Ava's 1 month check up and days leading up to it.

Go Bolts! March 30th we went our 2nd Lighting hockey game. Ava's first! My company has a yealy outing to a sporting event and it was in a suite. It was so nice to see all of my co workers and introduce Ava to everyone. We all had a great time. The Bolts won! Ava's first Easter we had Luis sr, Carla, Lisette, Karla, Mikey (Karla's son)and Roy over for the day. We celebrated Jesus giving us life and Lisette's birthday with a huge steak dinner. Everyone held Ava and took pictures and played. It was a wonderful day with family. The week of April 8 though the 13th the Morris Family were in town. All week we did so many things, we went to mall, the park, the beach and fishing. It wore me out! Ava went to the beach for the first time on Thursday April 11. We were there about 4 hours. She didn't seem to mind the heat. When we went fishing Millie and Camden caught some pin fish. Luis caught a couple of bass and Millie held all the fish like a champ! She wasn't scared one bit. Uncle Matt caught his first bass, it was a pretty good size! Lately Ava has been cooing, making many other noises and holding her head up for almost a minute at a time. During tummy time she is pushing herself up and turning her head to find the sounds. On Friday April 19 Ava rolled over. Luis and I were both there to see it and we had Grandpa (lauren's dad) on facetime. Ava was so proud of herself. Today April 22st we went to her 1 month check up. Ava is 10.2 lbs (63%) and 23 inches long (93%). We are all doing great and just enjoying these sweet moments with our daughter!

Special arrival

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The night before I was induced Luis and I couldn't sleep. We were very nervous and excited. That morning Luis got up at 4am since he couldn't sleep anymore, I got up an hr later and we got ready and headed to the hospital. We laughed, cried and were serious. Once we got there we got all settled in our room. The nurse checked me to see if I was dilated and it was at 3 cm. Then, they started pitocin and a bag of fluid at 7am. Around 10 am they checked me again and I was 4cm and dr. Wabha broke my water. That was very gross but interesting. Within 10 minutes I started feeling contractions.Each contraction got a lot stronger. They became about 2 minutes apart and around noon I asked for the epidural. When the anesthesiologist came in he was a Gator dad, so Luis chatted it up with him. While the anesthesiologist was putting the epidural in Luis was right there holding my hands. He did such an awesome job supporting me. While in Labor my mom, Crissi and Stephanie were all there to keep me entertain. Within 15 mins of getting the epidural I couldn't feel the contractions and I was nice and comfortable. Around 3pm I started to feel some pressure and asked the nurse to check me. Sure enough I was 10 cm and at +station 2. We waited for the doctor to come and let Ava drop some more. At 3:50pm I took 2 pratice pushes with the nurse and we were ready to start pushing for real. After 4 good pushes Luis caught Ava. Luis was beside himself. He couldn't believe it. He said, " it was the best thing in life he had ever experienced." Ava never left my chest after that. She was weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long. Ava has a set of lungs on her because she cried so loud once she came into the world. It was such an amazing experience. I will never forget it.

28 weeks and 1 day

Last time I wrote we were right at the beginning of our pregnancy. Well, now we only 11 weeks and 6 days left. I'm feeling great and Ava is kicking like crazy. Timeline of the last 4 months: 1st trimester was a rough one for me. I was sick a lot and didn't want to eat much. We went on a cruise the beginning of september which I was at the end of the 1st trimester going into the 2nd. The cruise was a ton of fun even if I was throwing up after every meal. We still enjoy our last big vacation as just husband and wife before little one gets here. At 16 weeks we went for a sneak peak ultrasound. My father n law, Carla, Crissi and my mom joined us. I told the tech not to tell us unless she was 100% sure well she was after about 5 minutes of looking. She said, IT'S A GIRL! Luis and I were not expecting that because we both thought it would be a boy with all of the boys in the Perez family. Well, we were wrong. My father n law wanted a second opionion, Crissi and my mom started crying. Luis and I were still in shock. We had a named picked out and shouted it out. It was a great expreince, one we will never forget. That weekend we had a very small gender reveal party. Dad and all of our close friends joined for the fun. It was a great time by all and so awesome to share what we were having. The 20th week I had another ultrasound where they measure baby and amnotic fluid. My fluid came out low and I was told to drink drink drink. Two days later I was VA for Nicole's wedding and drinking was still on full force. I visited the D'Amico's too. My trip got cut short due to hurricane Sandy comeing for the east coast. I decide to change my flight because I didn't want to get stuck there with my fluid being an issue. I was one of the last flights out and was very thankful for that. The following week I had a follow up appt with a high risk doctor. He was great. My fluid was great and he asked me "what the heck I was doing here." It was such a releif. Now being 28 weeks I had my glucose test. I was very tastey compared to what everyone else says. I also had another ultrasound. AVA is weighing 2 lbs 9 ounces and doing great. She is 50 perctitle and right on track. Doctor did a biophysical profile test which test for nonstress, breathing movement,body movement, muscle tone and amnotic fluid. I score a 6/8 so I had to sit for 20 minutes on a machine and track babies movement and heart rate. Heartrate at some points was 142 at avg was 138. Prefect for that little girl!

