One month old

Yesterday Miss Ava was 1 month old. I can't believe it has already been a month since she was born. Time sure it flying by! We went to "celebrate" with my friend Colleen, her son John and Colleen's twin sister Kelly. Baby John was born just 11hrs after Ava. In fact Colleen and I were at the same hospital and across the hall from each other when we had our babies. Sadly we have yet to get any pictures of our kids together. We were going to yesterday, but decided not to b/c they were both sleeping. Hopefully we will get that done sometime in the near future.

Ava's 1 month stats: 10lbs 5oz and 22in

Then and Now

My mother somehow managed to save some clothes from when I was a baby along with a few things from when she was a baby. While my parents were up here in NY we played dress up one day with Ava in order to get some pictures of her in those clothes.

This is a picture of me the day I came home from the hospital

here is Ava wearing the same dress I wore

In this picture Ava is wearing a coat and baby bunting my Grandma made for my mom when she was a baby

Finally this is Ava wearing a slip and laying on some sheets and pillow cases from when my mother was a baby (my Grandma made them all)

It was so neat being able to see Ava wearing these clothes. I'm so thankful my Mom was able to save them for so long. Who knows, maybe we'll get a picture of my Granddaughter wearing them too. Of course that won't happen any time soon :-)

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!

As you probably saw in my post 2 weeks ago on Sept 2 Adam came home for his 2 week R&R from Afghanistan. We had such a great 2 weeks with him here! Unfortunately it went by too quickly (R&R always does). We were able to get lots of things accomplished around the house while he was here, things I couldn't do while pregnant, so that was nice. Now I don't have to worry about them anymore. I also got a reminder course on how to run the snow blower in case we get a good snow before he gets back. I really hope I don't have to use it, but since this is northern NY I'm sure I will. Andrew was super excited to have his daddy here, but fortunately understood and remembered that it was just a vacation and that daddy was going to have to leave again. It was nice having Andrew in school all day while Adam was here though. It gave us some alone time to catch up with a little peace and quiet, plus Adam had time to bond with Ava without any distractions. Then in the evenings he could focus his attention only on Andrew which was nice. Hopefully we only have a few months left of this deployment and then Adam will be home for a while. Ok here are just a few of the pictures I took over the past 2 weeks :-)

Saying goodbye........for now

Andrew's new toy = Daddy's BIG project

Ok...so when we bought our house there was an old metal monkey bar/swing set in the back yard. When I say old I really mean old...I had one just like it when I was little. In fact I don't think you can find that kind anymore. Anyways, Andrew loved to play on it, but New York winters had taken their toll on the metal. Two of the support poles were in fact rusted through to the point I would no longer let him swing anymore because I was afriad that much weight on one side might make the entire thing fall. I did still let him play on the monkey bars simply because they were centered and there was no weight to one side or the other (I know I'm probably a bad mom for that). Adam and I have been talking for a LONG time about wating to get him a new swing set, but couldn't find one we liked that we could afford. Those things are so stinking expensive!! Well the other day we were in Sams and saw that they had a play set there in the store. We got to looking at it and couldn't believe how much stuff came on it. I mean seriously this thing has EVERYTHING. Naturally we assumed it would be insanely expensive but when we checked the price we were surprised. Considering everything this set has the price was rather reasonable. Of course it was a little more than we were really wanting to spend, but because Adam is a softy he wanted to go ahead and get it for Andrew. When he made this decision I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into. This was a massive project! It took us almost 2hrs just to unload all 4 boxes and sort the pieces. Adam ended up spending Thursday and Friday from 8am until dark putting this thing together. I will say it was totally worth it to see Andrew's face when it was all done. He was sooooo excited about his new "playground". I'm excited too because now he has something to keep him busy in the yard. Now maybe he'll stay out of trouble....maybe. Here are pictures showing some of the progress as it was put together. I have an amazing husband and my kiddos have a great father. He did it all pretty much by himself.

some of the lumber required

the rest of the lumber

the screws needed

and the bolts

putting the base together

working on the second level

putting the roof on

working on the overlook...with a little help from Andrew

the finished product from the front

the back view

the side view

Andrew checking out his new telescope on his overlook

1st day of school

Yesterday was Andrew's first day of kindergarten. I can't believe my little man is big enough to be going to school! He was so excited to be going to a big school and that he was going to ride a bus. Andrew had a wonderful day at his school. He got up that morning and hopped right on the bus with no problems at all. I was a little worried that he might get upset and not want to go, but boy was I wrong. He barely turned around to say bye. Once he got home we heard all about his day and then he quickly passed out sitting in his Nana's lap. I think those long days are going to wear him out :-)

impatiently waiting on the bus

such a big boy

getting on the bus

off to school he goes

welcome home Andrew!

he was so excited about his first day




It sure was quiet around the house yesterday with Andrew gone all day. Kind of strange, but it's nice to have time with Ava without any distractions. Still hard to believe Andrew's big enough to be in kindergarten. He's growing up so fast!

The best surprise ever

Adam got home for his 2 week R&R yesterday afternoon. It was soo good to see him after 8 months! My dad and I picked him up from the airport where he was able to meet Miss Ava for the first time. I do believe it was love at first sight and she already has him wrapped around her little finger.

Daddy's little girl

Do you think he likes her? :-)

Probably the best part of the day was surprising Andrew with his Daddy. I didn't tell Andrew where I was going when we left to pick up Adam so he had no idea what was going to happen. We got home and Adam waited in the car while we got the camera's set up and ready to go. Then he went and hid on the side of the house while I called Andrew out to come see his surprise. The look on his face when he saw Adam was priceless!! My little man loves his daddy more than just about anything else in this world.

my boys

Trip to the Park

On Tuesday my parents and I took Andrew to a local park to play for a while. He had so much fun running around and just being a little boy. Ava seemed to enjoy being outdoors too. She stayed awake nearly the entire time we were there. Here are a few pictures from that afternoon.

me and my sweet girl

precious baby

Andrew just being Andrew

being a little monkey

getting a lift from Pawpaw

Mom...please....NO MORE PICTURES!!