10 Months Old Today. Dear Lord, Please Slow the Pace. Time Should Not Move So Quickly.

Today my sweet little baby is 10 months old. A surprise weather "event" found the daycare to be opening 1 hour late, so Mr. Avery got to go to work with mommy for a few minutes. It seems that, at home or away, Avery is fond of a few things, in no particular order of course:

1. Anything that he might be able to choke on: loose staples, paper clips, pencil erasers, bits of paper on the floor.
2. Cords - be them extension or ordinary he would like very much to chew on them or stick his finger behind them in the socket.
3. Sockets AKA Electrical Outlets - he loves to touch them, pull at anything in them, and in general ponder them with his germy little fingers.
   
4. Garbage Cans - Especially full or nasty ones that no one else wants to touch.
5. Petting Copper - Which 100% of the time equals Copper biting Avery. Go figure.
6. Obstacles - So that he might crawl over them or push past them.

My boy is a total spitfire. I expect our hands to be full for at least the next 17 years. Avery doesn't show any signs of being boring. He crawls everywhere, would prefer to push the stroller than to ride in it, and hates the word No! Brace yourselves, we have!

I don't always feel like the luckiest girl in the world, but I definitely feel like I am the winner of the Mommy lottery!

Did I Mention that Avery Might be French?

Check out my boy straight up going for it. You need to click on this picture and make it bigger so you can see the full effect. I do not know where he learned this move. Certainly not at our house. He must have picked this up at daycare.

You can't see her, but Kelli was bent down standing guard, and she was yelling, "Kinsley, no! Close your mouth!"

Luckily, she listened. Gesh!

Avery and the Great Pumpkin

Team Woo was sweet enough to track down a ginormous pumpkin for us. This pumpkin was so big that I couldn't even pick it up. It was super duper BIG. How cute is my boy in this pumpkin? So cute that I can't stand it!



The lid of this pumpkin was so heavy that I could barely lift it. I love this pumpkin. It might be the best pumpkin of all times, but the weather didn't cooperate, so I didn't get any great pictures.

Avery LOVED this pumpkin too. He didn't hate being in it. He actually loved being in it. He had a hoot.

Leaps and Bounds

Avery is at a stage where things happen in leaps and bounds. The day after the fair I went in to his room and he was sitting up in his bed. Now Avery has been sitting up for a really long time. My profile picture was taken while we were still on maternity leave and he had great head control. I think the bumbo helped, but he was sitting up for a long time. This was different, no one sat him up. He sat him up.

One week later I went in to his room to find him standing up peering through the rails of his baby bed. Yep, standing! The next morning, I sat him down in his room and he took off crawling. Wowser.

Last week was his first week of crawling at school and he got 3 "accident" reports. One was for a scratch, but the other two were for head bumps. He has a nice green bruise on his forehead.

My baby is gone! By 8 months old, he is grown. It was also picture day at his school. I can't wait to see the pictures!!

Ginger made us these (below), and we love them.
Doesn't Ginger rock??

It's Almost Here

Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

Excuse Me While I Sit Up....

Sunday morning I hear Mr. Sweetie Pants moving around, so I do what I always do.... I dash in there to grab up that beautiful boy and love on him. What? You would do something different?

When I get to his room do I get a shock! There is Avery sitting up, and not only is he sitting up, he is trying to pull up on the bed. Now he's been able to sit up on his own for a while, and he has been pulling up on everything for a couple of weeks, but he has never sat up from a lying position.

This boy does not fool around. He goes straight for the finish line. "Mommy, I am up, and if its all the same to you, I'm just gonna climb on out of this bed." I was so proud and immediately it occurred to me, we gotta lower this bed PRONTO. Two weeks shy of 8 months old and Avery's bed is now at the bottom.

I know this isn't Earth shattering stuff, but I assure you it rocked my little world. Big Time. My boy isn't a baby any more. I might as well get him a key made for the Jeep. He's practically dating!

Just this week Miss Katy told me that he had to be separated from Kathleen because they jabber too much at nap time. What a flirt!

