7 Months!

Today, Avery is 7 months old... As in one month closer to a year than her birth.  Excuse me while I go cry into my pillow.  I'm fairly certain that M will have to have me committed when this child hits 1... I can't handle it; I need her to stay small :)

Avery, here are your stats at 7 months:

Height and Weight- Not sure.  You go back to the doc on Wednesday to get a booster for your flu shot, so we will get an update then :)

Sleep-  We have made a lot of headway in this department this month!  You are now sleeping 12 hours at night... solid.  Last month you were still getting up EARLY (5:30).  You go down usually right at 7:00 PM, at the very latest 7:30, and you sleep until 7:00 AM... pretty much on the dot.  It is WONDERFUL.  Nap training also went really well!  You still have your days of 30-35 minute naps, but some afternoons you have gone 2-3 hours... something I only ever dreamed of you doing before.    The only change this month that Mommy has not enjoyed is that you have decided within the last 3 weeks that you do not want to be rocked to sleep anymore.  You actually hate it.  You want to be held for about 30 sec, and then you expect to be placed in your crib.  You are usually asleep within a few minutes.  The first day you did this, I cried.  But, I've come to realize that it's a blessing in disguise.  I don't want you to be 2 still needing to be rocked and bounced to sleep. :)

* A note about nap training... I used to think parents were crazy for trying to put their kids on a schedule... I am definitely eating my words now.  I'm not crazy strict about it, but as soon as I started being more consistent with nap times, Aves started taking longer and longer naps...  I know it's not for everyone, but there's that.

Likes- You love bath time still, eating, going on walks/runs in the jogging stroller, your paci, playing with keys, having your picture taken, and watching Lexi

Dislikes- Being rocked, having your clothes changed, Mommy or Daddy leaving the room if you aren't completely engrossed with a toy... You are now tolerating tummy time!  Hopefully this will help you learn to crawl!

Diaper Size- 3

Clothing Size- 6-9 months

Feeding- You are nursing 4 times a day and eating 3 "meals" a day.  You eat baby oatmeal in the morning, usually 1 1/2 containers of baby food at lunch, and 2 containers at dinner (and yet you're still skinny!), plus you have recently started eating baby crackers and cereal puffs

Favorite Toy- You LOVE your Sophie the Giraffe.  We pretty much take it everywhere.

Milestones- You fully developed your pincer grasp this month.  You have gotten really well at grabbing cereal puffs with your thumb and finger and eating them.  You can move backwards on all 4's, but have zero interest in crawling it seems.  Just yesterday I was putting things away in your dresser while you were sitting in your crib, and I turned around to you attempting to pull yourself up.  Yikes!  Looks like Daddy is getting close to moving your bed down!

Little Nug, what a fun month this has been!  Daddy and I cannot get over how much we love you.  This month, we have taken to going into your room at night and looking at you while you sleep.  I know, I know, those without kids, I'm fully aware of how crazy that seems; I used to think the exact same thing.  But there's just something about looking into that crib.  It's a combination of feeling extreme gratitude and this inexplicable love.  We just can't believe you are ours.  We love you to the moon and back!

We must not forget the first born :)

First Christmas!  Since we are going to be gone for longer than a week over the holidays we decided not to get our live Christmas tree this year and opted for a smaller fake one (thanks to my father-in-law who bought it!)  While I miss our live tree, at least we decorated!

First Home

 Recently, M and I have been reminiscing the time we spent in our first little apartment in Birmingham.  I don't know why really... perhaps with the holidays coming around, we always tend to get a tad nostalgic.  From an outsider's perspective, there wouldn't be much to miss about that place.  It was an 800 sq. foot one bedroom apartment in an apartment complex with 1 too many Samford students.  To top it all off, about a month after we moved in, we realized that we lived a couple hundred feet away from a water treatment plant, that oddly enough only smelled in the cold.  But it was our first home, where M and I started our married life together.  And while I wouldn't trade our life now for anything else, it's fun to remember those days :)

That apartment is where:

Even though the tree leaned a little :)

We celebrated our first married Christmas

We brought Lexi home!

We celebrated our first Birmingham snow

We watched Lexi and Geoff fall asleep together NUMEROUS times

Heath and Russ came to surprise me for my 23rd birthday

We discovered a love of cooking together

Matthew spent countless hours writing his dissertation defense over our little kitchen table :)

We miss you 417 Oaks Drive!

Thanksgiving 2012

We were so blessed to be able to travel again this year to see both of our families for Thanksgiving.  This Thanksgiving was the best one yet due to our precious baby girl.  She was a rock star again as she flew for the 7th and 8th times since she was born!

I know I am a bit late but....

This year I am thankful for:

- Our beautiful, perfect, sweet baby girl.  She is the greatest blessing of all.
- Getting to parent with M.  He is seriously the best new Daddy I have ever seen.
- Our families
- My mom's sweet sister, Aunt Shirley...without her, who knows where my mom might be today.
- Friends in Nashville, Birmingham, Decatur, Houston, Missouri, Colorado, Kentucky, etc...
- A hard-working husband that allows me to stay home with Avery...something I cherish every minute of everyday
- A job that I can work "as needed"
- New job opportunities
- An exciting year to come!


We celebrated Thanksgiving in Cinci first with my fam, Uncle Grady, Aunt Jeannie, Andrew and Keela, Katherine, Ben and Barrett..

