Porche Family Pictures

I have been meaning to post these for a while now! When Avery was about 8 weeks old, we decided that we wanted some family pictures since I was finally feeling like I could let myself be photographed ;) My friend Katie Davidson of Katie Davidson Photography (www.KatieDavidsonPhotography.com) is an amazing photographer so we decided to do a session swap! I took pictures of her precious family of 5 (3 boys!!) then we switched and she took pictures of our family of three. Although Avery decided to not show a single one of the smiles that is usually on her face, I am SO glad we did this and hope to do it again soon! Here are my favorites!

Avery Monthly Update - 3 Months

This big girl is already 3 months!! I know she is still an "infant", but I say big girl, because this has been a huge month for her developmentally! Her personality has really started to come out and I am loving every bit of it!

Dear Avey,

I can't believe I have only been your mommy for 3 months!! I truly feel like you have been a part of me forever. Maybe for good reason- I know that you have been a part of my heart forever and that the Lord planned you for me since the beginning of time. What a perfect match he made! One of my favorite things to tell you over and over again is, "You are my Avey and I am your Mommy." Simple- but a phrase I hope you will always remember and take with you no matter how old you get. The love in my heart for you cannot be quantified, but I hope you will always feel the strength of it. Even when you are old and I embarrass you...and you might even say you hate me a time or two, I hope you go back and read these and always know how much I truly love you.

Wow- 3 months!! What a month this has been for you! You now can hold your head up all by yourself! I have started carrying you on my side instead of like a baby or over my shoulder. You love to be held up under your arms and bounce on your legs. You still hate tummy time, but you love your bumbo seat and are getting very good at sitting in it. In a few weeks, I bet you will start to live in your little seat! 

You have definitely discovered your voice this month. You LOVE giggling, cooing and gasping. This week you have even started to grunt =) It is the cutest thing ever. Another one of the extremely cute things you do is when you let us know you are getting sad...you pucker your bottom lip out and stare at us to let us know that you are about to cry...we can usually stop it with this fair warning, but we always tell you, "That is the saddest face EVER!"

You love, love watching the Baby TV channel in your bouncer and Baby Einstein DVDs. You are still not the biggest fan of your carseat when you are awake, but whenever I get back there and play Baby Einstein on my phone for you, you forget all about hating your carseat =) You still love bath time, play time on your play mat, and your sheep skin rug. We love playtime with you. We can stare at you, watch your smiles, and listen to your noises forever. Your giggles are the best. You absolutely love being held up to the mirror and looking at yourself and us...I think this would have to be your most favorite thing right now! We also took you in the pool for the first time this month...you loved it!

I went back to work this month so I can buy you pretty dresses and fun toys. It was hard leaving you, but you have a great nanny, Courtney! She absolutely loves playing with you all day long...and I love coming home and scooping you up! Courtney sends me pictures and videos of you all day which definitely help get me through my workday. 

Next week, we will have the keys to our new big house that we bought for you. We are so excited to give you a back yard to catch lightening bugs in, your very own play room to play dress up in (which is my own special project), and a front porch where we will rock, drink lemonade and carve pumpkins together!

Everyone cannot get enough of your smiles and laughs, Avey. You are still the happiest baby ever. Whenever someone is talking to or smiling at you, you stare at them and give them the biggest smile back. Thank you for being so cute and happy. Thank you for always continuing to sleep through every night. Thank you for loving everyone so much. Thank you for being ours.

I love you so much and I LOVE watching you grow and turn into who you will be for the rest of your life with each new day. Your Dad would want me to tell you how much he loves you here too. You are definitely Daddy's little girl and have quickly become his whole world. Happy 3 Months my Aveybug.

Love,
Mommy


Here are some pictures from your third month of life-

Here are some adorable little videos-

Some of your cute noises and grunts on July 4th!

I was videoing you while you were resting...then you spotted me!

We were having some fun with my phone :)

One of your favorite things to do...watch Baby Einstein!

