Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Twinkle Twinkle

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Here are some from Memorial Day and a few misc. from the rest of the weekend. They are all posted along with a few others on Picasa --












Stingy Smiles

Avery is pretty stingy when it comes to her smiles, but she does give them. Smiles seem to come in small, medium and large varieties. I managed to catch a few on video - in the small and medium category.

Similarities

Madison & Avery don't look alike in every baby picture. There are some that are really obvious. Some of Avery's pictures are SO Matt. And Madison was SO expressive at this age & Avery has only a few expressions. But when you catch the right angle for Avery and a picture with Madison giving a 'blank' look, the similarities are freaky...





The first picture above is Avery; the following 3 are Madison. The 2nd is kind of a trick photo since they are actually wearing the same blue 'Daddy's girl' onesie.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Painting the Walls - Almost

I have to say - I've been thankful Madison never 'painted the walls' with the contents of her diaper. But she pulled her own version today. Matt & I went in late this morning to get her up from her nap. I put my hand on the edge of the crib and it felt wet - slippery even. At the same time, Matt says, "Has she been sweating?" Madison's hair and face and dress appeared damp... and shiny. And we realized -- Vaseline. There's a little flower pot on the dresser near her crib with vaseline, a comb, lotion, etc. Apparently, her arm has grown long enough that she can now reach the dresser and the things sitting on top. She managed to get the little pot and all its contents into her crib and smear half of the container of Vaseline all over everything. (Thankfully it was a travel size container! Phew!) We said to Madison (seriously but not too sternly) "No no, this was not good. You don't touch those things." And her bottom lip popped out & trembled & she started crying. I asked Matt, "You want to clean the kid or the crib?" He opted to give Madison a bath (which was a challenge since the water was beading off her greasy body) and I washed down the crib & dresser contents. Ugh, what a hassle. But it could've been worse -- it could've been baby lotion (which is colored not clear) or diaper contents (horrors). And despite having to clean up that extra mess, I'm at least consoled that both girls pooped in the potty today, and I haven't had to change a poopy diaper all day!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sisters At Play & More

Playing together




Not the baby anymore - but it doesn't stop her from trying!



Tummy time




Big girl braids




Friends

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Avery - 10 Weeks

Avery at 10 and a half weeks -- Today and yesterday she's done pretty well. Still waking out of her sleep cycles but eventually settling down and getting rest, which makes her much less fussy when she is having her awake interactive times.


How Does Your Garden Grow








Tuesday, May 19, 2009

End of An Era

Friday Matt started his new job and it marks the end of an era for us. We've been married for for over 4 years now and in that time, we have been tremendously blessed to have jobs that allowed us to eat lunch at home together. The last job Matt had here at our apartment complex allowed him to stop in additional times during the day to say hello, so it didn't even feel like he was gone to work each day -- he was always nearby and could stop by if necessary.

With Matt's new job, he is only permitted a 30 minute lunch. And while the job location is only about a 5 minute drive away, it still wouldn't be worth the time to try and come home for lunch. So the days are feeling just a little bit longer, and Madison & I both miss having daddy around. He always gets a big welcome when he comes home though. Madison is always there, rushing to the door squealing, "Daddy's here! Oh boy!"

Friday, May 15, 2009

Rough Night

Well the dark room with the fan may have been a nice theory that doesn't pan out (as seems to be what happens to every theory with trying to figure Avery out). After a good day yesterday, we had a horrible night with Avery - the worst since bringing her home from the hospital. The past few nights she has started to fuss in the night when she is put back to bed after a feeding. Last night she woke up every 2 hours and cried & fussed for near an hour every time I put her back down. Needless to say I got hardly any sleep. And poor Matt -- he started his new job today and woke up pretty tired too. 10 weeks.... it's been a long 10 weeks... When will it end? :-(

Thursday, May 14, 2009

More At 10 Weeks

Here's another comparison --



At 10 Weeks

Check this out --



Madison - top, Avery - bottom. Both at 10 weeks. Seriously, I don't realize how similar they look until I pull out Madison's baby book. I guess Madison has changed a lot b/c when I look at them together now, I don't think they look that much alike. Of course, it's hard to compare even at that age since Madison was so expressive, and Avery... well that is her expression. She sometimes raises her eyebrows a bit and sometimes gives a little smile, but otherwise, that's the look she gives you all the time. ;-)
-

Avery had a much better day today than she's been having (and thus, I did too! not as stressed!). At least from today's experiment, it seems she prefers to be in a room by herself with blinds closed and fan on high in order to sleep. Lately she's been sooo incredibly overtired & fussy -- and when she gets fussy, it means a scream-fest. That's just how she's always been. Today, she finally got good long naps and her temperment was much, much better during her awake moments. Praise the Lord!

Mild May

Madison looooves to wear dresses. It's still a little chilly for just a dress, so I put one on with pants for her.




*sigh* So peaceful when sleeping. If only she was always so docile. We call her the banshee child because of her impassioned, wild screams.


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

New Job, New Adventures!

Whew! What a whirlwind of a week! So much has happened I have to back way up to give the full story...

While we were in the Atlanta airport on our layover during our trip to Texas, Matt got a phone call from the temp agency he had worked with in the past. The company he had interviewed with several times before (and who had previously offered him a job back in December - after he had already accepted this current job with our apt. complex) had an opening they wanted him to interview for. [I know that's not grammatically correct. I don't care. I'm tired.... Ok fine - It's driving me crazy -- "...an opening for which they wanted him to interview" - THERE!] We came back to NY on a Monday (just barely, if you know the story) and his interview was set up for Tuesday. They were hiring for several open positions, the interview went well, and Matt felt pretty confident and positive, thinking there was a strong chance he'd get the job. They expected to make a decision that week and would get back to him.

