We're alive...

So, it turns out we're pretty horrible bloggers in our house. Most, if not all, of you are friends with me on Facebook, so you probably have a decent idea what's going on in our lives. Here's a brief recap:

-Ava is almost nine months old. WHAT?! That is not possible. She has 1 1/4 teeth. Her torticollis is SO much better; she just got downgraded to once a month therapy (instead of once every other week). She only wears her helmet when she's sleeping. They said she'd probably have it for about 2 more months. Yay! She is doing so great. She's really close to crawling... torti babies tend to hold off on stuff like that, which is fine with me. I like my mostly immobile baby! Haha. She is quite the talker - she yaps and yaps and yaps, squawks and squeals, sings and screams... all the live long day. She is very outgoing and quite the charmer. She grins and coos at everyone she meets. She is lovely and fabulous and the best thing ever. I love her so much!!!

-A couple weeks ago, we went on Ava's first beach trip (outside of the womb). We had a great time! Jared was in charge of setting everything up and we decided it would be a surprise to me! We stayed at the beautiful Caravelle Resort in Myrtle Beach. It was supposed to be Bike Week, but it was a ghost town. It was fantastic! We had the beach pretty much to ourselves. The room we stayed in was BEAUTIFUL - really cute and modern decorations, flat screen TVs, beach front, balcony, kitchen.... I loved it! We got a really good deal on it, too! We also rented a car since both of our check engine lights are on... that was a nice luxury, too! We had such a wonderful time. Ava wasn't really feelin' the ocean (it was very cold and loud) but she LOVED the pool!!! She would get in her little float and slap the water and just squeal with delight. It was adorable!!!

-Life continues to bless us every day. We are grateful!

Life is good right now. We have had a steady stream of illnesses in our house which isn't very fun. Ava and I seemed to be trading colds back and forth, and Jared has his annual lingering cough. Nothing too serious. Last weekend I had a really horrible sinus infection that had me in the bed pretty much all weekend. I finally decided to go to Urgent Care on Sunday after I developed a fever of 100.8. Good thing I did - by the time I was seen my fever was up to 101.5! Yikes! They did an x-ray and a blood draw to determine I had a pretty severe sinus infection that was bacterial in nature. They gave me a shot of antibiotics in my butt - good times! I'm feeling better now - still getting sinus headaches about twice a day but they are curbed with OTC sinus meds (the meds stopped working this weekend, so definitely improvement). The doctor wanted me to come back this weekend for a follow-up visit but I haven't decided if I'll actually do that.

Anyway, enough about that. We have been thoroughly enjoying the basketball season over the past few weeks. Jared and Ava got to go to UNC's practice session yesterday, and we have tickets to the second round games for both Duke and Carolina - assuming they make it, haha! Basketball is something we have found that we can enjoy as a family. Even Ava likes watching it! However she didn't like the noise at the practice session so she probably won't be joining us at the game.

I need to do a photo dump soon. Ava is growing all the time! She's finally starting to sprout some hair that is more than just her little peach fuzz - it actually sticks out over her helmet! It's still so little hair compared to some of our friends' babies. I was the same way. Her hair looks blonde for the most part. And her eyes look like they may be hazel. At her 6 month checkup she weighed 15lbs 13 oz and measured 25 1/2 inches long. She (finally!) rolled back to tummy last weekend. She still doesn't play on her tummy as well as I'd like her to. She basically rolls over as soon as you put her on her tummy and plays on her back. She will get there, though. Besides, her physical therapist (for her torticollis) says she is right on track for her developmental skills. She also said that she has had GREAT improvements in her torticollis since her last session, which was only 2 weeks before! Go Ava! She's such an angel! We are so blessed.

Let it snow!!!

We really enjoyed the pretty snow while it lasted! Here are some pictures from our backyard:










My sassy snowwoman that I made all by myself! Yes, I'm 25, not 5...

And finally...


Our beautiful snow angel!!! :)

Hopefully Ava will get another good snow when she is old enough to actually enjoy it...

Carolina wins. Duke loses. (Again.)

Ava approves.



So, at work the Duke-Carolina rivalry is in full force. We have a nice mix of Duke and Carolina fans. In our department the Carolina fans largely outweigh the Duke fans (smart people), but that doesn't stop the Duke fans from talking trash like there's no tomorrow. One Duke fan in particular, my co-worker, Brandon, was talking trash like it was going out of style the day of the game. Then, he conveniently signed up (in advance) for the Thursday and Friday after the game OFF. BIG MISTAKE! We took all of that extra time sans Brandon to ransack his cubicle with approximately 80 color copies of the UNC logo, changed his computer background and AIM icon to the logo, changed his AIM status to "I cry when Duke loses," changed his computer password to goheels, etc etc etc. Several of us got to work early for the momentous occasion - his reaction!



Epic! This video does not do justice to the magnitude of our work. I have another video that details all of our hard work. I will post that one soon!

GO HEELS!!!!!!!

UNC Senior Class 4-0 at Cameron Indoor

YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Five months old

For those of you just joining us in our month-by-month picture journey, here's a look back:

10/5/08


11/5/08


12/5/08


1/5/09

And now....

2/5/09

To quote Stevie Wonder, isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?

Yes. Yes, she is.

WE MISSED IT!!!!

