ed 6lbs 13 oz and measured 20 1/4 inches long. She is a beautiful bundle of joy and we couldn't be any happier to be called her parents. A
va had many visitors at the hospital. Grandma Fortier arrived glowing and very excited to see her granddaughter for the first time :) It was a beautiful moment to see her Brett and Ava together. 
Ava's Godmother and my dearest friend and neighbor Melody and her husband Ben stopped by to share in the joy that Ava had finally arrived. We were watching the Vikings game Sunday evening with them when the contractions began. Who would have known that she'd be here less than 24 hours later. Perhaps she was ready to get out since it was quite a disappointment of a game!
The next morning Grandma and Grandpa Tholen and
Uncle Matt arrived to meet Ava. Ava had a great first night and was bright eyed and ready to meet more of her wonderful family.That afternoon and evening more visitors stopped by as the snow was beginning to fall. My great friend Juliann and her boyfriend Luke came to say hello. By this time I was ready to get
out of the hospital so all 
visitors were much appreciated, daytime television was definitely something I had enough of by that point. My cousin Russ also popped by to hold the little bundle and offer some great advice on soothing techniques :) She looks pretty peaceful!Wednesday morning we were discharged from the hospital, jus
t in time for Christmas and the worst snow storm MN has seen in years! We were hosting Christmas this year so we were very worried our families would not be able to make it down with the weather as it was. But all went well and we had a houseful of Family to cel
ebrate with f
or a very special first Christmas for Ava.Things settled down after Christ
mas and we have just been enjoying the last week of parenthood. Ava has made great friends with her furry siblings. And we have discovered that the wiener dogs are quite protective of their baby Ava. The cats seem indifferent to her. She has had her first bath, she was not really a fan of the whole experience, however the wiener dogs were quite 
interested in helping out.
I can't believe she is 11 days old today. She's changing daily both her personality and physical features seem to change by the minute. She has a fantastic temperament and doesn't keep us up too much at night. 
We hope everyone has a fantastic new year!Love,
Christina
