4 Years

Photo credit to Jami Ainsworth

Four years ago today, I married my best friend. Planning the wedding was so much fun and the wedding day was absolutely perfect (not completely legal, but perfect). You see, we didn't take the time to research the laws that say you can't obtain a marriage license in Louisiana, and be married in Mississippi...but that is another story for another day!

So, as I was saying, that perfect day I will always remember...who knew what lay ahead in the next four years of our lives? Who knew we'd move into our first house, get jobs with a great company, Charlie would get two promotions along the way and I would find just the right place in this company that I love. Who knew we would find out I was pregnant, on birth control, completely unexpectedly. Who knew we'd sit in a sonogram giddy with excitement wondering if it would be a girl or a boy. Who knew the doctor would come in to break the news. Who knew I would lose this precious baby boy that I was just getting to know. Who knew a little over a year later, once again, we'd get a surprise. Who knew, once again, we'd sit in a sonogram room, trying to forget the past, just wanting to see the 4D sonogram. Who knew we'd rush to the hospital and meet the most precious little girl in the whole wide world. Who knew for 58 days we would practically live in the NICU and learn all sorts of things we never wanted to. Who knew she'd make our marriage even stronger. Who knew I'd fall in love more with him every time he talked to her with his 'baby talk' voice. Wow. Marriage is so full of ups and downs, and although I pray the next 4 years go more as I plan than the last 4, I realize now some of the best things in life just aren't planned. What matters is that you have your amazing husband by your side to see you through. And of course, your amazing parents. Speaking of, my parents are also celebrating their 26th anniversary today. I know that without their example, I'd be a totally different person than I am today. They love each other more than I can begin to explain. So here's to them, and their example, and here's to us...and all of life's surprises. And here's to the next 60 years with my high school sweetheart!

My Little Climber

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Avery is trying to climb on everything! She loves to try to get in her blow up playpen. I really think one day she is going to throw herself in there and land on a mountain of toys!

The Lost Entry

It has been quite a week in the Reeves household. My little girl has turned into a little diva this week. She is throwing fits left and right! But she saves them all for me, of course, I'm sure because she loves me more :) She has recovered from Ear Infection #2 and a rash that was caused by her immunizations. I think maybe her molars are coming in. Actually, I hope they are coming in because that would explain why she is acting so strange!

Here are some pictures from a weekend in April when Avery got to meet a horse and ride on a 4 wheeler (Yes, I must've had a moment of temporary insanity!) This was at Charlie's dads house - Avery's papaw. I thought I had already posted them, but the post was only saved to draft. Ooops!

Cousin Bram looking at Avery and Papaw

Avery watching Aunt Lindsey taking Bram for a ride

Avery and cousin Bram

Taking a ride on the 4 wheeler!

New Tricks

Avery - 16 Months Old

First of all, let me apologize for my blog slacking self lately. Where do the hours in the day go? The only reason I had a chance to do this today is because my husband was off of work and cleaned the house and took care of supper and everything! 

Avery is 16 months old today. Wow, how the months have flown by! She is such a big girl now and is always doing something new. She loves her friends at daycare and has adjusted so well at Mrs. Tina's house. She is walking like a pro, she has tried running a few times too. She climbs on everything now, and tries at least a few times a day to climb into her blow up playpen (the one she got for her birthday). I have got to take a picture of that. She gets both of her feet on the bottom part and grabs the handle and tries so hard to throw herself in! She is talking a good bit, and now knows that the lamb says "Baaa" and the doggy says "Growl" (well actually its more like a bark and a growl combined - but it is so adorable!) We are weaning her off of the paci - she usually only has it at naps. We have been giving it to her when we drop her off at daycare, but today she didn't have it at all. Part of me wants her to grow up and do all the things that big kids do, and part of me wants her to stay my lil baby forever. It is so cute to watch her with the other kids, Charlie said in the morning they all come up to her and say "Hey Avery". She is the tiniest one but he said she just starts to babble, like they understand exactly what she is saying! How adorable! She is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I really do love her more every day!

 

Mouth full of cupcake - HAPPY 16 MONTH BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!

Avery LOVES peas, she will eat them until she is sick, one-by-one. The other day I put the rest of the peas in a plastic container and stuck it in the fridge. I ran in the living room to clean something up and came back and found that I must've barely left the fridge open...Avery had opened the fridge and started eating the peas! lol...

