1st Day of Daycare

Everyday Ava amazes me! I thought today was going to be this horrible traumatic experience. Well, it started that way...FOR ME! I never thought I would miss that little girl so much! Today was her first day of daycare. And though she cried when I left, I found out later she cried for maybe a minute after I was gone. So the call to John sobbing on the phone because I didn't want to leave her wasn't needed. She was fine. Way more than I was. When I picked her up after lunch she was so happy and loving and was showing off a little in the room doing her little happy dance. I'm so happy it went well and she enjoyed herself. Let's pray tomorrow goes just as well.

I was trying so hard to get a picture of her and I this morning. I'm always the picture taker so I have few with her. This was the best one I got...she is so cute in this picture!!

First Day of Daycare!!

Tonight, Daddy made spaghetti for dinner. Here is the after picture. And of course with her so upset because dinner was over...

Also, my friend Lisa had a Thirty One party tonight so Ava stayed with Daddy. But not only that, my friend Amy brought over her two little ones to stay with John so that we could all go to the party.

Ava and Evan

Ava and Ella (love this!)

Have a great one!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava

No Pictures Today...Just Tears

Well, it was a very emotional day today at the Houghtaling house. It was my first day back to work and also first time away from Ava. My mom was off today so she stayed with her, but tomorrow she is going to daycare. I cried twice, but Ava didn't seem to mind. Haha! But this afternoon was a rough one with our little girl. I'm not sure what was wrong but I'm thinking it may be her two year molars. She was CRABBY!! And oh so whiney...

Praying for a better day tomorrow.

Love,
John, Sara, and Ava

Busy Weekend and Picture Sunday!!

Whew! What a busy weekend! I figured I would do a combination post since I'm a few days behind. On Friday we hosted the Houghtaling's for Thanksgiving. We had 29 people here! Ava handled everything well and was a huge hit showing off that sparkling personality! Uncle George and his family stayed over that night so they would be here for the big game on Saturday. Of course, everyone was excited about the outcome! Go Bucks!!!

Here was my conversation with Ava this morning:
Mama: Do you think we should put the Christmas tree up today?
Ava: No
Mama: Do you know what a Christmas tree is?
Ava: No
Mama: HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

So, I won and we put the Christmas decorations up inside and out. Everything turned out really nice since this is the first time we have decorated in this house.

Here are some pics for you to enjoy!


This is Ava taking the clean clothes from the pile and putting them on...

Helping Daddy make gravy...By the way, this girl loves to cook! Everytime we are cooking she has to be a part of it!

And naptime...Grrr...She literally through everything out of her crib. She must have been pretty ticked off! But doesn't she look so darn cute laying in that crib?!?!

Ava and Aunt Kay

Go Bucks!!

Ava and Uncle George

Ava and Daddy talking on the phone. She mimics everything we do, including talking on the phone! Haha!!

I put up a little tree in Ava's room. When I was little, well even now, I love to sleep with the Christmas tree on! It's just so peaceful! So, I'm hoping she will enjoy just as much.

Here is out tree and fireplace. I love it!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is my first day back to work. It's going to be really hard, but I knwo it will get easier. Wish us all luck!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here was Ava's face most of the day! With all of the food, I'm pretty sure Thanksgiving may be Ava's favorite holiday! We finally had to cut her off because I was afraid she was going to be sick. We spent the day at my mom's and she did awesome! We were so proud!


Although once Aunt Tammy brought out the beads, I think Ava thought it may have been Mardi Gras!

Tomorrow is round 2! The Houghtaling family is coming to our house at 2:00. Wish us luck! This is the first time we (I) are hosting. But my mom is making a turkey and my best friends mom is making the stuffing. :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava

What An Honor!!

Tonight we had the honor of going to Mainstreet Church to see our little cousin, Olivia be baptized!! I'm so glad that Lisa and Olivia invited us to be a part of her big day!

Ava did surprisingly well during the service. I ended up taking her out into the hall towards the end because she was getting restless. Although, she kept pointing to the guy behind us because he had a water bottle and she wanted to play with it! Haha!! Here are some pictures from the evening:

This is what Ava did for most of the service. But she was quiet!!

