Thursday, March 29, 2012

6 months...half a year...holy cow!!!

Half a year... seriously!?!?!?!?

People are not lying when they tell you how much your baby will change and develop in the 1st year of his/her life.  Just look at how much she has changed from 1 month to now 6 months old.  So many people have asked me if I've started planning her 1st birthday party.  NOOOOO, I don't even want to think about that yet.  I don't want to wish away these precious months that I have with her as a baby.  Don't get me wrong I have some ideas in my head, but I'm not going to begin planning until this summer. Haha!




Weight: 15 lbs 9.5 oz (25-50% tile)
Height: 25 in (25% tile)
Head:  16 1/4 in (10-25 % tile)
Moods: Still soooo happy 95% of the time.  Waiting for the fussiness of teething-dread that! 
Favorite foods: LOVES all the food she's tried.  She's eaten squash, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peaches, bananas, apples, and pears.  I'd say her favs are sweet potatoes and bananas.
Favorite toys: "Peek A Boo Bear"   Adorable bear made by GUND that talks and plays pee-a-boo.  She loves it.  She smiles, giggles and screams for it.
Noises: Loves screaming all the time.  Sometimes she screams and looks at me just to make sure I'm listening. 
Playtime: Sits up and plays with anything in her reach. She will still lay on her playmat, but I can see us packing that up soon. 
Milestones: Making new sounds and she's beginning to reach for people to pick her up.
Sleep: Still sleeping like a champ, which mommy and daddy are VERY thankful for.

Well, it's officially APRIL!!  The month of Dre's due date!!!!!!  Yay, I cannot believe lil Grayson will be here this month (hopefully).   I'm sure lil Laila will not be far behind him or maybe even before.  Crazy things with babies is that they come when they want, early or late.  I just hope and pray for a safe delivery for both babies and that neither one of my sisters has to endure the agony of having their baby in the NICU for 10 days.  I'm kinda glad they got to experience me going through it so they are a little more prepared than I was. 
Poor lil baby couldn't breathe well... stupid meconium!!
So this month Avery began taking her baths like a big girl.  Since she can sit up by herself most of the time she doesn't need her baby bathtub to support her.  She loves to kick and splash.  It will be so much fun to get her in the pool, lake and ocean this summer.  I may need to make her baths a little cooler because I foresee a problem with the temperature being a shock to her.  Here are some pix of my little fish in the bathtub.  I used the towel only the 1st time b/c I was scared she'd fall over, but I'm over it now-- she's fine!
who doesn't love a lil baby bottom?

babycakes

Mary, Nicki and I bought Patti tickets to the Michael Jackson "Immortal" Cirque de Soliel concert for her birthday.  In November, March 10th seemed like an eternity away, but as time always does, it flew by and the concert was this month. It was a blast.  The performers was absolutely amazing!!!  The things they can do with their bodies were breath taking.  The music was great (of course) and we had a great time.  We went out to eat to an awesome Mexican restaurant in downtown Raleigh before the show.  The only thing that could have made the show even better was if I had felt better.  Unfortunanlty the day before I came down with strep throat and felt like total crap.  I didn't get to start antibiotics until Saturday afternoon, so I still wasn't feeling all that well for the show, but nothing was going to hold me back from going.   Jeff and Nicki moved into their new house a few weeks before the show, so the entire Ellington family was able to stay there.  We had a great night and Avery enjoyed seeing her Aunts and Uncles and of course Mimi and Pop.




My Aunt Nicki is crazy fun!

Love me some Aunt Mary and Uncle Mark

Sleeping on my Mimi
The weather turned beautiful during the middle of March.  We've been able to go for walks after work and have taken several trips to the park to swing.  We have a swing that we need to hang for her in one of our trees (if we have any trees left after we Joe and Dad cut down all the dead ones).   Here is a shot of Avery going outside to play for the first time this month.  It was a little windy this day, but she loved the way the wind tickled her face and neck.



Here are some more photos from this month.

Mommy's Lucky Charm

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Banana Pops are the coolest

I heart my toes

Loving some green beans :)

Concentrating real hard on my toy!