I can't believe this! Last night we were all upstairs in our loft "office" - Ava was enjoying some tummy time on the floor, and Jared was on the computer. Ava was behind him and he had his back to her. I was playing with her and I got up to step into the closet for a couple of minutes (and realized how many 3 mo outfits she has NEVER worn! Gotta get on that!). When I came back out, Ava was on. her. back. She rolled over for the first time and NOBODY SAW IT!!! Sneaky little devil! I am a pretty sentimental person and I can't believe I missed it. I have been very worried that I will miss her milestones being away from her for 9 hours a day. It's even worse to actually be WITH her and STILL miss it! Boo hoo.

Beautiful weekend

You gotta love NC for its unpredictable weather. I love going from running the heat to the AC in a 48-hour span. Actually, I don't know if we really did turn on the AC, but we definitely could have. I DO love opening the windows and filling the house with the smell of fresh air. It's fabulous!

My mom is in the market for a new car. As some of you have heard she was involved in a hit-and-run (she was hit, that is; she didn't hit and run someone!) a couple of weeks ago and the car was totalled. My mom hasn't had a new car in - well, she drove a van when I was a baby up until I was about 15, when she started driving the VW New Beetle that my dad bought for me. I never learned how to drive it, so she's driven it up until then. So, I guess she hasn't had a new car in my entire life! It was a perfect weekend for car shopping. She hasn't picked anything out yet, but she is close. It sure made ME want a new car! Of course, we don't need one, so that definitely isn't happening. But those things have a way of getting to you!

Poor Ava is sick with RSV. She has had a tiny bit of congestion once before, but really this is the first time she has been sick. She has been the tiniest bit more fussy, but overall she is still the same happy, fabulous girl. It is horrible to hear her rumbly little cough and constantly wipe her snotty nose, but she doesn't seem to be feeling too bad. I just hate for my baby to be sick! I can't believe she is already FIVE MONTHS OLD. She is also doing very well with her helmet. Thanks for all the words of encouragement, by the way! I hope to get over this helmet funk sooner rather than later.

I am really looking forward to more beautiful weather this week! Fresh air is definitely good for the soul.

ETA: I hope my background is showing up for you guys! It's super cute. It was showing up for me at first, and now it isn't for some reason. I didn't change anything. When I looked at home it was showing up, and I asked someone and it was showing up for them. But for some reason when I look at work (using the same browser I use at home) the background is not showing up. (...not that I'm looking at, writing in, or even thinking about my blog at work, of course......) Hmm.

Life as we know it right now

Life is always busy around here! Last Monday, Ava had a doctor appointment at Brenner Children's Hospital to figure out if she needed a helmet for her slightly flat head. For the first 4.5 months of her life, she only slept on the right side of her head. Every night when I put her down I would turn her head to the left to balance this tendency out. When I would go to bed I would check and see if she had turned her head (which she almost always had) and I would turn it back. When Jared got up in the morning he would turn her head, too. Despite these efforts she still developed the flat head on her right side. So off we went to the helmet consultation.

First, they put a little cottony cap on her head and took pictures from different angles. They used a hilarious Eeyore doll as a distraction technique:

Then, they put goggles on her head that had some sort of sensor in them and scanned her head with a radar gun-looking thing. As they were scanning, the 3-D image of her head was popping up on a computer screen. It was amazing, but she hated every second of it:

Then, they distracted her with a fun light toy:

Next, they covered her eyes with some tape so they could scan her face. She REALLY hated that:

Finally we met with the doctor and it was decided that she did need the helmet. The doctor spent about 20 seconds examining her and came to the conclusion that she also has Torticollis, and will need physical therapy for that as well. As you might have surmised I am not convinced that she has this, but we will see. In the end she is still our beautiful, happy, smiley girl:

They said the helmet would not bug her; that it would affect us more than it affects her. This could not be more true. She doesn't seem to notice it. I, however, hate this stupid helmet with every fiber of my being. I hate that I can't kiss her forehead, I hate that it impedes my ability to snuggle with her, I hate that she can't wear her cute hats, I hate that it prompts people to ask what is "wrong" with her, I hate the unasked questions that I KNOW people have but are afraid to ask! I just hatehatehate that she has to wear it. I am fighting feeling responsible for it. I hate that, too. I hate that other babies don't have to wear it. What a stupid thing to fret over! Alas, the feelings are there. It's only been a week - hopefully this horrible feeling will pass. But it is here now, in full swing. UGH! The doctor gave no indication as to how long she'll wear it. I fear that since she started out fairly young that she'll have to wear it longer - otherwise her skull will still be soft and it could just go flat again.

Anyway. Enough of that. Our lives have been full of adventures outside of the helmet as well. We have been lucky enough to witness in person both the unfortunate defeat that was Wake vs. Carolina AND the fantastic defeat that was Wake vs. Duke. Both times we left saying, what a game! The evening of Wake vs. Duke was especially interesting - it started with a certain prideful husband refusing to move his car from the Goodwill parking lot after being confronted by a Goodwill employee, a distraught wife moving it and ending up what seemed like miles away in a distant parking lot, all by herself in the depths of the dark and abandonded Winston-Salem streets, a nasty blowout from said adventure which led to said distraught wife not paying attention to where she parked the car, and an hour-long frantic search for the car which ended with the aid of a Sheriff deputy. What a night!

So, here we are. Tonight we got last-minute tickets for Mamma Mia. Who knows what will happen next!

Taking the plunge...

I have decided to start a family blog! I will post more later. Stay tuned!