3 weeks old...

The weeks are flying by and our tiny, little peanut is stretching and filling out.  She seems to be getting so long and is close to moving out of her newborn sleepers.  I'm quickly remembering now how fast they grow and move right out of the newborn stage.

This past week, we have definitely noticed that Avery has more and longer periods of wakefulness.  She is also becoming much more vocal and lets us know when she isn't happy with something.  For the time being, she tolerates her carseat and traveling much more than big sister did when she was a baby.  We are thankful for this as we've had to cart Avery with us many places throughout the past few weeks.

Sleep wise, Avery seems to be a little mixed up with her days and nights.  We definitely aren't into any kind of schedule, but she seems to have more of her deep sleeps during the day.  We're hoping to adjust this soon as the nights have felt very long here lately.  We've been tolerating the lack of sleep pretty well up until the past few days, but I'm sure that has more do with being exhausted from packing/moving.  Avery prefers to be held, but hangs out in her swing/bobby pillow pretty well.

Avery is still nursing great and tends to eat anywhere from every 2.5 - 4 hours.  She is a little more gassy than big sis was and tends to spit up more often.  She also is a little irritated until she gets a burp out.  We plan to talk to the doctor about this at her next appointment.

Big sister, Kensley, is still loving Avery, but the newness has seemed to wear off a little.  She still demands to "kiss her" and "hold her" but doesn't need to be next to her all the time (anymore).  Kens seems to be adjusting ok and the only major thing we've noticed is a slight change in her sleep habits (again could be contributed to extra stress and our recent move).  She's been waking up a few times throughout the night and during her nap, but usually goes right back to sleep.  We're hoping once she gets adjusted to our new living conditions, she might settle back into her old sleeping patterns as I'm afraid she's not as well rested as she could be.

I had planned to leave you with a few pictures of our sweet 3 week old, but I am embarrassed to say no pictures were taken this past week.  I will blame it on packing and the move and promise to post lots of pictures next week.  To make up for no pictures, click here to see Avery's newborn photos (password: averyroberts).  Once we get the CD, I will post our favorites.

We love you, sweet Avery!
Please remember this when you read this someday and realize there are no pictures from your third week of life.

Homeless...

We are officially homeless and no longer homeowners.  It's such a bittersweet feeling as we have loved our time in our first home.  It was our first home together as a married couple as well as both of our girls first homes.  We've had some great memories in this house and it's crazy to think that we'll never be coming back here.  While we are sad to leave this house, we are so excited about our new house and can't wait to move in!

So for now, we have moved our family of four into Nana and Papa's house for a few (hopefully short) months.  We are so grateful to have a place to stay and a few extra hands to help with the girls!  Here's to hoping for a relaxing few months to include more sleep (and maybe a few naps for Mama)!

Here are our last family pictures at our first home.

Due Date & Father's Day...

Today Avery is 2 weeks old which coincidentally is also her due date.  It's crazy to think that she wasn't even supposed to be here yet.  Week 2 has definitely been much more low key than Avery's first week.  Daddy went back to work on Monday so Nana was here to save the day!  She stayed with us until Wednesday and was such a help with Kensley...feeding her, keeping her entertained, etc.  I was on my own Thursday and Friday with both girls and it went surprisingly well.  We even made it out of the house both days (with me showered and wearing make-up!).

This week we also went for Avery's 2 week weight check at the doctor's office.  This was new for us since Kensley never had to go.  Avery is gaining weight quickly and was already up to 7 lbs 4 oz!  She still looks so tiny and isn't quite filling out her newborn clothes yet, but we know she's growing quickly.

Avery has been such a sweet, little baby and has been very flexible.  She still only fusses and cries (sometimes quite loudly) when she is hungry, cold or gets disturbed.  She's been sleeping pretty well at night.  Last night she gave me a 6.5 hour stretch between feedings and Friday night was 5.5 hours!  I'm hoping this starts a trend as I could get used to only 1 feeding per night.

Kensley continues to be obsessed with her little sister.  She's always worried about where she is and wants to kiss her and hold her.  Kens often says "Avery coming" whenever we go anywhere (upstairs, outside, etc.).  She also exclaims "kisses" multiple times throughout the day whenever she wants us to lower Avery to her level so she can kiss her head or mouth.  She likes to hold her first thing in the morning while she watches an episode of "Bickey".

