Our March Madness (WARNIING-PICTURE OVERLOAD)

March was quite the busy month for us!  And I figured I'd better stay ahead of the game and recap before we get too far into April.  Time is just slipping away from me these days!  The babes is growing fast, the husband is working so hard to provide for us, and this Momma is just trying to keep up with it all :)  But life is good and we've been so blessed.  So, here's a look at our March Madness...

The beginning of the month found us celebrating my wonderful mother's birthday.  Ava and I spent the day with her and went to lunch.  Last year on my Mom's birthday, I found out I was pregnant :) So this day will always be a special one for us!

 

Ava started grabbing our faces.  It's become her new favorite thing.  And ours :)

 

The weather FINALLY started to warm up a bit so we've been spending a lot of time outdoors!  It's amazing how a little sunshine can warm your soul :) We are so excited for Spring!  

And Ava finally got to wear short sleeves! 

We supported Daddy at many a basketball game this month.  Between stake basketball, and the Lehi Alumni Tournament, we've had our fair share of startling end of regulation buzzers.  And when I say startling, I mean STARTLING.  Ava would almost jump out of my arms every time the buzzer would sound.  Sad, but funny.  At least we know she has great hearing! 

A big event for us this month, was that we bought a new car.  Well, we're actually leasing it, but still, a huge financial decision for us.  It's a 2013 Nissan Leaf.  100% electric and oh so fun.  Jace is the main driver of it, since it's mostly a commuter car, but we do use it as our primary vehicle now, and let me tell you, it's been SO nice not to have a personal relationship with the gas station!  

St. Patrick's Day fell on Sunday this year, but of course we all still sported our green.

 

And.... we have a 5 month old. Wait, what?  

Not much has changed with the babes since her 4th month update.  She's still as sweet as ever and perfect in every way.  Her little personality just kills us.  She's a talker, and a singer and a drama queen in every sense of the word.  She's realized that she can move around by scooting on her back.  She loves loves loves to scoot.  She will scoot entirely off of her play mat and around the living room, and tries to scoot herself off of her changing table now, making diaper changes a tad bit difficult.  She also somehow manages to do 180's in her crib at night.  I will find her in the mornings, head at the foot, and feet at the head.  Completely out of her blankies as well.  Oh, my little wiggle worm.  She cracks me up.

 

We're still dealing with the stranger anxiety, but I do feel like she's warming up to people more.  At least I'm hopeful!  It depends on the day, and if she's being a typical emotional girl or not :) 

No tears around Grandpa is a HUGE milestone!

I thank my Heavenly Father every day for blessing me with a child that sleeps.  He knows that I would not be a good mother otherwise :)  And this girl is one amazing sleeper.  She knows when it's bedtime and gladly goes down without a bit of a fight.  And 10-12 hours a night is Heavenly, let me just tell you.  How did I get so lucky?

She loves the bath...

And her toys...

 

 

And her puppy...

And will put anything and everything in her mouth...

 
 
She's her Daddy's biggest fan...

But definitely a Momma's girl :)

She's beautiful, and hilarious, and just perfect.  I said that already didn't I?  We are so so so in love :)

We ended our busy month of March by celebrating the beautiful Easter weekend.  We spent time with family outside in the glorious sunshine and ate to our heart's content :)

 My sweetie all ready for church in her Easter dress :)

My dad is known for having the first green lawn of the year, and beautifully green it was.  We had to let miss Ava experience it for herself for the first time...

 
 She liked sitting in it, but not so much laying in it...

 
 Last year on Easter Sunday, we told our families we were pregnant.  I was 10 weeks along.  This year, to have her there with us, was the best thing in the world!

 It was a wonderful weekend to remember what's really important in life and to reflect on our kind, loving Savior who sacrificed for us all.  Without Him, none of this would be possible.  I know that He lives, and for that, I'm grateful :)

4th Month Findings

My baby is growing fast.  Sometimes too fast for my liking, she is indeed no longer a newborn.  But I love how she is becoming so smart, and reaching developmental milestones.  It really amazes me actually, how quickly she learns new things and discovers her world.  

Here's the latest on our little lady...

Ava's 4 month well check found her weighing in at 11 lbs 3 oz and measuring 23 inches long.  I thought for sure she was bigger than that, but I'm okay that she's not :) I want to keep her little forever, and her pediatrician told us that we should actually get used to it.  She will probably always be petite.
She is still in 3 month clothes but has graduated from size 1 diapers, to size 2! 

