So Many People!!

We have had a very busy few days-lots of visitors and visiting! It all started on Thursday when Avery and I went to her first playgroup. We went to a local library and I think she enjoyed it! She was watching all of the kids and was really good. This is her taking a little snooze after we got home:

On Friday my friends Megan and Renee came in from Buffalo for a visit. Megan brought along Noah so him and Avery could see each other. We had a nice time visiting, ordered some pizza and watched the kids.
Here's Noah with milk mouth after his bottle:

Avery (2mos) and Noah (4mos):


After Megan and Renee left, my coworker Fran stopped over for a visit with Avery. It was nice seeing her since I haven't really seen her since I left work. That will change in a few weeks though! When Fran left, Gabe and I went to Panera for a quick bite to eat then we met his parents at Lugia's for some delicious ice cream!

Saturday we lounged around in the morning. Around dinner time we went to our friends Julie and Richie's house. We haven't seen them since they visited us in the hospital when Avery was first born. Their daughter Carly just turned a year and a half so we couldn't wait for her to meet Avery. When we first showed Avery to her, Carly kept shaking her head "no". It was funny. But she warmed up eventually to give her a kiss:

and a hug:

Later, Avery took a snooze in Julie's arms:

while Carly enjoyed Avery's carseat:

Carly had fun at the end of the night showing us her high heeled shoes! She's pretty good at walking (and running) in them!


Our busy days continue today as well. Our Aunt Connie and Uncle Francis are stopping over to meet Avery this afternoon. For dinner, we're having a cookout with our neighbors next door! So it has been a few busy days for us but it has been a lot of fun too! A nice way to spend one of our last summer weekends!

Two Months Old!

Today Avery is two months old! I can't believe how fast the time is going! She is definitely changing day by day it seems. She has started smiling like crazy a few weeks ago and she tries to "talk" to us now. She coos and tries to imitate the sounds you make which is so cute! Her latest discovery in the past week or so has been her hands-she constantly has them in her mouth! Her pics were hard to take today because I had to fight away the hands so I could see the sticker on her onesie! Her other recent thing is sticking her tongue out a lot and drooling! It's pretty funny! Her sleeping patterns are improving-she generally does one longer stretch overnight-she has gone as long as about 9 hours which is amazing! Some nights she gets up more than others, but it's definitely improving. She is becoming more alert and loves looking at her mobiles and stuffed animals now-she loves laughing at them!

After yesterday's doctors appointment, we had a pretty rough day dealing with her having shots. She pretty much slept all day long. She was up maybe 2 hours at the most for the entire day and 95% of those 2 hours she screamed her head off! I was shocked that she slept most of the night too-she got up to eat a few times, but she really caught up on sleep yesterday. Today she seems to be in a much better mood thankfully!
Here are her pics from this morning!
I love the collection of drool in her mouth:

Talking to me??




A little of the tongue:

Somewhat of a laugh:

Two Month Checkup

We just got home from Avery's two month doctor's appointment. She is currently 23 1/4 inches long and is in the 80th percentile for height. She weighs in at 11lbs 5.5 oz and is in the 60th percentile for weight. The doctor said she looks nice and healthy which is always good news!

Unfortunately at her appointment, she had to get her first round of shots! I was dreading it but thankfully it went a lot better than I expected. After the doctor looked at her, he sent the nurse in (the "shot experts" according to him) to do the shots. They first gave her tylenol which she sucked right down because it's sweet. Then she had an oral vaccine which she had to drink-again she sucked it down. The nurse said she thinks it's sweet as well, but hasn't tried it herself (too expensive!). She said every kid sucks it right down so it must taste good. Now if only the vitamin makers could figure that out....

Then came the shots-she had to get three of them today. One blessing was that the nurse was fast, and I mean fast! I think she had all three done before Avery let out her scream! Once the first one hit, she held her breath and got beet red (tomato faced as the nurse said). Then she let out a scream like I've never heard before! By the time she screamed, the nurse was done so I just scooped her up and held her a few minutes and she settled down pretty well. I had to put her back down to dress her which made her scream some more. She took her pacifier and calmed down very nicely. By the time I got her in her carseat and out to make her next appointment, she was fine. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and is still sleeping now. I just hope she's not cranky the rest of the day!
Here she is showing off her bandaids during a diaper change:

Cordell and Rachel

Last night we had a wedding for Gabe's friend, Cordell. He's known Cordell since high school and Cordell was one of the groomsmen in our wedding last year. Last night, him and his fiance, Rachel, tied the knot. The ceremony was at a Baptist church in Hilton-this place was HUGE! The ceremony was very nice-it wasn't a full mass so it was on the short side.
Here's Cordell waiting for his bride:

Rachel and her Dad:

Up at the alter:

Exchanging vows:

Exchanging rings:

The first kiss:

The new Mr. and Mrs.!!

This is a pic of the high school guys-Judson, Cordell, Randy, and Gabe doing the "serious pose":

The reception after was at the Italian American Community Center. It was a very nice place! The ballroom had a nice balcony you could go on which was cool. They had a buffet dinner (food was great) followed by lots of dancing!
Here's the first dance:


Judson and Gabe in their sombraros!

Cordell "hunting" for the corsage:

We had a great time at the wedding and it was our longest time away from Avery. Gabe's parents watched her and she did just fine. We picked her up around 11:30pm and she was awake on the car ride home. We got her home and in bed and she passed right out which was great!

