Three Words

Double.Ear.Infection

At least now she is on an antibiotic...my poor, poor girl. But we are getting major snuggle time! Which I LOVE!!

Ava Update

Here is an update on my sweet girl...

We ended up in the ER on Sunday night with her. :( She woke up at 1:30am with a 104 temp and vomiting. We were on day 3 of high fevers and when the vomiting started, I knew something wasn't right. I know I'm still a new mom, but I HATE fevers!! They were SO NICE at the ER!! For that, I'm grateful. It ended up being a very good thing we took her. She had inflamed tonsils and the croup. Between the 2, her airway was being constricted due to all the swelling!! They gave her a steroid to reduce the swelling and said it will stay in her system up to 3 days. Whew...

After the trip to the ER and a quick stop at Meijer for popsicles, Ava and I slept until almost 10:00 yesterday morning. I worked from home and she pretty much just laid around and wanted to watch the Dr. show. Which turns out is General Hospital. No worries, I don't think she understands. I think she just likes to point out the Dr's. and the "bam-aids". LOL!

She definitely turned a corner last night and was even started to play with toys and get her appetite back. John put her to bed around 8:30 because I had to come into work for a bit in case we were home again today. Well, she slept until 8:00 this morning!! Almost 12 hours. In her own bed. Thank you, Jesus!! This made for a very restFUL night for me!!

So, we are back to work and school. Today was her first official day in the 3 yr. old room. Not a good day to make the transition, but I know she'll be ok. She is still a little croupy, but definitely TONS better.

Thank you for all of your well wishes and prayers for her speedy recovery! John and I really appreciate your thoughfulness.

I'll share first day of pre-school pictures later, but I wanted to share this first. John works for BP and they were running a safety campaign called "Why I'm Safe At Work". So, he submitted this picture...

Well, the BP people thought is was sooo cute that they decided to put it in the 2012 calendar! Yea!! Isn't that so cool?

Love,

S.

Go Comets!!

Our Friday started out at Dr. Tracy's office. Everything was fine...just her 3 yr. well check. Everything was PERFECT!! Ava was an angel and showed off that personality to the office!!


















One of the things they checked was if she could draw a circle. The nurse's is on the right and Ava's is on the left. I was so proud!!

Ava had to get a shot, too. :( More on that later....

Friday also marked Ava's last day in the 2 yr old room. It was a sad day for me. This is the only room that Ava has been in at school. The teachers are AMAZING and had such a big part of her transition from China. They have been so understanding with my craziness and I'm going to miss them tremendously. I wanted to do something special for them, so I ordered this junk food basket for them. I was really happy with the way it turned out!

After school and work, we headed to the high school for Friday Night FOOTBALL!! It was the first official game.

Ava had a blast!!

She did get bored and had a big interest in Nana's earring...

But, she loved the band!! She was jamming and dancing!! It was so cute!!

It was a pretty successful game!! Genoa won 45-14!!

And how can you go wrong when there is a band and M&M's??

Back to the shots...

Ava was fantastic at the game but the night took a different turn. About 45 mins. after we put her to bed, she woke up with a 102 temp!! Of course, we assumed it was a side effect from the shots. We gave her some Motrin and let her sleep with us the rest of the night. She woke up and seemed good. She was a little "off", but no fever. She spent the afternoon at Nana's and her fever spiked again about 6:30 pm. So, more Motrin and she was in a great mood again. We put her to bed and she slept until 5:30 am and woke up with a barking cough, but no fever! She was in a great mood again! So, I took her on some errands. She had a complete and utter meltdown in Babies R Us. But it wasn't the defiant 3yr. old meltdown, it was the I don't feel good meltdown. So, we headed home and she was FINE again. A little whiny, but I just assumed it was because she didn't get great sleep. Well, needless to say...tonight she had a 102.4 temp. :( My poor girl! She still has the barking cough so we hooked upa humidifier in her room for the night. I'm going to call the pediatrician in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed that this passes quickly. I hate seeing my girl like this.

I'll keep you posted!!

Love,

S.

It's Tubby Time!!

Cedar Point

Yesterday, we spent the day at Cedar Point. I cannot believe how much we enjoyed our day not rushing to rides and just leisurly enjoying the park and focusing on Ava. We did ride a few big rides and got our fix, but other than that, we spent most of our time at Snoopy Land! :) Sara K and Gina joined us for the day! It was such a good time!

