they came, we marched, we partied

Oye. I'm exhausted. We had a busy, fun filled weekend and have spent most of today recuperating. Friday almost my whole family arrived to town for the March for Babies walk. Unfortunately my bro-in-law Travis had to go to Pennsylvania for work so he couldn't make it :(
We spent Friday night hanging out, eating pizza, and catching up. Saturday was the March for Babies and as I suspected it was amazing. The weather was perfect. The turn out was great. The river was fast and flowing. And the cause was amazing! It was so wonderful to see people come together for such a wonderful event.  I get emotional just thinking back to it.
Saturday evening my sisters threw me a belated 30th birthday bbq party. It was so nice of them and we had a great turn out of friends and family. And it was very evident that things have changed over the past few years as the number of kiddos in attendance nearly outnumbered the adults.
Maybe the best part of my weekend was the nice 2 hour nap I took with Avery today. We don't often find time for long naps together like we did when i was on maternity leave, so it was wonderful! Avery was totally exhausted from all the weekend's festivities. I'm pretty sure she'll be making up for it for the next couple of days...

Cousin love

Sarai and Italia

Why walk when you can stroll?

Very proud preemie mommy!!

Team Avery Ruth! 

My niece Hailey and I. 

My niece Drew

Jo Jo and Hobbs.  

Pit Stop. 

Team Captain! 

Exhausted babies. 

And hungry babies. 

BFFs

Party time! 

taking it back tuesday...on wednesday

Sooo in my defense I spent most of yesterday thinking it was Monday. It felt like a Monday.
I can't remember if I have shared this picture before or not, but this was taken a few days after Avery was born. That is Bill's wedding ring on her leg. It fit all the way up her thigh. You can see that her leg fills up about half the ring; therefore was about half the size of a finger.  I remember every time we'd raise her little legs to change her diaper, I was SURE I'd snap her in half. Turns out I didn't. A month after this picture we tried to put the ring on her leg again and couldn't get it over her big ole' feet :)

it's not all in a name

Yea! It the March for Babies week. I'm so excited for Saturday; the walk, the cause, my family, friends. And as a team we've already raised over $1,100! Ooh, I hope this week flies by...
Back when I decided to put together a team for the March for Babies, we had just brought Avery home from the hospital. I decided putting the team together would help channel some 'weird' energy I was harvesting. Hard to explain, but I needed to do something productive with it. Well needless to say I had Avery on the brain, hence the Team Avery Ruth name. 
The March of Dimes mission statement says "We help moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies." It doesn't limit it to just premature babies, although that generally seems to be the focus. That being said I just wanted to share with you another very important member of our team. Our honorary member who won't be with us in person, but whose spirit will definitely be strong that day.
Nearly 7 years ago my sister gave birth to a beautiful, full term baby boy.  I will let you read her full story below:

On May 31^st of 2005 my husband and I went to the Labor and Delivery to be induced with our second child, a little boy.  I was 39 weeks 4 days into a 40-week gestation period.  I was a pre-admit so they took me directly to my room and began to hook me up to the monitors.  When the fetal heart monitor was placed on my stomach, instead of the soft swooshing of my baby’s heart, there was silence.  The nurse stayed calm and tried multiple times to locate our baby with no success.  They called for an ultrasound and after what felt like a lifetime, the nurse told us our son had passed away.  I gave birth seven hours later to a 6 pound 2 ounce, 20 inch beautiful boy and we named him Tyson John LaPier.  I held him in my arms for as long as I could; knowing that this would be my last chance of holding his little hands and stroking his dark curly hair.  We took pictures and family members held him for the first and last time.  He was perfect.  An umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and the pressure of his own body on that cord had taken his short life the night before he was to be born.  The life that he had has touched so many people in such a huge way.  He had a childcare facility named after him to help young children grow and develop; he inspired legislation changes in Montana to provide birth certificates to stillborn babies and has brought our family closer together than ever before.  Some people who live for a hundred years will never accomplish some of the things Tyson and his memory have.  

