Ava & Mila

Hello there. Welcome to Mila’s first official blog post… delivery day. Mila was the missing piece of our family and I am so grateful that she is here with us now. I can not put into words how much I love this sweet little girl already. I hope you enjoy following all of her adventures as much as I love joining along on them.

So… delivery didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped.

During my last visit to the doctor’s office, the doctor noticed that Mila wasn’t moving too much and her heart rate wasn’t changing as much as it should during my mild contractions… which worried the doctor a bit… and worried us a even more. He decided that I should be induced as soon as possible and we agreed. Being induced is no fun. Not even for a second. Well, maybe for that one second when that epidural saved me from labor madness.

Before we knew it, my water broke and it was time to push. After just a few minutes, she was out and doctor noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her leg… which was causing her heart rate issues. After we all knew that she was fine, it was time for the big moment. Dan and I were on pins and needles waiting for the doctor to either say “it’s a girl!” or “it’s a boy!”. We were waiting for either of those two key words: boy or girl. And when the doctor announced that “it’s a sister!”, we were both not 100% sure what we had. Did he just say that Ava is a sister? Sounds kinda dumb, but adrenalin mixed with little sleep doesn’t make the sharpest tools in the shed. Hehe. Anyways, we sorted it out. It’s a girl!

Dan then cut the cord and she was placed on my chest. Hello Mila. I’m your Mama and I love you. Happy Birthday. She cried for just a few seconds and then she peed and pooped. Good job, little one. And here’s her very first picture.

After a few moments, the nurse cleaned her up and brought her back to me. Skin to skin. Heart to heart.

This picture sums it all up for me. Brand new. In love. Once again.

After about 45 minutes of calmly laying on my chest, the nurse took her once again to shorten up her umbilical cord. I know it’s pretty nasty looking… but this is the miracle of life, people!

And then it was Dada’s turn. That look of joy you see? It’s not only for the newest lady in his life… it’s also because he doesn’t need to repaint Ava’s lavender room anymore. Hehe.

And as you read in Ava’s last post, she showed up shortly. All smiles. And we then sang Happy Birthday to our little Mila together.

And she got to meet her Nona Estera for the first time too.

After all the introductions took place, it was time us to find how much this little one actually weighed. 4123 grams? It’s a sister? Not again!! Convert that sh*t please. And the answer is: 9 pounds 1 ounce! WOW! No wonder she wasn’t moving too much in my belly during our last check-up. Poor thing had no room!

It was then time to get out of the delivery room and head to a regular room. I was being pushed in a wheelchair by my delivery nurse. Dan was walking with Ava and my mom. And Mila was being pushed in her clear plastic bassinet by another nurse. I swear we looked like we were in a parade. Smile and wave, everyone.

Once we were settled in, Carrie and Deets came over to meet the newest addition to our family.

A proud uncle once again. Ummm, I don’t think I ever got a thank you from him for increasing his Novi Split fan club member numbers?!?!

Things were going great during visiting hours… until my epidural started to wear off and I realized that the contractions started back up. Not this again! WTF?!?!?! It turns out when you get induced with Pitocin, they make you stay hooked up to it for a few hours after the delivery. WTF!?!?!??! I was not a happy camper. FU induction. It was especially frustrating because I had to ask the nurse 3 times for some drugs. 3 times! Before she did anything about it. And then she gave me Ibuprofen. IBUPROFEN!!! Lady, try again. And she did. And then I was feeling much better. But the most frustrating part of the after delivery contractions was that I couldn’t enjoy my Mila time to the fullest. After a couple hours, things were going much better and Mila was taken away from us for the first time… for her first bath. She came back awake and with fluffy hair.

And with a little purple bow.

Because Mila was a ‘large’ baby, over 4000 grams, she needed to get a glucose heel prick test before each feeding. She only failed the test once. And that was my fault since I had trouble feeding her during the after delivery contraction issues I had. Oh and she was a degree colder than the nurse liked, so skin to skin contact was ordered. Much to my delight. Once she was all warm and toasty, the nurse put a shirt on her and even turned a second shirt into pants to ensure she stays that warm.

