Happy Halloween !!!!

Notice the star pumpkin - thats for our Conner - We miss him so much! Happy Halloween in heaven sweet angel! Brenden loaded up on candy - WOW! This year was a ton of fun!

cute pic share!!!

Avery 10 weeks 2 days

I love the fall!!! I am waiting for the tree out front to change color - it gets these vibrant yellow leaves - cant wait to lay Avery in them for some pictures. Until them - it will be just Brenden goofing off in the brown crusty ones. Avery gave me two smiles this morning - ahh the little victories!! Cant even explain how incredible it is too see this little person smiling! Brenden was helping me rock her yesterday - so cute! I said she sure is a strange little creature isnt she - he totally agreed. Babies are such blessings and we are thirlled with our new addition! Tonight, we carve the pumpkins - should be interesting...

Random act of amazing generosity!!!

I just wanted to share an incredible story with you. I got a call from Ken (Cure Tay-Sachs Foundation) last week to ask me if I knew someone who made a very very very sizable donation since the person was from Maryland. I did not know the woman - however I asked around and found out something very touching. My very good friend Kara often wears a Conner's Way Foundation t-shirt (it has a very very cute picture of Conner on the back) - this woman asked Kara about Conner - and she then gave her one of my CTS business cards (Im on the board). How incredible that a perfect stranger took the time and kindness to hear our story and lend a helping hand. This perfect stranger then made a donation to the Cure Tay-Sachs Foundation. Did I yet mention that it was a very large 20 thousand dollar donation? So touching! I was completly stunned. It amazes me everyday that Conner was able to impact so many people. We miss him terribly - every second of everyday! Due to the economy and our newly expanded (and sleepy) family this year - we regretfully have opted to put off our annual event until the spring - so any donations made in Conner's name to the Cure Tay-Sachs Foundation are very appreciated!!! I am offering limited photoshoots for the rest of the year and I am donating all my fees to the Cure Tay-Sachs Foundation. I have done one shoot already - but I am accepting a few more shoots for November ( http://www.connerswayphotography.com/ )

Avery 9 weeks 6 days

10 pounds 1.5 ounces

Ahh - finally some mini push ups!!! Workin those muscles. Now if we can straighten out those eyes, and get some more toothless grins I can stop worrying for a couple days or minutes as the case may be. I would have to say she is smiling a little more - but still maybe only 1 or so a day. I am so worried about Avery's eyes - and it's driving me crazy - because I just have to wait and let her eye's and brain mature a bit before we will know if there is truly anything wrong. Just sitting and waiting is not my strong suit. And the fact that she is a preemie - makes it worse - unchartered waters. Sometimes they take longer to get it together - so really she's only 4 1/2 weeks old adjusted for her preematurity. We were fortunate in the NICU to not really have any of the preemie issues like apnea, bradycardia, or reflux - but now maybe were making up for it. We are looking forward to Halloween (Brenden is! ) Last year was fun, but now this year should be even better!!!! I havent weighed Avery since last week - so Im sure she is topping out over 10 pounds now - I will let you know. She is getting so big!

UPDATE: That little bugger smiled at Carl at least 5 times tonight - didnt give me one all day :( Although Im sad they werent smiles at me - I sure am glad she's starting to smile more! Smiling is one of the very first developmental milestones for infants. And for us..... Milestones are a huge deal.

Avery 9 weeks 2 days

Avery had her eye exam today - so the verdict is that she has a visual maturation delay - or thats what they are calling it. she does track, but shows some visual inattentiveness - and the eye that keeps getting crossed and wandering. This may be related to her prematurity - and may reslove by itself, but it may not. So for now we are really in a wait and see pattern. Usually by 4 months old these issues resolve (and for her thats 4 months from her due date - so Feburary 3rd) If the crossed-wondering eye dosent resolve she will need corrective surgery - which quite honestly is not that big a deal. And if her visual skills are not matured by that point they will most likley move toward a neurological work up. We are meeting with a neuro-opthomologist in a few weeks. It is so completly worrysome for us - we have been through so much already and the thought that something may be wrong with our new baby girl is a very tough pill to swallow. So for now we wait and wait and wait.

