Well Poop!

Ava is nearly 3 months old & an absolute joy but we have been struggling with her reacting to foods in my diets for the last 2 and a half months. She is super sensitive to dairy & soy (even the slightest cross contamination causes a reaction). I finally cut gluten after being in denial & sure enough with in 48 hours she was much improved. I'm not sure if she reacts to coconut so that is the first food I'm trialing. After spending so much time obsessing over the slightest change in her poops (because that is one of the main indicators that something I ate bothers her) I am greatly relieve to see something resembling a normal poop for a breastfed baby instead of ogre boogers. Liam & Emma were already dairy & soy free because they have reactions to that as well so for the ease of meal preparation we will all be going gluten free. I'm excited & depressed all at once, excited for the fact that we're figuring out how to keep our family healthy but depressed because all of the things I normally cook are on the no-no list now until I figure out appropriate substitutions.

It amazes me how much cross contamination their is the food industry & the amount of effort it takes to keep our home & diets free of offending foods.

Renovating

I'm renovating this blog into something simple, just family updates & such since I don't seem to do well about posting regularly.

Updates:
We are finally cloth diapering... YAY!

I took the kids to the zoo with help from my MIL & they loved it. I was exhausted by the end of the day but it was worth it.

My tomato plants are starting to bear fruit, yum.

Ava is a very laid back happy baby, she loves to babble & coo. She has been smiling socially since about 4 weeks & for several weeks now she's been trying to giggle but it sounds more like little squeaks.

We've made huge progress on our family history work.

Ava Elaine is here!

Baby Ava arrived earthside at 7:40pm Wednesday the 28th. Mom & baby are doing excellent more details later...

Anticipation

Baby Ava kicks pretty much non stop all day & night, I never thought I'd be so ready to be done being pregnant but this time around I wouldn't mind if she decided to come a bit early. I'm really feeling the physical strain with this pregnancy. There is still so much to do to prepare but I really am looking forward to this birth.

Now to plan for car shopping & arranging furniture, Liam's quilt to finish, curtains to make, & a zillion other things.

All is well that ends well

Well, we've pretty much settled in after moving & its been almost a month already. Amazing how time flies. I'm in my 3rd trimester now & really starting to think about Ava's arrival. So that's the quick update, more later.

Can We Panic Now!?!

(name that movie)

Anyway, long story short, we we're supposed to sign the lease for our new apartment on Dec 7th & move over the course of the following week, turning in keys on our current apartment Dec. 12th, but on Dec. 2nd at the close of the business day I received a call saying that the new apartment wouldn't be ready until the Fire Marshall signed off & the new release date was projected for Jan. 8th. Begin 18 hour interlude for panic attack & mad dashing to make alternative arrangements should the worst case scenario evolve & we have no home for 3 weeks. Thankfully everything worked out & we were able to extend our lease termination until Jan. So now we are 5 days & counting from our tentative move date (we still don't have an official release on the new apartment but everything is "still on schedule") & we're making good progress on the packing & moving prep. The silver lining to the change in our move date is that the whole family was miserably sick the week we would have been moving in Dec. which would have made for a very difficult move, vomiting kids & mommy & bed ridden daddy do not make for a successful move. I'm in a much better place about being prepared for our move but still slightly panicked until we actually sign the lease for the new place.

Baby update: Ava is healthy & moving around a lot... A LOT! Hubby has been able to feel her kicking for a couple weeks now. I only get nauseous if I go too long without eating & otherwise I'm feeling pretty good. Emma is more aware of her new sibling this time around & very excited, Liam is mostly oblivious other than saying "baby" a few times when I've been explaining to the kids about Ava being their baby sister.

We had a wonderful Christmas, frugal & simple but surrounded by family... the best kind of Christmas. We rung in the New Year with a fun cheese party at a friend's house (no stinky cheeses this year) & tasted a couple cheeses I had never heard of. We haven't set any New Year's resolutions yet because we've been too busy with trying to prepare for our move, once we get settled I'd like to set some goals for our family this year as well as some personal resolutions.

So that's my life right now, interspersed with explosive poopy diapers (thanks, Liam) & cold hot chocolate (because that's what Emma likes & heaven forbid we call it chocolate milk).

Its a GIRL!!!

I had a feeling we were having another girl & the ultrasound today confirmed it. We can hardly wait to meet Ava Elaine due on or around the 23rd of April 2010.