Goodbye Ni-nit!

Ava had her last swimming lesson today. It was a very sad thing for all of us. We are going to try and have Miss Britney ("Ni-nit") teach Ava this summer on her own. Hopefully it won't be as expensive as going through Swim Venture. I was able to get a picture of the two of them, but I still need to upload it to the computer, so it will be coming later.


As a side note, Ben has LASIK surgery tomorrow. I know it's a fairly minor procedure, but we'd still appreciate it if you'd keep us in yours prayers. We'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Pictures and Sickies

A few days ago a good friend of mine came over and took pictures of Ava and Beckham. I was so excited to see the results! They are amazing. She said she didn't want me to pay her for them, but little does she know that's just not going to happen!

We are getting this one in a canvas for the wall

He had finally had enough. He was sleeping and we tried to put him in a really awkward position. After a few minutes of us trying, he was done.

Long toes run in our family...

My two little angel babies

Sorry it's so picture heavy, but they are such good pictures that I had to put them all up. So... moving on to the rest of the post. We canNOT stay healthy in our house! I swear Ava has been sick since December. She still has a runny nose and awful cough. The pediatrician says it's just the norm. Now Beckham has it, too, though. Last night and early this morning he started having bad congestion, along with coughing and sneezing. Then this morning he was running a low fever. Poor little guy is only 5 weeks old! What am I exposing my kids to??!? Well, if any of you come out to visit and see us living in a bubble you'll know why.

Humility vs. Humble Brags

A quick picture of what I just saw:

This is why we put the baby gate at the top of the stairs...

Anyway, if you're a fan of NCIS Los Angeles, then you've probably heard of "humble brags." If not, let me enlighten you. A humble brag is something you complain about, but it actually is a compliment to yourself. An example of this would be, "I hate going to the gym because all the guys there stare at me and pick up on me." You are complaining about the gym, but complimenting yourself on being attractive at the same time. Why am I blogging about this? Because I feel like a lot of blogs are full of humble brags. I've had a hard time maintaining a blog because of this. I don't want to come across bragging about my wonderful family and everything we do and have, but I want to be able to keep family and friends updated on our lives. I feel I am walking a fine line. Where's the happy medium? I'm not sure, but I can tell you what the opposite end of the spectrum is- just plain humble. Let me illustrate:

Ava's prayers are one of the sweetest experiences I have been a part of. She still can't say them all by herself, but to hear her little voice saying a prayer is just a joy. I'm so grateful for a little girl who reminds me each day how to be a better and more humble person. I may be a work in progress, but at least I never have to question her love for me. That's the most humbling knowledge of all.

Ava's Many Roles

Ava has many sides to her, and she loves taking on new "roles." First, there is "Dr. Ava:"

Next, we have "Swim team Ava:"

and even "Grown-up Ava:"

If you look closely at her ears, you can see the earrings she has hanging from the top of her ears.

Lately, she's taken on a new role, as "Mommy Ava:"

(She's hard to compete with... Not only has she usually had a full night's sleep, but she is a lot more fun to look at.)

She's growing up way too fast for me. Even though she wants so badly to be a little adult, it still warms my heart that her favorite "role" is "Daddy's Girl." I don't even want to try and compete with that.

Potty Training and Big Girl Beds

Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but blondes, it seems, prefer the floor. Twice tonight I've walked in Ava's room to check on her and have found this:

The first time she was sleeping on the floor at the foot of her "big girl" bed, I picked her up and moved her back in, like any loving mother would do. The floor is hard and cold, right? Well, it caused quite a commotion. Because I moved her, I started her coughing and it was hard for her to stop (she's had another cold), plus I woke a dragon. She was definitely not a happy camper, and just wanted me to leave her alone. So what did I do 20 minutes ago when I found this? I put a blanket over her and grabbed my camera. I've learned my lesson, thank you.

Here is a little blackmail video of Ava. (Revenge, possibly, for getting mad at me when I moved her from the floor to her bed??) It is of Ava pooping. She is very good at letting me know when it's happening, but never wants to go and sit on the potty. ("Button" is "Pooping.")