And before long, the three of us looked at each other and decided it was our bedtime. Mila was wrapped up as a burrito in her bassinet…

… and slept in between us all night long.

In the morning, Mila’s doctor came by and gave her a clean bill of health. And mentioned that she was down 3 ounces from her delivery weight. That didn’t surprise us too much considering she took 3 huge poops within a few hours of her life.

Since Mila and I were both doing well, we were given the choice to leave or stay another night. We chose to leave. Staying in the hospital is not as relaxing as it sounds because nurses are in and out of your room every hour or two to check on you or the baby. So Dan ran home to pick up big sister so we could bring Mila home as a family.

Ava watched as I put Mila’s special going home outfit on her.

Okay Dada. Your ladies are all ready.

Let’s go home!!

Peek-a-boo! Our little Ava is now 137 weeks old… and this might be the very last time I can call her little. Week 137 was an important week in Ava’s life. It was the last week she was officially an only child. We tried to make it as special as we could for her, knowing that that another sibling was going to be stealing some of her thunder soon.

On Friday, Barba Frank and family stopped by for a surprise hello. And she tried to avoid mustache tickles the entire time. She was in quite a “mood” when they stopped by. She is not much for surprises… but things were a lot better during their following visit. You’ll have to tune in next week.

Deets, Carrie and Darla also stopped by… much to Ava’s delight. Ignore the dead grass please. We like it that way.

Ava’s night time routine got a lot better this week thanks to this little guy. We call him Little Hoot and he keeps the scary monsters away. He doesn’t work too well during naps… but I will take one accomplish at a time.

So… Ava’s special week started off with breakfast at one of our locals spots… and included castle making with coffee creamers too. But of course!

We also hit up the mall to buy some boy stuff. Just in case. Much to Dan’s delight. Not. But much to Ava’s delight because the mall equals merry-go- round time. And we found a new one in the corner this time with her favorite fish, Nemo.

If you haven’t noticed, southern California is HOT right now. So we busted out Ava’s first pool. Ummmm, I don’t remember it being this small. Sorry Ava.

But she didn’t mind. She thought it was fantastic.

We spent lots of time doing art. Ava and her smiley faces. That’s her specialty.

Oh and we didn’t forget about Yoda. She is going to be a little affected too. So we bought her some kitty grass. Meow.

Deets was kind enough to bring over finger puppets and a toy hamster in a ball. The day she got it, she didn’t want anything to do with it. Yup, hates surprises. But the next day? The next day was different. She stuffed the finger puppets in the hamster ball…

…and took her new hamster everywhere. He helped her brush her teeth…

… and showed him how to eat tamales at farmer’s market.

So, her pissy moods have continued through the week. And refusing to take naps sure doesn’t help one bit. On Tuesday, she had a complete meltdown. We were in and out of the doctor’s office to monitor the baby. And she had enough. She had a tantrum in the waiting room. And as luck would have it, the doctor was ready to see us. So we took her in with us, since Dan needed to be there too. We had some important baby stuff to decide on. And inside the office, she continued to melt. So embarrassing. I miss the calm Ava. Repeat with me. It’s just a phase. It’s just a phase. It’s just a phase!

So on Wednesday, we called in the reinforcements. Nona and Dida. Ava is never pissy with Nona. Well, not until now. Sorry Nona

So the five us enjoyed one last meal out before I had to go to the hospital.

And that night, I said good night to Ava for the last time as my only child… and then Dan and I headed to the hospital. We had a baby to get out. Now.

So while I was at hospital (praying for an epidural), Ava spent the morning at home with Nona and Dida… waiting for “the” phone call.

And sure enough, it came. THE phone call. I called once to say hello to her (pictured here). And then once again to tell her the good news. She was the first one on my call list. Hi Ava. Mama and Dada had a baby. A baby girl. Her name is Mila. Say hello. And then Ava said ‘Hi Baby‘ with the sweetest little voice. It was awesome.

