"I didn't realize there was a dress code!"

"I didn't realize there was a dress code!", originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

On Sunday we went to Trinity's 1 year Birthday Party. Not only was it a blast, but it was also 90 or so degrees out! Here's a shot of Ava with the birthday girl. Despite Ava's dressed-down appearance...... you guessed it..... she slept through the whole thing.

Ava's First Modelling Gig

Drumroll please .............. AND THERE IN!

Ava's professional pictures are now online and available for viewing/purchasing. We thought about ordering an 8x10 for everyone that might appreciate one.... (family, friends, garbage man, phone company, citizens of Hamilton county)... but are unable to do that for financial reasons. We are going to be purchasing some of the pictures, but if there are any that you specifically like/want, anyone is free to order prints (on their own dime).

To see the pictures go to www.collages.net and enter the following info under the "View an Event":

Username: Ava
Password: 9068

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to ooooooh-ing and aaaaaah-ing!

One

H is for Happy, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

This is a day of ones:
Ava is one-month and one day old,
early this morning was the first time Ava stayed up for 4 hours straight in the middle of the night,
and just minutes ago Ava had her #1 biggest fart ever.

This fart had to have been 90-100 dB. We're talking lawn-mower loud! Doni and I were sitting here calmly watching TV when Ava decides to drop a sonic grenade in her diaper that made us both jump from the sheer size of it! I can truly say... I have never been more proud.

This was a hectic week for our family. I had to take a test for my medical education on Wednesday that covered all of the material we have learned over the past two years. I've had big tests, but this was a BIG TEST! I have been told that this test is even more important that how well I do in my medical school courses. When I apply for residency programs in a couple of years, the results of this test are one of the major factors that they take into consideration. It's kind of like the SAT's in that regard. I say all of that to say this... I was pretty stressed about the exam.

Thankfully, Doni sister and neice, Lori and Morgan, came down to stay at our house for a few days to help out with Ava. Lori let us sleep through the nights as she would get up when Ava got fussy or needed feeding. During the days I was studying with for what seemed like all day with little breaks. It was mentally exhausting. The girls went out shopping on Tuesday to keep my distractions to the minimum.

On Wednesday I showed up at my testing site a little before 6:30 AM. I wasn't scheduled to start the test until 7, but we were able to check in and get started a little early. I was pretty glad because the testing agency allots 8 hours for taking this test and I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Two breaks and six hours later I finished and headed home exhausted. All of us went out to dinner that night to celebrate.

We were going to go to the zoo on Thursday, but the forecast showed thunderstorms and hail during the afternoon. Thus, the decision was made for us to go to the Children's Museum instead. We had a good, full day. We took some pictures of Ava and Morgan riding the indoor carousel (which I will put up when they are developed).

Memorial day weekend snuck up on us this weekend. We didn't even really realize that it was this weekend until Thursday. Thus, we didn't have any plans to go anywhere, but a weekend without plans makes for a great weekend in our book.

So there you have it. This is why I haven't put up any posts for a while. As a peace-offering I have uploaded lots of pictures though! Things should be pretty relaxed for the next couple weeks until I start up medical school again on June 12th.

Looks like she's gonna have to be left-handed....

The one-handed baby!, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Sorry for the last of posts the past few days. We have had some exciting developments as of late. Specifically, we bought a BRAND NEW CAR!!!!

*Cue The Price is Right music*

It's a Honda CR-V and I love it! Doni likes it too, but she is still mourning the loss of her VW Beetle as a result of the trade-in. The Beetle was sort of a dream car for her. However, with a car-seat in the back you end up with your knees practically on the dashboard. Thus, we had to trade-in for something more suitable for our new family demographic. We were able to get a great deal on the CR-V and got $1000 more for the Beetle than we were expecting, so we are very happy about the financial side of things concerning this purchase. I will post some pictures of it later.

Thursday we went to the doctor for Ava's well-baby checkup. At this point she was 3 weeks and 1 day old. We were hoping to see a big change in her weight since she had only put on 1 ounce (according to their faulty weighing methods). Let me tell you what...... WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED! In the eight days since her last weigh-in, Ava put on 15 ounces!!! She was up to a whopping 8 pounds 2 ounces from the previous 7 pounds 3 ounces. Can you imagine?!?! She was able to increase her body weight by nearly 15% in one week! That's my little girl! Apparently our pump then add formula technique worked pretty well. Doni has even been able to freeze several ounces of extra breastmilk thanks to our new technique. To say the least, we are very pleased.

Today my Mom, her husband Ron, and my brothers Jacob and Jesse are coming down to visit for the weekend. The will be the first time that Ron, Jacob, and Jesse have had an opportunity to meet Ava. In the three weeks since my mom has seen her I'm sure she's been going through Ava-withdrawl, so its sure to be a busy weekend of passing her around to many open arms.

