What's been up with Ava

She's been busy planning her birthday party. All we know is she want's a little mermaid themed party. She will get the theme that she wants, we just aren't sure of where the party will be yet. For whatever reason she's scared to turn 4. She thinks that she's going to have to get big fast, but I told her to relax and that she's still our baby. Sometimes it's easy to forget how much of a baby she still is. She's so quick to help at home, and she has the most intelligent conversations, it almost takes me by surprise when she hops up on my lap to cuddle. Not going to lie. I miss her every night when she goes to bed. She slept with us for the longest time that I actually miss her lol. I wish we had a king size bed and could fit everyone! She's still going to ballet and loving every minute of it. They are now practicing for the recital. All the girls will be dressing up as Belle from Beauty and the beast.

little diva

can't get much girlier than this

a picture she wanted me to send aunt liz last month 

Posing with her flowers from valentines day from her daddy

In her bell costume

wearing some hand me downs from niyell!

I love watching this little one grow up. I hope we never lose the bond that we have

2 Months Old

We got to really know our daughter this month. We know she HATES her carseat, not being held and Ava screaming in her face lol. She smiles so much and always is coo-ing. It's the sweetest thing ever. Now at the end of her 2nd month she laughs. Of course she laughed at Ava first but mommy still can get her to squeal. She is very attached to me, which I don't mind until I have to go do something. Like take a shower, or eat. Ava and her got super close this month. Gabby can be yelling at the top of her lungs and Ava takes over like a pro. She will go find her pacifier, or get a blanket. The girl will keep trying until she finds out what's wrong. She helps with diaper changes, and even throws them away at the end. She helps feed her and even picks her clothes out for her every morning! Gab refuses to nap unless she's being held. It's really awful. If she was an only kid I wouldn't have had a problem with this. Since I also have other things to do around the house, it makes things really hard. Hopefully this changes soon. If I put her down she stays down for literally 10 mins until she wakes up and wants to be the center of attention again. She rolls over from back to front, and once from front to back. She isn't grabbing toys yet but is batting at them. The girl always has her hands in her mouth. I don't think she's teething, I think she just likes it. In the beginning of the month she drank about 30oz of milk a day and now we are at 35-37oz. When we went to the dr she was 12 1/2 lbs and 24 in. I'm pretty sure she got a lot bigger. Ava was about an inch bigger than Gabby at this time, but I feel that she wasn't as wide. This little one is getting chubby and I'm in love with every little roll!

hugs before bed

quick picture after a blowout diaper lol

Go Giants!!

I love my girls

At the dr

How I used to cook. Can't do that anymore since she rolls

sister love

matching leggins

my little redhead 

peacefully sleeping...for 7 mins LOL

my girls, and my granddaughter Gianna aka Ava's baby lol

Happy 2 months baby girl!! Can't wait to see the changes next month!

1 Month Old

Ok lets pretend that you're reading this on January 4th lol. At this point in time Gabby was sleeping through the night in this little co-sleeper in our bed. It's like a mini bassinet that goes in between the parents. It worked out great for awhile. It's nice having her close where I could check on her, and I didn't have to leave the bed while I was changing or feeding her. One day, she figured out that she hated it. Now we just use it to throw her in, when we use the bathroom. She was also on JUST breast milk. She drank about 22 oz a day and was content. Gabby also slept more than she was awake back then...Oh how I miss naps...but more on that later..At her 1 month appointment she weighed in at 10lbs and was 21 3/4 inches. So she gained 2lbs since birth (3 lbs since we left the hospital) and gained 1 in.

how she normally looks when she leaves the house

Ava adores her!!

She was so little

pretty in pink

We are still alive!!!

So Gabriella is now over a month old. We all finally adjusted to being a family of 4. It was so easy with just one kid. Now I'm having a hard time balancing everything. As soon as I wake up I have to do my list,
Feed and change Gabby
Tell Ava to go to the bathroom and help her brush her teeth
entertain Gabby so I can go to the bathroom and brush my teeth
ask what Ava wants for breakfast. (pray that she says cereal)
make bacon, eggs, and sometimes pancakes (she never wants cereal)
Change my shirt (cause at this point I'm engorged and leaking)
hook up to the pump while bobbing up and down to keep gabby from crying

After that all hell breaks loose. But I'm still working on getting the rest of my day together lol. The little one hates to be put down. So even getting dressed is a chore at this point. Ava wasn't like this but hey, they say all kids are different. Pete is also going back to work in 1 day. Lord help me lol

Ava is pretty much the perfect big sister. She has Gabby on a pedestal and will really drop everything to help her out. However, sometimes she has a hard time with Gab getting attention from us. For instance I was playing with Gabby trying to get her to smile (it's the cutest thing) and I asked Ava to get me one of her rattles. Well I watched her walk by the rattle, pick it up and hide it. When I asked what she was doing, she said "play with me mommy". IT BROKE MY HEART. Now when I'm playing with Gabby and I have her laid out on a blanket or something, I have Ava lay right next to her so she gets attention too. I also make sure to just spend one on one time with her.

her sisters keeper 

So cute. Don't mind my pump in the picture lol

pumping at my moms lol

Ava still loves ballet!

the little strong one

little bear

Finally likes bathtime

my girls

big sister duties

My little chunk

I'll officially do her 1 month update. It's just that I didn't get the monthly stickers yet and I'm running around like I got my head cut off lol. 

