The Laugh That Melts Our Hearts!

Avalyn laughed for the first time last week while Brian was changing her diaper. When Brian has Ava on the changing table after a diaper change he almost always gives her raspberries on the belly or gives her an eskimo "mooch". Well, while he was doing so, I happened to walk in just as she let out this adorable little throaty laugh. I stopped dead and screamed, "OHMYGOD! SHE JUST LAUGHED!!!!" Brian looked over at me with this stunned look on his face and said, "She did just laugh, didn't she!" We were pretty much shocked into laughter and Ava just laid there smiling back up at us. I nearly cried and was so happy! It was definitely one of the most heart melting moments and was so incredibly happy that I walked in at just the right time; because I did so we were able to share the experience as a family. 

Avalyn's laugh is just so gosh darn cute! It is unlike any laugh I have heard a baby make. She has just recently started doing so more often and we were lucky enough to catch her in the act while I was attacking her belly with tickles. 

Please excuse my obnoxious baby voice! I just can't help it! 

Oh and in case you were wondering, over tickling a little pumpkin belly results in a spit bomb. Haha! 

Here is to many more laughs from our little Ava Bug!!

Four Month Old Well Visit/Five Months Old

Age: five months, one week old.

Weight: 10 pounds, 13 ounces

Height: 22 inches 

We FINALLY had our four month old well visit paired with four month old shots and I must say, I am extremely impressed with how well Avalyn did with it all. She had her nap while on the way to base this morning and had a bottle before we left the house, so she was very content when we arrived at base medical. I will admit that I was a little nervous making this trip alone and without Brian, but it had to be done. Brian had to go and run around on base and get things signed/prepared for when he checks out on February fourth. It was my first time taking Ava to see the doctor on my own so I was glad that she was making it easy on me. 

After I checked us in and walked back to Pediatrics (why on Earth is the waiting room all the way in the back of the building?! Do they not know how difficult it is to lug around a baby in a carseat while holding a diaper bag by yourself???) Ava decided to perk up; she was so alert and keen on sitting up and looking around that it just blew my mind. 

Once we were called back, Avalyn had her head circumference, weight, and height taken and all looked good for her age; her age is adjusted 12 weeks because that is how early she was. The doctor came in and examined her and was very impressed with her head control and loved how she was trying to sit up when she was put down on the exam table. Her eyes and ears look good, she is not teething as of right now, and everything else is looking wonderful. I was a little concerned with how Ava's head seems to tilt a little one side, so the doctor looked into that and did make note of how the side that she favors is looking a little flatter than the opposite side. So I was given some instructions on how to help get rid of that by doing some stretches with Ava. 

We have been experiencing some constipation and after discussing it with her doctor, we were given the go ahead to give little miss half an ounce of juice every other day to help keep her stools soft and passable. Now before a huge debate ensues in regards to giving an infant juice, I will have you know that TWO different doctors that she has seen, as well as the on call doctor (who we call when it is after hours and need help/advice) has advised us to give her apple juice to help relieve her of this constipation. I am ok with that considering it is only half an ounce (15ml), she does not get it every day, it actually helps her, and she still takes her bottles. I know some parents may frown upon Brian and I giving her juice, but it is what helps. I also feel better knowing that I am not having to dose her up on any medication; I would much rather give her juice before I give her drugs. The doctor said that the constipation is most likely caused by her formula, but considering Ava is so close to starting solid foods that we should not have to worry about switching formulas and dealing with the hassle of finding an entirely different formula and I am okay with that. 

Now what did the doctor say in regards to Ava starting solid foods? Well, she wants us to wait until she is six months old (not adjusted), but if we want to start introducing it to her we can, as long as she does not have an extrusion reflex. When we start trying to introduce her to solids and she still show signs of this reflex, we were told to wait another couple of weeks and then try again. We have tried Ava on some stage one bananas and rice cereal and she did better than I had expected her to; she still showed signs of the reflex, but she was starting to kind of get the hang of opening and closing her mouth. I think that by the end of February/beginning of March she will be completely ready for stage one foods. I am so excited! 

