for the last 3 years. :) SO much to do and see while I am nursing in the wee hours of the night!! 

One thing I LOVE about this phone is the camera and video camera! 8 megapixels, 1080p HD video! 

Here's a picture I took on the phone. The room was dark except for a small lamp off to the right hand side. Looks pretty dang good, if you ask me. :) 

(Also the baby's pretty cute, too) 

And even cuter...I took a video on my iPhone of Ava as she was sleeping in her little bassinet. I caught her SNORING up a storm - JUST LIKE HER DADDY. :) :) 

Sweet baby girl! 

It's kind of hard to hear...but if you turn your volume up, you can hear her sweet little baby snore haha. 

Oh my goodness, it does not get much sweeter than that!! haha Ohhh am I a MOM or what??

How did I not know??

I shouldn't admit this. But I am just so happy that I finally figured it out...I have to share! 

SO...I have had my Canon camera for months now. I love it and even though I am not "good" at taking pictures with it, I am slowly learning and enjoying learning as I go. 

When I bought the camera, I knew you could take video with it...but for some reason I never figured out how. I know, I know...how dumb can I be to not know how to figure that out.

BUT...today I did figure it out. 

And I took a very short video of my sweet baby. Horrible lighting and I'm still trying to figure out how to manually focus while shooting, but it doesn't get much cuter than a sweet, innocent, squishy baby girl. (Who, by the way, will be 2 weeks tomorrow). 

2 weeks?!?! Already?

Oh how I love my sweet baby Ava! :) 

Bath Time :)

Ava's umbilical cord stump fell off the other day, so we decided to give her a "real" bath in her cute plastic bathtub that Becky gave us. :) I don't think she knew what to think of it...but she did well and she smelled SO good after she was all washed and clean.  We love our little sweet Ava. 

Ava's Newborn Pictures

A girl in my ward took newborn pictures of baby Ava when she was 5 days old. I could NOT be happier with how they turned out. She did SUCH a good job and I just loved watching her take pictures and be so sweet with our little Ava. When I saw the first one, I broke down and cried. I just think they are perfect. :) I love how she caught Ava smiling a few times - those are some of my favorites! :)

I couldn't choose just a few to share, so hopefully this isn't Ava overload. :) :) 

I absolutely LOVE this one!

We love you little Miss Ava Loo! :)