A Visit from Winnie & Papa C

Last week we had the good fortune of having my family come visit for six days!  It was glorious.  My mom was anxious to see Ava again, and my dad was meeting her for the first time.  Aunt Julia also came in from Virginia to log a little Ava time.  It was my mom's Spring Break, so it worked out perfectly.  My parents' grandparent names are Winnie and Papa C.  (They've had them picked out for a while!)

Aunt Julia came early for a little playtime and to help me with the grocery shopping and cleaning before my parents arrived.  We appreciated it so much!  Ava was ready to greet Julia in her "I heart Auntie" outfit and leg warmers!

Aunt Julia was jealous of how many headbands Ava has!

When my parents arrived, Papa C got to meet Ava for the first time, and Winnie saw how much Ava has grown since she saw her last!

We went for a three mile hike on the Wa-Duke trail one afternoon.  It was cool enough to necessitate a sock monkey hat.

 

After church on Sunday, we went out to lunch at Happy China with our Chinese friend, Elvis, who goes to church with us each week.

On Monday, Julia had to go back to work, but Brent and I took mom and dad to Chapel Hill for an afternoon of shopping on Franklin Street and lunch at one of our favorite places, Mediterranean Deli.  Ava slept like a champ the whole time!

While my parents were in town, we also had a visit from Brent's friend Olivia.  Ava loved her!  My mom also took it upon herself to organize my linen closet.  This qualifies her for "best mom ever", if you ask me.

When my mom wasn't organizing linen closets or cleaning, Ava got tons of quality time with her Winnie.  How cute are these pictures?  We're trying our best to start Ava out as a reader early.  It's just a small detail that she never even looks at the book we're holding...

My parents were nice enough to watch Ava while we went out on a real date!!   We went to a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Revolution.  It was perfect!  We ate a ton of good food, but here is a pic of the Tuna tartare appetizer that was as delicious as it was beautiful.  Yay for not being pregnant and being able to eat sushi again!

We spent an afternoon at the Nasher Museum of Art on the Duke campus.  We ate lunch at the Nasher Cafe and saw a few exhibits, our favorite of which was a photography exhibit.  Ava tagged along in her stroller.  We were careful to time each outing so that it coincided with her nap time.  We are still in that magical time when she can sleep in her car seat or stroller.  In fact, she sleeps BETTER in the stroller than anywhere else, so one outing a day is a must.

On the last day of their visit, we played dress up.  We put Ava in the rosebud dress I wore home from the hospital as a newborn!  We intended to have Ava wear it home too, but with all the drama we went through at the hospital, that just wasn't gonna happen.  Better late than never!  She looked adorable, so we had a photo shoot to document the occasion.

Three generations of lovely ladies

Thanks, Winnie & Papa C, for an awesome visit!  We love you!!

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

{Look!  A post that's not about my baby!}

Since I no longer have an excuse to eat donuts and pastries for breakfast (sigh), I'm returning to my healthy eating ways.  Lately, I've been obsessed with this easy, quick, healthy, and SUPER delicious quinoa breakfast bowl.  I saw the idea on Pinterest, and I knew I would love it.

This breakfast can be thrown together in a matter of minutes.  You'll get tons of protein from the quinoa and yogurt, antioxidants from the berries, and heart-healthy fats from the almonds and seeds.  Sweetened with a touch of honey, this is a chewy, crunchy, creamy, sweet, and tart breakfast.  I cook up a big batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week, and it keeps really well in the fridge for 4-5 days, making prep time super fast in the mornings.  The other great thing about it is that it's endlessly adaptable.  Personally, I think this is the best way, but you could sub in any other yogurt, nuts, seeds, and fruit that you like.  Here's how I make mine:

Red quinoa 

(you could use regular quinoa too, but I like red for breakfast)

Yogurt 

(your favorite kind will work, but I love Chobani fat free vanilla)

Berries 

(I prefer blackberries, but I've also made it with strawberries!)

Almonds 

(or your favorite nut)

Sunflower Seeds 

(unsalted!)

Honey

(or maple syrup or agave nectar)

Put it all together in a bowl.  Stir it up.  Enjoy.

