MMM, oranges!

Ava Eating An Orange
Video sent by thecareyclan

Christmas Pictures

Ava's Six Month Pictures

The posting of these pictures is seriously overdue... These are Ava's six month pictures.

She's a sweetie pie!





























































































Great Grammy Lawson














Grandma Pam















Four Generations

Santa Visits Marietta, GA

Two Fridays ago, Santa flew in to visit the Montessori school where Ava attends. Ava stayed home with me Tuesday through Thursday last week. I worked while she got some much needed rest, as she was getting over bronchiolitis. Her cough has since gotten much better. She had a recurrence of the stomach bug we battled, too. So, we've been laundry-washin' fools around these parts...












She seemed to be doing well enough by that Friday, so Doug and I both dropped her off in her Christmas finery. (Thanks to Great Uncle Bill and Great Aunt Jackie). Santa had white hair and a natural beard! He looked so authentic! And was very sweet, too. Ava sat in his lap and did great! We then all had our picture taken with Santa.








We dropped her off for the day, after pictures with Santa. She seemed happy to be with all of the other kiddos again, too.

I hadn't planned on getting my picture taken with Santa... I just planned on Ava sitting with him. (I'm happy to simply get a shower before getting to the day care...) So, with my wet hair, we all took our first family picture with Santa Claus. We squeezed in for a cozy picture.

The principal told me that Santa came last year, too. She said that his other job is working for UPS, delivering packages. HOW FITTING IS THAT??? :-)

Anxiously awaiting another visit with Santa,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

Visiting with Old Friends

I grew up with Alyson (Case) White and her brother Aaron Case. Alyson and I competed in Lads to Leaders / Leaderette conventions together, lifeguarded at camp together, were in the Metro Detroit Youth Chorus together, we were sweetmates at Harding.





Alyson was pregnant with Keagan while I was pregnant with Ava. Keagan was born two weeks after Ava. So, it was fun for Keagan and Ava to finally meet each other. A match made in heaven!





Keagan is about the same size as Ava (Keagan may be a little bigger). This was a good thing, because Ava isn't "gentle" when playing, yet. If she is interested in a toy, she will barrel her way through a crowd to lay claim to the toy. So, they made great playmates!









Ava's head-in-the-box...

Keagan has a growl that is an absolute riot. He growls at everything! We enjoyed hanging out with Keagan, his parents (Andy and Alyson); Aaron and Melissa; Andy, Kathy, their kids Will and Sophie; Brian, Hanna, Brycen and Julia, Aaron and Alyson's parents and Gayle Flanigan.



It was a quick, mini-reunion of sorts! We had fun, and it was good to catch up with everyone. My how times have changed. We're not the crazy, cool teenagers we used to be! Now we're running after drooling children... :-)


Watching how the head-in-the-box trick is done













Ava's head-in-the-box













Ava didn't like the head-in-the-box trick













Alyson and her hubby Andy














Sophie Flanigan














Old friends: Andy and Aaron













Kathy, Sophie and Melissa














With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

Sundays Are Rough

We comiserate with other parents about how tough Sundays can be. Church in the morning coincides with Ava's first nap of the day. There hasn't been one Sunday where we can leave her in the nursery without getting the dreaded "page" (vibrating pager, to let parents know their little one is needing parental attention...). She is just worn-out and won't go to sleep in their cribs. I think the nursery workers' protocol is to page the parent as soon as the child cries, not giving the child a chance to settle down.

This past Sunday Ava ended-up taking only one nap between Sunday morning service and small group. We were lucky that the nap was a very long nap.

I dream of the day we can take Ava to church in the morning, she smiles and hugs on teachers, plays well, and we don't receive the "page". We would take her home for a nap, and she would be smiley once again for our small group that night, sitting through the adult lesson, quiet as a mouse. And then I wake up! Hopefully one day we'll get there.

She does like to sit still for singing, wherever she is. I guess we'll just have to sing around the clock! She is always our angel, though.

With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

Ava is Eight Months Old

Ava is Eight Months Old
Video sent by thecareyclan

It's hard to believe that Ava is now eight months old. Time flies!

She has been super-smiley the past few days. Doug said she couldn't wait to get down and play when he dropped her off at day care recently. A few days ago, one of her teachers said that they haven't seen her smile more than they saw her smile that day. She is a happy little girl.

She's crawling faster these days, too. 'Starting to get into things, too. She is starting to pull her books down from the stairway "shelves", now.

She loves books. When I recently read the "Touch and Feel" book to her, she kissed each animal on each page without prompting. That book wasn't previously her favorite, but she seems to enjoy it now, along with "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?". She sits amazingly still for books, believe it or not. As active as she is, she sits for a few books at a time.

For weeks now, when I say "Ava, can you turn the page?", she will take her left hand and turn the page of the book if I lift it a bit for her. She is beginning to know one book so well, she knows when the page should be turned, so she turns it without being asked.

Amazing that she'll be a year old before we bat our eyelashes...

We love you, little one!

Mommy and Daddy

It's Getting Hot In Here...

We went to Michigan last week for the Thanksgiving holiday. While in Michigan, we bundled Ava for naps and sleeping at night. When I checked on her once, she had somehow wiggled her way out of her pants (a nearly impossible thing to do). I guess she was a bit too warm to sleep while wearing them?

"Death Warmed Over"

Wow, what a weekend. We caught what Ava had last week. Some sort of stomach bug. I have no idea where it came from, because we don't know anyone that is sick???

Friday night I had a conference call at 11 pm for work... Before the call I started to feel semi-icky. I ended-up throwing up while on the call. (Thank goodness for mute buttons). The call lasted an hour and a half... Doug caught the "bug" later that night, so we were both feeling miserable. Up every hour.

Friends have previously warned us about how tough it is when both parents are sick and a little one must still be watched. Little did I know how rough it would actually be! I haven't been sick like this in years (if ever). I didn't even have enough energy to be in the floor with Ava for part of the time. Fortunately Doug felt okay enough to watch her when I couldn't, and vice versa. She was an angel for cooperating while we were sick. Fortunately, I think she getting better after being sick earlier this week.

Doug slept six hours during the day on Saturday. I slept about the same! When I checked on him I had to make sure he was breathing, he looked that sick. We were absolutely wiped out. Pretty bad when drinking water causes you to get sick...

Our weekend, needless to say, was uneventful. We were able to put the tree up Sunday afternoon and get some Christmas decorations out. And that was no small feat, but I guess you'd say it made us appreciate it even more. Ava LOVES looking at the tree. She smiles and gets excited each time she sees it. We've pointed to pictures of Santa and tell her that "Santa says 'ho ho ho'." She is now able to say "ho ho ho", (and rock forward and backward) when we say it! When we introduced her to Santa today (a stuffed animal), she grabbed him and kissed his face over and over again. It was cute.

I am so happy we're getting to show Ava the fun things that go along with the holidays. If it was possible to listen to Christmas music year-round, I'm ashamed to say I probably would! It doesn't seem right to play Christmas music on the radio before Thanksgiving, but... There's just something special about holiday music that reminds me of good times at Christmas with family and friends.

I tried my hand at the first batch of holiday cookies: peppermint cookies in the shape of candy canes. Doug took them into work today. So, we're officially in the Christmas spirit, now!

Wishing you the happiest of Decembers yet!

With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

Humorous, But Not So Funny

A long, long time ago, as far back as ancient Rome, doctors like Hippocrates termed bodily fluids "humors". Science and medicine revolved around the four "humors". Fast forward 2,500 years. Now, the conversation of one Doug and Shelly Carey revolves around humors. Ava's humors. :-) Did she poop today? Just pee? Was it a big diaper? How many times today? Hard to stay chique when these types of conversations are necessary.

Wednesday night was humor-ous, but not so funny. We were so excited. Ava ate her first jar of "pasta vegetable medley". Almost like "big people" food! She ate it up. Seemingly loved it. I had previously fed her a bottle with some cereal in it, but she appeared to be hungry enough for Doug to continue feeding her the pureed pasta. Not such a good idea.

I had a conference call at 2:30 a.m., Thursday morning. (Hopefully the last of that kind for a while...) I heard Ava coughing (yes, THAT cough lingers), but thought she might've been roused by my phone conversation with customers at that time of night. When the conference call ended, I went to check on Ava. RED TOMATO SAUCE everywhere. Humorous? No. Disgusting? Yes. It was on the sheets, on "Bun" (the bunny), on blankets, on her face, her hands. She looked to be sleeping so soundly, but I had to get her up... When I got her up, her little stomach got rock hard and she puked more. I felt so bad. She was heaving. The poor thing! I then told Doug Ava was sick. While I cleaned Ava, he cleaned her bed. She was extra-snuggly, sitting and snuggling with me while I rocked her. When she saw Daddy come back downstairs, she gave him a big grin. I guess this is her way of saying "thank you".

When we got her up later that morning, she ate breakfast and proceeded to make the messiest diaper in her career of diaper-making. I picked her up, and let's just say that the diaper was mostly missed. The pasta had not completely had it's way with her yet, I guess. Off to the bathtub we went, to clean up.

I think the pasta was too much for her stomach. Doug thinks it is a stomach bug of some kind. Maybe it's a combination of both. She was super-tired when I was running errands with her yesterday. She’s still recouping. One thing is certain, the remaining pasta won't be on the menu for a while...

I'll take the humorous "ha ha" over humorous "bleeechh" anyday...

With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

The Trip to the Great White North

Howdy, pilgrim!

The trip to the great white North didn't involve any "white" (snow) this time around. Maybe for Christmas? It was unseasonably warm in Michigan while we were there.

We left the Friday night before Thanksgiving, after work. It was the craziest day I have had at work in a while, so it was nice to have a break! Doug and I drove as far as we could. We ended-up driving to and staying just north of Cincinnati. Ava had been sleeping for quite a bit of the drive. When we checked into the hotel at 2 a.m., Ava thought party-time had begun. We climbed into bed at 3 a.m. Ava never sleeps in bed with us, so, she thought it was time for fun... She kept standing up in the middle of bed, alternating climbing on me and Doug. Doug said he woke up to Ava doing her "thumb trick" on his forehead in the middle of the night. Needless to day, we got little sleep, but at least we weren't on the road driving...

We got up Saturday morning and made our way to Michigan. Ava did really well. She has officially outgrown her infant car seat, so we think she was a bit cramped for the car-ride up to MI. We had to buy a "convertible" car seat, to give her some extra room. This car seat should be the last one she will need. We decided on a Britax Decathalon car seat. She already enjoys it much more. It's like a little baby recliner, so she sleeps more in this seat.

We stayed with Grandpa Dean and Grandma Dolly, and were completely spoiled. Ava always has a smile at-the-ready for Grandpa Dean especially, even when she is plum tuckered-out.

Taking a bath in Grandma Dolly & Grandpa Dean's sink: A rite of passage for all grandkids












Rubber ducky, you're the one!













The Swash-buckling crew, Thanksgiving-style: Jordan, Daymian, Ava, Sophia and Olivia













Amazing how difficult it is to get a picture of five kiddos smiling all at once...













We visited Grandpa and Grandma Carey, Aunt Tracy, Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam throughout the week, also. Aunt Jackie, Uncle Bill, cousin Mike and his dog Bosley were all up from Pittsburgh, so we got to enjoy some time with them, also, while over at the Careys'. Good times! Ava seemed to do very well, considering how much we ran her about town...

Ava and Grandpa hangin' out with Lilly












Aunt Tracy, Doug and Ava. Ava seemed to make fast friends with Aunt Tracy, crawling toward her while playing.











Grandpa Carey, Doug and Ava












Bosley, excited to see everyone (especially Doug)











The Puza sisters












Hangin' out in Grandma Carey's kitchen with Ava's favorite toy, the Leapfrog Learning table











Grandma reads to Ava












Cousin Mike (aka "Mitch"), Bosley, Ava and Doug. Notice Ava giving Bosley "the eye" in this picture... It's as if she's saying "Don't even come near me!"









Great Aunt Jackie settles in for a "long Winter's nap"











Great Uncle Bill and Great Aunt Jackie: all smiles











Grandma and Ava












Grandma and Ava












Grandma and Ava












Mike and Bosley












Ava and Great Aunt Jackie












Daddy and Ava












Grandpa and Ava












Great Uncle Bill cuts meat with precision and finesse.

A little music trivia for you... "How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"








(Answer: Lyrics from Pink Floyd's "The Wall")

Ava is now standing up unassisted, without holding onto things. She doesn't yet understand she will need to put one foot in front of the other to walk. She LOVES to dance and sway her hips from side to side (WAY over to the left and WAY over to the right). It's pretty funny. Grandpa Carey calls her "swivel hips". Grandma Dolly encourages Ava by saying: "Swing it, sister!"

We also went to Uncle Danny and Aunt Linda's for Thanksgiving dinner. Aunt Sherry, Daymian, Jordan, Jamin, Ginger, Ginger's boyfriend Jake, Grandmother (Grammy) Lawson and "Baby Laura" were there to celebrate, as well. Ava and Laura both enjoyed playing with Aunt Linda's many toys! It's funny, these days Ava stands up 90% of the time she is awake. Aunt Linda's toys were so cool, Ava didn't even WANT to stand up. She wanted to play on the floor with the toys. (pics at later date)

My Mom and sister do their annual "day-after-Thanksgiving" shopping excursion, so I was able to join them this year. Getting up early to shop isn't my bag (no pun intended), but my Mom and sister have made a tradition out of this, so I couldn't refuse. The stores weren't as mobbed as I thought they would be, but "lines" abounded. (pics at later date)

We got to meet up with some friends, too. I will be sure to create a future post with those pictures.

We were fed well and enjoyed family and friend hugs in Michigan! I love this time of year, where we can reflect on God's bounty and our wealth in family, friends, health and so many other things. I find myself often singing the "doxology" when alone, as a prayer of Thanksgiving every so often. It's simple music and positive message resound: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost." I find it one of the most beautiful and simple songs about thankfulness. How can I NOT have a good day when singing that?

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas...

With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava