1 Year Stats

Today Ava Kate had her one year checkup and shots. She was not as friendly to Dr. Wiley this time around. I’m afraid she is starting to figure out what happens after she sees him. I am so thankful that it had been a couple of months since we had seen him because that meant Ava had been healthy that long which has been a HUGE blessing! Dr. Wiley said she looks great and is developing just as she should. She actually did really well with the shots this time and had no side effects although she did cry longer than normal which broke my heart!

Here are her 1 Year Stats:

Weight: 25lbs 11ozs / 97%
Height: 30 ½ inches / 90%
Head: In his words “still big”

She is one HAPPY, HEALTHY ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Our Little Flower's 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated Ava Kate's 1st birthday with a spring flower party! I started planning her party at least 6 months ago and if you know me very well this doesn't surprise you a bit. I wanted it to be a spring party since her birthday falls right around the beginning of spring. When I first began planning I was going to have the party outdoors and have stations set up where the kids could paint a birdhouse, play in sprinklers with raincoats, umbrellas and rain boots and plant flowers. At some point I came back to reality and realized this was a 1st birthday which means the honoree is a one year old who would be doing great to make it through gifts and cake. I also was reminded that in March the weather is very unpredictable so we planned for an indoor party instead. It is a good thing we did since it snowed on our spring party day! I really did enjoy planning all the details of the party especially the decorations! I tend to obsess over things a bit and this party was no different. Often when I host parties I get so worked up over everything being perfect that I don't really get to enjoy the event. I was determined not to do that with Ava's first birthday so I enlisted the help of lots of family and friends and started planning early. My friend Kimberly delivered cupcakes and cookies from the famous Mrs. Crumpler (aren't they incredible), she also took lots of photos for us, my mom prepared the delicious chicken salad sandwiches which were a hit as always, my inlaws helped get the house ready, run last minute errands and prepare the rest of the food, my friend Robyn and her mom helped arrange the flowers, another friend let me borrow the lovely cake stands and of course Justin was a huge help as always, he made the photo video, helped me get the invites cut and mailed out, helped put together the banners I made, assembled her playhouse and so much more. Surprisingly an hour before the party began I was actually able to sit down and rest before the guests arrived and during the party I was able to just be with Ava and enjoy the celebration! She was a trooper with all the attention and activity. She wasn't all that into opening gifts although once they were opened she loved playing with what was inside. She was very neat about eating her cake and picked small pieces of icing off bite by bite. It was a wonderful celebration with our dear family and friends! Thank you to all of you who helped make it such a special day! I can't believe our spring flower is already one!

In Just One Year…

The love in my heart for you has multiplied! I have loved in a way I’ve never loved before, as if my heart is walking around outside of me.

You have taught me a great deal about who I am and who I want to be especially in my role as your mommy.

You have gone from a 7lb 6oz baby to a 26+ pound toddler.

I went from knowing very little about you and how to care for you to knowing all your funny little ways, how you will respond to certain situations and people, how to calm and comfort you, how to make you laugh, what you love to eat and on and on.

You went from a tiny little baby that had to be carried everywhere to a little girl that can pretty much get anywhere she wants to in one way or another.

You went from being too small to fit in a size newborn to wearing a size 18-24months.

I went from wondering if I would survive the newborn stage to wondering when I’ll be blessed with another one.

You went from only being able to cry to communicate to saying Dada, outside, Oscar, who’s that, right there, I get it and attempting to say many more things, in fact most mornings you wake up talking.

You went from hating your baths to kicking your legs in excitement when you hear the bath water running.

At one point I seriously forgot I too had a birthday coming up in March for being so consumed with planning you the perfect 1st birthday.

You developed a love for music and dance that appears to be as deep as mine.

I went from having a plan and schedule in mind for you to being a much more go with the flow mommy than I ever dreamed I was capable of being.

You went from a pretty colicky and fussy newborn to a very happy and social little girl.

You went from having pretty much no hair to having a head of sweet little curls.

I went from saying I’d never let a baby sleep in my bed to having a hard time putting you in your own crib at 7 months.

You went from giving us little grins to huge smiles!

I went from someone who in her free moments liked to sit down and veg on the couch with my favorite TV shows to a person that cannot sit still and just watch TV and has deleted most of her shows from the DVR.

You went from no teeth to four teeth with two more pushing through as I write this.

You had about four ear infections, one sinus infection, an eye infection, hand, foot and mouth disease and the flu, all of which broke your mommy’s heart!

You have forever changed my world and I can’t even remember what life was like without you. You color my world with laughter, beauty and love! You are one of the greatest blessings God has given me! I love you Ava Kate!

Mommy

A Day Fit for an Irish Princess

I love that Ava Kate's birthday fell during Spring Break this year so we were all able to spend the day together. When she woke up at 4:30am Justin and I went in to get her out of bed and we sang Happy Birthday to her for the first of many times. At first she started crying when we began to sing and then she just looked at us like what are you doing singing at 4:30 in the morning. We all went back to bed for a while and when we woke up again at 8:00 we sang to her again and this time she was much more excited about our singing and even clapped for us. Justin went and got us chocolate donuts from AM, a favorite of Ava's and mine. If you have followed my blog for a while you will know this was a craving that started while I was pregnant with her and unfortunately it has never left and now Ava too loves chocolate donuts. Sadly she is cutting two teeth so she didn't feel all that well on her birthday so we spent the morning at home playing together and resting. After lunch we headed to the paint your own pottery studio to design a special birthday plate for Ava that she can use every year to eat her birthday meals on. The process of designing and painting the plate took much longer than I had expected so once we got the design and colors selected and started and her footprint on the bottom of the plate Ava and I went home for a nap while Justin finished up the painting. She is blessed to have a daddy that will do this kind of thing and not only that but is quite the artist. We baked some Babycakes strawberry cupcakes and had family over to help us finish our day of celebrating our little Irish princess one year birthday!