Avery 9 weeks old

The cutest little pumpkin in the patch (or the front yard as the case may be).

Avery 2 months old #2

9 pounds 10 ounces

Love the little wrinkles in her legs - she has some super fat folds - but I dont want to show off her girl parts - so these discreet little wrinkles will have to do. My guess was only 2 ounces off - she's eating like a rockstar! I was hoping to have smiles all the time by now - tomorrow marks 9 weeks. She is really stingy with the smiles - we get 1 maybe every other day. Now when it comes to whine - we get plenty! She is starting to make some other sounds besides crying which is totally cute. Not really cooing, just some different sounds.

Avery 2 months old

Wow - 2 whole months already ! I am happy to report that sleeping at night is getting a bit better. She is still up every 3 hours to eat - but hopefully we have elimintated those 3-4 hour awake periods in the middle of the night. Last week in fact she had 4 days where she slept a 5 hour stretch at night. It's been hard to take photos latley - she is just a little fuss ball! You can see in the pictures from today her forehead stork bite is flaming red - she was pee-od just before she fell asleep for these shots. I havent weighed her for a few days - so thats on the agenda for today - my guess... 9 pounds 8 ounces - lets see if Im right? She is getting to be my little chubby baby! She has newly formed fat rolls in her thighs - so cute! But those make diaper changes challenging - who said girls were easier? She is also getting pretty good at holding her head up. Busy week this week - I will be sure to update after her appointments :)

Avery 8 weeks 3 days

hard to believe this little 4 pounder is now

9 pounds 2.5 ounces !

a 9 pound picture soon to come...

Avery 8 weeks 2 days

8 pounds 13 ounces

Sorry for the lack of blogging - man where does the time go? I volunteered at Brenden's school wednesday - how cute those kindergardners are! And today Avery and I went to watch Brenden in the golden shoe race - the kids ran 1/2 a mile - WOW. His class were the winners! Brenden did really well - but he tripped and fell - (he got right back up and kept on going) so that slowed him up a little. Next week is also shaping up to be a crazy week - Avery has a pediatrician appt and another eye appt. Im a little worried about her right eye. She looks like she may have a lazy eye - this can be considered normal for babies upto 3-4 months - but Im going to have her checked out anyway.

Avery 7 weeks 4 days

Ahhh - so a afternoon at the pumpkin patch - fun, yeah right.... I took 150 pictures, and I got one decent one - Avery's not looking, but hey - she's not screaming either! I'll take it :) Her little tummy is giving her a fit - making her quite grumpy today.

just a picture share :)

Avery 7 weeks 3 days

I have been playing with storyboard display's - so these are old pictures, but just wanted to share them :) Last nights weight... 8 pounds 2.5 ounces! Now I can start taking pitures of some adorable fat rolls!

Stress and Dust

OK - so wow, how much better I feel just straightening up the kitchen. Somehow stuff just piles up so fast, I cant keep up. Im not a clean freak, by any stretch of the imagination - but a clean house makes everyone less irritible. We had beautiful new french doors put in yesterday - so I had to clean up Brenden's toy corner so we can open both sides of the door. Sweet little guy couldnt wait to "help" me. So basically that means every toy that I pick up to pack away or re-locate he suddenly cant live without - even if he hadnt touched it in months. Im starting to think that he has more toys than any other kid on the planet. He is really such a thoughtful little kid - I am so lucky to have such an amazing kindergardner. My favorite time is our quiet time - he loves to talk about his day. Avery is still asleep - going on 2 hours now. I just went up to check on her - man, she moves around so much - she is all over that crib!

