The Scifres Family: Life at home with Ava

Ava has been home about 2 weeks and we couldn't be happier. Every sound, movement, and facial expression she makes we find so fascinating and of course we are always taking her picture. Steve surprised me with a new camera for Valentine's day, so I am even more obsessed with taking her picture. At the last pediatrician visit Ava was doing great! She now weighs 5 pounds, 10 ounces and is 19 1/2 inches long. She is now out of preemie clothes and fitting into newborn clothes. Since she is gaining weight at the appropriate rate the doctor said we could finally start keeping her up more in the day and letting her sleep longer at night. Her first week home she didn't gain a lot of weight, so we were instructed to wake her every 2 1/2 - 3 hours around the clock, which was very tiring! Now we are getting at least one 4 hour stretch of sleep a night, which is amazing. I never thought getting a 4 hour chunk of sleep would be amazing....in the olden days (before Ava) that would have been a terrible night's sleep, but now 4 hours is a good night's sleep. Wow, life has changed!

Here are some pictures from her first day home................

First day home. Trying out the bouncy seat. She liked it for about 5 minutes and hasn't liked it since. We think she needs to grow into it a little more.

Bruce loves his little sister and the boppy pillow. He is always laying on it....I think he believes we bought it for him and not for Ava!

Being the protective big brother that he is!

Our first night home Steve had to leave for a basketball game, so Aunt Jamie came over to see Ava and keep me company.


First bath at home. Happy now that she is out of the bath, but not so happy a few minutes earlier while the bath was going on. I hope her dislike for baths is only temporary!

Pictures from the past two weeks..................

Ava is the spitting image of Steve. They make the same facial expressions and have very similar features. I know I am a part of that child somewhere.....I just have yet to find it!

Falling asleep with mom and dad is one of Ava's favorite things to do!

Our little Valentine! :) Best gift we could ever ask for.

I am woman hear me roar!!


Could they possibly look anymore alike??? Spitting image of her father. :)

"Mom, enough pictures already!" I can foresee this look coming back sometime when Ava is in her teens.

Ava and Claire! Claire is 1 week old and Ava is 1 month old in this picture. Claire's mom and I had way to much fun taking pictures of the girls. I don't think the babies enjoyed it as much as we did!

Grandma time!

Aunt Beth and Ava! Aunt Beth came to stay with us for the first week we had Ava home. She was such a big help and helped us survive our first week of sleepless nights.


Aunt Beth had to go home, but grandma stayed to help us out. Ava loves being held by her grandma. :)

Bath time! We started doing developmental baths....recommended by one of my nicu friends. Ava is wrapped in a towel and we put her in the water while nice and cozy in the towel. We wash one body part at a time while keeping the rest of her wrapped up. She actually enjoyed her bath for a change instead of crying the entire time.