Then she grabbed the container of peas....

Then mommy thought it would be cute to take just a few more pictures...but not before Avery had a chance to DUMP the peas all over the floor!

Mothers Day 2009

Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!

I had a pretty good day. For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about all the women out there who want so badly to have a baby and can't. I kept thinking of how unfair this day must seem to them. I remember Mother's Day 2006, standing in church and feeling so alone. It was only about a month after I lost the baby and it was one of the tougher days. I also thought about those who have lost their mom and how hard that must be. My heart goes out to them.

I will definitely not be winning the Mother of the Year award in 2009 (no, seriously, my mom actually did win that award one year - we got to ride in the limo w/ her!) You see, I did not take a single picture of me and Avery on Mother's Day. What is wrong with me??? I think maybe I was thinking about the burger that Ruby Tuesday never brought to me. That's right, on the one day of the year we get 'recognized' they completely forgot my meal! Oh well, life goes on! Anyway, I got something much better than a cheeseburger - I got my first Mother's Day card...made by Avery! I was stunned. Mrs. Tina said that she actually did scribble some on this...I was so proud! (Hello People! That is one of her developmental goals right now!!! hehehe...) I know it is something I will cherish always. It always seems so silly for people to cherish crinkled paper with scribbles all over it. But once it becomes your own lil princess making those scribbles, it makes complete sense!

Those look like the scribbles of a child prodigy to me!

Look at that little hand!

And now for my Mother's Day gift...we are taking a much needed weekend getaway! It has been a while since we've gone anywhere (just the 2 of us) and I can't wait! I know I will miss Avery like crazy but it will be good for all of us. Nonna and poppa are coming and I know Avery will have a great time with them!

March for Babies 2009

Today was the March for Babies. I was so excited to be able to turn in $1,799 that I raised. Thanks to everyone for your unbelievable support. And special thanks to my mom, who did a 'jean day' at her high school to raise $543! Although the economy is worse than ever this year, we raised more than ever at Chase - $20,399.25 (up $7,000 from last year)!!!

The walk was this morning and we had a lot of fun. I think I got more (much-needed) exercise than I have in quite a while - the walk was 4 miles. But we walked through a beautiful neighborhood in the Garden District and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! Nonna came down to spend the day and take all of the pictures you will see below. It's so moving to think that the money donated to March of Dimes could actually fund research that will end up saving babies lives! We had a great time and the newspaper lady even got a few shots of Avery and asked us some questions about her. Of course, if she made the news I'll post the link tomorrow. Again, thanks to those who donated and if you didn't get a chance, feel free to click here and give!

Enjoy the tons of pics :) 

THANKS, NONNA!

"Class of '08 NICU Graduate"

What a beautiful little miracle!

Even da-da came to walk!

We had a great time with our little princess!

A few of the preemies at The March (Avery on the right)

These were 2 preemies...their mom was the chair of The March this year. The little boy on the right is 5 years old. The shorts he is wearing are the same size as Avery's (12 mos). He has a form of dwarfism, and has just been diagnosed. March of Dimes is currently funding research to find out how this particular dwarfism is caused and prevent it...this story really touched me (and mom, of course!) because he was 2 lbs, 5 oz at birth - 3 oz heavier than Avery. I heard so many preemie stories while fundraising and was continually reminded how blessed we have been. Please pray for this little boy.

"What's the hold up people? LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!!"

(This is exactly how her mommy looks while sitting in traffic...I HATE sitting in traffic!)

"Okay...this is what I'm talking about, now I'm seeing some progress!"

Cheerleaders leading the march...me in the pink on the far right...

The newspaper lady snapped a shot of Avery and Nonna and then asked us about her.

Avery was such a wonderful little princess...and enjoyed every moment... I remember thinking during RSV season, "This child is high maintenance" but the truth is she is just a doll (if I do say so myself). She is really laid back and a joy to take anywhere. She did not whine one bit (which is more than I can say for her mommy at about Mile 3!) We even went to eat at McAllisters after - she had been up since 5:30 with no nap and she was so much fun. She walked around and introduced herself to everyone!

As you can see, Avery enjoyed the view!

Our 'team' shirt: Faith, Love, Hope - Miracles Can Happen

Oh how we've watched the miracles over the last 15 months!

