Christmas Card 2008

Avery has a message for Abby!

video

It's Christmas time in the city...

Saturday we went to the Christmas Parade. It was reviewed by Avery as, "the best parade ever, Mom!" We were a little chilly at first..but once the parade started we hardly noticed. Andrew slept through the whole thing.

our life, in pictures

It seems like I have many more pictures than words lately. We headed out to take pictures for our Christmas Card on Saturday. We ended up with great pictures and had a wonderful day at the Botanical Gardens. This week's plans...Monday..stuck home..Kenny has the van and his Expedition is in the shop getting a new transmission. (Nothing like $2000 in car repairs right before Christmas..so if you wonder why your christmas present isnt that great...now you know..lol)
On Tuesday, we are going to Dance class and then to Chuck-e-cheese. Wednesday..we are headed to the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine to visit Santa, Mrs. Clause and real reindeer!!! I am way more excited than Avery. :) On Saturday we have reserved seating tickets for the huge Christmas Parade in Dallas. It promises to be the best parade any of us have been to so far. Stay tuned...more pics coming your way in a few days!

-Alesha

Dear Santa...

Just a quick update...We hope to have some funny outtakes soon from our Christmas card session we are planning for tomorrow. We spent a week in BR and had a great time. My mom turned 50! We are decorating for Christmas this weekend...oh and we had a great quiet thanksgiving at home this year. Today I spent the whole day shopping while Kenny watched the kids....can you say FUN! :)

Just a few pics.

Our crazy girl insists on eating pizza with gloves on. Keeps her hands clean..and protects them from the hot pizza...so she says.





Can you believe it, I have 2 kids...wow!

this just makes me laugh!

Just a few pics from our week.

Andrew is 1 month old!

Our sweet boy, weighing in at 9 lbs. We just love him so much and can't wait to get to see his personality shine soon. Doesn't he look SO much like his daddy?



FYI: This is an outfit I bought @ Build A Bear back in July...so they would match.

You are sick, Alesha!

"Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them."

Question: Do both people have to be completely conscience? Why do I ask this?..well

On Thursday night, I started with a fever...followed by one of the longest nights that I can remember. I had the shivers for hours. Friday, same thing...I would feel better when my fever would break (thank you Advil) and then the shivers again. Well Friday night, I was so tired of feeling so horrible. Laying in bed, I nudged Kenny to wake him. I said, "Baby...(he grunts) (my teeth chattering) Can you please pray for me? I feel horrible. He grunts again...pats my head..and I wait...and wait..he never prays for me. I find this so funny seeing that my husband in Seminary no less. Guess you had to be there..but it was pretty funny.

Diagnosis: So what is wrong with me? Well I went to the doctor on Friday...(you know I am sick when I go to the doctor). The awesome dr decided that I had some type of infection. They took a few blood test and one showed that my white blood count was up. He seems to think that I have some sort of UTI even though I am not experiencing any of the symptoms. He prescribed a strong antibiotic that Andrew can't be exposed to soooo, Andrew is strictly on formula for 10 days. I was upset about it at first...but I must say it has been a blessing in disguise. Kenny has been able to help me at night...and during the day for me to nap. I plan to nurse after these 10 days but I am also going to use formula when I need a break. I havent been this sick in a long time. Besides the whole praying thing..Kenny has been awesome with picking up the slack for me.

Chillin': Kenny called one day this week and asked what Andrew was doing...to which I replied, oh Andrew is just chillin' in his swing....Avery said...Oh, is he cold? silly girl

Baptism: This morning at church several children were baptized. Avery was so happy for them. She said, Mom, I want to be in the water too. I told her that we would talk about it after church. So later, Kenny told her that she had to be a Christian first and I asked her if she had any questions....she said yes...how many miles to Disney World?

I hope to get Andrew's (aka Little Kenny) one month pic up soon...but I have to take it first...hey what can I say, I have been sick.

Thanks for checking in!
Alesha

On Motherhood...

So I don't have a picture for this post...but I am afraid it might be a little frightening anyway. I will try to paint the picture with words instead.

If I hear, you sure are lucky you can nurse...again anytime soon...I may throw something. Yes, I am so lucky to feed a newborn 10 times a day at all hours of the night. I am the only one that can get up because I am the only one with the 'equipment'. Lucky, lucky me. And while I am nursing one one side, I am lucky enough to have the other side pouring milk down my shirt. I hate nursing in public so I have about a 2 hour window to get out of the house and return to get anything done.

And when I am having an especially lucky day, Andrew will somehow manage to get his fresh diaper to leak on me. It must be a boy thing but somehow he manages to do this at least 3 times a day.

I am also very lucky to be able to stay home and not work this year. But i have to say that sometimes you feel like you are going a little crazy..when your day is filled with entertaining a four year old. My life is filled with playdoh, noggin, simon says and all the imaginary friends our apt can hold. Today I fell asleep on the couch for 15 whole minutes when I opened my eyes to see Avery right in my face holding a juice box for me to open while trying to feed me her newest ice cream play doh concoction.

