Ava Noelle is 4 weeks and a bit of life lately

I can't believe Ava is already 4 weeks old.  We all have felt right at home with her including Ariy.  He loves his sister and has yet to really act out.  I feel pretty blessed that he has transitioned so well so far.

Life with Ava so far...

• We are all just in love with this little one.  She was welcomed with so much excitement and love and joy that it has been hard to be frustrated with the fussy times and sleepless nights
• Besides normal newborn fussyness, she is pretty content at least compared to Ariy.  By this age, Ariy was already on medicine for reflux.  By 3 weeks old he was obviously in pain after eating and often inconsolable.  She is happy to be held most of the time and very content after eating although she does spit up a lot.
• She is awake and aware!! Ariy was a sleeper from the start.  I felt like we didn't really hang out with him much until around 6 months.  He still sleeps a ton (yes, we are thankful).  This one though - she already loves to look around and is awake for a lot longer stretches then Ariy ever was as a newborn.
• She has started smiling with a big open mouth grin and squinty eyes.  So fun, can't wait for it to be more consistent.
• She is tiny (at least compared to Ariy).  At 2 weeks she was 8lbs (basically her birth weight 7 lb 15 oz).  Ariy by this point was about 1lb past his birth weight at 9 lb 5 oz.  He was huge.  
• She is all girl - her legs, feet, fingers and toes are just long and slender and delicate.  We are hopeful she will be able to wear cute baby shoes.  
• She has just graduated out of newborn clothes, at least most of them.  She looks like she has grown mostly in length.
• Our favorite feature - that HAIR.  Sh still has a full head of hair.  It looks like it has a reddish tint but we are not for sure on that yet.

post bath hair-do

In other news, Rick and I have been in the process of trying to buy a house.  We put an offer on a short sale house in Newberg a few months ago.  Well, we just found out our offer is accepted and now we cross our fingers as we go through the financing and inspection phases.  We are excited about this possible next step for our family but there are still quite a few hurdles to get over to actually be at the move in point.  If you think of it, pray that things work out for this to be our new home.  That is what we are hoping and feeling at this point; that it is the next best step for us.  Update to come soon! We should know within 2 weeks if it is a go or not.