Nonna taking a break from the camera, Avery enjoying  some juice...

"Weeeeee........................Swinging is fun!"

"Are you telling me I just rode for 4 miles and all I get is a sticker that says, 'I did it!'?"

I was seriously proud of my sticker...lol...Avery (on the other hand) didn't look too impressed!

Seriously?

Charlie just called to tell me the Day 2 Daycare Dropoff Report:

So I was prepared for her to cry some today, knowing that she would be staying there all day.

Man, was I wrong!

Charlie said she REACHED for the woman, went to her and was smiling and happy! Didn't cry the first time. OMG I thought I was happy yesterday, man this just keeps getting better. The other children were all coloring and Ms. Tina said that Avery's cousin, Sebastian, had asked about 15 times, "Where's Avery?" I'm so excited she will get to spend more time with him...

Once again, I'm tickled pink!

Thank you, thank you, thank you - for your prayers and sweet comments :)

HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A WONDERFUL DAY TOO!

Oh Happy Day!

So..I'm torn. My plan was to leave the March of Dimes post on the blog for about a week, hoping my generous blog readers would donate (and some have - thanks so much!) Buttttt....I'm so stinkin' excited about Avery's first day at her new daycare, that I think I'll blog...and I have some Not Me Monday's to share but not so sure I'll get to those. If I were smart enough to add a song to the blog, today it would be "OH HAPPY DAY!"

Charlie dropped her off and she did much better from the start. I love everything about the new sitter. She is an in home daycare and her mother helps her. There are 2 other kids Avery's age and some more kids between ages 2 and 4. It is very relaxed and you can tell the kids love Ms. Tina and 'Mimi'. She said once Avery gets a little bit older they will do lessons every day. Avery's cousin, Sebastian, has gone to her since he was a baby. He is  2 1/2 now and he can say the Pledge of Allegiance! Tina also gives a recap sheet of when and what diapers she changed, when and what she ate and when she napped. I love automatically getting that info, without having to ask every day. She will let Avery have her paci, when she needs it, and Avery sleeps in a Pack n Play, rather than on a mat. When I picked Avery up she was still napping. Tina said that she did great, cried a little bit during the day, but mostly just played with the other kids. She said that she ate a really good lunch too! Avery seemed happy and didn't cry when she saw me (like at the other daycare) or when I put her in the carseat. I was so encouraged by today and SO happy to find Ms. Tina - thanks to Gigi!

We also had a fun weekend. We took Avery to church again, since RSV season is over. I had decided that First West is too big and I wanted something a little smaller so we can get to know the other people a  little better. First West is a great church but sometimes I feel like people don't know whether we're visiting or we've been going there for 15 years because there are so many faces! We tried a new church and it was okay, it was pretty far from our house (we went with a friend from work) and pretty stressful with a 14 month old. I thought if we waited till we got to church Avery would nap through church, but that didn't happen. It really feels like she is disrupting even when she's just babbling a little. I think it's pretty impossible to keep a 14 month old completely quiet and still for over an hour, unless she's sleeping. It makes it even more worse to think we are first time visitors and attracting all that attention. Anyway, we are trying a little bit bigger church next time and I'm hoping we'll be less of a distraction. Eventually, we'll find a church we're comfortable with and possibly even let her stay in the nursery - but it will be a while before we get to that point. 

After church, we went shopping to look for da-da some golf clubs. I keep telling him he is dreaming, but somehow he always has a way of convincing me to agree to buy whatever he wants. I am standing strong though :) Avery had a fun time at the store, and of course she got a few new things. Why can't I go shopping anywhere without buying her something? 

Thanks for your prayers and concern about the daycare situation. I am definitely seeing an answer to prayer where daycare is concerned. I actually didn't feel guilty about being a working mom today :)

What's a girl to do when she's bored at a sporting goods store? Easy... Step 1 - Unload mom's purse...Step 2 - Throw the contents on the floor one at a time and try to eat the coupons...Step 3 - Watch mom pick up every single thing you throw out...Step 4 - Repeat!

And to think she still got a t-shirt and a bouncy ball!

First day at daycare outfit...

Texting as usual! ;) 

Of course, we don't leave home without our handy dandy hand sanitizer!

Da-da and Avery before church

"Where am I going with this silly bow on my head, huh???"