Avery Laughing

Avery has been laughing for a while now, but we were finally able to capture it on video back in February. Just ignore my high pitched attempts to get her to laugh! :)

Adios to the SWADDLE!!!!

Some of you may remember my previous swaddle post a few months back and just how horrible of an experience it was to try to "de-swaddle" Avery. She clearly was not ready at the time so we continued to swaddle her. Well, I am happy to announce that Avery has finally said "ADIOS" to the swaddle! Here's the story: For the past several weeks we were waking up in the middle of the night to re-swaddle Avery. It seemed as though every day she was busting out and her left arm would always get stuck causing her a lot of frustration that led to a lot of crying. I was getting tired of always having to go in to re-swaddle her and had decided that when she hit the 4 month mark we would attempt to de-swaddle her yet again. However, this past weekend Chris, Avery and I went to Jacksonville, FL for one of Chris' continuing education classes. On on our last day, Avery dirtied her one and only swaddle that still fit and I knew that we would not have time to wash and dry it when we got home before she went down for the night. So, we dropped the swaddle- cold turkey- and prepared ourselves for a week from you know where. Needless to say, we were absolutely THRILLED when we woke up the following morning having received quite possibly the best night of sleep since Avery was born. She did fabulous! We decided that it was just a fluke and that she only slept well because she was exhausted from a weekend away and that her naps and the next night would probably not go as well. We were wrong! She has not had one problem since we started her in her sleep sack on Sunday night. She was ready for the sleep sack and it has made all of the difference this time around. I am so happy to be done with the swaddle. It was a wonderful thing during her first few months of life, but I'm glad to see it go. Adios swaddle, Adios!

happy to be in the sleep sack and out of the swaddle

Busting out of the swaddle....

just a few weeks old and loving the swaddle.

Valentines Day 2011

Yes, I know that Valentines Day was over a week ago and I am just now writing about it, but hey, I guess it's better late than never! There is this website, that I love, called etsy.com and for Valentines Day I ordered this awesome onesie for Avery (and her daddy!). She wore it all day and he especially loved it when we met him for lunch and he got to show it off to all of his co-workers. This Valentines Day was very special because it was Avery's first Valentines. She is loved more than she will probably ever know, not only by her mommy and daddy, but by so many others as well- and for that we are so thankful.

Chris and I celebrated Valentines Day a few days late. My parents and sister came over to watch Avery while Chris and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with the gift card we got from his Aunt and Uncle for Christmas. I cherish our date nights and am thankful for having family close by so that Chris and I can enjoy regular date nights together while they keep Avery.

It was a wonderful Valentine's Day and I love my family so much. I love being a wife and a mom- I'm living my dream! Christopher, Avery and Bailey are the loves of my life and I am so blessed to have them as my family and to spend the rest of my life with them by my side!

{Outside of Chris' clinic where we ate lunch and enjoyed the beautiful weather}

{Daddy showing Avery her gift for Valentine's Day}

{Grandmommy and Poppy sent Avery a book that had their own voices reading it to her}

{Avery is very loved: books from Grandmommy, Poppy and Great Grandmama, a Bible from Mimi and Granddaddy, a puppy from Aunt Amanda and a mirror for lots of tummy time from Mommy and Daddy!!!}

{Isn't her shirt so fun!!?!}

Road Trip to Birmingham

On Monday, February 7th, Avery and I loaded up the car and began our first road trip - just the two of us- up to Birmingham to stay with Adriane and Micah for a few days. Adriane emailed me last week to let me know that my brother-in-law, Justin, was going to be out of town for a few days and that our mother-in-law, Cheryl, was going to go help her out while he was gone. She asked if Avery and I wanted to go for a few days and I didn't hesitate- I told her we would be there! It's funny because a lot of people were shocked that I would make the 4 hour drive by myself with Avery, but we did great. Avery slept the entire drive, except for our one stop for a feeding and diaper change.

Our first stop in Birmingham was to see Ali, Mae and Savannah. It's always so much fun seeing them and I really do miss being able to hang out with Ali. Savannah loved "the baby" and enjoyed "playing" with Avery and that Mae is growing up so fast. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from our visit with the Allen's, but we really did enjoy our time with them.

