Cry it out

Cry it out.....those words sound so harsh. I thought so before I understood them. We have rocked and held Ava from day one. The only way she would go to sleep was that....or so we thought. I heard the "Cry it out" method and it caught my attention. It seemed like every time I wanted to try it everyone found reasons to not. Ava was sick a lot during December and the first of January so I kept holding off on it. So finally last Sunday night I told Adam this is the night. I made sure she was fed, changed and ready for some sleep. I put her down and walked out of the room. It was hard.....not going to act like it wasn't. I was prepared for her to cry for hours, maybe more. I just think she is very strong willed and I imagined it was going to be a very hard task. She cried maybe 30 minutes and then I heard the best thing......silence :) WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!! So from then on I have been laying her down at night and for her naps. No parent wants to hear their baby cry, but when you know they are ok and its best for them its not so hard. I can't even tell you how better it makes me feel. Let me just explain. Ava wasn't the child that enjoyed being rocked where she would cuddle and let you rock her. She would fight me to no end....EVERY time. I would walk out of her nursery feeling totally exhausted. This is best for us!!! Now she sometimes doesn't even cry....other days it might be 10 minutes or so.

fake laugh

I have been meaning to record Ava and put a video of her on here, but I just haven't' got around to it. She has started this fake laugh that is hilarious. She has been doing it for a few weeks. She laughs at everything. Last night me and Adam were laughing at something and she was playing in the floor. She stopped playing looked up at us and started laughing like she knew what we were laughing at. It was so cute. She is pulling up on everything. I have a gut instinct that this girl is going to be a climber. She is afraid of NOTHING and that scares me! A couple days ago she stood alone. She pulled up on the chair and a half and then stood for a second before starting to clap. The clap threw her off balance and she fell but she didn't let it phase her.
She has another tooth on top. She is driving me nuts grinding that top tooth on her bottom. I guess it just feels so odd to her.

Today is Uncle Jeremy's Birthday. Happy Birthday!!! We love you!

birthdays and baby shower

First of all let me say Adam passed his final TVA oral board last Thursday. His training is over. We are SOOO proud of him!!

We had a busy weekend!! Friday we went to Atlanta. Friday night the whole family went out to eat at the Italian Oven for my birthday. My birthday is today and Jeremy's is Thursday, but the weekend was the time we celebrated. It was good, you can't go wrong with Italian in my opinion. Saturday was Rachel and Andy's baby shower. Me and Ava went to that and enjoyed seeing all the cute stuff for baby Gabriel. I did some quick shopping on the way back to the house. Saturday night we enjoyed a nice dinner at a place in Atlanta called Wisteria. It was very good gourmet home cooking. I had pasta in a arugula pesto sauce. Jeremy had skate (a type of fish). We also had some sinful dessert. It was awesome. We enjoyed our dinner and time together. After dinner Jeremy took us to a place I love to shop in Buckhead. Nana and Pawpaw Estes kept Ava for us while we enjoyed dinner. They of course enjoyed the time with her and we enjoyed a quiet dinner. Sunday we went to church and then made our way home. Ava made the trip good.

Oh and Saturday Ava turned 10 months old. I took some quick pictures....gotta keep up the tradition. :)

SNOW!

Ava experienced her first snow this week! It started snowing Thursday and is still on the ground today. We only got maybe an inch or so but it was pretty. I couldn't resist, I had to take her out in it. She just stared at it all. Adam made a snow ball and let her lick it. I just stood back cringing, but let him do it. I was like Nicole don't think about what might be in that snow, she will be ok :)

I was so proud we got to use her snowsuit. My aunt bought it for her in California and I LOVE it!!

I worked Thursday and Friday so I didn't get out and play in it.....although the inner child in me really wanted too!!!!

Happy New Year

Wow, 2009 was so full of ups and downs. The most memorable was the birth of our baby girl, Ava. This year has been the hardest but most life altering year of my life. I can honestly say that! We are so proud that Ava is a healthy and happy baby. I am so thankful for that. So when I look back on the year that stands out the most.

So like always with time comes changes. So many things have changed this year. Some for the better and some heartbreaking.

I hope 2010 holds many great things for our family. We are looking forward to Ava's first birthday, Adam moving into his permanent job at TVA, the birth of another Estes baby, and a plethora of other things unknown.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!

Wrap up Christmas

Adam, Ava, and poppa dub

Riding her new toy

All those boxes are Ava's gifts!!

The girls playing with the train

Daddy playing

Uncle Andy playing with Ava

Opening her gift

Andy and Rachel

Playing with Pawpaws camera

We are on our way home from our last Christmas. I feel guilty saying this but I am kind of glad. I am so ready to get home and just have everything back to normal. This last week or so has been so hectic. So anyways, we had a great Christmas with PawPaw and Nanadette. Ava got SO many gifts. She got so much I was overwhelmed so I know she was. The hard part is taking it all home and figuring out what to do with it all. We really enjoyed our time even though it was short. We would have stayed longer but Adam has training in the morning so we had to go home.

I included pictures from the Christmas yesterday and today.

Christmas 2009

The elves hard at work :)

My grandma with Ava

Christmas morning

Playing Christmas morning

Presents!!!

Chillin with pawpaw

Mom and her kitchenaid mixer

Adam with his rifle mom and dad got him

Jeremy cheesin

Me with my baby

Opening all her gifts

Playing with Nanas little tree

Playing with more stuff

Ava's first Christmas was so awesome!! Thursday we went to mom and dads. We ate and did presents. She got so much!!!!!!!! She just played and played for a long time. Dad went overboard with his toy buying for her. It was funny because he didn't realize some of the toys had to be assembled. I have a pic of Adam, Dad, and Jeremy all working like little elves putting together toys. I thought it was funny. We hurried home Christmas Eve night to get Ava in her Christmas pajamas and into bed. We all woke up early Christmas morning. Adam had this breakfast recipe he wanted to try so he cooked that while I got Ava fed and changed. Me and Adam exchanged gifts while she took a nap. He got me a gift card to Anthropologie(a store I love to shop in) and gift cards to the Westin Spa at Bridgestreet. I am SOOO excited to use those gift cards. He said he would keep Ava while I enjoyed a day to myself. I will so hold him to his words. LOL I got him cologne, a gift card and some other stuff. So to the main event, Ava woke up and played with her toys. She loved them all but really loved the box they came in :) We went to my grandmothers for Christmas. It was such a good day.

I will apologize in advance for the all the pictures.....I get carried away. And these are just some from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I will have to upload all the rest later.

Today we went to Aunt Brenda's house for the Estes Christmas.

We are on our way to ATL for a quick overnight trip. We are doing Christmas with Adams parents and family tomorrow.