Dear Lord, Give Me Strength and Make Me Better

Tonight was a rough night. Avery pulled his regular bathtub antics. Splash, suck the washcloth (yuck), splash some more, and then, he threw in a little I think I'm gonna just stand up if it's all the same to you. Well, needless to say, slippery baby, coupled with soap, water, and a nervous mom, wound us up with our first tub "accident". Mr. Stubborn managed to topple over and get his whole face in the water.

I nearly pooped my pants. Literally. He was probably fine, but my hysterics made things about 100 times worse. I called Allison to see if he was going to drown in his sleep, cried, cried some more, prayed, cried, got mad at Greggie for no good reason, and then nearly had a heart attack.

Being a mom is hard and scary. I am so glad that when I call BFF sounding hysterical and stupid she doesn't judge me, and she puts me at ease.

How did people do this before telephones? You won't hear me say this very often, but Hillary Clinton was right. It does take a village. Especially when the mom is the village IDIOT!

New Puppy

Look at our baby dalmation. How cute is he? This is the much anticipated Avery 2009 School Halloween Costume. I know it is ridiculous how much I love this boy. I get that. I look at him every day with complete astonishment. I get to raise this boy. Me, little old me. I swear I feel like I won the baby lottery.

Now, more than ever, I feel like Mommy was my calling. I have never enjoyed something more. Not even taking pictures.

I couldn't resist sharing a few of the little man in the Halloween duds. Hope you enjoy them!

Check out that belly!

mmmm, this car tastes yummy

Are you kidding me Mommy? I have to wear this to school???

You promise I look super cute?

What about now?

Avery Loves Me

Let me start out by saying that I love, love, love Avery's school. I love the teachers, the facility, the location, the reputation, and most of all I love that the teacher's love Avery. They swoon over that boy. I don't think his little butt touches the floor all day. Someone always has him in their arms. He doesn't even blink an eye when I leave him there. Their love for Avery is mutual. He is crazy over them. He does have his favorites, but I won't tell who!

Today I went to visit him at lunch. It is such an incredible way to recharge my batteries. Nothing washes away a big old cup of work sucks like a lap full of cute babies and their are no shortage of cute babies in his class.

Today was different. Avery was very clingy and when I got ready to leave he cried. It killed me. I think my visits in the afternoon might have to end. At least I won't be able to let him see me. I won't stop visiting. I like to take the sweet ladies frozen custard and popcorn so they love Avery even more. You can get to a woman's heart with sugar you know!

It is the first time Avery ever cried for me. It made me so sad, but at least 10% of me was happy to know he did want his mommy. I was beginning to wonder! I was so tore up I couldn't eat my lunch. If you've seen me lately you know that must have been some serious tore up. This big girl doesn't miss many meals (or snacks!).

When I got home Avery's Halloween costume had arrived in the mail. This is the official trick-or-treat outfit. The school costume is still missing one piece. Pictures coming very soon! I promise! He was asleep when I realized it was here. I can't wait to try it on him.

Being a Mom rocks!

All About My Boy

Avery is very suddenly a boy. I don't even refer to him as a baby anymore. He is so grown up. He seems to be doing so many awesome things all at once. It is amazing! Just in the last month he:

• really started sitting up without toddling over
• pulling up and trying to stand
• standing at his toys all on his own once you help him get to a standing position (I am always close behind and at the ready in case he falls)
• giggling a lot and about a lot of different things
• trying to wave
• napping consistently on the weekends
• saying "ba ba" when he's hungry
• saying "da da" when Greggie leaves the room
• getting excited when he sees me at daycare for pickup
• cried when he thought I was going to leave him at daycare
  
• really going everywhere in the walker
• giving big sloppy kisses when you ask for a smooch
• mimicking whatever it is you are doing (or at least trying)

Right now Avery has the biggest mosquito bite ever on his forehead. It is right between his eyes! The stupid thing was in the car with us. I was so mad.

He's been wearing Halloween jammies as much as possible. He also had another ear infection but we caught it early.

I get such a kick out of this boy. I don't care what the rhyme is, I think boys are sugar and spice and everything nice!

