11 weeks

I just love this picture! She is blossoming so much and changing so fast!

Happy Birthday Isla!!

April 15, 2010 @ 1:03pm. Isla weighed 7lb 12oz and was 19.5 inches long.

Isla (pronounced "eye-la") finally graced us with her presence after Stori was in labor for 31 hours! After going through such a long ordeal, the doctor finally decided a C-Section was needed. I felt so bad because everything Stori wanted and planned for her birth went the exact opposite. We have to be thankful, though, that there were no complications for Stori or Isla. I know they are proud parents.

I am so happy for Stori and Nick! She is beautiful! I am only going to post this one picture right now so that Stori can have the first real post of great pictures. I get to see Isla again this week... I can't wait!!

Pins and Needles

We are waiting patiently for little "Wannton" (The nickname that Stori and Nick gave their baby as a punn off their last name) to be born. Stori went in at 6:00am this morning to be induced since she is past her due date. They are going to let everyone know when he/she is born and ready for visitors. Its 9:00pm now and no baby yet. Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers tonight.
I don't know if I can sleep now... :)

Progress

Avery is growing so fast! I never knew how much babies change in just 9 weeks. It's remarkable to watch them grow and how just 1 week can make a huge difference.

She now can hold her head up without much help. She needs a little help after a while but for the most part she's got it on her own.
Since she's getting stronger we put together the Baby Einstein Entertainer.She loves it, which means I love it, too! She's a bit too short to reach the bottom with her feet so I put a book under her feet for her to set them on and she can work her leg muscles, too.
She loves to sit up and stand on your lap. Obviously she needs help but her back and legs are so strong that she is constantly pushing against stuff to try and push up. Awesome! I think it's time to start more "Tummy Time" every day.
She loves looking around; she's very curious about everything. We laugh because she has a constant "surprised" look on her face. Here's one from Easter to show what I mean:HAHAHA I love it!
She wants to be held facing outward (Like Jeff is doing in the Easter picture above) so that she can see everything... The only time she will be craddled is when she's tired and wants to go to sleep. She's detaching from mommy already:( ...so I got out the Baby Bjorn this weekend to see if it would pass her test. She doesn't seem to mind it for about 15 minutes or so, but she's still pretty little so she kinda bounces around in it. I cant blame her for not lasting too long, I guess. I had just enough time to do the dishes. I think a little bit everyday will help her get used to it. which will be nice for our Disney World vacation this year.
Along with being held outwards, she won't let me sit down. Last night Jeff and I were laughing because I was holding her and the second I sat she would fuss, but as soon as I stood she would quit. It was quite remarkable. I've been getting lots of squats in lately, lol. I guess the plus side to not being able to sit down is that i get lots of walking in. I also try to do lunges and other leg exercises using her as a weight... why not??
She laughs and "coo's" all the time. It's so sweet to have her react to things going on around her now. As hard as it is to be running on little sleep, her smile in the morning makes it all worth it!
As far as sleeping goes, well, that's different everyday. She's always been a good sleeper but when and where (her bed, the swing, the bouncer chair, or my lap) is always new. She likes her crib at night (for the most part) but not during the day. Why? I have no idea!
Another thing... Binkis (aka pacifier) are so annoying and frustrating! I never thought I would say that since I was a "binki baby" but as the mom, it's totally different! I think she's been trying to find her thumb, though. She gets it in her mouth for a second but then fusses for her binki. I think it won't be as bad when she can hold it in her mouth, pick it up, etc.

As you can see it's very different everyday but it's a blast! I love this life!