He also told us to hold off on starting her on any rice cereals or solids.  She's doing so well with the formula, eating 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours, and sleeping 9-10 hours at night.  We've got a good thing going and he said not to mess with it.  He recommended solids for her at 6 months and we are fine with that!  One less thing to have to do :)

Her pediatrician also confirmed something that we've known for awhile now.  Our sensitive, tender hearted little miss has Stranger Anxiety.  It's really early for that to have already started, typically it's not until 7 or 8 months, but she's got it.  And bad.  And there's nothing we can do about it.  She will hopefully grow out of it soon.  It really is the saddest thing.  If someone, anyone really, that's not either Jace or myself, gets near her, or looks at her wrong, we're in meltdown city.  It's hard to be told, "Oh, you're spoiling her too much." Or, "She's such a Momma's girl, you need to fix that."  Trust me, I want more than anyone for her to be comfortable with people other than myself.  But at the same time, I don't believe you can EVER spoil an infant, and I will look back at these days with NO regrets that she and I got to spend all day, everyday playing and cuddling together.  A lot of mothers don't get to stay at home with their babies all day like me.  I feel blessed to have that opportunity and to have a sweet baby that loves me in return :)  

On a less serious note!  Like I said, she's still sleeping amazingly through the night, and her naps during the day are really quite consistent as well.  She now naps in her crib (hallelujah) and probably takes 3 good solid naps a day.  Bedtime has now become a little earlier, between 8-8:30.  That changed as we started to notice her getting really ornery between 7 and 8 o clock.  Nothing was calming her down.  One night, as she was inconsolable, I said screw it, and started the bedtime routine at about 7:30 (typically we didn't start it until 8:30-9).  I was afraid to put her down so early in fear that she wouldn't sleep through the night and I'd be getting up with her at 4 or 5 am.  But, she surprised us all and still slept her normal 10 or so hours!  And she's been pretty consistent with that time frame ever since.  Hello, all those nights she was so fussy, she was trying to tell us to stop keeping her up so late and put her to bed!  Why it took me so long to realize that?  Heaven only knows... new mother errors I guess :) 

Our little miss is getting so smart!  She finally started reaching and grabbing for her toys this last month, and now that she has accomplished that, playtime has a whole new meaning!  She cannot get enough of her toys and all of them of course go straight to her mouth.  

She has even been enjoying tummy time a little more than usual and will roll over from her belly to her back.  And I'm thinking that the harder task of back to belly isn't too far off... she gets herself turned so far onto her side sometimes while playing, that I'm certain one of these days I'll find her on her belly, without me having put her that way :)  

She thinks she's pretty big these days.  Rolling over is one thing, but lately she feels like she can hold her bottle all on her own too.  

And don't even get me started on the Bumbo... :)  She looks so big!

She absolutely LOVES the sound of her voice and will talk and squeal and coo and sing all day long.  In the mornings, before I go in to get her, she will just lay there talking and singing to herself.  Best wake up call in my book :)

She also loves to look in the mirror.  We will put her in front of the mirror and she will light up, smiling and talking to the other "baby" that looks back at her.  Melts me.

My bald baby isn't so bald anymore!  I swear, it happened over night.  One day she didn't have hair, the next day she did.  It is as blonde as can be and so fine and fluffy, but we'll take it! 

Along with every toy going in her mouth, so do her fingers.  Which makes us think that the dreaded teething process could be right around the corner :( 

We had our first experience with a sickie baby last week.  The night of her 4 month drs apt, she developed a fever of 101.1.  It was due to the shots she received earlier in the day, but still, it was not fun.  She was miserable, you could just tell that she did not feel good.  She didn't want to eat, didn't want to sleep.  All she wanted was to be held.  So I held her.  For most of the day and night until the baby tylenol finally helped her to sleep.  Heart breaking :(  She was much better the next day.

All in all, this last month has been wonderful.  So many new things happened for this little one, she's constantly learning and growing right before our eyes.  Some nights I will rock her to sleep and just stare at her, amazed at her perfectness.  And still amazed that she's mine.  My heart has never been so full of love.  She is one special little lady :)

Here are few more pictures of my silly girl... seriously, her little personality kills me! 

Here's a little gem.  If you do not find this funny, there is something wrong with you... :)