Then this evening I tried to go to the bathroom...alone for a few minutes...when Avery decided to grace me with her presence. She felt the need to put on a play by getting in the tub and announcing her newest act from behind the shower curtain...while Andrew cried at the top of his lungs while in his swing. All I wanted was 3 minutes to myself...man am I lucky or what??

So today I feel that I am going a little crazy...wanna come along?

PS As I was reading over this before I published it, Avery looked over at me and said,"Mommy, what friends are we again?...We are Wall-E friends mom... Mom, you look kinda sick looking." So on that note I will officially sign off. :P

Fall is here!

Well lots of pictures to share and things to write about. The tour of the grandparents is officially over. :( We enjoyed all of the help and company. Avery misses all of you guys.

Scientist in the making? From time to time Avery comes up with little experiments she want to perform. This week she tried to make herself float away by holding on to all the balloons she could find. She was a bit sad to see her 'experiment' didnt work.

Jelly Bean Incentives: To help encourage good behavior from Avery, we started a jelly bean jar. When she does something, like picking up toys without being asked, we give her a scoop of jelly beans. When she reaches the line she gets to choose her reward. She has chosen to go the museum and this week to the roller skating rink. Other choices that she can choose from are a date to starbucks with daddy...nails with mommy...and even a trip bowling. This works really well to get her to do what we want. She loves it!


Gaining weight: Andrew went to the dr last week and he gained 7 ounces in 7 days. That is great news. He is a good eater...gets up every 3 hours or so...even at night. :) Can you believe he will be one month old on Wednesday?! He will go back to the dr in another week or so for shots.

Trick or Treat: We had a really great time last night Trick or Treating. Avery was very excited about going door to door for candy. She was very particular with what she chose from everyone's buckets of candy. Red suckers were really high on her list. Andrew did manage to get a pack of skittles from a cute little boy. Avery and Andrew both wore pumpkin costumes. Because we live in an apt, we went to the 'cape cod' neighborhood and it really was something straight out of a hallmark commercial. It really made me want to move there...such a perfect place.

Here are a couple of pics from our trip to a couple pumpkin patches too.

2 weeks and counting...

We made it two whole weeks! Mr. Andrew went to the doctor today for his check-up. He only gained 2.5 ounces from last week. They were hoping he would gain about 8 or so. I am disappointed because I have been very diligent to nurse him EVERY 3 hours (day and night)....which is quite the task. They are going to weigh him again on Friday, if he hasnt gained at least a few ounces they will supplement him with formula. I am not terribly worried since I know he is a great eater and doing well other than that.

I have some really good pictures of Andrew that I have been working on. (Shocking, huh?) I haven't posted them yet because I am saving them for the birth announcement. I hope to have them to you in a week. I just received the proof today...and they are beautiful!

Kenny's parents visited over the weekend and spoiled Avery by taking her to Chuck-e-cheese and the Texas State Fair. Kenny is staying busy with school and work. His grades are all great...and he is getting smarter everyday! :)

I have a check-up tomorrow, but things are going well with my recovery. I told Kenny that I feel like I am at bootcamp though. I am awakened every few hours at night, and forced to stay awake for hours at a time. :) It's just all part of the fun.

Hoping to make it to the pumpkin patch this weekend while Grandma will be visiting. Both my kiddies will be pumpkins this year. Keep watching your mailbox, I hope to have a birth announcement to you by late next week.

Thanks for stopping by! Here are a few outtakes from our week!

Alesha

Nap Time

I'm sure he's saving his energy for the LSU-Florida game... :)

Andrew, Day 2

Little Andrew is doing very well, although it's been a little rough from time to time. He was circumcised this morning, and was none too happy about it! He apparently swallowed some amniotic fluid in the womb, and spits some up from time to time. On the bright side, he is now eating very well - he just finished up a 45-minute feeding session! Also passed his hearing exam, which is good news.

Gram and Avery came by for a while... Avery is very excited to be a big sister, and loves holding him in the rocking chair. She can't wait to play with him.

Alesha is recovering nicely - she's up and moving around, albeit slowly. She has a new best friend - Vicodin! :) She's been quite the trooper through all this, I must say.

Here are some more pictures... do check back regularly as we'll do our best to keep them coming.

Welcome Andrew!

Our little bundle of joy, Andrew James, came into the world at 7:29 AM. He weighs 7 pounds, 12 ounces and is 19 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing great... God has truly blessed us immensely!

As promised... here are a few photos.

Big Sister Boot Camp

The to do list has been made...pages and pages long..and all have finally been checked off. The house is as organized as possible..every nook and cranny has been overturned and improved. The nesting bug has officially worn me out. Tomorrow includes a dance class, pre-op appointment and a short doctors appointment. We are all so excited to meet Andrew. I cant wait to just hold his little hand in mine. :) He will punished for his first couple of weeks for the excessive kicking...:)

I am adding a couple of pics from Avery's class on how to be a big sister. She loved it!

Check in here for the first glimpses of Andrew on Wednesday!

This time next week....

