Ava: 2 months stats

Weight: 11 lbs 3 oz- 65th percentile
Height: 22 inches- 40th percentile
Head: 14 1/2 inches- 10th percentile

She smiled all cute for her oral vaccine but screamed like a mad woman for her shots! Thankfully she's now sleeping the day away!

Ava: 2 months

Now the fun part begins, although it's all been fun, but what I am talking about is the smiling and the cooing.

Ava has been such a good eater and it will be fun to see what her stats look like at her appointment. I am NOT looking forward to those darn shots, do we ever get a break? Between her and Austin, looks like I will be the bad parent for another 2 years as I take the kids to their appointments for those dreadful shots.

She has been sleeping 6 hour chunks at night just recently. I remember Austin slept through the night consistently when I went back to work at 12 weeks with him, so I am hoping Ava will follow. I don't expect it now since I have to go back to work a few weeks earlier since I had all that time off with bedrest.

It's been fun taking photos of her.... when she lets me. It's fun to practice on my precious little girl. Although I don't feel like she is so little anymore since the 3 month clothing is being stretched in all directions.

We have been able to keep up with a nice morning routine that should work out great when I go back to work next week, but I am fearful of the days I have to be in surgery. Those days I have to be at work at 6:45, thankfully daycare opens at 6:30. Those mornings will be slightly hectic but I am sure if I get up early, I will be just fine. I refuse to get up earlier than 5, I have to have a limit somewhere!

Our days at home just fly by! I remember with Austin, I had so much time during the day that I didn't know what to do with him next. Now I have the opposite with Ava. It doesn't help that I am probably holding her and refusing to put her down! I don't know how stay-at-home mom's get it all done and keep their sanity, although I am sure they turn around and say the same about me when I work full time. Keeping up with the house, dinner, running errands, dropping off and picking up Austin, and the day is over!

Her eyes seem to get bluer by the day, but her hair is certainly not sticking around. There is some starting to come back in but I am not really sure what color it is just yet. For now, she is our balding beauty! Praying she gets better at drinking from a bottle in time for school next week! Glad her and her brother are in seperate rooms since he still likes to be rough with her!

Never Grow Up

When Austin was about 6 weeks old, I started a bedtime routine which included playing the same music every night before bed. For Austin, I chose Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the rendition done by Brother Iz. Even at my parents house before Austin goes down for a nap, I still sing that to him before I place him in the pack n' play. For Ava, I chose Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift. This song only fits how I am feeling right now.

Here are a few of the lyrics:

Your little hand's wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light
To you everything's funny
you got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

ChorusOh darling, don't you ever grow up
just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
it could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you
won't let no one break your heart
and no one will ever desert you
just try to never grow up
never grow up

I never thought I would feel this way about not wanting Ava to grow another inch. As a first time mom with Austin, I couldn't wait for him to complete the next exciting milestone. There were many times of frustration with so many questions. I felt anxious and stressed more than I thought I would with a baby. I found myself being ready to go back to work weeks before I was supposed to. I remember telling people that "I am just not a baby person". I thought all the frustration and guilt was because I had a baby. Boy do things dramatically change with a second baby. I feel comfortable and confident and I know she can sense that. I don't scour the internet searching for answers or call my friends with children to pole them about each and every little thing.

There are times I run into moms who have older children and they tell me they would give anything to go back to the days of waking up in the night and breastfeeding. I remember thinking they were crazy once I had passed that stage with Austin. Now, I completely understand. This is my last baby, and I can't help but cherish those night time moments where it's just me and her. She stares at only me.... wide awake with those big blue eyes.... often smiling now. Even though I am sleep deprived, I don't get frustrated that she isn't giving me a full night's sleep.

Having a toddler and a baby is having the best of both worlds. I have a little boy that can run around and play. He talks all day long and is learning so fast! I have a snuggly little baby girl that I can barely put down on the floor for tummy time. I love having a baby sleep in my arms again. I think having Ava has taught me a large lesson about living for each day and not wishing for the next moment to come along. I feel blessed to have two amazing children, and even though this seems so much easier the second time around, Jason and I have completed our family. Two children can be quite a handful and I can imagine it will get even crazier as I return to work full time in two weeks. So many people tell you how fast children grow up, and they couldn't be more right. How is it that life seems to speed up when you have babies?

Weekends

Ever since we started The Build, our weekends as a family have really changed.

We all get up in the morning and try to take our time eating a nice family breakfast together since none of us get to sleep in these days. We are lucky if we see any shut eye past 6am. By the time 8 o'clock rolls around, Jason has to head off to the site to get some work done, and me and the kiddos pack up the car and head to Grandma and Grandpa's. Even though we live less than a mile away from them right now, I pack up as if we are leaving for the weekend. It's just easier to bring anything and everything since we spend ALL day at their house.

