Some "firsts"

We have definitely had a busy few weeks since I last posted an update. I am very happy to report that we have all adjusted to the changes that came with Avery's arrival and things now just seem "normal" in our household (of course, our normal includes lots of noise, activity and chaos!). We are finally settling into a little bit of a routine. Both Nicholas and Avery are napping at the same time during the afternoons. At night, Avery is sometimes sleeping through the night and sometimes waking up once...not too bad for 7 (almost 8) weeks old!

In the past week, Alaina had her first two volleyball games. Her team is sooo good! They won both of their games by a HUGE margin (seriously, not even close games!) and it's so fun to watch. It's sort of sad for the other teams...but we don't dwell on that too much :) Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from her games (our camera was temporarily lost). I will definitely take some pics for sharing at her next game. Amanda is struggling with her math class for the first time in her life. She's taking calculus this year as a sophomore and had some trouble understanding limits. It seems crazy to actually be glad that one of your children is struggling with a class, but, as someone who has never had to really put any effort into her studies, Amanda needs the challenge! She's working hard to get ahold of these new math concepts and we know she'll end up doing well. Avery recently had her first bottle and her first smile. I've included pictures of both occassions, plus some other cute shots from the past 2 weeks. Enjoy!

Daddy giving Avery her first bottle!

In other news this week...

In my last post, I was so thinking about birthdays that I forgot about our other news from Monday. Avery had her one month check-up with the pediatrican and we are very happy to report that she is a healthy girl. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. (up exactly 2 lbs from birth) and grew to 21.75 inches long--she's tall (75 percentile) and skinny (35 percentile)! I compared her "stats" to Nicholas' from his one month visit and they are almost exactly the same. I guess they are both taking after their dad!

On Wednesday, I finally mailed Avery's birth announcements. I am so pleased with the way they turned out! I hope that everyone enjoys it once you receive it in the mail--should be any day now! On Thursday, we found out that Alaina made the school volleyball team. We're very excited for her and can't wait to see her play in her first game next week.

And finally, here is what Nicholas spent a lot of his time doing this week...sitting in time out. At least he looks good doing it! Gotta love the "terrible twos..." NOT!

Amanda is on the road...

It is official. Amanda can now legally drive...a car! Oh my gosh. That is all that I can say about that. Oh my gosh! So, her 15th birthday was on Monday and, obviously, after much work, we were able to get all of the many required documents together in order to go to the DMV so that she could get her drivers permit. She still can't drive without a licensed adult (we have a year to adjust to this situation before we take that next step). After our trip to the DMV, she had a group of her friends over for dinner. I think the birthday was a success!



Just a few days before this, Avery had her one month birthday. We didn't really celebrate, but I did take some one month birthday pictures. Here are a few pictures of our little princess, Miss Avery Grace.