Like I said before, I've been trying to get Avery's book up-to-date. I'm almost finished with month 2, which is quite an improvement, I think! Here's a look at The pages from Avery's birth day and his first month:
PAGES 12-13: Avery's Birth Day
PAGES 12-13: The little insert in the center holds the info. cards for both of the midwives we saw throughout my pregnancy. (Although Anne was the only one present for Avery's birth)
PAGE 12: Lots of photos of our first hours with Avery (Lots of 'firsts' pictures)
PAGE 12: Our first family photo and a timeline of the days events, starting at 3 am when I first started having contractions.
PAGE 12: Avery meeting his Aunt Janessa, just a couple of hours after he was born (she almost made it!) and a picture of Avery peering out of his bassinet in the hospital
PAGE 13: Avery's Apgar scores, our hospital bracelets and our first 'posed' family picture :)
PAGE 13: Avery's bassinet card from the hospital, a picture of him in the cute pointy hospital hat and Anne's card insert
PAGE 13: One of my favorite photos of the proud new daddy and Avery's first bath (yikes!)
PAGES 14-15: More details about Avery's delivery, size, features, and his birth announcement newspaper clipping
PAGE 14: Although it's not very cute, I wanted to make sure to include a photo of the nasty newborn rash Avery had while we were in the hospital. It only lasted a couple days and was gone by the time we went home.
PAGE 14: Some things we wanted to remember from the day, and Avery meeting Grandma & Grandpa Stewart on the night he was born
PAGE 15: Another 12x12 scrapbook page with a poem and some Instagram photos of Avery's first days
PAGE 15: Although we didn't choose Avery's name for it's meaning (ha!), I wanted to document what it was - ironically enough, my paternal grandfather's name is Alfred. :)
PAGES 16-17: Both 12x12 layouts - and a small insert with Avery's first footprints from the hospital
PAGE 16: LOVE the date stamper...
PAGE 16: I used some scrapbook embellishments as a bottom border on these pictures (he looks so tiny in his carseat!)
PAGE 17: I had every intention of doing this much earlier... but naturally it didn't get done until month 5. They're still cute! :)
PAGE 17: The back of the insert - a flyer we got in the mail documenting some current events
PAGES 18-19: A fun overview of the first year+ of Avery's life - already halfway filled in!
PAGES 20-21: Month 1 - I'm going to use the same 4x6 'month 1' card and 'this month' info. card for each month, just change the color and the info.
PAGE 20: Avery's weight, height and milestones this month (milestones = unique things we want to remember)
PAGE 20-21: The insert is a 8x10 page protector with a newspaper insert for Fathers Day
(I submitted a picture of Justin and Avery)
PAGE 21: Some of the visitors that came to see Avery in his first month! (continued on the other side of this sheet)
PAGES 22-23: More visitors, important happenings and random facts that we want to remember (like how Avery was a bit cross-eyed during his first few weeks - just like his mommy! :)
PAGE 22: A special photo of Avery, Justin and Grandpa Jim and snuggling with a proud Grandma Connie
PAGE 22: Some momma lovin' on Avery's 1 week birthday (which also happened to be my 27th birthday)
Page 23: We spent part of our July 4th at the studio that I worked at taking Avery's one-month photos. I love that my sister snapped the photo on the left at the same time I was snapping the photo of Avery on the right!
PAGE 23: Our first family walk and one of the most memorable (and stressful!) parts of Avery's first month, his incurable diaper rash... (The 'diaper duty' is a scrapbook embellishment sticker)
PAGES 24-25: A few of our favorite 1-month photos and some more fun facts
PAGES 24-25: I sewed this insert onto page 25 to hold his cute 'yawning' photos on one side and his first reaction to his high chair on the other :)
PAGE 24: Notes of things that calmed Avery, which is what we spent most of Month 1 doing, feeding and calming, feeding and calming....
PAGE 24: A note on HOW we went about taking the photo (a fun memory :) and a note on the special song that Grandma Jodi picked out for Avery
PAGE 25: Justin doing his thing... he was the only one that could calm Avery by curling him up and walking with him :)
PAGE 25: Avery chillin' in his baby bath! (The little duckie is a scrapbook embellishment sticker)
As I finish up Month 1, I realize that as the months have gone on I've taken more and more pictures which is really going to make deciding which ones to use in the book that much more difficult. There are many super cute Project Life ideas out there that incorporate all kinds of fun design cards but I think Avery's story is going to be told mainly through pictures and I don't foresee me using many 'filler' cards as I'm going to be using every free space to stick a photo - and I'm totally ok with that. Now, to start sorting through the thousands of images filling up my computer... wish me luck!
