First...

Today was Avery's first day to stay in the nursery at church! She has officially been added to the Baby Roll. Her Nana just happened to sign up to work in the nursery today :) I was a little nervous about her staying in the nursery, especially the "pink room" because of family history with that room, but she did just fine. Her Nana even thinks that she likes it in that room!


She is officially in her bed. Yes, we chose the one with the Paddington Bear mobile.

Having some awake time at church. Apparently she loved Paddington Bear.

Today was also Avery's first day to "play" with her play mat (or activity mat...whichever you prefer). She has been getting a little fussy during awake time, so we thought that we would give her something to play with to see if that would help. She loved it! She will lay on the play mat and give it 100% for about 15 minutes before she's through. It is so fun to watch because she smiles and laughs (actually just screams really loud, but it's a happy scream) at the animals.

"Wow! Look at all of my new friends!"

"Ahhhh!" (this is during one of her happy screams)

"I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself!"

"I'm mesmerized by these things!"

"Peace."

Napping

Avery is a funny sleeper. She moves a lot and makes lots of noises. Here are some pictures of her napping today. Elapsed time from the first picture to the last picture is about 10 minutes.

Growing Up

Not too much going on around here...just growth spurts (which are always fun!). Here are some pictures from the past couple of days...


She has started liking loveys. Her little hand will hold on to the lovey (still a reflex, I'm sure). It's amazing how a little lovey can soothe a baby. How does she know??

Is it mean that we love her crying face?

Just hanging out in her swing. Broken neck.

Pleasant little face. Again, broken neck.

She actually is getting really good at holding up her head. The only time that she has any head lag is when she is sleeping. And, we have had to remove the wedge from her crib because she has learned to use it to help her travel around her crib at night. She's a mover!

Toppling Over

Here is the promised picture of Avery toppling over on the bed. Pretty funny.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here's a picture of the view from our room at sunset (right after a storm, of course):

Avery's First Vacation

We took a family vacation over Memorial Day (this was my anniversary and Mother's Day present). We drove over to Callaway Gardens and had a great time. Despite a lot of rain, we still managed to spend some time outdoors between storms. Below are some pictures from our travels (I must warn you, there are a lot....and not as many as I had wanted to post!). Oh, Avery had a photo session (with a real photographer) for her Two Weeks Old pictures, and the proofs are available online if you'd like to take a look:
http://www.mollybridgesphotography.com/
click on client galleries at bottom of page
Gallery Name is:
Knierim 2009 – 2 weeks
Gallery Password / Gallery ID is:
Knierim200905

This is Avery before we left....traveling outfit, complete with shoes that we received as a shower gift.

Fun in the Room Shots:

Little one on a king-sized bed. Matt has a picture on his camera from when she fell over...pretty funny. It will be posted.

Where does a little one sleep? In her bouncy seat, of course. She did great! There was a one hour time change, and that was very easy to adjust to, obviously. The first night was great...she only woke up one time to eat! The next night was back to normal with waking up twice to eat. I knew it was too good to be true!

Bath in a sink. It's trickier than it may seem.

What do you do when you're on vacation and it is storming and everything closes at 7pm? Watch the NBA play-offs. Avery's ready for bed and catching up on the latest NBA saga.

Nonprofessional Photo Shots:

Avery has times throughout the day that she is very alert and tries to focus on objects (like the black camera in front of her face). I decided to take advantage of this and have a little photo session. If you are a professional photographer or have a really good camera, please skip over these next few pictures!

Look at those eyes. I know that I am partial, but aren't they breath-taking?

A little artsy with the black and white and looking over the shoulder.

And this is what happens when she decides that she is done with the picture taking. Hilarious.

Out and About in the Park Shots:

Here is Avery at the altar in the chapel nestled in the woods. It is so pretty!

This is Avery trying to catch the bullfrogs that were calling.