Less than one week to go until we meet Mr. Andrew Watts! So how am I feeling? Well physically, I am a bit uncomfortable...creating a baby takes its toll on you. Mentally, I am anxious...the needles, surgery...not to mention a NEWBORN... I am sure everything will be just fine..it's just the anticipation that is tough. We have managed to keep Avery alive for four years...so that is something right?

Just in case you want to know: Andrew will be born at Baylor All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth in the new Saint Andrew's Wing on Wednesday, October 8th at around 7:15 am. We will make every attempt to upload pictures to this blog, my flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/averysmom , and to our facebook accounts.

The Hebert's will be helping out with Avery for the birth and a few days following. The Watts' will make a short visit the following weekend and Alesha's Mom will come the end of the following week. Avery is so excited to have everyone visit her...and has already begun making lots of 'plans' for her grandparents.

Avery had an ear infection this week..we caught it early so she really hasn't acted sick. She was more than happy to throw her medicine bottle away today...that really was the nastiest antibiotics I have ever tasted...and I taste them all. Just glad she will be better in time to meet her little brother.

Hope you are all doing well...feel free to drop us a line. Thanks for stopping by!

So how much do you think this little one will weigh?? Avery weighed 8lbs and 1/2 ounce.. Comment below with your guess....

2 weeks and counting...

We are quite excited to welcome Baby Andrew into our family. He will be born around 7:15 am on October 8th. The nursery is all set up..just waiting on our little boy! Avery will be attending a Big Sister class at Baylor All Saints Hospital this Saturday to learn all about safely taking care of her little brother. We had a fun girls day today that included getting our nails done...the princess is now sporting hot pink nails.



Here are a few pics of our girl who is looking way older than 4 these days!

Wow..it's been a month!!

Not a day has passed that I didn't think about writing this blog update...I don't have a 'job' so I don't know why this is so hard to keep up with.

Biggest & Best News:

We sold our house in Watson! We put our house on the market January 1st of 08. So 8 months and 28 days later it is SOLD. What a relief! We are so excited to free from the financial burden of it all. God is so good to us. Our prayers were answered!

Back to School for Kenny:

Well..one of the main reasons we moved to DFW was for Kenny to go to Seminary @ Dallas Theological. With the burden of virtually 2 house notes, Kenny dropped his classes he had scheduled. Wouldn't you know we received a purchase agreement the day before the last day to register!! So, Kenny is indeed enrolled at DTS this semester taking 6 hours. One class on Monday nights and one online. He really enjoys his class and the professor is awesome. Can I just say for the record..Kenny is the best husband any girl could ask for. I am truly blessed!

Avery Grace:

Avery is doing just great. At 4, she is quite the talker. She takes a ballet dance class on Tuesday mornings, attends AWANA on Wednesday nights, and loves children's church on Sundays. She also begs to go to a place called Play Time where parents can drop off their children and pay for childcare by the hour. Kenny and I have brought her there twice while we enjoyed a quiet dinner together as a date night.


The other day, Avery insisted on carrying this little bible around..at one point she opened it and said, "Look, Mommy, the Bible says we should eat something cold and white." How could I argue with the bible? So for her creativity I gave her some ice cream.


She asks every single day...if it is halloween yet. (she and Andrew will be pumpkins) If we can go to Disney World today AND If Andrew is going to be born today. We have scheduled a Big Sister class at the end of the month for her to attend at the hospital where Andrew will be born. I think she is going to be a great big sister.

Andrew...Well I have had a LOT of doctor drama since moving here. But I finally saw a doctor this past Monday. She said that I am measuring really big..(sounds familiar from Avery)..so we are going back next week for an ultrasound to see when this little boy will be born. My friends and family got together to plan a surprise Baby Sprinkle for us. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by our friend Hurricane Gutav. I was really touched by all of your thoughtfulness though. So thank you very much!

Alesha...I have adjusted to life here in DFW. I must say that I love my apartment. It is the perfect size for us and is way easier to keep clean. Even though I am taking on the appearance of a beached whale...I have kept the weight gain down to about 10 lbs. My major craving with this pregnancy has been ice..especially Sonic ice. I can't get enough! I am getting excited to meet Andrew and I am bracing myself for the first month..because I am experienced enough to know how hard it will be. I haven't made any real friends here but I am not too lonely...as I get older I am more of a home-body anyway. LOL

Kramer: He is doing just fine. About 6 oclock every afternoon he goes a little crazy though..because a female boxer passes right in front of his yard. Kramer loves it here because he gets to spend a lot of time inside...and it isnt near as hot and humid as it was back home. Avery is in charge of feeding him everyday...and they have a love/hate relationship for the most part. She is sweet to him sometimes...but loves to lock him in the bathroom whenever she can as well.

That's about all I can think of to say right now. I am attaching some pictures of our apartment as well as a couple of pics from Avery's dance class. I hope you are all doing okay. Please feel free to drop us a line when you can. -Alesha




our living room & andrew's 'room'..so far

It's a good thing I don't have to pay by the smile...because she loves this class.