Avery got to meet more of her family this weekend as Auntie Ashley, Uncle Scott and cousin Elli came down to visit.  I realized after they all left that we didn't get any pictures of them with Avery.  Between two active toddlers, Avery seemed to take a backseat as we were constantly watching the older girls.  We did manage an afternoon trip to the pool and Avery and I lounged in the shade while the girls swam and ran around the splash park.  It was a fun day, but I think we're all quickly realizing how crazy things will soon get once we add another baby to the family in August.

Here are some sweet pictures of Avery during her 2nd week of life.

Snuggling with Nana

Snuggling with big sister...or something like that.

Funny face

Lounging at the pool

Sweet girl

Wide awake (poor quality due to my phone)

Being held by big sister (again)...this happens multiple times a day.

How Avery still spends most of her days

She sleeps like her mommy.

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And lastly...Happy Father's Day to the best daddy and husband!  Thanks for taking great care of us girls!  We love you!

1 week old..

Our sweet, little peanut is officially 1 week old.  What a week it was!  This little girl did more in her first week of life than Kensley probably did in her first few months!  To say this first week was drastically different than our first week with Kensley would be an understatement.  I think I was lucky to shower during that first week with Kensley, let alone leave the house.

We ended up getting home from the hospital late Tuesday afternoon.  We spent Tuesday evening relaxing and hanging out with Kens.  Wednesday started our busy week with a meeting with our realtor and sales person for our (potential at that time) new house.  Avery tagged right along with us while Kens stayed with Nana.  We took our first family trip out that evening and went to get ice cream. 

On our way for ice cream

First ride with both girls

 Thursday we had some service done on our house in the morning and then headed out for Avery's first doctor's appointment, followed by lunch and a few errands.  Kens once again stayed with Grammy while we were gone.  We went out for a boat ride with Grammy and Grampy on Thursday evening which was then followed by a visit from some of our friends. 

Avery's first boat ride...this is what she did the whole time.

Kens loves the boat!

Looking forward to driving.

The big day wore her out.

Friday morning, we spent several hours signing on our new home and working through paperwork with our realtor.  Again Kens stayed home and Avery tagged along and was a dream.  We were finally able to get some naps in Friday afternoon before our newborn photo shoot at our house with the photographer. 

Saturday and Sunday were busy with packing, running errands, family playtime and rest.  Jeremy and I were able to squeeze in a quick dinner date out Saturday night while Grammy and Aunt Kym stayed with both girls.

 

It's been a quick and busy week and we can't believe little Avery is already a week old!  She is such a sweet little baby and really only fusses/cries when she's really hungry or cold (specifically during diaper changes).  She is already very patient with her big sister and takes the jabs, hugs and often not so gentle touches in stride.  She is still a petite little thing, but seems to be quickly putting on weight.  We had her first doctor's appointment on Thursday and the doctor seemed pleased with her progress.  She weighed in at 6 lbs 7 oz (14%ile) and was still 19 inches.  We couldn't believe she weighed that much already considering she was only 5 lbs 15 oz when they weighed her at the hospital late Monday evening.  Despite her weight gain, the doctor still wants us to come back for a weight check this week.

 

Here are a few pictures of our peanut.

 

How Avery spends most of her days

So sweet

Getting ready for her first bath

She seemed to enjoy it...especially getting her hair washed.

We have a house!

Well if we can add one more thing to this week/month, we have.  As of 9:30 a.m. this morning, we officially bought a house!  We are so excited about this house and can't wait to be in it!  The home is still being built, but is scheduled to be finished at the end of August.  So for approximately 2 months, we will be homeless and moving/floating between our parents' houses.  Definitely not an ideal situation with a newborn and a toddler, but we know in the long run it will all be worth it.

Home sweet home

Day 2 and 3...

Here are the rest of the pictures from our hospital stay (day 2 and 3 of Avery's life).  We are thankful for the time we were able to rest and relax with our newest addition, but were anxious to get home to begin our lives as a family of four!

Sweet girl

My girl trying to wake up

Meeting Erin and Travis

Nolan and Kens bonding over baby Avery

So sleepy

Attempt at a family pic

Big sister checking Avery out

Relaxing with daddy before we head home

So pretty

All dressed and ready to go

Such a peanut in her carseat

Ready to head out

Had to capture those long skinny feet and toes

She snoozed all the way home

Kens was excited to see sissy again

Avery's Birth Story...

Our precious, little Avery could not wait to make her debut into the world and chose to grace us with her presence 2 full weeks early!  While we were not completely caught off guard, we still can't believe she came this early on her own!  Avery's delivery was much different than her older sister's and she came into this world very quickly.  For documentation and blog book sake, here is the story of Avery's birth.  Feel free to skip as it's pretty lengthy.

