Nosefrida

So our sweet baby girl has had a stuffy nose all week and it does not seem to be getting any better. I have been putting a couple of drops of saline in her nose to loosen everything up and then I follow up with the bulb syringe to try and suck everything out.  Ava does not enjoy this treatment at all and she still sounds congested after I am finished.  Travis did a little research and came across this product online called the Nosefrida.  He showed it to me and I was a little reluctant with him ordering it but I gave it a go ahead and being the concerned Daddy that he is, he had it overnighted so that it arrived Saturday morning.  After opening it I was even more of a skeptic and thought that there was no way that I was going to use this on Ava.  So instead I did my normal treatment and got out all of the mucus that I could with the bulb syringe.  Travis came in the room after I finished and he had the Nosefrida in hand.  After a minute he managed to get out so much mucus that the bulb syringe left behind and it turned me into a believer.  Ava still does not enjoy getting this done, but it is a lot faster and with much better results and Ava is breathing so much better.  This is my new favorite baby item that we own and I will be purchasing one for all of my friends with babies. 

4 Months!

Ava Marie will be four months old tomorrow and today we took her to see her pediatrician for her four month check up.  She had to have four vaccinations today and we both handled it really well only crying for a minute.  Dr. Long was really happy with her development and she is right on track on where she needs to be with no concerns.  Below are her four month stats.

Ava is 26 inches in height which is the 97th percentile

Ava weighs 13.3 pounds which is in the 75th percentile

Ava is becoming more active each day.  She has been sleeping through the night now for ten nights!!!  She wakes up in the morning around 6:00 and we leave her in her crib until 7:00 and the entire time we can hear her through her monitor talking and cooing.  When we do go to get her from her crib she looks at us and gives us the biggest smile and starts kicking with excitement, it is the best!

We are doing tummy time with her several times a day now.  She is getting good at self soothing and will either suck on her thumb, her index and middle finger, or she will try and put her entire fist in her mouth.  She is drooling a lot which is a sign of teething, but so far I do not feel any teeth coming in.  

Overall Ava is a happy baby girl.  We have her down on a good schedule and unless it is close to her nap or feeding time, she is content to play, smile, and coo and to be loved. 

The Holiday Season

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Ava and we were so lucky to be able to spend it with our loved ones.  We celebrated Christmas over a two week period starting the week before Christmas at my mother's house, then the week of Christmas at Travis's parents, and finally the week after Christmas with my father and stepmother.  Our Christmas was filled with a lot of love and laughter.  We ended the year celebrating with good friends and feel that we were truly blessed in 2011.  Ava continues to develop and change everyday and we cannot wait to see all of the amazing firsts that Ava is going to have in 2012!

I made our front door wreath at Cheekwood

Thanks to Nanny, we had an Ava stocking added to our stockings!

I made a second wreath for our backdoor out of magnolia leaves.

Ava's favorite time is on her play mat.

This is the first time that Ava tried holding her bottle.

Christmas morning with Nana.

Cousin Jacob was a little jealous that Ava got to sit in the swing.

Christmas morning with the cousins!

Ava was very excited about her Christmas gift from Uncle Chace.