Headin' Out

Joe, Avery and I are heading out to Utah for my brother David's wedding. This is an extremely exciting event that is YEARS in the making and we wouldn't miss it. It is also our first chance to show off Avery to my side of the family. We will be staying to celebrate Christmas as well, so don't expect any posts for a week or two. Talk to you later!

The Doctor

We went to the doctor's yesterday. Since Avery is 2 months it was time for her immunization shots. I was anticipating that this would be a difficult visit, but it was easier than I thought it would be. My regular doctor (Dr. Apley) was not available until after vacation so I met with Dr. Scharf. I love him. He says all kinds of things that make me laugh and feel like a good parent.

First, Avery has more than doubled her birth weight! She is a solid 9 lbs. 13 oz. and measures 23 inches long. She went from being in the 3rd percentile for her weight to being in the 25th percentile. WONDERFUL! She had a bit of a runny nose and the Doc. said that it seemed she was fighting a bit of a cold (Dad is sick) but that she is otherwise in great health.

Second, he says she looks like she will be a genius. This falls under the heading of "things he says that make me feel like a good parent." He says that because I talk to her so much, sing to her, and make a lot of eye contact that she will develop very quickly mentally. He thinks she already look smart. I love a good doctor!

Third, shots. The nurse was great at this. Avery had to drink one first, harder than I thought, and then get 3 pokes. I couldn't watch but held Avery's hands and looked at her face. In less than 10 seconds, I am not kidding, it was over. Band-aids on and all. Avery screamed the highest little scream I have ever heard and then she calmed down and just cuddled for a while. She then proceeded to sleep the whole rest of the day, except to eat a few times.

Today she is back to her happy, healthy and normal self and we are enjoying the cloudy and cold weather that has finally rolled in.

P.S. I saw Holly Colton there for her first visit with Maggie. Mom and baby looked wonderful and Josh is so excited to have a sister!

"It's a good thing you're cute!"

I say this a lot. Not only to my own child, but to any child I come into contact with whose behavior is less than desirable. Children, and adults, can get away with a whole lot because they are cute or do plenty of cute stuff that make us forget how rotten they can be sometimes. (Jenn, do you remember how Kate would be sitting on the couch and then when I sat down she would want my seat instead and scream until she got it, but then when it would rain she would disappear and we would find her outside dancing in her diaper? Stuff like that.)

Last night, Birdie was less than her normally stellar (and sleepy)self. Not truly horrid, but enough that I was pretty cranky this morning. To make up for it, however, she seemed to be especially cute today. Every time I turned around she was doing something or looking particularly adorable. Like after her shower today, her hair was especially fuzzy. She is in that awkward old-hair-falling-out-and-new-hair-coming-in phase so it can get a little feathery. It is a little hard to see in the photo but, trust me, it is priceless.

Then, I asked Joe to hold her for a few minutes while I got some laundry going before our daily walk. She was all dressed and ready to go just waiting for me to get my stuff going. After about 2 minutes Joe was laughing and I came to see the big joke. In no time flat my little bird had fallen fast asleep-- sitting straight up. I guess all of that staying up at night left her tuckered out this morning. (Or it could have been Dad's soothing bouncing mixed with the tedious computer activities he was doing.)

Later in the afternoon I put her down to play with her stuffed friends that hang from her play mat. She always seems to like them, but today she was OVERJOYED by her little frog, turtle, and fish. She was squealing (not quite laughing yet) and smiling like crazy. I'm not sure I have ever seen her kick her legs and pump her arms quite so hard and fast. That blurry image on the bottom right is her hand!

And if she was not cute enough, I had her taking part in her daily tummy time activities while I cleaned up and I noticed that she was very quiet all of the sudden. Again, she must have been making up for all of the sleep she missed last night.

It is stuff like this, moments as adorable as these, that help us as moms get through the late nights, crying fits, and other not-so-joyous moments of being a parent. Sometimes all we can do is shake our heads and say: "It's a good thing you're cute!" And they can be SO cute.

