Happy Half Birthday, Avery!

I (Rachel) have always loved celebrating half birthdays, whether it is 5 1/2 or 25 1/2, so it is especially exciting to be able to celebrate the first half birthday of our baby girl! I thought it would be fun to have a half birthday party, and we could wear half a birthday hat, and Avery could wear half her bib, eat half a jar of peas, and...... What actually happened, was that I made dinner, and then Avery went to sleep, and that was the day. Nothing crazy. Oh well, we'll try again next half birthday.

So the other day I went to get Avery from her crib, and she was STANDING. Standing! Holding on to the crib rail. I couldn't believe it. She has since been trying out her new skill, and has succeeded a few more times. She has barely started crawling! I tell ya, it's hard to keep up with this girl. She moves fast. She definitely keeps John and I laughing. When we're not laughing, our character is being tested through and through. Avery is a daily reminder to me of how I need to rely on God for strength, patience, kindness and love. I come to the end of my rope pretty easily, and I am forever thankful that God's 'rope' doesn't end, and that I have access to Him through Jesus. Thank you, Jesus!

Avery also started eating 'real' food this past month and seems to really like vegetables. She hasn't really tried much else. We keep telling her she's missing out by not eating things like pizza, or lattes, but she seems pretty content with milk and peas - for now.

This is her first time eating rice cereal - yum. I tried it too - not so tasty.

She is beginning to resemble John in more ways, and this picture shows it well.

"I can sit now!"

Playing with her toy box and toys

Going for rides in her toy box

Fun with the mirror:

July

Avery is 4 months old!


This past month Avery has really started exploring her surroundings, and has become more and more interactive. She's definitely not the baby that will sit quietly - she wants a piece of the action! She will grab anything she sees, and put in right in her mouth. She doesn't even like to sit in her chair much anymore - not enough room to roll and move. :)
She started sucking her thumb this month - yae!! She also has mastered rolling - any direction, anytime!
We've made several trips up to Hume over the last month, some just work related, and others to hang out with family or friends. A highlight this month was spending several days up at Hume with John's parents, sister, brother, and sister-in-law. Another highlight was helping our friends build the deck on their house. Avery has several friends up at Hume - three with birthdays within two months of her! John's sister, Kelly, is working up at Hume - at Wildwood, the camp both John and I worked at in college. It has been so fun to be able to see her more often, and to visit her up at 'the wood'.
The fourth of July was a fun event for us, as John was introduced to a central valley 4th - setting off fireworks! We spent the day with some of our good friends in town, and the guys had a blast (literally) setting off fireworks in the street.



She's going to be a reader...

A little unstable in her shoes

ah, 7:00....ready for bed time :)

Avery loves the bathroom. She loves looking in the mirrors, and touching all the shiny things. If she is fussy, often just a trip to play on the bathroom counter will cheer her up.

Avery is twice her birth weight - at over 14 1/2 pounds.

Avery helping John with some work. She liked the mouse.

Avery's first trip to Sonic. Yummy! (for us, that is...)

Grocery shopping at Trader Joe's

We found her sleeping like this. She had a smile on her face and was very content!

Visiting Kelly at Wildwood

Avery and her friend Thomas, playing while their Dads build a deck.

Fourth of July!

Happy 3 Months, Avery!

It's hard to believe it's ONLY been three months since Avery was born. She is so much a part of our lives that the pre-Avery days seem far away. She continues to bring us so much joy, as she grows and grows and grows. Here's a quick snapshot of what she's been doing this past month. We recently got her a jumper toy that lets her stand up, since standing up is her favorite position. She seems to have skipped the whole sitting-crawling stage and is just working on her standing-walking skills. :D We'll see how that pans out. She often acts like a little puppy when we hold her - almost imposible to hold still, and many times jumping right out of our arms and laps! She loves to roll all over her crib, often while eating Mr. Cow (her toy, not a real cow). She also is perfecting her vocal skills. Sometimes she will wake us up reeeeally early in the morning with yelling and squealing - all happy sounds, but definitely screams at the top of her lungs. I am sure the neighbors can hear. She will often just 'talk' for minutes on end, and have 'conversations' with us. She tells us all about what it's like to be a baby, and we were able to capture on video her reflections on what it's like to be three months old (see the video at the bottom).
She defintely keeps us busy and entertained!! We love her so much and thank God for the past three months, and pray for many many more to come.


Laundry Day!!


uh oh, here it comes................Ahhh!!!

"Life is good... two fingers to suck on, and I can jump as much as I want."

Playing with Mr. Cow

"Yummy yummy Mr. Panda."

"This is MY Mr. Cow. Don't even think about taking him."

Avery does NOT take a pacifier.

Bedtime Stories with Dad!

"Seriously, Mom - you're taking a picture of this?"

I love baths!! (but I forget that every time)

"Being 3 months old is pretty sweet...."

In her own words, what it's like to be 3 months old (sorry it's sideways):

Weekend at Hume

We just got back home from spending five days at Hume for staff summer orientation. Even though John is working full time (year round), he still was part of summer orientation with the rest of the full time and summer staff. While he was in meetings and working all day, I had the pleasure of babysitting some of our friends' kids. I didn't know exactly how watching three kids under the age of 4 would pan out, but I had fun and everyone made it through alive. =) The weather was pretty chilly and wet, but so beautiful. Camp started yesterday, and we anticipate God moving in big ways this summer. He is a big God!

Grandma & Grandma J visited for a few days, too!

walking on the table in the Dining Hall - Avery loves to "walk".

Put away the summer clothes, it's almost snowing outside!

catching some zzz's

Heat

It's sooooo hot here!!!

Summer has come to the valley!

Avery is 7 1/2 weeks now - and growing up so quickly! Every day she seems heavier, and we are beginning to see bits of her personality, which is fun. So far our hunches from when she was in the womb have been true. Avery is turning out to be a very active girl! She loves to move, and doesn't like to stay still. She is already using us as jungle gyms!! Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. I'm going to try to take more pictures of things we're doing, especially as we take a lot (hopefully) of summer adventures.

Mother's Day in Turlock

Sleeping with Grandma :)

4 Generations of women!

We are trying to stay cool the first day it was over 100 degrees when our air conditioner went out.

She sure can put down the food :)

Avery Eating My Arm

She's trying so hard!

Week 4

Here are some new pictures of Avery from week four. It's hard to believe it's only been four weeks since she was born. We have really enjoying her this past week, as she has been adjusting to life with us more and more. She has been doing SO much better than the past few weeks, and this is partly due to the hours she spends sucking on our fingers! :D She has become much more vocal, with happy and not so happy squeals - they are funny. She is also smiling a lot more, and is getting heavier! We love her!!

Week 3

It's hard to believe it's only been three weeks since Avery was born. She has changed so much already (in our eyes)! Our lives have changed quite a bit during the past three weeks as a result of Avery, and also in other ways. Last Saturday we moved from Orange County to Fresno, and we are so happy to be living in Fresno! We're slowly getting settled in, and will someday be unpacked. Avery has been quite a handful this past week, and we are hoping it is just stress and overstimulation from everything we've put her through, and not anything more serious. You would never guess from the pictures below she could cause her parents grief, but boy can this child scream!! 

This is Avery when she realized we were going to the mall!

Finally - rest! 

Bath time photo shoot:

Beautiful girl!