The Hope Family: September 2011

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011

One year...

One year ago today we got a little surprise. Who knew two pink lines could totally change everything?

Friday, September 23, 2011

I know, I know. I haven't posted in forever and am so behind. Please don't remind me, I get anxiety whenever I think about how many pictures I need to print off and how much scrapbooking I need to do! :) But I think I am all caught up now, keep scrolling down because I probably did about 20 posts today. Once we figure out the new Mac it will (hopefully) be easy to organize our pictures and I promise I will post more frequently!

Our lives have been completely taken over by this cute little girl and we wouldn't have it any other way. The last 4 months have definitely been some of the best in our lives and she's easily the best thing that we've ever done.

Our Other Babies

A lot of people have asked how our dogs are doing with Avery. To be honest, I don't most of them care about her all that much, unless she's particularly smelly. :) However, Harley is determined to be Avery's best friend. Wherever Avery is, Harley is. It is really cute. So they don't feel left out, here's a picture of each of them.

Mini-Me

A lot of people say that Avery looks like me but when I found this picture of Michael at about 3 months I think there's no contest, she looks a lot like him! Let's just hope she grows out of it. ha!

Big Smile

See, told you she is the happiest girl!

Four Months

Four Month Stats

-Still size one diapers

-Still an awesome sleeper!

-Loves, loves, loves to smile, she really is the happiest girl

-Wearing 0-3 and 3 months clothes

-Tries to sit up by pulling her head forward

-She is a hot, sweaty baby! She is like a little furnace which will come in handy this winter but not when it's already 90 degrees out!

-Hair is starting to grow in

-Likes to watch the dogs, other kids, cars on the road, etc.

-14lbs, 2.5oz and 25 inches long! She is in the 75% for height and 50% for weight

This has been a really fun stage, we can make her laugh and she's much more aware of what's going on around her. She is grabbing and starting to chew on toys but still loves to chew on her hands most of all. She is also Drooly Julie! She drools all the time, I am hoping teeth are still a LONG way off!

Sweet Cheeks

I found the coolest app ever for my iphone, it's called Instagram and it makes the most 'usual' pictures look so cool. I use this for almost every photo I take, I'm addicted to it!

Hippy Chick

Rocking the tie-dye!

Heads up

It had been awhile since Avery had done tummy time, bad, I know. So one day after work I laid a blanket out and put her on her tummy and she held her head up perfectly for a long time. How cute is she?!

Nice Hair

Michael took a shower one morning and shaved his head. A little later he was rubbing his head and said "Did I miss a spot?" and turned his head so I could look. I immediately busted up laughing and laughed for about 10 minutes. Then I regretted laughing because I should have just said "Nope, looks good" and let him walk around like this for awhile. Haha!

Three Months

Avery's Three Month Stats:

-Loves to wiggle!

-Following objects more with eyes

-Loves to talk to her daddy, she will chat with him for a long time.

-Almost laughing

-Very happy girl in the morning

-Still sleeping all night

-Loves to stand up and look around

-Wears 0-3 and 3 month clothes

-Starting to grab at things

-Goes from fine and happy to starving and screaming in two seconds, but is fine once theres food for her

-Size one diapers

-She didn't have a well baby check up but she weighed 12lbs on our homescale and measured 23 inches.

And on 9-9-11 she rolled over for the first time! She is rolling from back to front like crazy but has yet to roll from front to back. We'll go in after putting her in her crib for the night and find her face down, it still freaks dad out a little. :)

Tough Girl

Who says girls can't look cute with a mohawk?!

Hiking Adventure

Avery went on her first hiking trip! And believe it or not she slept pretty much the whole time. My friend Doug was in town with his wife Wendy and some other friends for a wedding so we made plans to go on a short hike Saturday morning. We found a 2.5 mile loop up near Mt. Bachelor at Sparks Lake. It was a really pretty hike and perfect weather. I forget that all that stuff is so close, I think next year we'll go hiking a lot more!

Water Baby

It has been a warm summer! We have taken Avery swimming a few times at the hotel pool but I thought it would be fun to have a small pool at home for her. Well, we ended up getting a bigger pool that is about 12 feet across and about 3 feet deep. Perfect for lounging in on those hot days! It was pretty cold at first so Avery would just hang out on her floatie but we ended up finding a solar cover for it and that really helped warm up the water. We're going to have lots of fun summers splashing around!

Avery and Mom

Two Months

Avery's Two Month Stats:

-Started smiling

-Sleeps ALL night! At least 8 hours, but usually 10 or more.

-Went swimming for the first time at the hotel pool, then we got a big pool for the backyard!

-Wears size 0-3 and newborn

-Wears size 1 diapers

-Weighs a little over 10lbs

She also had shots at her two month appointment, talk about sad! She just wanted to snuggle for the rest of the day and that was totally ok with me!

Warden Harley

She makes sure there is NO slacking during tummy time!

First Vacation

Averys first vacation was to Seattle, of course! My first college roomie, Sidney, was getting married the weekend after the 4th of July so we made plans to drive up and stay with my friend Cherron and go to the wedding and of course visit all the other fun Seattle stuff!

She did awesome on the drive up, she was about 7 weeks old so she pretty much slept the whole time except to eat. She was a great baby the whole time we were there, too! We went to Ikea and then the wedding Friday night and Saturday we went to a garden store and hung out with Cherron. Sunday we went downtown and cruised around Pike Place Market and had the BEST tuna poki ever, it was so good! We were sad to leave on Monday but dad sure was glad to see us when we got home!

4th of July

The Fourth was pretty low key this year, Avery was only about 6 weeks old. My sister, Colleen and her kids came down so Avery got lots of snuggle time with all the cousins! They all came over and watched the fireworks from our front yard. Avery slept in her swing the whole time. :) I also made some Apple Cheesecake Streusel Bars with homemade caramel sauce that were A-MAZING. They used a whole pound of butter, but that's why they were so good, right?

Newborn Photo Session

My awesome sister Colleen came to town about 2 weeks after Avery was born. Our nephew, Rory, was getting baptized and while she was here she did a newborn session with Avery. These aren't all the pictures because I love every single one and there are too many to post on here. She is just the sweetest baby, ever. Now I have to decide which ones to get blown up so I can get them framed and on the wall!! Check out Colleen's website at www.colleendonovanphotography.com. Thank you, Colleen! They are fabulous!