Christmas Parties

Last Friday Joe, Avery, and I went to Joe's work Christmas party. Of course we forgot the camera so we have no photos, but the night was quite enjoyable. Joe just mentioned the party in passing, really in telling me that he was getting off work early because there was a party that he did not plan on attending. When I heard it was his work Christmas party and that there would be dinner and dancing I told him we were going. I never get dressed up to go out so this was a perfect excuse. Avery was of course a big hit with all of Joe's coworkers and she was held all night by accommodating ladies so that I could eat my dinner and socialize without the baby on my hip. In the end Joe was glad we went and I learned that I can't wear 4 inch heels like I used to.

The next day was our ward Christmas party. I still think it feels a little early to be having Christmas parties already,but the month is FLYING by so I guess it's good they got put in the schedule at all. Instead of a long program our ward did a service project that involved putting together meals and taking them to families we knew of who could use the food this year. After that was the usual yummy dinner and 3 kinds of dessert (I had all three, two of them before I had dinner!). There was a short story time with Santa at the end of the night so Avery got her first Santa picture taken. Keep in mind this is a church event so the Santa does not look like the typical commercial Santa. He is more like a Father Christmas. I'm sure that the big yawn is nothing personal against Santa, it was just a long night.

Bath Time

Avery does not enjoy baths. You may recall seeing this image in an earlier post:

Her attitude did not really change much after her first bath. It is not that she dislikes getting wet or hates to have water in her eyes. It is not that she hates being naked or that she is somehow scared of the tub. Avery just gets COLD. And, honestly, how many of us like to be cold? No matter what I would try to keep her toasty during the process she would still end up shivering in about 10 seconds. I may be pretty fast at getting her clean, but 10 seconds is too fast even for me. The poor little dear just would shake like crazy and cry until I could get her dried off and in her warm clothes. All of this stress was wearing on me as much as it was on her. I needed a new plan. How could I keep her warm enough to get through her whole cleansing process without bursting a lung? Answer: give her a shower.

My small bathroom heats up almost instantly when the shower is running. I was thinking one morning, while I was enjoying the warmth, that it would be a perfect time for me to be cleaning Avery as well. The logistics are a little trickier than just popping her into a bathtub, but the outcome is so much better. She LOVES the shower. She just cozies down in my arms and has no problem letting me scrub her and put her under the spray of warm water. This is her new attitude towards cleaning up:

And now I have to go because my now clean little child is talking to herself in her crib. I think that means her nap is over.

Being a Parent

I have a testimony of the Gospel. I believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. Today was Fast and Testimony meeting in church and I was thinking about all of the things people are thankful for, believe in, and hope for. They tell their stories and share their experiences and then make it all line up with a gospel principle somehow. So, after much ruminating, here is my experience and gospel tie-in:

I remember having a conversation in a Gospel Essentials class (I was there with a new convert friend) about our quest, goal, task, trial, hope to be more like God, to even be gods ourselves one day. The teacher was talking about how we have to struggle and have trials in order to learn so that we can have a knowledge of things like God does. When we stumble and fall, as we all do, we have the gift of the atonement to make things right and to better ourselves. He mentioned that we often don't see these stumbling blocks as opportunities to learn, that we tend to beat ourselves up over mistakes that can potentially make us better. I think that this is true. I had a Bishop tell me once that people take much longer to forgive themselves than it takes God to forgive them. He forgives them as soon as they ask. There is still a process of repentance, but forgiveness is available and God wants so much to grant it to us. Knowing all this, some of us still struggle with the concept of God loving us enough to truly forgive some of the things we have done. We can not see how it is possible. And so we have children.

People ask me a lot why we, being members of the church, want so many kids. We have the Proclamation to the World that emphasises our love of family and belief in the eternal possibilities of them. My mom would talk about the need to raise children in the Gospel, because you know that if they don't come to us these spirits have to go somewhere. How much better for them to grow in the Gospel? But I have discovered another reason for the trial/blessing that is children.

Until now I don't think I could comprehend the infinite love of a parent for their child. I love my family members. My parents and siblings, my husband, are so dear to me. But I could not grasp the overwhelming love that makes you want to so freely forgive, that makes you hope so much that another person is cared for, safe and protected. How can anyone fully understand the gift of the atonement, God's forgiveness and unending love, His devotion as a parent, until they become parents themselves?

