Happy 30th Birthday Chad!!!

On July 2nd Chad turned 30. To celebrate Chad, Avery, Aunt Kelsy, Steve and I went up north. I will write more about the trip in a separate post. Even though Chad is done with his 20's (I still have 4 months) he certainly achieved a lot during that time. He graduated from both Cornell and Harvard. Lived in Ithaca, Albany, Hoboken, Boston and now Midland. Traveled to Napa, Hawaii, Tahiti, Australia, all over Europe and many other destinations. Got his first and most amazing doggy. Got married and even squeezed in becoming a daddy 3 months prior to the big 30. Chad definitely had an amazing 20's, but Avery, Nutmeg and I are so excited to be around for his 30's!!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Avery looks so much like her daddy did!!

With Kelsy

Giants Fan from a young age

A true hockey player, missing teeth and all!!!

Fishing

Loving the beach!!

Cornell graduation

Wishing he could be a jockey!!

One of the many times he partied in his 20's

This was the first of Chad's B-days we celebrated together (Chad's 24th)

The day we got Nutmeg

Now he is a daddy!!

Your girls love you so much!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

On June 19th Chad and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. Lucky for us we were in NJ for the special day and were able to leave Avery with Grandma Donna and Aunt Kelsy and go into NYC for a nice dinner. We went to Eleven Madison Park and although the food was not as good as we had expected, it was amazing to just get out and have a few hours alone together.

Since we were in NJ we also got to have a slice of cake from the top tier of our wedding cake which had been sitting in Chad's parents freezer for a year. All I have to say is yuck!!!! The cake was so gross that Chad and I each had just one taste and both felt sick afterwards. Luckily we had some champagne to wash the nasty taste down.

All dressed up for dinner

The cake still looked good

Didn't taste so good

Avery's First Visit to NJ!!

On June 16th, Chad, Avery and I headed out for our long awaited trip to NJ. We left the house at 5:30 am for our 7:00 am flight. We are very lucky that Chad's company has a company shuttle which flies between Midland and Philadelphia. The company allows employees and their immediate family to take up to five trips a year on the plane if seats are available. Luckily the flight in rarely full and we were able to take advantage of this great perk for Avery's first plane ride.

Unlike commercial airlines the company policy requires that you must have a seat for infants. Since we do not have to pay for it this is just an added perk for us as we were able to just carry Avery on in her car seat and have her sit in that, rather than on our laps. Avery did amazing on the flight sleeping when we took off and landed. The other perk of the company plane is that it is the only direct flight back to the east coast from Midland.

We arrived in Philadelphia at 8:30 am and were at my parents house by 10:30. Both Papa Ernie and Grandma Carolyn were very excited to see Avery. We spent that night at their house before heading up to see Grandma Donna and Grandpa Billy on Thursday.

During our visit we went to watch Aunt Kelsy's softball game, introduced Avery to Hot Grill and had a party so everyone on the Holzer side of the family could meet Avery. Chad and I also got to go on our first date since Avery was born!!!

Our first family trip to Hot Grill

Yummy!!

Avery and Charlotte meeting for the first time.

On Fathers Day Chad and I went into Staten Island to attend a Staten Island Yankees game with Uncle Anthony, Aunt Debbie, Nicolette, Frankie, Ella, Papa Ernie and Grandma Carolyn. It was very hot but Avery did great. At the end of the game Nicolette even got to run around the bases! After the game we stopped by to introduce Avery to her Godmother (Aunt Donna) for the first time! Aunt Donna had been dying to meet Avery for 3 months and it was a great introduction.

Avery and Aunt Donna

Nicolette after running the bases

Avery's first baseball game!!

The next day Avery and I had to say goodbye to daddy as he had to go back to Michigan to work. Avery and I were lucky enough to get to stay in NJ for an extra 10 days. During that time Avery had a play date with Connor and Francesca and also Natalie, Hailey and Carly. We also had a party so that Avery could meet some of mommy's family and friends.