After seeing the doctor we had to head over to immunizations to have her four month shots. I absolutely HATE it when Ava has to get shots! You would think that with having to have the RSV/Synagis shot every month I would be used to watching her get shots, but I am not! It takes a LOT of effort not to freak out on the woman jamming needles into my child's legs, not to cry, and calm the desire to scoop up my baby and run for the hills. It is so heart breaking watching a child go through that! But this time my little girl was a champ! She started getting fussy when she was put on the table and right when she was about to start screaming from not wanting to be on her back, the nurse gave her the shots. She got three shots and only screamed twice! Literally after Ava was picked up, she stopped screaming and started "talking" to the nurse. I swear it sounded like she was giving the woman a stern talking to! Almost like, "How DARE you do that to me?? What the hell were you thinking? Oh, you are going to hold me for a few minutes? Rubbing my back?! Oooh man, I think I love you! But seriously! How DARE you!" By the time we left the room Ava was smiling, looking around, and alert. Such a silly little pumpkin belly. 

So now that our four month well visit has come and gone, we have another six weeks or so before our six month well visit. Six months?! Hard to believe isn't it? 

So now that Avalyn is five months old I am sure a lot of you are dying to know what she has been doing? Well my little bug has accomplished many milestones in the last month!

- She is able to maintain head control while she is sitting or being held, 

- She is now sitting up while being assisted; her favorite place to sit is on the couch. 

- While on her tummy she can rotate herself/army crawl around her play mat and she can use her forearms to lift up her head 90 degrees. 

- She can talk baby gibberish when she is being talked to; her favorite word is "uhgluh" and she loves to try to mimic the "ma" and "ba" sounds. We try "da" but she has not quite figured that one out yet. 

- She can laugh, but it is really difficult to get her to do so...she likes to surprise you with it...she has such a cute laugh!

- She is starting to drool more.

- She LOVES putting things in her mouth.

I truly could go on and on! Every day I am more and more amazed by this tiny little person. 

Now, I bet you are wondering what this little five month old is totally diggin' these days?

1. Small Wonders Lovie- I am not sure what you call these little blankets, but here at the Felda's we call them "lovies" and that is because Avalyn loves to love on them. She is currently obsessed with grabbing the blanket and shoving it into her mouth. She loves suckling on the silky side and rubbing her face on the fleece side. Silly little nugget! 

2. Mam Anti-Colic Bottle- I love that this bottle is self-sterilizing and the silky smoothness of the nipple. Basically, we love this bottle! 'Nuff said! 

3. Sophie the Giraffe- At first I had no clue what all the big hype was over a $20 rubber giraffe, but I swear my child goes nuts over this toy! Once she gets to gnawing on little Sophie's face, you had better be prepared for an ultimate melt down when you grab it from her! I took it away from her once to wipe off all of the drool and she FLIPPED OUT. Needless to say, best $20 I have spent on a child's toy.

4. Wubbanub Pacifier- My sister in law had recommended this for Ava when she saw how difficult it was for munchkin to hang on to her pacifier. So Brian and I went out and got it for her and it is one of her favorite pacifiers! The little feet have beads in them to help keep from slipping or falling off of your baby when they spit out the paci and Ava loves grabbing onto it. Plus, it has a cute little animal stuck onto it! 

She also loves her play mat and swing, but those are obvious faves since most babes love those. I wonder what next month's favorites will consist of? I am just so amazed by how much Ava is starting to become aware of. Two months ago she was only interested in snoozing in her swing and now she has favorite toys...toys that she actually enjoys to play/interact with! Next thing I know she will be running around my house looking for new toys to play with...ooh dear! Let's slow it down a bit, please?! 

And with that I leave you with an adorable Ava Bug covered in rice cereal!

