Avery eating!

Avery loves to eat solids! Her first meal was rice cereal mixed with breast milk and bananas! Her eyes got all big as I fed it to her. Yummy! Since then she's had prunes, pears, sweet potatoes and peas. She didn't love the peas but when Allee mixed them with bananas she loved them! Who knew peas and bananas together could be so good! She is still drinking the majority of her calories but we give her one solid food "meal"a day.

4 months!

4 months old and growing every day! Avery pretty much has a routine now. She wakes up around 7am and goes back down for a nap around 9. Then up to eat and play. Lots of laughing and trying to roll. She also loves to grab her feet and put her hands in her mouth! She "talks" to herself and anyone who will listen! Nap again at noon and 3. Then around 5:30-6 I nurse her and put her down to bed. She usually cries on and off for a couple hours but then she'll sleep until 3 or 4 am. Then she eats quick and back to sleep until 7! Then starts all over again. My good baby Avery!

15 weeks

Our awesome nanny, Allee, took these pictures. Avery is for sure a smiley baby! So adorable but you have to work for it a little bit! She likes it when I pretend to nibble her belly, hands and of course those chubby cheeks! She likes to laugh at herself in the mirror too. Or when she's looking at hanging toys over her swing. She's trying to roll from back to front but hasn't made it all of the way over yet!
I'm back to work full time. It's going well mostly because Allee has done a great job! She really makes leaving in the morning so much easier.

12 weeks

These past 12 weeks have been amazing and I will never forget this time with my girls! I feel very lucky to have had this time to bond with my new babe. Especially after having only 7 weeks off with Isla this extra time felt very special. The trip to Florida definetly broke the time up which was nice. I feel like I not only bonded with Avery but got a lot of things done on the house and had a nice amount of time to recover from the delivery. It wasn't as easy a recovery this time. Birthing takes a toll on the body! But I am very proud of myself that I ran a 5K when Avery was only 11 weeks old. It feels great to be running again and Avery seems to enjoy being pushed in the running stroller.
I can't believe how much she has changed in the past 3 months. It makes me a little sad that I'm never going to have a newborn again (I think we are done having kids =)) but as she gets older it gets more fun as we can interact more. She continues to be a very smiley baby and overall so good. She still fusses a little at night but she goes to bed around 6:30pm and sleeps until 1am and does a quick feed. Then up again around 6am to feed again. Not too bad. I still have her in the bassinet in our room to make it easier for me. She may sleep better if I were to put her in her own room but I'm not ready yet!
I went back to work this week. Wednesday was my first day back. I just had one case in the OR and then was home by 11. I'm not on call for a couple weeks which is nice. I had two half days of clinic just to ease myself back in. I didn't cry my first day back which I was surprised at! I think that is a testament to the fact that I had a good amount of time off. I really do love my career and it makes me feel better to think that I'm going to be a good role model for my children in my career. I don't know how good of a stay at home mom I would be.
Our new nanny Allee started this week. She is a great with Avery. She's feeding her out of bottles using my pumped milk. Avery is learning but sometimes Allee says the baby just wants the real thing! Allee is great and is also very good with Isla. I really appreciate the extra help around the house too! I'm so glad we were able to find such a nurturing nanny for the girls!

Avery's Baptism and Isla's 3rd Birthday

What a wonderful weekend we had- 2 amazing celebrations for my girls! Probably one of the best weekends of my life! On Saturday, May 26th Avery Ruth was baptized at St. Victoria. The baptism ceremony was lovely. She didn't even cry when the water was put on her head. She startled though as it was quite cold water! Laura B. and John S. were the sponsors. There were so many family members there to support Avery. Afterwards we had a party at our place- so good to be with family! All the cousins were together!
Then on Sunday we celebrated Isla's 3rd birthday. It was a Dora fiesta! My mom made a fantastic Dora cake and we even had a Dora piñata! There were lots of kids and again it was so fun to have all the cousins together. It was a very hot day so we got out the slide and splash pad and made our own slip and slide!
The weekend ended with Memorial Day. We went to the Chaska parade and grilled out with Grandma and Grandpa K. Great end to a memorable weekend!

11 weeks

My BIG FAT baby!!! I love those cheeks! She continues to grow! And grow and grow! My co-workers at Lakeview threw me and another new mom a baby shower which is SO nice! I wasn't expecting to get so much stuff for the second child! I got a double stroller which will be so nice and little activity gym. Also lots of clothes and books. Only 1 repeat out of the MANY books we have at home!
This week marks the first time we let Avery cry it out! Talk about a different time frame with the second child. I don't think we let Isla cry to sleep until she was 2 years old! It only took Avery 25 minutes to settle herself. We tried again tonight and it only took 20 minutes. Too bad Isla woke her up 1/2 hour later having a temper tantrum. I guess that's another difference. We definitely don't tip toe around Avery like we did with Isla. It's basically impossible when you have a 2 year old trampling through the house!
Only 1 more week until back to work! Allee starts training in this week and we are so excited to have her help with the girls! I think it will be bittersweet going back to work. I have LOVED my time with the girls especially all the cuddle time with Avery. BUT I also love my career and try to remember that I will be a role model for the girls as they think about their future. After this time I know that I could never be a stay at home mom and it probably one of the more difficult (and rewarding) jobs out there =)

Isla's First Race!

This weekend my dad and I ran the Chaska 5K. Isla also ran her first kids fun race! 0.2 miles!! She did great right from the start...well about halfway through I had to carry/run with her for awhile. But she crossed the finish line and kept on running! She got a ribbon and lots of high fives! So FUN!

10 weeks

Avery loves her Grandma, Grandpa and her GG Ruth! Avery had her first trip to Moorhead this past weekend. We had a wonderful time playing and watching Isla entertain us! Sunday was Mother's Day and Isla gave me a flower she had planted at daycare! So sweet! It was wonderful to be with my children, husband and my mother! I gave my mom a card with dandelions blowing away in the wind (reference to earlier blog post about teaching Isla about blowing the dandelions!) and she cried!

2 more weeks til I go back to work. This time has been just amazing and wonderful. Avery is such a good baby and I enjoy the times when I can stare at her and make her smile. She continues to coo and laugh at me! She is still full of rolls and she smells so good! I need to remember this forever since this is probably the last time I'll have a little baby of mine to hold and cuddle. I AM SO BLESSED!!!

9 weeks

This is a picture of Avery and her friend Edie. Edie is 2 weeks younger than Avery so you can see where Avery is at on the growth curve!!

Avery rolled over!! I put her down for tummy time and looked away for a second. When I looked back at her she was on her back! So I had her do it a few more times and was able to capture it on video! I can't believe how strong she is!

8 weeks

2 months old! She is looking more like a baby now and less like an infant. The second picture is what happens if you leave a toddler with an infant too long. Isla started decorating Avery with stickers! So funny! Not so funny when she "dumped" Avery out of her chair a couple of weeks ago!
Avery continues to smile lots and even laughed at me today! She is holding her head up pretty well but as you can see isn't quite ready for the bumbo seat full time. A little slouched.
This spring I've had two moments with Isla where I saw her experience something for the first time and it was lovely. The first experience was watching her first thunderstorm together. She was so excited to "see" the thunder. We watched together from the protection of the garage. The second experience was a few days ago when we went into the empty lot next door. There were dandelions with the white fluff and I showed her how to blow the white fluff off. Of course I've done this since I was a little girl but to teach Isla how to do it was really special. I love how naive and innocent she is. I wish they would stay that way forever!