15th Month Milestones - 8/4/11

15th Month Milestones - 8/4/11


Height - 29.75 inches

Weight - 17 lbs. 14.5 oz.

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You usually take 2 naps a day and lately these have been long! Still about 2 hours each, give or take. Your pediatrician said as long as you continue to sleep all night to let you keep napping twice during the day. You need your sleep! :)

Eating - Still a healthy appetite. You eat anything! Literally. You have 8 teeth now, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Your favorites are blueberries, strawberries, bananas, scrambled eggs with cheese, green peas, carrots, corn, avacado, any beans, shredded cheese, veggie chips/sticks, crackers, yogurt, and cheerios. You'll pretty much eat anything, but we have noticed a few things you don't prefer - sliced cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and mac&cheese. Weird, I know. What kid doesn't like cheese? But we aren't forcing them. We finished nursing this month. :( Surprisingly you and Mommy both took it better than expected. We were down to once a day, at night, but getting you to take a bottle/sippy of milk was near impossible so I had feared it would be a rough transition. But once I went back to the bottle instead of sippy and warmed the milk, you were fine with it. Yes, we let you take a bottle and you are over a year. But really, I think it helped make the transition for you easier. It gave us cuddle time before bed with you - both me and Daddy and I think that's what you loved most about nursing anyways. I know I did. We're working on drinking the milk out of a sippy now. Little steps!

New discoveries - You know where your belly button is and say, "Right here!" when asked where it is. Too cute. You know your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and toes. You can practically run now and are constantly falling. I think we've entered the "always-have-a-bruise" phase of toddlerhood. You love being outside, with Daddy. :) He lets you play in the water sprinkler, which you love!

New accomplishments - You can "brush" your teeth. We're not sure how much cleaning is actually going on right now, but you love doing it and that's what matters. You now go grab your paci and blanket and come to us to take you to bed when you are tired. What can I say? You love your sleep! You are saying a few words regularly, but know more and use them all occasionally. The ones I can remember are: Daddy (your fav), Mama (rarely), Who's that?, what's that?, where's that?, ruf-ruf (what you say when you hear a dog), peease (please, complete with sign), up, down, kiss-kiss, Veggie Tales (more on this later), Love you, Zoe, Sam, milk, wa-wer (water), du-du (duck-duck), more (most of the time this is just the sign), all done.

Places you went - To OK to visit Nonna and Poppa.

Special Memories - Celebrating Daddy's birthday. Getting to play with Peyton at Nonna and Poppa's. Spencer's birthday party. You getting addicted to Veggie Tales. :)

Its hard to believe you have 15 months under your belt. You are so much fun to be around, unless you miss your nap. :) Then you need a little extra love and patience. You are trying to communicate more and more with us each day. I love it when I get home from work and you run to me. You are so happy to see me. Almost as happy as when Daddy gets home. I think that's your favorite part of your day. You love to chase him, to play the piano with him, and getting thrown up in the air by Daddy. Hopefully the weather will cool off soon so we can get back to playing outside.

Baby girl - we love you so much. It really is a joy to be your parents. Yes there are days when we aren't sure we are doing this parenting thing right, but we know we both are learning so much from you. Keep being patient with us, we love you more than you know. Thank you for letting us figure parenting out on you. :) Your baby brother/sister will thank you!

~Mommy & Daddy

Avery has some exciting news to share

Blogging from my iPhone

So I'm testing this blogging app to see if it would help me blog more frequently. Pics from my phone:

14 Month Milestones

14th Month Milestones - 7/4/11

Height - 28+ inches

Weight - 17.5 lbs?

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You rarely wake up once a night to eat. You usually take 2 naps a day and lately these have been long! Must be a growth spurt. Not sure how we'll transition you to 2, because you get sleepy about an hour or so after you get up each morning. Oh well. We'll cross that bridge later!
Eating - Still a healthy appetite. You eat anything! Literally. Chewing has gotten much better this month. Maybe that's because you have 6 teeth now! 4 on top and 2 on bottom. You still nurse in the morning and at night and take bottle or cup of milk during the day.