Avery 7 weeks 2 days

Why does lack of sleep put you in such a bad mood? I hate to admit it, but Im really bitchy. My house is a wreck, I am so disorganized - oh and the puppies - well thats enough to push me right over the edge. My computer is acting up - which is another thing driving me nutty. Todays goal... de-stress. Avery had some wicked gas last night - made her super wiggly and unsettled. She is finally sleeping soundly right now - hopefully she can get some rest for a few hours. Brenden has off school today - so we are catching up on some much needed Scooby-doo ..lol

Avery 7 weeks old #2

8 Pounds 1 Ounce

Love baby feet - how cute!

Avery 7 weeks old

I got the chance to take Avery outside and do a little mini -shoot - it took nearly 2 hours to get any decent pictures. She kept protesting - so we would have to take breaks. I think she must be going through a growth spurt - she has been sleeping quite a bit today - maybe making up for all those sleepless nights??? I will have a weight later and will add it to the post. Oh, and for those who read my last post about Brenden cutting his own hair - well.... he does pets too! Thats right folks, I found a recently cut spot on Lexi tonight. That darn kid!

Avery 6 ++ weeks

OK - who needs a professional to cut their hair anyway? From the looks of this... not Brenden. We were hard at work on his homework tonight - cutting and pasting pictures that start with the "P" sound and somewhere in between pumpkin and polar bear - Brenden gave himself a haircut. It was hard to get mad at him because it was pretty darn comical. Luckily I cant even tell where he took this chunk out of. Onto Miss Avery - Wow - I went to bed at 4 am this morning - yikes. After last night - I have made the tough decision to try her in her crib tonight for the very first time. The longest she has ever spent in her crib so far has been laying it while I get her bath tub ready. She had her first nap in it today - and slept great for 3 hours - thats like a world record around here - Whoo Hoo! I couldnt believe how much she moved - I layed her in the very center and she got wedged up in one corner. Let me just tell you homeland security has nothing on me. I have a video monitor hooked up so I can see her all the time and also a sensor pad monitor under her mattress - it alarm's if she dosent move in 20 seconds (like breathing). I did get a false alarm today during her nap - and thats when I discovered she had moved to the very edge. So I adjusted the sensitivity - and we will give it another try tonight. The monitor worked great in the co sleeper - it alarmed every time I picked her up and forgot to turn it off. This usually happend after I had reached the bottom step - so I would have to rush back up the stairs - before the whole house got woken up. Yes - Brenden and Carl are getting plenty of sleep. Avery's last weight 7 pounds 11.5 ounces :)

Avery 6 + weeks

Couldnt wait to share this super cute picture of Avery from this morning. Looks like her stork bite (the ones on her nose and upper lip at least) are starting to fade. I have a feeling the one on her forehead will be around for a while. We watch them change color every day. Boy, when she gets mad - they are flaming red! I bought this blanket almost 2 weeks ago - and the weather has been cloudy - so I havent had enough light to shoot with, then when I had the light - she had infant acne - so we had to put it off again. Today I went for it - got some super cute pics this morning!

Avery's official due date - she's full term now!

Look how much she's grown!!! Today is Avery's official due date. The picture on the left was her while still in the NICU and the one on the right is from last week (I think...) So you can she - she's starting to store some nuts in those cheeks. It's amazing she is not even 8 pounds yet, but she looks so much bigger than when she was born. We are still seeing the beginnings of social smiles - they are very few and only every now and then - but she is doing it. Im still waiting for the huge toothless grin - and I will have my camera on standby, but may be a few more weeks for that one :) Brenden returned back to school today - phew! I havent gotten any calls - so I guess he is on the mend!

Avery 6 weeks 2 days old

7 pounds 7 ounces

Ugg.... a fleeting moment of sleep - a real hot commadie around here! Avery is doing great - with the only exception being sleeping at night. She's a pro a sleeping during the day - so we are just waiting for her to adjust to days and nights. Brenden has been sick with the GI virus - I thought we were done with it then last night - a huge throw up - yuk!! So he missed another day of school today :( He's excited to go back - so lets hope we make it through the night without any puke.