Sorry so long...

It has been a very busy few days here. Brandon's grandfather (Daddy B) passed away on Friday morning so we headed out Sunday morning to South Carolina for the funeral. The service was very nice and the pig roast was a great tribute to his life. If you don't know what a pig roast is let me give you a visual. It is literally a hog that they roast all day then lay out on the table and you pull out your meat. I think the first Bowen family event I went to with Brandon when we were dating was a pig roast and believe me this city girl was in shock. Anyway, one positive thing from the weekend was getting to be with the whole family. Both of Brandon's sisters were there and our nephew Ezra James. We are usually only all together about once a year so it was fun to catch up. I can't wait until Ava and Ezra James are old enough to run around and play together. They are only 10 months apart so soon you won't even be able to tell there is an age difference. We drove back to Atlanta yesterday and we are looking forward to the long weekend. Next weekend we head back to SC for our friend Benji's wedding in Hilton Head. Then we will drive up the coast to Pawley's Island to visit some more friends from Atlanta. Hope this finds everyone doing well! Love to all!

Ava and Daddy B about a month ago.

Ava and Ezra James after their baths. Ezra James didn't like being hit!

Ava and Ezra James enjoying all the fun at the pig roast.

Ezra James checks out his first pig.

4 month Doctor Visit

We went to the doctor today for our 4 month checkup. Ava weighed 14 lbs 7 oz. and was 25 inches long. Pretty good, even though her daddy wanted me to mention that she is in the 78th percentile for her height. He thinks she's going to be an athlete, but what daddy doesn't think that about their child. Anyway, she had 4 shots today so she is pretty miserable. Unfortunately, she usually runs a fever after shots so I guess she'll probably be down for a few days. The doctor also said that she could start rice cereal twice a day so we were excited to see how she would react to it. Despite the fact that she doesn't feel very good I think she liked it. More of it ended up on her than in her mouth, but she smiled and wanted to chew on the spoon so I think that is a good sign. We'll see how it goes in the next couple of days! Here is a quick video of her first cereal feeding. Hope everyone is doing well!

Update

Okay here is a quick update, we survived the night and she slept a good 9 hours. Yeah!! I'm loving the Miracle Blanket. Anyway, will post more later just wanted to tell everyone how it went.

Hoping for a "Miracle"

So let me first just say that my child loves her swaddle. She can't sleep without it and believe me we've tried. She will sleep for about two hours at best without it before her arms will jerk and wake her up. In about the past week or two she has gotten strong enough to bust out of her swaddle. Well after a LONG night of swaddling, busting out and crying (in that order) I went in search of a Miracle Blanket. My sister in law told me about it and used it with our nephew, who like Ava loved his swaddle. She kindly offered to send us one of hers, but after our night last night we were kind of desperate. (Carmen, if you read this and still want to send us one we'll take it for when this one needs to be washed.) For those of you who don't know, it has a special place for the arms so that they can't break free. Well wouldn't you know that there is only one store in the Atlanta area that even carries them and of course it's downtown. So this morning we made a trip to the store and purchased one. When we got home I tried it out on Ava and she seemed to like it and even started talking when I put her in it. Hopefully it will work and if she can get out of this one then I think she might have a career as Houdini's helper. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes.

Talking to Daddy

I'm trying to figure out this video thing. Here is a cute video of Ava talking to her daddy on July 4th.

New discoveries

This has been a big week of discovery for Ava. First, she has finally figured out how to put her thumb in her mouth without having to eat her whole hand. Though she still does put the whole thing in her mouth until she gags. Oh well, I guess she'll make the connection one day. She has also discovered her lovie. It has been so cute to see her hold it in her arm when she gets sleepy. Finally, she has figured out how to roll from her tummy to her back. We are still working on the other way around. Thanks to Courtney she has inherited a Jump-a-roo which she loves. It makes my life a little easier b/c all she wants to do is stand up these days. Thanks Court! She is finally feeling better after her first cold and I am so glad. It is miserable to have a sick child as any parent knows. Here are a few pics from the past couple of weeks. Hope everyone is doing well!