2 Month Happenings

To Work or Not to Work??

Wow, never did I think that I would wrestle with this thought SO much. Before Avery was born, it wasn't even a question for me. Of course I was going back to work after maternity leave...I had a GREAT job at an AMAZING company and I worked for and with some pretty wonderful people!

Then one of the best things in my life happened- Avery was born. Wow, do these little people change your life a lot more than you can ever imagine....and your emotions/hormones! I never expected the emotional roller-coaster I would be on the first few weeks. No one tells you about this part. I had developed such an incredible amount of love in my heart for my little girl. I just couldn't fathom the thought of leaving her to complete strangers 5 days a week for 8-9 hours a day. I felt like our bond would be broken, that she wouldn't love me as much and even that she wouldn't know I was her mom. I swear I called Jason crying at least four or five times in the first few weeks telling him how I couldn't bear the thought of that. Jason would always tell me that he wanted me to be happy and supported me in whatever I decided to do. While I love having his total support, this did not make the decision easier for me. In fact, only one thing did...

Time. As the weeks of my maternity leave went on, not only did my hormones start to level out, but Avery also started to grow. She is now not the helpless tiny infant that I brought home, but becoming a very independent little baby with a ton of personality. And I definitely know now that she knows I am her mom.

My main fear of going back to work was due to Avery's happy and independent personality. I could picture her being left in a bouncer in the corner of a daycare room while all the other crying babies were getting attention. Avery has the sweetest little heart, smiles and laughs. I don't know if I could forgive myself if these things changed. My biggest need/want in life right now is her happiness. I want her to feel loved and happy every second of the day. Ultimately I realized that it was selfish of me to think that I was the only person that could make her feel this way. This was how Jason and I came to the conclusion that a Nanny, despite the steep costs, was the best decision for Avery at this stage in her life. We will probably start her in daycare/preschool when she is old enough to interact with other children and grow in this area. Right now we simply want someone to hold her, cuddle her, love her, make her laugh and just let her know that she is loved...all day.

After my hormones went back to normal, and we discussed the possibilities of a Nanny, I decided that I simply cannot leave such a great company and position at this point in my life. I feel that (as long as Avery feels loved all day) I will ultimately be helping her and making her life better. We will be able to provide for all of her needs and wants and give her the best life we can. Being at work all day, will make me cherish EVERY single moment I will get with her from the time I come home from work to the time I lay her in her crib. I will probably live for the weekends, not because I dislike my job at all, but because I get to spend all day again with my little girl! Thankfully, I also work for such a great company to whom work/life balance is very important, so I am lucky that they are working with me to change my hours so I can get home to this little one an hour earlier at night! I also have a very driven personality that is greatly fulfilled by my work. I hope to show Avery that you can do both, be a great mom and also a hard working one at that.

I wanted to share my struggle because I know that every working mom goes through this, especially with their first baby. Hormones can do CRAZY things both during pregnancy and after :) But I learned that in the end, through a whole lot of prayer and consideration, it will all work out how it is suppose to- whatever that decision may be for you.

Avery Monthly Update - 2 Months

Avery is now officially 2 months old...and these have been the absolute greatest 2 months of our life! It is the most amazing waking up everyday and knowing that Avery is in our life. Sometimes, because it is so amazing, it still feels unreal! We have been really lucky and blessed with a super sweet, happy and easy-going baby. It is amazing to me how God created the most perfect little person to join our family. There isn't one thing we could even come up with that we would change...she is just perfect for us and we are so lucky to be her Mom and Dad.

Dear Avey,

Wow 2 months?! In a way, it seems like time is flying...but it also feels like you have been a part of our lives forever. That is how perfect you make our family. I can't even remember what our life was like without you...probably because I would never want to =) You truly are the light of our lives. Your Dad and I love you more than you could ever even know.

