Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Back to Work I Go!

I just finished my first week back at work and we all survived! Actually, I think we did better than survive. Everything went really smoothly. Thank you to all of you who prayed for Ava to accept the bottle! She finally started taking one again about a week before I had to go back to work. I was actually about to give up and I called La Leche League for advise on how to feed with a cup, spoon, or medicine dropper. The woman I spoke with encouraged me to keep trying the bottle, especially since Ava had taken one already. She also said it would do no harm for me to try to give her one because our nursing relationship was well established by that point. Talking with her was great because it gave me hope and more determination, and later that same day Ava finally took the bottle! Then for a few days she would only drink a bottle if I was the one giving it to her, as if she decided that food could only come from me. But the night before I had to go to work she drank an entire bottle for Ray. That gave us both a lot of peace of mind when I went to work the next day! So far it has worked well to feed Ava before I leave for work and as soon as I get home. On my 4 and 4 1/2 hour shifts she takes one bottle. On my 7 1/2 shift she took a bottle in the afternoon, I went home to feed her on my dinner break, and she took another bottle in the evening. So far so good!

Halfway through my 4 hour shift on my first night back I texted Ray to see how things were going at home. His text back to me still cracks me up. He wrote, "Good. It took 45 minutes but Ava drank over 3 ounces. Jonas got artistic with pudding, can open the cupboard door under the sink (with the child locks), and got time out for not stopping putting milk on the window when I told him 3 times to stop. I think he didn't think I'd put him in time out while feeding Ava & he cried a lot but he got over it." It made me laugh because as chaotic as it seemed it was reassuring to me because everything sounded pretty normal. They were doing just fine without me! :)

Here are some recent pictures:

We went to the Zoo on Good Friday. Here Jonas is looking at the rhinos, which he prefers to call "hippos".

The weather was really warm Easter weekend. Ava got to wear this super cute summer dress on Saturday!

This was Easter morning. We were leaving for church a little late, and this is the best shot I could get of both the kids together!