3 month pictures

For Avery's 3 month pictures, we had Tiffany Segler (from TClairePhotography) take her pics. Tiffany also took Avery's newborn photos. We headed to one of the parks here early on a Saturday and hoped we would get some smiles from Avery. As you can see by the evidence below she did!

It's funny to think about, but Tiffany was only 10 years old when Randy moved to Marietta and now she has her own photography business. I've known her even longer, as we went to church together at FBC. Thanks for giving us some precious photos of our Avery, Tiff!! We love them (& you)!

Avery's 3rd Month

Avery - you are 3 months old already! You have been a part of our lives for 3 months or about 100 days and they have been wonderful! Mommy can't seem to remember what we did without you. The months before you were born were spent packing, moving, unpacking, painting, all a blur for the most part. But once you made your arrival, all the time spent preparing was so worth it.

3rd Month Milestones - 8/4/10

Height - ??? Mommy needs to measure you. You didn't have a doctor's visit this month so we aren't sure.
Weight - about 10.5 lbs?? Again, no check-up so Mommy just did a guess-timate by weighing herself then weighing herself and you.

Sleeping - Your naps during the day are about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you are really tired you'll sleep for 2 hours, but that is rare. :) We put you to bed around 8 or 8:30 and you usually sleep until about 1 or 2, eat, then go back to sleep until Mommy wakes you up at 7 or so. Mommy can't complain.

Eating - You eat every 3 to 4 hours during the day, about 4 oz. or so, and usually only wake once to eat at night.  We have tried feeding you cereal (shhhh! don't tell Dr. M!) even though you aren't 4 months yet. Sometimes you just seem like you aren't satisfied with milk, so we give you cereal. So far you like it. It isn't a daily occurance, but about 2 to 3 times a week.

New discoveries - Your hands! You have officially found your hands and love chewing/sucking on them. If your paci falls out and we don't notice, you just pop 2 or 3 fingers in your mouth and are good to go. You also enjoy chewing on your fist. Teething here we come!  You also seem to recognize me and Daddy more. Daddy can get you to smile from across the room.

New accomplishments - You laughed! At 13 weeks, Mommy was packing for an overnight date with Daddy and you were sitting on the bed in your bumbo. Mommy made a raspberry/zurbert sound and you laughed. I wasn't sure if it was a real one or not, so I did it again and you laughed again. I called Daddy in and we spent the next 10 minutes blowing raspberries making you laugh. Too cute.

Places you went - You and Mommy took a girls weekend and went to OK to see Nonna & Poppa. We also went to Ada to see Uncle Daniel and Aunt April and their new apartment. Mommy started back to work this month and you started staying with your first sitter (other than family) - Ms. Marilyn. I think you love it. I can't tell who has more fun, you or Ms. Marilyn! Mommy has an easier time leaving for work, knowing you are so loved by Marilyn. Nonna and Poppa also kept you overnight so Mommy and Daddy could have a night out. They said you were perfect, of course!

Special Memories - Ms.Marilyn sends Mommy pictures of you on her phone throughout the day so Mommy can see you. As much as Mommy misses being with you, it is the best thing to open one up and see your face. I know you are having so much and learning so much with Ms. Marilyn.

Sweet girl - you are growing so quickly. Everyone says it just gets better from here, and I know that is probably true, but somedays I wish I could just freeze time. I love that I get to wake you up in the mornings and watch you stretch and make your noises. I love that moment when you finally open your eyes and greet the world. Good morning sunshine! I love that lately when I try to put you down to sleep at night you suddenly are wide awake. That just means we get to rock and snuggle some more.
 
Love you baby girl!
 
~Mommy & Daddy

9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

12 weeks

13 weeks - we are waiting for her 3 month pics

Loving her bumbo chair

Sweet face

Silly face

Avery's 2nd Month

My Punkin-doodle you are 2 months old! This month was an exciting one for you. You spent a week in Oklahoma for Uncle Daniel and Aunt April's wedding then spent a week in New Mexico meeting Nana and Grandpa Harrelson. You were one little trooper!