Mommy and Avery ready for the party

Francesca and Avery

Avery and I also spent two days at Uncle Anthony and Aunt Debbie's pool club. The first day we just hung out by the pool and Avery even went in the water!!! I got to spend some time in the big pool with Nicolette, Frankie and Ella thanks to Grandma Carolyn. Our second visit to the pool was to see Nicolette in her swim meet. Both Avery and I were very impressed with Nicolette's swimming skills!!! It was her first race and she came in second place.

Avery and Mommy in the Baby Pool

Ella and Avery

Avery in her cover up

Grandma Carolyn with all of her grand babies

Nikki after her awesome race!!

After Nicolette's swim meet we headed back to NJ and then to Philadelphia for our flight back to Midland. It was an amazing two weeks in NJ, but we were happy to see Daddy and Nutmeg when we got back!!!

"Auntie" Kristy Comes to Visit

It has been nine months since I last saw Kristy, which is nine months to long. Between Kristy starting a new job and my being pregnant neither one of us were able to make the trip to see one another. That was until last Thursday when Kristy came to Midland to visit Avery, Chad and I!! Avery and I were extremely excited to see "Auntie" Kristy and Kristy had been dying to meet Avery. Avery and I arrived at the airport a few minutes before Kristy's plane was scheduled to land. Unfortunately, Kristy's plane was about 10 minutes late, but as soon as we spotted her getting off the plane she ran over to see Avery through the security glass. She was so excited she kept talking to Avery through the glass and I had to keep telling her to come around so that we could really see her.

Once we got back to the house Kristy and Avery spent a little time getting to know one another before Avery went to bed. After that Kristy and I got to catch up. During Kristy's visit we went to the outlets, had brunch, watched the USA soccer game and even had a girls evening out sans Avery thanks to Chad. The best thing was all the time we spent catching up and enjoying each others company. Avery loved her Auntie Kristy!!

On Sunday we had to bring Kristy to the airport and say goodbye:O( I really hate that Kristy and I live so far apart and I cannot see her more often. Luckily we will not have to go 9 months between seeing each other again. I will be seeing Kristy in September and October. Unfortunately, Avery will not be traveling with me, but I am sure Auntie Kristy and Avery will see each other soon.

A Visit from the Onesto's

Last week started with Grandma Carolyn flying in on Tuesday to help while Chad was in San Antonio for business. Then on Thursday Avery got to meet her Uncle Anthony, Aunt Debbie and her cousins, Nicolette, Frankie and Ella for the first time. The Onesto's arrived right around dinner time and we were so excited to see them.

Avery meeting Frankie

All the girls!!

The visit was jammed packed with fun activities. Friday we headed to an indoor water park in Frankenmuth. The water park was just perfect for the kids and they had a blast. Nicolette went on the big waterslides with her dad. Frankie loved the little waterslide and Ella just enjoyed splashing in the water. Even Avery got dressed in her bathing suit for the first time.

Avery in her swimsuit

Ella in the water swing

Aunt Debbie and Nikki in the lazy river

After a nice lunch the kids decided they were done with the water park and wanted to hang out in the arcade. They played lots of games and even won some prizes. Their favorite prize seemed to be a whoopie cushion which came with us everywhere for the rest of the trip:0) After leaving the water park we stopped by Bronner's the largest Christmas shop in the world. After that we headed home to take showers before heading out to dinner that night.

Dinner was at Genji's the Japanese steakhouse in town. Unfortunately, Midland does not get the top quality Hibachi chefs and Frankie was left wondering why there was no volcano, but the food was yummy and the kids seemed to enjoy the show.

Nikki at dinner

Frankie with Chad

Saturday we started off by heading to the Children's Zoo in Saginaw. Despite being small it was really perfect for a short visit. We saw Bald Eagles, Penguins, an Otter, Kangaroos and lots of farm animals. The kids even got to practice milking a cow and we rode on the miniature train.

Frankie and a wolf

Nikki on a seal

Frankie and Ella milking a cow

Avery was such a good girl

After the zoo the girls and Frankie we headed to the outlets for a bit to do some shopping. While Uncle Anthony and Chad went to the World Beer Expo in Frankenmuth. After shopping we went bowling. Frankie, Nikki and I bowled while Grandma Carolyn, Aunt Debbie and Ella watched. Frankie was so excited as it was his first time bowling and thanks to bumpers both he and Nicolette did very well.

