Avery Mae

I have just recently realized again how each subsequent child has fewer and fewer pictures of themselves while gr owning up. I was 4th of 5 and just thought that my parents really had picked me up on the side of the road when I was small like my brothers always told me because there were no pictures to prove that I was really theirs. In all seriousness though, I was looking at my pictures while trying to catch up on my blogging and realized that my little Avery doesn't have nearly enough film (or memory card) time. So I am making it a goal to take more pictures of her, at least one per month to document her growth but hopefully more just to remember just how darn cute she is. Here are the first few. She is such a joy!

One Month

Two MonthsThree Months
Avery is almost 16 weeks old, my how the times flies. Here are some of the many things she loves and some that we love about her.

• She has been sleeping through the night since she was around a month old (what a blessing)
  
• She smiles every time she sees Caden or Kamrie
• She loves "The Wheels on the Bus"
• She Laughed for the first time on June 30th
• She discovered her feet on July 22nd and they have become one of her favorite things to play with
• She has found her hands and is constantly sucking them
• She has just started grasping toys and bringing them to her mouth
• She may be a thumb sucker...for about a week every morning when I woke up she was sucking her thumb, but she hasn't done it for a while, so I guess only time will tell.
  

This post is a little old (7-21-09)but I never posted it because I was going to add more. Here is this for now and know that more about our little angel is to come.

Mama Said Ther'd Be Days Like This

The title says it all. I really wondered if we would all make it through today, but since everyone is sleeping soundly, I can now document the craziness. I woke up this morning after getting less sleep than I would have liked, but that is all part of motherhood, right? We all rushed to get ready for a Birthday party that Caden would be attending and for Kamrie's swimming lessons. It seems that with the 3 kids getting out of the house before 10 is isn't easy but can be done. We were only a few minutes late for the party which started at 10...sunblock and all. We dropped Caden off and headed to the rec. center for swimming. Kamrie walked right in and was excited for class. Avery was hungry so in spite of the sweltering heat at the indoor pool, I covered up and started nursing. Not long after I started, Kamrie was leaning just a little too far at the edge of the pool and fell in. Keep in mind, she is 2 and can't touch or swim on her own. Her teacher was helping one of the other kids in her class and not within reach...the kids are supposed to say on the ledge and wait their turn. So anyway, I see her fall, rip Avery away from her "meal" and try frantically to cover myself and move toward my drowning daughter. The whole time I'm looking around to see if anyone else is noticing her and trying to get someone's attention. Finally, the lifeguard on duty notices, blows her whistle, and jumps to her aid. She was fine. She sucked in some water and was pale for a minute but couldn't wait to keep swimming. Needless to say it scared me to death. That was the first big scare the next few won't be quite as detailed as it would take me all night, but that one needed a little explanation.
After the water scare we came home quickly had lunch and went to pick up Caden. Avery was getting hungry as her earlier meal was interrupted by a drowning sister so upon getting home I attempted to feed her again. As usual when that happens Kamrie sees just what she can get away with. She pushed...I counted...she pushed more and so I had to get up and deal with it. I get up, lay Avery on the couch , grab Kamrie's hand, walk 2 steps and realize I just laid a fully mobile baby on the couch. I turned around just in time to see her roll off the couch and hit the floor. I run to her and Kamrie is so preoccupied with Avery that she trips over the car seat left in the doorway due to the crying baby earlier, and gets a bloody nose. So now I have two screaming girls and some tears of my own. I would like to say it ends there but stick with me...I get Kamrie cleaned up and lay her down for an early nap and finish feeding Avery. Caden gives me a quick pep talk about how it would be better to lay Avery on the floor instead of the couch and we move on.
Later, I am reading to Caden and Kamrie when Kamrie jumps up holding her throat. She was choking on a sucky candy. I slapped her back a few times to no avail. I got really nervous and started hitting harder, the candy finally dislodged and fell to the floor. She was crying again but not because she had choked but because I had "hit" her. I was beginning to wonder if someone had it in for her today. I decided to just hold her for a while and hopefully protect her.
The rest of the day passed without incident, but man what a day. Oh yea, and all this while she is still healing from an incredibly ugly black eye she got last week.

Friends

Since I am trying to catch up on all blogging, this is one picture that just can't be overlooked. These two were the best of friends. They just loved being together. At times there was compromise; Caden in a cheer leading outfit and Macey watching Transformers, but they did it with a smile. Caden will never forget all the fun he had with you!!! WE LOVE YOU MACEY.

We are here and life is GOOD

I know, I know it has been way too long. I could list the reasons but it's just life. I haven't been able to fit the blogging in. Hopefully I can get back to it once we settle in a little more, until then here is a little update...we are here in Colorado and we love it. Brady has been working for just over a month now and is really doing great. It is so nice to have him home more. Colorado is beautiful! We wern't really sure where we wanted to live exactly so we found a nice little home where we can be happy until we find a permanant spot. The kids are all doing fabulous. Avery is an absolute angel. She has been sleeping through the night since she was about a month old (i know lots of people hate me after that statement, but she just did it, we were blessed) and she is happy and growing like crazy. Kamrie is a great big sister. She always wants to be right in the middle of everything and she is a huge dose of DRAMA. Caden is looking forward to starting Kindergarten in the fall and he loves having a back yard with trees to climb. All in all we are enjoying moving forward. We will forever cherish the memories of Dental School and all the friends we made but we are excited for this new chapter.

Bitter-Sweet...But Mostly Sweet

We moved to Indiana and started this journey about 4 years ago. We really had no idea what was in store for us...but here we are 4 years, 2 (indiana) kids, many tests, millions of tears, and just as many laughs, later and the end is in sight. On May 9th Brady will Graduate and we will move on to the next step of our journey. We are so proud of all his hard work and we are so excited to see all of it finally paying off. We love you BRADY!!!

Our Sweet Avery

Okay so here are some AMAZING pictures taken by my friend Adri. She seriously did such an amazing job. She came to our house on our time and just took adorable pictures, I couldn't have asked for more. Thanks again so so much Adri. We love them!

She is Here!

Here is the update that I'm sure you have all been waiting for. My parents flew in on Wednesday evening to be here for all the fun, or if I'm being totally honest, the work after all the fun. Brady and I were up bright and early on Thursday to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. to start the process. They checked me in and started poking...not long after 9:00a.m. we were blessed with our BEAUTIFUL little AVERY MAE. She was 6lbs. 4oz. and 19 1/4 in. long. Everything went perfect and we were on our way to recovery in no time. Now on to the part you are all really interested in.

Here she is one last time on the inside.

We can't wait to get started.

Just hanging out in recovery

Our first family shot with sweet little Avery.

I love these next few

Grandma and Grandpa have been so much help, I'm not sure what we are going to do without them.Wide awake!

Getting ready to go home.

We are so blessed to have three healthy, happy kids. Caden and Kamrie have adjusted so well and they just love her to pieces. Thanks to everyone for your love, support, calls, prayers...and so much more.