We're Smiling Now!

Avery started smiling this week. As of right now, it's mostly an accident when she does it. But earlier today, I did get her to smile in response to me talking to her. Amazingly enough, I managed to get these photos on Tuesday, when she wasn't smiling on purpose.

By the way, this is the first outfit we had for Avery. Nana bought it for her on a shopping trip out with Aunt Sandy. At the time, we were far away from 20 weeks, so she purchased both a girlie outfit and a little boy's ensemble. This is the first time she's worn it, and I happen to adore it. The navy blue in it matches her eyes perfectly.

Avery has learned some other new tricks in the past few weeks as well. The first thing we noticed her doing that was exciting to us was following our faces when we moved from side to side. Since then, it's become clear to me how much further away she can see. It's harder for me to sneek out of the room now because she keeps an eye on me at all times during the day. She's also learned how to fake cough. She likes to do this when she's getting fussy. This makes me laugh.

What isn't funny is her other latest discovery. She got so upset yesterday that she decided to hold her breath until she turned completely red. She did it for so long that it left little red dots around her face for the rest of the night. This was upsetting to all three of us. We think she scared herself, too. When she finally took a breath, she immediately calmed down and laid on my chest (then went to sleep). We hope to not have to see that last trick again.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd give you some insight into how Avery is growing. After her shot 2 Fridays ago, she had a low-grade fever every night (and was very fussy) for about 10 days. Her nursing routine was also thrown off. Since then, she's finally started getting back into her self-imposed nighttime schedule. She's nice enough to give me 3-4 hour stretches between nursings during the early morning hours.

We're still working on sleeping as much in the bassinet during the day as she does on me. It doesn't matter that I wait until she's been sleeping for a while, she's on to me most of the time and knows what's up as soon as her body hits the mattress. And then she's awake again and we do it all over in hopes that this time will be successful. In the meantime, I've purchased a Maya wrap sling and am learning how to wear it so that I can at least get something done during the day, whether she's in her bassinet or not.

Well, that's good for now. I think you have a good idea of how things are going at Casa Reagin right now. We're completely head over heels in love with this little girl and wish you all could see her more. At least we have the blog!

Have a great weekend!

Better Late Than Never...

In light of the fact that we sent out birth announcements (finally) this week, I decided it was highly past due that I share some of Avery's newborn photos with you all. We received the disc for them a couple weeks ago, but I was so distracted by getting the announcements done that I didn't even think to post the pictures.

Aren't they adorable!?!

Avery Meets Her Cousins!

Well, last weekend didn't exactly go as planned, but we still had a good time anyway. Adam, Aimee, and the boys were supposed to drive down from Denver on Tuesday, and we should've had a long weekend of visiting with them... unfortunately, between CO and GA, Conner (the 2 year old) came down with croup, so our plans changed. Instead of coming over right away when they got into town on Wednesday evening, they visited Aimee's family and friends. Thursday morning, they took Conner to Avery's pediatrician where he received a shot and they learned that he'd be contagious for another 24-36 hours. This, of course, was bad news for us.

We were finally able to visit with all of them on Saturday. We had dinner with them on Saturday night and they came back over on Sunday afternoon and stayed the night with us. Since Avery is still too young to go out and about, there's not a whole lot to talk about from the time we all spent together. It was mainly just a good visit with family.

We did attempt a walk to our neighborhood playground, but the distance was grossly misjudged, it was misting rain, and there was a beer-spilling incident before we even got down the street. So needless to say, it just ended up being just a walk to get the excess energy out of the kids and dog (mainly the dog, I'd say).

Avery did get her first shot at the pediatrician's office on Friday. She could have gotten it at the hospital, but we chose to hold off until her one month visit. As expected, she cried and her momma was upset for her, but she recovered very quickly as soon as I picked her up. She weighs 8 lbs 13 oz now and is 21 in long. She's growing like a champ!

Here's a few photos from this weekend:



Aimee and Avery

Alec, Avery, and Conner

Gavin and Avery

Ed and I also had our follow up visit with our doula, Tracey, this past Saturday. We talked about the labor and how we felt about it, she gave us a timeline of the day, and she showed us the photos she took while she was there (she gave us these as well). This is a photo of Tracey, Avery, and I. We are so glad we hired her for our birth. It would've been a completely different experience without her there.

Anyhow, enough for now. I must go spend some time with my husband and our little girl now that he's home from work. Have a great rest of the week!

Play Time!

Ed and I finally got out the 'play gym' last weekend for Avery to practice tummy time. We were able to get her to stay on her tummy without fussing for about 10 minutes (maybe less), but then we turned her over and she was perfectly content to stay there for a while. We got a lot of really cute pictures from this, so we decided to share some below. (We wish we could figure out how to put more than just 4 photos on each posting....)

One Month Old!

Avery is officially one month old. I personally cannot believe how much time has passed since we went into the hospital to have her. I tried to recreate her first photo, but this is the best I could get (for obvious reasons).

In all honesty, it makes me sad that time is going by so fast. I know that I'm going to love watching her grow and experiencing every stage of life with Avery, but I just wish it would slow down a bit.

