Back to Work

Today is officially the last day of my maternity leave. While I love my job and am ready to get back into the swing of things at the office, I am really sad that I will have to spend so much time apart from my precious baby Ava during the week. I am very grateful to have had 12 weeks at home with her (I feel so bad for the moms out there who don't get as long), but she still seems so little and it will be a tough transition. 

To help with this transition, I took Ava to daycare both Tuesday and Thursday the last two weeks. This was not only to get me ready emotionally, but also to figure out how long it would take to get her ready and out the door each morning. I highly recommend this to other moms going back to work. 

Here is a picture of Ava as I dropped her off the first day. She didn't look too pleased :). 

And look at the cute sign above her crib.

I cried for about 30 minutes after I dropped Ava off the first day of daycare, and I am honestly crying as I write this post. Nevertheless, I am confident that she will be in good hands, and we will still get to spend a lot of quality time together every day....but I should probably wear waterproof mascara to work for the next couple weeks :).

Birth Announcement

We finally got around to sending out Ava's birth announcements, and I am really happy with how they turned out! I put them together on Shutterfly using mainly pictures taken by the fabulous Jesse Leos during her newborn photo shoot. 

It also has a cute picture in color on the back, but I could only get the link for the front-page image from Shutterfly...I guess it will be a surprise when you get one in the mail :). 

Austin/San Antonio Trip

 I wanted to take Ava to Austin one more time before my maternity leave was over, and it was also the perfect opportunity to take her to San Antonio to meet her Great Grandmother Shepherd.

 I love this picture of Ava at my Mom's house doing tummy time with Louie. 

Ava got to spend a lot of time over at Grampsie and Nana's house as well...

She fell asleep on Aunt Bee's chest :).

She loves her Aunt Lily as well. 

She didn't even want to let go of her hair :).

Grampsie and Nana even babysat so Josh and I could go on a date night with my sister Sarabeth and her boyfriend Stephen. We checked out a new restaurant called Contigo.

The restaurant is owned by one of Josh's friends from high school, and it was wonderful! The food and drinks were delicious, and the atmosphere was really cool. We will definitely be back.

On Friday, we got her dressed in her outfit for San Antonio and headed down I-35.

And she finally got to meet her Great Grandmother Shepherd. 

 Four generations of Shepherds :)

Can't wait until the next visit!

Easter 2012

This Easter weekend was pretty uneventful...Ava was too young for an Easter egg hunt and we didn't go down to Austin or have any family in town. However, our friend Sarah invited us to her parent's annual Easter party, and we had a lot of fun. Her family is great!

Ava dressed up for the occasion. Her Bunny made this bunny onesie at my shower.

Grant was so sweet to Ava at the party. I think he is going to give Henry a run for his money ;).

Despite all the craziness around her, including their traditional cascarones fight as well as Easter jello shots (her Mom and Dad may or may not have taken some), Ava spent most of the party like this...

Ava looks really pleased in this photo.

And even more pleased in this one...it was time to go home at this point :).

Hopefully next year Ava can get in on the Easter egg hunt!

Ava - Two Months Old

Just like the first month (and as I suspect all months will be going forward), Ava's second month flew by! By her two-month birthday, she really seemed more like an infant and less like a newborn, which is good and bad :).

Ava was still super alert and didn't sleep a ton during the day. However, I can't complain too much because by about seven weeks she would sleep anywhere from 6-8 hours during the night before eating and going back to sleep for another hour or two! By the end of the month, we also established an afternoon nap in her crib. The first couple days, Ava only slept for about 30 minutes, but she was soon sleeping for longer stretches. She sometimes shocks me and sleeps for up to three hours during her nap...which is glorious!!

Here are the pictures from her monthly photo shoot. She was too distracted by her hands, my camera, and the dogs to smile, but I still managed to get some cute ones.

Not only did she not want to smile, she decided to frown a bit :).

She thinks her hands are so cool.

Here is Louie trying to distract her :).

Mom, is that you behind the camera?

Woohoooo....two months old!!

I'm over this photo shoot!

Two-Month Stats:

• 13 pounds, 9 ounces
• 24 inches long
• Greater than 95th percentile height and weight!

Likes:

Ava still likes everything she did from last month, but there are a few additions:

• Going on walks. She usually falls asleep pretty quickly.

• She loves her playmat! The rotating rhino and birds really make her smile :).

I love this video of her smiling at them!

• She no longer hates getting her diaper changed. Rather, she likes talking/smiling at me when she is on the changing table.

Dislikes:

• Waiting for her bottle to be made. Once she is hungry, this girl wants to eat very quickly!

Milestones:

• Ava's head/neck are so strong and she can hold her head up for a long time when she does tummy time...whether on her mat or her Daddy's chest.

• Ava discovered her hands and loves to stare at them!

• "Talking" - Ava coos and makes all kinds of fun noises when you talk to her. She is quite the conversationalist :).
• She can hold on to a toy when you put it in her hand.

• Taking an afternoon nap in her crib.
• She likes to "hold" her bottle.                             

Funny/Random Tidbits:

• She still snorts when she gets really upset, and I also love it when she sticks her lower lip out when she is sad. I haven't managed to get a picture yet, but it is too cute!
• When she is really tired, Ava sometimes acts like she is still eating after she is done with her bottle. Just like in this video:

And finally, some of my other favorite pictures from last month...

All dressed up for her first lunch out (we got a quick bite to eat at Rusty Taco, and she slept the whole time!).

 Bunny, Grampsie, and Aunt Hannah each came to Dallas for visits last month.

Look how long her eyelashes are!

Her birthday card for Bunny.

My little cupcake :).

Ava looks so much smaller when her Dad is holding her.

She is too precious for words!