Avery's First (of many) Baylor Homecoming!

1. At the parade!  Avery loved the big inflatable bear.  Like loved it enough I'm looking into getting one for her room.  

2. Family picture at the parade!  Don't let her smirk fool you...she was having a great time.

3.  Decked out in Baylor gear!  Her bow was seriously larger than her.

4.  Taking a break from the cold wind in the library where her momma worked all through college.  

1.  Brunch with Aunt Staci and Uncle Chris!  Right before this picture she took her bow off her head and threw it across the room.

2.  Obligatory momma/dada picture in the mirrored ceiling of the Texas Collection elevator.

3.  Tailgating!

4.  Not a fan of the cold wind.  Not.a.fan.

1.  Yay for football!  She was THE hit in our section.  Everyone wanted to see her dress (courtesy of Aunt Staci [online here...].

2.  Someone loved people watching during the game!  

3.  Snuggling with dada during halftime.  

4.  Momma and Aunt Staci ran into Holly Tucker from the Voice in the concourse of the stadium!  

We had such a blast this past weekend.  It was much MUCH needed "break from the real world" from the previous week.  Now we can tell Avery that she was at the very last homecoming game at Floyd Casey Stadium!  Next year...bigger and better things at the new Baylor Stadium!

Can You Hear Me Now?

Last Tuesday Avery (hopefully) completed her journey through ear infection land with the placement of tubes.  I thought I would be more anxious about the tubes than I was.  I think that Jacob and I had reached a point of "anything is better than this" in regards to her constant ear infections and crankiness.  Also....we've had enough of antibiotic diapers.  ....you fellow mommas know exactly what I'm talking about.

Our arrival time at the surgery center was 6am and we were there with 10 minutes to spare.  Avery was in a good mood all morning even after having to wake up about 30 minutes earlier than normal.  Even though she's an early riser, she's not a fan of getting up earlier than 5am.  Sorry sister...new ears are waiting for you.

We couldn't give her any formula that morning and could only give her Pedialyte.  She totally knew it wasn't the norm.  Luckily, by the time she finished the bottle in the car, we were at the surgery center and there were people to watch.  Avery is a people watcher at heart....just like her momma.

Getting vitals on a squirmy 6 month old is comical.  The nurse eventually just gave up and said, "As much as you're moving and laughing, I think you're converting enough oxygen to be within normal range."  I agreed and decided to let Avery roll around and play in the hospital crib while we waited for the doctor to come by.

Oh, did I mention tube day was Jacob's birthday too?  Happy birthday- let's get tubes.  :)

Dr. Clark came by and went over the procedure with us.  She said it would take about 15 minutes.  I'm not sure why I translated that to 15 minutes per ear so a grand total surgery time of 30 minutes.  That's not what she meant at all.  She meant 15 minutes start to finish.  Done.

After they took Avery back to the OR, I decided to stretch my legs and go to the bathroom.  I stopped in the waiting room where one of my many "Austin Mommas", Kariss, had come to sit with us.  I told her that they had taken Avery back.  We chatted briefly about getting breakfast after surgery.  I went to the restroom, waved at Kariss as I walked back through the waiting room and then made my way back into the recovery section of the surgery center.  Jacob had been waiting in the room the whole time and when I got back, he said, "The doctor just came in and said everything went well.  They'll have Avery back in a minute."  Wait.  Hold your roll sir.  What?  Done?  They just took her like 3 minutes ago.  Well, it had been 11 in fact.  For some reason I envisioned one of those people doing cattle roping for a time and they clap their hands together and raise them above their head to call for time to stop.  I'm not sure why I pictured Dr. Clark doing that, but it totally popped into my mind.

Avery was cranky when she got back to us, probably because she remember the Pedialyte lie we attempted to pass off as formula.  We gave her a bottle and she calmed down quickly.  When we got home, she slept for almost 3 hours.  She never does that.  Ever.  ....except at night.  I digress.

By that evening, she was "talking" and making more sounds than Jacob or I have ever heard her say before.  The next morning she had a clear-as-a-bell moment of screaming "momma" at me when I took something away from her.  I was so impressed I gave her back the tube of Butt Paste she was trying to eat.  :)  We are believers in ear tubes.