She was not quite sure how she felt about it. That is okay, we will try again in a few more weeks! :)

Our Adventures Into Cloth Diapering: Cloth Wipes

As most of you may know, we use cloth diapers on little miss Avalyn and it has been working out wonderfully!
Way back when we first made the transition from disposables to her cloth diapers, we decided to look into cloth wipes. I had heard several good things about them and was definitely interested in how they worked, what they were made out of, how they were kept moist, etc. So with a little bit of research and much discussion with Brian, we came up with our decision. We figured that if we were going to use cloth diapers why shouldn't we use the cloth wipes as well? It only made sense since I was going to be washing diapers every other day any ways, why not just toss in a few wipes and make our lives easier?!
Well let me tell you this, I was definitely at a loss as where to start as far as obtaining cloth wipes; did I want to purchase them or did I want to make my own? Did I want to use fleece or flannel? If I made them, how on earth would I go about doing so?? Would I use a wipe warmer? What about a cleaning solution??
After several hours of searching through Pinterest and googling various blogs, I was able to figure out what I wanted to do. I had this crazy idea of wanting to make my own wipes out of old receiving blankets; I had accumulated so many blankets from the hospital while Ava was in the NICU that it was just obvious what I needed to do with them. I was also able to borrow a friend's sewing machine so I could get them finished faster because let's just face it, hand sewing over two dozen cloth wipes was not how I wanted to spend my time.
So, how do you make a cloth wipe, you ask? Well, let me show you!

Before you get started you need to make sure that you have all of the proper supplies.
What you will need to make a minimum of two dozen cloth wipes:

- approximately three or four clean receiving blankets (or more, depending on the size you use)

- sewing machine; if hand stitching, then a needle to stitch with

- pins

-bobbins (if using a sewing machine)

- scissors used to cut thread and material

- thread

- iron and spray bottle

- ironing board

- a pattern

- a marker

First, you need to make a pattern! I used some old card board to cut out an 8x8 square.

Try to cut out the square as best you can. I am actually terrible at drawing straight lines with a ruler, so I asked Brian to help me out. Technically, he made this pattern for me. ;)

You do not have to use an 8x8 pattern; you can cut out any sized pattern that you wish. It mostly depends on how you plan to store your wipes. I preferred 8x8 so that is what I used.

Next, you need to take your blankets and clean them if you have not already. Once cleaned, iron them! Trust me, you will thank me later! When the blankets are ironed they lay perfectly flat and do not have any wrinkles in them, thus making it easier to trace the pattern and cut. You are more than welcome to skip this step, but I found that it made the entire project much easier. 

After your blankets are cleaned and ironed, go ahead and take your marker and trace the pattern onto the blanket. I used a Bic marker and found this to be a mistake because the marker lines ended up bleeding all over the fabric of the blanket when I washed them. Obviously after being washed several times the marker washes out, but I had marker bleed onto some of my prefolds, so I would just avoid Bic and stick to Sharpie...or just make the investment and buy one of those fabric pencils...which is probably what I will do the next time I make more wipes. Now, you may not have the same issue I did, so if you prefer a specific marker, then go for it! Regardless you will need something to trace the pattern onto the blanket. 

Once your squares are cut you need to decide if you want to double them up or leave them as single squares. If you decide to do single squares, then congratulations! You are finished! Those do not require any sewing. 

I decided to do double squares by taking two squares and layering them on top of one another. Once this is done, I just pinned them so it would be easier keeping them together. 

Now just sew away!!

Once the sewing is complete, this is what you will have! Pay no attention to my lack of straight edges...I am not the world's most experienced seamstress. In fact, to be honest, I had not used a sewing machine in so long I did not even remember how to use one! Thankfully my sister was with me the entire time to coach me through! 

After I had finished my wipes, Brian and I went and purchased a wipe warmer. We decided on the Prince Lionheart Warmies Wipes Warmer. If you are not familiar with this warmer, it is designed to hold cloth wipes and can still hold disposables! We absolutely LOVE it! The part that I love the most about this warmer is that we were lucky enough to find it brand new at a consignment shop for about 50% less than the price at the store. 

I love the little night light! 

We can fit roughly 14 wipes total in here and that will last us about a day and a half. 

Before I place the wipes in the warmer, I dip each wipe into some water, ring out the excess, and roll it up. When we are running low on wipes, I just add some more! It is as simple as using disposables! The only difference is that instead of throwing my wipes away, I just toss them in the diaper pail with the diapers. Oh! And I don't need a garbage bag or anything in the nursery for wipes! 

