"Did I pack the kitchen sink yet?"

Avery and I are flying to Texas tomorrow for a quick trip and we are SOOOO excited but, boy, planning for a trip a with a baby is very stressful.  Seriously- I wake myself up in the middle of the night thinking "Oh crap, don't forget to pack the baby spoons."  Yes- its so ridiculous that things like that keep me up at night but I guess that is just my organized personality.  Thank God for my mom because she has taken care of so much- she bought a carseat, a stroller, a highchair, all the babyfood we will need, blankets, bath stuff, and burp cloths- how great is that??!!!  

We get to Dallas late Wednesday night and leave to come home early Sunday morning- too quick of a trip but i was determined to come visit my family sometime this fall.  Avery and I will be flying by ourselves and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous.  We have flown by ourselves before (Click Here to see details about our first trip to Texas) but Avery was 9 weeks old then and all she did was sleep. Well now she is 6 months old and she does not like to sleep anymore- especially since she has started sitting and pseudo-crawling all she wants to do is play!  Also my little girl is super nosey (I have no idea where she gets that) and loves to watch everyone and stand up to see everything.  She is a little harder to keep occupied at this age but I actually think it may be easier since she can sit up on her own and is still amazed by the little things- like ripping the pages out a magazine kept her busy for like 30 minutes yesterday-haha!

And we have a VERY busy schedule planned for us once we get to Dallas.  We have so many friends and family in the DFW area that we always try to squeeze in time with everyone is such a small amount of time.  But I am really excited for Avery to get to spend time with all our family and friends and we are SO SO SO looking forward to all the yummy food and fun times that are coming up in the next few days.  Can't wait to see all you guys in DFW.  We will be there tomorrow night.  Wish us luck!

Daddy's Girl

Matt went to the University of Miami game today and brought Avery back a present- a soft mini-football.  She played with it all afternoon.  It was pretty funny to see my sweet little girl playing with this football.  Matt kept telling her to carry it "high and tight." HAHA.  

Poor Matt- hopefully he gets a boy eventually (not anytime soon though!).

Pretty Girl

Here are some other pictures that I took the other day.  (I already posted the best one here.) She liked to sit outside but REALLY wanted to eat the grass so it was really hard to get her to look at me but I think I got a few good ones.  She is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!

Smile!

Blessings on Earth

At exactly 9:21 AM 6 months ago, on March 21st,  we welcomed Avery Kathryn to the world 

and we have been thanking God every day since then for such an amazing, wonderful, healthy baby girl.  It has been the best 6 months of our life.  Happy 6 month old birthday baby girl!

Cloth Diaper Update

So i have had a few comments on the cloth diapers and it seems like some of you guys are interested so I thought I would post an update.  YES we are still going strong with the BumGenius Cloth Diapers and I couldn't be happier.  They are so so so easy and I wish we had started using them at the very beginning.

These BumGenius diapers are seriously genius (hence the name!)  They are adjustable and can fit 8-35 lb babies.  You just adjust these little snaps to make them bigger or smaller.   We currently own 14 diapers and I do a load of cloth diapers every other night.  The diapers are so much softer than disposables and her tushie is softer than its ever been- and we NEVER use diaper cream anymore (you aren't supposed to with these diapers anyway).  There really are so many benefits to cloth diapers, other than saving the environment and the amount of money you save, you can read more if you are really interested here:  

http://www.cottonbabies.com/clothdiapers.php

They really are so easy to use that Matt doesn't even mind doing it!  We do use an extra disposable biodegradable liner that is flushable over the "normal" absorbent liner and diaper.  The flushable liner is like a little piece of toilet paper that catches the poop and keeps it off the diaper so that when its soiled you just toss the flushable liner in the toilet (with the poop on it) and flush.  Easy as that.  No poop residue on the diaper.  It's a cinch!

Like I said before I NEVER thought I would even consider cloth diapers but they are very simple and worth looking in to if you are even the slight bit interested.  The only downfall that I have found so far is that they are a little bit bulkier than disposable diapers but her clothes are still fitting OK.  

So I highly recommend trying out cloth diapers to anyone who is interested.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Gig 'Em Aggies

The Texas A&M Aggies played University of Miami today so Avery decided to show her team spirit! She makes a pretty cute lil' aggie if I do say so myself!


 

**Thanks to Aunt Allison for the adorable aTm onesie and Papa John for the Lil' Aggie socks!**

Avery is getting VERY mobile lately especially if she is trying to get to my cell phone, the remote or any of the dogs toys.  She is not nearly as enticed by any of her own toys- go figure!

Bath Time

Since Avery can Sit Up By Herself now we decided to try giving her a bath in the big tub. It was so funny because she looked so tiny in that big tub all by herself. She definitely kept her mommy and daddy on their toes because she kept trying to reach for the rubber duckie and almost went face first into the water. But it was SOOOO much easier to give her a bath this way compared to bathing her in that baby tub. Our little girl is growing so fast!

"Ummmm, mom, excuse me I am naked so QUIT taking pictures of me!"

"How do you get outta here?"

"Haha I just peed in the water.  That will show them!"

Look at that posture!  She is making her momma, the physical therapist SO proud! :-)

Like A Fish

Here are some pictures from our trip to the pool on Sunday. We had a blast and Avery loved getting to swim with her Daddy for the 1st time.










You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get good pictures of Little Miss Wiggle Worm these days.  I thought I would post these funny pictures of Matt trying to get her to cooperate with the camera.  So funny!

