5 Months!

F stands for February and Five Months :) She weighed 16.6 lbs and was 24.5 inches long. This month was a big one for Little Girl. Here are some of the experiences she had and milestones she reached:
Week 1:

• Mastering rolling over from front to back and back to front. She did it a couple of times during her 4th month, but really became good at this month.
• Splashing during her bath.
• Started back thumb sucking...not sure if this is a good thing!
• Oh...that is me in the mirror!

Week 2:

• SITTTING UP UNASSISTED (she can go for 15 min. without falling over)
  
• Reaching for and putting her paci in her mouth.
• Had her first accumulating snow fall!
  

Week 3:

• Eating oatmeal and loving it :) She hated rice cereal...
• Finally paying attention to the dogs, she smiles whenever they enter the room now.
• First virus with a fever: Viral Pharyngitis, aka, a sore throat. In adults it is basically a cold.

Week 4:

• First bath in the big tub (in her chair...pictures to come)
  
• Sitting in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time...Olive Garden to be exact.

This month there are even more giggles and coos and tons of sweet smiles. Since she started eating her oatmeal, she has been taking a 3 (sometimes 4) hour nap during the middle of the day while she is at Alli's. She wants to crawl so bad and gets frustrated that she cannot move wherever she wants. We never use the swing anymore...she always wants to be either sitting on the floor or in her excersaucer. We definitely are having to keep more of an eye on her...I can't imagine what it is going to be like when she starts crawling. Spring cannot get here fast enough! We are looking very forward to being outside more for playing and walks. Yesterday, we took a walk on campus and she loved looking at all the people.

We are so thankful to be Avery's parents. By far, the fifth month has definitely been the most fun...we will see though what the sixth one has in store.

Snow Baby!

Super Fun Super Bowl Party

This year the Elliotts watched the Super Bowl from the Auburn University Recruiting Lounge! Even though I have worked for Auburn for the past 6 years (student time included) this is something I had not yet got to experience. To say Levi and I were beyond excited was an understatement! My husband loves Auburn Football and keeps up with recruiting like no one I have ever seen. A lot of you may not realize this about him, since he isn't the most extroverted person, but ask him sometime about football and you will find out very quickly he loves his Auburn Tigers!
The lounge itself is just past the gates of Tiger Walk and leads directly into the locker room. Being the opportunity that this was, we of course took the time for a photo opp in front of the legendary Bo Jackson's jersy display. I think it turned out really good...Avery looks genuinely excited! I wish she were a little older and could appreciate it more, but maybe we will get the chance to visit again sometime. She had her picture made with Aubie at 7 weeks (I never got around to posting it on here)but it is the small things like seeing Aubie on a regular basis and the big things like getting to be in the locker room that make calling Auburn my home so much fun!

Video's of Avery

For Christmas I got the Sony Webbie HD. We had been wanting something to document Avery's milestones with, and since we had already spent a good bit on the Nikon I needed to fine something cost efficient. We looked at all of the reviews and went with this one. It uses a duo stick pro that keeps up to 9 hrs. of video and also takes pretty good pictures. It only cost $150 at Sams ($200 at Bestbuy. So that they would upload faster, Levi selectd a lower viewing quality. But rest assured when you are watching it on your own tv,the picture is crystal clear!

Anyways, here are a couple of videos we have done of Avery over the past month. They are mainly for family and might not be all that interesting to the rest of you. Granmommy, we especially hope that you enjoy!

4 Months!

Ok, so I am doing Avery's 4 month post on her 5 month birthday...to say I am behind on blogging is an understatement! Hopefully, I will be able to catch up in the next few days.

Avery had a very busy and exciting 4th month of life. In fact, she celebrated it on New Year's Day in Tampa, with an Auburn victory! Yes, we took a four month old to the Outback Bowl. At the game, she was an absolute star and I hope we can attend many more Auburn games with our little tiger. I am going to blog about our whole trip in my nextfew posts.

At her four month checkup, she weighed 15.6 lbs. and was 24 in. long. This put her in the 75th percentile for weight and the 30th percentile for height. It looks like she is taking after her Mommy...enough said! We think she is ablsolutely georgeous and irresistably cute! She flashes her sweet smile to everyone and is such a happy baby. She literally is content all most all of the time. Only when she is hungry or really tired does she start to fuss and even then it is not hard to calm her. Lord, please let all of our children be like this!

