Happy Wednesday

This makes me smile.

The Blues

For the past two months sleeping has been a joke at our house. Ava has never been much of a good sleeper, but at least when we used to put her to bed I could count on a good four to five hours of uninterrupted sleep. Not these days. Its been a struggle for us to even get her to sleep. It's not that she's not tired either, she can barely hold her eyes open. But she changes positions every two seconds and whines. I know part of it is our fault somehow for this one reason or another and part of it I think is sleep regression.

During this time in a baby's life so many developmental things are going on and it's keeping the baby from being able to sleep. They are going through a growth spurt, teething, and learning new things.

But I cant help feel like a failure. This is the first time I feel truly helpless.

I thought the sleeping situation would have been awesome by this age but it's only been harder. I have tried several sleep methods. Crying it out has only resulted in Ava getting so upset she throws up and ,in turn, I end up having to change the sheets, clean Ava, and myself up. It's not fun. I have tried white noise, lullabies, reading, bedtime routines....no success.

I know I am having a mini pity party for myself right now, but I had to vent before I had an emotional meltdown. I sure hope we can all get some better sleep soon. On that note, I'm going to bed. Or attempt to. Goodnight moon!

Ava Lately

Ava Lately:

• At her last well check appointment, Ava weighed 18 lbs. and is 28 inches long.
• She has two bottom teeth otherwise its still gummy smiles
• She does alot of jib jabbering but I think she knows dadda and momma :)
• She's crawling all over the place and couch/ottoman surfs. And a couple of times she's stood up for 2 seconds before realizing nothing was holding her up
• She is drinking 4 oz bottles and eats baby food and any other mashed up foods. She is able to feed herself finger foods
• SHE IS STILL NOT SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT
• She is still wearing some of her 6m clothes but we've moved to 9m clothes
• She is a happy girl. She loves to be chased. She has a funny laugh, I can't even describe it. It sounds fake lol
• She can wave hi and bye by opening and closing her fingers
• she just learned to clap and anytime she sees people clapping she drops what she's doing to join in, so cute!
  
  haha speaking of not sleeping through the night, ava's up... gotta go...
  

Party Planning Mode

Okay, so I think Ava may be down for the count finally and I have time to blog some more :)

So with two big parties to plan this year I have been brain-storming like crazy.

First>> Ava's first birthday :) She turns one on St. Patrick's day. (She'll love this when she's older!) I considered the thought of having a St. Patricks Daysey themed party, but we are planning to do it the weekend following so no dressing her like a little leprachaun (spelling?) for the party. Maybe for the parade though :)

Since I have an obsession with cupcakes, I think that is what I am going with. Another reason to use my mini cupcake maker I got for Christmas :) and make these mouth-watering and oh-so cute red velvet cupcake bites/pops! I found the recipe at Bakerella.

I can't wait to try these out :) Yummy!

Second>> The other party I am planning is Noah's mom's retirement/going away party. I am so happy to do this for her because she deserves a party just to celebrate her. She's always going to baby showers, bridal showers, etc. for other people and now it can be about her! She is retiring from being a kindergarten teacher and I am thinking of having a classroom/old school themed party. I found these ideas for it last night. Granted these are for a baby shower, but I can alter it for a retirement party.

love the incorporation of chalkboards

I want to go with either a report-card like or elementary tablet paper invitation


going to use a composition book as a guest book



You can't see them well in this picture, but I love the idea of hanging up giant flash cards

I was thinking school themed food like sandwiches, apples all through-out, with fun snacks (goldfish, pretzels, animal crackers) along with different types of dips, veggie/fruit trays...

School/classroom decore throughout...

Cheesy? or Cute? I think it will turn out great and i think she'll be tickled, personally.

Happy New Year!

At last, I can post! It's been very hectic with all the company we've had and then making a quick trip to Charleston for NYE. I'll try not to make this a novel...

So a recap>> Christmas was wonderful. I was happy Noah's sister and her family were able to make it down for Ava's first Christmas. I think we all were more excited for it than she was. Most of the presents seemed to be for her under the tree and now I have more toys I know what to do with or have room for. Next Christmas will be even better I think.

We went up to Charleston to celebrate New Year's with my cousins and Ava's cousins. It was nice to spend time with family.

The break was nice but too short and getting up for work this morning was tough. Ava hasn't been in her routine for 2 weeks and we're finding it hard to get her used to sleeping in her room again. I guess it doesn't make it any better that she is sick. Again. But hopefully we'll all get back into the swing of things in the coming weeks.

2010 was a great year and it seemed to fly by. Ava was born and we've just had an amazing time enjoying every little thing with her. 2011 looks to be another great one. We have so much planned and I can't wait.

So what's in store for 2011?

• Ava's first birthday party! I am already in the planning process and I can't wait to tell you all about what I have planned (I've save it for another post)
• Mimi aka Patty aka Noah's mom is retiring! Sarah and I are planning her retirement party hopefully this come Memorial day.
• Ava's first plane trip to California! We are going for my dad's navy reunion in San Jose this summer. We plan to visit San Fransisco and maybe Vegas too-- two places I've never been to.
• Mimi is treating all her kids and grandkids on a cruise! Sweet huh? We are planning on going for Thanksgiving. I haven't been on a cruise before so I am soo excited!
• Our first family vacation. Not sure where that will be just yet but it's going to happen!

So much to look forward to!