Mommy and Daddy loving our baby girl to pieces!!

On March 25th myself, Andre'a and two of Courtney's friends, Gracie and Kamiliah, threw Courtney a baby shower on mom's house.  Like Toni says, if can't over do why do at all?  It was a pretty amazing display if I do say so myself. There was diva zebra decor, presents out the wazoo, great friends and family, and yummy food and punch.  It doesn't get much better than that. 





I LOVE BUBBLES :)

Avery is so lucky to have so many family members who love her to pieces.
Daddy

Aunt Dre' (and Grayson)

Aunt Courtney (and Laila)

Grammy


Gigi

Pop Pop

Mommy

Aunt Teezy









Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I hope she doesn't mind, but...

this picture is too cool, not to share!!!

34 week progression
Here is my sister's belly progression (so far).  Baby Grayson will be here sooooo soon :)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

5 months- slow down baby girl!!!


Weight: ???  My guess would be around 14 or 15 pounds.
Height: ?? go to doctor next month for 6 month well check.
Head:  ??  go to doctor next month for  6 month well check.
Moods: Happy lil girl!  Loves to yell and squeal while playing. 
Favorite foods: Formula (6oz).  This month she also tried green beans and squash.  She likes the squash much better than the beans.
Favorite toys: "Baby Love" Baby Love is the stork that her Pop pop bought her from the hospital gift shop when she was born.  It flaps it's wings and sings "baby love."  She loves it and often squeals with delight when she hears it.
Noises: She has definitely found her voice.  She loves "talking" to anyone who'll listen.
Playtime: Loves playing peek-a-boo and likes it when her daddy tosses her up and down.  We also visited the park for the 1st time this month.  She enjoyed swinging in the baby swing.
Milestones: Sitting up all by herself and trying baby food.
Sleep: Goes to bed around 8:30-9:00pm and sleeps until 6:30-7:00am "ish".  She's been sleeping this well for since December.

Joe's parents came to visit in the beginning of February.  This was a great help to me because I was holding parent/teacher conferences and getting home later than usual.  Mimi brought Avery some great new clothes for this summer and some sleepers for next year.  Avery enjoyed staying home with her Mimi and Pop.  This gave Grammy some "time off," but of course she wanted to come visit with Mimi and Pop as well.


Valentine's Day was much different this year than those of the past.  Joe and I usually get dressed up and go out to eat someplace nice.  This year I got dressed comfy and we ordered Chinese take out.  It was still just as wonderful as always because we got to spend time together.  The only bad part was since I've been eating healthier these days (19 pounds lost since Dec...woot woot) the Chinese food did not settle with me all that well. Joe did get me the sweetest gift.  I have him a hint of something I wanted, but didn't think he'd be able to find it and purchase it by V-day, but he's awesome.  He got me a silver chain with an adorable block letter "A" covered with diamonds.  I love everything about it!!!

The last weekend of February Courtney and I threw Andrea a baby shower brunch at my house.  Everything was perfect and Grayson got a lot a great things that I'm sure he couldn't live without.  It is getting sooo close to the arrival of my nephew and niece.  I still cannot believe BOTH of my sisters are having a baby 2 weeks apart (more or less) AND that we all three were actually pregnant for a short period of time together.  Too bad we didn't get a picture of that.  Who knows maybe it will happen again on round 2 in a few years.  Haha!!



Still loves her bath time :) 


 Our 1st time to the park. 
What a beautiful 60 degree afternoon in the middle of February.



My first "girls night out" dinner and my 1st time sitting in a high chair.



Too cool for school

Mom and Dad's new puppy "Chesney."



I love reading books with mommy before bedtime.

My 1st ponytail :)

I'm becoming quite the "daddy's girl."  Love my daddy!!

We finally had a play date with the adorable Chloe.  Chloe was born mid July.  She and Avery share a love of girly clothes and foo foo hair bows and head bands (or at least their mommies do).




I can sit up and play :)



Eating beans and cereal :)





We got our 1st snow February 20th.
I cannot believe my baby girl is 5 months old already.  Time really has flown by.  She is changing so much each week, I am so excited to see what's in store for us next month.