Ava Samantha

We welcomed Ava Samantha to our family on Monday, September 21st at 7:43 a.m. She weighed 7 lb. 10 oz and 19 1/4 inches long (this is her correct height when had dr. appt.). She is beautiful!! Ava shares her birthday with her cousin Brooke, which is a lot of fun! She has lots of dark brown hair, which is a shock since both of our other kids had very little hair and was reddish brown. Ava has long fingers and a long torso. To me, she seems so petite compared to my other two. Her weight did drop to 6 lb. 15 oz, but is slowly climbing back up. Ava has her own look, but we can see a lot of Annika in her. Her middle name, Samantha, has a story behind it. We like to have our childrens middle names to be a family name. I couldn't really decide on what that name should be for Ava until one morning at 5:30 a.m. when I couldn't sleep. The name Samantha came to mind. I thought, why Samantha? There are no Samantha's in our family names. I wrote it down and instantly saw the connection. Samantha is an acronym for all of Ava's grandmothers and great grandmothers (first letter or last letter of their names). It was perfect! S = Sharon, A = Arlie, M = Marie, A = Wilma, N = Marilyn, T = Margaret, H = Sharon, and A = Vonda. It was truly inspired that she was to have that name and I love it because these are all wonderful women who we love dearly.

The kids have been great with Ava. They adore her and give her lots of kisses. We have adjusted well so far. And, thanks to all of our parents, we will be taken care of for a while. Also, thanks to dear friends for meals and play dates for our kids. It is all greatly appreciated. We are very blessed.


The strawberry hat and booties are a gift that our sister-in-law, Nekell, made. Love it!! Nekell is so talented!