Introducing Gabriella Nicole

Gabriella Nicole was born December 4th at 10:03am. We had a planned c-section and it went really well. We showed up at the hospital at 8 that morning and I was super emotional. I could not keep it together. I was scared about how Ava would feel being a big sister and I was nervous about the surgery. When we got there me and Pete went into the recovery room and my mom waited in the waiting room until the surgery was over. Before they started they had to start me on 2 bags of fluids so that my blood pressure wouldn't drop during the operation. Me and Pete were super nervous. The doctors make you sign all this paper work saying they aren't responsible for anything and it makes you nervous. I also had to fill out a living will, which gave me chills. Soon it was time to move to the OR.  I had to go in alone which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They rolled me into the room and had me sit on the edge of the bed to get the spinal. Seconds later my legs went totally numb, I couldn't even pick up my legs to get them back on the bed. Once I was up there they turned on the bright lights and started wiping me off. I couldn't feel anything but I could tell they were rubbing hard because my whole body was shaking. Maybe 5 mins later in walks Pete and he looked so nervous. Then we smelled it. The first layer of skin is basically cut with something that burns you. It legit smelled like a BBQ was taking place which really is freaky when your the one who smells like that. After that I really felt no pressure. 7 mins into the surgery, we heard a gush! They had just broke my water! Then we heard the sweetest little cry. It was so quiet, but most c-section babies have a lot of fluid build up because they weren't squeezed out. When they held her up over the curtain we saw our beautiful baby girl with REDish hair. Crazy, but I love it. I don't know if it will last but I kind of hope it stays red lol. Pete then walked over to cut some of the umbilical cord and take pictures of her. This was hard for me because I couldn't see anything while they were stitching me back up. Because she was doing great I got to do skin to skin for 10 mins. It was amazing. She was crying until I held her and she looked right at me and stopped. It made all the scary moments disappear. After everything was done, Pete headed to the nursery with Gabby and I went to the recovery room with my mom. Thank goodness she was there, because I was freaking out. It was hard to be separated from your baby so soon after birth. With Ava, she stayed with me the whole time, so this whole experience was new. As soon as I was able to wiggle my toes, I was reunited with Gabby and Pete. I FINALLY got to really hold her. (its kind of hard to hold a baby when your whole body is numb). She smelled amazing and I fell in love all over again. When we got settled in we called Nona and told her to come on up with Ava. It's such a special moment seeing them meet for the first time. Ava LIT up. She was so excited to see her little sister. Of course she walked up to me and said "mommy if Gabriella is over there, what baby is in your tummy". Let's face it...I'm not the type of person who has a baby and my tummy shrinks right away lol. Love how honest kids are. Ava came up to see Gabby and me every single day that I was in the hospital and that was great. I wanted her included in everything. Well there you have it. We are now a family of 4 and we are so happy and so blessed. 2 beautiful and healthy baby girls. Doesn't get much better than this.

this nut

All ready. 

so glad I got to hold her

looks so big here. 

he's obsessed

surrounded by girls

finally going home

my girls!!

Full term!!

SO excited to be almost done with this pregnancy. I really can't complain this time around has been SOOOOO much easier then last time. I think it's because of how i've been eating this time around, and how active I've been. With Ava I gained 45lbs...I know I had no self control. I don't regret a thing lol. This time around, I'm 3 weeks away from my c-section, and I'm up 18 lbs so far. What a difference. I still get out of breath talking...and walking lol but I'm glad I won't have so much weight to lose. Right now I'm 3cm dilated, and I get practice contractions maybe like 10 times a day. With Ava I didn't really get these, so this has been new. I also have A LOT of pressure. When I get up to pee 3952390523 times a night, I feel like she's going to fall out on the way to the bathroom lol. This brings up my labor concerns. I think 2 weeks ago baby girl was 5lbs 2oz. I think towards the end babies gain around a 1/2 lb a week. So in my mind...if I were to go into labor like tomorrow, I will REFUSE a c-section. Now 3 weeks from now if she were to make her appearance I would be more willing to do the surgery then. I don't feel like I'm carrying around a 9lb baby, but genetics can take over at any time and she may start packing on the pounds towards the end. Whatever happens, I'm just hoping for a healthy baby. 

Someone else is ready too

Can't wait to make her a big sister!

My and my girlies!!!

Halloween!!

This year was Ava's most fun Halloween yet! As soon as she saw the first commercial for Party City in September, she was ready to get her costume. We never know what she will want to be since she has been picking out her costume since her 2nd halloween lol. One night we were watching abc family and The Little Mermaid came on. She was IN LOVE. She told us right away, that's what I want to be for Halloween!! The next day me and Pete took her to Party City to pick out her costume. They had about 4 Ariel costumes, and THANK GOODNESS Ava picked out the cheapest one lol. She tried it on and looked in the mirror and turned around a million times. Then started crying. Why do you ask?? Because her hair wasn't red LOL. I know...little miss dramatic. I can't help but be a little proud though. She was super determined to try to look like Ariel as much as possible. I love my little girly girl. Before we left the store, we picked out this temporary hair dye spray in red and she was so happy!! The big day was on a Saturday this year, so on friday we had to make the rounds to all the schools, so we didn't miss the Halloween parades. Of course, Ava wouldn't be Ava if she didn't dress up in her costume!

In her ariel pajamas before the big day

my little red head

had to get a picture with the flash button so you could see how red her hair was lol

Ashley who was also a mermaid!! (for the day lol)

Ava got to sit with Mya during the parade 

At niyells school. She was a zombie hunter lol. 

The next day was Halloween and Ava was ready to go as soon as we woke up. That afternoon we headed over Liz's house since we always go trick or treating with them cause they live in the perfect neighborhood for it. 

right before we left. The weather was perfect!

these two!! 

Pete and his girls!!