We need to be parents to be more like God. We need to know this capacity to love and forgive. We need to know what it is like to love so fully and completely so that we may know better our own worth in God's eyes. We must know that He wants us to learn, progress, and return home because we are His children.

2 Months!

Avery is 2 months old today! In celebration of this event I have put together a slide show that begins with her 1 month photo shoot and ends with her 2 month photo shoot taken this morning. For those of you who are not interested in the whole 85 photos, here are some highlights as well. She has changed so much in this month alone. To see the progression, these are her monthly photos side by side. I know she is still not "big" so do not give me a hard time, but she is getting so much bigger!

She can see objects more than six inches away. She is far more entertained by her play mat with her animal friends now that she can see them! To go along with this is the fact that...

She coos when she is happy. She talks to her little friends and to me when she fancies it. It is too cute to hear her talking to a stuffed frog!

She can track objects. She will watch me now during her diaper changes as I move from one side to the other.

She can lift herself up really high! If you read my blog regularly then you have seen her all propped up on her arms. If you missed it then just scroll down a few posts.

She SMILES. This is my favorite part! Oh, the joy of your baby smiling at you when she wakes up in the morning. And you can see in this photo that...

Her eyes have gotten so blue. I know that they say all babies have blue eyes, but her were really dark for a long time. This month they have really lightened up and look a lot like Joe's eyes.

She has gained so much weight! She was 7 1/2 lbs at one month and now she weighs nearly 10 lbs!

I can't wait to see what the next month brings. I love being a mom!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The ASU Art Museum

Stacie called on Wednesday and wanted to show Avery off at her work. I understand such desires and so Avery and I made our way to the ASU Art Museum! Another first for Birdie’s list. After meeting Stacie’s co-workers we had some lunch and then looked around at the displayed pieces. In general Birdie did not love the experience. I think she tried, though. I think she really wanted to give art a chance. She seemed to really take in a few of the pieces while dismissing others immediately. It was no use really. It may have been the time of day, or it may be that she is her father’s daughter, but the happiest she was the whole trip was when she was asleep (like she is usually) or when she was getting her diaper changed. We have noticed this in the last week; she LOVES getting her diaper changed. I’m not sure if it is the experience of being so close to naked or if she just likes to be up high on her changing pad, but she is happiest most of the time when she is laying on that pad. Silly Birdie!

Thanksgiving

It's a cute outfit, right? I bet you are wondering why it is not on Avery for the photo. I'll give you one guess. Like her mother that day, and most people on that day, Avery could not eat enough. It seems like every 45 minutes she wanted to eat...and eat...and eat. I wanted her happy so I accommodated. Silly Mommy. Before we could even get to the main event (for the adults) Avery and I ended up wearing her feast of the day. I never even got a picture of her in this cute little number before it was in the diaper bag waiting to get washed. We both spent the day in PJ's. She in her own, me in borrowed ones. Fun!

All in all it was a pleasant day. We gathered at my in-laws and everyone enjoyed crab dip, fresh fruit and veggies, paninis, turkey, 2 kinds of potatoes, 2 kinds of pie, green bean casserole, the biggest rolls I've ever seen, and lots of gravy. What a day.

Winter Comes to Phoenix (And Birdie Gets Bigger)

I know that these photos don't look like winter to most of you, but this is what winter in Phoenix looks like. It is gray, wet, and about to rain. I woke up this morning elated to see such dreary weather and I'm hoping to take out my little Bird for a walk later so she can experience her first real cloudy, rainy day. Don't worry, I have warm clothes for her and an umbrella.

I was getting her ready for the day this morning and I was trying to put some little shoes on her feet (part of the warm clothing). I flipped her over on her changing pad to have a better angle and the next thing I know she is all propped up and staring out the window. Usually when cool stuff like this happens I can't get the camera fast enough to catch it. Amazingly, the camera was sitting right there on the dresser 6 inches from me. I'm taking these pictures and thinking that she is just getting so big so fast now. I couldn't stop giggling at how pretty and big she is. She has even started to smile now when you smile at her, but it is still pretty rare and so far impossible to catch on a digital camera that takes 8 seconds to process before it snaps the photo. Grrr.