Friday we headed to Lexington to have Thanksgiving 2.0 with M's family.  His parents, J, K and Sam.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

A Week In Nashville

While Daddy went to a boring conference in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, Avery and I flew to Nashville to spend time with family and friends.  I pretty much felt like super mom flying with Avery and Lexi all by myself.  I'm pretty sure everyone on my flight thought I was crazy.

While we were there, we were constantly on the go!  I was glad to get home Sunday, not only to see M, but I was definitely ready to get Aves back on her normal schedule.

The first day we were there, Avery and I went to lunch with our best friends!  Two of my best friends have girls around Avery's age.  Heather has Maddie (6 months older than Avery- on the right), and Whitney has Evie (4 months younger- in the middle).  So fun!

Love my Granddaddy!

Honey took me shopping and out to lunch almost everyday!

Then of course we had to go to Granddaddy's office to show me off to all of his co-workers :)

On Saturday, our other best friend Katie Bug came into town from Missouri with her almost year old baby boy Carson!  We went out to lunch with all 4 babies!  We are crazy!

Friday night, Aves and I went to dinner with Heather and Aimee.  Miss my old roomie :)

Sunday afternoon, Honey made a big lunch.  Laura and JP came over to eat too!  Can't wait until I can eat Honey's brisket and homemade baked beans!

Love my sweet, wonderful friend.  

Who loves Aunt Ashley?!

Wonderful week.  We were so, so busy.  And I still didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to.  Thanks to my wonderful parents for putting up with us for a week :).  

Baby Dedication

Sunday, November 4th, we had your baby dedication here in Houston at church.  Here was what Mommy and Daddy sent in for your page in the baby dedication booklet:

Avery,

We are so thankful to God for the blessing he has given us in you.  Your mother and I are amazed at the miracle God has performed by creating you.  Each day with you brings new joys and challenges that are truly a gift from our Father.  We pray that as parents we will love and cherish you and raise you to be a follower of the Lord Almighty.  Avery, our prayer is that you enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and experience the kingdom of Heaven here on earth.  You come from a long line of followers of Christ, both from you mother's and you father's side, and we pray that God draws you to Him and you continue in this heritage of faith.  There will be trying times in your life, but there is nothing you can ever say or do to make us stop loving you.  You are God's child first and our child second. Because God has entrusted you to us, we pray that we are good stewards of this most amazing gift.  We love you.

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26

Our updated pic for the church directory.  Avery has her little grump face on :)

Beautiful, right?!

6 months

This past Thursday Avery Grace turned 6 months old!  M and I were on opposite sides of the country, so we waited until we were back in Houston together to take her 6 month pic!  What an incredible journey we have had these past 6 months!  So fun, so tiring, so rewarding, and SO worth it.

Avery here are your stats at 6 months:

Height:  26 3/4 inches (90th percentile)

Weight:  15 pounds 15.5 ounces (50th percentile)

Sleep:  You go down consistently between 7:30 and 8:00 every night.  You usually wake up at least once about 2 hours after you've gone down, but you put yourself right back to sleep.  You like to wake up early.. something mommy is not too fond of :)  Usually between 5:30 and 6:00.  Sometimes you will put yourself back to sleep, other times you want to eat and go back to sleep, and sometimes you want to be up for the day.  You are not the greatest napper. Correction.. you are a horrible napper!!!  Mommy is on Operation Nap Training for the next couple of weeks.  We're doing well if you go down for 30 minutes.  Usually it's 20-25 and you wake yourself up and have trouble putting yourself back down.  In order for mommy to do anything around the house, she needs you to take at least one good nap a day.. Please!
       * I asked the pediatrician today about your sleep problems.  He said, "Oh, I wish I could help you!  She just made not need a lot of sleep.  She's just a busy kid"  Ha... Oh Avery.

Likes:  Bath time, your baby piano, watching people, having people talk/smile at you, going on walks, taking your paci in and out of your mouth, eating!, and sleeping on mommy

Dislikes:  Being left alone unless you are completely engrossed with a toy, being on your stomach, and you get VERY upset if you get overtired.  You've got a little bit of a temper :)  You definitely like letting us know when you are upset.... And it's hard for us not to laugh at you.

Diaper Size- 3

Clothes Size- Depends on the brand.  You can still wear some 3-6 month things (mostly onesies), but you're mostly in 6 months or 6-9 months

Feeding-  You still nurse 5 times a day.  You get oatmeal cereal in the morning mixed with a pureed fruit.  And baby food for lunch and dinner.  We just moved you up to the "2 foods" and you are doing great.  You LOVE sweet potatoes, carrots, all fruits, and peas.  You are still not fond of green beans, something you come by honestly.  Your daddy and I hate them too!  You also think it is hilarious when we use the baby sign language for "All done".  Makes you giggle every time.

Milestones:  You are SITTING UP!  Like completely. You started sitting up for minutes at a time around 5 months and 1 week.  Since then you have gotten to where I can set you down and walk away and you stay upright :)  Of course, you still refuse to roll from your back to your front consistently.  You've done it a few times, but other than that you have absolutely no interest in doing it... most likely because you HATE being on your stomach.

Nug.  We cannot believe it has been 6 months.  A half of a year....  Before we know it, we will be celebrating your birthday.  Time is flying by, and all this momma wants is to snuggle you up close and keep you this size for a while.  We love you! 

I was a happy girl today at the doctor's office!  We love Dr. K!  I barely cried when I got my shots.  I'm a trooper!

Sweet sisters