The first 2 weeks

Ava loves Auntie Melisa


Car rides are the best!

Ava doesn't like bathtime, but she loves her Johnson & Johnson bodywash (Thanks to Daddy's friends at J&J)

Daddy has the perfect resting place for Ava :)


Ava loves her rainforest friends

Daddy and his two favorite girls!

Mommy and Daddy's favorite time of day - Naptime :)

Daddy is the best snuggler ever!

The first 2 weeks cont.

Daddy's little girl - She already has Ryan wrapped around her little finger.


I'm happy...or I'm pooping :)


Great Grandma came to visit - She loves me and I love her!!!

More cute pics!

"Mommy put down the camera!"

"ENOUGH WITH THE PINK!!!"

Ryan thinks Ava is sick of wearing pink already...

I told him...girls never get sick of pink :)

Isn't she cute?!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a perfect Mother's Day gift...She's absolutely wonderful!!!

Sleeping is my favorite thing to do!

THE BIG ARRIVAL!!!!!!!

Ava Marie Nolte is finally here!!!

She was born at 7:18am on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008.
7 lbs 1 oz & 21 inches long
She is even more amazing than we could have imagined!
Mom and baby Ava are both doing well.

Erica's water broke Tuesday at 3:30pm while teaching at school. Auntie Melisa, Grandma Jean, and Grandpa Dave sprang into action getting Erica to the hospital and taking care of things at the house. Meanwhile, Ryan was working in Evansville, Indiana. He was getting ready to fly to Chicago when he got the call 45 minutes before his scheduled flight. Fortunately, Ryan was able to catch a flight home and arrived in Minneapolis at 9:30pm. He got to the hospital in plenty of time to help Mom through her toughest labor. Erica (and Ryan) survived 16 hours of contractions and laboring with the help of wonderful nurses, doctors and some EXCELLENT drugs :)

We can't describe in words how we felt the moment Ava was born - it was absolutely the most amazing thing ever! We are beyond excited and loving her like crazy - neither of us can take our eyes off her - She's so beautiful!!!

We can't decide who she looks like...we'll let you be the judge...pics coming soon!

Sunday, May 5, 2008

We were hoping things would start to pick up and move along this weekend, but still no action...as far as contractions go anyway. Ryan installed the carseat and I've packed as much as I can into our hospital bags. Ry is still traveling a bit this week, so we really hope that he's in town when she decides to arrive - 2 weeks to go!!!

We are pretty sure we've decided on a name, but we're not going to announce it until little "Noltette" is born. Making the decision was a lot more difficult than we thought it would be, but out of all the names we discussed this one seemed to be our favorite - Can't wait to share it with you and start showing her off to the world :)

Friday, May 2, 2008

I guess my "Ute" (as we affectionately refer to it) is a pretty comfortable place because baby is still hangin out in there :) Sorry that is kind of gross I know, but trust me in the world of pregnancy...that is nothin' - don't worry I won't elaborate and go into too much detail :)

My Dr. appt today went well, but there isn't much progress as far as being dialated etc. I've been having more lower back pain and frequenting the bathroom continuiously, but things are good. I'm getting anxious/excited to have this baby and not be so uncomfortable anymore, but I guess I should be thankful (and I am) that she's healthy and considered "full term" now. Could be any day now...hopefully...we'll keep you posted!

Birth/Parenting Class - April 26th & 27th

Well...we made it through the classes, now we have to face the real deal...holy crap - those birthing videos are pretty scary! I'm nervous for all the pain, but I know it will be worth it in the end. We learned a lot and hopefully some of it will prove to be useful. Ryan was taking very careful notes, asking lots of questions and listening attentively the entire time - LOL - not really, but he did very well and was very comforting and supportive. Of course had me laughing and crying all at the same time throughout the weekend :) Gotta luv him!
The classes were long, but actually very helpful and we were both glad that we went through it together. I think it made us both feel like we are on the same page now and ready to face this together.
Ryan of course wanted to make note that he has begun to sacrifice for his little girl already because it was NFL Draft weekend (God forbid he miss a minute:)...so of course I then pointed out the long list of sacrifices I have been making over a nine month period that seemed to shut him up!