Kingdom Club, here I come!

We brought Avery to the Kingdom Club at church for the first time today. This is the childcare provided during the church service. I was a little nervous because this was the first time that she has been watched by someone other than family members. Checking in

She did awesome! They said that she didn't even cry. It probably helped that she had a familiar face in the room... her friend, Luke, was there too!

Exhausted after her big day

It's a great feeling knowing that I can leave her with other people. My little girl is growing up so fast!

2 Month Checkup

Avery had her 2 month checkup last Friday. This is the visit that we have been dreading...immunizations!

She was in a great mood when we got there. She was weighed and then they measured her length. She now weighs 11 lbs. 9 1/2 oz! She went from the 6th percentile to the 65th percentile in weight! She now is 22 inches which I think was around the 50th percentile. They also measured her head which is still small- around the 6th. We knew that she would have a small one since her dad does! I think that is why her cheeks look huge!

Waiting for the doctor to come in

While we were waiting for the doctor to come in the room, she was smiling and giggling. We felt horrible knowing that this was going to drastically change in minutes! The doctor checked her and then sent in the nurse. I couldn't look while the shots were given so I held Avery's hands and looked at her face. It was one of the worst things that I have ever experienced! Her scream was so sad. I'm embarrassed to admit that she was not the only one with tears in her eyes. Fortunately, right after the shots were given she fell asleep.

She slept a lot that day but woke up about 4 hours later screaming uncontrollably. It was not her normal scream either. I gave her some Tylenol and fed her which seemed to calm her down. She fell back to sleep after about 30 minutes and slept until about 7:00 that night.

Check out my cool bandaids!

When she woke up, she was the happiest that I had ever seen her. She was full of smiles. Billy is convinced that the shots put her life into perspective. Eating, sleeping, and pooping is not so bad once you've had shots!

Feeling much better!

Happy Anniversary Bill!

Billy and I celebrated our 4th anniversary together on the 19th. We went out on our first official date without Avery to Del Friscos. It was amazing food and nice to have some free time to ourselves.

It seems like only yesterday we met in Ms. Theiss's Geography class. 11 years, 2 dogs, and 1 baby later, here we are! I am incredibly blessed to have Billy as my husband. He is a wonderful friend, a great provider, amazing dad to Avery, and still makes me laugh every day. I can't wait to see what the future holds!Homecoming '99 (our sophomore year of high school)

Happy Anniversary! I love you!

2 Months

Two months does not seem like a lot of time but Avery has changed a ton since she was born! I look back at old pictures, and she looks so different now. Here's what she's up to...

Sleeping- Avery has slept in her swing every night since she was 3 weeks old. She usually sleeps about 5-7 hours, wakes up and eats, then goes back to sleep in the bassinet for a couple more hours. Billy and I have been talking a lot lately about moving her to the bassinet for the whole night. I've been so nervous about getting no sleep that I hadn't tried it...until last night. I was feeling daring (and well rested) so I put her in the bassinet at 10:30. She slept until 3:00 am which wasn't too bad! I was expecting to be up at midnight. After feeding her, I put her back in her bassinet. She made a grunting sound that made it impossible to sleep through so after 30 minutes, I put her in her swing. The same thing happened at 5:30. We are going to keep trying and hopefully by her 3 month post we will be successful!

First official nap in her crib

Eating- I have a healthy eater on my hands! I was so desperate to put the pounds on her at first but now I don't have to worry. She has gotten some huge cheeks! I'm not sure how much she weighs (we find out next week). I can't wait to see how big she's gotten. She is still exclusively breastfeeding, and she eats about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours which totals about 6-8 times a day.

One problem that Avery has been facing is stomach issues. I think all new babies have some problems with this so I am not overly concerned. She will have really good days where she feels great and other days that she doesn't. On her bad days, her belly feels really tight, and she doesn't sleep during the day. She is more fussy on these days also. I'm trying to cut out dairy to see if this helps. Strangely enough, I have noticed that I ate at Lenny's on two separate occasions, and she felt horrible the next day. I've read that their little digestive systems are immature at this age and just take time to develop so hopefully this will happen soon!