I've put up some more photos from when some of Doni's family came down to visit last weekend. Just click on the above photo to go to where they are located.

Quiet time at church

Yesterday was Mother's Day (for all of you who forgot, MAKE A PHONE CALL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE). Ava and I got up at 8:30 to make Doni a little something special for her first Mother's Day as a mom. I don't know if it has anything to do with pregnancy or breastfeeding, but Doni has consistently had cravings for pancakes. While Doni caught up on her sleepy-time from mid-night feeding sessions, Ava and I got the Bisquick and skillet ready (well, I got the skillet ready and Ava got the Bisquick ready.... gotta be careful with those kids around the stove). When all was ready, we took Doni her pancakes for breakfast-in-bed, but she decided on breakfast-on-couch because she was overdue for some breast pumping.

After eating, Doni opened her gifts. I got a growth chart for her (the one on the left if you follow the link). I was a little apprehensive because I bought it for Doni, but it was really kinda more for Ava. Kinda like that Simpsons episode where Homer buys Marge a bowling ball that is personalized with "HOMER" on it. Well, this gift was personalized with Ava's full name and birthdate. Luckily, Doni liked it a lot anyway.

Ava bought Doni the Season 1 DVD of "Grey's Anatomy". Doni had mentioned to her friends that she loved the show and was going to buy the DVD when the first season came out. Little did she know that it was ALREADY OUT! Ava and I had a little chuckle to ourselves and I went to Best Buy to pick it up for her. Sunday afternoon we watched the first five episodes straight through.... I can only take so much of Patrick Dempsey.

Fast forward to church.....

Our church was have the same photographers that took Ava's pictures take pictures of all the moms and their children for a free photo. Ava was drinking from a bottle off-and-on throughout the service and during the sermon or prayer (I can't remember which for sure) she ripped a BIG 'OL WET FART! This girl has the timing of a true comic great. The sermon had touched on the subject of tithing, so it was classic when the guy sitting next to us said "She just gave her ten percent"! Doni took her to the nursery to clean up the carnage. From what I heard, it was notably nasty.

Sorry to have so many posts about Ava's bowel movements, but, let's face it, she's hasn't started walking, talking, riding a bike, or getting a degree yet so my subjects are kind of limited.

Got Milk?

Got Milk?, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Doni and I have swallowed our pride and decided to go ahead and supplement Ava's feedings with formula. Doni pumps all of her milk and then we add 1/2 oz of formula to the bottle before feeding it to Ava. If she is hungry again before Doni's body has had a chance to "top off the tanks", then we will give her about 1 1/2 oz of formula to tide her over until Doni can pump some more. Ava is still getting all of the breastmilk that Doni is producing, but she gets formula to squelch her hunger where solely breastmilk is lacking. We'd rather have a well nourished baby than let our pride make us think that all she needs is what we can provide. I've noticed that she seems to be a little less fussy than she was before (although she was never than fussy to begin with). Bottle feeding has one significant difference from breast feeding from Ava's perspective.... she has burps that rival her daddy's!

Last night Ava had some bowel movements that I will refer to as "blitzkrieg". First she pooped... we changed her diaper. Shortly thereafter she pooped so I went to change her diaper again. Just when I had gotten her bottom all cleaned up, she decided that she had to empty her bladder. I hurriedly tried to get a diaper under her to catch the overwhelming flood. So now there is a line composed of Ava, Ava's urine-soaked diaper, and Ava's feces-loaded diaper. At this point Ava must have been thinking "Watch this dad. I'll make you proud." With a grunt, she shot a stream of creamy brown nastiness a full 8 inches before it dropped to lie across both diapers. By this time I was clearly over my head and called for backup. With Doni's help, we changed Ava's pajamas (which had sopped up the urine the second diaper missed), wiped her clean (again), placed the hazardous waste that was her diapers in a bag for disposal, and cleaned off the changing pad (which was thankfully plastic and not cloth). I tell you what.... this baby girl is going to have abs of steel if she can maintain that kind of muscle control.

Happy Thoughts

Happy Thoughts, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Like Sasquatch or Nessie, Ava's smiles are often sighted, but rarely is there photographic evidence of it. But now... NOW!!!... we have proof for all of you that may have doubted, but not have verbalized it! Mwa ha ha!

Last night Ava had her first photo shoot for her upcoming modelling career. The photographers are a couple of friends of ours from our church and they did a fantastic job. It took me two weeks to get a photo of Ava smiling, but they caught a couple in the few hours that we were there. They're Pros I tell ya. When the proofs are ready they will be able to be seen and ordered by anyone that is interested. I'll keep you updated.

