Week 31 - 07/19 - 07/25/2009

Sunday the 19th Nick and I decided to give us all more space in the Family Bed. We side-carred Avan's crib with ours. He really likes it! He plays in there while we settle in for the night. Then one of us rock or cuddle him until he falls asleep. Then we lay him in his crib. When he wakes at 1am he moves into our bed. We all seem to like the new setup! Works great for laundry day as well! I can fold and hang clothes why he plays and scoots around the bed!

We made it 7 months!!! Oh my goodness my little boy is 7 months old! He is closer to turning a year old! We are now part of a mommy/baby playdate group. Becky and Crystal bring their kiddos and we all enjoy lunch and just hanging out. It has been so nice, sadly though I will be moving! I hope to continue the friendship! Avan is still crawling backwards! It seems he doesn't have enough muscles to get him forwards. He tries and falls.

Nick and I are wondering if he has begun teething. He has been running a 99.0-100.0 temp and hadn't slept well over the weekend. So far I don't see anything and he has no drooling or that sort of thing. Being a FTM has its downfalls! Sometimes I just wish we had the answers!

Week 30 - 07/12 - 07/18/2009

On Sunday the 12th I got a wondeful suggestion to bake a sweet potato and make "fries" out of it for Avan....then roll in cheerio powder! Avan had a blast! He went right to town and shoveled it all in quick! So this will be a new thing for him! It seemed he would prefer Mommy and Daddy feeding him.....but this way he does it all by himself! So cute!

On Tuesday the 14th Avan did the amazing, PULLED HIMSELF UP! My girlfriend Stacy and I were upstairs. I was putting away all of his clothes and turned around. We heard giggling and turned back to see Avan looking at me! It was soo cute! I was shocked that he could do that already! He grows more and more every day!

Avan crawls great BACKWARDS, for some reason he will not go forwards. We try to coax him but it doesn't work. He does get around great though backwards! Kinda silly he backs himself into a corner and gets really upset!

Week 29 - 07/05 - 07/11/2009

Another week! This week was nice and quiet! Avan is eating more and more foods. His menu consists of Avocodos, Bananas, Sweet Peas, Green Beans, Acorn Squash, Plums, White and yellow Peaches, Pears, Mangos, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, and any other little tastes we give him. He loves to eat! We are happy to report we are almost at 7 months of nursing, woohoo! It is wonderful! I am glad we have been so successful with it! I hope to go as long as we can!

Becky came over and we were able to sew our slings! They look great! I am so proud of us for making them!

We received the best news ever this week! We are moving back to WA in October! I am still in shock! So thrilled to get our orders finally! I guess the Navy got a small fund, so orders were turned back on and poof there our orders were! Nick will start "C" School October 23rd! Then of course he will have to return to a Submarine. But good news is we will be HOME! So I will be surrounded by family to help Avan and I!

Week 28 - 06/28 - 07/04/2009

So nice getting back to a routine for Avan. I think he missed his home. We had 6 month shots and check-up on the 1st. Avan is 16lbs and 4ozs and 26.5 inches big! His doc was very happy with everything. She told us Avan has excelled in all of his milestones. She was happy at how lean he was and growing nicely. She also was thrilled to learn I was still nursing him. It is awesome, Avan has become so efficient, he nurses 3 mins each side and is done! I couldn't imagine it any better or easier! On Thursday we went to our friends Becky and Ian's house for 80's night! It was so much fun! I crimpped my hair and she did the big bangs thing! On Friday Becky and I picked out fabric for Slings!!! I picked out planets and space for Avan. Should be super cute! Avan is such a sling baby! On Saturday we celebrated Avan's first 4th Of July! We went to our friends house for a bbq, the Marinos. We enjoyed a typical fourth, board games, shooting a pellet gun and tons of food. I made a Chocolate Cream Pie to enjoy. Then we all went to see a big firework show on the James River. It was wonderful! Avan loved seeing the show, stayed awake for it even! Overall it was a very nice Fourth of July.

Week 27 - 06/21 - 06/27/2009

Daddy's First Father's Day!!!!! We enjoyed a day of celebration! Daddy got a nice drill and tool set from Mommy! Avan made a giggling card for daddy! So cute! We also got to see Great Grandma Meme! We took a ton of pictures! Sadly though, we had to get back home. The car rides home were a tad shaky. After an hour on the road we ended up in a stand still accident. About 2 mins prior to us pulling up there had been a bad accident, no police or ambulances had arrived yet. We saw a lifelite helicopter land on the freeway and knew it was bad and we would be there awhile. So, we chose to get out and stretch. We walked Macy around and also got Avan out of his carseat. It was a nice little rest. The following day we chose to drive straight through instead of getting a hotel. After a 12 hour day, Avan had enough, he did not want to go any further. So, we stopped at a gas station...which I guess had been shut down prior...it had no lights and looked straight out of "the hills have eyes" or something. I nursed Avan some and played so he was more calm. Once we stopped he was much happier. He went to sleep and slept the rest of the way home. It was great to get home! Home sweet home!!!!!