So Nona and Ava cut quiet time short and got dressed up. Ava picked this little number as the dress to meet her new little sister in… and brought over a handmade card for me.

Here she is seconds before meeting Mila for the very first time. So excited.

And guess what? Ava wasn’t scared of this surprise. Not one bit. She immediately wanted to see, touch and kiss her new little sister. And then we all sang  Happy Birthday to the newest love in our lives.

Hi Baby!!! I’m your big sister Ava!!!

…the newest addition to our family. Say hello to Mila.

Born on Thursday, September 3rd at 2:11 in the afternoon. Weighing in at 9 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 21 inches long. She is as sweet as can be.

Hi. I’m Ava. We are just waiting and waiting for this baby to come out.

Mama says soon but I won’t believe it until I see it.

Mama, maybe if we jump then the baby will come out sooner.

Or maybe if we dance.

Did it work?

No? What!

I guess that was just silly talk.

I love you baby. Muh.

I can’t wait to meet you.

P.S. Ummm Mama? Are you sure you’re not just fat? Hehe.

I’m tired. I seriously have a big belly. And I have 6 weeks to go. Plus, it’s Friday. Wah wah wah. So… I am taking a break today. I will post Ava’s 131st week on Monday.

Oh. And if you think I am exaggerating about the big belly. Check out this camera phone spy shot Dan took a few days ago. This belly is no joke.

Hello! Our little Ava is now 129 weeks old!!!

Last Friday, I had the day off from work so Ava and I spent some time at the park together. Just her and me. It’s strange to think that the two us spending time alone together is not going to be the norm in just a few short weeks.

On Saturday, the three of us parked at my work and walked down to the 4th of July Street Fair… but not before Ava posed with me and my belly at 31 weeks. Our weekly ritual.

We showed up nice and early to watch the children’s parade. But it ended up being a bunch of random people walking the street wearing patriotic colors. What the? So we ditched that to check out all the booths and buy some flags. Moments after we bought a flag, a nice stranger gave Ava this one. She promptly said ‘Thank you‘. That’s my girl!

And Ava’s favorite part of the fair. The water fountains… which are always there and not part of the special fair. I never have enough pennies for this kid. Never.

After a nice nap, we ended up at Matheus’ house for some fun and firework watching. Ava got a chance to ride his bike (which is the same one Santa bought her a few months back) and she actually reached the pedals… barely. So, I guess it’s time to retire her temporary purple bike and upgrade her to her red racer soon.

She also got a kick out of hitting baseballs with a bat.

And finally got enough courage to climb and stay in the tree house.

Ava also thought it was funny to push Dada on the swings… that is until, she pushed a little too hard and Dada bumped into her… and she landed on her behind. That wasn’t so funny.

When the sun went down, Justin entertained us with his HUGE firework display. Hehe. Which the kids actually got a kick out of. Boom!

On the 4th, we stayed up way too late. To the point that everyone got really really silly.  (That’s Dan laying across two swings with two giggling kids hanging off of his legs.)

On Sunday, Dan bravely went into our packed garage and actually made it out alive… with Ava’s red bike, no less! And here is my Ava on her first bike ride on it.

So excited!!

Go Ava, go!

Since the 4th of July Fair shut down our normal farmer’s market, we ended up at the one in Oxnard for the first time on Sunday. And boy was it worth it. Fresh lemonade. Tamales. Fish tacos. Yummm. Plus fresh fruit and veggies too, of course. Ava ate an entire chili cheese tamale herself!

Since we were in Oxnard already, we decided to stop at their party store to buy some decorations for Dan’s upcoming birthday party. When I told Ava that Dada was having a party next week. She told me that it was going to be a Dora party. Awesome, I know. And so, we were off to buy Dora decorations for Dada’s party.  Hehe. Here she is riding dolphins in front to the store. It took a lot of convincing to get her in the car. Thank goodness we had a Dora piñata to bribe her with.

