I'm Sick

I'm stuck at home today with a horrible stomach bug. While I am making an effort to lose the rest of my baby weight, purging was not in my plans.

I have kept my distance from Avery since I started feeling poorly, so hopefully, she will not get it, and Baby Daddy will be spared as well. I don't have the strenght right now to take care of both of them! I also don't think I'll be able to touch the leftover Shrimp Scampi from last night's dinner. Ugh.

I hope all of you stay healthy!

I've Been Plunged!

I’ve recently learned that having a baby yourself really stirs up the never-before-told stories from your own mother about your childhood. In a discussion with my mother about Avery’s sleeping habits, my mom remarked that I started sleeping through the night as soon as she started “plunging me.” Horrified, I asked what this entailed. She described a feeding accessory, called a plunger, which was apparently all the rage in Good Housekeeping in the late 1970s. I know this because I recounted this tale to Heather and her mom, Judy, and Judy chimed right in and said that she also plunged Heather…So, if you were born around 1977, you might want to check with your mom, too, just so you know the facts.

Anyway, it worked like this. Fill the plunger with some rice cereal and milk, and then insert the plunger in your baby’s mouth. Slowly depress the plunger, dispensing the rice cereal mixture to your baby so that he/she can swallow it. Apparently, I gobbled this stuff up back in my wee days and subsequently, went into a Tryptophan like food coma and slept for 8 hours. Hey, whatever it took I guess. My mom had peace to rally for and marijuana to deny smoking, so needed a good night’s sleep!

As for Avery, whether it’s a fluke or not, she’s been sleeping 8 hours a night for the past week, so it doesn’t look like plunging will be necessary. I’ll keep it in mind though. One can never have too many tricks up their sleeve with a new baby in the house.

Back to the Grind

The party's over. Yesterday was both Avery's first day at school and my first day back to work. Despite my excessive worrying, everything went just fine. Baby Daddy took her in the morning, sparing me the embarrassment of crying in front of the teachers....again! Me and my box of Kleenex spent a few moments together in the confines of my trusty Ford Escape, but once I got to work, I was so busy getting caught up that the day went by fairly quickly. Avery had a great day, ate well from her bottles, and even napped a little bit, which is always a challenge for her in a new environment. She was so tuckered out from her big day that she went to bed a little after 8pm and slept until 4:45am! We've definitely been blessed with a good sleeper!

As for me, my first day was not without a completely air-headed moment. As I hope to continue breast feeding until Avery reaches 6 months old, I have to do the pump at work thing. Thankfully, my office is quite conducive to the privacy needed for pumping as I have a door and blinds that I can shut, plus only work with two dudes who have been fairly warned that if the door is shut, enter at your own risk. Anyway, I got all set up for pumping by organizing a variety of tasks I could complete one-handed, plugging in my pump, getting out the bottles, and hooking up the hoses. I shut my door, got the girls out for the pumping party, and let loose. However, as soon as my milk let down, I realized I had forgotten to actually screw the bottles on the ends of the breast shields and was pumping milk right into my lap. Nice. Really nice.

I have tweaked my work schedule a bit so that I can leave the office around 4pm. With all the tasks to get Avery ready for the next day of school, this proved to be a smart move. By the time I got Avery fed and put to bed, Baby Daddy and me fed, sterilized and filled bottles, washed and sterilized pumping accessories, and got the rest of the things ready for school/work the next day, it was almost 10pm and I was utterly exhausted. The one thing I forgot to do? Set out an outfit for Avery to wear today. I got a call from Baby Daddy on that one around 8am. I really couldn't wait to see what she was wearing when I picked her up from school today.... any guesses? I wasn't surprised at all to find her in pink camo!

I'm behind on uploading pictures so please forgive me just this once!

Avery's Officially a Tar Heel

This past Sunday, Avery sported her "Baby Tar Heel" onesie (thanks Lia, Mike and Jack!) and her UNC socks in support of the big game: Heels versus Evil. The Heels prevailed in an exciting game; Avery celebrated by making Dookie in her pants. Hee hee.

PS

Avery was only sleeping in the last photo becuase she knew the Tar Heels would win. She's a true fan!

7 Weeks: Getting Big!

The first few photos show what we were up to over the weekend: watching our swing friends, falling asleep while taking a walk, and playing on the gym. We also managed to squeeze in Emme's 3rd birthday party and cheering on Carolina as we beat Dook on Senior Day. Go Heels!

The last two photos show just how much Avery has grown over the last several weeks The first photo was of her at 6 weeks old in her pink fleecy bear suit; the second photo was her at 4 days old! What a big girl! Good think the spring weather is here, because I think she's gotten her last wear out of that bear suit.

Out of curiosity, I convinced Greg to weigh Avery on the puppy scale last week. Fully clothed, she weighed in at 9 lbs. 5 oz. She's continuing to gain about an ounce a day and is on track to break into double digits by her next pediatrician appointment. She's totally outgrown her newborn clothes and some of her 0-3 month outfits. She's pretty comfortable in 3 month clothes, but at the rate she's going, won't be in them for very long because of her length. I won't subject her to too small clothes like my mother did to me. Many of you know the romper story...for those of you that don't...

When I was in 6th grade, those one-piece Laura Ashley Rompers were all the rage at Beaumont Middle School. I really, really wanted one, but my frugal mother wouldn't dream of dropping $85 on something she could made for $15. So, we went to the fabric store, picked out a pattern and fabric, and off she went to the sewing room. The finished product was a pretty good knock-off, but unfortunately, it was not long enough for me in the torso and gave me both a camel toe and a wedgie. Because my mom had invested so much time and energy in the garment, I was forced to wear it in discomfort for a few weeks until my mom finally got tired of me digging out wedgies while singing the hymns in church. So, because of my suffering, Avery will be spared the plight of the diaper wedgie!

Just Another Walk in the Park

Avery and I took advantage of the warm and sunny afternoon yesterday and went for a walk at Heritage Park. She continues to snooze through each and every walk, as you can see from the photo. I guess she was exhausted from fussing the entire time I was at my OBGYN appointment for my post partum check-up. Yes, I was that Mom in the waiting room. The one benefit of a crying child? They got me in and out of there in record time!

P. S.
I hope you like our recession chic stroller. We picked up the stroller at a consignment sale; her carseat was handed down from some friends of ours with three little girls (the Bobars). Avery doesn't seem to care one bit that she doesn't have the matching travel system!

So Sleepy...

In response to a request for more pictures...here you go!

6 Weeks Old

Avery is 6 weeks old today and has changed so much! More alert and active now, changing her diaper is often like trying to put a diaper on a lobster...or playing the whack the groundhog game at the state fair. She's starting to discover her hands and legs, and amuses herself on her kick and play or simply by just watching her surroundings. She's become more vocal, and though we've seen some smiles, we think she's still a ways away from smiling on response.

Since the rainy, snowy, cold weather kept us indoors all weekend, I attemped to get "artistic" with the camera and subjected Avery to a photo shoot. Abover are a couple of my faves.