Right after this photo shoot she threw up all over herself and me. Fun. I changed her clothes and tried to get her to replicate her big girl talent and I was too late. By that time she was having none of it and I am pretty sure she is laughing at my attempts in this picture. I love being a mom, and I love winter weather! It has even started to rain just in the time that I have been posting. Hooray!

7 1/2 Hours

The night before last Avery scared me pretty badly. She slept for her usual 5 hours on the first leg of the night, and then, instead of sleeping for only 2 hours after that like usual, she slept for 5 more hours! I went busting into her room to make sure she was okay, and there she was just dreaming away. So she scared me, but I was grateful she had let me sleep so long after I made sure she was still breathing!

Last night was even better. I put the little Birdie down at 10 p.m. and Joe woke me up at 5:30 a.m. wondering when I had been up last. I told him I hadn't been up at all. I could hear Avery talking in the other room at that moment so I had no fear that she had stopped breathing in the night, but I had no idea that I had just experienced 7 1/2 hours of undisturbed sleep. I'm so refreshed that I can't go back to sleep! It's amazing how just over 7 hours of straight sleep can fell so much better than 10 hours of broken sleep.

Stiff

I finally finished reading this book that I started before I had my baby. It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying it, or that I didn't want to read it, it just wasn't my priority for the first month that I had my baby home. But I finally made some time and got through the whole thing. It was hilarious. The author, Mary Roach, has a quick and morbid sense of humor that I found thoroughly enjoyable. I think the book could have easily been tedious or creepy and gross, it is about cadavers after all, if her commentary had not been so delightful.
The book is not for everyone, I think. But if you are someone who would like to read about how life works on a "body farm", a Swedish doctor who is trying to patent a way to freeze bodies and break them into pieces for fertilizer, or how old men used to sacrifice themselves by consuming nothing but honey until it killed them and then soaking in honey for another 100 years in order to make themselves a medicinal remedy (yes, something a person would consume) for a younger generation, then you would like this book.

Mom's Day

I love being a mom. I love being home with my baby all day. I love when Avery snuggles with me first thing in the morning. But, I feel like it leaves me little to blog about. How many times can I say "My baby is cuter than yours. Neener, neener,"? So I think I will mention a few of the things we do together in the day.

Birdie and I love to go for walks. We go for walk every morning and sometimes again in the night when Daddy comes home. She loves to go outside and feel the very slight breeze in the desert air. It is the cutest when she feels the sun on her face she will stretch back as far as her carrier will allow and just bask in the glow. It is as though she is saying: "Ah...light." Then she falls asleep. But we sill walk and I sing to her most of the time. I know it is early but I am already singing her Christmas songs. We also sing primary songs and anything by Norah Jones. I'm trying to encourage calm emotions.

Avery also helps me with the laundry and the ironing by taking her tummy time. This is great exercise for her and much needed chore time for me. We love it when Daddy comes home for lunch in the day. We get to eat together and spend some time playing or napping. It is a great 35 minutes of the day. We will also run errands when time allows, but since Avery hates being in her car seat it does not really make for the best photos.

The end of the day, just before bed, is playtime. We get in our jammies and talk and giggle and cuddle before we put the sweet thing down for the night. This is Joe's favorite time, I think. He just can't wait until Avery is more interactive and ready to, I don't know, wrestle or play volleyball maybe. He just wants to play with her all the time.

We did manage to escape from the average routine yesterday for a couple of hours. We went with Aunt Stacie and Daddy to see the new James Bond movie. Avery was a peach; she slept the whole time. So except for the tiny issue of having to hold her while standing through the whole 2 hour movie, everything went great for our first movie theater experience since having a baby!