With using cloth wipes we have saved a lot of money! We have only ever bought wipes ONCE since Ava was born and that was when we bought a box to use while traveling home to Illinois and back. 

We do use disposables when we go out and about town, but the box that we had bought back in December has lasted us a looooooong time. 

We have also tried a few store bought wipes and so far, I have only liked one of the two that we have tried. 

The Prince Lionheart Warmies

OsoCozy Flannel Unbleached 

I am not a fan of the warmies particularly because of how thin they are and how frequently they shed. By shedding I mean there are constantly pieces coming off of the edges! As you can tell from the photo, my washer/dryer likes to eat the edges. 

I really like the OsoCozy wipes! I love how there are two different sides to them; I feel like the more textured side is perfect for those big messes that little babies love to surprise us with! I have also used these (as well as the wipes that I made) as burp cloths when I have run out! They work perfectly!

I am hoping to be able to try out more brands of cloth wipes soon, but for now we are pretty content with what we have. :) 

Our next big feat will be eliminating disposable wipes all together! 

If you are interested in learning about the wipe/s solution that we use, keep an eye out! I plan on devoting a post strictly to wipe solutions. :) 

Ringing in a New Year

Well, the new year celebrations have come and gone and here at the Felda residence we have started our crazy list of resolutions and goals! That is right, like most families do every new year, we have started a list of things that need to get done, placed some goals (some that seem incredibly impossible!), and started the journey into our "new beginning".

This month has been completely insane! Ever since we left Illinois and travelled back home to Georgia, I feel as if we have constantly been on the go. Because my sister stayed back in Illinois, I lost my extra hand around the house. So it has been interesting learning how to do house work and take care of Ava all on my own; once Brian went back to work, I was alone with Ava for the first time EVER. Since she had come home I had someone here with me to lend a hand so it was definitely a bit overwhelming at first trying to juggle being a mommy and a house wife. Whoever said that being a stay at home mom and a wife were easy was on some drugs or something because it is far from easy! Sure, it gets easier, but by golly it is NOT easy. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for mommies with multiples or for mommies whose children are mobile. Once Ava starts crawling, I am DOOMED. Haha! 

But seriously, I can not tell you all enough how much I love being home with my little bug. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be home and watch her grow! And my goodness is she growing! Our little one has slowly started to jabber at us, she can now reach for toys and hold on to them, she can hold her head up, and sit up with the support of her little booster seat. Every day I am more and more amazed by her progress. I can't believe that she will be five months old tomorrow! I remember like it was yesterday, giving birth to my little three pound munchkin. 

After getting settled from being away for two weeks, I had started working on getting Ava into a routine. Needless to say it is still a work in progress and I fear it is going to take even longer to get down because of this PCS move.
Yes, you read that correctly. Brian received orders and it is looking like we are going to be leaving Georgia and heading up to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. I am feeling pretty mixed up about it. I mean, sure, I knew at some point our time here in Georgia would come to an end and the Marine Corps. would take us elsewhere, but I just feel like it happened so suddenly! One minute I am focused on Ava's routine and mommy problems and the next I have my husband home every night and we are looking for houses eight hours away!
We are going to be living off base because it is just the right thing for us to do. We have been searching online through various web sites and have found a few potential homes within our price range. Phone calls will be made sometime soon and hopefully before Brian checks out of Kings Bay on February 4th, we will be making a trip up to N.C to look at the places we have chosen and will be putting in applications. I am really hoping that this plan works in our favor! I am just so leery about not seeing a potential home first before moving in; there are just too many things that could go wrong!
Needless to say, I am starting to get very overwhelmed and stressed out over this move. I am worried about it messing up Ava's routine that we have started working on. I am nervous about not getting everything done in time. I am anxious about new possible opportunities. I am trying to remain positive that everything will work out smoothly.
All of my nerves and stressing out aside, I am looking forward to what this year will bring us.

Our first kiss of the new year.