Congratulations Cordell and Rachel! May you have a lifetime of love and happiness!!

Boppy Fun

I was using my Boppy pillow up in Avery's room when I would breastfeed at night. She's gotten so big that now she's too heavy to use it in the rocking chair (it would rest on the armrests)-when I would lay her on it, it would sink down too far so now I don't use it at night anymore. I decided to bring the Boppy downstairs and use it for feeding her there. And I figured it could get some other uses out of it too....like relaxing:

and silly faces:

a cute diaper shot between boppy uses:

And the Boppy is always good for some tummy time!

Crazy Hair Day

Daddy gave me a new 'do...whaddya think?

Taking the Bottle

Avery has taken a bottle a few times now and so far has not had any problems with it. We had a picnic today so I brought along a bottle for her since it's been a few weeks that she's had one. We have a wedding to go to on Friday night and she'll need to eat from one, so I figured she should have some more practice before then. Plus, I go back to work in a few weeks (UGH!) and she'll be taking them a lot more then. Practice makes perfect right?

Anyways, I've never been around when she's had a bottle. If I'm around, she might as well just nurse. But at the picnic today I was there and it was the first time I saw her drink out of a bottle! I have to admit she was so cute! And she ate like a champ once again!

I Did It!

...and here's my proof!

(I know, I know...the suspense is killing you!)

So I haven't had a real haircut in almost three years now---yes, THREE years! When Gabe and I got engaged, my hair was pretty short:

Knowing our wedding was on the horizon, I started to grow out my hair because I wanted to wear it up and have no problems getting the hairstyle I wanted. You can see the picture of us in the right margin-that was at our rehearsal dinner. So that's how much my hair grew in about a year and a half. Of course I got it trimmed here and there, but no more than an inch each time.

After the wedding, I was dying to cut my hair shorter. But then I got thinking-if I cut my hair, I might as well put it to good use. The problem was that to donate it, you needed at least 8 inches. And at that point, 8 inches would have taken me super, super short...which I didn't want. The shortest I ever had my hair was around april/may 2005. I can't find a pic from then, but found this one from August 2005. My hair is curled so it's a little shorter than usual, but you get the idea.

So, I decided to keep growing my hair until I had enough to donate. Well, my hair got to be where it is now and it seems to have stopped growing. Whether or not it really stops, I don't know, but it's been at the same length for awhile. I remember this happening when I was a kid too. I always wanted hair to my butt and once it hit mid-back, it seemed to stop! I decided since I'm off of work for awhile and Avery has been finding my hair that it was time for a change. Last night I went to Pasquale Salon here in Rochester and made the cut! Here are some photos of me before I left (yeah I forgot to brush my hair so it looks sloppy!).


Side view:

Back view:

And here is me less than 2 hours later with a new cut and highlite:

Side view:

Back view:

And me with the ponytail I'm donating:

I decided to donate to Children With Hairloss. I had another place in mind but then Heather over at Heather Drive recently chopped her hair as well and I used a link from her site to find a few other hair donation places. The one I originally was going to go with didn't impress me much. I emailed them a few questions and they weren't very friendly and didn't seem too excited or happy that I wanted to donate so I decided to change my mind. The problem was that my hair was highlited already and most sites will not take color treated hair. So my options were limited, but I did find a place which makes me happy. I'm glad my hair will get put to good use.

And my new cut? I like it! I wanted it to be layered (it isn't right now) but he (yes my first time having a man do my hair) talked me out of it. The reason is because I just had Avery, I'll be shedding hair. I guess when you're pregnant, your body retains all of its hair. Then a few months after the baby comes, you shed all of the hair you should have shedded during those 10months. So your hair tends to look a lot thinner and you have new, short hairs replacing the ones you lost. So basically your hair layers itself! He said if he had layered it, then I started to shed, my hair would look extra thin and too layered. So we stuck with all one length for now and in a few months once my hair has adjusted itself, I can get a more "stylish" cut. It is funny running my hands through it and washing it though-there is nothing there! It'll take a few days to get used to that's for sure!

Sleeping Milestone!

Last night Avery slept from 10pm-730am without getting up to eat! Of course I got up to go to the bathroom at 630am and couldn't get back to sleep because I was wondering why she wasn't up yet! But I was so excited-I think that counts as sleeping through the night! Yay!

Happy 5th Birthday Owen!

Last night we went over to my Sister-In-Law's house to celebrate our nephew's 5th birthday. I seriously cannot believe he's turning 5 already!

About a month after I started dating Gabe, his sister announced she was pregnant. And that was almost 6 years ago now which boggles my mind. So I've been around since Owen's beginning and it's hard to believe how fast those years have gone by! And yes, it scares me to think that Avery will be 5 in no time!

His birthday is really next Monday, but my sister-in-law is working all weekend and they are going to Aruba next week so she had his party early and on the same day as his kids party (hence the half-eaten cake you'll see!).

Here's Avery all dressed up and ready to party:

Avery with Grammy:

Lighting the candles on the cake:

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Make a wish and blow the candles out:

Our niece, Bianca, opening a gift Pa and Grandma brought her:

Owen in his new wagon:

Owen and Bianca in the wagon:

Opening gifts:


Happy Birthday Owen! Enjoy your special day next week!