Has anyone else jumped on the Project Life bandwagon?? Have you run into any challenges or come up with any fun new ideas?
Some of you, my most loyal and treasured readers, may remember many months ago when I started Avery's 'Project Life' Baby Book. Since then, Avery was born and these last 7+ months have FLOWN by.
That said, I have NOT given up on Project Life but have just gotten a bit behind. It's my goal to be up to date by springtime and I've been making pretty good progress during naptime! (Avery has been taking two 1.5-2 hour naps consistently for the past few weeks, giving me lots of time to work) I'll be updating my progress here to help keep me accountable ;)
Here are some shots of pages that I had started when I posted the first time (you can find it here if you didn't see it or would like to see the progress) but hadn't yet finished. (these are pre-birth pages... that I'm finally now finishing... 8 months later...)
COVER (It was SO hard to choose ONE photo for this...)
Ok, so PAGE 1 isn't actually finished, but I think I may wait until the end of his first year until I decide what else to add.
PAGES 2-3. Page 3 was one of the few already finished pages from my first post, so nothing changed there, but I did add quite a few things to page 2. (the 'All About Mom/All About Dad' is a small page double sided insert that I created)
PAGE 2: Our furry family members that preceded Avery, a picture of our home and of the welcome sign into our neighborhood.
PAGE 2: Some highlights about our town/area, a map of Lafayette/West Lafayette, and some personal notes about where we live.
PAGE 4-5: Page 5 (and the small sheet inserts documenting each month of my pregnancy) was another already finished page, but I added/changed a few things about page 4 (Avery's nursery)
PAGE 4: Although this was finished at the time of my last post, I pulled it out because it would've given away Avery's name that we were keeping secret ;)
PAGE 4: I wrote a few personal notes about the quilt I made for Avery (Full Post on that HERE), included a photo and this great little 'blurb' from Eric Carle that I found on the tag of one of Avery's toys that fits perfectly to describe his nursery theme.
****Pages 6-7 are still in progress... Page 7 includes pictures from my baby shower in Indiana, but page 6 is still blank as can be... I'm working on it ;)*****
PAGES 8-9: My Baby Shower in Wisconsin!
PAGE 9: A 12"x12" scrapbook page that my aunt/godmother made for me including the awesome invites my sister made, a picture of me with the caterpillar cake, and some personal notes I wrote about the amazing day
Page 9 is filled with the layouts that I created to put on the blog (See that post HERE), I just printed them out and slid them in (It was all the pictures I wanted to include and all the work was already done!)
PAGES 10-11: Some belly shots @ 39 weeks and our 'Babymoon' to the Smoky Mountains @ 35 weeks
PAGE 10: Looking at these belly shots makes me remember how much I really did love being pregnant...
PAGE 10: A quote I stole found on Pinterest... SO perfect.
PAGE 11: Some personal notes about the trip. I bought a date stamper to add some neat details
PAGE 11: A few photos of me hauling this big 'ol belly all over the mountains
PAGE 11: A map of the hiking trails, a blurb about Clingman's Dome, and us at the top of it!
WHEW! I finally finished (almost) all of the pre-baby pages! Because I don't want to overwhelm you, I'm going to stop there (I actually do have another couple of pages ready, but I'll save them for another day this week, so check back.)
**Avery slept THROUGH THE NIGHT last night for the first time ever - and almost 11 hours at that, so I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today. Look at the things I can get done with a full night of sleep and a 1/2 pot of coffee!! Look out, people! :) Happy Tuesday!!
... a bit belated (Avery will be 7 months old on Jan. 6th!)
I've had so much fun
taking pictures of Avery this last month. He is such a happy boy and
hasn't figured out how to crawl away from me yet so he's the perfect
model. Here are a few of his 6 month shots - I just can't resist taking lots of (probably too many!) photos of this sweet face...
2012 was a life-altering year for us and will be remembered fondly, but I'm also excited for what new things 2013 has to offer. Avery is continuing to grow like crazy. He grew IN two shiny new teeth this last month (he cut the first one on 12.12.12!) and grew OUT of his 9 month clothes. (I can't keep up!)
He is quite a ham and makes me laugh every single day, especially now that he's started 'gurgle-giggling' (it's the best way I can think of to describe it. It's hilarious.) He is amused by practically everything and it's such a joy just sitting and watching him explore and experiment with the things around him. My #1 goal for 2013 is to soak up every minute with this sweet little morsel... I can literally watch him growing every day.
We made another trip to Wisconsin this month, this time making our way through the heart of the winter storm to Grandpa Jim & Grandma Linda's house in Rhinelander for a few days, then across the state to Ridgeland to see more family! Avery had many firsts this trip, includingenjoying all the activities his first Christmas had to offer, meeting some of his aunts and uncles and cousins for the first time, staying in a hotel, swimming in a pool (at the hotel), seeing snowandsledding down Grandpa Jim's well-groomed hill, and sadly, even running his first fever (on Christmas eve and Christmas day... boo.)
