2 weeks

My sweet girl is 2 weeks old and she is changing everyday!

-Ava Kate weighs 8lbs and 9oz. (up 6 ounces from birth) and is 21 inches long (up 1 inch). They forgot to tell me her percentages.

-She is still wearing a newborn diaper and newborn and a few 0-3 month clothes.

-Even though she is a bigger baby weight wise, she is still so petite and tiny.  She has the skinniest, long legs!

-She has been a great baby!!  She eats every 3-4 hours during the day and every 4-5 hours at night.  She is already up to about 4oz. and has both breast milk and formula but mainly breast milk.

-Her awake times are getting longer now.

-For the most part, she is rarely fussy.  But when she is, she lets it all out!!  We have had a few fussy moments and a couple of bad nights with a gassy tummy ache that left she and I sleeping in the recliner all night...not fun! Thank goodness for gas relief drops! 

-When she burps, it is usually very loud and long...sounds like a man! :)

-She has really dark brown hair, deep blue eyes and a dark complection and looks a lot like her big sister when she was a baby but has her own special features too!

-She loves to be held and to snuggle!!

-Dr. Roberts was very pleased with how well she was growing and said everything looks good.  She got her foot pricked but no shots until 2 months.  They will also check her hips at 2 months since she was breech.  I'm so thankful and blessed to have two healthy girls!!

Sisterly Love

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. 

You know whatever you do, they'll still be there."

~Amy Li

"You can kid the world.  But not our sister."

~Charlotte Gray

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips!"

"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy.  Freedom to share innermost thoughts,

to ask a favor, to show their true feelings.  The freedom to simply be themselves!"

I can't wait to watch these two grow and be not only sisters, but best friends!! 

Ava Kate's first bath

We gave Ava Kate her first bath on Sunday night.  We decided to bathe the girls together and it worked out great.  Anna Riley didn't seem to mind having the company and Ava Kate liked her bath!

I think Anna Riley is warming up to this Big Sister thing! :)

Busy weekend (with lots of pictures!)

We had a busy weekend but to me October is always a busy month!  Mom had stayed with us all week and she left on Friday afternoon.  She ask if Anna Riley could go home with them for the weekend.  I thought it would give Riley some time to spend with Ava Kate and since they were going to have to come back and watch Anna Riley Saturday night, it worked out perfect. 

I had dressed the girls alike on Friday and they looked so cute. 

You can't really tell, but that is a pumpkin hat on Ava Kate (it kind of looks like the orange hunting hats in the picture..haha)

Finally a picture of my two girls without any tears!!

Saturday, Riley got some snuggle time in with Ava Kate while I met my friend, Frances Ann for lunch and some shopping! 

Saturday night, we went to a tailgaiting baby shower for my Sister-in-law, Amanda.  We pretty much brought gifts, ate, watched the game and socialized...that's my type of shower!! :)

She is due in December and we can't wait to meet James Duncan!!

I am so happy we will have babies close in age!

Back in Berry, Anna Riley was having the best time at Granna and PawPaw's house.

She LOVES going to the country and staying with them!!  Mom had sent me several text pictures while she was there.  She loves their dog, Lucky!!

The whole time she is there, she wants to be outside the entire time riding the 4wheeler or golfcart or playing with the dogs.  My Dad said everytime they would go in for a litte bit, she would bring him his hat and boots so they would go out again!

Mom put her hair in a ponytail for the first time...shes getting so big!

Anna Riley and Hailey pretending to drive the golf cart.

Anna Riley went to church with Mom and Dad on Sunday morning.  Mom teaches her age's Sunday School class.

When Mom and Dad brough Anna Riley back home, she had a friend to play with.  Kimberly, Cory, Carson and Collin had stopped by for a visit on their way home.

We got some quick hugs and kisses and it was off to our niece, Ainslee's, birthday party.

Anna Riley had a blast at the party.  I was afraid she would be whiny because it was during her nap time.  We left a little early and she fell asleep as soon as we got home! 

Papa Doug and Anna Riley at the birthday party

Ainslee at her Hello Kitty party...can't believe she is 3!

Ava Kate had fun too...she ate and slept and was held the whole time! :)

Riley and his brother, Brian and sister, Amanda at the birthday party

And one last picture of Miss Ava Kate...because I don't already have a ton of pictures on this post! :)

Our week at home

   We had a pretty good first week at home.  My Mom stayed with us this week to help out.  It was so nice to  have her here to help around the house and with Anna Riley while we got settled and used to our new schedule. 

Ava Kate is a great baby!  For  few nights, she had a fussy period and she just wanted to be held and rocked during this time.  She is sleeping pretty good at night also.  Right now she wakes up around every 4 hours to eat...which might change when she isn't sleeping so much.  The past few nights I get up at 1ish and again around 5.  I feel like with Anna Riley, I always worried that I needed to wake her to feed her, but I have did better this time and Ava Kate definitely lets me know when she is hungry!

I feel like I have felt so much better this time.  With Mom here, I would run a few errands when both girls went to sleep.  It helps to get out and have some "me" time!  One day, I just went to Target and walked around for an hour with my starbucks!  The first few days, I did take a nap when AR did and that was nice too! :)

Riley has had to spend a lot of time entertaining Anna Riley.  I am not supposed to pick her up for another week, which has not been quite as bad as I thought it would be but I feel like Riley hasn't gotten as much one on one time with Ava Kate as he would like.  He went back to work on Monday but he took most of Tuesday off because my Mom couldn't be here that day due to her brother passing. 



 Anna Riley has had a harder time adjusting.  We are at the age right now where terrible two's have begun and that does not help at all!  She is also getting her two bottom eye teeth and they were hurting her so bad the other day that she even pointed to her teeth to tell me it hurts.  SO...mix all that with the changes we have at the house and it makes for a very unhappy toddler!!  She has had a lot more tantrums and meltdowns lately. 

For the first part of the week, she didn't even pay attention to Ava Kate which surprised me because she LOVES babies and anytime she is around one, she won't leave it alone. She is warming up to her a little more now.  She will give her a kiss here and there and if she is in the swing, she will go and push her.  She does not like when she cries at all!!  It sometimes makes her upset too.  The other day, Ava Kate got fussy while in the swing and Anna Riley ran over there and said "I get her, I get her!" 

Because we know there is so much change for Anna Riley, we have really tried to keep her routine the same as much as possible.  Riley and I have always given her a bath and put her to sleep together and so we have tried to keep doing that.  Hopefully, things will get better and better each week! 

This week will be a little more challenging since I will have the girls by myself and since I still am not supposed to pick Anna Riley up! 

1 week old

I can't believe this sweet girl is one week old today!! 

We are already so in love with her! 

Coming Home

Luckily, we got to come home early.  C-section patients are supposed to stay 3 nights, so I was not supposed to come home until Sunday but since I was doing well, my doctor said I could go home on Saturday.  We were so ready to be home and Riley was super excited to be home to watch the game!! 

We were in this same room with Anna Riley...how neat is that?