And then there were two...

I think the number one question I get asked these days is
"How is Ava taking this whole new sister gig?"

Well first off, Ava is amazing. She has been terribly excited about the arrival of baby Norah from the get go. She has talked about her each and every day and began integrating her new sister into each situation we would come across nine months ago. "Mommy when Norah is here she will do this with us." She literally talked about her all the time and really seemed to "get" what was coming.

Now that being said, it didn't come with out worry.

I know I have mentioned before, we come from a long line of worriers. She was bound to have this plaguing her, it was basically inevitable.

So Ava worried and it showed in strange ways, freaking out if the slightest thing changed. Crying over the never seeing our old ugly counter tops again, mourning the loss of a stroller we haven't used in forever, being super pissed at the fact I moved the picture she had hanging over her bed to a different wall in her room, just weird little things that made no sense. Well no sense if you didn't know she was really worried about the unknown of what was about to happen. She also regressed in her potty training which we thought we were totally done with.

Well that was all BEFORE the baby, and NOW you ask??

Ava is louder then I remember her ever being. Not sure if that is a true form of being louder or the sound of her is more exaggerated as you are trying to be quiet around a new baby.

She also runs and jumps a lot more then she did a few days ago, I swear it is true!

The worst of it is the new attitude she displays when asked to do anything. She gets an evil grin and does the exact opposite that was asked of her. Or she argues, to the death.

Teaching her sister to make cookies:

Ta-Da!!

But in her defense we have had a lot going on around here. John's parents have been staying with us since we came home with Norah. We have had a ton of visitors. We had a birthday party on Saturday, my grandpa turned 85! We also threw a mini Super Bowl party on Sunday and her crazy cousin was over stirring the pot.

So basically things haven't had a chance to reach normalcy in any way, shape or form.

Today was the first day back to life as we know it, plus one.

Ava was much more her wonderful little self today. She tries so hard to be helpful with little Norah. She is constantly telling me "Norah is crying!!!" She is so alarmed. She drops everything to check on her baby sister. She is nothing but gentle with her and loving, just as we knew she would be. Ava kisses her, brings her stuffed animals, puts her binky back in her mouth and checks on her for me when ever I ask.

So in a nut shell Ava is doing wonderfully. It is more me that is struggling, I have to see her "help" as help and not get frustrated as she turns on the light when we are trying to get Norah back to sleep or chucks a stuffed animal at her head to sooth her or asks 6 million questions about the baby care we just went over. Patience has never been my strong suit but I swear I am working on it.

But it has only been 5 days, we all have a little adjusting to do. I have total faith that we will rock this, we are a family, and now, finally, we are complete.

*Billy's Photo*