Although traveling 1300 miles with a teething 6 month old isn't the most ideal way to spend a holiday, it was a fantastic trip and a great way to spend Avery's first Christmas. Every time we get to spend time with family I'm so overwhelmed by how loved and adored Avery is. He is SO BLESSED (we all are) to have such a loving bunch of people that he's lucky enough to call family. I only wish we could be closer to them so he could see them more often - I think we're both going through withdrawals!
Avery working on his push-ups (proof that he really IS strong enough to crawl... if he ever chooses to. (Please excuse the music, Justin and I were taking a trip down memory lane, apparently Avery has a thing for Crazytown, too!)
In place of crawling, this proud little stinker prefers to be upright - on his feet! He is so proud of himself and has now mastered the 'one-handed stand'
My baby turned 6 months old yesterday. 6 months ago, our world was rocked in the most magical way possible. In one way, I can't believe it's already been half a year since Avery was born and in another, It's becoming hard to imagine what we DID before he was here- our life is so completely centered on this little man.
This month, Avery... : Eats like a champ! Right now, he only eats once a day in the evenings and gets so excited when we put him in his high chair because he knows it's dinner time. Last night, he added avacados to his growing list of foods he enjoys. He has also started blowing raspberries with a mouthfull of food, which makes for some pretty funny moments :)
: Took his first inter-state trip home to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving! He did such an fantastic job in the car. I think maybe we psyched ourselves out too much preparing for the trip because it ended up being the fastest, smoothest ride we've ever taken. We left at 4 am, stopped ONCE when Avery woke up around 7:30 and was in WI by 11:30 EST. Amazing. The ride home was equally as awesome. We are SO GLAD he's such a good traveler, as there are many more road trips in our future!
: Has a cold :( He had just gotten over the cold that he came down with when we were in Wisconsin when he came down with another this last week. He has been pretty good natured and extra cuddly (which this momma doesn't mind one bit) considering he is a snotty, stuffy mess.
: Will hang out in his crib by himself for a really long time, just playing with his hands and talking to himself. His 2 hour-long morning naps sometimes only last about 10 minutes, but instead of crying when he wakes up, he just talks and blows bubbles for up to an hour sometimes. I just leave him to it until he starts to whine, I think he likes the alone time! :) : Has been sleeping 12 hours at night, getting up 1-2 times to eat. (He was down to getting up only once, but with him being sick I can't deny him when he gets up that extra time) : 'Stands' on his super strong legs! My family got him to do it when we were in Wisconsin and now he wants to do it all the time. When he is in his new jumparoo (which he LOVES because it gives him more freedom) he jumps only about half the time because he's so busy standing the other half.
: Still only rolls from front to back. He's usually so content on his back that he has no desire to turn the other way. If he can't get to the toys that are out of his reach, he just plays with his hands or talks to the ceiling. Seriously, most easy going baby ever. It makes me wonder if anything will ever entice him enough to get him to start crawling...
: Has moved into his own bathroom and out of the infant tub. (Not that he really fit in it anymore anyway! :) Bathtime is still a family event and is a much longer process now because he spends so much time playing and splashing, but it's a great way to wind down at the end of the day (for all of us!)
: Still has rash outbreaks sometimes, but it is SO MUCH better than it was last month. Whew!
:
Is SO easy-going and calm. He just goes-with-the-flow and is so content
just sitting and playing during the day. He's such a sweet baby and his
smiles and giggles just melt my heart. Here's Avery the standing, bouncing machine!
And here's Avery eating his first 'solid' food meal (I forgot we had taken a video!) I just noticed how red his eyes are here, he must've been tired!
One month ago today, Avery took his first bites of rice cereal! We decided he was ready because he slurped up his Vitamin D supplement drops they were going out of style and he was certainly big enough to take the next step. He was so excited from the very first bite- he kicked his feet, grabbed for the spoon and whined when we didn't get the next bite to him soon enough. :)
Since then, he's tried sweet potatoes, pears, bananas and peas and so far has loved them all. It seems we have a good eater on our hands! He even had the pleasure of being fed by some of his favorite people while we were visiting family in Wisconsin!
Avery is so lucky to have so many people that love and adore him so much :)
I am SO far behind on blogging... We made a trip to Wisconsin, have been battling sickness, preparing for Christmas and having lots of cute photo shoots in the last month - I have actually taken so many photos that I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I'll be slowly getting them organized into posts over the next couple of weeks! Stay tuned :)
