A very long weekend.

I am currently working one of the slowest night shifts I have ever experienced... only one or two nights have felt slower. Its starting to make me feel a bit loopy! The worst part about it is I have one more night shift just like tonight. As much as I love working 12 hour shifts, working 12 hour shifts 3 days in a row on a weekend like this feels like ETERNITY! In exchange for the 12 hour shifts from h**l on a holiday weekend, I will get most of this upcoming week off. In fact I'm glad to say that after tonight's shift (Sunday) i won't be back to work until Thursday than I'll be off again till Monday. I love that. Working 3 days a week is really nice for mommy Avie time.

Well I think I feel one of my "creativity" days coming on soon. For the last few days I've had this urge to do something creative. Every so often I'm hit by a creativity bug and I can see potential in almost anything. A view that needs to be photographed, a quilt to be sewn, an instrument to learn, a book to be written or just to follow any artistic route that can be taken. On these days everything has potential from oddly shaped rocks to random notes floating through my mind. I find myself listening to music I don't normally listen to and making stops at stores I don't normally frequent. I just want to touch and experience everything. Its hard for me to put this feeling into words being I'm not actually a creative person. Sad that I crave something that I just can't figure out. I really wish I had that creative gene my mother has but sadly I missed out on it! So to compensate for not being able to paint the next Mona Lisa or compose a piece to rival Mozart I will more than likely go crazy cleaning and rearrange my home, take Avie for long walks someplace new, get some pretty flowers and maybe blog more than I need to! Sorry guys!

Dancing Queen

Avalynn's Auntie Susie believes that every little girl needs her very own tutu. Being the crafty auntie she is, Susan made Avalynn 3 tutu's all her own. What a lucky girl! Its a good thing we have so many tutu's now because my little dancer LOVES music. She dances (kicks her legs/swings her arms) and sings (well... she chatters) along with the music. Avalynn's always very attentive when her aunt Tena practices the guitar, the guitar is Tena's 'quick fix' for a fussy Avie.
The ABC song is Avalynn's very favorite. When we sing that song or Twinkle Twinkle we can calm her cries every time. Not sure what it is about that tune but it works like a charm and always gets us a smile no matter how upset she is, weird right? Its like magic! Today she was a little fuss butt for her momma so they got put into use a few times... Did you know that ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep and a few other songs all have the same tune? The tune comes from a French folk song, apparently Mozart also wrote a variation of this song. Just a little tid bit for you! Enjoy the pictures!

Lazy summer days

Today is my day off and its absolutely beautiful outside, but I'm laying around the house watching movies on tv and playing on the internet. I do have an excuse for my laziness and its a rather good excuse actually... Baby girl is sleeping :) She's wearing a little smile which makes me think she's having happy dreams. I sure hope she is. Maybe she's dreaming of all those things that make her happy but I never actually let her do. Like eating grass, pulling kitties hair or chewing on the swings at the park. Hopefully she's dreaming of such things so that when the sweet girl finally wakes she will no longer feel the urge to poke her fingers at mommy's eye or eat random things that have fallen into her reach. I suppose some things won't change but I love her even more for trying to learn about it all. Right now I can see that she's having happy dreams and that alone is enough to make her mama have a good day. When she wakes I think we'll go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine...

For your enjoyment

So just for giggles I decided to post a comparison for you. Here are three pictures of Avie at 5 months followed by three pictures of me at around 3 months. Obviously she's such a cutie but I like to think she looks at least a little like I did!

A Breath of Fresh Air.

So after 4 weeks of fighting a small but stubborn diaper rash using powders, ointments, old wives tales, and lots of naked baby time I finally threw the towel in and dialed the doctors office. Might I add that its not a bad diaper rash, she was rarely ever bothered by it, but it just WOULD NOT go away! I mean really, after all the hours I spent painting my daughters bum with creams, lotions and powders (not to mention the times I had to clean the carpet) I was pretty bummed (haha) to admit my defeat. All in all I was even more disappointed to hear the doctor say that its not exactly a diaper rash... its just her ultra sensitive skin getting dry and chaffed. His recommendation to fix it is too do exactly what I've been doing but in a different way. How frustrating is that? He also recommended giving her bum A Breath of Fresh Air, which I do, but his comment reminded me that I need to update my blog. Two times in one month, pretty good right?
Anyway, while we were at the doctor we talked about starting her on some baby food besides the rice cereal she gets. The thought of feeding her something new made the mama in me get all excited. Instead of going home we went right to the grocery store and bought her some yummy organic baby veggies! Within minutes of getting home, the groceries were put away and she was in her high chair. Mama was pretty excited for her very first taste of squash. Yeah! I wish I had gotten some pictures... She wasn't to excited at first and she threw a few nasty looks but after a few bites she was begging for more. In fact she would throw her whole body into the spoon. When her mouth missed the spoon the squash would spill down her cheeks, chin and sneak down into the crevice of her neck. I never knew squash was so yummy! Good thing she likes baths so much :) We finished our night off with a bath, a cuddle and with some slathering of the creams. So here's to hoping that an inch of butt paste, an inch of vanicream and a breath of fresh air gives my baby's bum that 'oh so soft' baby skin that I love so much!

A little late!

Well time has come and gone and I am months and months behind on my little blog! Baby Girl Avalynn Marie was born Jan 5th at 620 am. She was a big little peanut just over 8pounds. I lucked out with a pretty easy delivery, 6 hours from the start of my contractions until she was born. My epidural made the time go by quickly and easily, delivery went by so easily with it!

I can't believe how fast time is going... she is already 5 months old! She's learned how to roll over and sit all by herself. What a good girl. :) Our next step is to learn how to sleep through the night. Since she turned 2 months old she's been waking up once a night to eat and than goes back to sleep. Can't complain about that really. She's lively and full of energy, she is constantly kicking her legs and swinging her arms. She's very alert and studies everything! Even the doctors were impressed with how far ahead she is compared to other infants her age.

I went back to work when she was 9 weeks old, that was pretty hard on both mommy and Avie. Being I had only moved back in July I didn't have enough PTO to take my full 3 months off. I was pretty disappointed. Luckily I only work 3 days a week 12 hours overnight, so I miss her sleepy hours and enjoy her during the day (between my naps!).

We've made a few trips north to visit the family. She does REALLY well with the 7 hour car rides, only once did we have a fussy trip. That was easily fixed with a mirror so she can see mom still... I think she felt abandoned in the back seat all alone! Well that's my quick update. I'll update again soon!