The cousins! I can't wait until we get a better picture some day...(when Ava will sit still)

Today Ava did something she hasn't ever done. She played with a stuffed animal. She normally doesn't want to have anything to do with animals or dolls. So, she started playing with this little stuffed mouse and I was watching her. But then she held her sippy cup up to the feed it and I thought I was going to die laughing!! How precious!!!

Tomorrow is Ava's first Turkey Day with her forever family! I'm so excited! We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava

One Very Busy Day = One Tired Little Girl...

Today...for the first time since October 25th, 2010...I had to wake up Ava! Normally, I would have let her sleep in, but she had a hot date scheduled at 8:30am. We had her follow up appointment with Dr. Tracy. First, let me say how much I love Dr. Tracy! She is awesome with Ava and is so easy to talk to and understand. I feel very fortunate to have her as Ava's doctor.

Anyhow, Ava is a healthy little girl! The Dr. said she is one of the healthiest babies she has ever had come from China. All of Ava's tests were negative! That was a relief! It was scary waiting for the results. Simply because we didn't know her history. But she still had to get 3 shots. She took them like a champ! And she even got Bugs Bunny band-aids. We have to go back in 4 weeks for another round of shots. Poor little girl! She gained 1.4 lbs and is in 5th percentile for weight and she grew 3/8 of an inch and is in the 10th percentile for height.

Waiting for Dr. Tracy...

After her Dr. appointment, we went to daycare! I decided to take her today for a couple of hours as a "trial" period before Monday. She is so smart though. She doesn't miss anything. She knew what was going on. Before I left, I knelt down to her and told her to be a big girl because Mama had to go to the store. She instantly started shaking her head no and started to cry. Which then prompted for my breakdown. I was trying to hold it together because I didn't want her to see me so upset. I walked out of the room and then went back to watch her through the window. She was instantly fine. I was way worse than her. But she did so good!! I left my camera so they could take some pictures while she was there. They took quite a few but here are a couple of my favorites.
I love this one of her at the table...just taking it all in.

She made her first art project! A hand turkey!

And even played with play-doh!

Here are the art projects she made...

After I picked her up from daycare Ava AND Mama took a nap. I needed it today and it felt good! She actually woke up before me, so thank goodness for the monitor!

I was trying to balance the checkbook, but Ava had other ideas...

Daddy decided to mow the lawn today and afterwards he asked me to get Ava all bundled up...

...because he wanted to take her for a little ride on the 4-wheeler!

She actually really liked it and after I took her off, she kept pointing at it to get back on. We also had our friend Tricia and her daughter, Emily bring us dinner tonight and visit with Ava. Ava loved them and had so much fun playing with Emily!

I can't believe I go back to work next week. Tomorrow is my last Mama/Ava day. Because then we go into Thanksgiving and Daddy will be home with us. Which don't get me wrong, I love when Daddy is here. I just love my little girl!

Have a great night!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava

Lazy Day

Today was a super lazy day for Ava and I. We had nothing to do all day! We didn't get dressed until this afternoon. Well for Ava, it was right after her nap. She started crying and I went into her room and she was covered in poop. Yep, poop. It was on her chest, her hands, her hair, her sheets, etc...So, I stripped her down and took her right into the bathroom. And while I was making her bath water and she was next to me naked, this was the time she decided to go pee. All over the bathroom floor. She started to giggle which made me giggle! I love, love that kid! Here she is fresh from her bath. Don't you love her shirt? As soon as I saw it, I had to have it for her! It's kind of blocked, but it says "Sorry, Angelina...I'm taken"!

My dad and Tina came over for dinner and we got Blackberry Corners pizza. It was so yummy and Ava had 2 pieces! After she was finished eating, she wanted to get out of her high chair and sit at the table like a big girl! Here's a picture...

Tomorrow is Ava's 2nd Dr. appt for a follow up. I was told to be prepared for her to get shots.
:( After the appointment, I am taking her to daycare for the first time. Only for a little bit, but I thought it would be easier if she went for a little bit before I take her in the mornings when I go back to work. I think tomorrow will be harder on me than her.

Keep your fingers crossed!
Love,
John, Sara, and Ava

Catch UP!!!

First, let me apologize for the delay in blogging. We have been super busy at the Houghtaling house! And then there were the technical difficulties...

