13 weeks!

vroom vroom!

saturday marked the first night away from avery for mommy & daddy. only a few tears were shed, then mommy & daddy jumped in the car to head to the indy 500 (their 6th year in a row!). avery was in the best hands with grandma & grandpa lucas! during the race we got a text message from avery pretending like she was driving an indy car - what a cutie (and creative idea grandma janet!) needless to say, we returned to our baby 28 hours later and all was well, but we both decided we will not be leaving her overnight again for a long, long time! :)

a whole quarter!

happy 3 month birthday to my baby girl ... a quarter of a year old!

ps ... "a whole quarter" is from one of my top 5 favorite movies ... do you know where it's from?! :)

bffs

tonight was such a great night with 6 of my good girlfriends (and can't forget to mention 2 of avery's girl friends and a boyfriend too!) love taking pictures of these beautiful lil' ladies and can't wait to show them when they are older! i thank the Lord everyday for the amazing people i have in my life. avery & i are both very lucky!!

oops! i did it again!

so daddy really misses avery when he's at work, so today we ventured up to lake geneva for a visit with daddy and mommy's old co-workers. leslie, nick's boss, was out sick when avery visited the first time so she was dying to meet her today. as soon as leslie comes in i instantly give avery to her. things were going great until i hear uh-oh. leslie moves avery away from her body and avery had pooped on her!! "it" (meaning the poo) had slid out the right side of her diaper, through her pants and onto leslie's shirt (a bright white shirt mind you!) i felt so terrible.... avery thought it was funny! :) thank the lord i had an extra diaper and sleeper in my diaper bag! and doubly thank the lord that leslie had an extra shirt in her office (what a prepared nick's boss is!) go figure ... avery won't have accidents in the courtesy of her own home, but at daddy's work...and on his boss...seems more fun for her!! by the time i made it down to the sales office, they had all already heard the story (i forgot just how quickly word gets around there!) cheers to seeing old work friends and hoping that nick still has his job when he gets home ;)

next on the agenda .... girls night at our house! can't wait to see some of my favorite ladies and a is excited to see her buddies cece & scarlett again! i'm sensing another photo shoot coming up - better charge the camera!

12 weeks!

avery is 12 weeks old - turns 3 months on friday!! she had a great weekly shoot last night - so many good ones, but wanted to highlight one of her favorite activities this week: sucking on her hand & thumb!

daddy's girl

so nick was getting a lil' jealous of all of my photos with the babe, so i thought i would help him out and take a couple of them together. here are some of my favorites!

"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart." ~Author Unknown

11 weeks!

thumbs up!

avery found her thumb this weekend! it has to be one of the cutest things i have ever seen! i hope she doesn't grow up to be a thumb sucking toddler, but for now, i can't get enough of it!

i've got friends in low places

avery had a fun play date today! she got to finally meet scarlett & see cece again! recap: scarlett is my friend emily's daughter who is 10 days older than avery & cecilia "cece" is janelle's daughter who is 3 1/2 weeks younger. we have been talking about getting our girls together since october when we all found out we would be soon seeing pink, so it was great to see everyone!

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

mister rogers said it best! today we went out early for our walk to make sure we got it in before it gets too hot! poor foxxie does not do well in the heat or the sun due to her beautiful black fur but she loves walks way too much to not take along. supposed to hit 86 degrees today - the first 80+ degree day of the year! foxxie is not ready for the heat, but avery & mommy are ready to bust out their cute summer clothes!

10 weeks!

happy mother's day!

my first mother's day! what an amazing feeling ... that i'm a mother. still crazy to realize but i could not be happier with my new "title"! avery gave me the gift of sleeping through the night last night, so that was the best present i could ask for! this afternoon was spent with a mommy/daughter photo shoot outside (thanks daddy!), lunch on the patio, an hour of sun and reading & a little blue box! nick & avery got me a silver tiffany's necklace with a round disc monogrammed with an "A". i definitely am blessed and felt like the luckiest lady today! :) nick just left to head into work for the afternoon and tonight a & i are heading over to my parents for a cookout.

happy mother's day to my wonderful mom, grandma, aunts and good friends, many who are also celebrating their first mother's day today. there is no greater feeling in the world than being a mom and i thank God every night for this beautiful and healthy girl that he created just for me!

new job, new blog

made one big change in my life this week, might as well change my blog too! after weeks and weeks of going back and forth, i have decided to leave my full-time position at the grand geneva in order to pursue a part-time job which will allow me to stay at home during the day with avery.

it was not an easy decision by any means, but as soon as i held my baby in the hospital, my heart told me i could not leave her in 12 short weeks. my previous jobs at work were not what you call flexible - 9.5 hour work day + 1.5 hour commute = 11 hours a day that i would be away from avery - figure in her bedtime and i came up with the figure of a whoppin' ONE hour a day that i would get to be with her as her mom while she was awake. that figure shattered my heart and i would never forgive myself if i didn't at least make an attempt to do something about it.

as luck would have it, a part-time event sales/coordinator positioned landed in my lap. the pavilion at orchard ridge farms is a gorgeous special event facility in rockton (12 minutes from my driveway!) i have been hired on part-time (20-30 hours a week) and i will be booking the space for weddings, parties & special events as well as overseeing the events. check out the space here ~ http://www.orchardridgefarms.com/wedding_gallery.html

my little family is taking a big risk (and an even bigger pay cut!) but we think it will be worth every penny, (or lack of!) to allow avery to spend each day of her baby-hood in the comfort of her own home. foxxie will also benefit from all of the extra attention and daily walks (which her 19.5 lb body needs!)

with my heart more full of love than i ever thought possible, i am excited and very optimistic for what is to come!

happy cinco de mayo!

from: avery + foxxie

9 weeks!

to celebrate week #9, here are two photos for you! the first one i absolutely love but i had her on a small blanket and had to cut her off a little bit to get the shot. the other shot is great because now that she has discovered her hands, she can't keep her fists out of her mouth! :)