My Fave!

This is my favorite pic of me and Avery b/c she is smiling.

This is, of course, one of the Jami Ainsworth portraits. She does an amazing job! Thanks, Jami!

Fun, fun....pics are online!

We had a fun afternoon! We went to the mall...to buy yet another hat. Charlie has wayyy more hats than I have purses....ridiculous :)! Oh well, after writing my last post, I guess he deserves them. Anyway, our mall just got remodeled and they add a 2 story carousel (I forgot to take a pic of it) and the Build a Bear workshop opened. I love having Avery so little and I know everyone always says they wish they could 'shrink' there big kids back to lil precious babies, but when I see those things I just cannot wait until she is big enough to ride on the carousel and tell us which bear she wants and pick out the outfit! Ahhh....there is so much fun to be had in the next few years!!! We decided not to build a bear just yet, since she really wouldn't know we did it anyway, and she has so many already (see pics below that I took last night). I felt kinda silly in line with eighteen 3 yr olds ready to stuff my bear....lol! But it will be so much fun when she is a little older and can understand a little more. Aunt Lindsey and Cousin Bram are coming to see Avery this afternoon...I'm so excited, its been a while since we've been able to see them...I'll try to remember to take pics.

One more very exciting piece of news is that I got the pics back from Jami of Avery's newborn session. She was about 3 months in these pics and she was sooo tiny! I can't find a way to post the incredible slideshow online but you can view the pics through Jami's website. Just in case anyone doesn't know, Jami Ainsworth did the pics. She is an amazing photographer, we will be going back as soon as Avery can crawl to take some more! Let me know if you have any questions about contacting Jami for pics, or click her name in blue above to visit her blog. To see Avery's pics, just click this link:

Avery's Pics
Under July 2008, click "Miracle Baby Avery - 7/27/08"
Enter your email address (any email will work)
The password is "miracle" (All lowercase)
Click "Enter proof viewer"
Then view the pics!

Also, you can click "Slideshow" at the top of the Proof Viewer page to see one after another.

Also, for grandparents, etc this is a great way to order the pics. (Just click order, below the pic, or write down the number and size and email me at caseydwelch@yahoo.com to let me know what to order you!)

*THEY EXPIRE 8/27/08 SO MAKE SURE YOU GO SEE THEM - THEY ARE AMAZING!*

Let me know if you have any problems viewing them.

Can you spot the baby? : )



Beautiful Blue Eyes!

All ready for a trip to the mall!

She was an angel the WHOLE time!


Welcome to Build a Bear...


Such a sweet girl!

Daddy's Tips

This morning Charlie and I were trying to get the house straight and Avery was a little fussy. Charlie said 'watch this'. He wrapped her up in a blanket, gave her a paci and layed her in the crib, he turned the fan on and the radio on. I just looked at him and rolled my eyes, thinking it would never work. As I type, she's snoozing! I always think I have to rock her to sleep - but daddy knows all the good tricks. I read in magazines that having a baby makes a marriage a bit harder so I was expecting the worse - its been just the opposite in my experience. Watching him be such a loving, sweet, wonderful dad makes me fall even more in love with him. He is just the best! His days off from work mean that he has Avery all day long (b/c I'm at work). On Saturday's and Sunday's, when I'm off, I expected him to not really want to have any part in changing diapers, feedings, etc. but he's just not that way. He is a full time daddy and a full time supervisor! (Oh yeah, he's a full time husband, too). Everyone praises moms who stay home, because they have the hardest job - and I certainly agree - but I praise Avery's daddy - who works 40+ hours a week and has never once complained about taking care of her in all the remaining hours! He's just the best. Ok, enough bragging about my husband...

Avery turned 6 months old Monday! I have pics below. We had to have blood drawn Friday and I hated it, as usual. They had to do a heel prick and they couldn't get enough blood so it took forever and she screamed the whole time. We go for shots on the 30th...wish us luck! She is getting to be such a big girl. I turned the swing on yesterday and it would barely move with her in it and I just replaced the batteries! It amazes me how fast she is growing, even though she had a rough start.