Derek, Michelle, and my 7 1/2 lb. baby

These are our friends Derek and Michelle. I realize that I mention them quite a bit, but I've never had any pictures of them. So last night when Joe and I went over to visit them I took my camera to finally get a shot of two of our favorite people. Generally when we see them Michelle spends the whole night holding the baby since Derek doesn't usually hold anything under the age of 2. However, Derek was interested to know how much Avery weighs at this point and I told him we did not have a scale. He ran to his bathroom and came back with one so that we could see how much bigger she really had gotten. When Michelle asked him if he was going to do the honors he said "sure". What? Okay. I HAD to get a picture of this since I was not sure that he would be holding her again for the next 2 years. Once Derek's weight was measured, we gave him Avery to see what the increase was. Now, if Derek's scale is to be believed, Avery weighs 7 and 1/2 lbs! She's now average newborn size! Still little, like we said, but not teeny anymore! And the fact that she has gained nearly three pounds of weight in her first 5 weeks is awesome! Hooray for Derek and Michelle and their scale!

Not big, but bigger

I know that she isn't a big baby. I get that Birdie is now only the size of an average baby at birth. However, she is certainly bigger! Most of her preemie outfits are way too small, and a few of her newborn outfits actually fit her now. I wish that I had gotten a picture of her with her giraffe right away, but, as it is, the first picture was actually taken when she was about a week old. Even so, I see a difference.

We also had another first for Avery the other day. On Saturday I went to a friend's baby shower and Avery got to come. It was our first occasion to put Birdie in a dress. I LOVE this dress, and I love the way Birdie looks in it. I would put her in dresses every day if I could because I think it is too sweet. Avery had never been part of such a large group. We have been avoiding large crowds and this group of a dozen was big for her. As is her habit, she slept through the whole thing. Aah, to be an infant.

Have you Voted?

Today is the day, people. Go vote.

Happy Halloween!

I admit that we are not doing too much this year for the holiday. We aren't even passing out candy. We do, however, have a couple of Halloween outfits that Avery just had to wear. The first is one that we bought with great anticipation a couple of months ago. It is still a little roomy, but it is adorable (In case you can't read it, it says: My First Halloween; Don't Scare Me!). Unfortunately, Avery was in no mood for pictures when I was trying to snap a few and by the time I could try again she had already had an accident all over the outfit. Thank goodness for Halloween outfit #2!

My friend Anndalyn stopped by a few days ago with this little number that she made at a Young Women's activity a while ago. Again, it is a little big but SO cute. My favorite part is the bum. What is it about baby clothes and having stuff on the bum that is so cute? It can be an image like this or ruffles; it does not matter. If there is stuff on a baby's rump, that did not come out of it, it is too precious!

Joe and I thought that we would take our little pumpkin out to a Fall Festival tonight and show her off a bit. Avery had other plans apparently because she had ANOTHER accident before we could get out the door. I guess she would rather cozy down tonight in her pink jammies. At least I got in a photo or two of the outfits that no one will see now. Silly Birdie.

Family Surprises

So last Wednesday I got a call from my sister, Angela. She was wondering if it would be okay if she and her husband, Micah, showed up Friday morning to spend the weekend with us. Since they live in Utah and I rarely get to see them I was elated!

They showed up bright and early on Friday and we spent the weekend doing not a whole lot more than looking at Avery and chatting. Even so, it was the best weekend I've had in a while. We did get out to Papago Park again for a walk and I got a couple of photos of Angela and Avery. I really should have far more pictures since Angela held her for about 12 hours over the three days she was here, but this is it.

I would have gotten a picture of Micah holding her too, but those instances were few and far between so I missed them. With all this baby holding going on, Micah and Joe had a little time to go and hike around another favorite spot called Camelback Mountain. I heard that their 1/2 mile trek was grueling!

Then on Monday we got some good mail. My sister Jenn sent us a Halloween care package with candy and a gift for Avery. I was just going to take a picture of the cool gift, but then I thought I should put who it was referencing in the photo too! So, check out my precious baby and the way cute letter Jenn sent. Isn't the letter "A" such a pretty initial? I love my baby!

I can't wait for December when I get to see the rest of my family and introduce them to my little Birdie.

Leelou Blogs

As some of you may have noticed, I love to change my blog layout fairly frequently. My favorite layouts come from Leelou Blogs. You can find the link on my side bar. This week she is doing giveaways and prizes for people who post about her website and enter to win on her site.