Ava's Newborn Pictures

My wonderful sister and brother in law gave us the greatest Christmas gift ever!  They gave us a professional newborn photo session with a photographer here in Raleigh.  It was a super special gift that we will treasure forever!  I mentioned in a previous post that Ava was not too happy for our first photo session.  She was supposed to sleep so the photographer could put her into all sorts of cute positions, but little miss decided to stay awake and scream pretty much the whole time.  Melissa (the photographer) was super nice and patient and offered to try again if we could bring Ava back another day.  We brought her four days later, and thankfully Ava cooperated and slept like a champ.  In the end, I'm really glad we got some cute ones of her sleeping and awake.  We just love how the pictures turned out, and I can't wait to figure out how to display some of them in our home.  If you live in North Carolina, I can't recommend Melissa Devoe Photography highly enough!  She is AWESOME!  Love our precious little girl!!

{our little family of three}

One Month

Stats:  
Weight - 8 lbs. 13.5 oz (39th percentile)
Head - 14 in (88th percentile)
Height - 21.25 in (55th percentile)

Strengths:  Ava is so strong and can hold up her head for quite a long time when placed on her tummy.  Similarly, she is very curious and loves to look around at the world whenever she can.  Ava is also starting to follow objects and sounds with her eyes.  The other day, I walked in a circle around her play mat, talking to her the entire time, and she followed me with her eyes and her head the whole way!  She's also beginning to make some sounds (besides screaming) and smile every once in a while!  Yay!!  We've begun giving her a breast milk bottle every few days, and I was so worried it was going to be a battle.  However, she took it like a champ and sucks down a bottle in no time whenever Brent gives her one.

Struggles:  Ava is sleeping pretty well at night, but she can't seem to get past the 4 hour mark.  She consistently sleeps for 2.5, 3, or 4 hours at night.  Some things I've read say they should be able to do 5 or 6 hours by now.  I'm hoping this will just happen naturally!  The evening time is still our biggest struggle.  Ava's fussy time is typically from around 7 pm - 10 pm, which is hard since it's the end of the day, and it's nearly impossible for us to make and/or eat dinner when trying to calm her.  She gets into what we call a "death spiral" where she works herself into a frenzy and sleep is just not gonna happen.  We try our hardest to intercept death spirals before they happen!

Loves:  Ava loves the car seat and falls asleep within a few minutes of driving anywhere.  This is really nice for Mama who can have lunch with friends pretty easily.  I just pop the car seat out of the car, bring it in the restaurant, and keep the cover on while we eat and chat.  She loves the white noise of a restaurant and usually stays asleep the entire time!  Ava also loves bath time - she sits quietly and looks around while she enjoys the feel of the warm water.  She doesn't like getting out, though... just like her Mama!  Finally, finally... Ava likes the swing!  We were so bummed that she hated it at first.  But, we kept working on it, and now it's one of the only ways we can get her to calm down and sleep during the day.  We even put her in there awake, and she puts herself to sleep!  Ava also loves her Vitamin D supplement drops.  It's so funny... she smiles and licks her lips every time I give them to her!  We call it her "candy", and it's her once daily treat.  If she's really crying and she hasn't had them yet that day, we can give her "candy", and it quiets her immediately.  Ava loves her play mat!  Every morning, she spends at least 15 minutes happily kicking and looking at the animals hanging down.  She spends some happy tummy time on her play mat, too.  Finally, Ava is a lover of white noise!  If she's screaming, a loud white noise will almost always stop her immediately.  We have a "white noise" app on our phones, and lets just say we have to charge our phones 2-3 times per day to keep up with baby girl's white noise habit.

Dislikes:  Ava screams and cries for every diaper change.  We try our hardest to make it cuddly and fun, but she is not a fan.  It is a surefire way to wake her up, though!  Ava is not super cuddly yet.  I am really looking forward to the day when she will respond better to cuddling, hugging, rocking, and kissing, but she does not yet.  Brent says we have to resort to "party tricks" like white noise, swaddling, and jiggling to get her to sleep.  I hope someday that rocking and cuddling will do the trick, but for now, it often makes her angry and she stiffens up and resists us.  We'll keep cuddling, though!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures taken lately!