Well the whole week went by and no phone call. We figured they had not made a decision yet. By the next week (which was last week) we were getting impatient. On Wednesday Matt got a phone call -- he did not get the job. He was a little disappointed as he thought this time it was finally going to happen. His current job has been a major drag for him lately -- just a really light workload and a lot of non-essential busy work to fill the time. Better to be busy than to have nothing to do and spend the day trying to look busy. So he's been ready to move on - just nothing had come available (still) in this flat economy.

In addition to the 'no job' news, our plans for housing when we moved out of this apt. fell through. Some friends of our have a house in an estate they were going to rent to us at an affordable price. It needed some painting and fix-up work, which we were going to help do, but it would have given us a lot more space & a better setup than most apartment options in this area. It's such an old area -- most of the apartments are crummy and still charge a ridiculous price. Anyway, it just turned out this house we were going to rent just had too many fix-up projects to really be practical for us to move into. We didn't have the time, energy or resources to do all the work that was needed (nor do our friends), so we had to say 'no' to that plan. We also checked into another place we really liked early in the week, and it turned out that wasn't available.

It was a discouraging week -- lots of No's. No job, no house. We were back to square one, stuck in this job, stuck in this apartment, no end in sight. Tiring. Frustrating. We have so strongly felt that we wanted to be closer to Seneca Falls where our church is, that the Lord would have us be more involved. Being this far away (an hour's drive), it's impossible to really get involved in ministry there, especially when we have 2 little kids. So we felt discouraged - like, 'Lord, if you moved us here and would have us get more involved in our church and the lives of our friends, why would you keep closing doors and keeping us so far away?'

Then, late on Friday afternoon, Matt came flying through the door, still on his phone saying, "I got the job with Maximus! I don't understand it yet myself, I'll explain later!" And back out he went. I sat there with my jaw hanging open not sure what to make of what just happened. Turns out, while he initially thought he had gotten the job they previously told him he hadn't gotten, it was actually a different position he was being hired for. A lady who worked for the company put in her notice to quit and, since they didn't want to go through the appln/interview process again & had liked Matt in his interview, they called an offered him the job. And he's starting Friday this week!

The job that he got is with a company called Maximus. It's basically a company that works with Medicare appeals cases, something Matt is already somewhat familiar with due to working with Federal programs in the Congressman's office. It has quite a bit of variety to what he'll actually be doing, so shouldn't get too boring for him. The location of the company is, ironically, here in Fairport -- and yes, we'll be moving toward Seneca Falls, so he'll have a 45 minute commute. Not ideal, but at this stage in the life of our family, he feels really strongly that he'd rather do the commute to work to allow us to live closer to family & friends and allow me easier access to helping hands if I need it. He's very excited about starting and the new work he will be doing.

So with the new job that meant we had to figure out the what-next question for housing sooner than later. We knew the Lord would provide, but we've just been so discouraged when looking at the rental options available. It's sooo creepy. :-P And slim pickin'. As we were crunching numbers and looking at what was out there, we realized, "I think we an afford a mortgage!" And that started us househunting... and calling realtors... and checking out houses. This has all happened within just the past few days, mind you! Like I said - a whirwind. The housing market is also slim pickin' but there is one house we both like & have looked at and seems to be within a budget we can work with. We still need to check it over with a fine-tooth comb, plus we want to look at a few more places, but it seems to be pretty certain that we are definitely going in the direction of buying a house vs. renting.

So we're excited! But really stunned too. I said I am trying to proceed with fear and trembling, knowing what a big decision & responsibility a house is. But it will be sooo wonderful too to move into a place I know we won't have to move out of. I HATE moving. It's exciting to think of having our own place, too, to do with what we want. So keep us in prayer as we make some big decisions, and we'll keep you posted when anything becomes final on the housing front!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Baby Talk

I had this video on my camera and forgot it was there. I took this last week of Avery --


Avery - 9 Weeks

Avery will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. Wow - 2 months old as of yesterday. It's still work though. The newborn stage just lasts sooo long. I was hoping it would be 'easier' by 2 months. I was also hoping she'd start sleeping longer stretches through the night. It's still usually 3-4 hours. Lately she's been pulling 2 hour stretches in the wee hours of the morning - which is HORRIBLE. I wake up so exhausted & ready to throw her out the window. :-P

But in the category of good news, she's definitely becoming increasingly interactive -- smiling, trying to 'talk' with little goo's and coo's, laying under her playgym and acting interested in what's hanging above her. Her happy, awake time is getting longer all the time. Madison loves to talk to her - and touch her, which is both a good thing b/c it's so sweet and a bad thing b/c Madison will poke her in the eye or ear or something saying, "Baby Avery, Sisser - Eye! Ear!" My most frequent word when I have the 2 of them together is "Gentle!!"
Avery's a solid little thing, too. We had her 2 month doctor checkup earlier this week. She's up to 12 lb. 4 oz. and 23 1/2 inches long -- in the 80th percentile. She's finally healthy too -- I think the cold(s) she had are finally cleared up. Doesn't make her much less cranky or fussy but... I know, one day at a time. We'll get there.

Here are a couple pics of her from today. Check out the rolls on the legs!





Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Tub Time

I figure, she's still one year old... so it's not indecent yet to post tub pictures right? ;-)


Friday, May 1, 2009

Avery - 7 Weeks

Are these not the most adorable shoes? The mother of one of Matt's students sent them to us. They are big now but will be perfect for the summer months.





Sometimes I swear Avery is bi-polar. One moment sweet & happy...

The next moment...

Sweet sisters





Daddy with his girls

Madison is very observant. She sees me nurse & use the boppy. I caught her with the boppy the other day -- I'm just waiting to catch her 'nursing' her doll. ;-)