Myrtle Beach and Sunset Beach

We had another short vacation that was rather unexpected when we returned from DC. Dad invited us to the condo in Carolina Beach for a night and from there we went to Myrtle with Beca and Steven. We took the ferry boat into Southport and drove from there. In Myrtle we enjoyed shopping and dinner at Broadway on the Beach as well as some time at the pools and lazy river!

After that, we were lucky enough to spend two nights with Jessie and Susanna at Sunset. The Gonzalez's let us stay in their beautiful beach house. It was a really fun trip and Ava and Susanna enjoyed playing, napping and eating together. We took a couple walks on the beach at night and did some shopping in Calabash. It was a great time!

Washington DC

Many things have happened since our last post.

First, Ava has started on cereal and fruit and is doing well learning how to manipulate the food in her mouth and eat off of a spoon. It is so cute to see her face covered in baby food!

Ava and Susanna had another play date. Susanna has surpassed Ava again in weight. They are still close but seem to be going back and forth in the weight category! They ahd a cute visit and enjoyed playing on the floor together. They did look like they were trying to hold hands at one point!

This weekend was my birthday and was Ashley's final concert at the National Symphony Orchestra's Summer Camp. We took the train to DC, stayed in the Embassy Suites and attended her last concert at the Kennedy Center. We enjoyed the monuments, Smithsonian and hanging out with the family. A great time was had by all!

The Beach!

We had a wonderful time at the beach again this year. It was extra special because it was Ava's first time visiting the coast.

Ava loved the pool and the ocean and loved to put her litle toes in the sand and "chill" in her tent on the beach. Richard and I are slowly but surely learning how to put the hearing aids in properly and it was good practice with all the back and forth to the water.

Claudia loved the pool and the beach also and was able to have a friend with her for part of the time. They enjoyed swimming, hanging out, going to the arcade, etc. They made some beach friends while they were there.

Beca and Steven were able to come down for a few nights and we really enjoyed having their company. We relaxed at the beach and on the front porch at night while listening to the surf. We enjoyed the trip to the arcade this year also. While Ava slept in her stroller and Claudia and her friend played in the arcade, the adults were able to sit across from them in a new restaurant with outside seating and have a few beers!

Overall, it was a very relaxing vacation with not much to do but have fun!

Big Day!

Ava was fitted for her hearing aids today by the outstanding team of doctors and audiologists at UNC! Her reaction brought tears to Richard and I's eyes. She can obviously hear everything now by the expression on her face which was one of shock and awe when she heard us talking to her. It was as if she had entered a whole new world and had so much to learn.



They are just tiny little hearing aids which are attached to ear molds which will need to be changed out every three weeks, as she grows like a weed. We are so blessed to have the technoloy in this day and age that catches these things so soon! She will grow up with normal speech and hearing. It was hard for me to even tell if she had knocked them out because of her head full of hair!



We are so fortunate that our little angel will now be able to enjoy the sounds of birds singing, waves crashing and perhaps angels whispering! The little things we so often take for granted.



Thanks to everyone for all of their support and we know that it will be a different road to travel but with friends and family like you, just a little less bumpy!

July 4th

We had a very rainy fourth of July here in Raleigh. We went to Jaime and Steve's for a cook out. Thank goodness we decided not to brave the fireworks because the sky opened up at about 8:30. We just visited for the rest of the night. Ava wore her adorable "Baby's First Fourth" bib and outfit and Claudia was decked out in red, white and blue as well. Needless to say all the fireworks in the area were cancelled and rescheduled for tonight. We are planning to venture out to Regency Park tonight with a picnic but there is definetly rumbles of thunder in the distance. I hope it blows over quickly.

Last night Liz and Jen gave Ava a tummy time/shopping cart cover and mat. She really liked looking at herself in the mirror while she excercised her crawling muscles!

We are off to the beach next Saturday for our yearly vacation. We are excited that Ava will have her first taste of the ocean. She loves the pool so we are excited to see her reaction to the waves!

We had a good family day today. We relaxed around the house for most of the day awaiting Claudia's return from her friend's birthday party. Richard enjoyed his time with Ava and read her five books today! She really enjoys books! We went to the library and picked out a bunch.

When Claudia arrived home and we took a jaunt to Taget or as we call it Tar-Jay. We are looking forward to our trip to the beach. We will be leaving for Carolina Beach July 12-18th!

Father's Day

Richard had a very nice Father's Day this year with his two girls. Ava and Claudia gave him a framed picture of themselves that mom had blown up and framed! It was a very pretty pose with them both holding hands lying on the bed. Claudia found him a plaque that read "Fantasy Football Legend". The Rutkowski Family always seems to do well in our picks when it comes to fantasy football time.

In the evening we had a bunch of people over to the house to watch LSU vs. UNC in the College World Series. Unfortunately, LSU did not move on but a good time was had by all. Richard smoked his famous ribs and we socialized and ate well into the evening!

This weekend the girls and I took our first "summer trip". We went to Grenville to visit Beca and see her new apartment. She has an adorable one bedroom on the outskirts of town. It is decorated perfectly and we enjoyed each other's company while we went antique shopping and ventured to "Little Washington" where we had lunch by the water and browsed the shops.

Ava had a chance to wear her "Somebody Loves Me in Greenville, NC" onesie! She looked adorable!

Today we went to Pullen Park where Ava and Claudia rode the merry go round. They have one of the oldest carousels in the U.S. I used to love it as a kid. They looked so cute on the cat they picked to ride.