6 Months!

Stats: 25.75 inches long; 17.5lbs

Milestones:  Someone is a sitter!  She literally started sitting up the night of her infamous ER visit.  She's been getting better and better at it each day.  We are literally days away from crawling.  Like hours.  Minutes.  Seconds.  She's gotten the opposite hand/knee movement down in isolation, she's just got to put the 2 together and BAM! we've got movement.

Avery is doing well with her "big girl food".  This kids looves sweet potatoes like they're going to stop making them yesterday.  She definitely prefers vegetables over fruits.  Go figure.

This month Avery became the proud owner of 2 bottom teeth.  Poor kiddo didn't know what hit her during teething.  Hopefully the rest of her teeth will come in easier.....I'm assuming they won't.

Behavior: We've entered the realm of "I'm really mad that you took that away from me, now I think I'll scream".  Case-in-point: We were getting our Christmas card pictures made and I was wearing a really fantastic necklace.  Avery figured this obviously had to taste as good as it looked therefore she needed to eat it.  I took the necklace away from her and you would have thought I told her that Disney World was closing forever.  She screamed and cried and threw herself onto my should in disbelief of such actions towards her.  Drama.  The kid is drama and I love it.  :)

Catching up on her email.

Sleep:  Avery graduated from her rock-n-play back to full time crib sleep after we woke up to her attempting to pull herself out of it at night.  She's got muscles...let me tell you.  So far so good.  It's funny to watch her via video monitor at night.  She'll start at one end of the bed and squiggle and squirm her way to the complete other side of the bed within minutes.  She still wakes herself up talking or singing.  I like to think she's talking to her stuffed animals about what she dreamed about.  She has great conversations with those guys.  Oh to be a fly on that wall.

Being a princess and traveling is realllly hard work.  Naps on GiGi are are must.

Clothes: She's leaving 6 month old clothes land just about as quick as she got into it.  Some of her 6 month stuff is getting small.  I'm dying a little on the inside about it.  Just stay little please.

Likes:  Still loving school, she'll drop whatever she's playing with when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on, attempting to crawl, Ellie, bath time has a whole new allure now that she can sit up and splash around without falling over.

(They have a mutual love and it's awesome.)

Dislikes: Staying still.

Favorite Moments: First trip to Louisiana, first plane ride, pooping and laughing at 20,000 ft in the air (more on that here...), meeting her Great Aunt Darleen and second cousin Morgan, going to DFW to see DeDe, Memaw, Pops, Gigi, and Granddady!

Visiting her DeDe.

Most Challenging:  Still the ear infections.  She's scheduled for tubes tomorrow.  I'll be updating as soon as I get a chance to.  She's on her 5th double ear infection since August.  The pediatric ENT told us that the basic criterion for tubes is 4 infections in a 6 month period.....Avery has had 5 in a 2.5 month period.  Looks like we've got an over-achiever on our hands.

Looking Forward To:  First Halloween!  Dada's birthday, first Baylor homecoming (bonfire, parade, football game, you name it- we're doing it.), and crawling!

Avery's Weekend of Firsts!

This past weekend, Jacob and I flew with Avery to Louisiana for her first trip out of the state!  She did so well with flying, I was very very impressed.  Our doctor recommended that she be taking a bottle as we took off and landed to help keep her ears nice and popping.  We did just that and she had no problem at all.  We are so thankful.  Avery did great on the flight, her momma did not.  There's nothing like sitting sideways in a seat, changing a blowout diaper, and going through turbulence.  I was a goner.  There was no saving me at that point.  I laid down across three chair in the Houston airport and tried to remain my normal shade of pale...my dad said I had a green tinge to me.  Yikes.  

While in Louisiana, Avery got to meet her Great-Aunt Darleen, second cousin Morgan, Great Great-Aunt Mary Lou, and Great Great-Aunt Faye.  Not to mention, her Gigi, Granddad, and Uncle Jeremy.  I don't think her feet hit the ground until more than 24 hours after we got there.  She was passed around and loved on continuously.

While we were there, we had pictures made of Avery in a beautiful white dress my MeMe made around 18 years ago for my cousin Morgan to have her picture made in it.  Aunt Darleen and I thought it would be special to have Avery's picture made in the same dress as she's the first great-granddaughter on this side of the family.  So, without further ado, here's just a sampling of the white dress pictures....

We also had our Christmas Card pictures made while we were there....but I'm not showing you those.  I need you to be surprised when you get them in the mail.  :)