Ava 9 months

Ava started crawling a week ago and she loves it. Only a couple days after crawling, I found her standing up in her crib! I was shocked to find her standing and we quickly moved her crib mattress down. This is always a hard change for me, she is not a little baby anymore…tear! I have been so surprised at how quickly she has started pulling up on everything in our house. In only a matter of days, she went from being completely stationary to a crawling and standing machine! Ava can say Mama, Dada and Baba very well. Her new nickname is “Baby Monster”. Cooper and I incorporate her into our imaginary play time and she is usually the monster that comes and takes our toys and cars away. I’m so excited for them to play together. We love having Ava in our house!!!

Our "Baby Monster"

Bath Time

Cooper loves his little sister, like all day every day! I know this won’t last forever so I am just trying to soak it all up. Cooper has fun lying in the bath with Ava. Anything she does makes him laugh and giggle, especially when she splashes him. I love these cuties.

Always chewing on her fingers, but still no teeth!

Things to do on a rainy day

One day while Ava was asleep, Cooper and I made "monsters".  I made home-made "glitter" that wasn't so glittery, but it worked.  Cooper had fun making it and was really proud of how it turned out.

Later that day we got a nice summer shower and Cooper decided he needed to use his binoculars to see through the rain.  It was so cute to watch him explore with them.

Ava joined us outside, which she loved of course. I love it when the weather is like this.  It is so rejuvenating and is a nice break from the heat.

Although this is from another day, I wanted to add this in too.  Cooper loves, LOVES to play with Daddy.  He is much more exciting to play with than me and has way more fun ideas.  I love seeing them play together.

 Happy Mother's Day!
I love that we get a day to celebrate our Mother's.  I feel so lucky and blessed to have my Mother.  She has always been an amazing example to me and I try to be like her in so many ways.   I am also grateful for my Mother in law.  I am so happy that we have a good relationship and that she is a part of our lives.

After church we went to to Colby's parent's house.  We took some pictures to document the day.

The guys had fun playing outside.

  And of course, we played on the trampoline!

It was a great day spent with family!

Fun with Mammaw

Mammaw stayed at our house for a week after Colby had his surgery. We always love it when she comes to visit.  Each morning we ate breakfast on the back patio and spent a lot of time outside.  One morning she put Ava on the trike with Cooper.  She loved it!!

And a few pictures of cute little Ava at 8 months:

Colby's Shoulder Surgery

Colby's shoulder has been bothering him for quite a while. His range of motion was very limited and it was painful for him to move it. I basically MADE him go to the doctor for it and we soon found out that he had a massive rotator cuff tear, arthritis, and a few other things. They quickly got him set up for surgery. Yes, another surgery!! So, just a couple weeks later on April, 29 2012 Colby was back at UMC to get his right shoulder operated on. Even though this surgery wasn't as major as his hip, we were all still nervous and anxious as we waited. Dr. Cord came out after the surgery and informed us that Colby did not have a rotator cuff tear at all, but that his shoulder was in bad shape. His biceps was barely attached by a few strings, he said it was not repairable so he detached it completely. The only side effects of this would be a "popeye" arm and some difficulty with twisting(like with a screwdriver). They also shaved off the distal end of his clavicle repaired some muscles. We were pretty shocked by the news, but it was good news! Colby's recovery would be much faster and less painful. When we got to see Colby in recovery he was pretty groggy but happy to be alive (you know how Colby is). They did a nerve block in his arm so that he wouldn't be able to feel his arm or have any pain. Colby HATED this! The numb, "pins and needles" feeling was extremely annoying to him and he couldn't wait for it to wear off. I am so grateful that he can walk after this surgery. It is going to be so much easier on me than his hip surgery because he won't need as much assistance with everyday life. His arm was put in a sling that he has to wear for at least 4 weeks. He was in recovery for a couple hours and then we got to go home. My parents had brought up their recliner for Colby to use as he recovered. Colby basically lived in that chair for a week. We were so grateful to have that chair, Colby really liked it. We were constantly icing his shoulder through this cool machine called Polar Care. It was really nice to have that. Mammaw and Colby's parents were a big help the first few days after surgery. When we got to change his bandage Cooper was very interested in Daddy's boo boo.

All propped up in the recliner.

The surgery was arthroscopic, so Colby only had four little incisions.  If he would of had a rotator cuff tear, he would have the little incisions and a big 4 inch incision on the back side.  We were so glad he didn't have that!!

Sunday Best

I took a couple picture of the kids before church.  It is pretty fun to pick out Ava's dress each week, she always looks so cute!

Cooper looked so handsome with his sleeves rolled up like a big boy!