Strawberry Festival

Remember how I said I was excited about the Blackberries being here?
I'm even more excited about the Strawberries!
We didn't stay long at the festival this year but we did our usual... We walked around the craft booths, got a strawberry daiquiri, a palette of fresh strawberries, some jellies... It's always a lot of fun and a must for us since we live so close :)

Time To Get Out the Jars

It's Blackberry season! I love going to pick them in the woods and making Jellies, Pies, Cobblers... you name it. (Although most of the berries never make it past my sticky fingers and hungry eyes, lol) There's tons of vines blooming right now all over my neighborhood. I can't wait for the berries to start showing up. My parents used to make all sorts of jelly every year. I really should get their recipe. I think Jeff and I will have to take Avery for her first berry picking soon!

REALLY?!

You have to some kind of serious Crafter (Or some kind of Nuts) to make these!


That Darn Kat Children's Undies

So Sweet

I want to make some of these for Avery!

Smartie Pants

Avery's 2 Month Check-Up

Today Avery went for her 2 month check-up. Can you believe its been 2 months already?! I can't!

She had to get 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine. She screamed for about 5 minutes then was done. She's been sleeping since we got home with a few spurts of fussiness, so hopefully she stays content.

Everything looks good. She weighed 11.7 lbs and is 24 inches long. This put her in the 50th percentile for her weight (right at average) and the 95th percentile for her height (way over average). Looks like she's on track to be tall and thin... we'll see.

Pabor Family Egg Dying Tutorial

Step One: Boil the Eggs

Step Two: Dye the Eggs

Tip: Make sure you know what colors are made when your primaries are mixed together!

You can use Emily's technique and slap a few stickers on them.

Or,
You can use Dad and Hannah's technique of making use of the wax crayon
Or,My technique of blending the colors
Or,Even try something new! Here, I put a few drops of dye into the egg carton and set the egg on top. I thought it actually turned kinda cool! lol

Step Three: Marvel at our mad decorating skills!
Step Four: Laugh until your sides hurt!

Happy Easter!

He has risen!! Alleluia!!

Ok, I am really late, but Its better late than never, right?

We had 3 egg hunts! The first was at Pappy and Nana's lake house.
Here she found the biggest egg!The next weekend we went to Meme and Paw Paw's house. We had an egg hunt at the church but Avery wasn't too excited about it so Jeff picked up a few eggs for her.

Then Easter Sunday morning the Easter Bunny came again and brought another Easter basket and hid eggs in their backyard.
It was so much fun to make Avery's first Easter basket.

What exactly do you put in a basket for an 8 week old?? Onsies, money, a movie... She didn't have a piggy bank yet so I got one of those and put some change into some eggs for us to put in the bank together. Jeff was excited that she had her first money saving lesson, lol.

Avery was wondering why in the world we woke her up for all of this.
Annie did most of the egg hunting but Avery watched happily.
(Isn't that hair just ridiculous?!? It is so out of control! lol)

Texas Bluebonnets

Every time that Jeff and I make the trip back home to Texas we get this overwhelming sense of nostalgia when we cross over the Texas/Louisiana border. I know everyone thinks Texans are crazy and are obsessed with their state, but only those of us from there can understand what I mean. I don't really know how to describe it, but its almost a peaceful feeling just driving through that beautiful state!

The bluebonnets are blooming now and it is just gorgeous. Central Texas (aka "The Hill Country") has some of the most beautiful fields of rolling hills full of the beautiful state flower. It truly is sight to see! As the song says, "but all and all they can't complain
'Cause the bluebonnets are about to bloom again,". It can't be said any better!
It's been a tradition of my family's to take pictures in the bluebonnets every year. So, of course I have to pass it along to my children. We found a good patch of bluebonnets in The Woodlands and snapped a few pictures. Unfortunately, I had to be in the pictures since Avery can't sit up on her own.

This is my favorite pictures since Jeff was able to catch Avery with a little grin. :)

Here are a few good pictures that I was able to get of the flowers with some bumble bees:

Hang In There!

For those of you who care, (whoever you are) I hope I haven't lost you... I have lots of blogging to catch up on! I really hope to get to it this week if I can get the chance to sit infront of my computer for more than a second.  
Keep checking in :)