Busy weekend

This past weekend was very busy. I already posted about Ava's first trip to a restaurant, but we did a lot more. Aunt Bethany came to stay with us from Nashville because of the remodeling that Nana and Pop (Brad's parents) are doing on their house. So Ava got nonstop attention all weekend! :)

On Saturday morning Bethany, Ava, and I went to uptown Newbern for pancake breakfast. Newbern was having its 14th Annual Depot Days and Pop was cooking at the breakfast. It was fantastic. We walked around after eating and looked at all the booths. Bradley and his dad were in the parade so we watched that (well, Ava slept through it) and then we headed home and watched tv and napped. That evening Nana and Pop came over and I cooked lasagna and we ate and played some more games.

Sunday morning we went with Pop to church. This was Ava's third different church in 3 weeks. She was horribly fussy so I stayed in the bathroom with her through the whole service. After church we ate at Ryan's where she was also fussy! That evening she was fine though. We got some great pics of everyone in their Sunday clothes. Here they are:

Ava with Aunt Bethany
Aunt Bethany, Ava, and Mommy
Ava and Aunt Bethany
Ava and Pop
Daddy and Ava (I love this picture!)
The Rogers Clan (except Nana)
Daddy, Ava, And Pop
The three of us

Ava

So, it was a busy but great weekend and we enjoyed having Bethany with us. (Bethany, you are welcome to stay with us anytime!)

Tomorrow Ava and I are heading to Princeton, KY to stay a few days. We'll keep you posted!

Love, Tiff

More pictures from the weekend

Ava after her bath Saturday night
Our lasagna dinner on Saturday night (we had Ava in her bouncer off to the left side)
Ava and Daddy watching Baby Einstein

Bradley and Paisley playing cards

Our happy family

Lisa holding Ava at Los Portales

Ava with Aunt Bethany

I will post pics from Sunday after church when I get the chance!

Peyton's B-day Party (aka Ava's first trip to a restaurant)

Ava at Los Portales

Peyton, the birthday girl

Ava's first trip to a restaurant took place at where else...Los Portales. On Friday night, Ava, Bradley, Joe, Anne, Bethany, Lisa, Peyton, and I went to Los Portales to celebrate Peyon's 10th birthday. Ava slept through most of the first part of the meal and then she just sit in her carrier for a little while. When she started to cry towards the end of the meal, Lisa fed her a bottle and she was fine.

Of course a birthday dinner at a mexican restaurant is not complete unless the birthday boy or girl gets to wear the sombrero and eat a sopapilla... which is just what Peyton did.

After eating, we came back to our house and had cake, played a few games, and had a great time. By the end of the night, we were all worn out. (As you can see in this picture of Ava and her Pop.)

One Month Old (Baby shower and Photography session)

My baby girl is now one month old. I told you all last week that we had a couple of big things this week. One was a baby shower at DCHS (where I teach) and another was Ava's first photography session (with a professional, not just Mom, Bradley, and I messing around!).

The photography session was on Tuesday and I just had a feeling we were in for a bad day. Ava started out fussy but I hoped she would calm down by the time the session started at 2:00. Needless to say, she was very gassy and fussy. But let me tell you, the photographer, Kori Burkhead, was fabulous. She worked so hard with Ava and spent a lot of time, patience, and love on her photos. I was so impressed with her. She spent more than 4 hours with us trying to get some good shots. So last night as I was playing on the internet, I decided to check out Kori's blog to see if she had posted any recent pics (I just love seeing her work because it is awesome!), and I was so surprised to see Ava on her blog. I can't post the pics here due to copyright infringement, but here is the link where you can see 2 photos of Ava. She posted them on Sept. 13th under the title Newborns are such precious gifts! Here is the link: http://www.koriburkhead.com/blog.html and if you have time, she has a link on her blog to her photography studio site and let me tell you, her photographs are works of art!

Anyway you should have seen me last night when I came across these photos. I made Bradley get out of bed to come see them! I was so impressed by just these two and I can't wait to see what all she got that day (she will have an online gallery within the next two weeks of the proofs). I could hardly go to sleep last night because I just kept thinking of how cute they were!

The shower at school went excellent. I was so impressed with the food and decorations. I want to thank my Zone for the awesome shower they threw and the faculty and staff for all the great gifts they gave to Ava. It was just fabulous! The decorations were pink and brown which was really cool and different. We had a chocolate fountain, a cute cake made on cupcakes, sausage balls, chess squares, cocktail weenies, and various other finger foods. It was just fantastic! Thanks so much guys! ( I will try to post more pics later, but the site is acting up!)