Whatcho Talkin' Bout Mommy?

Do you ever feel like this is the only face that will do? I am sure I get this look at least 10 times a day. Usually just before a rant. I'm just sayin'.......







this boy ain't all Greg!

My Little Pumpkin - Happy 7 Month Birthday Buddy

I am so in love with this little boy that I can't even think of a single way to put it in to words. It is with great thanks that I approach everything with Avery. I know he's not the cutest boy ever, and he won't be the smartest, and he's no more special than anyone else's center of the universe. However, he is the smartest, cutest, and most special little boy to grow in my humble belly.

He was so stinkin' adorable today that I had to take a few pictures when we got home. Let me tell you how hard that was by myself. He managed to get a handful of grass in to his mouth, he tried to eat a leaf, he was bitten by a mosquito (and yes, I do have a picture of the little blood sucker!), and he fell forward on to his cheek which nearly made me poop my pants. Miss Katy, his teacher, constantly reminds me how hard their little heads are, but he fell forward on to a rock that was under the blanket. Gesh. Great aim Avery!

So, here are a few of the shots and a preview of the Monkey costume which is going back to Old Navy for several reasons: too hot, too bulky, too small. Notice I didn't include too adorable, but it really is!

I can't completely close it or it would cover his mouth. It's still super cute.

Did you know lens cap tastes like chicken too?

Why so serious?

I love my Mommy!

Just a Little Video

I have the Flip and I love it, but I don't always think to use it. Don't ask me why. It is ridiculously fun and easy. Avery is a huge fan of fresh banana and he has these little mesh type containers that you can put it in for safe eating. Check out how much he loves these things:



Yes, I know it's 4 minutes of Avery eating fruit from a weird baby contraption, but this was a test, and I didn't think to edit the video first. Don't feel obligated to watch the whole thing. He is awfully cute though!

Happy Halloween Avery!

Today I surrendered to the Halloween bug.  I blame K-Woo and her stinkin' ability to track down super cute finds online.  I loaded up my little man and hit the road for Old Navy.  Once I got there I was out of control.  There were signs everywhere advertising a 20% discount if you used your Old Navy card.  Here's the thing, I have an Old Navy card, but I never use it because you can't pay your bill in the store.  I hate paying online.  I am petrified to use my checking account in that way, so I never use the card anymore and I couldn't remember if I had cancelled it or not.  Well, I had, so I didn't save the 20%.  I was bummed, but I did buy Avery's first ever Halloween costume.

I just don't know if I love it, and I feel a little silly paying $22.50 for it when my sweet LK has two that we could borrow.  I have a little buyers remorse.  What do you think?  I was sold on the chicken, but when I got there I was overwhelmed by how cute they all were.  This is what we ended up with:

Have I lost my mind?  Should I take it back?  I was so worried the would sell out in his size, and I didn't want to wait too late.  Now I just don't know.

I did buy a few other things, and I feel great about them:

These are really cute pants, and they look super comfy. I try to make sure I put him in things that are comfortable. I wish they made these in the extra-grade-mommy size!

Last but not least, this little outfit. This is about the cutest thing ever. I love it. It was $12.50 which makes the costume not seem so bad, but it is adorable! I can't wait to get some pictures of this:

 

So, should I keep the monkey costume???

Milestone Warning

Avery and I have both reached a giant milestone this week.  Let me back up and tell you how we got here.  For the better part of the last 6 months Avery has slept either in the co-sleeper next to me, in the Nap Nanny next to me, or in my arms.  I am sure this was in part because I am a total freak and I over worry, over think EVERYTHING.  It was also partially because he was up every 5 seconds and he was plagued with stinking colic. 

More than one person gave their "ugly" opinion on this topic and I set my mind to getting Avery transitioned to his own bed by his 6 month birthday.  So, it was on Friday, August 7th that I first attempted to get Avery to spend the night alone.  Greggie set up the Angel Care Monitor and we went for it.  Honestly, it went much better than I expected. 