Back at home, I set Ava in front of our dining room window with a snack to watch Dada paint our porch… and make good use of his Art Degree. Dada went to college to paint? Why Mama? Why?

At home, whenever Ava puts on an outfit or her Cinderella dress, she immediately goes looking for Dan. Once she finds him, she either stands there smiling getting ready to twirl or says ‘ Dada, look at me!’.

Except in the mornings and bedtime when Ava is nice and still while drinking her milky, Yoda still avoids Ava at all costs. This week, Yoda found a new hiding spot that invokes a lot of  ‘Oh oh‘ and ‘Look at Yoda‘ comments.

On Tuesday, we continued with our Dora themed birthday party buying by stopping at Baskins Robbins to order an ice cream cake for the big day. And we couldn’t leave without a scoop for ourselves. Umm, no we couldn’t. Chocolate was still the flavor of choice this week. I have a feeling that Nona Estera has influenced her in someway. She still hides chocolate in the house to this day! Busted!!

I was going to be a smartass this week and comment on this picture of Ava sleeping in the mornings. Because during the week, this kid will not wake up before 7:15 so we can get to work on time. But on weekends, she wakes up way before 7:15. What the hell, right? But I am not going say any of those things. Erase it from your memory. Because she is actually sick this week. On Monday and Tuesday, it was the sniffles.

On Wednesday, her teacher said Ava didn’t want to participate in puppet making and thought it was very strange for our little one. We thought it was strange too but didn’t think twice…

…because we were off to Ballet Class #3.

Ava wasn’t really into the class. There was some instruction listening…

… but there was mostly a lot of not listening…

…and a lot of running to Dada instead of skipping in circles. A few minutes after this, Ava melted. She wanted to go home and eat, she said.

So we did. We ditched class and went home to eat and read books.  Ava has been memorizing a lot of favorite books this week. She especially likes ‘Elmo loves you’ and ‘There’s a monster in my attic’.

And later that evening, we had a rough night. Her airway started to close off. Lots of croup-like coughing and trouble breathing. So, I whisked her to the back porch for some cool night air. It helped a bit, but not enough. So I decided to give it one more shot before heading to the ER. I put Ava in the car, covered her with a blanket, rolled down all the windows and drove (just like all her doctors’ have recommended). And it worked. But she did complain that it was too windy. I told her it was ‘this or the doctor‘. She quickly responded ‘this‘. We were also out of popsicles at home (another trick to get her airway to open) so we drove to McDonald’s for ice cream sundaes. At midnight. A pregnant woman and a small kid ordering dessert. At midnight. With all the car windows rolled down. What a site we must of been! But all the tricks worked. Dan was now home from the gym and got kicked to the couch so Ava and I sleep together in my bed.

So for the remainder of the week, we stayed home and watched a lot of TV. Especially Dora.

And when the cowboy episode came on, she insisted on wearing her hat and boots too.

We also spent time getting ready for Dada’s Dora party. She kept calling the Dora piñata a ‘fiesta‘. Hehe.

Filling her up with non-candy prizes.

Okay. Post over. Time to get back to Ava and her choo-choo train (lamb rug). Chugga chugga choo choo!!

Hi. Ava is now 128 weeks old! And this is our 501st post on this site. Wow wow wee wow!

Our week began with some Mama and Me time. Ava and I went to one of our favorite breakfast places in town to enjoy fresh fruit, omelets and lots of croissants… which she smothered with her new love. Honey.

Afterward, we took a stroll the Farmer’s Market where she devoured lots and lots of samples of white peaches… even after our large breakfast. So I bought some peaches and at home, she refused to eat them all week. What the?

Next on the list for a girls day out is shopping, of course. Ava got to pick out a new toy (she picked a horsey) for taking a dook on the toilet instead of in the dressing room where she was about to dook… in her underwear. Close one! I also bought her a new backpack (Dora, of course) that is lighter and easier for her the carry to school… with a change of clothes since on Monday she starts school without diapers or pull-ups. Ahhhh.

