Avery: 8 Months Old...

Sweet Avery girl is 8 months old and growing up more by the day.  She is getting so funny with her facial expressions, noises and "talking".  She loves to hear her own voice as she happily screams, followed by a big smile as if she knows how funny she is.

Avery is still a great eater.  She is eating three meals a day of solid food and still nursing (or getting an occasional bottle when I am gone) 4 - 5 times a day.  We've introduced the sippy cup, but she really has no interest in it other than playing with it.  We've also tried puffs a few different times and she's not overly interested yet.  She has made vast improvements with spitting up.  She'll spit up a small amount a few times a day, but it is SO much better than it used to be.

Sleep wise, Avery is doing much better.  She is still going down between 6:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and usually wakes anytime between 4:30 - 6:00 a.m. to eat.  Every day we put her paci back in to try to get her to go back to sleep without eating, but it never really works.  I always end up feeding her and she is typically fed and back down within 10 - 15 minutes.  We have a feeling this is the "norm" and will be this way until I am no longer nursing.  Aves is still taking 2 naps a day...morning around 9 am and afternoon around 1ish.  Every once in a while, she will squeeze in a catnap in late afternoon/early evening before dinner.

Size wise, Avery is about the same.  Wearing size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night.  She is in size 6 - 12 month and 9 month clothes, along with 9 month sleepers.

Aves is not on the move just yet, but she is trying awful hard.  She pivots all around with her hands when she is on her tummy.  She is scooting backyards by pushing with her hands.  When sitting up, she often looks like she is going to launch forward into a crawl.

Avery is getting into about anything we'll let her have.  She grabs for anything in her reach and often tries to dive off of our laps for things she can't reach.  Everything seems to make it's way to her mouth.  Kensley is getting more protective of her toys as Avery tries to grab for whatever Kens is playing with or eating.

Avery still loves bath time, reading/grabbing books, sitting and playing with her toys in her toy basket and most of all she loves attention...especially from her sister.  Avery flaps her arms, bounces up and down and makes little humming noises whenever she is excited.  It's pretty cute.  She's still our smiley, little girl .  And at this point, she will smile and go to about anyone that will hold her or give her attention.  We haven't seen too much stranger anxiety in her yet as we did with Kens at this age.

Avery also loves to be held.  She is our little snuggler.  One of my favorite times of the day with her is right before she goes to bed.  I feed her in her room and then put her on my shoulder to burp her.  She is usually so exhausted and just burries her little face in my neck as I rock and burp her.

And here is our monthly photo shoot.  Lots of pictures as I couldn't narrow it down.  This was by far the most difficult shoot as Avery was squirmy and kept rolling over in her chair.

And she's done!

Our little peanut is growing up so fast and we can't believe that we will have two on the move before long!  Happy 8 month birthday, Avery!

Lots of Randomness...

So I feel like we are pretty behind and have lots of catching up to do on the blog.  So here is what all has been happening over the past few weeks.  Warning, this is long and random.

Starting first with Elli's 2nd birthday party...

Elli's birthday party was a few weekends ago at my parent's house.  It was a Snow White themed party and fortunately Elli had an extra outfit for Kens to wear.

Not a great picture, but the best I could get.

Hugs for the birthday girl!

 After the party, we attempted to get both girls down for naps.  Kensley goes through phases (usually at least once a week) where she won't nap.  She'll just lay in her bed, talk and roll around.  This was one of those days.  Instead of laying down though she was playing in her room and jumping on the air mattress.  So with no nap for Kens and a short nap for Elli, we sent both girls out to play in the snow with Papa and the dads.  The rest of the evening was a little chaotic with two hyper, but tired girls.

The game Papa invented, run around the kitchen island and hit the party balloons...thanks, Papa.

Both girls ended up in old shirts that belonged to Ashley and I.  They look a little disheveled, but they're happy or wired.

This sweet girl just hung out and played among the chaos.

And this little guy wasn't short on smiles.

Two tired, clean girls watching Mickey before bed.

****************************

Sickness was next up for us.  Fortunately there are no pictures for this (you can thank me later).  On Sunday morning (the weekend of Elli's party), Kensley threw up in her bed at Nana and Papa's house.  We thought it was spit up from coughing so much, but sure enough as soon as we got home she threw up again.  A few days later, Avery threw up and started running a fever.  The past few weeks we've been passing around the flu, fevers, head colds, etc.  We think we are on the upswing and hope to stay healthy for a while!

*****************************

Last weekend, we participated in the Parent/Baby Dedication at our church for Avery.  We stood on stage as Avery was introduced to the church and we made this promise:

"I promise to nurture my child in the Christian faith.  I will pray for my child, I will teach my child Biblical principles, I will talk to my child about Jesus, and I will be humble and ask for help when needed.  I have dedicated myself and my child to Jesus Christ."

Avery did great and we enjoyed a nice day celebrating with our families.  After the dedication at church, everyone came over to our house for lunch (Nana and Papa, Grammy and Grampy and Aunt Kym).  Unfortunately the only pictures we have from the day are the ones dad took during church (and one the church took of us before the service...we'll post it once we get it).  After church we were in a rush to get everyone changed, fed and down for naps that we didn't pause for pictures.  Sorry, Aves!

*******************************

Our latest bit of big news is that I have started a new job.  I will be working from home 3 days a week contracting for a planning company.  I actually started a few hours this past week and will jump right in with 5 days of training next week.  It will be a definite transition for us as the girls get used to me being at home, but not available on work days (Grammy will still watch the girls at our house).  This new job is a result of being laid off about a week ago by the company I was with for over 5 years.  They are laying off about 50% of the company due to change in business.  It was a shock and a rough couple of days, but we are looking forward to this new opportunity.

********************************

And lastly, we are gearing up for the Super Bowl in Indianapolis!  Ok, really we're just taking advantage of all the fun things downtown Indy.  Grammy and Grampy watched the girls this past Tuesday afternoon/evening and we went downtown to check everything out.  The weather was great (50's)...so hard to believe it was the end of January!

Look up high...that's the zip line.

Angela Buchman from Channel 8 news.

And that is the past few weeks in a nutshell.  This week we have been enjoying the warmer weather with trips to the park, walks and playing outside.

Lately...

This is a short random post of what we've been up to the past few weeks (in pictures of course).

We attempted a weekend of potty training.  Kens did pretty well overall, but it's still going to take some time and work.

It was really warm a few weeks back (in the 50's!) so we ventured to the park in our neighborhood.  Aves got to try out the swing for the first time and also ride in the wagon like a big girl.

Kensley seems so big now in the baby swings.

Happy girl!  Smiling like always!

Playing in the snow for the first time this year.

Daddy was making snowballs and Kens was eating them.

Posing for pictures before dinner.

My two favorite girls.

Daddy and Aves

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Avery has officially mastered rolling from her back to tummy!  She needed a little motivation so we bribed her with Sophie.  She prefers to roll to the right (which is funny because Kens always rolled to the left).

Here is a video of our sweet girl rolling over with daddy cheering her on.

Avery's Photo Shoot

While Kens was finishing up her nap last week, I decided to do a mini photo shoot with Avery.  I keep thinking that we don't have nearly as many photos of Aves as we did of Kens at this age, so I wanted to get some of Avery alone.  Due to Avery still being a little sick, she wasn't as smiley or happy as usual.  Her cheeks are pretty red and dry due her cold and all the drool, but she's still such a cutie.

Avery: 7 Months Old...

Our sweet, little peanut is 7 months old!  Avery seems to get happier and smilier by the day. 

Aves managed to get her second cold this month.  We knew it was inevitable as we've been passing around some sort of respiratory/head cold.  The poor little thing looked and sounded so pathetic with her snotty nose, dry cheeks and watery eyes.  But she is still so happy and smiley.  She's had some trouble sleeping with not being able to breathe well, but she seems to be on the upswing.

In fact, Avery was so much better that she slept through the night (for the first time) this past Wednesday.  We didn't hear a peep out of her until around 5:40 a.m. when she wanted to eat.  She was back down to sleep by 6:00 a.m. and didn't get up for the day until after 8:00 a.m.!  The last few nights have been similar so we're hoping this is our new normal!  Avery is still typically taking only two naps a day: about 1.5-2 hours in the morning and afternoon.  Every once in a while, she'll go down for a quick catnap in the early evening depending on how she's napped during the day.

Avery is getting stronger each day and has mastered sitting on her own.  We're still working with her on rolling back to tummy.  We know she can do it as she will roll over once she gets on her side, but she's just a little stubborn.  She hates to lay flat on her back and will really only tolerate it for a few minutes in her play gym.  Whenever we lay her down on her back to get her to roll over, she just ends up screaming and tensing up her whole body...letting us know she doesn't like it.  Usually Kens will come to her rescue bringing her a toy so she doesn't have to try to get it on her own.  Such a good big sister.

Aves is so grabby!  She grabs for everything we have.  When sitting, she often ends up on her tummy as she trying to get things out of her reach.  She is quick and so curious about everything!  She still loves to touch my face, hold my finger or grab my shirt when I am feeding or rocking her.

Some of Avery's favorite things include: her paci, reading (however Kens tends to get frustrated as Avery tries to grab and chew each book as we read to her), her big sis, anything she can get in her mouth, her bath and food!

Avery has been a great eater so far.  She is eating two solid meals a day with oatmeal and bananas for breakfast and a veggie and/or fruit for dinner.  Some of her favorites so far are: bananas, sweet potatoes, pears, squash and prunes.  She has been a little less thrilled about peas and carrots so we've had to mix them in with sweet potatoes to get her to eat them.  I plan to try to make most of her baby food this time around with the exception of a few things.  Avery still nurses every 3 - 4 hours and is taking anywhere from 5 - 6 oz at a time.

Size wise, the peanut is growing and stretching out.  She is still wearing size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 overnight.  She is moving into 9 month sleepers; however most of them are still a little long in the arms and legs.  She is in size 6 month and 6 - 12 month clothes.

This past month, Avery got to try out the pool for the first time.  After about 10 minutes or so of checking things out, she got pretty comfortable and was splashing like crazy.  She seemed to love it and wasn't fazed by the fact that it wasn't quite as warm as her bath.  We're hoping we have another little girl who loves the water.

Avery has been a great little traveler and doesn't seem to mind her carseat like her big sister did.  She is great when we're out and about running errands.  She usually hangs in her carseat when we go into stores and just plays with her toys and smiles.  She is pretty curious so she has to be pretty tired in order to fall asleep in her carseat, but it does happen on occasion.

Here is our monthly photo shoot:

Avery is in such a fun stage and we're loving watching her grow and learn new things.  She is such a sweet addition to our family. 

We love you, Avery Leigh!

Big girl bed...

Last Friday evening, Kensley slept in her big girl bed for the first time.  It is really just a variation of her crib as the front comes off and it's more like a daybed.  We were a little concerned about her falling out, so we've placed a body pillow on the floor next to her bed for a soft landing.  However, Kensley saw another use for it and her babies and stuffed animals now "sleep" on it.

Kens has done great in her bed so far...really no issues with bedtime.  Naps are a little different story.  She doesn't really seem to get out of her bed much during nap time, but every few days she decides not to nap and just lays in her bed talking and singing for several hours.  My guess is because she isn't tired enough due to not getting outside to burn off energy.

We can't believe how big our girl is getting!