{headband modeling}

{buddies.}

{pacifier skills}

{Blazer hearts Ava}

{mama & me}

{smiles!}

Ava, we love you so much and love seeing you grow and change every day!

Month One Must Haves

Ava is one month old today!  I wish I could say it's gone by quickly... but, it kind of seems like forever :-)  We have a house full of baby stuff, most of which she doesn't fit into, use, or need (yet!).  However, there are some items that have been instrumental slash required for survival this first month.  Here are our month one must-haves: baby stuff (and mama stuff) we love!

1 ::  Fisher Price "My Little Snugabunny" Bouncer

Ava spends at least a few hours in this bouncer each day.  Thank you, Maggie, for lending it to us!  We use it for naps and for getting Ava to sleep.  It's also a good place to set her down quickly if you need to use the bathroom or grab something. The only thing we haaaate is that it doesn't bounce itself!  A bouncer that doesn't bounce on it's own?!  Is this some kind of joke?!  One time I looked over while I was feeding Ava, and Brent was bouncing the bouncer with his foot out of habit.  She wasn't even in there!!  

2 ::  Summer "Swaddle Me" Wrap

We are definitely pro-swaddle.  Ava loooves her arms and legs.  Which is great and cute most of the day EXCEPT when we want her to sleep.  She absolutely can not sleep unless swaddled.  She is a little wiggle worm, and she will flail and struggle and hit herself in the face until swaddled.  I think the Miracle Blanket is awesome, but it's for an older / bigger child.  The Swaddle Me is very small and snug for a newborn, and it's got foolproof Velcro closures - good for 3 am when I can barely tell you my own name, much less fasten a complicated swaddle.

3 ::  Baby Connect App

There are tons of apps and gizmos out there for baby care, but I think this one is the best.  You can track ANYTHING on here - feedings, naps, diapers, doctor visits, vaccinations, milestones, moods, activity time... the list goes on.  We use it religiously to track feedings.  At the beginning we also used it to track sleep and diapers.  I also love tracking doctors visits because I can record questions for the doctor right in the app as I think of them!  The best part is that the app can sync with other devices.  So, anytime I enter a feeding, it shows up on Brent's phone too.  I have never, ever, once remembered when I fed her last, so having the app tell me how long it's been is truly necessary.  Best $4.99 you'll spend.

4 ::  Moby Wrap

I love babywearing.  We have a near 100% track record of putting Ava to sleep in baby carriers.  She loves them.  Plus, I can write emails, blog, do laundry, load the dishwasher, pick up the house, and even sit down and watch TV, all while "holding" her.  Pretty awesome.  It's also great for trips to the grocery store or Target when I don't want lug around the bulky car seat.  Many people told me the Moby was too complicated and they didn't use it for that reason.  I find it to be pretty easy.  I watched a You Tube video and now I can put it on in under a minute.  It's comfy, snug and secure, and kind of stylish.  I put the Moby on myself at home before going out.  When I arrive, I get Ava right out of the car seat and straight into the Moby - saves time, and I can sometimes do it without waking her up!

5 ::  Happiest Baby on the Block DVD

I read the "Happiest Baby on the Block" book, and it was helpful.  However, we borrowed the DVD from a friend so we could SEE the soothing strategies in action.  We are now experts at the 5 Ss:  Swaddling, Swinging, Side/Stomach, Shushing, and Sucking.  We're not too proud to admit that we've watched the DVD multiple times, sometimes while she is screaming our our ear.  

6 ::  DVR

Let's just say I've watched (more than) my share of The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, House Hunters, Love It Or List It, 19 Kids and Counting, Top Chef, 24, Chopped, and Downton Abbey.  Don't judge.  Nursing takes up about 50% of my day, so I have to have some entertainment.  Plus, let's be honest... sometimes The Bachelor is just what the doctor ordered.