We got to Adriane's house around 4:30pm on Monday and Cheryl got there around 10:45 Tuesday morning. It was so much fun seeing the babies together again. They have both grown so much since they were last together at Christmas. Micah is rolling over from his tummy to his back and is really trying to roll from his back to his belly- he is getting close! He also found his thumb this week! He is so precious and growing up so fast. Avery is "talking" so much now and is able to reach for her toys and rattles. She will grasp her rattles and is able to hold them... and they almost always end up in her mouth. Here are some of the pictures from our time in Birmingham.

Feb. 8, 2011- Avery playing on Micah's playmat and loving it!

Tuesday morning- Micah 4.5 months; Avery 3.5 months

Avery playing with her Aunt Adriane

Sisters-in-law and Cousins- so special

Grandmommy and her babies

Precious Micah

Avery slept in Micah's pack-n-play all week and this is how I found her on Wednesday morning- legs propped up against the side of the bed.

Adriane's mom, Jackie, came up on Wednedsay for a few hours. This was her first time meeting Avery. The grandmothers were on cloud 9 together with their babies.

So sweet!

Avery and Micah's first bath together! 2.9.11

He's going to be a thumb sucker!

The babies on Justin's HUGE beanbag in his downstairs office.

We think that Micah doesn't like to share with Avery.... hmmmm....

This one cracks me up... Avery smiling and Micah crying- it was his naptime....

Avery was sad when Micah left her in the big beanbag by herself...

Avery's second snow in her 3.5 months of life!

Avery and Piper in the snow!

The snow was absolutely beautiful and thankfully the roads weren't bad so that we were able to drive home to see Daddy and Bailey. The first hour of our drive home was absolutely gorgeous with all of the snow, but once we hit Prattville, the snow was all gone. :( Thanks Aunt Adriane and cousin Micah for a wonderful time this week. We had so much fun and hope to see you again soon-- next time it's beach time! :)

3 months

Today Avery is three months old-- where does the time go??

Things about Avery at 3 months of age:

-She smiles a lot and knows who her Mommy and Daddy are :)

-Constantly chewing on her hands

-"talking" a lot

-She loves bath time and hates when we take her out to dry her off

-She also really loves her changing table. Diaper changes are fun (as fun as that can be) and it's also a good place to keep her entertained. Strange, I know!

-Still sleeping in the swaddle. We tried to transition out of it a few weeks ago, but she just wasn't ready. She is busting out of her swaddle a lot, but for now we are keeping her in it.

-During the night she must be very active (even in the swaddle) b/c we wake up to find her in a completely different location and position than where she started.

-She is still nursing and is still completely on breast milk. (This is probably more of an accomplishment for Mommy than Avery). Though still nursing, she is not the best eater and still refuses the second side during most feedings.

-She is still a good napper, though she has been waking up about 40-50 minutes into most nap and cries for a few minutes then falls back to sleep...not sure what that's all about.

-She is the spitting image of her Daddy

-Tummy time is not her favorite, but we manage to get maybe 5 minutes out of her before the screaming starts. She is also holding her head up for longer periods of time during tummytime.

- The bumbo is no longer her enemy

-Her "ocean wonders" play mat is by far her favorite - she smiles every time she sees "Mr. Octopus"

-She is on the verge of laughing, but is still trying to piece all of the sounds together

-She has been sleeping through the night since she was 7.5 weeks old and is now sleeping 11-11.5 hours every night since she was 9.5 weeks old.

-She hates when we get home and she is greeted with lots of slobbery kisses from Bailey- it always makes her cry.

-Avery loves to watch T.V..... and I mean she LOVES it. Mommy and Daddy will position her facing away from the television and yet she somehow finds a way to watch it.

-She has just recently started to squeal when she is excited about something

-She likes to look at "the baby" in the mirror

-She has excellent head and neck control and is getting stronger every day

-She is in 3 month clothes and still in size 1 diapers.

Avery is truly a blessing and we are loving her more and more each day. She is growing up way too fast and yet it's exciting at the same time. We love watching her learn and discover new things.