2nd Month Milestone's - 7/4/10

Height - 22 1/4 inches
Weight - 9 lbs 5 oz
Sleeping - You nap for 1.5 to 2 hours during the day after eating and playing, and 5 to 7 hours at night.
Eating - You eat every 3 to 4 hours during the day and usually only wake once to eat at night.
New discoveries - You love your baths. You even cried a few time when I took you out. You hate having your nose suctioned. It takes me and Daddy to get it done. You finally are taking a paci. We didn't think you ever would. But after finally getting the "right" one, you took it. Mommy was glad - it gave you something to soothe you while Mommy and Daddy were occupied with the wedding.
New accomplishments - You slept for 7 hours straight! You learned to take your paci and a bottle.
Places you went - We spent a week in Oklahoma for Daniel and April's wedding. You did so good! Auntie Tiffany went with us and got to spoil you along with Nonna and Poppa. You also took your first airplane trip to El Paso with us at 8 weeks. You did so good! We gave you a bottle on the way up and you slept on the way down. We had a good visit with Nana & Grandpa Harrelson, cousin Caleb, Aunt Kristi and cousin Bella. Mommy got sick with a bad sinus infection and Aunt Kristi, Nana, and Daddy did a great job of taking care of you so Mommy could rest. You did end up with congestion too and we had to suction your nose (which you hate).  On our flight home, we were diverted to Austin because of storms and despite being exhausted, you did great on the plane.
Special Memories - You got dubbed the honorary flower girl title for Daniel and April's wedding. :) Daddy celebrated his first Father's Day.

Avery Marie - we have had the pleasure of being your parents for 2 months now and absolutely love it! We're still working on getting this whole schedule thing down, but you have been doing great with being flexible. I just love getting to see you grow and change. You are so loved! All our family and friends have showered you with lovin's whenever you are around. We are so proud to be your parents! Love you baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

2 months

@ Daniel & April's wedding

Father's Day 2010 - 3 generations

Meeting Grandma Betty - 3 generations of Harrlesons

Avery's 1st Month

Avery is currently asleep so I'm going to try to catch up on some blogging! Yippee!

Sweet Baby Girl - You are one month old! Already you are growing and changing. Mommy and Daddy are growing and changing too! Learning how to function on short snaps of sleep is our newest accomplishment. :) You on the other hand are functioning very well.

1st Month Milestones - 6/4/10

Height - 19 3/4 inches
Weight - 7 lbs 12 oz
Sleeping - you sleep about 2 hours after eating and playing during the day and will go for 4 to 6 hours at night. Mommy loves the 6 hour stretch! You have been sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room so far and love your sound machine.
Eating - you eat every 3 hours during the day and go for about 4 to 6 hours at night.
New discoveries you made - Mommy and Daddy's faces. I know you can only see a little but you do seem to respond when we talk to you. You are so alert and watch everything that goes on around you (we think!).  You like to sit in your bouncy chair.
New accomplishments - You smiled! Right about when you turned 1 month, you smiled at us. You do it all the time now. And we are pretty sure it isn't gas!
Places you went - We took you to Nonna and Poppa's house in Oklahoma for your first road trip. Uncle Daniel was having his bachelor camping weekend, which Daddy went to, so you and I stayed with Nonna and Poppa. You got lots of loving while there!
Special Memories - You had your first prescription when you were 2.5 weeks old for a clogged tear duct. A few days later you were all better!  You also have been a little colicky but thanks to Gripe Water, most of the time you calm down. We hate not knowing what is bothering you and not being able to soothe you.

Avery Marie - you have been such a blessing to me and Daddy in your first month. You changed our lives forever. People told us what it would be like to be parents, but wow! We were so green (and still are) when we brought you home, but thanks to God, and lots of support from all your family and friends, we made it. Can't wait to see what the next month brings! Love you baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy

Day 1

Day 3 - coming home

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

4 weeks

1 month

3 weeks in and loving it...(Part 4)

(The last two posts were ones I intended on posting at 3 weeks and am just now getting to finish. Avery is now almost 12 weeks and I'm working on getting my blog up to date.)

