Snow in Texas!

This is our second snow storm in TX in a week! We had a white Christmas and now more snow today. Hoping for a snow day tomorrow so I don't have to go into work. Ava is really having fun with this. She enjoys catching snow flakes on her tongue and eating it by the handful.

Mia's Tummy Time

Here's Mia having some fun during tummy time today. She usually isn't a fan, but if you time it just right, she can get her exercise without complaining too much! Pay no mind to my silly baby talk to her ... ha, ha!

Last Day at Home

Today is the last day of my maternity leave at home with Mia. Ava is at school today, so my Mom and I had a fun outing this afternoon and we are now relaxing at home. We did a little shopping (I got two back to work outfits for a steal at the outlets) and had a yummy lunch out, while Mia had a nice long nap. We took some pictures to capture the moment. I am not liking the fact that I'll be leaving little Mia, but I take comfort knowing she'll be in great hands with Grammy Joyce! Back to the daily grind ...

Maternity Leave Comes to An End

I'm sad to say that this is my last week at home on maternity leave. The time has gone so fast - especially the last few weeks! Doug's family was in town for Thanksgiving and the next thing you know, I have only days left before I return to work. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, but really got used to be home over these last few months. I'm trying to savor this last week but also get the final things done on my to-do list - deliver Christmas packages and cards, finish Christmas shopping, work on my scrap books - Oh just too much to do! I made some good progress over the weekend and today, so I'm feeling good about that. Here are a couple pictures from our visit with Doug's family. Ava had Santa visit her school today, so we got 2 pictures with Santa this year! We were rushing out of the house to get to school early, so Mia was still wearing her pj's in the picture. They weren't even her Christmas pj's. You do what you can!

Visiting with Family

We're having a great time visiting with Doug's mom, sister and fiance. We've been spending the time relaxing, eating wonderful food, and spreading holiday cheer. We visited Santa at the mall and both girls did great! No crying for Ava like she did several times last year (boy how things change in just 1 year's time). We went to downtown McKinney for the Dickens' Christmas - Ava loved petting the animals at the petting zoo. This morning we were off to the Little Gym and plan to go out to eat tonight. How fun!

Ava's Thanksgiving Feast

Ava had a Thanksgiving Feast at her school today. Everyone brought a dish to share with all the day care kids, their families and the teachers. They got all dressed up in their special Thanksgiving hats and made their own special place mats. I brought Mia and made some corn casserole. Daddy met us there. Ava is starting to better understand what Thanksgiving is all about. Looking forward to Grammy Ann, Aunt Amy and Uncle Nick coming next week to share our meal on Thanksgiving Day!

Mia's 2 Month Appt

Mia had her 2 month doctor appointment today. She's doing great - no issues at all. She's growing well, getting bigger and stronger and is smiling and cooing a lot. She's still smaller than Ava was at this age. Her eyes are still pretty blue - but more of a blue/grey color. She got 2 shots and an oral vaccine today, but did well with those too. She really didn't cry too much and quickly calmed down afterwards, thank goodness. It did wipe her out though, as she's been sleeping soundly since we got home. Here she is this morning practicing sitting up in her Bumpo. Stats from today's visit ...

Weight: 10 lbs 9 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 22.5 inches (75th percentile)

Head: 14.5 inches (10-25th percentile) - she's got a petite noggin!

Mia at 8 weeks

Mia turns 8 weeks old tomorrow! Time is flying by so fast. Here is footage taken today. She is starting to enjoy play time (in short spurts) and we are seeing more smiles and hearing more coos. The fussiness persists, but is more manageable over the last week or so. No repeats of the 5 hour scream-a-thon we saw 2 weeks ago. We are trying to have her sleep in her crib in her room now at night. She did well and slept in there all night last night, waking up her regular couple of times to eat. She sleeps much better in there as I can nurse her in the rocker and quickly put her back to bed and she doesn't hear all our noises, especially with Doug and the dogs getting up at 6 AM. Let's hope she continues this and gets better at night sleeping!

Halloween Night

We had beautiful weather last night for trick or treating. A family down the street hosts a pre-trick or treating get together where we can all gather for a potluck and grab a bite to eat before heading out. Ava had been waiting for that party and the trick or treating all week. She was a pro this year, going from door to door, saying trick or treat and "thank you" after getting her candy. M&M's are definitely her favorite this year and her pumpkin basket was filled with them by the end of the night.

Ava's Halloween Costume Parade at School

All the daycare kids parade around the elementary school in their costumes each year for Halloween. Doug, Mia and I were able to attend the parade and watch Ava in action. She wore her Penn State cheerleading outfit to school that day as her costume, which was different than the fairy costume she was going to wear for trick or treating. When I arrived, many of the kids were changing into their actual costumes, and Ava wanted to change into her costume too. I didn't bring her other one, but luckily Isabel in her class brought 2 costumes to school that day. Isabel wore her cowboy costume and let Ava wear her princess dress. Problem solved!

We thought we escaped the colic curse ... but then ...

Oh, here we go again! We thought surely we couldn't have another colicky baby, but we've recently realized that we did not escape the colic curse with baby #2. We would definitely say that Mia was fussier than most babies, but not until recently did we come to grips with the fact that she's got full blown colic, just as Ava did. The difference is, Ava's was pretty bad from the get go, while Mia's took several more weeks to emerge, as she did not kick things into high gear until last week. She turned 6 weeks old yesterday - they say colic peaks around 6 weeks. Well, to ring in her 1 1/2 month birthday, Mia screamed and cried from 5:30 PM until about 11 PM last night. So much fun! Not much will calm her down and soothe her when she gets going in these fits. At least Doug is home by that time to help me deal with it! I'm hoping that since it started later, it will end just as quickly as it came. Oh well - we survived it once, and we will certainly survive it again.

