On This Day...

One year ago today, I took a test that would forever change our lives. It was such an incredibly exciting feeling watching those two pink lines appear... the first of many amazing feelings and experiences that were to come- 
What a difference ONE YEAR can make.

I very much enjoyed being pregnant and I will look back on that 9 months as some of the greatest of my life... until Avery made his appearance. Now my life is so full and so happy I can barely stand it. 

Avery is almost 4 months old and charming as can be. He's developing such a fun personality and watching him change every day brings us so much joy. Even when I wake up after a night of little sleep and peer over the side of the crib at the little Sleep-Thief himself, he uses his magical powers (transmitted through his sweet morning smile) to make me forget all about how exhausted I am and actually make me think about how much I missed him while sleeping. It's amazing. 

I'll be posting his '4 month' post shortly, I just wanted to drop in and share the significance of this day - what a crazy, beautiful, wonderful year it's been.

I realized that I usually share photos of Avery smiling, which he does most of the day, but he makes so many other faces now that he 'talks' and interacts more, I just had to share :)

Wear a Helmet...

A week ago today, Justin, Avery and I set off for Indianapolis for a day full of baseball. Justin was going to play, Avery and I were going to watch. Justin plays on a 'Vintage Baseball' team - The teams wear uniforms, use equipment, and play by the rules/regulations of 1863 baseball. It's considered a 'gentleman's game' and is fun to play - and watch!

We arrived at the park and a friend of mine and I set up 'camp' for our babies on the side of the field. Right before the game started, we decided to move to the opposite side of the field where there was more shade and there was a tree to 'protect' us. (These games are just played in wide open -and often uneven- grassy areas, not traditional baseball fields) Justin met us when we made it to the other side and I handed Avery to him so I could spread out the blanket on the ground. 

I laid out the blanket and as I was opening the shade umbrella, *BAM* - the second hit of the game went foul right into my face. I just remember lots of pain to the face and lots of commotion all around. Avery started crying (I found out later it was because Justin laid him on the blanket to come to me) and I looked down at my hands and saw lots of blood everywhere, pouring from my face. Super scary! 

I had no idea if it was my head or my cheek or my eye... it was just a mess of blood and pain. Thank God for my friend Amy (who is a nurse) for a putting ice (wrapped in a burp rag, of course!) to my face right away, for Justin for rubbing my back and getting me a piece of gum to get the taste of blood out of my mouth, and for the woman who picked up Avery and comforted him during the whole ordeal. 

Justin called 911, the EMTs came (really quickly!) and flushed out my eye to make sure there were no pieces of my sunglasses in there. I had no vision out of the eye and was somewhat in shock, I think. They bandaged it up and after a quick snack for Avery (he stared at the white bandage on my face with a pretty confused look while I fed him in the backseat of the car before we took off!) we found our way to the ER. 

They were such troopers!

After a super long day (10 hours...) with an infant in a tiny ER room, two different doctors attempted to stitch up my face (come to find out, there was actually a hole gouged out by my broken glasses, so there really wasn't any skin to pull together), my vision slowly came back (the blood that was in my eye was what was blocking the view) and I've been visiting the doctor's office pretty much every day since. 

Putting lots of trust in Amy,
who took my stitches out -at home!

My Ophthalmologist put me on bed rest all week (quite the feat with a 3 month old in the house!) for fear of dislodging the clots that had formed inside my eye, which could cause permanent vision problems and/or blindness. After visiting a plastic surgeon, he determined that since the cuts were already scabbing over, it wouldn't do any good to cut into it and disturb the healing so I will just have to accept the scars and hope they aren't too noticeable and fade quickly! The human body is an amazing thing, though, and I'm so happy with how much better my face looks just one week later after the swelling has gone down and the stitches have been removed ...

 

Although I would've rather this just not happened at all, I am so incredibly lucky because it could've turned out so much worse than it was. 

I'm so thankful that I was wearing my big sunglasses, as they took the blow of the ball and miraculously saved any of the bones in my face from being broken. 

