2 Months!

(Thank you reflux for this memory.  You're more than welcome to go away at anytime.  Sooner rather than later, please.)

Stats: This month Avery is 23 inches long and 11lbs.  She also got her first round of shots.  I sat that appointment out.  After the heel stick episode, I'm done with shots.  Jacob can do those appointments.

Milestones:  Avery smiles at everyone...and it's not gas!  She's gotten very intentional with her crying.  She has 3 distinct cries (hunger, boredom, and diaper changes).  We're still working on holding our own head up though.

Behavior: Avery still loves to watch momma and dada! We've found that if she's fussy, she'll calm down by us walking her around.  She loves to be outside and we've started taking nightly walks with her around the neighborhood.

Sleep:  We're sleeping through the night!  Sweeeeeet!  Avery starts her bedtime routine around 8:30 and she's asleep by 9:15.  She'll wake up around 5:30-6 for a bottle and then will sleep again until 9ish.

Clothes:  I packed away most of her newborn things.  The only newborn items she can still fit into are her college onesies...go figure.  She's in 3 month clothing for everything else.

Likes:  Bath time, car rides, being held upright, her crib, and Ellie.

Dislikes: Tummy time (occasionally), laying down too much (I think it's because of the reflux).  It's hard to find things she doesn't like...she's a really happy baby!

Favorite Moments: Spending my first Mother's Day at church with Avery, seeing her first intentional smile, sleeping through the night for the first time, and lots and lots of shopping!

Most Challenging:  Reflux is still an issue.  We still go through a few outfits a day because of the spit-up.  I made another appointment for a follow up with her pediatrician to talk about what else we can do to help.  Avery has started to refuse to take some of her bottles.....and it's because of the reflux.  I would refuse to eat too if everything came back up with acid.  :(  Poor baby.

Looking Forward To:  Jacob's first Father's day, reaching more milestones (come on head control!), starting "school".

Shopping Trip with Aunt Staci!

Saturday afternoon Avery's Aunt Staci came down from Waco to spend time with us!  Naturally, we went shopping.  :)

Avery really does love her "Auntie Saci"

Talking about the latest trends with Momma

Already working on the hair fluff move.

Such a content girl while shopping!  By the way, I made her headband.  :)

Multi-tasking like a champ.

Headband Tutorial

I've gotten the craft itch the past few days and decided to make Avery some headbands to go with her outfits.  My goal for her is to have a big ol' bow or flower for every outfit she owns.  :)

I've got the cutest model ever.  :)

What you'll need:
-Felt to match the color of the headband you're making (one 8.5 x 11 sized sheet worked for me to make 3 headbands)
-Glue gun
-1/8th to 1/4th of a yard of desired fabric (knit worked the best for me)
-Fold over elastic
-Button or other bling object to put in the middle of the flower

Measure out how big you want the flower to be on your headband.  I eyeballed it and decided that the size of the opening of my coffee cup looked pretty good.  Trace the size onto the felt and cut it out.  You'll need 2 circles, one for the base and one to finish the headband off.

Take the material and begin to cut 1 inch diameter circles.  Final count on Avery's headband was 25.  I would suggest cutting about 15 and then seeing where that gets you.  Cut more if you need them.

Once you have all of your circles cut, it's time to start gluing!  Take a single circle and grab it by the middle so that it forms a petal shape.

Dab with hot glue and attach to the middle of the felt circle.

(It will unfold when you let it go, don't worry, it'll go back once you begin adding others.)

Repeat this process and place the bottom point of the petal (where the glue is) as close to the previous petal glue as possible.  The more you add, the petals will remain close together creating the stacked look.  After you've added the second petal, repeat this process by adding the petals to the felt in a circular pattern working from the inside to the outside and keeping the bottom point as close as possible.

Once you've reached the size and bulk of flower that you like, it's time to attach the headband portion.  Measure how much elastic you'll need and cut that length plus half of an inch from the elastic.  (Ex: Avery's head circumference measured 13.5 inches but I cut around 14 inches in elastic)  Glue one end of the elastic to the back of the felt base of the flower.

This is the elastic I used.  It's really soft on both sides and most of the headbands for sale in boutiques, etsy, etc use this type of elastic.

Glue the other end of the elastic to the felt base.  (Make sure you glue the right side of the elastic.  I may or may not have glued it wrong so there was a huge twist which would have been so uncomfortable for Avery)

After the elastic is attached, trim the base felt so that it doesn't stick out from the flower.  Then, take the second felt circle you cut and glue it to the felt and elastic to "cushion" the elastic and double bond the elastic.    Trim this felt so that it's as close to the shape and size of the base felt as possible.

(This is pre-trimmed)

Last touch, glue your button or bling to the middle of the flower and now, you've got a really stinkin cute headband!

First Road Trip...or "When we packed up everything like we were moving..."

Jacob, Avery, and I packed a few (read: nearly the entire house) things to go to Dallas for the weekend.  Jacob took a half day on Friday so we could have some extra time with our families and not feel rushed to get back.