Ed has been back at work for over two weeks now, and I really wished that he could've been with us today at 3:27, when she was officially 4 weeks old. All day today I kept thinking about where we were at and what we were doing on this day a month ago. I talked to Avery a lot about it. March 16th was a really special day for us - one that words don't adequately portray. While I'm sure it would be impossible to do, I hope I don't ever forget the feelings I felt when our sweet baby girl first came into this world.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Grandpa & Great-Grandma Bennett have driven down from Saint Louis to spend Easter with us. We have had a nice weekend with them, and will be sorry to see them go home on Monday. They agree with pretty much everyone else, Avery is a true cutie.

The weeks are flying by. Tomorrow Avery will be 1 month old! Katie and I talk about how fast the time is flying by. From what I hear, it only gets worse - kids keep growing up. Avery is much more alert each week, she is holding her head off my chest and shoulder for longer each day. I am getting better at deciphering crys and baby noises - Katie is a pro at it.

The following are a few pictures of Avery we took to celebrate Easter. Everything in the picture was a gift to Avery from very special people - thank you.

She slept for about the first minute in the basket.

She woke up for a few minutes before she wanted out. This was her "smiliest" basket picture.




After the basket session, we put her down into the bassinet for a bit - she looks so dainty in her Easter dress.

Finally, Katie and I managed to capture some of her baby sounds. We are glad we finally got it. Lately she has been less grunty and has started to make more melodic sounds for us.


We are still trying to capture her yawns on video - After each one she has a little grunt/sigh - but she is starting to quit those also.

Three Weeks Old

Avery turned 3 weeks old yesterday and we wanted to share some photos in commemoration. We can't believe it's already been that long!

We've had a good week so far. Our little family of three brought Nana Church's Chicken during her layover at the airport last night. We ate chicken (or breastmilk for one) in the car and got to visit for almost an hour. Then today Grandma Mary came all the way over from Alpharetta to visit with Avery and me since she's on Spring Break. And of course, we'll be seeing even more family this weekend.

Have a great rest of the week!

Avery's First Bathtub Bath!

Avery got to have her first bath in a bathtub last night. I think she may end up liking baths as much as her Mommy does.

One of the first photos we took.

She looks like she's smiling here.

Look at that belly!

Mommy and Daddy couldn't resist taking each other's picture with the Avery girl in her tub!

After the Bath...

We like this picture, even though it's blurry.

Cuteness

After her bath, she was tired, but calm and alert for a little bit, too.

Then she fell off to sleep for a good three and a half hours (yay!). So now we have another trick up our sleeves for going to bed at night.

A Busy Week...

Well, everyone is asleep in the house (including the dog) except me. I'm waiting for Avery to wake back up and eat again. So since I have a minute - and we're overdue for an update - I thought I'd use it productively.

Avery and I went back to the pediatrician this week for a weight check. She is now up to 7 pounds, 2 ounces. We've gained back quite a bit since weighing in at 6 pounds two Fridays ago! The doctor said that she looks good and that everything is going well with her. She does have acid reflux and a diaper rash (already), but we have a prescription for some souped up Vaseline and have elevated her bassinet mattress to address the issues.

Actually, when I asked about the reflux, she was only spitting up a tiny bit; but since it was coming out of her mouth and nose when she was sleeping, it made me nervous enough to ask. I would've preferred the problem to stay at that. Unfortunately, last night she began spitting up what seemed like all of her milk almost immediately. Not only was this upsetting to me, but it also created a vicious cycle in which Avery would demand to eat, then have a big spit up, then demand to eat and do it all over again (and again). This lasted until 2am. Finally, Ed stuck her in her stroller and wheeled her in circles around our living room until she fell asleep (he says it took 60 rounds). Daddy did not get a lot of sleep last night...



Despite the not-so-fun evening though, Avery and I did have a good day yesterday. We went out to Buford to visit Kelly and Liam. Kelly had Liam the day after Avery was born, and we were in the same hospital. (You might have noticed the picture of our two babies next to each other in the nursery from a previous posting.) This is the first time we've ventured out to visit them. We only stayed for a few hours, but it was really good to sit and chat with Kelly. It would've made a good picture to see us sitting on her couch holding our babies together. We did get some cute photos of them in Avery's Boppy pillow though. I especially like the synchronized babies one! (By the way, Avery got all dolled up for them in the outfit from the photo above, but right before we took these pictures, she decided to pee all over it while I was changing her diaper. So we had to put on our backup sleeper. At least they were both wearing green though - it looks purposeful, I guess.)



Avery is on the left and Liam is on the right.



Anyhow, I think I hear Avery stirring now, so I better go. Other highlights from this week are that Ed went back to work. (This, of course, made me sad.) He has also begun a new position at work as of this week. I think he's now called the Reliability Engineer, but I don't want to wake him up to confirm - you'll have to ask him about it later if you want the details. The pediatrician's appointment marked my first venture out of the house alone with Avery. It went well - I was actually on time. Then we had our second venture out when we visited Kelly and Liam (I was not on time on that day, but it was storming so I can blame some of that on the weather).

Still to come: I think we might give Avery her first bath in a baby bathtub this weekend. Her 'belly button crusty' (my official terminology) fell out and we have doctor permission. Other than that, maybe we'll get to clean up the house some over the next two days. It's starting to feel oppressive. Grandma Mary's Spring Break is this week, so she'll be visiting. And Nana is coming through town on a layover on Monday night, so Avery and I will see her at the airport (in my car) then. Then next weekend my dad (Grandpa Bennett) and grandma (Great Grandma Bennett) are coming into town to meet Avery. So we should have plenty to post next week. Stay tuned and have a great weekend!