Crying Real Tears

We just got back from Avery's 6 month appointment (although she does not officially turn 6 months old until this Sunday) and we survived.  Barely.  She cried REAL TEARS this time when they gave her the shots and her poor momma teared up also.  Its so hard to see your little baby in such pain and all you can do is sit and wait until the nurse says "OK you can pick her up now."  It seriously rips my heart out every time.  But now she is doing fine and sleeping soundly (thanks to Baby Tylenol).

So the rest of the appointment went really well and it became evident that we are growing a little giant of a baby who is currently 28 1/2 inches tall- that is greater than the 100th percentile!  She is completely off the growth chart for her age range!   And she weighs 17 lb 2 oz which is about the 75th percentile.  So we have ourselves a big, healthy little girl here.  The doctor was really happy with her physical development and the fact that she is eating well and overall is a happy, healthy baby.  Can't ask for better than that!  

Sitting Pretty

Avery can now sit up all by herself and it's all she wants to do.  I can't believe she can do this already- I swear just yesterday she was a newborn.........time flies.

Giggle Box

Avery got a case of the giggles at the end of her dinner yesterday and thought everything I did was hilarious.  I tried to catch it on video myself so its a little bit shaky but its still a pretty funny video.

Food Fight

Didn't you know that peas and carrots all over your face is good for you skin????  Well now you know.

Wiggle Worm

My little girl is usually a pretty good napper.  She goes down fairly easily, sleeps a pretty good amount of time, and stays on a somewhat consistent routine.  

Until today.  

I have no idea what was so different today but when I picked her up at the nanny's house she told me that Avery should be really tired because she had not slept well all day long.  So on the way home she is yawning, rubbing her eyes and occasionally dozing off in her carseat so I assumed she would fall asleep pretty easily and sleep for a long time........ummmm wrong.

The minute we pull into our driveway (isn't is weird how they seem to "know" when you get home- our dogs are the same way, how could they possibly know where we are?) she is wide awake.  We played for a while after we got home and then she started again with the yawning and eye rubbing so I put her in her crib and she appeared to doze right off.  

Like 2 minutes later I thought I heard her moving around a little and I walk in to find this........

Sorry its a really dark because she was supposed to be napping, but you get the general idea.  She wiggled around like this, totally happy and not seeming at all tired, for like 45 minutes.  45 minutes (keep in mind that she was already 2 hours past her normal nap time).  And she kept doing all the "normal" tired things that she does and would snuggle up to me and appear to want to sleep but its like she would catch herself falling asleep and then will herself to stay awake longer.  It was so funny.

So finally I picked her up and rocked her, sang to her, and cuddled her up.  She LOVES to be cuddled up, with blankets really, really close to her face.  And this is the only way she would fall asleep today and since I knew what kind of rotten mood she would be in if she completely missed her nap I gave in and cuddled her up in her favorite blankie and let her sleep all snuggled up.  I usually hate to leave her like this because the first-time-mom in me is petrified she is going to suffocate or something but I let her win the battle today.  She actually looks pretty darn cozy, don't you think?

Goes Together Like Peas and Carrots

Well we are still trying out all the baby foods and so far our favorites are peas and carrots.  Her least favorite is actually the rice cereal!  We haven't started any fruits yet (I was instructed by many MANY mommies to start with veggies) but so far she is really liking this whole "I-get-to-eat-big-girl-food" stuff!  

Athletic Supporter

Avery got a very sweet package from her Uncle Eric, Aunt Jenny, and Cousin Julie yesterday. Now she can show some spirit for her uncle's team and hopefully bring them good luck!  Thanks guys- we love you!

GO TEXANS!!!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Even though Hurricane Ike was threatening us this past week (and now it looks like he is going to head to either New Orleans or Houston, god forbid) we had a beautiful day here in Florida today.  It was in the mid-80's and not a cloud in the sky.  We got Avery her very own baby pool and played in it throughout the day.  She absolutely loves to be in the water.  She just kicks and hits at the water and when it splashes up in her face she just laughs and laughs.  Is there anything better than spending a lazy day in the warm sunshine with your family?  I doubt it.

Halloween is right around the corner!

My sister Jessica is totally obsessed with Halloween, she always has been.  She goes crazy with the decorations and LOVES dressing up and i always made so much fun of her..........until I had a kid and everything changed.  We ordered Avery's Halloween costume tonight and i CAN NOT wait until Halloween so she can wear it!  Here is a little glimpse of what she will be....
We have been thinking that she would make a really cute bunny but we weren't for sure BUT Matt's grandma sent me the absolute cutest picture of Matt as a bunny on his 3rd Halloween that it convinced me that Avery should follow in her Daddy's footsteps and be a bunny too!  Now if only i can convince Matt to let me post his cute little bunny pic.........

Anybody Out There?

I have been hearing from some people that they have been checking the blog consistently, so it made me wonder, who's out there?  Please, please leave a quick comment, even if its just your name, so that we can know who has been keeping up with us.  PLEASE (just humor me!) Thanks!

If you aren't a registered user you can leave a comment under the anonymous button, but then just sign your name at the end of your comment. THANKS!

Shocked

I had one shocked little girl today when I swapped her sweet potatoes for green peas......................

Actually though, after she got over the initial shock she really seemed to like them and ate the whole jar!

Opposite of Fabulous

Sweet peas, on the other hand, not so fabulous........

Fabulous

Sweet Potatoes are Fabulous