Quick Update

Avaree is having outpatient surgery on Monday morning at 7am to get tubes in her ears. We have to be there at 5:30 am and she can't eat after midnight, so I'm sure the morning won't be the best. 5:30 is her normal wake up and eat time during the week, so please pray that she's not screaming her head off as she's being rolled off to surgery. That will surely break my heart. The doctor told me that I should be able to see her within 15 minutes as the actual surgery only takes 7-8 minutes! I am sooo looking forward to her being relieved from (what seems like) endless ear pain!

We certainly appreciate your prayers! I promise to take pictures of her in her little tiny hospital gown. Stay tuned...

Just kidding...

So...the feeling better was temporary, as was the sleeping. Poor baby! I took her back to the doctor this afternoon and learned that her right ear was re-infected (How does that happen while being on three different antibiotics in a row?) and that her left ear wasn't any better. She was also running a fever again. The doctors gave her a third round of rocephin shots (one in each leg...both shots very very slow and painful...again!) and the saddest part was that as soon as I laid her down on the table an the nurse began to use the cotton ball to clean her little leg, she started screaming. She REMEMBERED (at 6.5 months!). :( Avaree cried...mommy cried...I thought the nurse was going to cry. It was so sad. I think the hardest part for me is that I know she has been sick for a month now and there is nothing that I can do for her. I am staying home with her tomorrow though...and she'll love that. (I must stop and say, "God Bless, Mrs. Donna." She is absolutely wonderful: Avaree adores her, and I know that she gets almost as many kisses there as she does at home!! Tomorrow will be the first time during this latest infection that I have stayed home with her and though I have wanted to (of course it is horribly difficult to leave your sick baby), I have been so blessed to know that she is well loved, well cuddled, and well cared for. This is a true answer to prayer.) The doctor sent us home with more medicine and said that they have done all that they can do for her, so we're going to an ENT Specialist in the morning. Please pray that Avaree can get an appointment soon and that we can get tubes in her ears quickly and safely.

Other updates from the weekend:
--Avaree turned the page by herself in her new book!
--Avaree continues to scoot backwards. She is much faster now!
--Avaree held onto the ottomon for 36 seconds (Yes, I counted!) without wobbling at all!
--Avaree ate pears for the first time!!!

--Avaree's hair has gotten long enough (and thick enough) to put a bow in it!!!!

--Avaree continues to melt our hearts every time she smiles! :)

Do you see the bow??? :)

Yay!! I love this thing!

Daddy holding on to her--just in case!

Daddy let go!!! Look at her! 36 seconds later...she was still there! :)

Pretty girl...

FINALLY starting to feel better!

Avaree is finally (thank you, Lord!) starting to feel better. Last night was the first night that she has slept through the night (her normal 9-10 hours) in a month. She has been sick for that long--poor baby! This week was pretty miserable for her (and for mama too!). On Friday, I took her back to the doctor b/c after being on antibiotics for 10 days, I really couldn't tell a difference in her ear pain AND she still hadn't pooped in 10 days! The doctor told us that her (sure enough) her left ear was worse and her right ear was okay, but that she (instead of putting her on a third antibiotic) was going to give her two rounds of IV-strength antibiotic. So, besides the poop issue which I'm not going to explain on here, she had to get two (one in each leg) very painful (and slow--b/c it is so thick) shots of rocephin in her little legs on Friday and then we had to go back Saturday morning and get two more. (sooo hard to watch b/c they go in sooooo slowly and she just cries and cries and cries!) Yesterday, her little legs swelled up and I had to give her benadryl and just walk around with her trying to keep her weight off of her legs! Now, she still has a bruise on both legs and is a little sore. BUT...it was worth it, b/c she is FINALLY starting to feel better. I took all of these pictures yesterday, b/c she was sooo happy! (These were after the shots and a nap, mind you!) The crazy part of all of this is that she is just such a happy baby that she really doesn't even cry much when she is sick (and again...she has been sick for a month!). One of the three doctors that she has seen in the last few days even said that she wasn't "symptomatic." I told him that she was symptomatic, even though she seemed very content with Mama holding her! :)

Enjoy the pictures and thank you for praying for Avaree's little ears and tummy!

Have I mentioned that the child LOVES green beans? :)

"I love purple!"

Trying to get my phone...we always call Daddy and put him on the speakerphone in the evenings, so I think that's why she always wants the phone!

Cutest socks ever!!! (...as she says, "Give me some food!")

B/c of her tummy troubles, all she has had to eat in the last week and 1/2 is green beans...and she still LOVES them! :)

Happy girl!

"YAY, Mama came to get me!" :)

Sitting up all by herself watching "Hi-5" on Discovery Kids! :)

Cheesin' in her jammies with Uncle Spencer last night! Too cute!!!

Big Girl!!! :)

Look at those legs!

Look at that smile! (Daddy's too!)

YAY for green beans! Do you notice anything odd about this picture? You're right! Daddy (the one who smells green beans from a mile away and cringes) is feeding her!!! Yay, Daddy!

Avaree's first bath in the big tub all by herself!!!!!!

It is quite impossible to look at this face and not fall in love...

Have we mentioned lately how much joy Avaree brings to our lives? :) We are blessed.

6.5 months: ears and Easter!

This past week was crazy: Daddy turned 29, Avaree had a double ear infection on top of a cold (again), Brandon's family came to suprise him for his birthday, we celebrated Easter and we extracted lots of boogies from one little nose. Here is our week in pictures...

No April fools here... Happy Birthday, Daddy!

(Poor baby tried so hard to be happy, but she just didn't feel good!!)

Daddy love EARLY (being sick makes the poor baby wake in the 4 am area!) Friday morning...

Getting her Easter basket from Mama and Daddy on Sunday morning!

"Ohhhh, book!" :) (Proof that she is my child!)

Displaying her Easter goodies...

One of her classic looks. We have now discovered that the growling (yes, my daughter growls) is a sign of ear pain. This is her growl face. :)

Lovin' on Aunt J and Uncle D!

Her bib says "Easter Bunny Princess!" (Thank you, Mrs. Donna!)

Ave and I only went to church long enough to hear the song service b/c Ave still had a fever and wasn't feeling well. The song service was beautiful though and we managed to get a couple of pictures with Daddy! Avaree looked so beautiful in her dress!

Love my Daddy!

Love my Mama!

We are now on day 5 of a new antibiotic and praying that our little pumpking can get well and stay well this time. Of course the meaning of Easter wasn't lost on us this weekend. I am so thankful to serve a RISEN Savior. I am still in awe of the sacrifice that God made when he sent his only son to die for you and for me. I love my family and friends, but I couldn't even give my baby up for them.

Catching up!!!

Well...since my last update, Avaree has mastered even more things. She now sticks her tongue out for no apparent reason, sits up all by herself, drinks water from a sippy cup, eats pureed carrots like they are candy, and continues to be the sweetest baby EVER! :)

It was pretty hard going back to school after spring break, but I finally stopped crying after a couple of days, and we are soooo blessed to have Mrs. Donna! She's amazing and Avaree loves her!!! (So does Mama!!)

This weekend, I got to be a part of a very special day for a very special person. My sweet friend Jamie (who was the most beautiful bride ever) got married to the Mr. Daniel Dekat and it was soooo nice to spend some time with the girls and just enjoy Jamie's special weekend! She was the most CALM bride you have ever seen! :) Mama got to put on a pretty dress, get her hair done, put on some makeup, visite with sweet friends, dance with her husband and feel like a real human again! Then I got to come home, kiss my sweet baby girl (who was perfectly happy and content) and crawl into bed. It was refreshingly wonderfull. One of my new goals is to try to balance my life better. I think it would be easier for me if I didn't have to leave her during the day, but alas, I still have to make time for myself, my husband and my sweet friends!!!

There was even more good news floating around this weekend and I can't WAIT to share... :)

Coming up this week: Brandon's 29th birthday and Avaree's first Easter!!! Stay tuned for pics!

Left: Ave now thinks she is too big to lay down like a baby during her bath! ha! :) Right: Love that smile!

Our morning ritual... :)

Trying squash for the first time!! She really likes it now!

DRINKING OUT OF A SIPPY CUP AT SIX MONTHS...wow!

In her high chair for the first time! (Thank you, G-Pops and Gigi!)

I love carrots!!! Mmm...

A classic Avaree face... :)

Green Beans and GROWING up...

Yesterday was Avaree's 6-month well-baby visit and here are her stats:
--Weight: 17 lbs, 7 oz (75-90%)
--Height: 27 inches (95-97%)
--Head 17 inches (75-90%)
She received an A+ on her physical exam and development too! Poor baby had to get 4 shots, but after a little TLC and Tylenol she was good as new! :)

This was a milestone appointment for several reasons. First, Ave is almost a half a year old and the doctor told me that next time she sees her (and here's hoping that she doesn't have to see her again until her next well-baby visit) she will have tried all of the foods available to her now (fruits, veggies, multi-grain cereal, and starting on meats) and will be crawling with the possibility of walking! OH MY GOODNESS...my baby will do all of these things in the next three months? Maybe it is because I have been home this week, but it seems like Avaree has grown and changed soooo much in just a few short days! She has started SCOOTING and is a busy little bee!!!