I continued to get up several times a night, but I did break him from his middle of the night bottle.  He was already sleeping through the night sporadically. I even moved myself back in to "our" bedroom.  I am pretty sure Greg was bummed about this.  You should have seen him spread out in there like he hadn't missed a beat.  He even seemed more rested that he had in a long time.  Maybe I should move back in the spare bedroom?

We've had some rough patches.  This past Sunday was especially bad, but Tuesday night, I officially slept through the night.  I woke up at 6 a.m. and I hadn't been in Avery's room even once.  I repeated the feat again last night.  It was the first time in I couldn't tell you how many months that this has happened. 

I know now that I have officially said it out loud we will have a rough spell.  To all those people who thought I would never break the habit, HA!  He's such a big boy he doesn't even like to be rocked every night.  I just put him in the bed, turn on his mobile or the aquarium, and ta da, within 15 minutes he's out. 

Yeah Avery!! 

Good Grief, Good Will

So, I am a big fan of Goodwill.  I have gotten some incredible deals in there, and I feel like it furthers my recycling cause.  It's pretty important to me to make a real effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  I can't think of a better place to do that than Goodwill.  

Check out today's finds:

This little piece was $7.  I was thrilled.  The three pieces of mail, the balls, the shapes, and the key were missing, but everything else worked.  This is $80 retail.  It looked really good.  No faded stickers and nothing broken!  This one is going in the basement until Christmas.  Does that make me a cheap, terrible mother?

I am a fan of Miss Olivia and all children's books are 50 cents.  Yep, all of them.  Not a ripped or colored on page.  Not even a kids name written on the cover.  That Olivia is so silly!  Her band was quite fun to read about.  I imagine we will have quite a few "band days" at our house!

I even found a little something for good old Mom.  Mine isn't in this print, but it was in perfect shape.  Fossil purses are not cheap.  Well, unless you buy them at Goodwill for $3.  There wasn't even a speck of lint inside this thing.  I've said it before and I will say it again, some people have more money than they have sense.

Get it all at Goodwill.  Just don't go to the one on University Parkway during the week.  Me and K-Woo have a monopoly on it.  The other night it was featured on WXII and the next day you couldn't stir the fruit loops with a stick.  I didn't find a single thing.  Today was a much better Thrifty Tuesday!

Granparents and Giggles

Greg's Mom and Dad came down for a much over due visit on Saturday and Mr. Avery was putting on a show.  He especially hates to have his face wiped.  You can only imagine how hard this makes cleaning his nose.  I think it comes from all of the suctioning we've had to do with his ear infections, but it makes for a HYSTERICAL picture. 

Granny and Grandaddy couldn't stop laughing and Avery was more than happy to keep making his crazy face.

I guess I've just gotten used to him making this face becasue I never even notice any more.  It was nice to watch Greggie feed him so I could really watch his reactions.  He really is a character!

 

Is it me, or is he actually getting cuter?  I think he might be.  He's finally starting to grow a little hair.  As you can see, Granny and Grandaddy were equally impressed with our little man.  It sounds so cheesy, but we get so much joy out of just watching Avery be Avery.  

 

 Avery and Grandaddy Linkous

 

Avery and Granny Linkous

It was so much fun to sit around and watch Avery eat squash with rice cereal.  The whole time I was pregnant I kept thinking, "how in the world do people ever go through this again.  It's so scary and nerve wracking, plus, you already have one!"  Now I completely get it.  They do it again, because it is absolutely the best thing in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!

Enough Already!

Thusday is the Day Before Friday. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Here's a little something to smile about. Behind that pacie is a great big Happy Thursday grin. Summer is almost over. Bring on the fall!!

New Furniture from IKEA

I have been so excited about IKEA and we have actually been twice since Avery's arrival. He did great both times. The first time we were 100% overwhelmed and disappointed to find out that the piece we picked out for Avery's room wouldn't fit in the car. We didn't let that stop us from spending money. We bought some shelves for Avery's room that were dirt cheap and perfect! I think they were $3.99 and the brackets were .49. They had several colors. I love the way they looked installed. Greggie did a great job!

