The Power of Prayer

Hello all-

I've had this family on my mind a lot today. Their baby, Stellan, is only 1 week older than Avery and has already displayed one miracle in his short life so far! Diagnosed with heart condition before he was born, he was not supposed to survive past delivery- which he did, without sign that the condition even existed! He's been happy and healthy for his 8 weeks here on earth, but is now struggling for his life in the hospital with RSV. His blood gases are improving, but he is struggling to breathe and will probably be placed on a ventilator soon. Please join me in praying for this family and their precious little boy. His mama is doing such a great job in reminding herself and all of us that God is good and faithful- even in her blogging and twitter updates :) And she's even caused me to cherish my moments with Avery even more. Life is precious.

**update: fixed the link!

The sweetest smile

I've been trying super-hard to catch Avery's sweet smile on camera, but instead I've discovered how stinky our camera is. We have the Nikon Coolpix 3200- which is great for taking snapshots of most things, but isn't fast enough to catch fleeting moments... any suggestions or financial contributions so that we can have better pictures on this blog are welcome! I'm just kidding.. mostly. :)

In other news, I decided to let her try the Bumbo this week! She likes it, for about 3 minutes, then she gets tired... This photo was taken at the end of her 3 minutes :) But she looks so cute sitting in it!
I weighed Avery yesterday (holding her while I stood on the scale and then subtracting my weight) and I estimate that she's about 9 1/2 pounds by now! Wow! 2 weeks ago she was only about 8 1/4! I've also started letting her sleep on her tummy... *cringe*. I know you're not "supposed to", but she sleeps SO much better (up to 5 1/2 hours at a time at night instead of 2 1/2 or 3), is able to put herself to sleep, and doesn't need to be swaddled anymore. I check on her super-often while she naps and she is able to turn her head really well when on her tummy. I'm not too worried :) I've done research on the subject and have found studies that show babies who sleep on their tummies have better cognition, social skills, less occurrence of sleep apnea, and don't get those pesky flat spots on the backs of their heads... so there are benefits, not just risks. Besides the other risk factors for SIDS are things like having someone who smokes in the house (which we don't), low birth weight (which she didn't have), and sleeping with loose-fitting sheets (nope- not that either).. plus we use a pacifier and sleep with a ceiling fan, which help combat SIDS by encouraging the baby to breathe! See! I've done my research and made an educated decision for my baby... what do you think?

6 weeks old today!

Today marks Avery's 6th week! It's exciting to watch her grow and change, but I'm starting to get a little sad because I know I have to go back to work soon (January 5th). Avery has started to smile, coo, and squeal! It's so fun! She loves to lie on her back, kick her legs and move her arms and talk to whatever object she sees (I think she prefers her mobile, the Christmas tree, and the ceiling lights over people) :) She's definitely getting bigger, but I'm not sure how much bigger since we don't go back to the doctor for another weigh-in until January 7th. She is too long for the newborn-size clothes, but the 0-3 month size is too big- it falls off her shoulders! Oh well.

We had a great time visiting with William's family last week- it was good to see them, and I'm glad they got to see Avery while she is still so small.

I did something horrible today. I cut Avery with the fingernail clippers. I know, I know... every mom does it, but still... I was clipping them while she was asleep- like you're supposed to, and I had made it through 9 fingers without incident. Then, I got to the pinkie finger on her right hand and right as I was about to clip, she jerked her arm! It started to bleed and I jumped up to grab some tissue and antibiotic ointment to doctor it up when I realized that she hadn't even woken up! Agh. Kids.

We got our family photos back.... they're not as good as Avery's individual pics, but they'll do! Here's the link to view!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115592&l=2c2a8&id=3112237

Avery got away with a lot of slacking off last week while our family was here... so here she is trying to catch up on lost tummy time, and relaxing in her Babee-Tenda table! :)

One month old... better late than never!

Avery turned 1 month old last Friday! She's getting so big :) Here are her stats from her doctor's appointment (yes, we made her go on her birthday... ):
Weight: 8lbs 3oz (25th percentile)
Length: 21 inches (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 14in (50th percentile)

She's finally starting to "fill out" a bit. Her newborn clothes are no longer super-baggy on her, and she can wear some of the 0-3 month clothes without them completely falling off! She loves to look at the lights on the Christmas tree, or at the windows, and she'll turn to find you when you talk to her (if she's not distracted by something else) :)

We got her pictures back this week, too. Here's a sneak peak of my favorite picture:
And you can go here to look at the rest of them! If you would like to order any, let me know and I can give you the website to order some (this is mostly for family, I know you all love Avery, but I don't expect you to all go out and by a 10x13 to hang in your living room) :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115094&l=6219d&id=3112237

We have a house full of people this week! William's family is in town to visit us... I mean, Avery... it should be fun!