Happy Halloween

Not much to say, just wanted to add some of our Halloween pictures. She received several Halloween outfits as gifts, so I'm including a lot of pictures.

Mini-Vans, Baths, and Belly Buttons

Last Friday night Nana Verla came down to babysit so Darren and I could go look at mini-vans and also go shop for new outfits for Mark and Jody's approaching wedding. Darren was in desperate need of a new dress outfit and nothing I own currently fits me and since I'm singing in the wedding, I figure its appropriate that I dress the part. Mom spent the night and let me catch up on some sleep and Saturday morning we went to test drive another mini-van and we made the big purchase! Holy cow, I'm officially driving a mom-mobile!!! I love, love, love the extra room! Then Saturday afternoon, Mom, Rachel, and I went wedding dress shopping again. Daddy stayed home and took care of Ava since we are quarantining her to the house due to all the germs!




Sunday we had our membership class at church and went to visit our parents in the afternoon so we could show off our new ride!

Ava's belly button came off on Friday night, so last night she had her first official bath (other than the sponge bath she had been getting). She liked it much more than the sponge bath! Although, she screamed when I washed her hair. Apparently, she does not like her hair washed. (This from the daughter of a hair stylist!)


We plan to take another stroller ride this afternoon since the weather is beautiful today. We need to take every opportunity because who knows how long this will last!

Bottles

At the advice of many friends who have recently had babies I decided that we needed to introduce the bottle to Ava early on. Last night Darren gave Ava her first bottle of pumped breast milk. She did so good and drank a whole ounce! She is such an easy-going baby. Very relaxed and calm. Barely cries. Even when she's hungry, she tends to wake up and just talk to herself in her bassinet until I go get her. We are so very blessed!

First bottle (Sophie wants to be where the action is!)

Wedding dress shopping with Auntie Rachel

Big yawn!

2 week checkup

Ava had her two week checkup yesterday with Dr. Huwe. At last week's appointment, she was back to her birth weight. And now she has by far surpassed it. She is now 8 lbs, 9 oz and 21 1/4 inches. What a good little eater! Although, I wish she could stay peanut sized for a little while longer. It kind of makes me sad that 2 weeks has already passed! I feel like life is in fast forward and I want to yell, "SLOW DOWN!"

At the advise of the doctor, I received an H1N1 flu vaccine while I was there and Darren is heading there today to get one as well. We were also advised to not take Ava to any sort of public place such as Wal-Mart, church, basically anywhere that someone may be sick... which could be anywhere. So, Ava and Mommy are officially confined to the house until further notice.

We had our first "rough" night last night. Ava wanted to eat every hour on the hour. They said she would go through a growth spurt around 3 weeks and would probably want to eat more, so I'm just assuming she's hitting that a little bit early. Needless to say, Mommy needs a nap today!

Welcome to the world Ava Nicole Malcolm

I started having contractions on Sunday (10/4) evening approximately 5 or 6 minutes apart. They weren't really strong and I was able to go to bed as normal. Darren did wake me up during the night and asked if I was feeling okay because he said I was making some weird moaning noises and moving around a lot. I'm guessing now that I was probably still having some mild contractions all through the night. I went to work Monday morning as normal, still having contractions about 5 minutes apart when I was able to time them. They got a little stronger as the day went on, but were still pretty mild. At 1:30 pm I decided to call the doctor's office to see what they said. They, of course, encouraged me to cancel the rest of my day and come in right away. I said, "Um... can't I just come at 3 when I'm off for the day?!" The nurse laughed and said, "Cancel the rest of your day and get here as soon as you can." I called Darren on the way to the doctor's office and told him to have his phone ready just in case they decided to keep me. When I got to the doctor's office he checked me and said, "Yep... let's get you to Labor and Delivery, we're gonna have this baby today!" He said I was dilated to 5 cm and 100% effaced!! I, of course, started crying and shaking from nervousness and excitement.

I called Darren and told him to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Then went and got checked in to Labor and Delivery. They hooked me up to all the monitors and I waited. My labor progressing fairly well, but the doctor came in at 6:30 pm to break my water and then it started progressing much faster. I walked the halls for a little bit, sat on the birthing ball for some relief from the contractions, and took a hot bath in the whirlpool tub. (I'm telling you, this birthing suite is like a hotel!) Finally, after the bath the baby had dropped even more and my contractions were much stronger and I was requesting the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in to give that to me around 9 pm. And finally, after pushing for about 50 minutes, Ava Nicole Malcolm was born at 12:15 am on Tuesday, October 6, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She was a little pale and had some trouble breathing at first, but all is well and healthy now. She is so beautiful! We couldn't be happier!

We are so in love!


Footprints


Look at that face






Sophie loves Aunt Rachel and little sister Ava