I was still sad that we coudln't get the shelf we wanted, so we planned better the second time around. We were IKEA experts. We ate .50 hot dogs, .99 cinnamon rolls, and we had the official yummy berry drink of Sweden (I might be exaggerating a bit on that point, but it was really, really good).

Since we had a clearer plan this trip we came away with Avery's shelf, which, I am very proud to say, I assembled 100% by myself. The instructions were interesting, because there were NO words, but that actually made them easier. I only made one mistake and you can't see it, so I am not going to tell you where it is. Didn't it turn out nicely? It is just what we wanted. I love it!

Happy Tuesday

Here's a smile to get your Tuesday started off right.

Whooo loves Avery? Mommy does!

For Avery's First Easter I wanted to do something special for him, so I painted him a picture. Greggie has always loved Owls so we have tried to incorporate as many of them as possible in to his room. I found a really great picture at Home Goods and it was dirt cheap. It looks great and it fits Avery's personality to a T.



To keep the owl theme going I painted 3 owls, a Daddy, a Mommy, and a baby Boy. I hope he likes it when he gets a little older. It was a HOOT to paint!

Uncle Jerry

Here's one of Jerry. Unlike his sweet nephew, he is not looking for love. So he says...... whatever!!

New Friends

Today we were fortunate enough to meet some new friends. My pal Jerry's family wanted some family pictures and I was happy to spend the morning with them. My bffs Allie and Lillie came to keep Avery company. I am in love with Jerry's nephew. Isn't he adorable?



Does it get any cuter than this? Can you say heart breaker? Look out ladies, he 4, he's single, he's ready to mingle, and he likes steak. Don't offer him a burger. He is not interested. He enjoys Diego and Dora, and plaid sneakers. He's a keeper!

Happy 6 month Birthday Avery!

We can hardly believe that 6 months have already passed. I know it sounds cliché to say that time flies, but HOLY CRAP, TIME FLIES. No one at the Linkous complex was more shocked to learn that Avery was 6 months old than Avery himself. Check out his reaction when we told him. Gesh, talk about a drama king! Even he can't figure out where the time has gone. Eating, sleeping, and pooping is quite the time taker upper.


We won't bore you with the details of our every day life, but I will tell you that Avery is doing great. He's still a small fry, but he is growing at a steady rate, he's meeting all of his milestones, and he seems happy. I think he looks more like Greg every day and I couldn't be happier about it. I am so thankful he doesn't look like me. UGH! I have been quite terrible at keeping in touch and I openly admit that, but to everyone who has shared with us, sent us gifts, loaned us hand me downs, etc. we couldn't be more grateful. It is just much harder than I ever imagined to hold down a full time job and be a mom. When I get home at night the one thing I want to do is hang out with my little man, and that doesn't leave much time for things like dishes, walking dogs, combing my own hair, brushing my teeth..... You get the point. There just isn't enough time and something has to give. Regretfully that turns out to be thank you notes, words or appreciation/gratitude, and plain old keeping in touch. I wish my only job was to be MOM to this little man, but that isn't the case.


Please know that even though I do a horrible job of showing it, I am anxious to know how everyone is doing, what's going on in their lives, and how their families are. I do care, I am just too exhausted to show it. This evening, for example, I was on my cell phone talking to Greggie. He just had his first two days at Wake Forest. He is officially a WFU student complete with a legitimate ID card and enough student loans to choke a horse. Anyhow, I was talking to him and frantically, and I do mean frantically, searching for my cell phone. I looked in my purse, my pockets, I was all the way to the elevator and it was no where to be found. I walked back to my desk, looked under my folders, on the floor, and in my purse again. It was then, at 5:15 that it occurred to me..... hmmm, if I am talking to Greggie on my cell phone, IT MUST BE IN MY FREAKING HAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs and Kisses from the little man! We hope you are all well, healthy, and happy!!!

My Boys

The only thing cooler than being a mom, is being a mom with a cool dad. Greg is crazy about Avery and Avery is crazy about him. Avery can't take his eyes off of Greg. He is his favorite. I guess I am ok with that. I will have to be content just being MOM.