Avery's First Snow

Richmond finally got its first, and probably last, snow storm of the winter.  Our county had President's Day off as a holiday but many counties around us were given the day off due to the snow.  What a wonderful feeling!  After Justin woke up this morning we headed outside to take a few photos of Avery seeing her first snow.  She wasn't too impressed but at least it was a great excuse to break out the pink snowsuit! 

I cannot believe how big she is getting.  I love my snow angel so much!  Next year I'm sure she will love to watch it snowing, but for now it was too cold for her and she let us know it.  The snow should be gone by tomorrow so we'll enjoy looking at it while it lasts.  We are having a great day and documenting our activities today for a future blog post.  I love spending my off days with my girl! 

She's not sure how she feels about the snow.  She does know that Mama takes way too many pictures. 

Favorite Finds of the Weekend

Monogram Block Letters from New Arrivals 

Trying to find little details for the nursery is my new decorating goal.  I love these monogram blocks by New Arrivals.  I'm undecided if I want to spell out Avery or just do her initials.  New Arrivals also has blue, chocolate and green blocks available so it would be fun to mix up the colors too.  

I also purchased this birth announcement for the nursery a while back and am finally getting around the hanging it.  I've got a large frame from Ikea that I'm going to paint white (it's currently rustic wood) and have a mat fit for it at Ben Franklin.  My idea is to hang the frame on the wall behind the comfy nursery rocker and to place a shelf just below it.  That's where the initial blocks come in.  I would love to place the blocks on the shelf with a few other cutesy things.  The wall I'm decorating is on the left in the nursery pic below!  

The nursery, in my opinion, will always be a work in progress.  It's our little sanctuary and I absolutely adore being in there.  It's so soothing, calm, and serene.  I only wish Avery thought the same! 

And totally non-decorating related, Justin got me these earrings from Stella and Dot for Valentine's Day.  I love them so much.  They look super fancy without the price tag.  The gold and aqua color combination is so gorgeous.  Thank you sweet hubby of mine! 

Last but not least, if you're a mama to a baby girl (or boy if you're into fancy pants smocking) you've just got to check out Smocked Auctions on Facebook.  I've already ordered Avery two of the cutest bubbles and I'm using everything in me to withhold from purchasing another.  The first one has come in and it's so precious.  The only problem that it almost fits her at 4 months and it's a 9 month size.  Praying she fits into it in the months to come.  Lobster bake, anyone?

For the Downton Abbey Fans

If you are a Downton fan, you will find these creations hysterical.  The season finale is on tomorrow night.  Will you be watching?  More fun at the following links...

Downton Abbey paper dolls by Vulture

 

Downton trading cards by Chad Thomas

13 in all!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  We are all, unfortunately, sick today but at least we are together.  I woke up yesterday morning and felt so nauseous and continued to be very sick for the rest of the day.  Poor Justin was also sick and when I called my mom to see if she could watch Avery for the day, she ended up having the stomach bug five times worse than I did.  We are a sad sight!  I took care of Avery but it was hard.  Really hard.  Stomach bug and caring for an infant are a bad combination.  

Thankfully today we are feeling a little better.  I was able to eat some applesauce and oatmeal.  Justin's fever broke so he's on the mend.  My mom said she is also able to finally look at a TV screen.  How awful to be so sick that your eyes hurt too badly watch TV.  

It's not such a romantic day today, but at least we are together.  

Recently I found that Tiny Prints has an amazing line of greeting cards.  I decided to try them out for Valentine's Day and I was so impressed.  I didn't feel the need to send cards to anyone but family members, because people are just going to toss them out anyway.  For $3.99 at Tiny Prints, you can get personalized cards with your photos, the same cost as a card at Hallmark.  Here are the fronts of the cards that I made.  Everybody loved them!  Justin's was my favorite.  

Justin's card

My parent's card

Justin's parents' card  

Check out the greeting cards!  Justin just loved his, especially when Avery handed it to him herself!

I wish everyone such a Happy Valentine's Day!  

It's Almost Friday...

Praise the Lord!  All that stands between me and the weekend is eight hours of school and a thousand Friday assessments.  I will survive, right?  On to more important things...

Now, time for an Avery picture!  

