Ava's Photoshoot

I was cleaning our bedroom today while Ava watched me from our bed and I decided to get the camera out while she was being well behaved.











She's changed so much since she was born!

Time is flying!

Ava is now over 12 weeks old and keeps me so busy I barely have time to brush my teeth! She's finally asleep next to me on the couch right now so I'm taking this chance to update here.

She's changing so much all the time, it's hard to believe she's the same baby I met for the first time only 3 months ago. She responds to our smiles and has started baby babbling, it's very cute. She's happiest first thing in the morning and I often wake up to her smiling away at me.

She has started sleeping better at night over the past 2 or 3 weeks. She tends to wake up around 4:30 or 5am every morning to eat and then is awake on and off from about 7am until we finally get out of bed.

She's outgrowing everything she owns too! I feel like everytime I put her into an outfit she only wore 3 days before, she's too big for it! I measured her a couple of days ago and she is 64cm long. I don't know how much she weighs but I would guess around 13 lbs.

Such a cutie! I love my little Ava Bug so much <3

10 and a half weeks

My goodness... I cannot believe how much time babies take up! My life isn't my own anymore, that's for sure.

I'm starting to get used to spending 100% of my time and energy on her though and although it can be really frustrating at times (like when I really need to go to the bathroom, or when I just want to sit down and eat a meal at a normal pace) I do really enjoy spending time with her :)

She's growing and changing all the time. She smiles so much now and has started making new 'talking' noises. Some almost sound like real words sometimes! I'm sure it won't be long now before she starts to laugh. She already does a happy squeak when she's pleased about something. (Usually when one of her mobile toys makes her smile.)

As much as her toys make her happy, it never lasts. Before I can even finish washing my hair she has already decided that her toys have upset her and she'll start to cry so it's mommy to the rescue.

She's sleeping on the couch right now and all I can think about is the zillion page long list I have of things that need doing! Unfortunately most of them involve making noise around the house and I just really don't want to take that chance.

Anyway... maybe I should go sort the laundry before she wakes up. It's amazing how fast you learn to do household chores when you have a baby :P

8 weeks old!

Ava is 8 weeks old today! I can hardly believe how fast time is going. Maybe it's because every day seems to blur into the next due to lack of sleep...? I think I must be getting used to not sleeping because I actually feel okay these days. In the beginning I was exhausted all the time but now I don't seem to notice it so much.

I think we're getting better at figuring her out now, she has different cries for different reasons and has even started smiling at us :) She tends to have a fussy period in the evening around 7pm which can be pretty frustrating because it seems to always line up with dinner and it either ends up not being made, or not being eaten.

On Friday she had her 8 week check up and she was 11lbs 3oz, 59cm long, and 29cm around her head. Apparently she's tall for her age which isn't too surprising considering her dad is 6'4".

I started a youtube channel for Ava so people who don't get to see her often can watch videos of her whenever they want. This is the link for anyone who wants to go see:

http://www.youtube.com/user/avalouball

I'll put some on here too whenever I get a chance. At the moment she takes up about 99% of my time and the other 1% is spent frantically doing laundry, showering, and trying to eat.

Anyway, I'm going to try and update this more often. I just need to find the time really! :P

1 Month Old

Well Ava is 1 month old today! I can't believe it. It's incredible how fast the time has gone already and it's crazy how much she's grown too. When she was weighed 9 days ago she was up to 8lbs 11oz so she's probably nearing 10lbs by now!

We're starting to see a pattern with her sleeping now, so I'm trying to get it settled into a routine where she's awake in the evening and goes to sleep at the same time as us. It's been tricky but last night it sort of worked. Also I was told if I give her a bottle of formula before bed she'll sleep longer, so I did and she slept from 12 until 4!

She's sleeping on the couch next to me right now, her little bum is sticking up in the air :) Hopefully she'll wake up within the next hour (by 1pm), then be awake until 4 and sleep from 4 to 7, then awake until 10:30 or 11. This is the pattern I'm trying to get her into.

Baby's first jeans :)

Daddy feeding Ava in the park

Ava and her first bottle of wine

Baby had too much to drink :)Those are just a few of the zillions of baby photo's we've taken this past month. We're lucky to even have them. Our house was broken into last week and they stole both our laptops, our video camera and Graham's sister's iPod. It looked like they dropped the camera on their way out the window because it was sitting on the couch and I had left it on the table by my computer.

We think I might have disturbed them because I had got up with Ava at 5:30 to change her and feed her and when I was in the baby's room I remember hearing something fall on the floor but I thought it was maybe Graham knocking his cell phone off the bedside table or something. We realised afterward that it was probably the sound of the iPod falling on the floor when they picked up Graham's laptop. The iPod had been plugged into it.

It was pretty scarey to think about afterward. Especially because I very nearly walked right into them. When I got up with the baby I was so thirsty I was about to go down to the kitchen to get some water before changing her, but she was being so fussy I decided to sort her out first.