Ava's doctor wanted us to take Ava in this week to get her weighed, so yesterday I took her in. It was just Ava and I because Doni was talking to a friend of ours from church that had brought us dinner. Let me list the things I forgot on our first father-daughter outing....

1. A pacifier
2. Diapers and wipes
3. Ava's socks (seriously! what was I thinking!?!?)

Granted, we weren't going to be gone for very long because the doctor's office is only 5 minutes away, but still... it was pretty evident that I was never a boy scout ("Always be prepared"). When we got to the doctor's office, we checked in and took a seat in the waiting room. Let the fun begin..... Ava began to get restless and whiny. A pacifier sure would have come in handy at this point. I don't know if it really would have helped though because she was pretty determined to make sure everyone in the waiting room knew she was there. There was one patient that looked like she may have had a migraine.... thus, I was feeling pretty bad. Luckily, the nurse took pity on us (or on the other patients) and called Ava's name fairly quickly. We took her back and got her weighed: 7 lbs 3 oz. Last week she was 7 lbs 2 oz..... However, last week she had a diaper on and this week she did not. How much does a diaper weigh? I don't have a clue, but I think it may have had a significant influence. Today our doctor called and left a message saying that he was concerned that she wasn't putting on weight fast enough. He wanted to talk to us about supplementing her feedings.

We would rather not begin supplementing her feedings with formula quite yet. For one thing, I'm sure that she gained more than 1 oz of weight in a week and the difference could be accounted for by the diaper factor. Also, Ava always falls asleep when she is breastfeeding. Recently some friends of ours graciously let us borrow their breast pump since they are not using it. We have just begun pumping until milk doesn't express any longer. When we feed Ava this pumped milk from a bottle, she drinks it down fast enough that she doesn't have time to fall asleep before she finishes. Our hypothesis is that she would fall asleep before all of Doni's milk had been emptied. Thus, our recent changes in technique such that all of Doni's milk is pumped and then ingested by Ava should more effectively provide nutrition for her than her mini-feeding/naps.

I spoke with a nurse at her doctor's about waiting to supplement until we see what her weight is at her appointment on Thursday of next week. She told us what the doctor had said, but understandably could not speak for the doctor with regards to waiting on supplementation. I told her what we planned to do and we left it at that. We'll see if her doctor calls back.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who has or is going to bring meals to us. They are delicious and very much appreciated.

Note to new visitors:

"Pink is my favorite color", originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

There are many more pictures available to view than you will see on this website. There are two ways to access them:

1. Click on any of the pictures included with the posts, or
2. Click on the "Flickr badge", which has small versions of the pictures and is located on the right side of this page.

Either way, you will be taken to a website called Flickr.com where the rest of the photos are located. Enjoy!

Observation

While I was getting ready the other day my mind was wandering. Out of nowhere it occured to me that there is a really easy way to remember both our wedding anniversary and Ava's birthday.

Anniversary: August 23rd, 2oo3
Ava's Birthday: April 26th, 2oo6

Maybe our next baby's due date will be on the 28th or 29th, but hopefully not the 27th!

Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Ava has been going through a lot the past few days.... well, maybe I should say "not a lot". She had consistently been downloading the brown load in her diaper 2-3 times a day up until Thursday. Thursday morning she did the deed one last time and then became bound up tighter than a snare drum. Friday she didn't have any bowel movements.

Doni was starting to get worried at this point. Since Ava didn't seem like it was bothering her in any way, we decided to wait and see what happened. When she still hadn't produced anything by Saturday evening, we decided to call the doctor.

The doctor that was on call for our family doctor returned our page and asked what was going on. Since Ava still wasn't acting like she was in any pain, was still eating, and was still urinating the doctor wasn't too worried. She gave us a couple ideas of things we could do to help get Ava's bowel to "do the locomotion". It's almost like a recipe.....

1. Insert 1 glycerin suppository broken in half.
2. Feed 1 oz of prune juice after breast-feeding.
3. Let simmer for 15-60 minutes
4. Get ready to change multiple diapers in a short period of time.

It worked like a charm. I'd tell you what it looked like, but you might not like peanut butter on your toast anymore.

If Ava were a truck, she'd be a Chevy.....

If Ava were a truck, she'd be a Chevy....., originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

... because she sleeps like a rock! For the last half hour or so I have been doing my best to wake Ava up to eat. The best I can get is a peek through barely opened eyelids followed by immediate unconsciousness. I pulled out all of my tricks to get her awake enough to eat. I danced around with her, whistled songs loudly, sang obnoxious, inpromptu songs, and probably said her name 5,312 times. Ironically, now that I am not making any attempt whatsoever, she is waking up on her own. Go figure.

