Thursday, October 31, 2013

"He-man Avery"

It's so bittersweet to me that Avery has been doing so many more 'big boy' things lately, but I absolutely LOVE to see him react to new situations and experiences. Seeing things
"through the eyes of a child" is the greatest thing EVER. Here are a couple great ones I got photos of this last month:

Finding a 'fuzzy wuzzy' caterpillar for the first time: He literally SQUEALED and screamed
when he saw it. He loved to pick it up and watch it curl and uncurl in dad's hand. (He had also just found some Nerf darts that he was holding onto for dear life)


And this may be one of my favorite quick photo snaps of all time: His primal screaming/muscle showing during bath time one night. He sometimes gets downright delirious and crazy wild. It. Is. Hilarious. The photos are a little blurry from my phone, but his facial expressions kill me. Bath time is usually a highlight of our day, this one was one of the best :)


 I can't get enough of this child. He makes my day - every day, he's so funny!!

In other news: We recently got a new fridge and Avery has gone about re-arranging it approximately 9,234 times. Apparently I need to start teaching him about the term "energy bills"  (I'm such a sucker for that little face)

Friday, October 25, 2013

Baby Olive's close-up!

Today was an exciting day as we got to see our new little Olive via ultrasound, which means we've already made it halfway through pregnancy! Crazy! I remember with Avery, it seemed like time went by soooo slloooowwwllyy and my brain had a hard time focusing on anything but the little baby inside me, but this time I'm so busy chasing speedy little Avery around, time has just flown by!

Baby was a perfect angel during this ultrasound, just cuddled up in there as comfy as can be lightly kicking his legs stretching out- the ultrasound tech was so happy with all the awesome pictures she got of all his parts because was lying so still for her.  (I see his calm nature today as a sign of his future temperament :) 

 I'm so amazed at all the amazing things that we can see on an ultrasound, from every individual finger and toe to all the chambers of the little beating heart (and the cute little sticking out tongue!) I think I could sit and watch all day :)  The tech made a point to comment on what LONG toes he has... just like big brother (and daddy of course!)
 
We didn't get a good face shot because baby kept his hands up there the whole time (which is totally OK, fetal faces always look a little creepy to me anyway) I think the picture below makes him look like such a thinker :)


And, also like big brother, he gave us a perfect view of his BOY parts - Avery is going to have a baby brother! They will be such good buddies, I'm looking forward to seeing them together already :)

The tech noted that she couldn't be much more sure that baby is a boy - she gave it 99.9% because of the great views she got down there :) 

We found out that the placenta is placed in the front, which explains why I haven't felt quite as much movement as I did when I was pregnant with Avery, but last night both Justin and I got to feel a very powerful dance party going on in there, so he's a mover and a shaker like big brother! :) Overall, baby has all his parts and is growing perfectly, measuring in at 19 weeks 6 days, which means his due date of March 16 is spot on!

Happy Friday!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Exciting news for the Olive family!

At the end of July, we took an amazing family vacation to Maine to visit Justin's sister and family. While we were there, I felt quite a bit nauseous but just blamed it on all of the flying and driving (I'm no stranger to motion sickness) 

The day after we returned (August 1, our 4th wedding anniversary) I woke up still feeling pretty nauseous and decided to pick up a pregnancy test. Lo and behold, there were two pink lines staring back at us :)  Because I had no idea how far along I was, I got an early ultrasound a few days later that determined that I was already 8 weeks along! 


So come March 16, 2014, Avery will be upgraded to 'big brother' status! It's taken quite a while for it to sink in for me (we weren't necessarily 'expecting' a new baby yet, but God has other plans for us!) but now that I'm starting to pop a belly and am feeling some early 'flutters', it's becoming more real. 

It's hard to believe that I can ever love anyone as much as I love my Avery, but I've been told time and time again that a mama's heart just doubles and the love just multiplies. :)  I'm also very much looking forward to Avery being a big brother and having a little playmate. He is fascinated by babies (right now anyway) and is so gentle and kind I know he will be such a good little helper once baby makes his/her appearance. I am scheduled for another ultrasound on October 25 and on that day we will hopefully find out the gender of this new little one!


I've been trying to capture a few more videos of Avery lately because he's in such a fun stage right now and does so many things that pictures just can't capture. Here are a few of my favorites:
Avery the little fish! 
(I'm SO proud of how brave he is in the water!)



Bella is Avery's absolute favorite.
He is ALWAYS cuddling with her on the floor and gives her lots of kisses.
Unfortunately for Bella, he also enjoys getting her excited ;)



And, as a result of us visiting so many neat parks this summer that allowed Avery to feed different animals, he now feels that he should 'help' Bella with her dinner.
(bless Bella for being so patient and kind with Avery when all she wanted to do was eat ;)


Sunday, October 6, 2013

Avery @ 15 months!

Hello again!

Avery turned 15 months old exactly one month ago today. I've been trying my best to 'unplug' a bit and enjoy what's left of these last hot summer days with my ever-curious, rapidly growing little boy. I realized the other day that I've also been leaving my camera in the bag for far too long (Avery is moving around so fast these days that I try my best to keep up with him and the camera is usually left behind) so one day a few weeks ago, we took a trip to the park for a photo shoot. Naturally, Avery gave up some pretty sweet faces for the camera :) 





Seriously people, I can't resist this sweet, sweet boy and all his silly faces. I'm so happy to see him becoming such a confident little character with a personality all his own. I find myself more and more smitten with him every day. Everything he does is the most hilarious, cute, magical thing ever. But everyone feels that way about their own babies, right? ;)

Every day Avery does something new and is soaking up everything around him, you can just see him learning. Lately, he's starting to say a few more words and usually tries new ones when prompted, waves at everyone we come across, throws straight-up temper tantrums (whew!), climbs up and down the stairs, climbs up and down the furniture, climbs in and out of the car, gives kisses (oh, the kisses!!), eats with a fork, drinks from a straw, shares with his little friends, makes the cutest 'whoa!' face when he sees something

exciting, hoards collects rocks and other small objects, 'vacuums' with anything that resembles a vacuum cleaner, is becoming a great golfer, hates getting his diaper changed, eats whole tomatoes straight off the vine, is such a good helper, brushes his own teeth, runs everywhere, gets skinned-up knees, 'swims' on his tummy in the bath, blows bubbles in the bath (this swimming-instructor mama beams with pride!), LOVES swinging, is an avid people watcher, spots bugs and follows them all over the yard, 'mows' the yard and driveway (the main source of the skinned knees), dances and wiggles to his own tune, reads books, would love to play in the refrigerator all  day moving items from shelf to shelf, sweeps the floor, loves to watch Shawn the Train with daddy after his bath, cuddles, and is just a generally kind, loving little boy.

It's hard for me to truly explain Avery in words. He is just turning into this amazing little person and I'm constantly humbled by him and am so incredibly blessed that I get to be his mama.