5 Things

1.  Do you watch Downton Abbey?  My mom sparked my interest in the show earlier this year and now I love it. Since my mom loved it so much I thought it would be rather boring (sorry Mama!).  I gave it a chance and it really is so good.  The time was so much more glamorous yet simple.  New episodes are on PBS on Sunday nights.  If you do watch, don't you want Mary and Matthew to get back together?  I am dying for this to happen.  

2.  I stayed home today from school and I've been worried crazy about my kids all day.  Are they behaving for the sub?  Will they still follow the rules?  Will my sub survive?  Augh!  I couldn't get into Word this morning so I went in to my trailer at 6:30 to set out everything and print off lesson plans.  It's only one day...I need to chill.  

On another school note, I have become obsessed with finding fun things for my fifth graders on Pinterest!  Here's an anchor chart for light that I found and the kids loved it!  We even created a foldable to coordinate.  

Pinterest via Beakers and Bumblebees

3.  Now that I'm not breastfeeding anymore I can eat dairy again.  Yippie!  Between the gestational diabetes and then a baby with a dairy intolerance, I haven't really eaten ice cream, pizza, lasagna or any really yummy things in a long time.  This isn't really going to help me lose weight, but, sometimes it's nice to indulge!  Here are some recipes I'm looking forward to trying.

Cheesy Taco Pasta via Lauren's Latest

Cheesy Garlic Bread via Lauren's Latest

Red Velvet Brownies via Smells Like Home

4.  My friend Grace at Watch Me Grow had her sweet baby, Emmy Paige, this morning!  I hope she doesn't mind me using this picture but how cute are they?  Avery is so excited to meet her new friend.  Go over and leave her some baby love!  

5.  I couldn't do a post without sweet Avery!  She is my favorite thing!  

Via Hipstamatic

Bittersweet

This is hard.  I've dreaded this moment, but have looked forward to it too.  After a lot of thought I am going to stop breastfeeding.  My heart has hurt during this process but at this point in time, it's the right thing to do.  The time I spent bonding with Avery in this way has been priceless.  

Since I started working full-time I've had trouble with keeping up a good pumping schedule.  I dedicated my teaching breaks and lunches towards pumping but, as teachers know, breaks doing always go as planned.  I've walked out of the door at 3 pm many days because I had no chance to pump and was hurting at the end of the school day.  This caused a major dip in my supply.  As frustrating as it has been, I cannot avoid being caught up in meetings or other time takers during the day.  

Cue last week/weekend.  I had a bad sinus infection, or a head cold, and I started taking Tylenol cold medicine because my symptoms were just too bad.  Knowing that I couldn't give Avery breast milk, I started a pump schedule but the medication that dries up your head from a cold, dries up everything.  I tried keeping on with pumping but it took me three sessions to even get enough for one bottle.  Talk about spending a lot of time with minimal effectiveness.

I've had problems with my pump also, so the combination of all these things has been too stressful.  Add in the dairy component and you can call me one big mess.  I'm trying not to be selfish but being a first year teacher with an infant is certainly stressful enough.  That is why I've decided to stop breastfeeding altogether.  Avery was fed breast milk for three months, which is definitely more than some babies ever get.   I'm definitely not trying to compare myself with others but I need to be proud of everything I've done up to now.  

Still, it's bittersweet for this time to be over.  My silly head thinks that she needs me less but deep down I know that's not true.  I can see her growing and soon enough she won't be my baby anymore.  It's just a hard thing for a mom to let go.  

Baby Dedication

Avery was dedicated in church last Sunday.  Baby dedication is a special time when parents make a commitment to the Lord to raise their children in church and to grow a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. We don't do a baby baptism because we believe it is the individual's choice to commit their life to Jesus.  And friends, sprinkling water ain't gonna do that (it's not biblical)!

I bought the sweetest smocked linen dress and was terrified of baby spit up-or worse, so I dressed her at the church.  She looked so precious and did so well until the prayer.  She may have made a "joyful" noise to the Lord at that time, but who can't not laugh at that?  She is our spirited child after all.  I don't have a great picture but she was wearing ruffle butt tights under her dress.  Because it's only fitting to wear our ruffle butt tights with our patent mary jane's and smocking.  

What a little girl!  I love to dress her up.

Avery and Mama

Avery and Daddy 

And it wouldn't have been an event without my child raising a fit.  She had had enough.  No more dress or ruffle butt tights or pretty blue hair bow.  She was done, and she let us know it!  This is when we know it's time to evacuate the premises.  It was fun while it lasted!