Anyhow, you don't care about that. You care about AVA, right??? Well, here is an extra long post with extra pictures so you can get your fix!

Let me start with laundry. Ava loves, loves, loves to do laundry! Whether it's loading the washer, putting clothes in the dryer or folding...she loves it! Every time we are working on laundry, you can guarantee she is right there "helping" us. Although, she likes to take off her socks and put them in the dryer while you are loading the washer. I always have to double check and make sure everything coming out is clean! Here she is helping me fold clothes:


Everything she touches goes into one pile. It doesn't matter if it's Mama's, Daddy's, or Ava's. It's all in one!

Can you tell which one is Ava's?


On Friday we had to go to Toledo Hospital for a hearing test for Ava. Difficulty hearing is one of the setbacks with a cleft lip/palate. Even though Ava only had the cleft lip, the Dr. still wanted to test it. She wasn't 100% cooperative because I was holding her in place and she HATES that! But the part they were concerned about she passed with flying colors. I could have told them she could hear fine. She knows everything we are saying! Anyhow, here are some pictures of her playing in the waiting room. I loved the outfit she had on. It is a hand me down from Amy and Ella. It fits her perfect and she was so adorable!!

I tried for a Mama/Ava shot...Can't get the girl to smile!!

After the hearing test, we went over to Sherri's so that Ava could play with Kaiden, Keegan, and Kayleigh! We took over McDonald's and after lunch the kids played together for a little while. Ava was a little shy, but she'll get there!

Here is Keegan and I. This kid is so funny! He makes me laugh so hard with his little comments and sayings!

Ava loved feeding the baby doll. She didn't want to hold the doll, but loved feeding her. Baby steps...I know she will love dolls!!!

Ava and Keegan are close in age and both are small for their age. We tried to get a picture of them side by side but that was easier said than done. Keegan is only a couple of pounds smaller than Ava. They were super cute together!

Saturday morning, John had to have blood drawn for something at work. They sent someone to our house to do this. Ava was hilarious during this time and totally won over the heart of the nurse. Anyone who knows Ava knows that she loves to play with dishes and silverware. Well, of course the nurse had something that she wanted to play with. Luckily they were brand new and CLEAN! Or I would have freaked. But here is Ava playing with, yep that's right....SPECIMAN CUPS!!

Saturday was spent shopping in the morning and evening and hanging out at Grandma Dunn's while the boys hung the lights and ornaments on the big tree in her front yard. Of course I have no pictures of this. I forgot to get my camera out. But I can assure you most of the time at Grandma's was spent trying to keep her from eating. Everyone was munching all day so she was chasing them around with her mouth open and her tongue hanging out. After Grandma's, we went to Target and got some pretty cute boots for the her! When we got home, Daddy was having a poker party. He was trying to bring her up to speed on how to play. But she was really just interested in playing with the poker chips!

Today was family picture day. It was a little nerve wracking, but Lisa was able to get some good shots. Check them out on my Facebook!

I have one more week home with Ava and then it's back to work. Sniff, Sniff. It's really hard to believe how fast time flies. But, I am very fortunate to work for a company who is allowing me to work from home in the afternoon until the end of the year, if needed.

This coming week is going to be a big week for Ava! She is going to daycare for the first time by herself without Mama by her side. I think I will take it harder than her! And then it's going to be her first Thanksgiving with her forever family. I know our family has so much to be thankful for this year!!!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava

Update

Sorry, Aunt Kay...I'm a little behind and now having technical difficulties. I promise a super long post once I can get pics uploaded!! Until then...

Love,
Ava

Lunch and Playtime with Daddy

Yesterday we went to lunch at Applebees. There was a whole group of girls! Nana, Aunt Tammy, Aunt Kay, Aunt Emily, Lisa Feather, Mama, and Ava!


15% of the orders from yesterday went to cousin Olivia's school. We were more than happy to help out!

Afterwards, we came home and Ava napped while Mama got out her winter clothes and put her summer clothes away (sniff, sniff). Although, that ended up being a decision that Mama regretted about 6:00 last night. Even though we are mostly over jetlag, there is still a touch of it in our household. So, while Mama finished up, Ava got to play with Daddy!!

Only 11 more days with Mama before she has to go back to work. The tears have already started (on Mama's end), but it will be ok!

Talk to you later!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava