sleeping

This is at about three months old, it used to be so easy to get her to sleep!



It seems no matter how hard we work, Averi will sleep through the night GREAT for like two weeks and then we have a week of screaming all through the night, as if she is teasing us with the two weeks of doing good! This last week was particularly rough, she was up constantly through the night...usually I would let her fuss it out but this was not just fussing it was all out screaming.
She has a cold and I know that played a part into it but I did not think that was the whole issue! I was talking to my good friend Lydia on Wednesday and she said her daughter who is almost three months younger then Averi has been sleeping well at night but doesn't always take the best naps... when she said this it dawned on me... "DUH rach, cut out a nap"... so last night Kevin and I cut out her "evening nap" and made our sweet girl stay up!
She was a little fussy but this was to be expected. She went to bed at eight pm and we did not see or hear from her until five thirty this morning, and at five thirty she ate and went right back down! PRAISE THE LORD for a good nights rest!

As of late!

The last week has been busy as we are jumping into the cold weather..which I LOVE!!! It makes me sad to not be able to spend as much time outside but breaking out sweaters and hoodies makes up for it! Here is a recap of what has gone on the last few days in our home! Av has had her first taste of "real" food, we started rice a while back and have now added in green veggies...begining with Green beans. Our first attempt dod not go well, her faces were HORRIBLE but we persevered (her pediatrician said to try the same thing for four days straight, and that it may take up to fourteen tries before she likes it!) well after two days she seems to have come around and even like them!

Av has also formed a strong bond to a little toy dragon fly a friend gave her, Kevin has named him "dougey Fresh" Av has dressed up for the first time in her winter clothing. She looks SO cute in her coat and hat! The sweetest thing that has happened this week was tonight... I got home and my sweet sweet amazing husband had bought me roses! Can I just brag on my man for a minute... he works so hard to provide for Averi and I, and although he is exhausted he takes the time to do the little things to make me feel special and wanted! Thank you babe! The last thing that happened this week was pretty cute... Averi has learned to dance a little jig in her jumper... she is seriously SO funny these days...we LOVE watching her!

Good morning beautiful

We no longer need an alarm to wake us up in the morning... instead we wake up to some whining on the baby monitor. Of course when first hearing Av's morning cries I think " Averi please go back to sleep" but as soon as we walk in to her room and are greeted with her sweet smiles it makes waking up not so bad, as a matter of fact it makes waking up worth while!

HAPPY SIX MONTH DAY AVERI!!!

Today marks Averi's half birthday...we can not believe she has been here so long! I often look at her and think "man wasn't she just born?"...time has flown! In honor of this day we would like to list SIX things we love about our sweet girl! 1. Her constant grins... no matter what we can always get a grin out of Av! 2. The way she touches our faces and looks in our eyes when we snuggle her...it is like she is taking everyone of our features in! 3. The way she lights up when we come into the room! 4. How she always greets us with a smile and giggle when we get her out of her crib! 5. The grunts we hear from the backseat while we are driving! 6. The way she gets a death grip on everything, like she has just discovered it is her toy and she will never ever let go! I took Av to her six month well visit... our girl is growing growing growing! She is 16.3 pounds (50Th percentile) and 27 inches long (90Th percentile)...she is developing right on schedule, and is even a little ahead with how well she is sitting up! It is SUCH a joy to watch her change and grow! In order to celebrate her six month Kev and I made tacos for dinner... then took Averi to the park in a gorgeous gown her great granny Yates got for her in order to get some pictures! We then came home took some more pictures and sang happy six months to Averi... here are some pictures to celebrate our gorgeous girls six months of life!

Praise the LORD for a healthy and happy little girl! mommy and daddy LOVE you Averi Noel you are and always will be our love bug!

Baby gibson

One of my dearest friends and her husband have suffered a terrible loss... they started having problems with there pregnancy last Thursday morning and found out they miscarried this morning. Here is a link to their blog http://babygibsonjourney.blogspot.com/
They are handling it well. They are upset but are resting assured that God is sovereign and over all including sad situations such as this. Please keep them in your prayers, Brooke has been one of my closest friends for years, we have grown up together and Kevin and mines hearts are breaking for them!

First over night trip without Av

after over a year of marriage we still love to hold hands!



saying goodbye to averi


Enjoying bardstown and our time together







our bed and breakfast







Since we had a two month old on our one year anniversary we just went to dinner... so since Av is about to turn SIX MONTHS we decided it was time for mommy to let go (just a little bit) and allow her to spend the night away so Kevin and I could have a weekend together! After deciding this Kevin jumped on making plans (i probably could have put of the plans until averi turned twenty one lol)... he reserved us a gorgeous room at a bed and breakfast in bardstown for Saturday night and we made plans for Averi to stay with my best friend Lindsay and her sweet family!
It was SUCH a fun weekend, we thoroughly enjoyed walking the streets and going through the shops of this little town... eating great food (yeah sticking to the diet was a little challenging), and just enjoying one another. We were ready to pick up our sweet girl the next day even though we were sure she was well taken care of (even a little spoiled)... we missed her sweet Av lovings!

I can sit up

Our baby girl is growing up...she has almost mastered sitting up...GO AV

Over reacting!

For the last few days Av has suffered from her first runny nose and cough... I have tried to chalk it up to a cold and just comfort her through it and suction out her snotty nose a lot (the joys of motherhood). Well last night she had a hard time... our normally happy little girl was SCREAMING AND SCREAMING AND SCREAMING, she would not nurse and would not let us rock her... all our efforts to comfort her, failed. We finally tried laying her down which resulted in more SCREAMING. After about forty minutes we took her temperature and it was slightly elevated, I gave her some Tylenol she finally nursed, laid down and went to sleep.
Well last night gave me and Kev a little scare, so we called the doctor first thing this morning, and although she seemed to be feeling better and was not running a fever I took her in. Well after a brief appointment with the doctor I felt DUMB (LoL) he took her temp, looked at her ears and throat and said "Well Mrs. Yates, she has a cold"... I guess we all have to over react at some point!
Well in light of last night I decided to stand my ground, "bed time is bed time" I said to myself... "and no matter what I will not get her back up!" Well that lasted through about twenty minutes of awful screaming... well once again I felt DUMB because when I picked her up she let out a HUGE burp...sorry Av mama's still learning!
I love being a mommy, it is the thrill of a life time... but I will tell you what you learn something new EVERY day!

Back in the swingof things!

On our honeymoon, my goal weight!
this was a few weeks ago... I know it is hard to tell but I can tell that Ive lost some!



Mommy in june




Well I was doing great as of my last post about dieting, but then I kindve got out of the swing of things... I had lost seventeen pounds...gained five back and as of about two wks ago (the last time I weighed myself) lost four more! so now I have lost a total of sixteen pounds.... not really where I want to be!
Well, God used a bible study I have been doing at church to convict me a little. In our small group we were talking about being attractive for your husband and I realized that it is not fair for Kevin to come home everyday to me in sweats with a pony tail and spit up on my shirt! If I make the effort to look nice when we go to church or when I go out to see my friends then why would I not make that effort for him?
To clarify I am married to one of the sweetest men in the world and he would never in a million years tell me I was anything less then gorgeous. But I want to look nice for him, to make him feel special. My excuse for not dressing up is that my clothes don't fit...well that excuse is out the window because I am going to get back to a size where atleast a decent amount of my clothing fits! Not that Kevin will come home to me dressed up with pearls on everyday... but for him and FOR ME I want to feel and look nice!
So I am back in the swing of things... I have walked/jogged the last three days in a row and plan to keep it up... losing weight is a slow process, and I often look at other new moms or my firends who have not had children with envy because they look so good... but I am learning, this is where I am at right now, but I am young and I can work hard to change that!

Family day

Kevin took Saturday off from applebees for a family day! We got up around eight thirty, headed for shoneys for breakfast and then hit the zoo! What fun we had spending time with each other! Kevin is such a good husband and father and spending a day watching him interact with Averi was SO sweet!

Miss personality

It is such a privilege to watch Av grow, develop and change! Her personality is shining through more then ever these days...she gets a kick out of everything and is laughing ALL the time.In fact last night she woke up around 530 am and was not fussing at all, as a matter of fact she was cracking herself up, I went in to check on her and actually woke Kevin up to see her...she was on her belly just laughing and laughing and laughing at nothing at all...we laughed so hard it brought tears to our eyes! Here are some videos of her sweet giggles!

A beautiful wedding!

I could watch her sleep for hours!




Sweet smiles

Dancing


Celebrating at the reception



Praying



cutting the cake

Sweet friends, Ashley and Kyle with their girls Jane and Emma


Here comes the bride




Last Sunday Kevin, Av and I had the opportunity to witness two friends of ours, Jessica and Dan get married! It was a GORGEOUS ceremony... and Jessica was one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen! There ceremony was a reflection of Christs love and it was a good reminder of our own wedding day...making me once again reflect on how much I love Kevin and how very blessed I am to have him as my husband! congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Cassin!!!

Oh baby a new template!

I guess you could say I get bored easily... I felt it time for a new template...what do you think? I LOVE it... Kev is currently at applebees though so he may think it to girly and it may be changed again tomorrow!

Life has been full of surprises lately! In addition to my sister, three of my close friends have found out they too are expecting, pregnancy always seems to come in groups doesn't it? For my sister and one friend this is not their first child so I ask that you join us in praying for an easy adjustment for these families as they grow, I ask for easy pregnancies so these mama's can focus on the children they have already been blessed with, being pregnant was hard enough without any other children I can not imagine keeping up with Av while being pregnant (although I can not wait to add on to our family some day!). As for my other two pregnant friends this is baby number one... join us in praying the Lord gives them healthy pregnancies that are easy on them, that their husbands will be supportive and understanding, that their concerns and worries will be minimal and that they will be as prepared as possible for when these blessings arrive!

What a gift it is to be a mother, but what a huge challenge it can be as well, pregnancy alone can be a challenge! Praise the Lord for these children growing in their wombs, for these tiny lives... and for these mothers who are eagerly awaiting their arrival!

Fun in the fall!

Kevin had to work at applebees tonight so we headed up to my moms house to snap some pictures of Averi, Corbin and my god daughter alayna playing in my parents big yard!

more videos

more videos of emma and av

Some new videos

Here are some recent videos we've taken of Averi with some special guest appearances from Emma the little girl I babysit!