So, check out Kori's site and tell me what you think!

4 weeks old

Yesterday Ava was 4 weeks old. We made it to church in the morning (just in time for offering!) and then spent the rest of the day relaxing, with Bradley of course watching football. We took some pictures of her to celebrate her 4 week oldness.

This one was taken last Sunday when she was 3 weeks old on her first trip to KY. She is with my mom (her Grammy).

Recent Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of Ava and various friends and family members. Ava with Mommy

Ava in her swing

Ava in her bouncer (you can see her Daddy's arm, but he didn't want his picture taken!)

Thank you Electric Service Credit Union for the beautiful flowers! (This is where Aunt Bethany works.)

Ava with her Gramps
Ava sleeping before leaving for KY

Ava with Uncle Timmy

Ava with Steve and Ali

Ava has had a busy week. After resting up from her trip to KY, she has made a trip to her first County Fair. Next week she has a baby shower at DCHS and her first session with a professional photographer. She is growing fast and becoming spoiled very quickly!
Love, Tiff

Labor Day Weekend

Well, we are back from KY and after a day of rest, hoping we get back into a routine with Ava again. We left on Saturday at about 1:30 and on the way up to Ky we stopped at Bradley's aunt's house. Aunt Mary and Uncle Timmy got a chance to meet Ava. They both thought she was beautiful. Ava had slept all the way to Aunt Mary's house, but she got a little fussy in the car between Union City and Fulton and then she fell asleep again and slept all the way to Princeton.

(Ava with Aunt Mary)
Once she got to Princeton, she eventually got to meet her great-grandmother, Mammaw, her Aunt Donna and Uncle Ray, Ruth (lives across the street from my parents), Steve and Ali W., and tons of others.

On Sunday she went to church for the first time and got to meet lots of people. She did a good job there and slept through most of it. She never even cried in church. We had the cutest dress that she was going to wear, but minutes before leaving for church, she spit up every where and we had to change clothes!

After church, we headed to Cadiz for a family reunion. She met tons of people and was a very good baby. She spent lots of time being held by her great aunts - Aunt Judy, Aunt Sue, Aunt Linda, Aunt Donna, and Aunt Rosemary.

On the way back to Newbern she slept the entire way home. We stopped to pick up Squiggles at Bradley's parents' house and we stayed until after midnight. I knew that after sleeping all day there was no way to meet her 9:00 bedtime so we just stayed out late. She ended up home in bed by 1:00 in the morning and slept until almost 6. I was surprised at even that much sleep. Needless to say, we all napped together that afternoon.

So we are back home and tonight I hope to get her back into her routine of bath and bed by 9:00. I guess we will see, Ava has a mind of her own! I will try to post more pictures later, but right now the blogger is having difficulties.

Love, Tiff

Messing in Photoshop

Just messing around in Photoshop while Ava is sleeping. Here is a photo that I digitally altered. I think it is so cute! It is the same one I posted earlier, but I removed all the color except for the bow.

And here is a photo of her from Monday morning on the way to her Dr's appt. You can tell she doesn't like going to the doctor already!

I have been working on packing her things for her trip to KY this weekend and I have been going through my pre-pregnancy clothes to see what still fits (if anything!). I am anxious to see how Ava's first trip goes and how well she sleeps while we are there. Last night she refused to go to bed until almost midnight, but she slept until 6:40 this morning. We ended up giving her some formula and then let her nurse to sleep when she started to get tired. I like nights when she sleeps all the way through (this is the 2nd one), but on those nights it has taken us almost 3 hours to get her to go to bed! So we will see what happens this weekend! Have a great Labor Day!

Love, Tiff

Birth Announcement

I got a chance to get Ava's birth announcement done today while she was napping. Here is a copy of what it looks like.

Love, Tiff

2 weeks and one day old

Sorry I haven't been able to update since we came home. Ava has kept me busy, especially during the day when it is just me here. Today she went to the Dr. for her 2 week checkup and he said she was doing great. She weighed 9 lbs. and was 21 inches long today. He said the next time he should see her is at her 2 month checkup when she will start getting her shots.

