A Whirlwind...

is what I have been in lately.  My very wonderful boss received a phone call from the Governor on Monday, July 12 at around 10:30 a.m. to say that he was to be sworn in as the newest Superior Court Judge in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit!!!!! Everything has been total chaos for me since then...in a good way of course.  So very soon Mr. Rumer will take the bench and he has asked me to come along with him and continue to be his right hand woman!  I feel very privileged that he thinks so highly of me, but this means lots of prep work in a very short time.

Anyway, along with the exciting judgeship news Ava and I had a baby shower for my sister, Robyn, to attend.

I can't believe that Candler will be here in just a few weeks!

Saturday, July 24 Ava turned 4 months old!  Can't believe it!

Here is a collage of how she has changed (top right 1 month, top left 2 months, bottom right 3 months, bottom left 4 months)...

(If you click on the collage it will get bigger and you can see the difference a lot better.)

Today we are going to visit the magnificent Hadley Scott for her 4 month panel pictures.  I just can't believe that it is already time to do them!  And next week we go see Dr. Flowers for her 4 month well check and shots.

At four months old Ava can:

-  Roll over to her tummy, but cries when she gets there because she hasn't figured out how to get back.

-  Still doesn't really like being on her tummy, but she can push herself up and look around a little bit now.

-  Tries to scoot when she is lying on her tummy.

-  Grabs her feet and almost pulls them to her mouth.

-  Babbles non-stop at all times of the day and night.

-  Wakes me in the morning babbling not crying.

-  Sleeps until seven most mornings.

-  Enjoys eating rice cereal made with Apple Juice.

-  Enjoys sitting in her high chair long after she has finished eating.

-  Recognizes mommy and daddy and greets them with a smile.

-  Plays with simple toys, but enjoys chewing on a burp cloth more.

-  Enjoys standing in her ExerSaucer.

-  Still loves Dinosaur Train and SuperWhy on PBS.

XOXO

Our little lifesaver...

the ExerSaucer! Ava is in L-O-V-E love! It allows her to do her most favorite thing in the world, STAND, and it also offers super fun toys to play with while she stands :) Below is a video of her enjoying her ExerSaucer and talking to me in the process.

4th of July Weekend

was tons-o-fun!  Friday Robyn, Michael, Cameron and Ethan came down to visit.  Robyn and Michael watched Ava while Cameron and I went to see Eclipse (best movie so far in the Twilight Saga) and Tim cut the grass while Ethan followed every move he made.  Ethan LOVES his Uncle Tim!  I wish that I had have thought to get the camera out and snap some pictures, but it all went by too fast.

 Saturday we packed up and headed over to Mr. Billy's house for some delicious BBQ and a good time around the pool.

 Ava went on her first swim and enjoyed it (at least I think she did anyway).

She was pooped from all of the excitement of the pool ;)

    

Brodie insisted on holding her in his lap as always.

    

Hanging out with Daddy is ALWAYS one of her faves!

    

Sunday (while Timmy was cutting grass) Ava and I made an appearance at her Auntie Sue and Uncle James' house.  

She loves Auntie Sue:)

     

Getting so big!

     

Monday we relaxed at the house.  While relaxing Ava found a new favorite thing to do...play in her ExerSaucer!

     

She still H-A-T-E-S being on her stomach, but I still make her try it on a daily basis.  She is getting really good at holding her head up while in that position, but she doesn't like it because she can't see everything that is going on around her:)  She is such an inquisitive baby, and she MUST see what is going on at all times!

  

XOXO

Little Reader

Ava enjoying her bedtime story...

and yes she does look at the book as I am reading:)

Real Quick

Just wanted to share a couple of cute pictures from this past weekend...

Ava talking to Daddy

She loves to stand up and listen to Daddy make duck sounds

Starting to enjoy her jumperoo...Thanks Gamma and Pap-Pap!

XOXO

T-Ball, Daddy and Three

are the magical words this week.  I have so many things to tell about in this post so let me get straight to the point!
Saturday Ava and I ventured to big ole Thomaston to watch Ethan play his first t-ball game of the season.  He seems to enjoy t-ball a little better this year, but he still hates standing out in left field.  He tried telling the coach that his stomach hurt, but that did not work with Robyn, she sent him right back onto the field lol.

Ethan crying in left field because we made him keep playing

He always enjoys when he gets to bat though, and he is actually pretty good at it.  He did get to run in to score after his first time at bat!  

Ethan batting

Running to 1st

After the t-ball game we went to spend some time with my Nana.  Ava has not had the opportunity to meet her great-grandmother until Saturday so they were both very excited!

Sunday was Father's Day, and like Mother's Day we did not do anything special at all.  We just laid around the house and rested.  As a matter of fact I believe that Tim got up with us that morning and ended up going right back to bed and staying there until around 1.  We didn't take any pictures since we didn't do anything special.  Ava and I LOVE you Timmy!  You are the best daddy that a little girl could ever ask for...thank you for all of your help and support!

Tuesday was a very big day for our Ava bug...she went to her first sick child doctor's visit AND she rolled over all by herself for the first time!  The sick child visit was just for a little cough and some congestion that I had noticed Ava had in the mornings.  The nurse practitioner said Ava is too little for medication, so we should just try propping her up at night to allow the drainage to go down.  Propping Ava up has proven to be impossible, but what else is new...she likes things the way she likes things lol.  As for rolling over...wellllll she started trying to roll from her back to her tummy Saturday while we were in Thomaston, but she could never figure out how to move her arm out of the way.  So Tuesday night I put her on her tummy time mat and went into the kitchen to start cooking dinner.  (Disclaimer:  Our kitchen and den are opened up to one another so I can stand at the stove and see Ava in the floor in the den.  She is not just left laying around unsupervised.)  As I'm cooking and listening to her babble I look up just in time to see her flop over flat on her tummy!  I was so excited and proud!

Ava right after she rolled over

Silly me put her back on her back and went back to cooking without thinking, "Hey she might do it again.  Stick around with the camera so you can video her."  So of course later she had rolled back over and wiggled until she got comfortable and passed out.

Notice that her other arm did not make it out from under the pillow before she was asleep...too cute

Annnnnddddd three is a magical word because Ava is three months old today!  Can you believe it?!  So of course here are pictures of her in her chair...

Some things she can do now:

- She is a smiling baby.  She smiles all of the time now for all different kinds of reasons.  Of course the earlier in the day you see her the more likely you are to catch one of these smiles.  

- She can roll over from her back to her tummy (still perfecting this skill, but she can do it)

- She holds her head up on her own now.  

- She can sit up as long as she is propped on something.  

- She enjoys her bebePOD for short periods of time (15-20 minutes).

- She really enjoys watching TV.  Her favorite shows to watch are Super Why and Dinosaur Train on PBS, Wonder Pets and the Backyardigans on Nick Jr. and of course she L-O-V-E-S to watch the Braves play with her daddy.

- She enjoys standing when someone will hold her so that she can.

- She does not like to lay down when she is awake unless she is laying on her tummy time mat in the floor where she can see everything that is going on around her.

- She has found her hands and chews on them constantly.

- She will hold a rattle if you place it in her hand, but she hasn't quite grasped the concept of picking it up herself.

- She will sometimes hold her bottle now, especially at her bedtime feeding.  

- She is sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning most nights now.  

I am sure that there are other things that I am not thinking of right now, but these are the big ones.

Here are a couple of pictures to show proof that she can do the things I have listed above...

Sitting in her bebePOD watching TV

Holding her bottle

playing with her rattle

Until next time...

XOXO

Chillin...

in her carseat on her way to daycare.  This picture was just too cute not to post for all to see:)

XOXO