The Sixth Month thru Pictures

Sometimes even Avolyn has sad moments

This is one of Mikes favorites

Avolyn and our dear friend Katie

Very Serious Avolyn

Aunt Cathy and AV

Avolyn and Great Grandpa at Easter

Lazy Saturday Morning

Beautiful Blue

It has been a great month. How could it not be with this baby and her beautiful smile? It seems like every time I turn my back Avolyn is learning something new. I can't wait to see what month 7 has in store for us! Have a wonderful week...

April Showers, Races and Bath Time Fun...

A few weekends ago we had a baby shower for Rose. We had such a fun time celebrating Rose and her baby...
We had some pretty creative people at the shower. We had several activities planned. One was to make a baby out of play-doh, and there were some great babies! The biggest project that we did was made a scrapbook for Rose. Each person decorated a page that had to do with Rose and her baby.


This was the winner...

Rose received some fantastic gifts that will help her along the way...

This is my favorite moment captured at the shower...Rose and several of her friends...



Last weekend we walked in Race for the Cure in memory of our friend Ginny Buehler. Avolyn had a great time hanging out in her stroller and everyone survived the 3 mile walk. This was the 4th or 5th year to participate , and it is always a pretty cool experience to be apart of.


Avolyn has been enjoying her bath time in a more exciting way. We got this duck bath and Avolyn loves to play and splash in it. Her lips start quivering because she is getting cold, but it does not phase her at all. She could probably spend all day in it.

Enjoy the video and Mike saving Avolyn...She kept right on playing...

Aunts, Uncles, Dads, and New Faces...

I guess it was almost a month ago that Billy and Amy came and spent some time in Bloomington. It is never enough time, but it is always so great to visit. It was the first really nice day and we enjoyed being outside for a change. Speaking of change...Amy and Billy recently found out that they were going to have a baby. We are so excited for them, and hope for more great changes in the near future. Amy was probably just a week or so pregnant when they visited. Avolyn had a great time hanging out with her aunt and uncle.


I have so many great pictures of Mike and Avolyn having a great time together. Avolyn has such a pretty smile, but even more so when Mike playing with Avolyn. She has been interested in touching and looking at everything. She still loves to sing with Mike, and the newest game is peek-a-boo. Avolyn will get her legs and arms a-swingin'. It is pretty fantastic.


Avolyn turned 6 months on April 3rd. She had her 6 month check up last week, and everything looks good. Avolyn sat on my lap and just watched the doctor. Our doctor was pleased with AVs progress. She weighs 18 lbs. 14 oz. and is 26.5 inches long. and is developmentally at a 8 month level. She is still doing great rolling. She has just recently figured out how to sit and semi-gracefully go from sitting to rolling, but she has not herself pulled up to sit yet. She is using more consonants. Mama is coming soon, I can feel it. She is exploring more and more foods. Just in the past few days we have been giving her Cherrios. She is slowly getting used to a new textures. She can pick them up, but realizing she can also put them in her mouth is still a mystery to her. Hunter and Prudence have enjoyed the Cherrios...they usually end up with the cereal that gets to the floor. Here are some new 'Faces of Avolyn' for your enjoyment...

Still trying to play Catch-Up

Both Avolyn and Mike are sleep, the dishes are done, and it is to late to start a load of laundry, so I thought I would take advantage of some free time. We, as many of us, are anxiously awaiting some nice weather that is going to stay. I noticed a few lillys and live forevers starting to pop up, so hopefully that is a good sign. A few weekends ago we went to the park to swing and take a walk. It was so much fun to see Avolyn enjoy something new. The only piece of equipment that was 6 month old friendly was the baby swing...and the baby swing was almost to big. Avolyn is such a pork train that we are usually running into the issue of things being to small for her. She really enjoyed swinging and looking at other families. We also went around the parks trail and enjoyed the blue sky. It is exciting to think that when it will be perfect to go to the park Avolyn is going to be the perfect age and size to really start enjoying it.



From the first time Avolyn heard Mike play his guitar at the hospital to the dogs howling with the harmonica to listening to music in the car to a loud drum solo from Uncle Tim in his shack to to the songs I sing Avolyn to sleep with Avolyn loves any and every kind of music. It is so much fun to see Avolyn kick her feet in excitement to the beat of a song. She loves to stare at Mike's left hand as he moves from chord to chord. Many times a week I wake up to Avolyn making up her own song to the morning. As this video shows, she also loves to sing along with Mike...





My beautiful sister is pregnant. Very pregnant. Not only am I lucky to have Rose as a sister, but she is one of my closest friends, and I treasure her love and friendship immensely. She has asked me to experience her first borns birth with her and I am honored and so very excited to coach her along the way. We have been able to share in such a new way with each other. I am thrilled to have her in the moms club now (her initiation will come later). We are having a shower next weekend for her, and then her due date is just around the corner...May 10th will be here before you know it! Here are a few pictures of her in the last few months.



Mike and I are very blessed to have such a happy baby. Avolyn has had 2 rounds of earaches. Even with the aches, she still have been pretty happy. Of course we can tell that she is hurting and is upset, but for the most part she just deals with it. The last round of illness she had ear infections in both ears. She was on amoxicilin and on the 8th day she broke out with hives and was grumpy. We immediately took her off the amoxicillin and gave her a little benadryl and she was a new little babe. Hopefully the ear infections will not continue to be an issue. She has been teething. She officially is budding her first teeth. The bottom front, and you can just see the tips of them. Maybe that has something to do with the ear infections.

Doesn't she look so sick in her poor little eyes...


In the past few months we have also been introducing baby food to Avolyn. She has really enjoyed eating new foods (surprise, surprise). She started with sweet potatoes, carrots and squash then she tried sweet peas and green beans. She has also tried apricots, bananas, blueberries with apples, and I know I am forgetting a few. She really likes sweet potatoes and her least favorite are foods that have apples in them. I think they are to sour for her liking right now. She eats them, but not as fast as the others. We now are cutting the food with rice. I gave her a piece of celery a weekend or two ago and she did not like that. I thought that maybe the hardness she would like against her budding teeth, but she eventually threw it on the floor. The face that she made when she put the celery in her mouth was priceless. Here are a few pictures of Avolyn eating baby food for the first time.

We have started using bibs.

There's still more. But for tonight, that will have to do.
Enjoy your day to the fullest...