Ava's 1st Birthday!!!

I can't believe it has already been a year. WOW!!

March 25, 2010 brought with it, not only a precious gift that we refer to as Ava Violet Shurden, but quite a little scare as well. Ava was born at 7:47 AM via scheduled c-section. She weighed 8 lbs and 11 ozs and was 19 inches long. I recall lying in recovery being incredibly anxious to get back to my room so I could hold my little bundle of joy. When I arrive back in my room, I learn that Ava has been sent to the NICU. Of course, as any mother would do, I instantly freaked out!! Once Ron and my mother were able to calm me down and I started breathing again, I was told she was born with fluid in her lungs (because she was born via c-section) and was placed there as strictly a precautionary measure. Apparently this is common in babies born via c-section. Common or not, precautionary or not - I was scared to death. To make a long story short, she was placed on oxygen and antibiotics and responded very quickly. She spent 48 hours in the NICU under observation and was discharged down to my room the day before we were discharged! I will never forget going to the NICU to hold and feed her and seeing some of the other babies there - Babies that had been there for weeks, some even months. I can't imagine what those parents must have been going through. We were very fortunate that what Ava was experiencing was routine (even though it did not seem like it at the time) and was able to leave the hospital with us. We take for granted that we will go to the hospital, have a baby, it will be perfectly healthy, and we will all go home. That isn't always the case and I got a taste of what that is like for some families. It has truly made me thankful to the good Lord for the health of my children.
Now  - a year later - Ava is a perfectly healthy, sweet little girl!! I can't believe it has already been a year. She has grown up way too fast!! She has the sweetest little personality and is, for the most part, always happy! She is crawling, pulling up, eating table food, saying "mama", "dada", "byebye", and "uh-oh", and all the normal things that a one year old does - including driving her big brother crazy ;).  Whatever Conner is doing is exactly what she wants to do!! As an only child, I find their relationship to be quite fascinating. She absolutely loves him to death and thinks he is just wonderful.  She just lights up when she sees him come out of school in the afternoon and won't quit squealing until he speaks to her. Generally speaking, he is great with her.  He takes time everyday to play with her and is always saying he can't wait for her to get bigger so she can do more things with him (he may regret that later). But he definitely has his moments when he would rather she just go away.  There have been several days when I look up and see him dragging her across the hall from his room to her room and then I hear "Please stay in here. You have alot of toys to play with - go play with them!!" or he will drag her to me and say, "Please take her!!"  I absolutely LOVE watching them interact and watching their relationship grow!

Below are a few pics from her birthday party! As you can see, eating the cake was Ava's favorite part of the party!

I still can't believe she is already a year old. I have enjoyed every second of this past year and all the "firsts" and can't wait to watch her grow and learn new things over the next 12 months. She is truly a blessing and a gift from above and has brought more joy to our lives than I could have ever imagined!!  We love you Ava!!