Nikki going for a strike

Frankie bowling for the first time

After bowling Chad and Uncle Anthony joined us for dinner. After that we headed back to our house to get everything ready for everyone to leave at 5 am the next morning.

Grandma Carolyn and I woke up at 4:30 and the plan was for Anthony to just load the kids into the car while they were still sleeping. Unfortunately, Nicolette woke up and started to cry that she did not want to leave. Of course this broke my heart and I too started to cry. It was so hard to say goodbye especially since it was such an amazing visit. Luckily, Chad, Avery and I will be in NJ in three weeks so we will see everyone again soon.

2 month check up

Avery is now 2 months old and continues to amaze us with each passing day. Avery had her 2 month well visit on Monday and she did amazing. She is still on the smaller side, although she did climb to the 50% for weight, weighing in at 10 pounds 7 ounces. She was still in the 25% for height and head size measuring 22 1/2 and 15 inches respectively. The doctor checked to make sure Avery is hitting all of her milestones like smiling and picking up her head up when she is on her belly. We were not worried about the first milestone at all as all you have to do is talk to Avery and she will smile and sure enough the doctor talked to her and Avery immediately smiled, laughed and tried to talk to the doctor. The doctor said it was the easiest smile she has gotten from a baby as she normally has to work for it. We warned the doctor that Avery is often very lazy during tummy time and likes to just lie there without lifting her head. Well did Avery ever make a liar out of Chad and I. Not only did she lift her head, but she basically did a baby push-up using her hands to lift up her chest as well. She held it up for a long time and even had her legs moving a ton. So much so that the doctor said she looked like she was trying to crawl. The doctor kept saying that Avery was perfect and although we already feel that way it was great to hear :O)

On the negative side Avery did have to get 4 vaccinations. One was oral and three were shots. She did great with the oral one, but as was expected she did not enjoy the shots. As soon as the first one went in our little girls face turned more red than I have ever seen it. She screamed out in pain which broke our hearts, but once it was all done she calmed down in less than a minute. She slept a ton after the shots, which the doctor said she would. The nurse suggested I give her infant Tylenol as soon as we got home so I went out and picked some up. I did not give it to her because she seemed to be doing well.....that was a huge mistake on my part. Around 4pm she woke up screaming. I tried feeding her thinking she was hunger and she would not take it. I could not even hold my poor baby because her legs hurt so bad. I gave her the Tylenol and after a half hour of heart wrenching screams she calmed down. You better believe I gave her the Tylenol every 4 hours after that. The next day she was fine and back to her happy self.

Avery's next visit will be at 4 months!!

Is it the beat??

In my 28 week post I mentioned that Chad and I had invested in the Babyplus pre-natal education system. Chad and I referred to the Babyplus as the beat since it's lessons consisted of hour long thumping sounds to mimic the sound of my heartbeat. The beat had 16 lessons, which I played twice a day for the last 14 weeks of my pregnancy. The beat claims to help babies to absorb more of the environment around them leading to higher intellectual, social, emotional and creative skills. While all this sounds great what really caught the attention of Chad and I was that many of the reviews said it helps babies to sleep better and to be more alert.

From the moment Avery was first born many people told us that she was very alert. Avery was able to follow voices and turn her head from side to side since she was a week old. We thought maybe it could be because of the beat, but we not certain. This week, Avery's 6th week we got the results that convinced us the beat was a great investment. On Wednesday night Avery slept from 10 pm to 6 am.... 8 hours straight!!! Both Chad and I woke up that morning and were shocked and thought it was probably a fluke. Well she did it again on Thurs, Fri and Saturday night and all we could think is that it was because of the beat.

According to babycenter.com experts say most babies are capable of sleeping through the night when they hit 3-6 months, but they define sleeping through the night as going 5 or 6 hour stretched. Given that statistic I think it was worth the $150 to get our little girl to sleep 8 hours when she is 6 weeks old!!