3 Months!

Stats: This month we're not sure how long Avery is, but she's a long one.  When we were at the doctor for a reflux follow up she weighed in at 12lbs, 5 oz.

Milestones:  Still smiling more than anything.  She's also nearly rolled over twice.  She can get to her side and then just falls back over onto her back.  She'll get it.  Soon enough.

Behavior: She's only days away from finding her feet.  She draws her feet up towards her face and kicks them around like there's no tomorrow.  So either she's about ready to find her feet or we've got a break dancer in training.  Little Miss Nosy still loves to watch people....especially at church.  I guess it's not that hard when you're the cutest thing ever.  :)

Sleep:  Bedtime has been pushed forward to 8:00.  We start our routine at 7:30 and she's out like a light by 8.  She'll still sleep until between 6:00-6:45.  One morning we went in to wake her up at 7:15 and she was NOT happy about it.  I think she has her Aunt Staci's love of sleep.

(Just a comparison....first picture is when she was around 2 weeks old; second picture is around 1.5 months old; and bottom picture is 2.5 months old.  Same pacifier....bigger kid.)

Clothes: Still 3 month clothing with random newborn sized things here and there.

This outfit was the first one I bought multiple of just in bigger sizes.  I figured if I can rock the statement necklace, she needs to be able to as well.

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!  ....and according the picture below, she's not so fond of A&M.  ;)

Favorite Moments: First Father's Day!  Laughing for the first time was a pretty epic moment too.  She surprised herself doing it.  It was hilarious.

Most Challenging:  Dropping Avery off for her first day at "school".  Golly gee that was rough.  It didn't get any easier as the week went on.  The second Monday I dropped her off was worse than the first.  I sat for 20 minutes in each parking lot (the school's and the hospital's) and just cried.  One fellow parent knocked on my window and asked if I was ok at the school.

Looking Forward To:  Mastering rolling over and holding her head up more consistently.

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....)

First Week Flying Solo(ish)

This past week was the first week Avery and I were left home alone while Jacob was back at work.  I've been blessed to have my mom here the past few weeks to help out after my surgeries, however, it was time to "cut the chord" and fly solo(ish).

Our day would typically start around 5:30am with a cute little button nosed girl who wanted to eat.  After that feeding Avery would typically go back to sleep for another hour and a half.  She's like clockwork in that she wants to eat every 3 hours.  Naps were hit or miss...some days she was really good at them, others she wasn't....which made for a horrible evening secondary to her being overtired and not knowing how to do anything but cry.

Wednesday was rough.  Apparently I ate something that didn't agree with Avery and she spent the entire day battling gas and explosive diapers.  By the time Jacob came home, she was still in the throws of an upset stomach and I was exhausted to the point of falling asleep whenever I got sat down and still for more than 5 minutes.  Super dad took over and I went to bed by 7 and he took care of Avery for the night.

Avery and I went on many "adventures" this past week.  I had multiple follow up appointments at the first of the week and she had her reflux follow up on Friday.  Monday was my c-section follow up.  So, like a champ, I loaded her up in the mom-mobile (read: Tahoe) and we made our way to downtown to visit Dr. Yium.  Avery was such a good girl and held it together until the very end of the appointment when she had reached her limit and it was time to eat.  No more putting it off.  Thankfully it was a slow day in the office and they let us stay in the exam room a little longer so that I could feed her.  Tuesday was my surgeon follow up appointment from gallbladder surgery.  Same song, second verse.  Avery held it together so well until the very end.  Being on a 3 hour feeding schedule proves to be challenging when you're "on the road".  After that appointment we walked over to the hospital and she got to meet all of my co-workers on the rehab team.  I know that the ICU nurses would have loved to see her, but we aren't venturing to that floor anytime soon.  Friday Avery had a reflux follow-up appointment with her pediatrician.  She weighed in at a whopping 9lbs, 6oz.  Jacob and I are so thankful she's growing!  The doctor increased her reflux medication secondary to her increase in weight.  So far so good....we've noticed a difference in her spitting up.  It's normal baby spit up, not vomit.  :)

1 month!

Stats: This month Avery is 21.5 inches long and right around 8lbs.  We had to visit the doctor last week because of reflux and she weighed in at 8lb, 4oz.  I was immediately skeptical because she was weighed with all of her clothes on and I highly doubt she gained over a pound in 2 weeks.

Milestones:  Avery is doing very well with her head/neck control.  She can pick her head up and turn it from side to side while on her tummy.  Avery is also staying more awake during the day compared to when she was first born.

Behavior: Avery loves to watch momma and dada!  She also has the cutest little smiles and coos at random times.  We can't wait to see her little personality grow more and more.

Sleep:  We've been in a steady 3-4 hour pattern since we got home from the hospital.  She's like clockwork.  Jacob and I are really looking forward to the nights where Avery can go 5 hours.  :)  It'll happen....right?!?

Clothes:  Still newborn for most everything.  I washed some of her 3 month clothes this afternoon in preparation for her expected growth.  Avery is so long that most of the newborn onesies fit in the torso but look like high-cut briefs in the legs.

Likes:  Rocking with momma, dada, Gigi, and Granddaddy; playing with her giraffe (thanks Aunt Staci!); watching faces; swinging in her swing; tummy time; her car seat; car rides; and bath-time (occasionally).

Having a really good time in the car

Dislikes: Tummy time (occasionally), headbands (we're working on it...), and socks.


Favorite Moments:  Taking Avery to church for the first time last Sunday night.  She was such a trooper and slept through the entire children's choir program...and it was loud.  There's also something to be said for those late night feedings  where it's just she and I and we get some quality time together.  We've also enjoyed our visit from Dede this past week!  It was such a good surprise for him to drive all the way from Irving to see Avery!

Rocking with DeDe

Most Challenging:  Reflux, reflux, reflux.  Trying to figure out what triggers it more has been enough to send me to the nut house.  We think we've figured it out, then she goes and blows a theory out of the water.  The most recent challenge that I'm hoping to have tackled is where she sleeps during the night.  She can't be flat because of the reflux but her rock-n-play sleeper isn't inclined enough.  So, we've resorted to propping the rock-n-play up higher and that has seemed to work.  Our doctor says that most kiddos outgrow their reflux by 3 months.  We are excited for 3 months to roll around to get this more under control.

 A late night encounter with reflux...

Looking Forward To:  More snuggling time during the day while dada is at work, more fun visitors, shopping trips, sleeping more through the night, our first Mother's Day!