 So even though the we are calling ourselves Team Avery Ruth on Saturday we are walking for ALL babies. Our team wants all pregnancies to have the chance to lead to full term and healthy babies. For all families to realize the joy of going to the hospital, welcoming their baby to the world and leaving a few days later as a family.  We are walking so in the future fewer families have to experience the pain, worry, grief, loss, and fear that we have.
Thank you LaPier family for being part of our team and sharing Tyson with us. You strength was an inspiration and wonderful example for me during tough times!

There is still time to donate or join our team!
www.marchforbabies.org/teamaveryruth

where'd my baby go?

Holy moly. I'm pretty sure in the past few days my baby has been replaced by a super smart, super active, super advanced super baby.  I thought it was just me, but then Bill said the same thing today.  She is just so much more aware of her world, playing with toys, trying to roll over, having long conversations, laughing and reacting to us, voicing her displeasure, eating everything she can get to her mouth. It is amazing to watch and a little sad how fast it is going by. In just a few days she'll already be 7 months old!
As we venture out more as the cold/flu season winds down, we are reminded more and more just how small she is for her age. When I tell people she 6 months old usually their response is "she's so small" -- said with a questioning tone and a look of "feed you baby already." At which point I clarify that she is a preemie. It is interesting though how many people you meet on a regular basis who had a preemie or were a preemie themselves.
One thing is for sure, I am enjoying every new development. I have such a sense of pride when she does something new and fascinating and am so excited to see what is to come.

Holding my head up like a pro

Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider with mommy. I especially love "down came the rain" part. 

Knuckle sandwich

Belly busting out my jammies. And I also now accessorize with bangles. 

Dressed up for a dinner date with mommy and daddy. 

Grinning at my mommy while chilling with my daddy. 

My new big girl stroller. 

passing the torch

So a little bit of slightly embarrassing self-disclosure for today's post. I still sleep with my blankie. Like the same blankie that I have had since I was a baby.  Or I guess what is left of the blankie.  I was SO attached to that blankie when I was young that my mom cut it in half so I had a traveling half and a half that had to stay in my bedroom. Smart woman because somehow there is only one half left.  

This blankie was the ying to my thumb sucking yang.  It was part of my whole process. So tonight when Avery started holding on to another blankie while she was sucking her thumb I thought maybe it was time to pass what is left of my blankie down to Avery.  I don't know if she'll attach to it like I did, but I figured something that has been so special to me for so many years deserves to be shared with someone so special to me for so many years to come.  She is my new comfort.  Plus, let's not forget that I did just turn 30, so maybe, just maybe it was time...

Avery and the blankie

Thinking about rolling

I made it pretty far. 

Such a sweet face. 

Sleeping with daddy. 

Wearing the shirt mommy made me. 

taking it back: special edition

Today is my birthday. That picture above is me 30 years ago. Yep, I've reached a new decade. I must say that turning 30 isn't so bad. Might be that my day was so busy I didn't even realize it was my birthday. Really I think 30 isn't so bad because I my life is so full that age doesn't really seem important.So here's to 30. I hope it does its best to out do the 20s.  (p.s. do we look alike?)

happy easter.

Happy Easter everyone. Today Avery went to her first church service. I was COMPLETELY anxious the entire time; so many people, such a small space.  She was so good though and got lots of ooh and aahs; especially for her eyelashes.  We spent the rest of the day with Bill's family.  I thought I left my camera at home; turns out it was in my purse, so the only Easter pictures I have are from after we got home and I put her dress back on to snap a few pictures. She was starving, so I got what I could. Hope everyone had a nice day with friends and family!

I'm hungry

Seriously, I will eat anything. 

Her Easter basket sunglasses. This is the only way she'd let me put them on her. 

lessons learned.

If everything happens for a reason, I have to think that maybe part of the reason everything has happened was to teach me that I do, in fact, have what it takes to get through anything.  I'm going to need to channel my new found outlook in the coming weeks with some pretty big changes at work. It is nothing I know I can't handle and better yet, nothing I know I can't totally make the best of.  And I always find encouragement from all the things Avery conquers everyday. Just today she had some major head control going on! I was one proud momma! So a special shout out to my biggest, little inspiration.

Seriously those eyelashes deserve a blog of their own.