You all should check her out if you haven't yet. Her layouts are adorable and FREE! If you want something custom she will do that as well for a fee. Go to Leelou Blogs and enter to win and get a new fancy layout!

Firsts

Every day that Avery has been alive I think she has had a first. Whether it has been her first bath (pictured in the previous slide show) or her first shot (no pictures of that since it was about 5 seconds after birth), she has experienced a lot of new things. This last week had some fun firsts that I thought I would post.

Her first day alone with Mommy. Grandma Sauter was here to help out for 10 whole days and then I was left to figure the rest out myself; and rightly so. I nearly cried several times but managed to do just fine. Each day gets a little easier, but I would not mind if she decided to come back to visit. I love Birdie's surprised face; it cracks me up!

Her first picnic. Joe and I took the little Birdie to Tempe Town Lake for an evening picnic and a walk. The weather was perfect, but the park was being set up for a huge concert so it wasn't looking its best.

Her first hike at Papago Park. Okay, it was more like a stroll but it was still fun. Joe and I love that park for hiking and bike riding so we thought we should introduce it to Avery now. Avery, however, did not feel the same way and slept through the whole thing.

Her first traumatic visit to the Pediatrician. This was traumatic for me as well. I have never heard my baby scream like this before and I nearly burst into tears. Darn those rectal thermometers and PKU tests! This is her little face in the car after the event. She looked so dejected! I just wanted to cuddle her for hours to make her feel better but decided it would be better to just get her home. On the plus side, we found out that Avery has gained a whole pound since birth putting her at a solid 5 lbs. 13 oz.!

I'm sure that there will be more firsts to come and whether you want to know about them or not I will probably post about them too!

More about Avery

I'm telling you right now that I just don't think I am ever going to figure out when to stop posting a million pictures of my baby. I just think she is so cute! I have some time and some energy now so I guess I can start telling a bit about Avery.

First, she did not have a name for 24 hours of her life. Joe and I thought we had settled on one but when she came out it did not seem to fit right. We threw out a few more names but I was to tired, or too drugged, to really make a decision. Because the poor little thing was nameless she was given many nicknames in her first day.

The nurses called her Peanut. I think this is funny because Joe was calling her that in the womb.

The pediatrician called her Little Twerp. He meant it lovingly.

I call her Birdie because of the little mouth she makes when she is hungry and because she has skinny little bird legs.

Joe calls her Sweetheart.

Grandma called her Pipsqueak because her newborn cry was really this high squeak that lasted all of 2 seconds. It was cute and heartbreaking at the same time.

Random names like Runt, Monkey, Little Squirt, and Baby Girl have all been used at some point.

All of these because Joe and I could not decide on a name. I told him the next day that it was time to get serious and sit down to pick a name for this little girl and Avery May was decided. I know that Avery didn't win in the poll I had, but I did reserve the right to NOT pick the winning name. My mother and I found out later that Avery means "light and agile bird." I was so excited since I have thought from the beginning that she was a little birdie.

Special thanks needs to be given to Grandma Sauter for coming out to take care of me and Avery for the last 10 days. I miss her already and can't wait to show the rest of my family our new baby.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Baby Couldn't Wait

She's here!

Avery May Jackson

Born 10/5/08 at 8:56 p.m.

4 lbs. 13 oz. (I'll explain the size later)

18 inches long

Long story short, we are finally home from the hospital. Avery is tiny but perfectly healthy and developed. I, however, was suffering from HELLP Syndrome and could not be released until my liver enzymes and blood pressure went down and my platelets went up. It was this syndrome that also made her such a light weight since my capillaries were constricted throughout my pregnancy making the placenta and my baby small. We are all happy to be in our own house and on the mend and we will let you all know when we are ready to visit or have visitors. Until then, enjoy the slide show!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Photo Shoot

Last Sunday my sister-in-law Stacie came over to take some pictures of me and Joe. We thought it would be good for posterity, as well as family spread out all over the country, to have some documentation of our family in its beginning stages. Both Joe and I do not relish getting our picture taken, but Stacie was fast and fun so it was bearable. Good thing since I had to wake Joe up from a nap for this photo shoot. I swear that women become mothers as soon as they are married!

Make a Smilebox slideshow