Later that day, we joined our neighbors on the street for our annual block party. Ava loves saying ‘it’s not too bright‘ but she sure didn’t say it once this day. (BTW, here I am with baby #2 at 30 weeks. Only 10 more weeks to go!)

At the block party, we enjoyed ourselves with drinks, food and live music. Ava enjoyed getting her face painted with her choice of any animal in whole world. She chose a butterfly.

The lady really doubted if Ava was enjoying the process. She didn’t respond to any of her questions. What did she expect? Poor kid had an audience.

Our shy little kid.

The music was a little too loud for our taste and Ava’s ears so we decided to have art time on our front lawn instead and enjoy the party from afar. Finger painting time!

On Sunday, we decided it was time to get out of this June gloom and head for some sunshine. So we ended up at the Lake Casitas Water Park. Oh man. It was lots of fun. Especially the lazy river. Ava’s first. She had a blast going through misty caves and waterfalls. Stay tuned next week for more pictures. Like this one. It’s tough to open your eyes under a waterfall!

So Monday marked Ava’s first day at school with real underwear. Here she is before school. All ready with her backpack full of emergency clothes. And waterproof shoes on her feet.

And how did she look at pick-up time. The same!!! Can I get a hell yeah!! Oh, and I should mention that Ava insisted on taking her backpack home everyday because the other kids will take it, she says.

But Day 2 didn’t go so smoothly. She pooped in her underwear. Oh man.

On Day 3, I told her if she poops in her underwear, the teacher has to throw out them out… and one this day she was wearing her favorite ones of all. Cinderella. So on Day 3, she had no accidents. Yeah.

But on Day 4, she almost made it. She a little accident when trying to get on the toilet. Oh so close! This is how we found her at pick-up time. Asleep. Belly exposed. Knee bent. Shoes on. Awesome.

Developmentally this week, Ava is starting to color within the lines. Imagine that.

And get a little braver with slides.

And we think it’s time to bust out her Christmas bike.

Because she keeps asking Dada to push her faster when we circle to block.

And at the walls, she is really focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Totally reminded me of my gymnastics class… that I totally sucked at… but where Deets had a blast playing with the mats and rings in his sweatpants. Ah memories.

This week was ballet class #2. As we drive to class, Ava likes to remind us that she is not going swimming and that she is going to ballet class instead.

This class was more successful than the last. Lots more participation from Ava. But she did spent a portion of the class spinning instead of listening the teacher’s instructions. She was a bit out of control. Kinda reminded me of obedience class with Rudy. Me with a non-listening dog/kid. Causing trouble. I just hope at the end of this class, I don’t get a certificate that says ‘Congratulations Marlene Jerkobitch’, like with Rudy. Seriously. It happened.

Ava really responded to the jump on the dot instructions.

And enjoyed being a cocoon…

…so she can become a beautiful butterfly.

Jazz hands. Hehe.

After class, Deets and Carrie came up for a wonderful visit.

The visit didn’t start off too well… because of a surprise. Ava doesn’t like surprises too much. They showed up with a bubble machine that freaked her out. She seriously starting running to the dining room window when I said Deets and Carrie were here. But when she noticed a million bubbles on the front porch, she kept running until she landed in Dan’s arms so she can hide in his arms. But don’t worry, things changed the next morning. And I have pictures next week to prove it.

The great part of their visit is that they got to witness Ava after a ballet class. You would think the class would make her prim and proper. Ummm. Not even close. She gets so CRAZY after class. She turns in a firecracker. She started running in circles, doing head plants into the couch and started yelling ‘Hey Guys’ over and over again.

Ava isn’t too good at naming her dolls and stuffed animals. Her last horse is either called Neigh or Horsey. But when I asked her what we should name this dog, she said its name is Rudy. Ahhh. The funny thing is… the last time she took this dog outside, it got covered with those prickly pears things… just like our Rudy used to do. See?

Okay. Time to go watch this butterfly grow 600 6 times its size. Have a wonderful weekend!!