Avery has started to really enjoy her playmat and is grabbing at her toys now. It is so much fun to watch her interact with us and her toys. She smiles a lot now, and I can't wait for her to giggle. Unfortunately, she only giggles in her sleep! She has really good control of her head and doesn't hate tummy time as much as she used to. She is a very opinionated little girl and will definitely let us know if she doesn't like something by shouting at us with what we call her teenage girl scream. It is a high pitched screech that she does once and then stops. This makes me a little nervous about her adolescent phase!

I can grab my toys!



Avery also is obsessed with being outside. She loves sitting in our backyard or going on walks.
I was worried at first that she would get too hot but she doesn't seem to mind!

Here are some pictures from this month...

My cute new shoes and purse- Thanks Jackie and Pete!!!

Hanging out with Grammy

Already a Seinfeld fan


Meeting Samantha, her second cousin (I think?)

Look, I graduated from my bath insert!

Um....

Avery's First Ultrasound

On Tuesday we went to get Avery's hip ultrasound. This would tell us whether or not she had hip dysplasia and would need to wear the special harness. She did awesome at the appointment. She was wide awake but was surprising calm during the ultrasound. I was so proud of her! Here are some pictures from the big day.

Asleep before we left

On the table after the ultrasound

Yesterday our pediatrician called us and gave us the great news that her hips are fine! We are so excited about this news and greatful for all the prayers. They definitely worked!

6 Weeks Old

My little 6 lb 8 oz baby is getting so big! It seems like Avery has packed on the pounds all of the sudden- mainly in her face and stomach! She is 6 weeks old and has started doing so many new things over the past week or two...

-She has started smiling (not just when she is sleeping or passing gas!). She started smiling at Billy a lot and now shares her smiles with everyone. It is so sweet to watch them, and I can't wait until she is giggling and smiling all of the time!
-She is more interested in her play mat. I used to be lucky if I could get her to lay for a minute or two but now she will stay for about 15 minutes at a time.
-She is reaching for toys above her.

-She will follow people with her eyes and loves looking in mirrors at people or herself.

-She has started to put herself to sleep. I used to have to put her into her swing or bassinet completely asleep but lately I have been able to put her in awake and she will eventually fall asleep.

-She has started grunting A LOT at around 5 am lasting until around 7 or 9am. I think that she is trying to get out some gas or #2's but she stays sleeping as she is grunting. It has made sleeping a little more interesting for Bill and me but hopefully she will grow out of this soon!

I have been so thankful for her sleeping habits lately. Most nights I get a nice 4-5 hour stretch from about 10:30-3:30ish and then another 3 hour stretch until around 6:30. Then she will sleep for about 2 or 3 more hours. I do not feel completely dead to the world like I did the first couple weeks we brought her home.

Here's what we've been up to the past two weeks...

Looking so sweet after bath time

Ready for her first manicure

Her little head is getting so strong!

Her first pair of Nike shoes

Playing on the mat with her friend

Hanging with Gram Z

Avery and Aunt Kelly during her first trip to College Station. She had on her A &M onesie before this was taken but dominated it with poo! This is the second time that she has done that. Could she be telling us something?

Billy's dad, David, has planted a tree for all of the kids at the park by their house. This is Avery's tree being planted!

A particularly bad morning- I was unloading the dishwasher while Avery took a nap and this happened. 5 of our plates were destroyed! I had already started cleaning it up before I took this picture. They didn't fall quite so nicely! Avery woke up right after it happened so the pieces of plates remained on the floor for a few hours.

When Avery is fussy at night, I have found that she likes to have her legs and feet massaged. It calms her down.

Out like a light in her carrier

We have her ultrasound next Tuesday to determine whether or not she has hip dysplasia. Please pray that the ultrasound shows that her hips are fine and that she doesn't have to wear the special harness.