Avery: the last few months

This is embarrassing, but I just realized that I haven't posted on Avery since May.  That is a little ridiculous.  So, here is Avery over the past few months all at once.  A bit of info and lots of pictures!
Month 2 (June 2):
Avery continues to be a great baby.  Her eating and sleeping started to become more of a schedule.  I really enjoyed my time at home with her and we were able to get a lot of packing done for the big move.  The best thing about this month was that she started to smile a bit!  For me, this is one of the biggest milestone because now she is able to give back some of the love she has been receiving.  She's continuing to grow and is 13.3 pounds and is just over 24 inches long.

Month 3 (July 2):
June was a crazy month to say the least.  Avery and I got to spend a few more days together at home, and then she got to experience a few weeks of day care while I went back to work.  Luckily, she was able to hang out with some sweet ladies who took great care of her and there were lots of friends to play with.  Her size was evident when she with the other kids.  They are all a few months older than her, but you wouldn't guess it by looking at them.

Avery turned 3 months on July 2 while we were in Ireland.  Unfortunately, pictures were not a priority, so no 3 month ones were taken  :(

Month 4 (August 2):
This was a month of firsts.  Avery's first wedding, first time in Wisconsin, first time meeting lots of family and friends, and her first McGuire family picnic.  Her personality has really begun to shine.  She loves to smile and laugh, especially with her brother.  They are hilarious together and obviously love each other.  She is so laid back which has been great as mom and dad were very busy buying a house this month! (Pictures coming soon!)

At her 4 month appointment she weighed in at 16 lbs 2 oz and measured 27 inches long.  This puts her at the top of the charts, just like her brother.  She continues to be healthy and happy.

McGuire cousins!

Month 5 (September 2):
She finally rolled over!  We had been waiting and waiting for this.  She had the strength for the last month to roll over, but just didn't want to.  Even though she can roll over now, she still doesn't do it very often.  Avery was also introduced to her jumper this month.  She was a bit timid at first, but is a jumping maniac now.

We've also embarked on the adventure of cloth diapering.  I started researching before she was born and finally settled on a brand called gDiapers.  It took a bit to get used to, but now I'm loving it!

Lastly, we finally got up north to see more family.  Both grandpas were enamored with her and amazed at how happy she is.  Uncle Doug took her for her first boat ride as well!

Avery's 5 month pictures were amusing.  She did a great job, but then realized that I had put something on her.  Of course something new needs to be eaten!

Trying out Daddy's water bottle.  Aden thinks this is hilarious!

 

Hanging out with great grandpa Ron

Boat ride with great uncle Doug

Month 6 (October 2): 

I can't believe that my baby is 6 months old!  Seriously, I'm not sure how this has happened so quickly.  Avery is finally adjusted to the new house and is sleeping well.  She has experienced her first Wisconsin cold and what a stuffy and running nose feels like.  She isn't a fan.

She does however, love food.  She started showing interest in food at the beginning of September.  I wasn't planning on starting her on solids until she actually hit the 6 month mark, but she had a different plan.  A few weeks ago we started with rice cereal.  She wasn't sure of it at first, but has quickly got the hang of the whole eating thing.  She has also tried avocado and banana, but her absolute favorite is butternut squash.  She'd lick the bowl clean if you let her.

We found a nurse practitioner here in Mondovi that we really like for the kids.  Avery meet her the other day and liked her as well.  Avery kept trying to steal her stethoscope and gave her lots of big smiles.  She continues to grow and stay at the top of the charts.  Her weight now is 18 lbs 7 oz and she is still at 27 in.  I do think she has grown in height since her 4 month appointment, so somewhere a measurement is off. 

 

Loving her jumper!

Avery loves to put blankets on her face and play peek-a-boo.  This really scared me the first few times she did it, but then I realized that she likes it.

 Loving the swing that came with the house!

 Couldn't let go of her toy even while she slept

Weekend of weddings

After just 2 days back to the States, we packed up again for a weekend of weddings.  Neenah was our starting point as we celebrating the wedding of a dear friend Erin, to her husband Cory.  I had been almost a year since we had seen Erin and it was a great occasion to get together.  While there we also had the opportunity to visit with another friend, Annie, who became Aden's date.  Our favorite part of the reception was the photo booth.  Way too much fun as you can see below.

The next day we headed down to Eagle, Wisconsin for the wedding of Eric, a cousin on Jamie's side of the family, to his wife Katie.  The best part of this wedding was that we got to see so many family members all at once.  Everyone got to meet Avery and catch up with Aden.  Both kids did a great job despite the fact that both of them were still dealing with some jet lag. 

 

 Having fun!

 Dancing machine!

The last wedding reception was at a hotel with a water park at it.  So, we invited our friends the Verlees to come to the park with us.  They have a son, Asher, who is 4 and is a great playmate with Aden.  It took some time to get used to the noise at the park, but once they did, the boys were all over the park.  They had a great time together. 
 

 Katie and I with our babies

 Loving the water

 Aden's favorite part of the waterpark

Northern Ireland

Now that life has calmed down a bit, I'll catch everyone up on what has been going on these last two months.  We'll start with leaving Saudi.  Saudi will always have a special place in my heart and we really enjoyed our 4 years there.  We will miss our colleagues and friends who became our family.  We will also miss our students and the many opportunities that living abroad gave us.  