You can see how much concentration it takes to complete this task...Now to try and go back to sleep before kids start waking up....

Beckham's First Month

Ava loves Beckham!

Playing chase with Daddy

Family Visits

Having a baby is a great way to make your family visit! My mom (Nana) was our first helper, and we enjoyed her visit. It was perfect timing, because everyone got the stomach flu, so we were all taking turns taking care of the baby to try and keep him from being exposed. The only place we really went was the beach, and it was pretty cold.  It wasn't the most exciting trip ever for my mom, but she was a lifesaver.

Next, we had Grandma Rotz come and visit us. She graced us with her cooking every night. We hope she got enough snuggle time with her grandbabies.  We were able to take a trip to Zoomars, a petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano. It was a lot of fun.

Those are Build-a-Bear high heels. She wears them around all day- even though half of her feet hang off.

She was leaning in for a kiss from the bunny.

Dancing Ava

She liked the train, even though you can't tell from this picture.

The only picture we got of Beckham (he's in the bassinet on the right). We're still new at this...

Baby Beckham is Born

Happy day! Basically in labor already on my own! Let's get this baby out!

Me: "He's so tiny!" Dr. Capo: "Uh, he's still about 8 1/2 pounds."

Daddy time

Beckham Connor Rotz

Wait... I had the baby, but he's  the one sleeping?

Beckham Connor was born on February 19, 2011. He was supposed to come on the 18th, but the L&D floor of the hospital didn't have any room for us. Thankfully, Dr. Capobianco came in on a Saturday just for us. Little did he know he probably would have been there anyway, since I was already in labor when I came at 8 in the morning. The nurse jokingly said, "Maybe you'll already be 4 cm dilated when I check you." Well, I was. I was also having regular contractions. She still started the pitocin, though.

Around 9:30, the doctor came in and broke my water. I lasted about a 1/2 hour after that before I ordered an epidural cocktail. When I called the nurse to ask for the epidural, she asked me if I was in pain. My response? "Well, not right this second, but when I have a contraction I sure am!" It wasn't as good as my epidural with Ava because my left side took longer for it to take. My right leg was completely dead, but I was still able to move around my left side. It was a little eerie, but after a few minutes everything was better. No more pain.

At about 1030 in the morning the nurse checked me and I was 6 cm dilated, so she told the doctor he could go for his bike ride, since it would probably be a few more hours. Well, at 11 I started feeling a lot of pressure with my contractions. A few minutes of that and I called the nurse back in to check me. I felt bad, since she was just in there, but it was really uncomfortable. I was 9 cm when she checked, and as soon as she finished I said, "I need to push." She re-checked me and I was fully dilated and Beckham was coming! She stopped the pitocin, called the doctor, and I panted for 30 minutes until he got there. I remember that one other girl was waiting for him, too, but my nurse told hers that I was in the room panting, so I trumped her and got the doc first.

When Dr. Capo came in, he asked me to do one practice push, and when I did, he said, "Ok, I'm going to get dressed. Don't push." Once he was ready, it took 2 pushes and the little man was out! I thought he was so tiny, but my doctor said, "Uh.. I bet he's still about 8 1/2 pounds." He was almost spot on. Beckham was 8 pounds, 5 ounces. He was born at 1149 in the morning, and was 19.5 inches at birth (but 21.5 inches at 5 days, so ??? He was also 9 pounds 6 ounces at 5 days, too.)

We are so happy to have him here! He's such a good baby! He has much fairer skin. His pediatrician told me he was the least jaundiced baby he had ever seen. We also were informed by him that we won the prize for the most weight gained since birth at the 5 day appointment.

Anyway, he's gotten himself on a schedule, which is great, but he's still waking up every 3-4 hours at night. He eats 4-5 ounces a feeding, so I'm hoping that soon he'll calm down and sleep more during the night. Until then, I'm just thrilled if we all get showers and dressed by the time Daddy leaves for work.