Merry Christmas!

May God bless you this Christmas and the joy of the Lord fill your heart with gladness and cheer!

As my friend Alli reminded our Sunday School class this morning in an e-mail, "We can rejoice because Jesus came as a baby to live perfectly, die innocently, and ascend powerfully so that we could live eternally with him and be saved from the sting of death!"

Simply Pitiful...

The past few days have been tough on the Elliott family. It started with Avery getting sick, then me. and lastly Levi. We have all just had run of the mill colds, but they put us out of commission every time. I have a terrible respiratory system and I am praying that Avery doesn't inherit it. Even though we thought it was just a cold, I took her to the pediatrician just in case and he confirmed it was a cold as we had suspected and that it was not RSV. RSV had not even crossed my mind...let alone the possibility that we could be in the hospital, if that is what she had. As of today though, I am happy to say that Avery is on the upswing of her cold and her mommy and daddy, although a little more slowly, are recovering nicely as well. However, you can tell from this picture taken the night before her drs. visit, she was one sick...but still really cute....little girl! The last one is from the day after...a big improvement! Looks like she will be feeling jolly for her 1st Christmas after all!

After the regular Drs. visit, we headed to the Chiropractor. Call me crazy, but I believe in it. Being adjusted throughout pregnancy is what I credit with having such an easy time and sleeping the whole 10 months. At 38 weeks 3 days, I was the furthest along pregnant lady my chiropractor had ever adjusted!

Any ways, I have been going for about 3 years and during that time, Levi and I read up on the positive effects that adjustments have on babies and children too. We learned that it can help with colic, acid reflux, ear infections, and colds. After talking with several people who take their kids, together we decided that Avery would be adjusted regularly and for sure when she is sick. Her first visit was at 2 months and she smiled the whole time. Since I am a patient, my Dr. doesn't charge for Avery. If you need a great chiropractor, Dr. Sean Lauratis in Auburn is who we use and I highly recommend him. If you need a great pediatrician we use Dr. Anthony Greer. He is a primary care physician as well as a pediatrician and loves to treat young families as a whole. I really like that he knows and treats our entire family.

Until next time...

3 Months!!

We took two 3 month pictures on different nights...I couldn't choose so I posted both. On one of the signs, you can see where she drooled on it. Our little chunk weighed 13 lbs 10 oz. at her 3 month appointment. She is so stinking cute!

Where has the time gone? Now that I am back at work, it is really hard to find time to blog. When I get home, any extra time I have is spent with my two loves!

Avery is getting to be so much fun. She smiles at everything and everyone...but especially her momma. I love that when me or Levi walk in a room she hears our voice and turns her head. It is such a great feeling. My favorite time is when she first wakes up in the morning. As you can see from the pictures, she is all smiles, even before she opens her eyes.

She is constantly "talking" now too. She particularly likes the O sound. We say O and then she says it back to us, sometimes a resounding OOOOOOOOO. I think she really likes to hear herself and according to Levi, is going to be quite a talker like her mom! She loves her hands and has them in her mouth all the time now. She sucks her pointer finger and every now and then her thumb, but still enjoys her paci the most. She can see it coming toward her and lunges for it. I love how when she wants to go to sleep, you just stick it in her mouth, turn her on her side toward you and bam, she is out! It works no matter who is holding her :)

Speaking of sleep, she is a WONDERFUL sleeper. Praise the Lord for this. We started putting her on a schedule almost as soon as we got home from the hospital and while it was hard work, I don't regret one minute of it. We moved her to her crib at 10 weeks and it was a seamless transition. We accidentally left the co-sleeper at mom's when she stayed with her, so we decided just to leave it and move on to the crib. It was sad at first not having her beside us...each transition is sad and exciting all at the same time :) We are so blessed that she did not have colic or reflux...I can't even pretend to know what dealing with those two issues would be like.

At night, I nurse her at 9:30, Levi swaddles and rocks her, then lays her down in her crib. Some nights we might have to go in once or twice shortly after that to put her paci back in, but not often. Then she sleeps until we get her up in the morning. She has been doing this pretty much since she was 5 weeks old. This past Saturday, she slept from 9:30 p.m. until 9:00 a.m. Let me just say Babywise works and is AWESOME. One thing that works for us really well is letting her sleep on her stomach. I know this is not recommended, but that is how she sleeps the best. Not to mention that is also how pretty much everyone who reads this blog slept when they were babies too. Avery has really good head control and can move it back and forth at will, so we don't worry about her.

Throughout the day she still eats every 3 to 3.5 hours with the last time at 9:30 or so. I am pumping throughout the day at work and then nursing once I am back at home. We joke that I have enough milk to feed 3 kids! I really hope it stay this way, my goal is to continue until she is at least 9 months old. I am really blessed to have my own office and a very supportive boss, who just recently finished nursing her son for over a year.

We are so looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year and New Year's will be in Tampa! Until next time...

Smarty Pants!

So Dad, you need help with #23 across?

Don't worry, I will help you...What is a five letter word for beautiful? Avery of course!