 Aden with his class and teachers

 Avery with her teachers and one classmate

The Dammam airport decided to give us a very typical good-bye.  We ended up waiting in the immigration line for what felt like forever (it was probably about an hour) as our line was continually stopped and Saudi nationals were allowed to skip in front.  Thank goodness we had the stroller and had forced Aden to sit in it because he promptly fell asleep which was good for everyone. 

Let the vacation begin!  We arrived in Dublin the next morning and met Jamie's parents, Brian and Wendy, at their hotel.  They were really excited to finally meet their granddaughter.  From there we drove up to Portstewart which is on the northern coast of Northern Ireland.  We had decided that with the kids, we would just stay in one place and do day trips.  This was the best decision we could have made and I would highly suggest it to anyone.  We had a fabulous house right on the coast and just a few minutes walk into town.  We found a few restaurants that we loved in town and just kept going back.  There was the traditional fish and chips, bangers and mash, steak and ale pie, but there were also some surprised such as Yorkshire pudding (fantastic!) and a salad with goat cheese that I ended up ordering twice because it was so good.  I would go back to Portstewart any time.  The people were friendly, food was fabulous, scenery was amazing, plus there are a lot of things to see and do within an hour drive. 

 On a walk that goes along the coast and right by our house.

 Portstewart!

 

Hanging out on the beach

While doing research for the trip, Brian and/or Jamie had found out that the neighboring town of Portrush was having a 5k beach run while we were there.  Of course, they had to join.  It was quite an experience as they were actually running in the sand, but the beautiful scenery made up for the difficulty.

 And off they go.....

The day trips we did included the Giant's Causeway, Bushmill's Distillery, Dunluce Castle, and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  Aden and Avery did great jobs with all the driving and seeing everything.  Aden's favorite thing was all the cows.  Sorry, I can't find the pictures from the Giant's Causeway, but I'll post them when I do find them.  

 Cows!

 Our troop (minus Jamie the photographer)

 Dunluce Castle from afar

 Jamie and Aden getting ready to cross the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.

I'll be honest, although Giant's Causeway is supposed to be the coolest attraction in the area, the rope bridge was my favorite.  It was a beautiful almost mile walk down to the bridge.  It was so interesting to think that the bridge was made originally by fisherman who wanted to fish off Sheep Island.  They were daring souls.  Everyone went over the bridge, including Aden and Avery!  I was a bit nervous about that, but it wasn't so bad and was over in just a matter of seconds.  Sheep Island is really just a big rock.  There wasn't much to do there besides take a few pictures and then turn around and head back.  However, just after we got to the island, a storm blew in that made the island pretty scary.  It was windy and rainy and I thought for sure they would shut the bridge down and we would be stuck.  The bridge did stay open and we did cross it in the rain which was a bit terrifying.  We then had the long walk back to the car.  Grandpa Brian was amazing and carried Aden the entire way back!  Avery was in her wrap which I then put a rain jacket over.  She ended up sleeping through the entire thing!  It was an adventure all right.

 Touring and tasting at Bushmill's Distillery

 Aden has had a variety of interesting diaper changes including the middle of a sheep field in Scotland, Sultan's palace grounds in Oman, and now we add to that the sidewalk at the Bushmill's Distillery.  The boy sure knows how to time it.

 Exploring Dunluce Castle

Hanging out at the castle

We really enjoyed our time in Portstewart.  The weather and scenery are such a vast contrast from Saudi that we really appreciated.  We did spend some time in Belfast on our way back to Dublin.  We took a few hours to check out the new Titanic museum which was very well done, but we didn't take pictures there.  Finally, we got back on a plane and headed to Wisconsin.... our final destination!

Baby Showers

This feels like a late post, but our last baby shower was not that long ago.  We have been very blessed with people who love our kids.  When our friends found out that we were pregnant, they asked right away if they could throw us a baby shower.  Then we found out we were having a girl which made the shower even more exciting because we would need girl items.

Beautiful (and tasty) cake

The first shower was before Avery was born.  Our friends Laura, Lindsey, Stephanie, Heather, and Cherie did an amazing job with a soup and salad luncheon shower.  It was perfect timing because the doctor had just told me that I needed to watch my sugar intake due to Avery's size.  We had a great time eating, opening presents, playing games, and just talking/laughing about parenting.  The ladies at the party were so generous.  Avery got a lot of clothes, hooded towels, blankets, and my favorites - bows for her hair and a gorgeous diaper bag.  One lady even got really creative and made me a "Mommy tool belt" full of all the things a mommy needs.  It was so sweet.

 All the ladies

The sweet hostesses

Our very thoughtful friend Laura had been taking a quilting class and decided that her first quilt would be for Avery.  We absolutely love it!  She put so much effort and time into making this gift for our precious baby girl.

 Laura, Avery, and the gorgeous quilt

Avery loves having some floor time on her quilt.

The second baby shower was hosted by some friends from school and took place after Avery was born.  This one had a different twist to it.  The big gift for Avery was an ABC book.  However it was not made yet.  Most of the party was spent making pages for the alphabet book.  The table was full of markers, stickers, pictures, and anything else you could want to create a letter page.  Each page was scanned and then the book was compiled online and shipped to Jamie's parent's house in the states.  I haven't seen the actual book yet, but looked at it online and it is so sweet.  It will be a reminder of our time in Saudi and amazing people we worked with.

 All the ladies!

Hanging our with Olivia

 Working on the ABC book.

Being creative