3 Month Check-Up

Well, the doctor's appointment went way better than I anticipated. First things first, Avery now weighs 12 pounds 4 ounces and is 23 inches long. Dr. Ballay said she looks beautiful and 'has nothing to complain about' as far as how Avery is growing and progressing. She noticed how much Ave is drooling, so we took the opportunity to ask about that again. She said that babies don't typically teethe until 6 months, but Avery could be one of those that does it earlier. More than likely though, it's just her salivary glands getting ready for food.

And then came the shots. This visit, she had to get two. Right when we got to the office, we gave Ave some Tylenol, which proved to be great timing. The nurse administered the shots and, as expected, Avery's face went completely red and she began wailing instantly. I can't even explain the look in her eyes, but I'm sure all you parents out there know exactly which one I'm talking about. As soon as I could, I picked her up and cuddled her, then Ed gave her the pacifier. And oh my, what a difference a pacifier can make! She started to calm down right away.

Before we left the office, I nursed her in the nursing room and she fell asleep. She continued to sleep while we were putting her into her carrier, and then she slept the whole way home. The night was fairly uneventful (a far cry from the last time she got shots), until the Tylenol wore off. She let us know right away once that had happened. Lots of crying with real tears. We calmed her down though, gave her some more Tylenol, and rocked her back to sleep.

So that was our day on Tuesday. Much better than I expected (which is good, because we have to get even more shots next month).

I hope your weekend is wonderful - we don't have a lot planned, which is lovely. Will try to update again within a week.

Wow, It's Been A While

I know it's been forever since we've posted anything, but it's been a busy few weeks for us. I'll try to give you as brief a synopsis as possible. (BTW: I'm still not sure if the photos will appear, so if they don't, that's why there are references to pics that aren't there.)

After we got back from visiting Avery's Great Grandma Shirley and attending her Nana's wedding, we finally went to Reagin Optometric Group so the office could meet Avery. It was sometime during that trip that we lost my phone. This was very upsetting for me, as it had unposted photos of Avery from when she was born. (We also don't have a home phone line, so it was quite inconvenient.) After driving myself crazy looking for it for an entire week (and making three more trips out to the practice to search there as well), we saw online that someone had found it and began using it as their own.

Here is a photo of the generations from our first trip to the office:














At the end of that week, my mom called to tell me that Grandma Shirley's battle with cancer would soon be over. After a long night of not sleeping, I took Avery into bed with me and prayed at 4:00 am for Grandma's safe passage and for my aunts to find peace, then drifted off to sleep. An hour later, my mom called with the news that Grandma had passed away. She was a strong woman who lived a life that was quite difficult at times; and yet despite her hardships, she managed to raise 8 amazing daughters and 1 son, creating a family full of love that all of us are proud to call our own.

In order to attend the funeral, Avery and I flew out to Florida on that Sunday, and Ed drove to meet us the next day. Here is a photo of us on Avery's first flight:















Even though the reason for the trip was very sad, it was so great to visit with more of the family. I haven't seen some of my cousins in many years, so we had a good time visiting. Many in my generation are having kids now, and there ended up being five of my Grandma's great grandbabies present. Here is a picture of them with their mommies:




















The funeral was lovely. My aunts did a great job planning it and my uncles' words were so heartfelt. It was nice to see how many people's lives my Grandma touched.

Before we all left, we took this family photo at Aunt Nancy's house:














After we got back from Florida, we had a spend-the-night party with Amy and Griff at their lake house, and Avery rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time. She had also just started being able to be propped up against pillows and sit unsupported (however briefly). Here's a cute photo of her doing that at Amy's:















That weekend, we also drove to Georgetown, GA, for Mimi's dad's 80th birthday party. It seemed like Mimi and Pop had a great time introducing their little granddaughter to everyone.

Since they'd been asking for a photo of Avery, I took a slew of great pictures of her before we went and printed this one off (she looks different with a closed smile and without her double chin, doesn't she? No worries though, it's still there!):















This past weekend was another full one. We went to Dusty and Kelly's on Saturday night for dinner. It was the first time that the six of us had been together since we were in the hospital with Avery and Liam. We ended staying the night and had a great time visiting. Ed and I both agree that we should do that more often.