7 ::  Sleep Sheep

Each time we put Ava down to sleep, we turn on the sleep sheep to "ocean waves".  I'm not sure who likes it more - her or us.  The waves are SO relaxing.  They truly help me sleep.  Brent claims that after Ava doesn't need it anymore he's going to keep it for himself!  If nothing else, I'm hoping that she starts to associate that sound with sleep to help her sleep longer and go to sleep more quickly.

8 :: "Well Versed" App

Yes, I sometimes turn to Downton Abbey on a bad day, but that's a temporary fix.  To really make it through these months, I need the Lord.  I have an even greater desire to memorize scripture and have the word of God overtake me and fill my mind.  I found this awesome free app called "Well Versed".  You can add any verse from the Bible (automatic... you don't have to type it), and it creates flashcards for you!  It even has a "hint mode" to help you memorize.  I can study the flashcards with one hand while feeding or rocking.  It's awesome!

1::  Boppy Nursing Pillow

The Boppy is a must-have for a breastfeeding mom.  I have this with me where ever I am in the house.  It's perfect for propping up Ava while breastfeeding and holding her secure so my arms don't go numb.  It's super versatile and can be used in a ton of breastfeeding positions.  I love it!!!  The cover is easy to take on and off and wash, too, which is great.

2 ::  Car Seat Canopy

When I shopped at Motherhood Maternity while pregnant, I got a coupon for a free car seat canopy, so I went ahead and got one, not knowing just how indispensable it would be.  This thing is GREAT for many reasons.  First, we use it on all walks since it shields her from the chilly North Carolina temperatures.  We've been able to walk in cold weather knowing she is toasty under there.  Secondly, it's PERFECT for going out to restaurants, church, etc.  It keeps her asleep and (added bonus) it makes it much less likely that strangers will try to touch her or ask to hold her!  We use this daily.

3 ::  Gerber Pre-fold Cloth Diapers

These are not glamorous, but they are so necessary.  Right now if you look at our house, we have one on both couches, one on the glider, one on our bed, one on the kitchen counter, and one randomly on the floor.  One of us is always yelling "Get me a diaper!" from across the house.  We don't use them as diapers, mind you, but we use them as burp cloths and general "clean up whatever mess the baby makes" cloths.  They get the job done and can be washed a million times.  I'd recommend getting at least a dozen.

4 :: Girly Headbands

On a bad day, I'm not gonna lie that a cute headband on Ava's head lifts my spirits.  I know she has barely any hair.  I know her head is too small for most headbands.  I know some people think they look ridiculous.  I know they are totally frivolous.  And I DON'T CARE!  I love baby headbands and I'm not afraid to admit it.  She already has at least 15.  I'm in the process of making a DIY headband holder / organizer that I'll post when finished.  I bought these headbands pictured from a "Very Jane" deal, and I love them!!

5 ::  Coffee

DUH.

6 :: Seven Baby Sling

As I already said, I love babywearing.  The Seven Sling (also free when you buy something from Motherhood Maternity) is another great option that is quicker and more "casual" than the Moby.  While the Moby is great for more serious trips out to the store, this sling is perfect for around the house.  Both Brent and I use this one at least once a day (we have a black and white one that is sufficiently manly).  She loves it, and even if she's crying when she goes in, after a few laps around the house, she's out.  Then, I have at least an hour of hands free time while she naps on me.  I love that we're bonding and close, but I can still do things!

7 :: Carter's Long Sleeve White Bodysuits

Brent calls these bodysiuts Ava's "uniform".  Of course I had visions of dressing my baby to the nines each day in frilly, pink, ridiculously cute things.  And never fear - that day will come... but it's not today.  Here's the deal:  when you never leave the house and don't see anyone all day, there is no need to dress up.  Also, little girl spits up, drools, and poops on anything I put on her.  These white onesies are cheap and come in big packs so we dirty one and just put another on.  Plus, they have MITTENS which are key for Ava whose favorite activity is scratching up her face while flailing her arms.  Plus, the white onesie is easily accessorized with pants, booties, hats, and, of course... headbands.

I hope this list helps anyone who is expecting a baby now or in the future.  If you're already a mom, what did you use the first few months?  What great products am I missing out on?