I didn't realize she had a little wet spot on her outfit, but these will have to do...ooops!

Everything went great with Avery's trip to Vidalia. I went straight from work Friday to see her and brought her back Saturday morning. She had a great time and Nonna got a lot of cute pics. We missed her too much though, I think that is going to happen few and far between - sorry nonna and poppa! I also got the pictures back from the newborn session and I am so excited, they are amazing! Unfortunately, I have the wrong disk so the slideshow Jami made is in Vidalia and I'm not going back until August 9th. Maybe mom can find a way to upload it to my blog?

Avery had her first and last juice bottle this week, the doctor said juice is ok but I did some reading online and I don't feel very good about it, so we aren't going to do that anymore. She is eating her first solid food, sweet potatoes, this week too and I'm increasing her feedings to 7 oz. Ms. Piglet likes her bottles! She will be 6 months tomorrow and that is just unbelievable to me. I can't believe we're halfway to one year...time flies when you're having fun!

Here are some pics from this week:

Coach Potato

Addicted to TV!


ESPN is on, as always...she better get used to it!


"Golf is boring...how do you work this thing? I need cartoons!"


Sportin' her new SIZE 2 diapers!!!

Fun at Nonna's

Well, as you can see Avery is having a BLAST at Nonna and Poppas. Mom sent me picture/email updates throughout the day at work. She hasn't had one fussy fit and from the pictures I can tell she is definitely not missing us yet. Still, can't wait to see her tomorrow!!!

Averyless

Well...guess what??? I have no lil' Avery here tonight. My parents are on vacation this week and we needed a sitter for Friday so they decided to take her to Vidalia for a few days. I'm going to pick her up Friday night. I was really nervous about it, not at all that they wouldn't take perfect care of her, but more that she might not be an angel the whole time. She had a fever and a little virus earlier in the week, the doctor said she was fine, but I'm a little worried about her being a good girl. I hate to think of them being up all night, or her not knowing where she is. Charlie thinks that she may start to miss us, but I've read that separation anxiety doesn't start for a couple more months. I don't know though because today when they got here Charlie left to get lunch and she pitched a fit until he got back and held her. She does the same thing to me sometimes though - she's such a daddy's girt! Well, I will keep you updated on how this goes. I'm sure she'll be fine, I may be the one who needs to chill out! :)

We did find out at the doctor that she weighs 13 lbs 9 oz! WOW! She is on the 10th percentile for weight and 15th percentile for height (25 3/4 in). Dr. Khanfar is very pleased with her progress! So, I guess the formula did its job for weight gain but you can imagine my tremendous guilt that just as I start to give very little breastmilk, she gets a virus! UGHHH!

Here are some pics from earlier this week...

Her skinny jeans and pink polo...too cute!






I have to ride in this thing...again???


We lost the shoes somewhere along the way : (

Well, I meant to do this post last night but time got away from me. A year ago yesterday we found out (for sure) that we were expecting. It was the day I had the test at the doctor's office. Wow, what a year! Avery is doing great. Early Steps came for the quarterly meeting and she has accomplished all of her goals before we expected, so we had to make new ones. I'm so proud! :) We finally put together the high chair (THANK YOU POPPA!) and so of course I took some pics of Avery in it. There are some other pics that Charlie took with his phone too. Have a great weekend!

She's very clean...so of course, this was before she ate!


Da-da trying to make her smile


Lookin cool in her new shades...


GO CUBBIES!


Life is Good!


Nonna and Poppa also came to visit this week....

Your Prayers Worked...as always!

Avery has one big, beautiful brain! YAY! I just heard from Dr. Pena's Office and the head ultrasound was all clear. We will see him again in 4 mos to check her measurements and do a follow up but if all is normal, she will be released from neurology at that point.