Everyone says that you seems so much older than 2 months...it's true!! You make SO much eye contact, are so alert and you just smile all day long. I've truly never seen a happier baby. I hope that is because we make so you happy, but I think it is mostly just your personality. I hope you never lose that =) Sometimes we lay you down to play with you, and you just smile and coo at us for hours...literally hours! Your neck control now is so good and you have just started holding it up all on your own! One of your favorite things to do is when we stand you up on your feet...you could stay like that forever just looking around!

Your favorite part of the day is getting harder to say, because you are truly happy all day long! You still love bath time and play time, but I think you really love waking up in the morning. Whether it's your Dad or me that gets you from your crib, you are all smiles for hours! Oh by the way...you have never stopped sleeping through the whole night since about 2 weeks. It's incredible! You go to bed around 10pm and sleep until 7am or 8am. You are just the best =)

You are starting to grow A LOT! You are still in most of your newborn clothes because you are so tiny, but because you are so long, we have to put some 3mo. size clothes on you (but they are still a bit large!) I can't wait to find out your weight at your 2 month appointment!

I only have two more weeks at home with you until I go back to work...that makes me really sad, but I found a GREAT summer nanny for you, so I think you will have a TON of fun =) I also probably won't be able to let you go from the moment I walk in the door after work to when I put you to bed, so get ready!!

We are in the process of selling our condo and (fingers crossed) hopefully moving to Vinings/Smryna in July...where we will have A LOT more room for you and all of your toys! I will be sad to leave our condo which has so many great memories (my favorite is bringing you home to your nursery for the first time) but excited for the new chapter in our life! Hopefully you will have a new little sister or brother to play with in our new house...in a few years =)

We love you so much Rae Rae. I can't even begin to write how much, because it isn't possible! You are the sweetest and happiest baby in the world...and I will do my best to make sure that that never ever changes.

Love you bunches,
Mommy

Here are a few pictures from your 2nd month of life (see- you are ALL smiles!!)-

Here are 5 videos (I couldn't pick just 1) =)

Avery's First Trip to the Beach

When Avery was just 6 weeks old, we decided to brave taking her to the beach to celebrate Mother's Day! Dad had to stay behind and work, but thankfully, we have another beach trip coming up in June! We stayed just for 3 days at a small little cottage in Seaside. The beach was a little harder and less relaxing with an infant, but it was so much fun showing her the beach and so much better with her there :) Here are some pictures from our trip!

Easy Mother's Day Craft

The week before Mother's Day, my friend Jamie Grace, sent me this adorable craft and we decided to give it a go! It was a little harder than we thought...but well worth it!! I am so glad I captured Avery's precious little newborn hand and footprints to keep forever.

 Take a look and if you have a few extra hours one day, give it a try!

Ingredients and Instructions: (we tripled this recipe and were able to make about 12)

2 cups sifted flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Bake 3-4 hours at 200 degrees

The reason that this took us so long (over three days) is not only because of the baking time, but also because we were constantly soothing crying babies, changing diapers, feeding, etc...but here were our little craft helpers...we couldn't have done it without them (literally) =)

 First we started out mixing the ingredients-

 

Then we rolled the dough out into little circles. We used a cup, but a rolling pin would probably work better =) We then used the edge of a glass bowl to make them a perfect circle shape. I also decided to make some in heart shapes with a cookie cutter. You can use any cookie cutter for this as long as it is wide enough for their little hand/footprints!

After they were all cut out, it was time to get the babies in attempts to get their little hand and footprints on the dough...this was NOT easy! It definitely took two of us- one to hold the baby and the other to open up and press their hands and feet down. Be sure to press hard or you will not be able to see the indentions well!

Once they are all pressed, they are ready to bake! We increased the temperature from the 200 degrees to 250 degrees and it worked well. They need to bake for a full 3-4 hours!

Let them cool and they are ready to paint!! I chose light pink to match Avery's nursery and an ivory color for the ones we are giving our moms.

 

I ordered a burlap ribbon from Etsy to tie them up so they can hang on the wall. You can also get a plate display holder so they can be displayed without hanging as well! Ta-Da...the finished product!