My husband has no fear and rode rides I wouldn't be caught on. But I have one major highlight from the day...Wait and see!!














Ava loved these cars! It was super hard to get her off of them because she didn't understand that we weren't leaving and we were there all day. She definitely got better as the day went on.

Bumper boats with Daddy and Aunt Emily

The big ferris wheel with Nana and Daddy. Mama is scared to death of this!!!

What's a trip to Cedar Point without Dippin Dots?

John and Gina conquered the MaxAir. Um...yea. I don't think so...

Ava did not like Daddy on this ride! If you look at this picture closely, John is on the left with light shorts and tennis shoes.

There's Daddy flying through the air!

After this we went on to a game. Sara K. loves this game. So we all decided to participate...Ava loved it!!

And see those guitars hanging in the background?

Yep, Gina and I each won one!!!!

And yes, they are REAL!!!

It was pretty steamy so we let Ava strip down for awhile and run through the water. She didn't love it as much as I thought she would.

Aunt Emily was dying to ride the scrambler. Thanks, Gina for riding with her!!

Enjoying a refreshing beverage with Sara...

John and Gina rode this next ride. I don't remember what it is called, but it's outside the park and it's insane. They wanted to do the RipCord, but it wasn't working. So they settled for this. Settled??? I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. John said this was the most crazy ride EVER!

Ava and Daddy on the swings...

Riding the school bus with Nana and Aunt Emily. This is when she started to get tired and wouldn't acknowledge me taking her picture.

Our little pilot!

We really had a fantastic day! We realized with Ava, the faster the better. She's our little thrill seeker and will for sure be taking after her Daddy. I did ride the Woodstock Express with her and I have a picture of it. I'll have to scan it in and show everyone. It's hilarious!!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Love,
S.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Carl!!

Dear Uncle Carl:

We called you last night to wish you a Happy Birthday but there was no answer! So, we hope you had a great birthday!!

We love you!!

John, Sara, and Ava

Ava's New Haircut!

Tonight, I took Ava to get her haircut. Her hair was getting super long and it tangles horribly and it's a chore to comb in the morning. It wasn't growing out pretty like her friend, Ella M. So, we chopped it into a short bob with bangs. Isn't she so cute??

Thanks, Janie at Vanity Hair!

Nick and Megan's Wedding

Friday morning we traveled to Medina for the wedding of John's niece, Megan and her fiance', Nick. We LOVE Nick and Megan!! We were very excited for them! They got engaged last year while we were all on the Houghtaling family vacation at the Outer Banks.

My mom and Emily came down, as well to be our nannies! We took Ava back to the hotel after dinner and some dancing so she could get a good nights sleep and we could enjoy ourselves at the wedding and hang with family.

We took an obscene amount of pictures but here are a few to enjoy!







































































































I love this picture! This was during the ceremony and Ava was sucking her thumb and rubbing John's ear. So sweet!!

Ava has a blast with Hannah! She is the daughter of John's nephew , Kenny.
They played together all day and night. It was so cute!!

Our attempt at a family picture

Quinn and her fiance, Nick. They are getting married in December!

John and his mom! She will be 94 next month!!

Ava pulled out her dance moves at the reception. This girl loves to dance!

Ava with the bride!

This picture of Megan is adorable, but unfortunately blurry!

There was a little incident after the reception. John's nephew, Andrew, decided to wander off. Long story, short...he's ok. Even though we was escorted back...

On Saturday, we went to Nick and Megan's gift opening. Ava was a tad crabby, but I had to post this picture. I love this dress!!!

I got Megan a piece of pottery from Packer Creek Pottery. I love it and she made mention before, so I got her their first piece!!

After gift opening, we went to John's brother's house. It was their 40th wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Dave and Sharon!! Ava truly enjoyed your cake!

After their party, my mom, Emily, Ava, and I went to the outlets in Lodi and shopped a little. After that we went back to John's other brother's house to visit with family before everyone went back home today. We stayed at George's house. The newleyweds were there packing for their honeymoon. Ava decided she wanted to go with them!

We got up this morning and went to breakfast with George before we headed home. Ava did her own hair. :)

And she loved this train set!! I think we may have to find one for her for Christmas this year!

We had a fabulous weekend! But a very tiring one...we came home and every one of us took a 2.5 hour nap. It's amzing what the power of a nap can do!

Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Love,

S.