Weeks 9 & 10

I've been terrible about taking pics each week! Here's all I have for weeks 9 & 10 of Avers life.

Week 9

How can you not fall in love with this child?!!

Week 10

Excuse the poor photo quality. Look at those sweet heart-shaped lips.
Love her!!!

Avery's Blessing

We have the best family. Here's all that came for Avery's blessing.

Those included in the circle:
James, Jeff, Scott, Mike Hansen, Tyler Larsen, Joe Orgill, Donnie Waggoner, and our awesome Bishopric.

I wanted to show how much my daughter "LOVES" wearing headbands & bows.
Picture #1:
Early Sunday morning, just after waking her up and getting her dressed.

Picture #2
After placing the headband. Come on sis, it's not that bad!


And random cute pic of my parents, Avery, & cousin Abigail (this was taken at Gwen's b-day party).

Random shots of my cuties

Our Primary (organization for the children at our church) had their annual "Primary Program" last Sunday. This is when the children teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ through their words and song. This was Aidan's first year to participate. He has always been our timid one in public, so I was wondering how this was going to go. He did awesome! He went right up to the microphone and delivered his line which was answering the question "How does your mom or dad help your family. Aidan's line was "My daddy fixes things when they are broken." He came up with the response all on his own, and spoke right into the mic, no fear! We are so proud of him.

Ethan seems so much older than 2. He speaks clearly and understands more than I give him credit for. He keeps me sane by being obedient (unlike our other son who is going through a defiant phase) and is so sweet it is difficult not to give him whatever he wants.

I had to go to our church bookstore which is out near the Oklahoma City Temple in Surrey Hills. Aidan has not ever seen the temple so I took him with me while Ethan had some one-on-one time with his grandma. He really enjoyed seeing the place where his mom and dad serve sometimes and where we were married. He had many questions and loved looking at the gorgeous building with the Angel Moroni statue on top of the steeple.

He's demonstrating what "prayer position" is (arms folded, eyes closed).

James has been taking the boys camping when he can find the time.
It's been great father/son time and a nice break for me!

Here's a treat.....baby sister's gorgeous smile.

Avery's a-growin'

Avery will be 8 weeks old on Thanksgiving day!!! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. She is growing so fast, I thought I would do a quick timeline of her growth week-by-week.

Newborn

This was her first time in the car seat, about to leave the hospital.
She looks so tiny here compared to now.

One week old

Picture taken after her bath. She loves bathtime; it really calms her down.

She has so much hair I was able to put a clip-in bow in it.

Two weeks old

Hmmm, no pics taken...this must have been a bad week :)
But her 2 week stats at the dr's office were:
8lb. 12 oz.
74% Height
33% Head Circumference

Three weeks old

You can already tell she's growing!

4 weeks old

I loved celebrating Halloween with our lil' pumpkin!
Above she is wearing a cute outfit /gramms bought her.It was so GORGEOUS on Halloween night, Avery got to go trick or treating with us!
She even dressed up as a cute tiger cub.


One Month Old!

Our family was blessed with two little Stuarts in October! Jeff & Julie had sweet little Noah on October 25th at 4 lbs 11 oz. Here's him and Avery when she was 1 month and he was 1 week old.

Five Weeks

Six Weeks

Avery's first excursion to church was when she was 6 wks old. Avery & Mom before church (notice I'm sans makeup...I was planning on putting it on in the car on the way to church. There's only so much time before 8:30 am church! Don't worry, James drove while I applied).Our first photo of our completed family!
And first attempt at using the camera timer!

Seven Weeks
I was blow-drying my hair while Ave was "playing". I looked over at her and found her like this.


7.5 weeksHere's my princess this morning! My big girl!
7.5 weeks

I "heart" Mylie Cyrus

So James went to Tulsa this weekend to sell an old project car and he met up with a few of his buddies. When he wasn't paying attention, they left a little present on the front of his truck. He didn't notice it until the next day.

How did they know that he loves Mylie?!?!
I think it looks great on the front of a F250 diesel! I'm hoping we can keep it!

It's been almost 4 weeks since the new addition to our family and...

the boys are still in love with her!

Melt my heart

Here are a few videos of my sweet middle child singin' away!

The Baby Story

Pre-delivery pic
I worked a 12 hour shift on Wednesday. I felt pretty good, but could definitely tell that this would be my last shift to work pregnant. The last few hours of work, I was contracting every 1-2 minutes; this was nothing different than a usual work day (I contract every evening after work). But I was very very uncomfortable. I had someone at work check me and I was 5 cm (I had been 3cm the day before at the Dr's office). Later that night, the contractions were getting stronger and I could not get comfortable. I called my doctor and told him what had been occurring. He told me to head to the hospital, get my epidural, he'd break my water and we'd have a baby! Simple enough!
That's pretty much what happened. We got to the hospital at 10pm. I got my epidural at 11:30ish, my doctor broke my water at 12:30, and 1 1/2 hrs later, I was holding my baby in my arms! It was such an easy labor! I think it was well deserved considering the fact that I had painfully contracted from 22wks on.

It was love at first sight for James. Right before she was born he said that his dad was now handing her off to us for us to take care of her. I know that she has a personal relationship with her "Papa Dad". And now we have the chance to get to know her!

She was such an angel from the beginning. Her initial cry was so feminine and beautiful! She loved being held by her Gramms (who could quiet her down very easily).

The boys came to meet her the next day. Aidan wanted to hold her the whole time they were at the hospital. Ethan gave her a love pat, then his attention was directed to the dinosaur coloring book "Baby Sister" got for him.

She has quite a bit of black hair, just as Aidan did.
I don't want to speak too soon, but I think she scored and got Daddy's long thick eyelashes (keep our fingers crossed).

Here's her with our sweet doctor. He has delivered all 3 of our kiddos!

We didn't get discharged until after 9pm! I had a cute homecoming outfit for her, but at that point, I didn't care anymore! I just wanted to get home.

We put her in her crib in her room from the beginning. I think she actually likes it! When she does sleep, she sleeps very soundly in her bed.

I am so excited that James now has a daughter. I remember over a year ago (when we thought that weren't even close to being ready to have another child), he said that he heard a song on the radio and had a brief "lightbulb" moment. It was the Carrie Underwood song "All-American Girl". The end of the song, she asks her hubby if he wants a boy or a girl and he says he wants a girl of course, someone who is just like her. James said that he would love to have a "Little Allie" running around. That was the first time he ever said he wanted to have a daughter!


Meant to be siblings.
My two boys continue to pleasantly surprise me. They have been saying that they are excited to meet "Baby Sister". But I have been skeptical. Would they genuinely be excited about her arrival? Would Ethan still feel loved although he is not the baby anymore? Could I continue to show my love for each of them though my time is being stretched even thinner? My boys are so in love with their sister. Aidan wants to hold her ALL THE TIME. We got home from the hospital on Friday night after the boys were in bed. So, the next morning, they were surprised to see that baby sister was already home. Aidan came right up to her and asked if he could hold her. Every morning, before he says "good morning" he asks "can I hold baby sister?" He even informs me that he has washed his hands and is ready to hold Avery. I noticed today on 2 different occasions that I would give a fussy Avery to Aidan to hold and right away she would relax and stop fussing. Something about being in her big brother's arms would comfort her.

Ethan also loves her, but needs a little bit of time to adjust.
It's been a bit rough for him but he does better each day.
Today he even asked if he could hold her, which was major progress!

We are all so excited that she is here!