This month, she really found her fingers and sucked on them quite a bit. She started to get tired of her swing and wanted to be put on the floor a lot more. She loves laying under her activity mat and looking at herself in the mirror. In addition to smiling all the time, she started laughing too. She especially loves for us to sing to her. Her favorite song is "Glory Glory to Ole Auburn" We were just singing it to her one day and she busted out giggling. It is super cute! Currently, the TV is really catching her eye...especially sports which flash on the TV so rapidly. She has not rolled over on her own yet, but is very close. She can sit up on her own though for short periods of time. The dogs are catching her attention now too. She has even started to pet them a little. Last but not least, she has finally started paying attention to her rattles and other toys...and giving her a burp cloth to play with occupies her attention for at least 15 minutes.

She continues to sleep really well and we continue to feel really blessed! We have not started cereal yet and do not plan to until she is 6 months or starts to wake up at night. Nursing and pumping are going great and my milk has not diminished since starting back to work. I am so thankful for this! Not only is it good for Avery, but it is saving us a ton of money :) I have to say that I love nursing. Prior to having her, I was nervous and worried that it would be hard, or I wouldn't be good at it. Overall though, I have had a great experience. Don't get me wrong, it is a huge commitment and very time consuming, but it makes me feel so much better at work knowing that she has me in that sense. Then, getting home to nurse her helps my emotions so much. I have heard from a lot of moms and my mom that it is hard emotionally when you start to wean. This makes since, since you are their source of nourishment for so long. I truly cherish this special time we spend together!

Avery is now staying with Mrs. Alli full time and she loves both her and Noble. In fact, she thinks Noble is hilarious. We are so blessed to have such a sweet, Christian friend and mother like Alli to take care of her while we are at work. I think I am going to start doing monthy recaps instead of blogging at the beginning of a new month. That way I can cover everything that happened throughout the whole month.

We love you Avery Caroline! You bring so much Joy to everyone's life...we can't wait to see what your 5th month has in store for us!

Alex and Beth Anne

My brother (Alex) and my sister (Beth Anne) just recently celebrated their 21st and 22nd birthdays. I think they are pretty special and you know only really special people get blog time so I thought they deserved a post!

They were born only 11.5 months apart and in the same year. Alex came first on January 5, 1988 and Beth Ann on December 22, 1988. Amazing, I know. Even more amazing is how my mom survived it all. I was 3.5 when Alex was born and she had to be induced with Beth Anne to make it home for his first Christmas.

For Beth Anne's day we ordered domino's wings and pizza to celebrate. Since it was her 21st, she and a few others then went out for a little more celebration and late night karaoke at the Oyster Bar. Unfortunately, Levi and I went home to our "adult" life with Avery (that I love) and didn't get to attend that portion. I know they had an absolute blast though! Beth Anne is probably one of the hardest working people I know. She just finished her first semester of nursing school and totally blew it out of the water! She is super smart and super sassy at the same time. She is very protective of our family and is very tender hearted. I am glad she enjoys nursing, so that one day she can take care of our parents!!!

For Alex's Birthday we went to Outback to celebrate. It was a fun time with great food and family. The pictures are from his celebration. Alex is kind and compassionate as well. Who was it when I was starving after delivering Avery that went to get my food? Alex. In the past few months he has started to mature in to a really great man. He is winding down his degree in Kinesiology and plans to go on to physical therapy school next spring. Alex can make anybody laugh and he is a HUGE Auburn fan.

I can't imagine not having them in my life. They are great friends and even better as an Aunt and Uncle to Avery. She adores them and I know is going to love spending lots of time with them in the coming years. Since I have returned to work, with the exception of two weeks, Beth Anne and Alex (and Tiffany, Alex's girlfriend) have kept Avery during the week. A lot of people have said, ok we understand leaving her with your sister, but your brother...do you think he can handle it? I then have to let them know that Alex is just as hands on as anyone else. He changes ALL of her diapers...the wet and the dirty and doesn't even blink an eyelash. He knows how to feed and burp her as well. His specialty though is making her laugh. We don't exactly know what it is about him, maybe it is how funny looking he is, but Avery thinks he is hilarious. And because I don't want Kevin (Beth Anne boyfriend) to feel left out...you know Avery loves you too!
Anyways...here is to Beth Anne and Alex...We love you guys and are so glad you are here in Auburn with us!

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!"