New discoveries - Let's see, pretty much everyday you figure out how to get into something new. You love emptying Mommy's tupperware cabinet. You love pulling stuff out of baskets after clean up time. You figured out how to pull your blanket out of your crib and do it whenever you are ready to go to bed. You learned how to give kisses, we call them "kiss-kiss" and Daddy and I just eat them up. So sweet!

New accomplishments - Giving kisses when asked. Truly precious! Started throwing fits, which isn't really an accomplishment, we just thought we had more time before these came along. You learned how to "jump" in the water with Mommy/Daddy's help. You can climb up and down steps and do pretty good at getting off the couch without help.

Places you went - To Azle for Tiffany and Brent's Wedding. You got sick after that and we were home for almost a week with you. Didn't go much this month.

Special Memories - Getting to be the flower girl in Aunt Tiffany's wedding. Riding in the wagon with Sam. Taking a bath in the sink with Sam. Getting your toes painted for the first time. Swimming in your kiddie pool and getting to slide. Eating your first popsicle. Having Nonna with us for 4 days while you were sick. First ER visit.

So since this is Mommy's version of your baby book we do need to document your first stomach virus. :( You came down with a fever the morning of Tiff's wedding. We gave you Tylenol and Motrin and your fever broke in time for you to be in the wedding with Sam. We made it through the ceremony and most of the pictures before you had a melt down. Poor thing! If we only knew you felt so bad. We took Poppa out to eat for his birthday and then headed home. Mommy was giving you a bath and you got sick. We thought it was something you ate so weren't too worried. Later that night you woke up with a fever and it was on. For the next 6/7 days you ran a fever off and on and had diarrhea. Mommy stayed home with you for 3 days and on the third day you basically refused to eat or drink anything. We took you to your pediatrician on Monday and he said it was some viral diarrhea and would last up to 10 days! By Wednesday you were miserable, so Mrs. Marilyn and I took you to the ER for them to check you out. You were dehydrated and so they gave you 2 bags of fluids. You were a different baby after that! I think you finally felt a little better. You stayed with Mrs. Marilyn Thursday and Nonna came down Thursday night to keep you on Friday. By Saturday your fever and diarrhea were both finally gone. That is the worst sickness you've had so far! Mommy and Daddy lost more sleep that week than since you were born. Thankfully you recovered 100% and by the next week were back to your normal, energizer-bunny self. It was hard watching you not even want to crawl or walk. You just wanted to be held. Which we loved, but hated you were so miserable. By the end of the week you were so sick of being sick that you started throwing fits. But really, who could blame you? You couldn't tell us what hurt and had been sick for so long. So now we are working on no hitting or fit throwing. :)
When I was looking back on June, it looked like we didn't do much, but we had a full month. Weddings and yucky viruses take it out of ya! We are so glad you are back to normal and so thankful you have been so healthy. We are blessed to have great friends like Mrs. Marilyn and family like Nonna who were willing to help out when we were exhausted. You are one LOVED little girl. I hope you always know that. Can't wait to see what next month holds! Love you sweet baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy

12, err 13 weeks - Baby #2

So here we are already at 12  13 weeks into this pregnancy and this is the first blog about it. Sorry! Things have been kind of crazy around here lately. That and I am usually E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D by the time I get home from work, do dinner for us, get Avery a bath, play time, then bed. I have to get better at keeping up with this though. So here is my attempt to catch up and my public goal of updating once a month on how baby #2 and I are doing.

I had my second visit with my midwife this weekend and everything looks great! We heard the heartbeat again and it was strong, 160 bpm. I'm measuring where I should be and so far haven't gained too much weight. My nausea is gone for the most part. I think this being the 2nd time around, helped alot. I learned from last time to only take my prenatal vitamins at night, to snack throughout the day, and to not let myself get super hungry. My midwife and a few friends suggested trying high protein snacks this time around. It made so much difference. I have been loading up on eggs, yogurt, cheese, peanut butter, almonds, and other yummy snacks. They helped so much with the nausea especially at work. So to all my friends out there who are pregnant or might be in the future, I highly recommend trying this. It was so much better this time around.