Week 26 - 06/15 - 06/20/2009

We got up semi-early so we could get on the road. Avan's first roadtrip to Texas to see Grandpa and Grandma! Avan did amazing on the drive! He really liked that Mommy sat in the back with him. We mostly listened to this mirror thing that sang. It was loud and abnoxious, yet the boy loved it and fell asleep easily to it! Whatever works! We arrived in TX on the 16th. Avan also had a little pool waiting for him. He enjoyed playing with the dogs, Rusty and Macy and of course the little pup, Sweetie. Sadly though, Avan got a fever the second day we arrived, we are guessing from the plane. We took him into the Mt Pleasent ER on the 19th. He had to have blood taken, which was awful. They stuck his foot and dripped blood into 2 vials. So sad. We did learn he had low levels and showed it was indeed a virus. We battled it with Motrin and Tylenol, which knocked him out. He was so sleepy and icky feeling, poor guy. A couple of nights we did bathtime outside in a cool pool. It really helped with the high fever. Saturday Avan turned 6 months old! I can't believe my big boy is already 6 months!!! So exciting! I wonder what the next 6 months will bring!

Week 25 - 06/07 - 06/13/09

This whole week we were still in WA. Avan met Great Grandma Jeanne for the first time, on Sunday the 7th. We also enjoyed hanging out and relaxing. Avan then surprised us all by sitting on his own on June 9th for my good friend Jen. It was wonderful. We played with the kids, ate good food and scrapbooked. Mommy is finally starting to do Avan's scrapbook. Only have gotten 2 pages done so far, but boy are they cute! It was so funny looking back at how big my belly was! Goodness I was huge! I can't believe Avan is out of my tummy and learning everything! We are guessing it won't be long before he crawls everywhere! On Saturday the 13th we flew back to VA. Avan did really well again. The same family was on the flight and called Avan, "an angel baby" because they remembered how quiet and well-behaved he had been. So cute! It was late getting back home, not until nearly 1am the next day. But it was worth it to get on the road in the moring to TX!

Week 24 - 05/31 - 06/06/2009

The Month of June begins! I can't believe this month my little man will be 6 months old! We mostly were busy all week packing and preparing for our 20-day vacation! Friday June 5th Avan aboarded his first plane. We flew from VA to North Carolina for an hour flight and then flew from NC to WA for a 5.5 hour flight. He did AMAZING! People loved him. At the airport he was giggling and cooing, loudly. Once on the plane it is like he knew to be quiet or something, he just smiled. We did have a toddler crying the whole 5.5 hour flight to WA. But Avan didn't he just was happy. He nursed, played and slept over and over again. We sat next to an Grandpa who had his family in the seats across the aisle. He was so nice and loved Avan. It was a great flight! Once we arrived in WA we got our awesome 08 Explorer. We drove to Brandy's! It was great! Nana was even there to greet Avan. After an hour we then drove to Seattle to go see Avan's first baseball game, the Mariner's. Amazing how well we all did after being up more then 24-hours! Avan was so happy and just got passed around to everyone at the game. Overall it was a wonderful busy day!!! June 6th we met up with a couple of the BBC girls! It was wonderful meeting Sydnie and Stephanie with their little girls, Hudson and Amelia. Since we have all 3 followed along with our pregnancies and births, it was great to finally meet in person. We enjoyed the Woodland Park Zoo and seeing all the animals. Avan of course slept through a lot of it! Hopefully, by next year he will really understand the animals and enjoy it even more. Although, once in the gift shop, I gave Avan a few toys to choose from. He fell in love with an Otter, named Baby Otto....just like his older cousin!

Week 23 - 05/24 - 05/30/2009

This week Avan tried pears for the first time! He isn't completely sold on them. Boy does he prefer the veggies! Finally, rolled from his back to his belly! So now he rolls EVERYWHERE!!! I think it may be time to start child-proofing very soon! He also loves to play with his feet! He grabs his toes and put them in his mouth! It is amazing what is more fun to play with then all of the toys we buy. Remotes, his feet, and the dog, hahaha! Cute little boy! One more week until Avan's first airplane ride and Baby Tour 2009 begins!!!!