Kristen Has a Birthday...

That's right--my favorite month of the year is August, and it is because we get to celebrate another year in the life of me! Sounds crazy, and as we get older, supposedly we don't want our birthdays to creep around again. But I know if I am having another birthday, God has given me 365 days of breath and too many heartbeats to count! It is amazing to see my life unfold in front of me, and yet I have such fond memories of where I've come from. Heidi took both her birthday and mine off this year, so it was a lot of fun to spend time with her. Our birthdays are back to back, the 21st (hers) and the 22nd (mine). We got our 'sister' pictures done this year, on her birthday--it had been a while since we had our last ones taken.

We got Ava's pictures done on my birthday, because pictures are fun, and I wanted fun on my birthday! Yikes--blissfully naive logic! I am learning that getting pictures done in a studio can be a circus, and some parents don't like keeping track of their kids very much. Anyway, after we got her pictures taken, we went into Ann Arbor for the second day in a row to get my free Stucchi's ice cream--my sister's birthday is the day before mine, so we went in the previous day too! We at lunch at Jerusalem Gardens (middle-eastern cuisine) and then had Stucchi's for dessert. I got a bunch of artsy stuff from Christopher, which was really cool. I got more stencils to do embossing and card making, and I have always wanted the jumbo pack of multi-colored Sharpies which I got this year. My parents gave me a Willowtree statuette, and from other members of my family I received some music and scrapbooking stuff. Alas, again, no I-Pod. I will now put it on my Christmas list. Anyway, it was a good day. I had fun.

Ava moves out....

Of Mom and Dad's room!

Out of the Pack 'n Play in our room, and into the real crib in the nursery. She loves her U of M teddy bear mobile that plays "The Victors" as a lullabye. It's been weird to not hear every little noise she makes, and for a couple of nights, I had to just go and make sure she wasn't smushed up against the side of the crib or something crazy we moms think up when we don't hear the baby's usual noises! It's such a wonderful start to my day to get up in the morning and see her happy, smiling face. She loves morning! She always gets my day off to a good start!

Who does she look like?

...That is the question everyone is asking us. We aren't really sure when we look at her yet! Here are a couple of different comparisons done with pictures of Ava and us when we were about the age she is now. ( I think she has my eyes!)

Cast your vote!

The Zirks go to Lake Michigan, continued

Here is a picture of the sunset we saw over Lake Michigan at Rocky Gap Park, just north of St. Joseph, Michigan.

The Zirks go to Lake Michigan

This last weekend we decided to take a trip to the west side of the state. We have friends who just recently moved to St. Joseph, Michigan, which is right on Lake Michigan. So we spent some of our time catching up and laughing with our friends, and we spent some of it just driving up the coast and visiting places we loved before we had Ava to share the experience with. So we visited South Haven, which is just about 20 minutes north of where we were staying. Christopher and I went there to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, and had such a great time--we knew we would be making a return visit. We sat on towels in the channel which leads out to the lake and watched boats going out to sea and coming back. Finally, before we left, we walked out to the end of the pier and saw the South Haven Lighthouse. It is always very calming to go and sit at the end of the pier and just look out into the horizon. Ava was zonked out at that point, but rest assured, she had a good time prior to that!















We then continued up the coast to Holland, and had a picnic lunch with my parents (the Goedge's). They can't get enough of Ava, and always make jokes about taking her home and letting her do what she wants for a night. I always tell them that part of the deal is listening to her cry in her carseat for the 1.5 hours it takes to get home--somehow I don't think they'd mind! We had a good time with them grilling hotdogs and eating dinner at Kollen Park in Holland, on Lake Macatawa.

On our way home, I couldn't help myself as I kept seeing the sun drop further and further down in the sky. I am a sucker for sunsets, and I knew that night was going to be a good one. We stopped just outside of St. Joseph at Rocky Gap Park and watched the sun set over Lake Michigan. It was beautiful. I took Ava down to the water, and she seemed to like it. Man, did it feel good to dip my feet into Lake Michigan--the water was actually fairly warm. Unfortunately, I was getting attacked left and right by massive deerflies, so we watched the rest of the sunset from the inside of the car!

beautiful Ava goes to the doctor

Today, we went to the doctor's office for Ava's 2 month physical examination. Because of insurance 'issues', she was almost 3 months before she got in for her appointment. I know I should be a lot more grateful for having affordable health insurance, and yet sometimes the hoops I have to jump through are just rediculous. Anyway, here are her new statistics at 11 weeks old:

weight- 10 lbs, 13 oz
height- 24 1/4 inches
head circumference-40cm

Her weight was in the 25-50 percentile range on the growth chart
Her height was in the 75-90 percentile range on the growth chart
Her head circumference was in the 50-75 percentile range on the growth chart

She also got her first group of immunizations, which I was really nervous about. I did actually tear up a bit, but was okay once I got to hold her. Seems kind of crazy, since I used to be 'that mean nurse' for 2 years! It was hard then, but it is a lot harder now that it is my own baby. It absolutely infuriated me when moms would say, "oh, here comes the mean nurse to give the shots" or "oh, she's the one who made him/her cry the last time." But funny, although I would never say something like that to the nurse because of my past experience in her shoes, I did find myself feeling some sort of contempt toward her--and I don't even know her! "You're the one who is going to make my baby cry!" I thought. As a mother, it's hard to rationalize how inflicting pain is actually going to benefit and protect your baby in the long run, but as a nurse, I know it does. And thankfully, she won't remember the shots that she gets as a baby when she gets older.