19 weeks

I can't believe my baby will have been in our lives for 20 weeks tomorrow! She's growing so fast and my maternity leave is quickly coming to an end. I cry a little each day at the thought of not spending every morning with her, and missing out on her daily activities. Nothing makes me happier than waking up and seeing that little smiling face right next to me. The good news is that I am going back at 30 hours a week and will get one full day off and a 1/2 day on Friday to be with her. We feel so fortunate that her grandmother will be coming over to watch her and play with her every day and that we don't have to pack her up and drop her off at daycare. At least she'll get to stay in the comfort of her own home with her same routines and with someone that loves her.

Last weekend we took Ava to the mall to get her picture made with Santa. She wore her Christmas dress that her Memaw bought her with matching stockings. She did great! She sat right in Santa's lap and smiled big for the camera. She is too funny because it seems like she knows that she is supposed to smile for the camera because everytime I aim a camera at her she smiles big! (except for the picture here on the left) If I had a scanner I'd post the santa picture. She loves the sound of her own voice and spends a lot of time screeching and yelling as loud as she can.

Ava and I have both been sick with a cold this week. It hasn't phased her much in that she still plays and smiles just as much as she always does. She is getting better but I seem to be getting worse. I'm really hoping that tomorrow I will wake up and feel a lot better! Ava giggled at Magnum again today when he licked her toes. The dogs seem to be the only thing she thinks is amusing enough to laugh at. We have to watch her because if given the chance she'll get an ear or a chunk of skin on one of the dogs and put a death grip on it. She always goes for Biscuit's ears. Speaking of the dogs...they are so trained now that they know when we put Ava in her infant seat that we are leaving. Today we put her in her infant seat and both dogs ran and got into their kennels. They sat there patiently and waited for us to come over and close the door. How great is that!

Magnum has been so much better these days. He got a little unruly there for a while but now that I've been home with him he's now obeying and understands what our commands mean.