Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dressing this little girl in green for St. Patrick's Day did not stop me from pinching those chubby little cheeks and thighs!!

I wanted Gavin to get a picture with Avery. He was happy to do so.

We finally got a smile out of him!

Gavin wore his green shoes for St. Patrick's Day. These are the same green shoes that he would not take off the day that we bought them. I was nervous he wouldn't like them and would want to continue to wear his orange shoes, but the green ones were a hit. He wanted to wear them to bed that night, so he did.

Snakes at the Zoo!

The zoo opened up a new reptiles exhibit and we knew we needed to take Gavin to see all the snakes! 

He was very excited to go see!

"Please let me in!!"

They did a really great job. There are a lot of very cool snakes and other reptiles to look at.

 Gavin could have spent the entire day with the snakes and been completely happy.

But we decided we should check out the rest of the animals.

The giraffe entertained us for awhile, trying to eat the leaves off the tree.

I feel like he is looking directly at me!

Avery slept basically the whole time we were there.

Gavin had a great time!

What a perfect day at the zoo!

One Month Old: Avery

Our baby girl is one month old! It is amazing to me how quickly one month goes! 

Love this little smile! 

In Avery's first month of life she

• Likes to sleep a lot!
• Is wearing 3-6 month clothes.
• Has smiled.
• Been out to eat in a restaurant.
• Loves to have her diaper changed.
• Doesn't like to get dressed (mostly having something put over her head).
• Likes to sit in her swing (but only for short amounts of time).
• Will sleep for 5 hours at night.
• Loves to go on walks.
• Spits up after most feedings.
• Enjoys taking a bath.
• Has stolen all of our hearts!

February Phone Pics and Videos

Most of the pictures I took this month with my phone were of Avery! But I did get a few of Gavin at the beginning of the month.

I took this picture of the video monitor during Gavin's nap. We struggled with naps for awhile (still do actually). One day Gavin was just so exhausted from getting up and out of his bed and us putting him back in that he just collapsed on the floor and slept there for a few hours!

This was Gavin's plate that he prepared for himself during our Superbowl party. I was excited he had chosen all these vegetables, but he actually didn't end up eating any of them.

A few days before I actually had Avery, we went to the mall to walk around to try and get things going. Gavin wanted to ride the carousel. He, of course, chose the elephant (the "trunk") to ride on.

This is the "Where's Gavin" game that we play each night. He puts so much stuff in his bed that we can barely find him. He has his big dump truck, Mickey Mouse, the Boppy pillow (??), Snoopy, His duck pillow pet, monkey backpack full of cars and he is holding on tight to his Zurg toy. He brings all of this stuff in with him to play with and eventually just falls asleep in the middle. Before we go to bed we have to go in and clean off his bed so that he has somewhere to move around in.

I love this sweet picture of Andrew holding Avery. I think she even has a little smile on her face.

Trying on her new hair bow!

Sleeping baby.

Sleeping baby and Grandma.

This is her milk drunk look. She has a full belly and is happy!

Just hanging out in their pajamas!

We had a Young Women's activity where we learned to decorate cakes. This was mine!

This was actually Brittany's cell phone picture that she sent me. She had taken Gavin to the park and he and his buddy Wes were stuck in the tire swing!

These videos are kind of boring but I love how it shows how she has no control over her arms and hands. She was 9 days old. (please ignore my voice and the tv in the background!)

This video she is 2 1/2 weeks old.

Go, Gavin, Go! (February)

Gavin has been a busy boy the last month. He is getting so big and so much fun!

He had a fun time at the Valentine's Day party. He had little valentine's for all his friends and put them in their bags and boxes.

He was very excited to help give Avery a bath in the sink. He loves anything to do with water. We had to make sure he knew to only pour water on her belly and not her face. He did a great job.

I know that Gavin is going to be such a great big brother. (I don't remember if I already posted this story, so ignore me if I have ...) After Avery was about a week old I was sitting on the couch holding her. Gavin began dragging her car seat over to me. He was struggling but insisted on getting it to me. Once he was standing next to me I asked him what he was doing. He just looked at me and said, "Baby go home now." We all started laughing! I don't think we realized how much he was affected by her being there. He never showed any sign of it until that moment. But once he realized that Avery was actually home, he has accepted her. He basically ignores her most of the time. But if he does ever find a blanket he will always go give it to Avery. He is going to be such a great big brother.

He is always doing funny things that make us laugh. He found the cocoon that Annette knitted for Avery and decided that it was a hat.

He knows that he is not supposed to go outside without his shoes on. He couldn't find his shoes but found his cowboy slippers. He also decided he needed to wear his monkey backpack.

Here he is putting his spaghetti noodle on the back of his tow truck. That makes sense.

A few times when people would bring a gift for Avery they would also bring something for Gavin. I think he got a little too used to getting "surprises" from everyone that came over. Whenever anyone now comes with a suitcase, or we get a package in the mail, he tries to open it to find his surprises. When my sister came to visit he went through her suitcase and found a lifesaver in the small front zip pouch. He was convinced that was his surprise. I guess it doesn't need to be anything big!

Funny kid.