And then there was Father's Day. I hope I was able to make Ed's first one as good as he made my first Mother's Day. Originally, I had been thinking about making him breakfast, but since we were at Dusty and Kelly's, Ed ran out and brought back a dozen hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts instead. Yum! Once we were home, I gave Ed cards from Avery and I as well as his gift from her (a family figurine with a mom, dad, and baby from the Willow Tree Collection). For my gift to him, he has an open invitation to fund any one of a number of home improvement purchases he's been wanting to do. That night, he taught me how to make steak and assisted me in making him dinner (I don't cook, so this is a big deal). It was tasty.

Before we cooked, I took 'Daddy and Avery' photos to commemorate the day. We got a number of good ones, but this is my favorite:




















Tomorrow we take Avery back to the pediatrician for her second round of shots. As you can imagine, I am truly dreading this. Despite all the obvious reasons why it's a good thing, I have yet to hear one that makes me feel any better about doing something that makes her cry the way it does. Hopefully it won't last until 9:00 pm like it did the last time. That was heartbreaking.

Well, I simply cannot type anymore. I hope this was sufficient as an update. I'm sure there is so much more, but this was already too long for my taste. Hope you all have a good rest of the week.

So Much To Write About...

Sorry it's been so long since we've blogged, but there's been a lot going on lately. The last you heard, our little family of three was headed to Florida to introduce Avery to her Great Grandma Shirley and to celebrate Mom and Jim's wedding. Due to the obvious distractions, we failed to mention that Avery had her two-month visit at the pediatrician's the day before as well. As of that visit, she now weighs 11 lbs 5 ounces and is 21 3/4 in long. She received 3 of the 5 recommended shots, and we will be going back for the remaining 2 this month (which I dread wholeheartedly). She was very unhappy about the shots (she literally wailed until 9pm that night).

Back to the Florida visit: After a 9 1/2 hour drive, we made it in town Wednesday evening. I had to spend the last 45 minutes of the ride playing with Ave's legs to get her to stop crying since she was so over being in the car by then. Adam, Aimee, and the kids arrived in town at about the same time. We spent a bit of nearly every day visiting my Grandma. She's very ill, so it meant a lot to us to be able to have Avery spend time with her. Avery seemed to bring a lot of joy to Grandma.

Mom and Jim were married on Memorial Day, which also happened to be both of their birthdays. The weather was perfect - it was a beautiful day. All of Mom's sisters ended up being in town for the wedding, and I'm sure Mom was really glad to have them all there. The ceremony was lovely, the reception at the restaurant was fun, and I'm sure everyone had a great time at the afterparty.

Because the wedding was at the beach, Avery got the opportunity to put her feet in the ocean for the first time. We tried to stay out of the sun the rest of the trip since she's so young, so we were happy that we got the chance to do it. She also got to go into a pool for the first time, which meant that we were able to put her into her adorable little tiny swimsuit for the first time, too. She seemed to like the water.

We drove home last Tuesday, which was a very long car ride. 11 hours long. Avery didn't like being in the car before we drove to FL, so by this point, she was completely done with the car. We had to stop for a late dinner at Steak and Shake for an hour just to get her calm enough to go back into the car. It was 1am when we finally got home.

The rest of last week seemed to go by fast. We took Avery to Reagin Optometric Group for the first time to visit everyone there on Saturday. We lost my phone at some point between there and home. So if you've been trying to call me, that's why you can't get me. Grandma Mary and Auntie's Melissa and Julia brought by lunch on Sunday and visited Avery for the first time in over a month. (Mary is a teacher and was keeping her distance until school got out to avoid exposing Avery to excess germs.) I'm sure they were surprised at how much bigger she is now. We may even see Auntie Sarah this week, too. She's back in town after graduating from Kentucky last month.

So there's your update. We are currently at full capacity for Picasa uploads and are trying to whittle down our gallery, so you may not see photos on the next couple of blogs. Hope everyone is well and will try to update this again in less time than it took this time. Happy June!


Update: Sorry about the lack of pictures, folks! I'll work to get it resolved tonight. -Ed