Beginning first with my 38 week appointment on Friday (was actually 37 weeks and 5 days), we found out that I had progressed to 4 cm but was still 50% effaced.  My doctor informed me that she was on call this weekend and that she hoped to see me at the hospital.  She also stripped my membranes to encourage things along. 

I had contractions on and off throughout the day on Saturday, but nothing was too consist or strong.  After returning home from a cookout with our friends, we discovered that contractions were coming pretty steadily around 5-8 minutes apart and were about a minute long.  We started timing contractions at about 8 p.m. and then decided at around 10 p.m. to head to the hospital.  Upon my initial exam at the hospital (around 10:30ish), it was discovered that I was still only 4 cm (at this point I was sure they'd send us back home) but was now 90% effaced.  They decided to hold me for a few hours to do a recheck so we took a quick walk around the L/D floor and contractions continued to get stronger and closer together.  Due to the amount of pain I was in, we requested to be rechecked shortly before midnight and it was discovered that I was in fact 7 cm.

In a rush, they sent me to a delivery room and got me all set up with an IV and had anaesthesiology paged.  I finally received my epidural around 1 a.m.  After a quick recheck (still at 7 cm but fully effaced), they left us to relax and try to get some rest.  The nurse came back in a little before 2:15 a.m. to recheck me (Avery kept sliding off the monitor) and quickly discovered she was on her way out.  She literally pulled back my covers, told me not to move and ran to get a doctor and team of nurses.  Avery was already several inches out, still in the bag of waters.  They pulled the on-call doctor out of the OR to basically come in and catch Avery.  She was delivered in the bag of waters at 2:16 a.m. and I literally did no pushing at all.

They quickly whisked Avery away as she had her first meconium poop in the bag of waters, and they had to asses/clean her up and had NICU called in just in case.  Avery checked out great and cried throughout the entire assessment.  After getting cleaned up, she latched on great and nursed like a champ. 

We were moved to our room on the maternity floor around 4:30 a.m. and Nana and Papa were our first visitors...just shortly after we had arrived into our room.  They left Columbus, OH where they were visiting my sister late on Sat evening with the intent on waiting things out at home and quickly made a detour to Indy upon discovering our progress.  Big sister, Kensley, and Grammy and Grampy came first thing Sunday morning to meet little Avery.  So needless to say, we got very little sleep Sat evening/Sunday morning but we seemed to be running on adrenaline.

We are still trying to determine who little Avery looks like.  She is a petite, little thing with dark brown, almost black hair...and quite a bit of it!  She has deep blue eyes, thin rosebud lips and long, skinny fingers and toes (definitely inherited from daddy).  Being so tiny, she is swimming in her newborn clothes and diapers and they even have her on a preemie paci (which still looks huge in her mouth).  We know that it's only a matter of time before she is growing right out of things.

Physically, I am feeling great.  Unlike Kensley's delivery, I had no tearing and have been up and moving around since delivery.  I am so thankful that I am feeling so well knowing how busy things will be once we go home.

We love this little girl so much already and know she will fit perfectly into our family.

Day 1 Pictures

Well I definitely have had much more time to blog than I anticipated.  I guess cuddling with a baby (who only wakes every few hours to eat), a toddler who is home and entertained by grandparents and staying in a place where they bring you everything you need...can prove to be much  more relaxing and freeing than I remembered!.

So while I wait for Jeremy to wake up and for Avery to join us from the nursery (she spent the night there so Jeremy and I could get some much needed rest), here are a bunch of pictures from Avery's first day of life.

Looking a lot like big sister here (at least to me).

And here as well.

Me with my girl right after she was born.

Caught the tail end of a yawn.

Meeting big sister for the first time.

I love this picture...Kensley is clearly thrilled.

Hugs for Avery

Meeting Grammy

Meeting Grampy

Meeting Nana in the wee hours of the morning (stay tuned for a picture with Papa...his with Avery was pretty rough)

Feeding her baby (this was her big sister present from us...I mean Avery)

Loving on Avery...she wanted to be right next to her all the time.

Still clearly excited

Happy girl...she's holding Avery's paci which makes me think is the main source of that smile.

Sucking on her hand and snuggling with daddy.

Proud papa...she looks so tiny here!

Sweet sisters in their matching shirts.

Finally captured her with her eyes open.

Meeting Auntie Kym