The last two nights she has done really well sleeping, she is eating good, and she has a great set of lungs! Bradley and I are just crazy about her and she has us wrapped around her little finger already. This weekend we will see how well she travels when we head up to KY for my family reunion. I hope she does well! Here are some pictures from Saturday (13 days old) that my mom and I took for her birth announcements. (Obviously the second one will not be used, but it is a classic pose!)

Love, Tiff

Presenting Ava Isabella Rogers...

Here she is after two days of labor. She was born on Sunday, August 13, 2006 @ 5:36 PM. She weighed 8 lbs. and 5 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is at home now and doing well except for a slight case of jaundice. We will update more later after some much needed sleep.

Love, Tiff

Hospital tomorrow (Friday)

Bradley and I went to the doctor today and my blood pressure was the highest it has ever been. It was 152 over 118. She doubled the dosage of medicine that I am supposed to take. She is still not worried about the baby because I am not leaking protein into my urine. While we were there, the hospital called and said they still have no rooms available. Dr. Mello said the turnover rates on the maternity floor are not quick enough because of the pediatrician not releasing babies fast enough. She said they had enough room for delivery, but the rooms you go to after delivering are all full.

Anyway, Dr. Mello said go the hospital tomorrow night (Friday) @ 5 no matter what. She said that she is the on call doctor this weekend and wanted me there so we could get this done. I am really anxious though because of the room situation. The rooms are supposed to be private and I definitely do not want to have to share a room with someone. On the other hand, I am ready to get through with this and the constant waiting. So tomorrow begins the process and she says that she doubts I will have Ava until late Saturday. Our bags are ready and we can't wait! Just keep your fingers crossed that we get a room! We'll keep you all posted!
Love, Tiff

Well, don't know when Ava is coming...

Last night I called the hospital at 6:00 to see if they could get me started last night with the induction. I didn't expect them too, but was surprised when the lady told me that I was on the schedule for the next day (today) but they were so full they didn't know if they would be able to get to me. She said to call back in the morning and they would let me know something.

So I called this morning and surprise, surprise...no openings. The lady said they had 3 ladies who had just delivered and no rooms for them yet. She wasn't sure if they were discharging anyone or not. She said Dr. Mello wanted me to call her office and make an appointment for today to check my blood pressure and maybe it was possible they would have some beds by 5:00 tonight. I asked her if they couldn't get me today would they let me come tomorrow and she said they had c-sections scheduled for tomorrow and she was not sure what would happen! How could all these people in such a small town be in labor! It is just nuts!

I am going in at 2:15 to see Dr. Mello and get my blood pressure checked. Not sure what they will even do if it is high and they have no beds! Crazy huh! I will keep you all posted!

On the bright side, I have had some time to mess around with the new camera that Bradley got me. Here is one of me yesterday. The above one is of Zoe yesterday while she was looking out the back door.

Well, that's all for now. Keep us in your prayers!
Love,
Tiff

Ava is coming soon...Like at the end of the week!

So sorry that I have been a bad blogger lately. I have just been so tired and exhausted!

Bradley and I went to the doctor this morning and she did another stress test on the baby. Ava is still doing fine and I am having a lot of contractions, but they are not regular enough yet. Dr. Mello checked me out and said that my cervix is thinned out and she can feel the baby's head when she examines me, but I am not really dilated yet. BP was really high 152/108. But we did go ahead and set up the induction. Here is the plan... Follow closely...

1. We call the hospital on Wednesday night @ 6:00. If they have an opening, they will go ahead and let us come in, but they are inducing two other girls that day. So depending on them, I may or may not go in.

2. If we don't go Wed. night, we go to the hospital @ 10 on Thurs. morning. They will hook me up to some type of medicine that finishes ripening my cervix and starts to dilate me. She said this could take a couple of hours or a long, long time.

3. If contractions start on their own, I will be in labor, but if not, they will have to give me pitocin to start the labor.

4. So in summary, she said that just because they start inducing on Wednesday or Thursday does not mean I will have the baby then. It just depends on how fast my body responds to the medicine. I think she is leaning more towards the induction starting on Thursday and the baby coming sometime on Friday.

So, she said we don't need family there because it is going to probably be a long process. When actual labor starts, we will call our parents and let them know, but there is no point in people just hanging around when nothing is happening.

If you want us to call you, respond under the comments section (If you are not registered, I think you can post as anonymous) or e-mail me at tiffanyannrogers@hotmail.com with your number and someone will get in touch with you. (Right now, my mom will be calling people I have programmed into my cell phone.) So just let us know because we don't want anyone left out by mistake.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Love, Tiff