Ava's Road Test

So Ava passed her carseat test. She is excelling already. For NICU babies, before they send them home, they have you bring in your carseat and they sit the baby in it (with all the monitors on) for an hour and a half to make sure they can handle the trip home without suffocating or anything. Fortunately our carseat is approved for 4lbs and up (most are 5 and up). She's been gaining a lot of weight in the last couple of days too, and today she moved over the 4 lb mark! Looks like she could come home as early as Wednesday.

Here she is looking like a binkie loving elf child.

Somebody is already trying to claim every new thing as his territory. We put a stop to that real quick. This fatty better not sit on my baby!And here is our teeny little gal being swallowed up by her carseat.

Ava at One Week

Here's baby Ava at one week old:

Smiling for the camera:

Her arms are the size of Ryan's finger:Big open eyes:

Ryan and Ava:

Ava and me:

In case you are wondering, the tube in her nose is a feeding tube that goes to her stomach. They have to measure how much she eats because if she were to overeat too soon, it could cause her digestive system to decay. She got her IV out a couple days ago, which is awesome. After having one myself for almost a week, I can tell you they get old fast. She still has monitors for her heart rate, her oxygen, her body temperature, and I think there's one more...

She is doing very well, and hopefully it's just a matter of time, growing, and feeding before she comes home.

Thanks everyone for your calls and messages. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family. I can't wait for you all to meet Ava in person!

Where in the World Have I Been?

Here's what I've been up to, a little earlier than expected... Okay a lot earlier. I just went in for a regular checkup and was suddenly diagnosed with a severe case of pre-eclampsia (despite any real signs or symptoms). More details later.

See how red I am? It's from the medication I was on. It makes you hot and tired and exhausted and icky. But here's little baby Ava! She was born Thursday, August 13, 3lbs 6 oz. and 18 inches long. 6 weeks and one day early.

More pictures coming soon. She already looks different. And she has a little bow in her hair now.

Family Photos

My friend Merrilee has an amazing sense of style. If you haven't checked out her blog, go now, because there is always much to enjoy (and be sure to check out her illustration work as well). I'm amazed by these family photos that her talented sister, Lorajean, took of her family. And by the way, she sewed her own dress the day before the photo shoot. I'm telling you, this girl is overflowing with talent.
Speaking of talent, let me get on my soap box for a moment. One thing I've observed is that talent is certainly not enough. Hard work and drive will take you so much further than talent. I've seen some of the most "talented" people fail repeatedly because they just couldn't stick to it. I've also seen less "talented" people achieve great success because of hard work and perseverance and drive. I hate to hear people say things like, "I have no talents" or "I wish I was that talented." But guess what! Talent isn't even half the equation. You can do just as much if you work hard at it and stay focused (of course proper training helps too). It's like when people say, "I'd give anything to be able to play the piano like that," as if the pianist just sat down one day and was able to play amazing music. If you would give anything, then give the thousands of hours of practice that pianist did and you will be able to play like him. I had a professor who once said that for every 100 sketches/paintings you do, you will have maybe 10 good ones if you are lucky. I've often heard people say "I wish I could draw," but the reason they can't is because they quit trying in 5th grade. If you want to be good at something, you have to do it again and again and again until you get it. And of course I know this applies to myself as much as anyone. So let's go out there and work hard, practice much, and cultivate new (or existing) talents!

I'm loving these little dresses from Pajama Squid! They have many delightful things.

Recipe: Pie Suckers

Here's another clever take on suckers--Pie Pops! Follow the link here to learn how to make them. Yum!