So now we are 3 weeks in and all our family has gone home. It's just us now. :) My mom stayed with us the first week and Sonia stayed with us the second week. They have been such a blessing! I don't think Randy would have had clean clothes or a clean house without them. Plus Avery got lots of loving by her Nonna and Mim. Our community group brought us meals every other night for 2 weeks and wow! Between Mom, Sonia and our CG, I got spoiled by not having to cook.

Avery is doing well. We finally got the whole feeding thing down, sleeping has been pretty good, and Avery and I had our first week by ourselves as Randy has been working with Seth this week. We did have to take Avery in for an unexpected doctor's visit for a clogged tear duct. But after 2 days of antibiotic ointment and we are all good. 

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed to have family and friends who have helped us these past weeks.

3 weeks in and loving it...(part 3)

So I fully intended on finishing this blog way back at the beginning of summer. Then I got caught up in life with our new baby girl and yeah....the blog sat on the back burner. :) It isn't that I didn't want to blog, it just was just one thing on my list of things to do and most days I only got the most important things crossed off the list. So back to the story:

Our family came in to see us in our room, and as you can see from the pictures I posted earlier - Avery is one very loved little girl. My aunts, uncle, cousins, best friend, parents, brother and sister-in-law all came to visit us. Mom stayed with us in the hospital since Randy had come down with a sinus infection the day before and was not feeling well. We had a good first night - Avery slept, but Mom and I didn't. Something about not being in your own bed and sleeping on a fold out couch makes for a rough night.

Wednesday morning, Sonia (Randy's mom) & Bruce arrived.  Avery is the second granddaughter in Randy's family so it was neat to see Sonia and Bruce love on Avery like I had seen them do for Bella a couple of years ago.  We spent the day just visiting and loving on Avery. Mom, Dad, Daniel and April even cleaned our house for us.  In all the hustle of moving and unpacking, our house was a bit of a wreck. We all thought we had another week (at least) before Avery would come. We were wrong!  Courtney and Tanna came by to visit us and they got to meet Miss Avery. 

They finally released us to go home on Thursday morning and boy, were we ready!  After the doctors checked both of us and we got all the paperwork filled out, we loaded up and headed home. As ready as I was to go home, I couldn't believe it had all gone by so fast. Weird, I know, but going home with our baby girl in tow was surreal. I kind of joked to Randy that whenever God does something big in our lives, he does them in 3's. See when we got married, I started a new job, we got married and we moved all within a month. This time around, Randy graduated, we bought a house and had a baby - all within a month.  And it has been 3 years since we got married. Guess we should probably gear up now for year 6!

3 weeks in and loving it...(Part 2)

Avery was born at 4:20 p.m. When I finally saw her, wow! I don't think I can fully describe the feelings. It was kind of surreal to think she was actually here and not inside me anymore. Part of me was a little sad. Weird, I know. There had just been something about feeling her inside of me over the past few months. Like I could protect her, I knew what she was doing (mostly), and let's just face it - having her little feet kick me in the ribs was one of my favorite things about pregnancy. But for the tiny bit of sadness, a ton of happiness overwhelmed me. She was here! We could hold her, see her, know what she looked like. Also, I was a little in shock that the labor/pregnancy was over. Please don't think I am bragging about it going so quickly - because that was totally God - NOT me! But wow! For all I didn't know about labor when we checked in the hospital that day at 12, God was in control and was with me through the whole thing. Plus having Randy by my side wasn't bad either. :)

They checked her, cleaned her up, and handed her to me. Randy and I just stared at her. She was beautiful! We didn't have one of the 3D sonograms done during pregnancy so we had no idea what she would look like. They let our family come in for a few minutes. My parents, grandparents, and uncle came in to meet her. After a few minutes, they left and we had family time - just the 3 of us - before they took Avery to the nursery. It still was all a little unreal. We came into the hospital just the 2 of us and now we were a family of 3!

We finally got moved to our recovery room about 8 that evening and the rest of our family came in. Let's just say, little Miss Avery is very loved! :)