3 Month Family Anniversary!!

3 beautiful months have come and gone and left us with so many amazing memories!  We can't wait to see what the next 3 months have in store for us.  

3 Month List

1.  Ava's biggest challenge during the last month have occurred in the last week and a half...daycare.  Her first week was rough with lots of toddler attitude to boot :)  This past week however, she has done awesome!!!!  Still crying at drop off but it's not lasting very long and occasional tears when they go outside to play.  Her teachers say that she is making lots of friends and participates really well!!  We are so proud of her for braving yet another challenge in her life and rocking it!!!

2.  Ava loves "Insanity" workout videos!  LOL!!!  Matt and I work out to them in the basement and she  dances right along to the music on the DVD.   When we have an exercise that requires us to be on the floor Ava will come sit beside us and bop her head up and down like she's doing the exercise too!!  Seriously the funniest thing ever.  I have to get pictures and video of this before she stops.  I will never be able to workout without having my sweet little girl beside me to cheer me on again :)

3.  Because she's been in daycare and I've gone back to work we watch even less TV.  She still loves Baby Einstein and we've gotten a couple new ones this last month.  But she also will come running into watch the TV whenever any music is playing on a show.  When she does this, she'll do her little jig and then go right back to whatever else she was doing.

4.  Ava met both of her Great-Grandmas this last month!!  What a blessing to be able to share my beautiful baby girl with these special people.  Those introductions were definitely meetings I will never forget.

5.  Favorite Book:  Ava continues to love to look at books and have books read to you.  Her favorite book currently is a touch and feel book called "That's Not My Panda".  When she finally reaches the part of "that is my panda...his tummy is so soft" she rubs the soft part of the bear against her cheek.  Such a sweet, silly girl!!
6.  Ava made her first trip to the lake house in Missouri!!  This is something that I dreamt a long time about and was so thankful to be able to take her!  We spent 5 days at the lake with my family.  We spent a lot of time playing on the patio, going for boat rides, blowing bubbles, and just relaxing as a family.  Such a fun memory for us with many more trips to come in the future.
7.  Ava is (knock on wood) sleeping through the night almost every night!!!  YAY!!
8.  Favorite foods:  Ava is still a really good eater, but has become more picky in the last month.  Ava is especially struggling with eating hamburger and chicken lately.  She tends to put it in her mouth and chew on it for awhile but then will spit it all back out.  She eats a lot of yogurt, strawberries, turkey lunch meat, and eggs.  She has also discovered popsicles during the last month.  She thinks those are yummy!!
9.  Ava and Jack are definitely good buddies!!  Jack has been quite sad with Ava going to daycare during the day.  I don't think he knows what to think with all the quiet in our house during the day.  Everyday she gets home, she gets attacked with kisses from Jack~somebody misses her.
10.  New words and sounds:  We haven't heard a lot of new words lately, but are hearing new sounds since she started daycare.  We have a feeling that new words are coming very soon.  Her favorite new sound is ga-ga.  And she continues to sing all day!!  Sing will break out with "E-I-E-I, cluck, cluck, cluck" frequently during the day.   

First Mother's Day

I had so much fun celebrating my first Mother's Day with the sweetest family EVER!!  Mother's Day has always been a bittersweet holiday in the recent past for me.  I have a fantastic mom and mother in law to celebrate but in the back of my mind I was always wondering about how long I had to wait to be able to be a mom.  So this year was extra happy for me; it was finally my year!!

I received some beautiful gifts from my family.  Ava made a beautiful craft for me at daycare this week that she finger painted pink.  I also received a beautiful, heartfelt note from my husband along with new workout gear.  But better than any gift was a day with my family that was planned for me.  We started the day off with brunch at Le Peep, one of our favorite spots in Omaha.  Afterwards we headed to the farmer's market and picked up some starter veggie plants and delicious fresh produce.  We also spent some time dancing to the local musicians.  This was a big hit with Ava!!  Finally we headed to the zoo for the afternoon.  What a fantastic day!!   Feeling very blessed and thankful today!

  

First Days of Daycare for Ava and Back to Work for me

What a big week in our house.  Lots of changes and challenges, but we all made it through.  Ava had her first day at daycare on Tuesday and then went Thursday and Friday when I went back to work.  Tuesday was a pretty good day for Ava.  She cried when we dropped her off but quickly stopped.  Thursday however was a really rough day for Ava.  To start off she decided that the night before my first day back would be a great night to be up for 2 plus hours during the night ;)  So when Matt went to get her out of bed and ready for the day she was not ready to get out of bed yet.  This lead to tantrum one of the day.  Her teachers reported that she cried and wanted to be held most of day but as soon as Matt and I got there to pick her up she was all smiles...at least for a little while.  We decided to go for a family walk after we got home.  About half way through Ava started letting us know that she was not happy with us.  This all lead into a rough evening but by bedtime she was smiling and loving us again.  Friday her teachers stated that she still had a rough day crying off and on but at least 50% of the time it was a fake cry.  It was a rough week for her, but we are certain that with time it will get better and that she will like going to daycare.  She loves watching other kids and you can tell that kid noises are all that she is used to hearing, but at the same time we wonder how much daycare reminds her of the orphanage.  When I put myself in her shoes I can't imagine how scary daycare might be if it reminded me of the orphanage where I spent my whole life until a couple months ago.  She is a very brave little girl!!