Yesterday, she had her first taste of (pureed) solids...green beans! We started with a veggie first (and an unsweet one at that). Her Daddy was soooo pleased. (hehe...) If you know Brandon very well, you know that he despises green beans (their smell, their taste, their texture, etc.) I can just open a can in the kitchen and he'll know it. Anyway...Avaree dove right in with moments of pleased and displeased facial expressions, but she ate about a 1/4 of a jar. The funniest part was Brandon's face. He wouldn't even pick Avaree up from her bumbo...he said he still smelled them!! TOOO FUNNY! I was able to get pictures of Avaree, but not Brandon. You just have to take my word on how funny it was! :) So...we're going to stay with cereal and green beans for a few more days and then introduce something else new!! (Probably squash!!) The new adventures have begun! The doctor told me that right now Avaree should start getting about 70% of her caloric intake from me, and the rest from her solid foods; however, by 9 months, that should be the opposite. This is very bittersweet for Mama!!! She's just grown up sooooo fast!

Enjoy the pictures and thank you for keeping up with our little family. Avaree is so blessed to be loved by so many.

In bed with Mama this morning. Her jammies say: "Mommy WHALEY loves me!" :) I must say that she slept ELEVEN hours last night and never made a peep! I was so proud of her!

Yummy Green Beans...hehe :)

" I want you ball...but you are a little out of my reach. Hmm...I know, I'll scoot over and get you."

"I got you, ball!" :)

We heart spring break!!!

All dressed up and ready to go see Daddy at work!!!

We had visitors!!! Ave got to visit with Karrington, Kennedee, shea shea and Uncle Scott! We also had a wonderful visit with G-Pops!!!

This is what we did every morning of the break! Since the time change, Avaree has been sleeping 10-11 hours every night with just one wake up in between!! (YAYYYY!) So around 7:30 every morning, I would go get her and put her in bed with me!!! I fed her and then we would talk and play for at least an hour before we did anything else. It was pure joy, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings when Daddy got to be with us too!!! :)

Avaree got to play with all of her toys at home!!! She loved being home (and so did I!). :)

We got to walk outside in the sunshine every now and then! It was really windy this week, but ever so often, it would die down and we enjoyed the vitamin D!!! :)

Why do we love spring break? We got to relax with DADDY! :) This is the cutest picture!

Monday was Brandon and I's anniversary, but he had to work. So...on Tuesday, Bran, Ave and I went to Olive Garden for lunch! Mema and Paw Paw had given us a gift card for Christmas and we were saving it for a special occasion!! :) (Thank you!!) So...this is what our anniversary lunch looked like: Brandon and Ave on one side (part of the time)....and Mama and the elephant on the other! :) hehe... We wouldn't change our lives for anything in the world, but we did laugh about how things had changed! :) It seems like we have lived a lifetime in just two short years! :)

We looooooove Spring Break!!!!

Mama has looooooved being home with Avaree this week. It has been just a little taste of heaven and it will be soooo hard (on both of us, I think) to get back into our school routine. It will be a long haul until summer! (But, I am very thankful that I will get to be off this summer with my baby girl! This will be my first summer off since my sophomore year of high school; AND I will get to spend it with my favorite!)

A lot happened in Avaree's little world this week:

--She started wearing size THREE diapers! (tear!!)

--She started taking a PACIFIER! (She was gnawing so hard on her little hand that she made her tongue bleed and bruised her hand; so I (yet again) put the paci in her mouth and this time she took it!)

--She can sit up (pretty well) without support!!! She does lean toward her feet a little though! :)

--She went on her first real shopping trip (to somewhere other than Target, ha!). We went to the Banana Republic outlet to spend Mama's birthday gift certificates (Yes, I know that was six months ago, ha!)! She was sooooo good and clearly has good taste in clothing stores, hehe! We might have also stopped at Baby Gap and Carter's Outlets too. :) We found Avaree the sweetest Easter dress...can't wait!

Spring Break has gone by sooo fast and I still have many, many things to check off of my to-do list, but my most important item on the to-do list is sleeping soundly, so I am off to grade more research papers! Thank you, Lord, for my sweet, healthy, precious baby girl.

We go this afternoon for Avaree's 6-month well-baby visit, so stay tuned for her latest stats! Love to all!