Despite this challenge, I saw the first glimpses of a social smile from Mia this morning. It was so sweet! That certainly helps you through these times. Here are some pictures of Mia on her 6 week birthday yesterday morning when she was in a good mood.

Celebrating Fall at the Pumpkin Patch

We are fortunate to live close to the country - drive just a short distance north, and you are out in the rolling hills and vast fields of Celina. There, is a family owned pumpkin farm that opens their doors every year to the public complete with a petting zoo, hayrides, and of course - fields of pumpkins. This was our second year in a row to visit - I see a yearly tradition starting to happen. My mom joined me and the girls for our trip. It was a crisp, fall day, although a little breezy. We went during the week thinking it would be less crowded than the weekends. Boy were we wrong! There were tons of school field trips going on. I think everyone decided to go since this was one of the first nice days we've had in the midst of all the rain happening in the past weeks. The crowd didn't bother us too much. We still got to do everything we wanted and got the pictures we were hoping for. Ava and I went on the hayride around the farm. Mia slept almost the entire time - she opened her eyes a little for a few pictures, but other than that she was an angel sleeping peacefully in her stroller. Ava was pleased to pick out pumpkins for her, Mia and Daddy. She had fun feeding the animals at the petting zoo too!

Mia's 1 Month Pictures

While at the mall, I decided to be brave and try for 1 month pictures of Mia. I wasn't quite sure how it would go with both of the girls, so I asked my mom to come along to help with any melt downs that may occur. Luckily, we all did great! Ava followed the directions of the photographer so well. I think school is really helping with this. Mia did great too - she was awake and alert and only started to cry when we stripped her down to her diaper, so that ended the session. We did get some good ones though. Here are some of our favorites ...

Fun at the mall!

Now that Ava is feeling better, we had an outing to the Stonebriar Mall. Ava had a great time playing at the playground and on the Merry Go Round. Last year, she was afraid to ride on the moving horses, but not now! I have a feeling she'll be wanting to ride every time we go to the mall now! We could be in trouble ...

Being sick is no fun

Ava came down with the flu this weekend while Doug's sister Amy was visiting. She spiked a 104 fever and we had the pleasure of her projectile vomiting on each of us (me and Amy that is). Poor baby! And poor us! The fever and vomiting were pretty much over by the end of the 2nd day, but Ava is still not feeling well. She has no appetite and her throat is sore and bothering her a lot. It's not confirmed that it's the swine flu, but it very well may be based on the symptoms and the fact that so many kids around us have had it. We're trying our best to keep Mia away from Ava and hoping that none of us catch it. That's hard to do given how needy a newborn and a sick toddler are. Keep your fingers crossed for us! We hope the worst is over with and that today is a good day for Ava.

Go Penn State!

Ava cheered on PSU vs Illinois this weekend to another win! Ava also is loving all the Halloween decorations out at our house and in our neighborhood. Fall is such a fun time of year!

Bath Time!

Mia had her first soak bath last week. She was a little hesitant, but definitely liked it better than the sponge baths she's had so far. I forgot how helpless and wiggly they are in the tub at this stage! Now that the weather is turning colder, we must keep the bathroom warm and bundle up the little miss quickly after taking her out of the bath!

Ava's enjoying her bath time these days too! We introduced her to our jacuzzi

tub and she is forever requesting bubble baths in the "big tub" now. Next she'll want some candles and champagne!

Birth Announcements, Trips to the Park and Dr. Appts

We ventured out to the park in our neighborhood yesterday with Mia and Ava - we're having some great TX Fall weather - low 80's and sunny. Great for opening up the windows and letting the breeze in.

I've been busy working on Mia's birth announcement. We had some photo shoots with my Mom and got some great images to use! I especially like the one of Mia smiling while sleeping in Pop-Pop's arms. I used my digital scrapbooking software to make the announcement - I think it turned out pretty good!

This morning was a trip to the pediatrician for Mia's 2 week appointment. She's gaining weight and her jaundice is pretty much gone. She's gained a pound since she left the hospital - little girl has been very hungry and eating all the time. Glad to see it's fattening her up a bit! She checked out great and her measurements are all about 25-50% for her age. We also had to do the TX healthcare screen/PKU test at the hospital this morning. Mia did not like all the waiting around and the being pricked in the foot at all! She told everyone so too, as the girl has some lungs. She's now happy to be at home, sleeping off the trauma!

Who does Mia look like?

Top Left: Mia Top Right: Big Sister Ava

Bottom Left: Daddy Bottom Right: Mommy

The McCall Family now has a blog!

I've been putting off starting a blog for some time now, as I seemed to never have the time to add one more item to my to-do list. But, now that I'm on maternity leave for the next three months and Ava will be in day care 3 times a week, I am going to give it a try. We'll see how it goes!

Today Mia Kate is 1 1/2 weeks old. She was born on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 at 5:25 AM. She was 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 20 inches long - tall and thin is how we seem to grow 'em! She is more fair than Ava, about 1/2 pound smaller and 1 inch shorter. She has a good amount of hair (not as much and as dark as Ava's) - no wonder I had so much heartburn with both of them during my pregnancy!

So far we're doing well. It certainly is more difficult managing 2! Doug just went back to work on Thursday, so I've only had a couple days on my own so far. Mia sleeps a lot (too bad it's more during the day than at night) and seems to be hungry all the time! She did well last night though - only woke up at 1:30 and 4:30 for feedings, and went right back to sleep afterwards. It's good to get some much needed rest.

We're about to head off for a walk outside this morning while it's still cool ... until next time!