On a Baby High

Our little baby enjoying the spotlight in her bumbo chair
Avery is discovering she likes to eat things
Her favorite thing to eat is her hands...delicious!
So photogenic
We went on our first family hike! We trekked up to Inspiration Point and could see downtown L.A. and the coastline all in one shot--very cool. Brian carried Avery in the Baby Bjorn and got a good work out in! Here is Avery and me in our hoodies staying warm. I love this picture!
Look, mom, I'm WAY up here!


So, I figured it was about time for a new blog about motherhood and all its glory. Today I came home from church and was just having the time of my life holding, kissing, and talking to my darling baby girl. She had been SO good at church and then when we got home, tons of smiles and even a little giggle! She is so content and happy to be alive. I had to stop and just think to myself: "Wow, I am in Heaven!" Motherhood is truly the greatest calling on Earth. I never knew being a mom (with the world's best husband at my side) would be this wonderful. Avery smiles at me and I just melt. All my troubles go away when she brightens my day with her sweet smiling face.

I should mention that life as a mom is not all peaches and cream. There are days that go by where I think about how easy life used to be before I had a baby. When I had time to do whatever, whenever. When I could just hop in the car and go to the mall for hours.(this used to be one of my favorite pastimes) And there are plenty of days I wish I had a nanny to help me out and give me a break. But today I can't imagine life being any better. Brian and I are so incredibly blessed to have all that we do. I keep thinking to myself: What did I do to deserve this sweet, sweet beautiful baby? Perhaps, it's my reward for enduring a rough pregnancy. And at church, people are constantly telling us how good she is and how lucky we are. AND, I am almost afraid to type the words for fear I'll jinx it--but I'll just mention that Avery sleeps through the night--usually 8 hours and has a predictable feed, wake, sleep schedule! I give a lot of credit to Babywise for Avery's cheerful disposition and predictable schedule.

Believe it or not, I was thinking... if this is how incredible babies make you feel, then I want to have at least ten kids. It sounds absurd now that I'm typing it out right now, but I was seriously contemplating ten kids less than an hour ago. Although, since Avery is so good, I'm sure my next kid will be a terror as luck would have it. And then, I would probably be so exhausted that I would say: 2 kids--that's plenty! I guess we shall see how it all plays out! But seriously, babies are so special. There is nothing better than holding your child close and kissing them over and over. :-D

Sprinkles Cupcakes

A bite out of Heaven! Who knew food could be so ethereal. If you haven't tried Sprinkles cupcakes, you have got to drop everything and go get yourself one. They have a store at Fashion Island in Newport, or you could make them yourself by purchasing a Sprinkles cupcake mix from their store or at Williams-Sonoma. My neighbor brought me a couple cupcakes yesterday and they were AMAZING! I never knew a cupcake could be THAT good. I have only tried the dark chocolate with chocolate frosting. Has anyone else tried the other flavors? Which kind is your favorite?

Grandma and Grandpa Norton come to visit

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary! I can't believe how time flies. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were married in the San Diego Temple. I made this little cake for Brian and me on our anniversary--gotta love funfetti. It's been the best 2 years of my life by a long shot, and I look forward to many more amazing years to come in the future. I love you DEER!

First Beach Trip

Yes, we took our little dear one to the beach for the first time!

Avery is getting so big! When I first viewed these pictures I was shocked to see just how much she is changing. For some reason seeing her on film made me realize this. She looks like a completely different baby almost--compared to her newborn pictures.

Look at that chubby belly! So cute.

Mommy's angel. As you can see, she has lost her caramel coloring. Now we see she has Brian and my pale skin--sorry my little one. No more Carribbean tan.

The camera loves her!

Avery loves to stand. I think she likes to be right next to your face to see you better. The last couple of weeks she has been getting so strong. She'll be walking in no time! So crazy.

Avery is starting to love going outside, as well. It is so cool to see her become so much more aware of her surroundings.

Also, just in case you read my last blog, I just wanted to assure everyone that things are getting so much better now. I am starting to be more cognizant of Avery's needs--deciphering what each cry means i.e. the tired cry from the hungry cry. And Avery is much less fussy now when it comes to naptime. YAY! She is back to her angel self. I think she just had a rough couple of weeks and I wanted to gripe about it in that last blog. Babies are the BEST!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Lately I have been lamenting about the arduous life of a mother to friends and family. Avery hasn't been her angel self the last week and a half, much to our chagrin. Now I am getting a taste of what my parents went through with me. (They tell me I was a difficult baby--wouldn't sleep unless rocked or bounced A LOT, fussy unless entertained indefinitely, etc.) Sorry, Mom and Dad! But some days Avery has her moments of peaceful cuteness that I just can't get enough of.