Today we went to Ava's first well-baby checkup with her doctor. She has started packing on the pounds again (well... ounces) so we're glad about that. She still has some jaundice, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned. To see where she's at he wanted to get a blood test to see how high her bilirubin levels were. For this we had to go to the hospital for the lab-work. Interestingly, the hospital still had Ava in there computer system as:

First name: Infant
Last name: Fisk

Apparently they enter all newborns into their computer system initially with the first name being "Infant". Her record hadn't been updated yet with her true name, so we had to do that prior to getting her blood drawn. When they poked Ava's heel (we just took the old band-aids off recently), the nurse had to "milk" the blood out drop by drop to get enough for the test. Ava was NOT pleased. We haven't heard back yet regarding what her blood levels were, but our doctor said as long as she's peeing and pooping well he's not worried about it. I asked if farting helped because she does that well (quantity and quality), but he laughed and said no. It doesn't hurt to try though does it Ava?

Before and After

Before and After, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Grandpa Don (Doni's dad), Grandpa Jackson (Jeremy's dad), and Great-Grandma Alice (Jeremy's Grandma) came down to visit today. This was the first time that they have seen Ava. It was a significant day for Don in more way than one. Since Don found out that Doni was pregnant, he hadn't shaved his beard. Today he bit the bullet and trimmed it all off except for a little bit of moustache. It's such a big difference that it was a little weird hearing his voice come out of a different face. Also, Doni has NEVER seen her dad shaved down to the skin in her ENTIRE LIFE! He said that he probably won't leave it like this because he doesn't like the upkeep involved in shaving every day.

That's all I've got for now, but I'm working on getting Ava's first modeling gig. By the way, I added lots of family photos from today.

Looky here! No more cord!

And 1, and 2, and 3....., originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Ava's cord fell off overnight and her belly-button is getting a little smaller. A nurse at the hospital said it looked like she is going to have an outie, but I'm thinking she might just get an innie. Her jaundice is clearing up some more, although her eyes are still a little yellow.

Today we took Ava outside of the house for her first trip to the grocery store. If she were able to tell you all about it, she would say ".......ZZZZZzzzzzzzz......" because she slept THE WHOLE TIME! She's getting better at only getting up when she's tired at night, so I don't care if she sleeps all day.

I have put up 8 or so more pictures on Flickr.com. There is one from her first bath, one with her favorite mammal, and one where she reminisces of the days in the womb. Enjoy!

Breakin' in the bouncer

Breakin' in the bouncer, originally uploaded by Ava's Antics.

Today a nurse from the hospital where Doni delivered came to the house to see how things are going for Doni and Ava. Ava also needed to get one more blood sample taken from her already band-aided feet. Doni said it was hard to watch. I, on the other hand, wasn't home during the visit because I had a final this morning (which I think went well).

Doni has said that there are things that Ava does that she can remember her doing in the womb. Mostly these are certain kicks (probably roundhouse) or jumps from her being startled. The thing that is most apparent to me is her hiccups. As a matter of fact, Ava is hiccupping right now next to me on the couch. When she was still in the womb Doni would sit still and you could see her abdomen jump every few seconds as Ava could hiccup. She even hiccupped during delivery!

Ava's first well-baby checkup with her doctor is on Thursday. When she was born she was 7 lbs 10 oz, when she left the hospital she was 7 lbs 2.9 oz, and today when the nurse came she was 6 lbs 10 oz. It'll be interesting to see what she is on Thursday. Doni's milk came in Saturday so Ava's been getting some good nutrition since then, but she's still got some catching up to do.

Last night as Ava was sleeping in Doni's lap she laughed. It was pretty cute, but it made me wonder.... What do baby's dream about? Sometimes when she's sleeping you can tell that she's happy or scared because she makes lots of faces and noises. But again, what does she dream about when she has less than a week of experiences that don't include a uterus everywhere you look?

Today when Ava was in her bouncer Sparky went over and sniffed her for a little while. When he was satisfied, he laid down in front of her bouncer to watch guard over her as she slept (at least that's my interpretation). I tried to take a picture, but Sparky got camera shy when I got the right angle for the shot. Our dogs (Sparky and Sassy) have been paying more attention to Ava recently. At first they pretty much thought she was a thing that we had brought home, like a pillow, basket, or other inanimate object. Over the past few days of her making noises they have never heard before (other than her constant farting, which they are used to hearing quite often), they have become more interested. Sparky seems to know that he should be careful around her, as he approaches her with caution. Sassy seems to know that she is not something that is to be chewed on, even if she squeaks. They're good dogs and we couldn't have asked for a better welcome than the one that they have given Ava.