When I did go downstairs half an hour later I remember walking past the couch and noticing my laptop wasn't there anymore. At the time I thought it was a little strange, but I was really tired and didn't think too hard about it. I figured maybe Graham had moved it before coming up to bed or something.

It's really heartbreaking to think that I've just lost hundreds of photo's and videos of the last year and a half. I know some people keep saying you shouldn't put your pictures on the internet because then they're out there for everyone, but I have to say I'm glad that I did. Otherwise I would have nothing left.

I've decided to back up my new computer once a month in case something like this ever happens again. It really, really sucks :(

Thankfully no one was hurt at least. It could have turned out a lot worse if the robber was violent and I had bumped into him.

Anyway, lesson learned: Don't leave window's open - even if you are home, and it's the size of a shoe box. Some freak will figure out how to get in!

Ava Louise Ball

I know this is a bit over due but we welcomed Ava Louise Ball into the world on Saturday the 4th of July at 9:21am weighing 7lbs and 6oz.

The delivery was a little bit of a nightmare... but she's here safe and sound now and that's what matters. :)

I started having really mild contractions on Tuesday the 30th late at night and figured that it meant baby was going to be here by Wedneday but unfortunately it just continued much the same throughout Wednesday and Thursday. By early Friday (1am) they were stronger and we decided to go to the hospital to find out what was going on. They said I was 2cm and sent me home where I'd be more comfortable because it was going to be a while before anything happened.

We ended up going back to the hospital around 6pm and they said I was 5cm and I should stick around because Baby was on her way.

After that it really started to get painful. By around 10 I was in agony and decided to take an epidural. Unfortunately they couldn't give me one for another hour and a half so they offered some pethadine which didn't seem to do anything for the pain but sent me off to la-la land and I really don't remember much that happened between then and the morning.

I do remember that the epidural didn't work completely though and I could still feel pain on the right side so they had to come in and do a second one which thankfully worked.

Unfortunately when it came time to push, the baby got stuck because she had her head facing up rather than her chin being tucked into her chest. They then took us into the opperating room where they tried to use the suction cup thing but it popped right off her head so they had to do an emergency c-section.

Since then I've just been recovering and trying to look after Ava. Graham was home most of the first week but he's been very busy this last week and hasn't been home much during the day. We've had his sister Jenni and mom here for the first week and the past week my parent have been here. It's been nice having the help, especially when it comes to making meals and changing the baby's diaper. My stomach is still quite sore so it's not very easy to move around the house yet. Hopefully soon though.

39 weeks down - 1 TO GO!

Erica had her baby! He was born June 25th at 6:21 pm and weighed 6lbs 3oz. Graham and I went to visit them in the hospital yesterday and he is so cute! So tiny! They named him Skylar Jackson Goncalves. It was kind of a strange coincidence that they gave him the middle name Jackson when he was born on the same day Michael Jackson died. Another weird thing was that apparently the guy who gave her the epidural's name was Michael Jackson. Maybe Skylar will be a little singer or dancer one day.

Poor Erica had a bit of a traumatic delivery though. She texted me at about 8:00am on Thursday saying she was having contractions and then texted me later saying her water broke so she was on her way to the hospital. I didn't hear from her again until the next morning when I asked if the baby had arrived yet and she said "Yes. Very tired. Will call later." I decided to leave her alone for a while so she could get some sleep and spend some time with the baby. Her husband phoned me later in the day and told me that she'd had a bit of a scare before the delivery because the baby's heart rate had dropped from 150something to 60 so they hooked her up to an induction drip to try and encourage the baby along. Somewhere along the line it was decided they needed to do an emergency c-section so she was rushed in for that and they delivered the baby a few minute later. Unfortunately during the process they knicked her bladder some how and now she has to be hooked up to a catheder for the next 10 days. Not fun.

When we went in to see them last night she could hardly move because of the pain from the c-section. They said she should be feeling better within a week though. It's sad because she can hardly hold the baby and she's struggling to feed him now too. He doesn't seem too interested in food either but I've heard that some babies are like that when they're born and others can't wait to eat.

He is really, really cute though and it was great to be able to meet him when he was just 24 hours old. :) I wish I'd remembered to take pictures!

As for me, nothing seems to be happening yet. I went a little bit crazy on Wednesday and painted the living room while Graham was at work. I think I might have been nesting. The colour that was in there has always annoyed me but for some reason on Wednesday I just couldn't take it anymore and I had a strange burst of energy so I went to the hardware store and bought a bucket of paint, came home and did the entire room myself. Graham was very surprised when he got home Thursday morning. I think it looks much better now and I'm very happy with it. Unfortunately it has me wanting to paint the rest of the house but I don't think I can take on a job that big at the moment.

It's very hot out today so of course my hands and feet have puffed up again. I really can't wait until they stop doing that. Baby is due in one week today which is kind of exciting :) I hope she's not late!