Here is how we (meaning Matt) transported Avery around the park BEFORE we saw that there were handicap-accessible paths. Break-out the stroller!

She seems to like riding in her stroller. It puts her to sleep, but at this point, we assume that means that she likes it.

Avery by the waterfall just outside of the little chapel. So peaceful.

Avery on the walking trails with some flowers. Judging by the look on her face, I think she's having a good time.

This is Avery out to eat. We ate out for all our meals, except for breakfast. This is what she did at every single restaurant.

That's all the pictures for now! We are so happy to be home. It is a little stressful being on vacation with a little one because you constantly think about all the things that you might need and might not have. When we got home, Matt was feeding her, and something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He went to go investigate, and there was a lizard in our house! It was jumping around on our furniture! How gross is that??? Another gross story is that Avery apparently only likes to make stinky diapers at home. That's great because it doesn't mess up her carseat, but when you've been away for three days, it gets a little messy.

Comparisons

Here are some pictures of Avery from a couple of weeks ago and then similar pictures taken this weekend. Can you tell she's grown?

This is Avery the day that she came home from the hospital:

And here she is in the same dress today (over 4 weeks later):

Here is our family picture from Mother's Day (two weeks ago):

And here is a family picture taken today:

Here is Avery in her carrier carseat on the way to the doctor (4 weeks ago):

And here is Avery in her carrier carseat on the way to go shopping this weekend:

One Month Old

Avery turned one month old yesterday. Wow. I know it's cliche, but time really does fly by! Some friends of ours take a picture of their children with the same stuffed animal every month to show how much they've grown. We thought that was a great idea, so here is a picture of Avery with her little lamb. I tried to take some artsy picture, but she wasn't in the mood.

Here are some pictures of Avery being awake and alert...

Fans can be so mesmerizing!

Again, trying to laugh and smile on purpose. Just not quite sure how to do it yet. This is the funny face that we get when we tickle her.

We also went to the orthopedic surgeon today to reevaluate the harness and her hips. She had another ultrasound and physical examination. I am pleased and relieved to say....

NO MORE HARNESS!!! We gave the harness to the doctor's office to give to another little baby who needed a little help. Our insurance (which is really good) did not cover the harness. (Soapbox of the Knierim household...why do we pay for insurance and pay copays and still not have things covered???)

My legs are FREE!!

Little Avery taking her first nap without her harness.

May 20, 2009

Here's a little message from little Avery to her Nana and Papa...

A Walk in the Park

First of all, here is a picture of Avery wearing an outfit that my Mom made for me when I was a baby. It's a little big, but isn't she cute? Such a pleasant little face. And please notice her crazy puff of hair on the top of her head.

Today Avery and I went for a stroll at a local park. Some friends were with us for part of the time, but they had somewhere to be, so Avery and I stayed a little bit longer just the two of us. It's nice in the earlier part of the morning because you are surrounded by elderly people who are walking at about the same pace. However, as the morning gets later, young little whipper-snappers start coming out to exercise. I hate the young ones. Who do they think they are wearing their tight-fitting clothes that show off their small figures or their barely-there clothes that reveal sculpted muscles? Makes me sick. As they approach, a smile is shared and a glance at my baby is stolen. In return, I give them darts in the backs of their heads. Don't get me wrong...I'm glad that they are working out and keeping up their figure. Just do it at night when I'm not around, ok? I'm not bitter, it's just that earlier morning is so much better than later morning.

Speaking of the elderly people at the park....today was another "first" for Avery. Not only was it her first park visit, it was also the first time that someone thought that she was a boy. Please look at the pictures below and tell me what looks like a boy!! (pink sunglasses; purple, green, and blue paisley hat; flowers on dress; a dress; butterflies on burpie; purple paci clip)

We are going on vacation next week, and we are going to be outside for most of that vacation, so I bought Avery a hat and sunglasses yesterday. We tried them out today during our park visit. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

(Notice the hat and sunglasses have made their way to the side of the stroller)