The Holidays, in a nutshell...

I apologize that it's taken me this long to get back into blogging. The last few weeks have been very exciting yet beyond hectic at the same time. I'm copying the format of my friend Jules' blog and will give you a brief summary of our daily happenings in the past two weeks:

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24th
We started today out by going to Grandpa Tony and Grandma Vicki's. Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tony, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Brett, Uncle Brian, Aunt Charisse along with Ava's cousins' Ashley, Troy, Tayler, Soleil and Dominic were all in attendance. Ava got spoiled by everyone. She got some cute outfits, a Little Tykes Kitchen, books, new doll and several other toys. She enjoyed running around the house with Dominic (Nieko).

She seemed tired by the time we left but was awake when we got home. We put her down in her crib at 12:30pm and she did not fall asleep until 3pm. We had hoped to get to Aunt Nancy's by 4pm but did not arrive until after 6pm. Unfortunately the flu bug (possibly Norovirus) was visiting with Ava's cousin Emily and eventually passed on to about a dozen more people within 48 hours. Overall, the evening was filled with lots of laughs, food, drinks and toys, toys and more toys. We stayed until just after 10pm. Ava was still awake when we got home, so we gave her a bath and put her down, all the while telling her about Santa's arrival!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 25th

Ava woke up shortly after 7am. I know she really didn't understand the concept of Santa's visit, but she was more than pleased with the Dirt Devil Jr. Vacuum and broom set under the tree. She played with them for hours. She also got a beautiful cradle for her baby doll, a baseball mitt, a Cabbage Doll named Fiona Harley, clothes, books and other toys. She was content for the rest of the morning with her new toys.

After her nap, we headed over to Joe's Aunt Jeannie's house. It was a wonderful visit and Ava had all the Aunts and Grandma Mary spoiling her. She enjoyed climbing up and down Aunt Jeannie's stairs and was happy that Grandma let her try several treats. That's what grandmas are for, right?

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26th
I was out the door before 7am and met Ashley and Grandma Vicki at Target to get some after Christmas deals. Aunt Lisa babysat Ava and she conveniently slept in until after 8am. I think she only does that when she knows I'm not attempting to sleep in myself. Aunt Lisa nad Ashley then babysat until daddy got home from work while I went to a dr. appointment.

DECEMBER 27 - 29th

Fairly uneventful days... Ava went to daycare Wednesday through Friday. On Thursday night, We visited Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tony and Ashely and Troy one more time beofre their trek back home to Cleveland.

DECEMBER 30th - JANUARY 2nd
On Saturday, we drove to Detroit (Grosse Pointe Park), Michigan to visit Grandpa Bob, Grandma Nancy and the rest of the family. We made excellent time and daddy got us there safe (and fast). Our only stop was in Battle Creek, MI for some lunch at Cracker Barrel. We stayed in the condo of G&G's friends, Jim and Nadine. They were gracious hosts and seemed to enjoy Ava's company.

Fortunately, the family was able to reserve the *party* room. This gave us alot of extra room and we spent all of our waking ours there (daddy even spent some sleeping hours in there). We played games, watched a ton of football (shout out to the Badgers), ate, drank and ate some more. Ava enjoyed the company of Dominic and Soleil who also made the trek from Wisconsin. She was quite shy with most of adults, many she had not met yet. She eventually warmed up to everyone, but each day she took quite a long time to do so.

Ava slept/napped great in her pack n play, even though it was just inches from our bed. She didn't eat so well, but I'm assuming the excitment of her surroundings didn't help. Ava was asleep by the time we rang in the new year, but she enjoyed *practicing* the next day. Overall it was a success, and we look forward to our next Bieniek/Vetrone/Passante/Buck/Keller reunion. Maybe in WI???

JANUARY 3rd - PRESENT

Ava came down with a cold on our way home from Michigan. Daddy commented that Ava had a *morning voice* when she woke up from her nap in the car. Little did we know it was the start of something awful. She has not been feeling well since. She's got one serious head/chest cold... fever, cough, runny nose, congestion and possible ear/throat pain. She is beyond clingy and wants to be held 24/7. We both had the day off on Thursday because of a prior scheduled appointment with a dermatolgist; we had been referred there from Ava's pediatrician. We were told everything looks fine. We'll probably have the mole removed when Ava is between 10 and 12.

On Friday, I kept Ava home from daycare. She still has not improved today and I'm being a paranoid 1st time mom. I had called the pediatrician's office this morning but hung up after being on hold for 15 minutes. I know it's probably a virus so they can't do much, but I feel so bad for her. I sure hope tomorrow is a better day...