Today is a Dr. Jekyll day--full of smiles and coos; yesterday: Mr. Hyde. It is such an extreme. Yesterday crying all day with minimal naptime. Today, no crying(hardly) and easy naptime--knock on wood. I know the lack of sleep was probably the reason for all the crying. But it's her own fault. I tried everything to get her to nap and sometimes even the shoe-in sleep methods didn't work. Like, for instance, a few days ago Avery hadn't slept all day and was incredibly fussy. So I decided to take her for a ride in the stroller. One of those shoe-in methods I mentioned. She never stays awake for a stroller ride, NEVER! But about 20 min. into the walk to the park, she woke up. At first she liked the change of scenery, looking at the sunlight and all the trees enjoying herself. Then about 15 min. later she decided to fuss and root. I was still at the park without any kind of a nursing cover. So I had to (literally) run home (which I am way out of shape FYI), and she cried the whole rest of the way home. Poor baby. I think she was going through a growth spurt and that's why she threw a wrench in my seemingly perfect schedule--she would wake out of her naps early because of hunger. Or so I think...it would be so nice if she could just tell us why the cry.

The last day or so have been much better as far as routine feedings. Now I'm just trying to establish her routine naptimes again. The book I follow--On becomming Babywise--says to not use sleep props like: swings, vibrating chairs, loud fans, etc. to get your baby to sleep. It says they need to learn to fall asleep or back asleep on their own without props. BUT it is so hard to resist these methods because they work wonders. If Avery wakes early out of a nap, I am finding it harder and harder to resist these methods because if I don't use them, she wont go back to sleep and then her whole schedule gets thrown off. When she sticks to her schedule it is baby and mommy heaven..ahhhh, sweet bliss. When she resists the schedule, we both get cranky.

My mom told me not to get too comfortable with any schedule because babies are constantly growing and changing. I know I can't keep her on the same schedule forever, and my book addresses how to change the schedule when baby requires less sleep for example..but no baby follows a book exactly.

I guess what I am wondering is: when do babies start taking just 2 or 3 naps a day? Avery seems like she wants to sleep less which is normal, but she doesn't want to sleep enough. She wants to be awake more but the more I let her stay awake and not go down for her naps, the crankier she becomes as the day goes on. Babies sure are tricky. And if you've made it this far through my little diatribe, thanks for reading :)

On a happier note, I woke up to find an Easter basket downstairs for our family!! A big surprise for Avery and me. Thanks Dear! Happy Easter, everyone!

Attention Overload

Whoa! It has been a different scene around here lately. I am learning life is getting a lot more demanding when your baby gets bored of just lying there. Before, I could just set Avery down in one of her seats and grab a bite to eat or do the dishes, for example. Looking around the room or out a window would be sufficient entertainment for our little dear. Not the case anymore! Avery needs much more to keep her happy these days. And it's even more difficult for me because Brian is gone from about 4:30 A.M. until about 7:30 P.M. And then when he gets home he wants to relax--understandably so! Brian has a new job he started a couple of weeks ago (for those of you who didn't already know). He works for a company called Shaw Environmental. Brian primarily locates, removes, and eradicates environmental threats ie anthrax, or currently: granade, rocket, and bomb ordinates. Risky business, I know. Not to worry though, he says they take every precaution and he doesn't even consider it dangerous at all. The biggest worry for him is poison oak and rattlesnakes.

So back to my attention overload... I am adjusting to Avery's new stage of life. She'll be 2 months old in a matter of days! So crazy. She changes so much every day. Her hair just keeps getting longer, too! I can almost put her hair in a "spout" ponytail. She likes getting plenty of exercise as well: standing up (with our support, obviously), constantly lifting up her head, and even little scooting motions when she's on her tummy. I think she is getting anxious to be mobile. Also, can I just say--babies sure can poop a ton! Brian and I joke about wrapping her up in saran wrap to always be sure to avoid diaper leaks--a frequent occurrence here. Maybe I don't know how to properly secure a diaper. Brian thinks I don't put them on tight enough. But I swear if I put them on tighter, her circulation will be compromised! My mom said I should get bigger diapers, but I am convinced that is not the case--we have the size one diapers from huggies and they are good up to 14 lbs, I think. No, I'm convinced it's just the volume of waste that's the problem. No diaper could keep in some of her blow out episodes. Maybe I should affix 2 diapers to our baby.