I can't see me loving nobody but you... for all my life

Erich and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week.  Wow, a lot has happened in two years!  God has blessed us with a happy, healthy marriage relationship and a beautiful daughter.  Last year for our anniversary, Erich went all out and surprised me with a weekend getaway to re-visit the state park where he proposed.  I knew that this year, with a baby, things would look a little different.  No extravagant plans or vacations away from home.  However, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to go on our first real date since Avery's birth. Grandma Kelley babysat for a couple of hours on Friday night while went out for a nice dinner... just the two of us.  And then on Monday, Erich pulled out all the stops and surprised me with a wonderful, homemade, candlelight dinner.  We wanted to be able to eat a "grownup" meal without interruption so we waited until Avery was in bed for the night.  We didn't end up sitting down to eat until 9:30pm.  We were both already in our pajamas and tired from a long day.  It just didn't seem right to be eating a romantic meal in our pj's, so to add a little "class" to the wardrobe I got out my pearl necklace and Erich put on a blazer.  That's more like it...  

One of my favorite things about being married to Erich is that he makes everything fun.  It's impossible not laugh in this house!  As we were cleaning up dishes well past my usual bedtime, I had to smile.  Life sure is different than it was a year ago.  It's better than I ever imagined.

waving goodbye as we left Avery and went on our date

pj's and pearls at cafe Piland

Playing in the dirt

Grandma Kelley was kind enough to come up last weekend and help us plant our flower beds.  We've never given them much attention and I decided that this spring I wanted to give it a go and see how green my thumb is.  We had a fun day working on them and everything turned out beautiful.  I can't wait for things to start blooming!  Thanks for sharing your expertise Mom!  Here are a few pictures of us hard at work and Avery playing in the yard.  She was content there for quite some time... thank goodness for that play gym!  On Monday we went to a Memorial Day picnic at the Lochtefeld's and Avery got dressed up for the occasion, as you can see in the last picture.

OUCH!

Avery had her two month check up yesterday.  She weighed 12 pounds (that was before she peed all over their scale though... that's our girl), was 22 1/2 inches long, and in the words of the doctor, she's "just perfect".  She had to get three shots and one oral... poor baby!  Mommy doesn't do too well with needles, so Dad came along for support.  She definitely let us know that she was upset, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had prepared myself for.

Daddy holding Avery just before the big moment.

She was a cranky fussy girl for the rest of the day.

Then she finally crashed and slept for 8 hours! (she woke up at 2am feeling much better and ready to play. oops)  Thankfully she's back to her normal happy self today!

All in a days work...

Avery had her first field trip to The University of Toledo Medical Center on Saturday to visit Daddy at work.  Erich had a great time showing her off to all of his coworkers and Avery was clearly very happy to see him!  She drew quite a crowd... there was a constant stream of nurses filing into the conference room to take a look at our pretty little girl.  Avery was great and even showed off with a few smiles.  Here are a couple pictures of her enjoying being the center of attention and then smiling at her silly Dad.

Too cute for words...

Happy Mother's Day (please forgive my sappiness)

Erich and Avery did a great job making me feel loved and special on my first Mother's Day!  I was showered with flowers, gifts, and kind words.  I was taken out to eat and my favorite part... I got to sleep in!  It was a wonderful weekend.  Having only been in the game for 8 weeks, I don't quite feel like I've earned my keep yet. It was a little surreal being "celebrated" when I'm still so new at this job.  I have learned so much in the past couple of months about what it means to love Avery and to put her before myself.  I've gained a whole new appreciation for my own mom (thanks mom!!).  And in a way, I feel like I've finally grown up (funny, I didn't realize I wasn't grown up before).  I've also fallen more in love with Erich as I've watched him care for Avery and lead our family.  I am so blessed!  It was definitely a Happy Mother's Day.

Playdate!

Avery and I had a fun visit with baby Matthew and his mom, Katie.  Katie and I used to work together at Heartland of Waterville and she had Matthew just about a month after Avery was born.  At 4 weeks old, I couldn't get over how alert he was.  I'm not sure Avery and Matthew even noticed eachother, but the moms had fun oohing and ahhing over our little ones.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Avery is 8 weeks old now and seems to enjoy taking in the world around her.  Here are a few pictures of her current favorite activities.  She's quite entertained by the mobile in her crib and spends time staring at it every morning.  She recently discovered that when she looks in the mirror there is a very cute baby girl looking back at her!  She loves that and smiles and coos the whole time.  She also seems to really enjoy relaxing on her bear rug.  It's so soft!  We haven't captured it on film yet, but today Avery rolled over from her stomach to her back.  Erich and I were very proud!  

Avery has been busy lately!  Here are some pictures from her latest adventures...

When Avery was first born, I was very ANTI pacifier.  I was hesitant to give it to her because I was afraid she would become a little paci addict and I didn't want her relying on any "sleep aids" (I've read too many books).  Well, after a few rough nights I quickly changed my mind and within weeks I went from refusing to let her use it to searching online for a way to keep that blessed paci in her mouth!  Ladies and Gentleman, meet Avery's new best friend... the Wubbanub!  The weight of the stuffed animal is just enough to keep the paci from popping out of her mouth every 10 seconds and as a result, everyone in our house is getting a little more rest.  Here's Daddy giving a thumbs up for the wubbanub:

Here's a photo of Avery and her friend, Jack.  Jack is 5 months old.  We can't wait until Avery gets a little older and more interactive and she can actually PLAY on her playdates.  Oh well, the moms had fun!

We made our first trip to Stow last weekend to visit the Pilands and on our way we made a stop in Kent to hang out with our friends Matt and Tiffany and introduce them to Avery.  They were great with her and will make fantastic parents someday!

Avery enjoyed playing on her play gym (a gift from cousin James) at Nana and Papa Piland's house.

While in Stow, Avery met MANY new friends and relatives... too many to mention!  One of the highlights was getting three new family babies all in the same room together.  Erich, Emily, and Mark are second cousins (I think?  Their parents are cousins) and all had babies within just a couple weeks of eachother.  In fact, Avery and Emily's baby, Natalie, were born on the same day!  Mark's baby, Mikel, was born about 2 weeks earlier.

Avery continues to get bigger and bigger.  She's starting to hold her head up a lot more and does lots of smiling and cooing!  She's starting to sleep for longer blocks of time at night.  She's even slept through the night a couple of times!  She's been a little cranky the past couple of days but seems to be getting back on track today.  On the good days and the bad, we LOVE having her in our lives.