First day of daycare kisses

My first day of work was Thursday.  Truly on of the toughest days of my life.  It's a good thing that I love my job or the heartache might not be worth it.  I started crying Monday night and then continued throughout the week.  I can report that going to work on Friday was easier than on Thursday.  So I know we can all do this!!  My co-workers are the best ever: offering hugs, listening to all my stories about Ava, and letting me leave in good time so that I could go pick up my girl.  I absolutely love that smile of her's when we pick her up at the end of the day!!  Melts my heart every time and I hate to miss it.

My biggest fear of going back to work and her going to daycare is how much I am going to miss when I'm away from her.  I can't believe how much she's grown and changed over the last few months and I hate the thought of missing any little step in her life.  But I also know that for right now I need to work for our family to be successful and Ava needs to be around other children and people to grow even more.  I can promise her that every moment we spend together will not be wasted.  We will celebrate every moment and take full advantage of our times together!  Love my little girl with all my heart!!  

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Wishing Grandpa Fuller a very happy birthday!!  We enjoyed being able to celebrate with you :)    Love you!!

Celebrating Grandpa Fuller's birthday with him at Plum Creek.  

Meeting 2 Great Grandmas!!

A last minute change of plans lead us to Kansas instead of home after our lake trip.  Ava and I headed home with my parents so that we could take a trip to southwest Kansas to meet Ava's Great-Grandma.  She didn't know Ava and I were coming and boy was she surprised!  Her response to Ava was one that I will never forget.  Once the shock and tears slowed her response was "I never thought I'd be able to get my hands on that beautiful little girl".  My Grandma was one of those people who prayed so long for Ava; long before Ava was Ava.

Even before we walked down the hall to Grandma's room we were stopped by a worker at the home who asked if we were here to see her.  We said yes and the worker said that she thought that was Ava.  Grandma had shown her lots of pictures and had obviously been talking about new Great-Granddaughter with her.  Grandma took great pride in introducing Ava to all her friends and staff.

Ava also got to meet her Great-Grandpa, Uncle K, Aunt D, and 3 more cousins!!  What a big day for Ava.  She was a little overwhelmed at first by all the new people but quickly warmed up to everyone.  

To add to the fun, Ava also got to meet her Great-Grandma on the Fuller side during our week in Kansas!!  Again, we were able to surprise Great-Grandma which was so fun.  I love seeing the expressions on people's faces when they see Ava for the first time.  And she was thrilled to meet Ava!  She quickly pulled out a toy for Ava and found cookies.  :)  

Feeling very blessed after getting to spend time with some very special people over the last week.  Hoping it's not too long before we get to see these wonderful people again. 

  

First Trip to Table Rock Lake

After we were matched with Ava, I started a mental note of all the places I couldn't wait to take her.  Our family lake house was definitely in the top 3 places on this list and I am so thrilled to share that we were able to make the trip while I was still on maternity leave.  It was surreal for a while as I had waited so long to bring our child to this place that is so special to me and my entire family.  To me the lake house = family, fun, beautiful scenery, and relaxation.

Getting ready to go on her first boat ride.  She wanted to sit on Baba's lap the entire time she was in the boat.  Soon into the trip she was clapping and laughing!  

Yay!!

"I love the lake!!"

We had a couple of rain days at the lake filled with games...

clowning around with Pappy...

and helping Uncle Bobby build fires.

Ava was so funny, she loved this duck and would walk over and give it random kisses!!

Drawing with Lau Lau

Ava and Jack looking to get into trouble, I'm sure.

Reading books on the patio

Of course there was dancing!!

Boat rides

Bubbles

More dancing :)

Love them so much!!

 

Dancin' Feet

On April 20th we went to celebrate a friend's wedding in Hays. It was so much fun to catch up with some of our very best friends from school and introduce them to our daughter.  It's so fun to watch people's first reaction to Ava when they have been praying for her for so long.  We truly have the greatest friends we could ever ask for. It's more than normal to have friends pray alongside you for your daughter long before we even had a picture or name; it's extraordinary!!

Ava is our miracle girl and is so happy and content with her new family!!  Dancing is one of the ways she shows how happy she is. She dances every day at home so we couldn't wait to see what she'd do at her first wedding dance.  Let me tell you, Ava was a dancing fool!!  She danced for 2 and a half hours straight.  We had to keep a close eye on her because she would go up to anyone on the dance floor and start dancing with them :)  She especially loved dancing with the other kiddos.  Ava and our friend's daughter G had a great time dancing together.  Such a fun night!!

Me and my beautiful daughter

Dancing with J and G

Dancing with G

Some of the greatest people we've been blessed to call friends

Teaching Baba some moves ;)