Today is Brought to you by the Letter B

Avery is saying lots of fun new words. Okay let's be honest. She is saying sounds that resemble words which in my book qualifies as communication skills. It seems she has more B words than any other letter.



Da = dog
Ma = more
Mama = mama
Dada = daddy
Naa = No!
Tha = light (she points to the light and that is how I know it is light)
NaNaNac = snack (as she hussles to the kitchen)
Nana = banana
Eye = eyes
Ba = ball (and it is usually bababababababababababa when she spots a ball)

Avery saying, "ball!"

Bo bo = bottle
Bubu = bubbles
Ba = Binky (pacifier)
Baa = baby
Baa = book
Bap = bath
Byyyyyyyyyye = one really cute, Southern fairwell
Now as you can see there are lots of B words and we are working on others like "Bebe" (my mom) and "button" (she LOVES things with buttons especially this laptop). But she has yet to say either of those words. However, the one B word that she had no trouble mastering was "burp." Yep. As you can see certain family members are proud. However, this family member hopes the next decipherable phrase is, "Excuse Me!"




It is snowing fluffy, fat, fabulous flakes here in Sherwood, Arkansas! Ryan is home from work and we just enjoyed an, "it's not delivery it's DiGiorno!" Avery has a cold and is not feeling well but we are warm and life is swell.

American Idol

Look no further Simon. Here she is. I hope you enjoy our hairy monster performing at a Texas Mexican joint. I am hoping for early acceptance at the Julliard School of Music.

Trying again in 2010

No joke where did 2009 go? And for that matter where did that pesky first month of the year run off to? I decided not to have resolutions for 2010 because I just feel guilty when I don't accomplish them, however, a must is to reestablish this blog. Maybe one day Avery Beth will care to read about her everyday life, how she had a taste for dog food, how she giggled and clapped when she had a little gas, how she made our life brighter and how her mom had little to stimulate her mind except this blog. So here we go...lets try this again in 2010.

Waiting at the High Risk Newborn Clinic

What happened in 2009? What DID happen in 2009? That is a good question as my memory seems to be waning due to the lack of sleep and the baby babble I gladly choose to fill my days. The best I can pull off is a numbers recap.

33 doctors visit

24 physical therapy visits

2 trips to the ER

1 911 call

4 rounds of antibiotics

9 flights (5 of which were Avery and I!)

4 700+ mile road trips

150 days without daddy

1 AMAZING deployment homecoming!

0 teeth

10,000 first baby steps

1,000 Cheerios (150 which remain in my car)

4 pairs of over priced Stride Rite shoes

1460 visits with the Pump in Style

1600 bottles

3100 bottles and sets of pumping equipment washed

1 monkey birthday cake

1 happy, tired, well loved mom

1 giving, funny, hard working dad

1 amazingly beautiful, charming, healthy baby girl

****Mom and the other three readers of this blog please send a harassing email if I do not maintain this blog.

Georgia Girls!

After a VERY long day traveling with thunderstorms, delays and a non-sleeping baby we finally made it to Georgia early Thursday morning. If you remember we left on Wednesday around lunchtime....what a trip! I will say that I have encountered some VERY nice people during my airport travels this summer; perfect strangers who are more than willing to help a solo traveler with a baby. And my baby was wound up this trip and took one nap that lasted about 15 minutes! On one leg of the trip a man with five children of his own scooped Avery out of my arms much to my relief...I mean what harm could he do, we were on a plane and I was sitting right next to him. Avery thought it was fun to have a new face to explore and a big voice to listen to.

It literally took me a day or two to recover from our airport adventures and feel a little guilty I have not seen more friends and family but I am exhausted! I have not done nearly as much as I had wanted to do but I am one person and this one person is running on fumes. Luckily my mom is a big help and I am starting to feel like a functioning human again! In about two weeks Ryan will be home!!!

Clicking my heels...

This baby business is hard work! I love my baby more than the sun, the moon, the stars and a beautiful new Coach handbag but I have never worked so hard in all my days. I really thought I knew what tired was but until I became a mother I did not truely know the meaning!

I worried before Ryan left for this deployment about whether or not I could do this alone. I am pretty proud of all that I have been able to maintain while he is away: the day in and day out, feeding issues, a push for a swallow study, double ear infections, a trip to the ER at 3 am, developmental evaluations, speech evaluations, qualifying for therapy, an upper respiratory infection, breathing treatment, weekly physical therapy, shots, multiple doctors visits, three flights to visit family, a wedding, a family reunion, more feeding issues, pictures, a small medical procedure for me, a birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, introducing solids, developing a mini work from home income (more about this later!) and generally staying busy so I don't think about him so much. I do use the term alone loosely - family and friends have been so supportive and helpful during the last 107 days. Speaking of which...this time tomorrow I will be home sweet home in Georgia and can hardly wait to see my sweet mom and hand over her precious grandbaby so I can take a nap! I am ready to see my puppy dogs too! I have been clicking my heels all afternoon in hopes I would wake up there. The prep work is overwhelming and know tomorrow will be such a long day. I hope to see as many folks as possible while home, however, I am planning on laying low for a majority of the trip and taking advantage of the opportunity to get some rest while there.

Love this picture of the happiest baby!

Beautiful...if I do say so myself!

I took this myself and am so proud of my little girl. I love her big eyes and sweet, chubby hands.

Speaking of beautiful...Avery Beth is in the running for San Antonio's Most Beautiful Baby! Although we don't live there currently we are both permanent residents and would love to earn the $10,000 college scholarship and the photo session that are prizes. The first time you vote is kind of complicated but after you do it once you can save the link and return and vote in seconds. Here is the link and the instructions.

http://www.mix961.com/pages/beautifulbaby.html

Go to the site. Click "Vote Now." A little boys picture will pop up and click "Click Here" to get to the voting pages. Scroll to Page 8. Avery is at the bottom left under with the title "Happy Birthday America." Once you have found her click her picture and vote! Save the link of the exact page and visit daily. Below is the picture you will see! Thank you!

Craigslist.com

So I just cannot get enough of craigslist! I have found just about everything I have ever searched for and cannot help but be proud of the deals. I have gotten several big baby toys and am so thankful I did not have to shell out the full price. I also got six boxes of Simply Thick; a very expensive thickening gel that goes in Avery's every bottle to prevent her from aspirating. The boxes are $61 for a box of 100 packets and I found a lady selling her boxes on the site for $25 a piece! That is a savings of over $200! And my latest and favorite find so far is a jogging stroller. It is a Schwinn and in awesome condition and now we have NO excuse for not exercising. We are already including a daily walk in our routine and the jogging stroller will now allow Ryan to run with Avery in the evenings if he wants. He is in great shape after a four month deployment and he and Avery Beth will have fun going for runs. The best part is I saved about $200 buying it used off of craigslist.com!