A new adventure

Well it's been a little over 2 1/2 years since I wrote. This time I actually have tons to write about. Life has changed drastically and it's only going to change even more come 3/16/13. We no longer have our pups. Late October last year we made a very hard decisions to surrender the dogs. They were becoming to much for us to handle. Digging became a serious issues and Gator would not listen to me. His anxiety was getting a lot worse and Luis was the only one that could handle him. I'm proud to say we made a GREAT choice. They both went to terrific homes. Gator went to a home where the family works from home and gets so much attention that the anxiety is not an issue. Roxy went to a home with a single man that lives on tons of property where she runs and runs everyday. That's all she needs. God grated us with the faith and courage to know we will did what we know is best. If you your wondering, no we have any animals at this time. Even though I get asked every day from Luis if we can get one, I'm strong on my word. One day will be our day again. Maybe when are child asked if we can have one then I'll break down. But until then its just us plus baby! That's right I said child. WE EXPECTING!!! I'm so thrilled and feel blessed that god has chosen this time for us. We have had baby fever for a while now. God knew when the best time would be and its now. On 7/6/12 I was two days late and I just knew I was pregnant. That Friday evening I took a pregnancy test. The second line was very fate but it was there. I was filled with joy. After I took the test Luis was in the shower so I set the test and a onesie on the counter next to the sink so he could see it when he got out of the shower. I was laying on the bed so I could still see his reaction, when he got out he saw it and was like it this real? I screamed, "YES!" He told me, "the line is to light and I want another test." I explained it won't be as strong when I test in the evening. Which you learn from all the books you read when trying. So we went to bed early that evening with huge smiles on our faces. I woke up at 4am and took another test and went back to bed. Luis saw it when he woke up and yes there was TWO STRONG lines. We were so excited. Through out the week thats all him and I talked about.

The next weekend, we told our parents. Everyone was ecstatic! We asked them not to say a word until I was further along. I was only 5 weeks from my calculation. I called the doctor and made an appt. It was schedule for 8/7/12. And was it forever away.

It's over!!!

Wow it been forever since I posted. I am going to tyr and keep up since this is like my life journal! The waiting game is over. Even though it felt like forever before we got our income tax money back, it really only took a month an half. Thank goodness! So, now that we have spent all the money on things for the house our adventure of stress is over. We absolutely love our new house!!! We call it new because it really feels new after the hardwood floor, fence, couch and a new washer and dryer. God has truly blessed us. It will be a year, yes a YEAR in May that we have moved into our home. Doesn’t that sound crazy? It doesn’t feel like it has been that long but like everyone says, “time flies when your having fun!” I bet your wanting to know how do the dogs like the fence, the hardwood floor and couch because both our daily lives have changed. The fence is AWESOME. Gator & Roxy love to play, dig, eat the grass, poop A LOT ( poop duty is what Luis and I ask each other to clean up the mess twice a week.), chase birds and bugs, play fetch and sun bathe. The hardwood is beautiful but the dogs nails are loud. Gator is always walking around because he can’t keep comfortable. Why?? Because they are not allowed on the couch anymore. Everyone said, “your never going to be able to break that habit” But we did. The dogs haven’t been on the couch at all. It is very nice when we have guest over. So get ready guest to come over!!!

We keep asking ourselves what is next.. Luis had his last college class Tuesday 4/20 and will be graduating May 21st to become an Electrician!!! Congrats honey!!!! Now we just need him to pass the big big exam to be able to go any where to work and make better money.

Waiting!!!

It's that time of year that everyone hates to file and then hates waiting to get their money back. INCOME TAX! All I have to say is thank you Obama even though it's probably putting us more into debt it will relieve tons from stress from our lives. lol

We filed on Thursday but I had to mail the income tax papers for the first time ever. Which did you know it takes 4 to 6 wks before you can even check to see if they have received it and then 4 to 6 wks to get your refund back. All I keep telling myself is I have waited this long to get a fence I guess I can wait a little longer. We are super excited since we will receive the first time home buyer credit. We have agreed since it is for us buying a house we will use it towards the home. We are going to purchase hardwood floors, a fence, resoding the front and a doggie door. The fence is a must because the dogs need a space to run which is the whole reason we bought a home. The hardwood floors you can say there not a must but if you were to come see the carpet, your first reaction would be YUCK! The floors are just going in the main living area (living room, entry way, kitchen and hallways). This year we will be improving more and more. Our plan is to paint the kicthen, add a back splash and hopefully start the in the guest bathroom. It's going to be an exciting year just like last year.
Before and after pictures to come!!!

First time apart after the wedding!

This week has been a hard week for Luis and I. I left Wednesday Jan 13 for NC to visit my brother and sister, so it was the first time we have been apart from each other since we got married. We have done really well but it definetaly was a change. I will be leaving Monday night 1/18 which I don't want to leave but at the same time I can't wait to see my husband.

Any who, while I have been here it he has been home taking care of the dogs and the house. And me you ask, Wednesday I got here in the evening and to a surprise that my was awesome. My brother and sister both picked me up which was very sweet. Thursday, we hung out around the houses and I played with all my nephews and nieces. If you didn't know my brother and sister live on the same base, same neighborhood and the best they our neighbors. Friday, I went ice skating with Andrew, Leigh, Curtis, Andie and Erin (The D'Amicos)...Then, I babysat for Brooke and Matt while they ran some errands. Saturday, all the sisters (Brooke, Leigh and me) went to get mani's, pedi's and massages. Which was awesome!!! Thank you Brooke!!! Today, I went to church with The D'Amicos and came back to play hair with Andie and Erin. Tomorrow we will just take it easy and be at the airport by 5 pm. I am so sad to leave but happy to see Luis and our dogs.