The moment we get to my parents house, Austin's arms are reaching for Grandpa to take him next door to feed treats to the neighbor's dog. Grandpa takes him through all these rituals including hanging out in the basement playing with all sorts of fun stuff like jars of coins. This is also the moment where Ava leaves me to spend the majority of the day sleeping on Grandma's shoulder.

The weather plays a huge role of course in any child's day but my favorite is when the weather is just right for us to spend the day doing things like taking long walks with Ava in the front pack and Austin in the wagon. We visit the horses down the road and bring them carrots, which are usually pre-chewed by Austin on the ride there. Since Austin is a water boy, we try and go in the hot tub as well so Austin can splash around for a while. Austin always tries to pick my parents flowers, grab handfuls of dirt to spread on the driveway, or put rocks in his mouth. But he loves being outside, loves nature in every aspect, and points at every bird in his line of vision.

Ava (or Dowa as Austin pronounces it) spends time in the front pack or in someone's arms, but she never gets put down!

Usually Jason finishes the work day in time to spend Saturday dinner at my parents which is always a well needed, home cooked meal with help from Uncle Jarred.

Even though I haven't posted in a while about the build, things are happening but even bigger things are happening in the next few weeks. Drywall and siding are next on the list and I can't wait to see some changes like those!

Egg Hunt

I couldn't wait to dress up the kiddos for Easter! Ava had on a cute pink dress and I pulled out everything pink and girlie. She wore a headband, ruffles, tights, shoes, and bracelets! Now here comes the kicker....I got lots of pictures of Austin and only one of Ava...with my iPhone at that! Poor girl is already getting a taste of the 2nd child syndrome. A big part of that is having an opportunity to relax when your family is happy to take both kids off your hands! I finally sat down and ate a meal without a child in my arms.

So here's that one photo...sorry Ava

I was excited for Austin to be able to Easter egg hunt since we had practiced quite a bit at my parents house. Austin loved to pick up the eggs and put them in the basket, just as much as he loved dumping them all out! I couldn't wait to start snapping pictures of Austin getting the eggs. Oh and just as a disclaimer, Austin wouldn't drop his bubble wand for anything or anyone, so he took it with him on his egg hunt.

So off he goes and it looks like he is going to grab one, and then he grabs a flower........

Ok, try again. Off he goes and we all start saying, "Get the eggs Austin" and he picks up a rock......

Ahh, he finally grabs an egg and throws it in the basket!!

Egg and bubble wand in hand equals a successful Easter!

Teething Toddler

Saying last week was Rough for the Rogers is an understatment. Our poor little guy seemed to start off the week on the wrong foot. I dropped him off at school Monday morning only to walk in the door at home to have a phone call from his teacher saying he had to be picked back up for a fever of 102. I drove all the way back to school and picked up Austin. He was smiley and a fairly good boy all day with the exception of a fever that stuck around. I was confident that he could go to school Tuesday morning with a heavy dose of Tylenol and be fine. Tuesday afternoon I got a call from daycare saying he had a fever of 103 and had to go home. This was my worst nightmare since I had a planned outing to visit friends in Kalamzoo on Wednesday and had a hard time imagining bringing both kiddos. Austin awoke from a cat nap Tuesday afternoon only to thrash around on the floor screaming for a half hour before I called for reinforcements. My parents came over and Austin snapped out of the craziness.

The next morning was hard. Usually Austin plays independently while I feed and tend to Ava but he was not having it. He cried every time he bumped his head or fell down or didn't get his way, which was continuous. My plan was to hop in the car after Austin awoke from his morning nap so we could get to Kalamazoo by 1pm. After we arrived, other than a little whining and being a mute, it wasn't too bad. The ride home was beyond terrible. Austin cried and screamed the whole hour home and Ava even joined in for a good 15 minutes. I thought I had lost my mind for trying to make it work, but it was worth my trip to see good friends and their growing children. Thankfully Austin was fever free and good enough to go to school Thursday and Friday but it left us with a very crabby Austin in the evenings and he was in bed by 6pm both nights. I even had to carry him like a football while he was kicking and screaming out of daycare.

I despise teething. Does the process ever end!? It's not fair that it turns my sweet little boy into a monster. The poor guy was biting anything and everything in frustration. I swear his teeth had a race because they were popping in left and right with avengence.

During the process last week, I realized what a great Craigslist purchase my double stroller was. I wasn't going to invest in one since I had no clue what kind to buy and if I would get good use out of it. This one was found for 50 bucks and well worth the purchase. Austin kept bringing me his fleece and climbing into the front, saying "go go go!". This is also my only picture of the whole experience last week because the one time I grabbed my camera and took pictures, I realized later that I left my memory card in the computer. Shows you how scrambled my mind was!

I hope I can put away the teething toys and Tylenol for a while!