Busy Busy Busy!

You would think being on maternity leave would mean that we are taking it easy...but there is so much to do! :-) We had our first trip to the zoo as a family of four and have been busy around the house. For mothers day, my mom and Michelle decided to build Malia a sand box (are moms supposed to get their kids something for mothers day???? My mom rocks!) and Malia is in heaven!!! She would live in it if we would let her! Life is great. I am just preparing to go back to work for a few days in June...trying not to let my anxiety get the best of me. Overall, life is going great! We feel so blessed for all that we have:-)

Not only did they build the sandbox, the helped fill it with sand (each bag was 50lbs and I couldn't help because of my C-section...we had 20 bags!!!!) they played with her in the sandbox too! What great grandmas!!! Also...notice the girls names on the side...Malia was so excited!

Ready for the sandbox!

Daddy with Malia...the elephant is laying down in the background. We told Malia he was "sleeping" (I sure hope so) and quickly moved along.At the zoo...what a great time. Ava didn't see much but she was a great baby! Malia had a wonderful time!

Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day! I had a wonderful mothers day. All I really wanted was to sleep...and of course Aaron tried to let me but I wasn't able to. We went to my brothers house for a bbq and had a great time.

Here are my two little angels being so wonderful!!!

Here is Aaron taking the evening shift so that I could enjoy a long bubble bath. Both girls wanted to be held because they were tired...he is such a great daddy!

Chad carved this into a tree last summer so I made them take a picture by it. I was going for cheesy but they look so stinkin cute.

Here is my niece Makenzie climbing a tree. We can't wait until she can babysit in a year....she will be awesome!Here are all four girls with grandmas Sheila and Michelle. They are building me a sandbox for mothers day. It is such a great gift because it will keep Malia busy all summer long!!!

1 month old!!!

Ava is one month old today! She is such a joy. She is not sleeping at night for us and has recently been pretty clingy....BUT she is still a wonderful baby! Today we went to my school so I could take a picture with my class. We kept her tucked away in the office except for the actual picture so my class could see her. They were so excited!

Malia loves to hold Ava...she asks to hold her all the time. She doesn't even mind that Ava is clearly unhappy.Here Ava is doing her boob face. It means that she wants to eat. Per usual...I weighed her and she now weighs 10 pounds. She has a healthy appetite!Here is Ava in the baby bjorn NOT taking a pacifier. She has no interest in one. All she wants is to eat...and eat...and eat. This is my grandpa! My cousin, Staci, was wonderful and brought him for a visit all the way from Glenoma. I love him so much and don't get to see him nearly enough. Ava was trying to memorize his face!

I love my baby girl SO much!!!

Here she is...the Queen of Daddy's heart!

1 month old...let the chair pictures begin!

Ava and Malia

Life is moving along! We cannot believe that Ava is almost 1 month old! Very soon I will be returning to work for a few days to wrap up the school year. To prepare Ava, Aaron gave her her first bottle yesterday. She did really well but then did not want anything to do with it today. Worst case scenario: Ava and Aaron will have to come to work with me those last few days:-)

Here is Malia "helping" with the bottle. She wants to be a part of everything with Ava. She is a great big sister!

Here is our family!

Ava and Mommy...having a great time!

Here is Ava getting one of her first baths. She is pretty alert. Malia's job is to pour the water over her feet:-)

2 weeks old!

Ava Renee' is 2 weeks old today! We are adusting and doing very well. I am healing well from my C-section and ready to rock and roll:-) Ava has nights where she sleeps great (for a newborn) and nights that I feel like I must be in a sleep study to see how little sleep you can get and still function:-) Every single second of it is a blessing!

Ava is so alert. Her pediatrician cannot believe how well she can focus. She is 30 percentile for weight, 80th for height, and 50th for head size. No 99.9 percentile for head and height like sister:-). The dr. is not worried about her weight. She was supposed to gain about 7 oz last visit and she gained 13...she's doing great!

And it begins...the chair pictures. I did one with Malia every month until she turned 1. Now we do it every year. All pics are posted outside her room so we can watch her grow. Ava was such a champ taking her pic!
Malia is transitioning wonderfully. She has moments where she will melt down but overall she has done fabulous. She continues to crack Aaron and I up. This is her wearing Daddy's shoes and being Super Weela (she calls herself Weela instead of Malia...it is hilarious!) . If you ask her, her name she says Weela Kathryn Qualls. If you ask wear she lives, she says Acoma (Tacoma). I feel like I am living in a coma right now too:-)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful Easter weekend! Grandma Sheila and Grandma Shell took Malia to the Easter egg hunt in Fircrest and she had a blast. She was well prepared after watching Max and Ruby's Egg Hunt a thousand times:-) We are doing well with our new family of four...Aaron is amazing! He does everything...I can't imagine not having him as my hubbie/teammate. Life is great...Ava is a blessing and I feel truly lucky to celebrate such an important holiday with such wonderful blessings! Malia and the Easter Bunny!

Malia with her cousins...she loves Makenzie and Claudia SO much!

Picking up the candy...she knew exactly what to do!

Easter Beauty!

Malia's auntie Robin got her this outfit...it was so adorable and said Baby's First Easter!

These are our dear friends, Becky and Arlo. My family loves them dearly and we were so glad they came for a visit. Becky played well with Malia while we watched the Masters :-) Good friends are such an amazing thing to have!

Malia loves to play music. She insists that Aaron and I have an instrument, too. Then she sings and dances. It is hilarious...we are thinking of going on the road.:-)

Ava Renee' Qualls

Ava is here! She was born on April 6th at 1:46 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 3/4 inches long. She is smaller than Malia was, but she also was about 18 days earlier! We had so many wonderful visitors in the hospital and so many well wishes by phone. Malia is getting to know her sister...overall she is doing very well!!! Ava is a relaxed baby (so far so good) and absolutely perfect. Love to everyone and we will keep the pictures coming!!On our way to take Malia to school. She took cookes for Ava's birthday! The last pic of the family of three!Almost ready to have Ava! We arrived at 10:30 a.m. and she was born at 1:46 p.m. That is my kind of birth!Ava...only a few hours old!

Happy girl!!
The whole family is together!!What a cutie!Big sister, Malia is holding Ava for the first time!

Getting ready to go home!!!