We told all our family right after we found out - yeah, we're not the greatest at keeping secrets from them. To be honest, we were totally shocked and scared at first. But that was followed by complete excitement and joy. Yes, it is possible. We'll have 2 under 2 for 4 months, but we are excited and know God will use this to grow us and to be an example to others. Avery doesn't have a clue what's going on. That's fine. She's still really young.

And one final story to end, just because I don't want to forget this. Tiff - if Granny ever reads this, I hope she knows I thought what she said was the greatest.

I was at Tiffany and Brent's helping them get moved into their house before their wedding. Her Granny and Mom had come down to help and Granny and Tiff were in the laundry room doing something. I happened to walk by at just the right time to hear Granny ask Tiff where Avery was. Tiff told her she was with the sitter and then said, "you remember I told you she's expecting another one." Granny's next words were this, "Well bless her heart!" Then she paused, "Welp, that just comes with it!" I know you just had to be there to get the full affect of it. But I couldn't help but smile. I love me some Tiff's Granny!

Avery's 1st Birthday Party

Avery's yummy cake and cupcakes with decorations

Avery with Grandad West, Mommy and Nonna

Singing Happy Birthday to our baby girl

That cake was yummy!

Opening presents

Playing with Peyton

Pictures with Peyton

Happy birthday Avery Marie!

Trying out our new wagon, thanks Aunt Tiff!

13 month milestones

13th Month Milestones - 6/4/11

Height - 28+ inches

Weight - 17.5 lbs?

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You rarely wake up once a night to eat. You usually take 2 naps a day and these are getting shorter. Not sure how we'll transition you to 2, because you get sleepy about an hour or so after you get up each morning. Oh well. We'll cross that bridge soon!

Eating - Still a healthy appetite. The only thing you've refused so far is a grilled cheese sandwich and I think the texture was too much for you. Other than that, you eat anything we give you. Chewing has gotten much better this month. Maybe that's because you have 6 teeth now! 4 on top and 2 on bottom. You still nurse in the morning and at night and take bottle or cup of milk during the day.

New discoveries - You can walk everywhere now! It started the week after your birthday party. You just took off one day and haven't stopped since. You have great balance. You are learning more words, we think. We still can't understand most of them, but you respond when we ask you questions or talk to you. Oh, and we introduced you to the pool. I thought for sure you would love it. You love bathtime. But you aren't crazy about it. I think its because you can't touch the bottom and we have to either hold you or put you in your floatie. You would rather be on your own. :)

New accomplishments - Walking/almost running! This started the week of May 15th.

Places you went - To Ada, OK for Aunt April's graduation from ECU. To Grandmama and Grandad West's for a late Easter/Mother's Day celebration. Had your first birthday party with all your family and friends. Had a 2nd birthday swim party with more friends.

Special Memories - Watching Aunt April gradutate. Hunting Easter eggs with Peyton. Loving on Grandmama and Grandad West. 1st birthday party. Walking full time. Swim party with friends. Mommy and Daddy found out you were going to be a big sister the day after your first birthday. Hanging out with the girls for Tiffany's Girls Night Out party.

Sorry this post was much shorter than the last 12. Mommy has been super busy this month between chasing you, throwing 2 birthday parties, and finding out you were going to be a big sister. We are so thankful for you. Seeing you grow and change is so much fun. I find myself wondering how I could love you more. God has been so good to let us be your parents. To be honest, when I found out about your baby brother/sister, I was excited, but nervous at the same time. You are still so young. Would having a baby brother/sister mean I couldn't give you the attention you need/deserve? But then I remembered, God never gives us more than we can handle. So He must know that you and I (and Daddy) can handle this with Him. I'm so excited to see you as a big sister. We love you so much baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy