home in time for 5 months! :)

*i sent an email with our photo album from the trip...if you didn't get it and want to see it, email me and let me know :)*

just a quick post...we got back from our trip late-ish last night...rain in the northeast had us a bit delayed, by the time we got home, we pretty much crawled into bed and now there's lots to clean and put away--especially before thursday when grandma kathy and grandpa dan come! (i know you said don't clean, but i'll at least get the cat litter off the floor and put sheets on your bed :))

new orleans was a blast! it was definitely a different trip with a baby added, but not that much different from last year with me pregnant. avery was a champ on the plane and through all our travelling around. she smiled at the gobs of people that stopped us on the streets to say hello (and let a couple of waitresses we had hold her) :) we mananged to keep her from getting sunburnt the whole time! (haha to the woman who stopped to coo at avery and commented on her red cheeks that were making her nervous) we couldn't have asked for everything to go as well as it did! for the most part it was hot and really humid, even with the sun behind clouds for most of the afternoons. (the picture below was taken as the winds picked up before it started pouring--we got out of the festival fairgrounds just in time :))

i think we came home with a different child than we left with...she's able to sit up by herself for a while (we have to stay behind her so she doesn't fall backwards)...she makes this noise with the back of her nose/throat that she thinks is pretty funny...she grabs for anything and everything that we've got in our hands and gets mad if we don't let her have it (fine for toys and things, not so fine for forks, knives and drinks)...she is fascinated by paper and in 2 seconds can eat a receipt (oops)...she loves 'this little piggy' and giggles in anticipation of the tickle at the end :)...she likes to look at the camera when we take it out, then look away as soon as we take a picture...she rolled over (from back to tummy) once before we left and a couple times in nola...

more later, the dogs are waiting to come home :)

spring-time fun...and lots of pictures :)

avery and i went to the store yesterday to get zane a card and some flowers for finishing his presentation to the dept. of education at work...avery picked out the most colorful flowers and was having a hard time not ripping them apart while we were strolling through the store. zane got home from work, read the card, saw how beautiful the flowers were that avery hand-picked and then we let her go to town!

luckily, none of the petals really got in her mouth, and she had a blast destroying zane's present :)

avery with her newest and best friends ever. they'll always be there for her...

i think we'll have to start stocking the changing station with toys and goodies for her to play with...trying to put on a new diaper when her feet are all over the place--as close to her mouth as she can get them--is a challenge.

and then...today we got outside for some MUCH needed fresh air and warmth in belmont :) my parent's are still down in myrtle beach, but i had some things that we forgot to pack up when we left in a hurry last saturday. anyway, avery got her first real feel for grass. she was frustrated that she couldn't pull the new "toy" closer to her, so we didn't spend too much time off the blanket.

we got to see meghan before we hit the road, and since avery is usually in tears when someone else comes into her space and doesn't look like mom or dad, we tried a new trick. meghan slowly got avery used to her being there and once she seemed comfortable, we put avery on her lap facing out, thinking she might not realize who was holding her if she was looking at me. it worked for a while and we got a picture of them together with no tears! (she looks mad in the picture, but was actually really enjoying herself!)

hopefully everyone around here got to enjoy the nice-ness outside and anyone who's far away got nice-ness of any kind :)

ps, can anyone tell me why sometimes you can click on a picture to make it bigger, and sometimes you cant?? i do nothing different when i post them!?

road trip

we headed down to boston again this weekend...avery's fever was pretty much gone on friday, so we took the opportunity for her to get some sleep in the car (she didn't nap very well all day). we had a ton of greasy gross food on friday night--a luxury after eating sparsly all week to save money and use up a lot of the food we already have here so we don't have to move with it.

on saturday, carrie and meg (two of my college friends) came by for a visit :). we gossiped. ate. drank coffee. and hit up target only to be stalked by an employee who called avery a "big man". a strange but fun outing that needs to happen more often! it was surprisingly beautiful out--so much so that avery got a bit of a suntan/burn when zane took her out in the stroller for a walk.

then zane and i stopped by my friend denise's house to meet her 10 month old luke! he is adorable and into lots :) it was fun to see what we have in store for us in a few months! we finally were able to get the kids close to each other to take a few pictures. most of mine came out too bright with my crappy camera (hint: zane, mother's day is coming up... :)), but i got this one "mid grab" :) they seemed to like each other--hopefully it won't be too long before they get the chance to play again!

we decided to come back home on saturday afternoon/night after avery had fallen alseep in the car (after almost a full day of sleep striking) and zane had left all his homework/master's work at home. he got the final draft of his research paper sent off on sunday morning, so we had the rest of the day free for packing, cleaning and fighting the urge to nap :) avery did all the napping for us and is back on track with sleeping through the night we hope! after one of her naps, i got her up and plunked her down in her activity bouncer and a few minutes later looked at her and she had completely soaked through her shirt (not sure if it's visible in the picture...)this is why i try and have her wear a bib at all times :)

this week looks to be really nice weather wise...hopefully that alone will be enough to coach zane through this tough week. if not, avery's got some giggles she can spare :)

my poor baby...

yup. she's sick :( she had a slight fever last night, but managed to sleep through the night without too much complaining...after she woke up from her nap this morning she felt really warm, so i took her temp again and it was 102.4...the nurse i just spoke to assures me that this is a "beneficial fever" and unless she doesn't respond to tylenol or starts acting really out of sorts, the cold just needs to run its course :( i'd give anything to be the one sick instead of her (and since zane is getting over round 2 of his cold, maybe i'll get my wish in a couple days, haha.) for now i'll snuggle her til she pushes me away and hope she feels better soon...

Gigantor.

so, we had avery's 4 month appt. today! she checked out perfectly and even made the dr. laugh with her screeching and chewing on her toy elmo's nose.

she weighs just under 18 lbs (17 lbs, 13 oz.)--she weighs more than 98% of her peers--and is just over 26 in. long--she's longer than 96% of her peers.

i was prepared for some kind of speech, but the dr. said she's been following her own growth curve beautifully and to not change anything we're doing...except food...he gave us the go ahead on feeding her solids up to twice a day, hopefully trying to add in some rice/oatmeal cereal with prunes once in a while (to get her even more iron).

i planned on taking a picture today, but didn't get a chance earlier and now she's passed out upstairs...in addition to the shots she got today, we think she's coming down with her first cold :( she hasn't been cranky, but definitely more mellow and laidback. we'll see how the night goes!

talking and rolling...well, not really...

the other day we took a break from packing/paper writing and tried to get avery to like being on her tummy...we've gotten progressively longer, but she's still not a fan. with our help, she's able to roll over most of the way from her back to tummy, but it's not a big priority for her to learn, since she hates being on her front. (video is taking long to upload, i'll update later...)



at some point (maybe it was snow in april...again), we realized it's been just about a year since we first saw avery on ultrasound. amazing what a year does... (april 4, 2007...april 6, 2008)



i finally got a little bit of her "talking" before she goes to sleep. lately, it's turned into more "shrieking", but in a happy way :) i don't care how she falls alseep, really. it's just nice that the routine doesn't have to involve hours of rocking, shushing, pacifier retreiving or humming. she's doing it all by herself :) (it's dark/black 'cause there's nothing to see :))

sunny days!

just a quick blog to thank my friend bridget that i worked with for avery's new sun hats! they're so beautiful :) here's a picture of her in one of them...it was hard enough to get her to stay still so i could take this one :) we love the hats and they will come in SO handy down in new orleans! thank you thank you thank you! (do you have this amazing talent that you've been hiding from me?!?)

avery's first thunderstorm :)

so...it's finally april :) and today there was finally some melting of snow! i would have taken avery out and planted her foot in some grass if it a) wasn't all pretty dead and b) completely muddy and swamp-like in our yard. there'll be other opportunities...we did just have a pretty small thunderstorm come rolling through. nothing like thunder to make it really feel like spring :)

avery now goes to bed between 6 and 7pm... i'm grateful that she's fallen into such a great schedule that helps her sleep better and not get crabby, but i miss the heck out of her all night (funny though...at 3am when i get woken up, i'm not so emotional about the missed time :)) right now zane's working on his master's stuff, the animals are all asleep, the satellite's out because of the weather and my glass of wine is empty...so...onto a couple more pictures...

these pictures are just 2 months apart (don't let the christmas bib throw you off :)) i know i say it a lot, but i really can't believe how much she's grown up...it's time to start planning another (ha, april fools :) someday, but not yet...)

yay KU!

zane and i ended up getting chinese food tonight to celebrate being able to watch a sports team from kansas (hopefully) win :) i did have to leave the room when there was 5 minutes left cause i couldn't handle the anticipation--zane didn't get it at all, saying "but you're not even from kansas. you probably can't even name 5 players on the team". he's right. and i'm not sure why i got so involved.) luckily zane made me come watch the last minute. kansas ended up winning! very exciting. i wish i could even say who they're playing next, but i can't. just that they made it to the final four. (i can't wait to see pictures of andrew in his ku get-up!...maybe he can be their mascot someday!? :) jen and nate, i told zane to call you guys to celebrate, but he got sucked into cops instead. but the feeling is there all the same)

a couple of random pictures from today. we gave avery a taste of sweet potatoes. she devoured them. now all she has to do is see her spoon and she gets excited and opens her mouth :) after she had a few bites, i gave her the spoon to inspect. she immediately put it in her mouth herself, but wasn't very impressed when it didn't have more food on it. then she tried shoving it towards the back of her mouth, so...no more spoon to play with. when she understands that she shouldn't be gagging herself with the spoon, she can have it back :) (quick poll: does she need a haircut or maybe just a bath?)

then tonight, i was trying to get a bottle made while holding avery and it just wasn't working out well so....

...into the laundry basket she went. it was cozy, she was comfy, who needs baby toys anyway?! :)

FOUR MONTHS!

so avery is "officially" 4 months old today (i'm not sure if most count by weeks-16, which she hit last week-or by calendar days). it's really hard to believe that we'll be moving in less than 3 months...judging by how fast the last 4 went, i can't imagine how we'll ever be ready, but i'm sure it'll happen.

avery's sleep has completely turned around! she gets put down when she's still awake and most times will talk to herself for a while before she falls asleep (if she's crying it's because she's hungry--she seems to like to fill her belly completely right before she sleeps, for both naps and night-time). not having to get out of bed most nights has been wonderful! in the morning she seems to get up at 6:15 (no matter what time she goes to bed) and talks anywhere from 5 minuts to an hour, then usually falls back to sleep until 8. who knows how long this pattern will last, so i'll enjoy it while i can :)

two HUGE thank yous (avery is so lucky to be in this family!):

*to grampa lloyd and grandma nancy: thank you so much for the calendar and mom's journal! i already have the calendar months filled out and when i get a chance, i'm going to print out pictures for the pages :) and it'll be so fun for avery to be able to read about her mom and dad and their lives before her! (our cats thank you too--they've been seen licking the cover :) i think they smell other kitties!)

*to grandma kathy and grandpa dan: avery has already tried her mouth on the teether and loves it! we love the lullaby cd and can't wait to get a cd player for her room! the chick is a wonderful addition to her growing collection of pigs :) and here's a shot of her with her new outfit! (its the best i could get cause she was so interested in her feet). thanks!!

hope everyone has a great weekend!

are you kidding me!?

yup. more snow. another 4-8 inches...after yesterday's balmy 49 degrees, this just feels extra bad today :( avery's face expresses her disappointment beautifully :) (and susan, if you're reading, thanks again for this hat!!!! she gets compliments on it whenever we go out!)

standing :)

so i was trying to take some pictures of avery's new bathing suit (which has to go back b/c the 12 month size is too small...) and once she decided my hand didn't taste very good, she pushed me away and stood proudly all by herself leaning against the couch for a few minutes.

:) they grow up so fast...

ps, cassidy--when avery is a little older we'll have to come out to hawaii and you can be our personal tour guide!! :) thanks so much for all your comments! it feels so nice to know you read it and enjoy it :) avery says a gurgly "hi!" and we miss you!!!!!!

just a note...

the video from yesterday is avery's first laugh...and we caught it on tape :) when it started, zane was standing at the sink and i was singing her a song. she started to giggle and zane turned around shocked, i started to cry and we both stood there like idiots until we realized we should get the camera :) it was one of the best days so far...

the most beautiful sound in the world!

*please ignore my annoying "song" and the phone ringing!*

great weekend all around!

so we had a really nice "vacation" away from home for the weekend. it was so nice to be out of new hampshire and down in mass where there was no snow on the ground! i went to my friend meghan's wedding shower, which was beautifull done...wonderful food, sunny and airy room, good company, beautiful celebration and avery was a CHAMP! she mostly sat quietly with me and looked around (and tried not to cry when someone got in her face :)) by the end of the party, she was letting a few people hold her and starting to make some of her cooing noises.

i'm so mad i didn't get a picture of her all dressed up for the party (or one with the both of us dressed up), but we did get a good shot of her ruffle-bottom pants :)

it was semi-nice when we got home from the shower, so we all bundled up and took avery (and the dogs) for a walk past the house we'll be moving to in june! it was a nice little outing--something we don't get to do around here, with no sidewalks and living on a fairly busy street.

and... the scariest easter bunny on record, maybe :) i thought i was going to get a nice picture of daddy and his little girl sharing a nice moment with bunny ears added. at least avery couldn't see what was holding her :) she may have screamed...it cracked us up though...

so. the countdown is on. just 30 more days until our new orleans vacation. a lot of zane's work for his master's is due (ie, he's presenting his research) the weekend before we leave. it will definitely be a well deserved break for him!