My Life With Avery: November 2009

So, I totally gained 50 lbs while I was pregnant. Yes, that is an obscene amount of weight BUT, it was all for a good cause. At any rate, my daughter is now 3 months old and I still have approx 27 pounds to lose. That's a huge problem but, the biggest problem is that I find myself more lazy than I have every been in my entire life. I force myself to do the 30 day shred at least 2 times a week but, I really should be running on the treadmill at least every other day and I just don't have the energy to do it. I really cannot stand this extra weight. I have no fat clothes (aside from maternity clothes) and I refuse to buy jeans in a larger size.

Everyone told me that breastfeeding would melt the pounds away and unfortunately, that has not been the case with me. In my opinion, breastfeeding increases my appetite! I always tell Larry that I still have the appetite that I had while I was pregnant. It's ridiculous if you ask me. I feel doomed now that the Holiday's are right around the corner.

I'm really interested in running the OC Marathon in May. If I commit to doing so I would like to join a training group that meets every Tuesday and Saturday and that may conflict with my school schedule so I'm trying to figure out exacty what my schedule will be next semester.

Well, my daughter is babbling away so I'm gonna play with her and put her to bed. I'm sure she loves her chunky mama!

Is it just me or did the month of October fly byI cannot catch up on anything. I feel so behind!

October was an awesome month for us. We had quite a bit going on. We visited my brother and his family for a week. Avery attended her first football game. We had our first set of shots (so sad) and our very first Halloween. My precious daughter started sleeping through the night and we were finally able to venture out of the house without a meltdown! yay!I know I've probably said this before but seriously, being a mom is the BEST job ever. Avery is so fun. I am witnessing her display her little personality on a daily basis and I LOVE IT. She is very much my child. She will be totally fine one minute and will flip out two seconds later. She has no problem letting you know what she does NOT like.

Here's a quick rundown on our current happenings with Miss Ave:

At her 2 month check up Avery weighed in at 13.5lbs.(95th percentile). She is 23 1/4 (90th percentile). Her head circumference was 39cm. (forgot the percentile...ooops). She's such a big girl! and yes, we are still breastfeeding (I'm always asked when discussing her weight).

Avery took her shots like a champ. I let her daddy stay close to her and I swore I wasn't going to look but I did. She received three shots and cried for less than 15 seconds. I was very proud of her. I gave her tylenol immediately after leaving her appointment so there was no fever and no crabby baby. After her shots we took Avery to Friday's to grab a bite to eat. This was our first time taking her to a restaurant and she did pretty well. Although she didn't get a fever she was very cuddly for the rest of the day so I let her nap in our bed and cuddled up with her.

This is her before the shots. I think she had a sense that something bad was about to take place.

Avery is now sleeping through the night. We never really had a problem with her sleeping. She always slept 4 hour stretches throughout the night but she is now on a schedule. She typically goes to bed between 10 - 11pm (late, I know). She'll sometimes wake up between 2:30 - 4:00am for a quick feeding. She'll wake up again between 7:30 - 8:30am, nurse again and go back down until 10:30am or so. She LOVES to sleep. She'll take a quick nap around 12:30 (45 mins or so) and then she's up until 5ish. She'll take one last nap that normally lasts for about an hour or an hour and a half and then we bathe her, feed her and hang out until bed time.

She loves to sprawl out. Gosh, I love this child!

I now have less anxiety about taking her out. In the beginning if we were out and she started crying I'd want to leave immediately for fear of annoying those around us. Now, I understand that babies cry, she will cry, it won't be the first or last time so the people around us can deal with it. Of course I don't let her cry incessantlly but I'm not running towards the door the minute she starts crying.

My SIL and I decided to take Avery and my nephew to the pumpkin patch a few weeks before Halloween and that was a complete FAIL. My nephew thought he was too cool for the pumpkin patch and my daughter fell asleep on the way there and was not happy when mommy woke her up to take pictures with pumpkins! She was not having it.

This is the only picture my SIL managed to take of us two. Avery was having a meltdown the entire time we were there. Next year, I promise adorable pictures of my toddler playing amongst pumpkins.

Once Halloween rolled around, she was a little more tolerable. I plopped her on the couch with her pumpkin, snapped a few pics and called it a day. Of course she did not partake in the Trick or Treating (maybe next year) but she did have a great time at my brothers Halloween party. So much so that she crashed on my brothers shoulder in the midst of all the partying.