As always, thanks for your prayers! : )

Say a Prayer for Avery

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Avery needs to go have a head sonogram tomorrow at St. Francis. When Dr. Pena (the neurologist) mentioned it to me he really acted liked he wasn't concerned, I was not alarmed at all. The other day I glanced at the doctors orders and it said "Diagnosis: Hydrocephalus". That did scare me. I'm assuming he has to write that for insurance to pay but its still scary to see it written on her form! So please say a prayer for her that all will be normal - no bleed and no water! Just a big, beautiful brain! Nonna and Poppa decided to come up today to spend the night and go w/ Charlie to the hospital tomorrow. I have to work so it will be nice for him to have someone to go w/ especially when a baby is involved.

I took some pics of us today. She is wearing an outfit that was mine when I was little! Mom pulled a lot of my baby clothes out so I'll have to be sure to take pictures of my outfits that she wears.

Happy 4th!

Here's a few cute pics I took this morning, until she got tired and pitched a fit (see last pic!) We are having a quiet day, Charlie had to work so I'm cooking and cleaning and paying bills...fun fun and more fun! ha. I thought about taking her to the fireworks but they don't start until 9 and she can't have mosquito repellent yet AND i think they might scare the mess outta her! Oh well, we did it big for Memorial Day so I figured its ok to take a holiday off! Hope you have a great 4th...me and Avery sure will!

Her Uncle Sam pose...


Look at those blue eyes!


OK, enough already...


I think its safe to say we need to move up to 3-6 months...her bloomers are showing!


I said....ENOUGH ALREADY!!! Now I'm going to make you pay!

Avery has definitely found her voice! She loves to scream (happy screams) and talk now. It is the cutest thing. I took a video of it today!

I can't get it to post right, just follow the link!

http://tinyurl.com/6oxyob

WE'RE ON THE CHARTS!!!!

This has been a WONDERFUL day. I deserved it - yesterday was horrible! But today has been much better than yesterday was bad (does that make sense?) Anyway, today is so great b/c at Dr. Pena's office Avery weighed 13 lbs, 0 oz!!! I was amazed. This is nothing short of a miracle. This means since her appt with Dr. Khanfar (11 days ago) she has averaged over 2 oz per day in weight gain. (Before that she was averaging less than 1 oz a day, which is why Dr. Khanfar was concerned). Also, Dr. Pena, the neurologist said that he feels she is completely normal. Her head circumference is on the charts too. He is repeating a routine head sonogram (first done in the NICU) to check on the possible bleed that was reported at that time. This will be done Monday at 2:30. If everything is normal he will see us in 4 mos and release us at that time. If there are problems, he will see us right away. After Dr. Pena we visited Dr. King, the cardiologist. He still hears the murmur but says every 5 month old he listens to has the same murmur and this is not the concern. The concern is the hole in her heart, which everyone is born with but he will check her at 1 year of age and do an echo cardiogram to make sure the hole is closed. If it remained open, this could be linked to migraine and strokes later in life. So we won't see him again until December, if its closed he'll release us, if not we'll see him once a year for an echo. Her EKG was completely normal. At his office on a manual scale she weighed 12 lbs 8 oz (still averaging over 2 oz weight gain per day since June 20th). The other office had a digital scale, maybe that was the difference? Either way I'm ecstatic. In the NICU we were warned it could be a year before she was on the charts for her actual age. But today she is in the 10th percentile for 5 mos (actual age) and in the 50th percentile for adjusted age (3 mos, from her due date). This reminds me of those days in the NICU when she had not gained an ounce in a few days, I think she was stuck at 2 lbs 12 oz for about a week, and the day she got big enough to go to an open crib. I couldn't count all the miracles we've experienced in the last year. Thank you all for your prayers. Since your prayers seem to work so well, feel free to pray that we will sale the house! (THANKS!)

Here's the video of Avery eating her first meal from a spoon!