Who would have ever thought that traveling with a tiny little person who is supposed to only need a few simple things like food, clothes, and a place to sleep would end up requiring an entire Tahoe of supplies.

I'm used to packing for a weekend away in about 10 minutes.  Well, 2 hours into packing for this trip, I stopped and thought, "Self, you should write a blog about this when you get home...this is some funny stuff".  So, here we are.  The post about that one time we literally packed the entire house to go out of town for the weekend.

As I went looking for my normal blue Vera Bradley duffle bag to pack my things in, I had the realization that I should probably pull out my big red suitcase.  As in, the big red suitcase that I used to pack nearly 2 weeks worth of clothes in many times in the past.  Avery clearly needs at least 4 outfits per day.  3 days away total equals 20 outfits.  :)  This thought process ran through my head:
"I should pack four of her 6 month size clothes."
 "No I shouldn't, she's barely in 3 month clothes."
 "She's growing so fast though".
"Ok, I'll pack two options in the 6 month size".

"Helping" momma pack.

Normally it takes Jacob and I about 10 minutes to pack for a weekend.....but......this trip we packed in 2 hours.  When it was all said and done, the back of my Tahoe looked like this:

A few things about this: 1.  We don't live out of our car.  2.  I could have packed more.  3.  I spy a dog.  4.  We used everything we packed.

Final inventory of the Tahoe:  1 large red suitcase for mine and Avery's clothes (this probably would have soared past the 50 lbs limit at the airport....us girls need clothing options.), 1 pack-n-play, 1 rock-n-play, 1 play yard, 1 duffle bag for Jacob's clothes, 1 duffle bag for Avery's toys, 1 dog bed, 2 pillows, 2 dog bowls, 1 boppy pillow, 2 cases of formula, and 1 medium sized bag with bottles, medicine, etc.

We learned that Avery travels pretty well.  I sat in the back seat and "entertained" her when she wasn't sleeping (read: 20 minutes total the entire 3 hour trip)

First stop:  Dede's house!  Dede hadn't seen Avery since his surprise trip to Round Rock a few weeks ago.  Of course he keeps up with her daily via Facebook.  :)

Next we went to my parent's house where my great Aunts were still in town from Louisiana.  We all went out to dinner and Avery slept through it all.  We didn't complain.

Snuggling with Dada at GiGi and Granddad's house Saturday morning.

Saturday morning we got up and told Aunt Mary Lou and Aunt Faye goodbye for now and got ready to head to Frisco to see Jacob's side of the family.  Before we made it to Frisco, we had to stop by GiGi's work and say hi to her since she had to leave early and didn't get to spend time with Avery like she wanted to.  Gigi works at a pediatrician's office so we got to weigh Avery and see how much she's gained.  As of 2.5 weeks ago, she was 9lbs 6oz and on Saturday morning she weighed in at a respectable 11 lbs, 6 oz.  2lbs in 2.5 weeks!  Go Avery go!

We made it to Frisco safe and sound and got to hang out with Josh and the boys for a couple of hours before heading to Kaleigh and Kevin's house to celebrate their son, Benton's, first birthday.  Aunt Heather was off being a haus at the Pretty Muddy run so Avery and I were greatly outnumbered.  

Farm themed party and a cow printed smash cake.

Our first set of really good friends in Austin....and then they moved to DFW.  Guess that means we need to move too??  ;)

After the party we went back to Josh and Heather's where Mima and Pops had arrived for dinner.   After dinner Heather and I took a trip to Target for a baby sling.  That's a whole other post in and of itself.  So far, the score with the sling is: Sling: 2; Kristen: 0.

Sunday morning we woke up and went to brunch with Mima and Pops at their new "house" in Flower Mound.  We can't wait for their house to be built and to have private access to Lake Grapevine!  

Southbound 35 Sunday afternoon was not as traffic free as we hoped.  We got to Hillsboro and Jacob noticed a sign that said, "West 17 miles in 70 minutes".  No thank you.  I became the navigator extraordinaire and got us around the 17 miles of traffic via corn lined gravel roads.  Definitely the most scenic route I've taken to Waco in a while.

We made the obligatory stop in Waco to see Aunt Staci and Uncle Chris on campus at Baylor.  It was Avery's first trip to Baylor and we started it right by taking her to Common Grounds!  Aunt Staci and I explained to Avery that this is where we would go to study and just hang out while we went to school there.  I was sure to tell Avery that this is where I would sing on Tuesday nights during open mic nights.  We also pointed out the Collins dorm, where Avery will live in about 18 years and the parking garage she'll park her car in.  Jacob was not so thrilled about the tour.  :)

Discussing Baylor life with Aunt Staci

Loving life at Common Grounds

"This is where you'll come and get coffee with your best friend just like momma did with Aunt Staci!"

Proudest moment of the weekend?? This:

Our first Sic 'Em.  She and Uncle Chris matched perfectly both in clothing and Baylor spirit.

Up next?  A trip to College Station sometime soon!  (Remember, we have to play fair here with college affiliations....)