We are so grateful to God for allowing us to be her parents.  She is His child after all.  

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Lavender = Spring

Spotted these two pieces on the J.Crew Factory site yesterday.  The graphic print is so feminine and the lavender cardigan would look so cute with khaki trousers.  They make me feel inspired for Spring, what about you?  Remaining Christmas money, you are officially spent.  

5 Favorite Baby Things

Yes, I'm blogging.  Pick your chin up off of the floor, because I know it's shocking.

I bring you my favorite things for baby.  When I was pregnant I researched so many baby products, but no review is better than that of a new mom.  Over the past three months I think I've learned a thing or two.  Here are my must haves for baby.

What can I say, I'm a paranoid mama.  The Angelcare monitor system has been the best investment that we could have made for Avery.  I knew before I ever had a baby that I would be the kind of person who needed to check on baby every twenty minutes at night, just to make sure she was breathing.  This monitor took the worry away.  

There is a sensor pad that goes underneath of the mattress.  Every time the baby breathes, a very faint beep sounds and a little digital pendulum swings, so that you can see and hear that the baby is breathing.  Maybe that sounds too much for some, but my mind has never been more at ease.  It's truly wonderful.  Our individual receptors that go in our bedroom and downstairs even display the temperature so we know how warm the nursery is.  One of my absolute must haves for the nursery.  

When it comes to nighttime sleeping, swaddling baby is a must.  Many people say their baby hates being swaddled, but I believe it's a way to re-create a womb like feeling and calms them after they've been fussy.  Avery wasn't always an angel when we first swaddled her, but now she knows it's her sleepy time and she's very comforted by the tightness of the swaddle.  

Don't waste your time on expensive swaddling blankets, because babies will break out of them faster than you can say "screaming baby."  The SwaddleMe blanket by Summer has velcro tabs and ensures that, when done properly, baby will stay soothed until they wake up.  It's even one of the 5 "S's" per The Happiest Baby on the Block.  When in doubt, swaddle! 

Since I went back to work five weeks ago, Avery needed to learn early on how to drink from a bottle.  I even worked several days when she was only five weeks old, so we started her early on bottles with pumped milk.  I had several friends recommend Dr. Brown's bottles and they have worked wonderfully.  I've read complaints about having to wash extra parts, but it's really not a huge ordeal.  

These bottles are proven to reduce air bubbles and colicky fussiness in babies.  We have them in the four ounce size and just recently we purchased the eight ounce size.  It's always nice to have at least six of each size for various food amounts throughout the day.  Avery would give these her seal of approval! 

I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand times, I love our Bumbleride Indie stroller.  To me it was worth every penny.  It's such a smooth ride, going over curbs and gravel with no problems whatsoever.  It's easy to take in and out of the car.  Very easy, actually.  Indie's aren't the least expensive stroller on the market, but they make a great investment.  We have a Maxi Cosi Mico carseat, and although the Mico wasn't advertised as "compatible" with the Indie without a $40 attachment, we have had no trouble whatsoever placing it in the Indie.  It's a snug fit and I'm glad we tried it that way without dishing out the extra cash on the adapter.  

For nap time, there is no better item than the Rock n' Play Sleeper by Fisher Price.  We like to lay a fleecey blanket inside of it and place Avery inside for daytime naps.  She loves her Rock n' Play and knows that she can settle down for a good nap once she's laying down.  I've even learned to take a little nap here and there (let's face it, teaching is exhausting, especially with an infant) and it's so nice to rock her beside me while I'm resting.  

When my mom picks up Avery to watch her for the day, she also picks up the Rock n' Play.  We have all learned to love the power of nap time!  

Okay, I said 5 favorite baby things, but this must be added to the list.  For Christmas Avery's Nonni bought her this Tiny Love Princess Mobile and Avery just loves it.  It spins around and plays sweet, soft music.  She will lay in her crib for thirty minutes and watch the mobile go round so mama can get some things done.

Buyer beware, these things run through batteries, so have some extras on hand just in case!    

Other favorite things worthy of a mention...

Boppy pillow, Bumbo seat, white onesies, soft toys, wrist rattles, Medela pump and parts, fleece blankets, thick hooded bath towels and crinkly toys/books.  

Have a question on a baby product?  Please let me know and I'd be happy to pass a recommendation on!  

Avery's Growth So Far

I've never seen anything grow so fast in my life!  Stay small little girl, it's going by too quickly!