I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

Hey friends! For those of you who haven't been following along during the time that my blog was made private, it's been a while! Allow me to catch you up:

Let me introduce you to my sweet baby girl, Ava Elizabeth, born 12/28/09 by c-section:


Here she is again at three months, growing cuter by the second:


Many, many more were taken in the interim, but you'll have to check the archives for those :)

Now that you've met her, here's the world's quickest run down on the past nearly (gasp!) six months:

*She's currently getting her second tooth, for a complete set of front teeth on the bottom. I've yet to wrangle a picture of those yet.
*She has a pretty severe dairy allergy, so any suggestions on dairy-free living are appreciated! Mommy cannot wait until the day I can have ice cream again, but for now, it's 100% worthwhile to be dairy-free so that A can continue to get breastmilk exclusively.
*That's right..I've gone over to the dark side. I'm a lover of breastfeeding, a "lactivist" if you will. Though, if you're not, I won't speak ill against you. To each their own :)
*We're currently co-sleeping. When did I become such a hippie, you ask? Well, A had what looked and acted suspiciously like the measles a couple weeks back, and was cutting her first tooth and REFUSED to sleep anywhere except with mommy. And, being totally paranoid about SIDS like I am, this is the only way she'll not roll onto her belly. So in our bed it is.
*Ava rolls both ways (though she won't roll from tummy to back since the first couple times she tried it out), and sits unsupported for minutes at a time. Holy moly!
*A comes to work with me, and so we're together all the time. I mean, seriously, all the time. While I generally love this arrangement, I have been struggling with the need for personal time and a date night (we've yet to have one since she was born!). Suggestions on feeling less guilty about this welcome :)
*We started solid foods on Monday with my homemade sweet potatoes. So far, so good.
*D and I aren't married still, for those who are wondering. I'll leave that at that.

Hmm...any questions? Ask away. Glad to see you all again. Feel free to follow along. Oh yeah, you'll notice a new little gadget on the side. I've been hired as a writer on all things mom/parenting, as well as a bit of celeb gossip and business news from time to time, so my articles post to the side in real time. As always, I love comments, either here or on the articles at Gather.

For a more detailed play-by-play of little A's development, check out What Are We Up To?

Today we're getting six months pictures done, so expect those within the next day or so!