I'm so thankful I happened to hand Avery over to Justin less than a minute before the ball came our way. It hurts me to think of what that ball could've done to his little body.

I'm so thankful for the kindness and prayers from friends and family.

I'm so thankful that our insurance deductible was already met for the year after having Avery. :)

I've been thinking so much about fate and God, how precious life really is and how things can change so drastically in an instant. So hug a little tighter, don't hesitate to say 'I love you', and for heaven's sake, don't attend a baseball game without wearing protective gear - including a helmet.

A Fun Avery Moment...

Avery loves mirrors. Whenever we walk past the one above our fireplace, we have to stop and have a giggle. (Avery giggles at himself...I giggle at him, giggling at himself :) So during tummy time the other day, I pulled out a mirror to see if he would enjoy it. 

I'll let you be the judge on whether he did or not... 

 

 Best. Faces. EVER.  How can you not giggle (or laugh 'till you cry like Justin and I do) at that sweet face?! This child just gets cuter by the day, I tell ya. My cup runneth over.

...And to top off this overload of cuteness, later that evening, we found Bella making herself at home on the Boppy pillow, gazing at herself in the mirror, too!  

Who knew a mirror I found for 25 cents at a garage sale could bring this much enjoyment?!

3 Month Photos!

Yesterday morning, I snapped some photos of Avery on his 3 month birthday! He's so sweet and smiley in the morning - I just want to kiss him all over!  (which is probably how he and I ended up with colds today... boo.) But - we did get to spend some time as a family yesterday checking out the 'Tippecanoe Battlefield' near our house and got some good exercise at Happy Hollow Park! 

 

Avery @ 3 Months!

This month has been full of visitors and adventures! 
Avery got snuggled by lots of family, got in a couple of bike rides, took a trip to the beach (for the second time!), grew out of his 3 month clothes (and some of his 6 months already...), ate lots (growth spurt again?), drooled all over the place,  sat up in his bumbo seat and jumped around in his exersaucer, and can hold his head up all on his own!

We've introduced Avery to a couple new things this month - his Bumbo seat and his Exersaucer.
He's still trying to figure them both out but is enjoying them so far! 

Now that Avery is 3 months old, I'm SO grateful that I'm able to continue to stay home with him and not go back to work.  Although I often miss teaching (especially now that it's back-to-school time), It's been a dream of mine to stay home to raise my babies and since moving to Indiana, that dream became a reality.  Avery's getting to a point developmentally where he enjoys looking and batting at toys and I'm looking forward to more 'play time' with him in the months to come. I'm glad to be here with him as he's learning new tricks, which happens all the time these days :)

That said, we've definitely had to make some adjustments to living on one income. We're trying to find ways to cut back and conserve money the best we can so we have enough in our account for the basics (mortgage, student loans, groceries, etc.).  It's going to be a challenge and we're going to have to get better at budgeting, but we think it's definitely worth it to be able to be home with Avery.


Avery's 'Milestones' This Month:

• He sits up in his Bumbo seat and likes to bat toys around on the tray
• He spends some time in his exersaucer and loves listening/staring at the toys
• Tummy time is becoming more fun now that he can hold his head up! He enjoys staring at toys and mirrors set up in front of him (especially the ones that make noise)
• He chews his right fist all day - we think he's working on fitting the entire thing in his mouth! (the chewing leads to lots of drooling!)
• He's getting good at lifting his feet up when laying on his back - he's so close to rolling right over!
• He greets us every morning with a smile and has the cutest laugh/giggle!
• He 'talks', squeals and 'coughs' at his toys when laying on his play mats
• He met his first GREAT grandpa and took part in a 4 generation Olive men photo! :)

Fun Fact:  The blanket that I took Avery's 11 week photo on was the very same one that my mom took a photo of me on in back in the day. I was about 8 months old in this photo!

And since we're cracking out the baby photos, here's one of Justin at 3 months! :) I can definitely see some Avery in that sweet face!