2 Months: Now I look like a Glo-Worm

Our lives have been very full lately. Avery is now 2 months old and has been attempting new skills every day - among her latest tricks are smiling all the time, turning herself 90 degrees whenever she's on her back, and our personal favorite, SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Yippee!!!! She's recently started sleeping anywhere from 6-8 hours at night, giving us some well-needed rest. She also had her first round of immunizations (5 shots at one visit ... ouch!) and handled it like a trooper. She's growing quickly, now a whopping 10lbs. 4oz. and eating like a champ. She's also enjoying her days with her 'Nonnie' (Amy's mom), who is taking care of her, now that Amy has gone back to work.
Our other big news is that Amy has accepted a job in a fantastic general pediatric practice here in Norfolk, Tidewater Children's Associates, to start when she finishes her residency. All that training is finally coming to a close, yet another reason to be grateful.
Finally, we had the joy of celebrating Avery's baptism this past Sunday. As you can see from the pictures, she cooperated quite well! We were pleasantly VERY surprised when her Auntie Kya (also her godmother, along with her godparents -Marty's sister, Denise and her husband Rich) arrived for the occassion all the way from Seattle ... so cool! By the way, the baptism gown Avery is wearing is actually made almost entirely from Amy's mother's wedding gown and was also worn by her cousin Kelsey for her baptism ... a very special Schnettler tradition. We have so much to be thankful for.

Happy New Year

Avery et al have been home in Wisconsin since December 24th, staying with Grandpa and Nonnie Schnettler until the 4th of January. Avery has done some great travelling: sleeping through 2 flights, over 10 car rides, and through the clutches of countless friends and relatives. She's also becoming quite the little athlete. With the Badger football season over, combined with little time to participate in other sports, Avery is now the star in the spectator sport of BURPING. The play looks like this: 1. Food gets shoved in her mouth by the offense (Mom, Dad, whoever) 2. Avery forces the transition by moving to an upright stance, either in-lap or over-the-shoulder. 3. She swiftly puts herself on the offensive by making a sourpuss face while the defense whacks her repeatedly on the back (she knows that should be a foul). 4. She finishes the play by ripping a tremendous belch, immediately sending the spectators (anyone within 30ft) into wild cheering and applause. Amy and I are her biggest fans, by the way. Goodbye kiteboarding, Hello Burping!
Avery's 'Wisconsin Friends and Family Tour' is almost complete. Tomorrow she leaves to return to Virginia, Mom and Dad in tow with all her luggage and Christmas loot.

After a month with our Li'l Punkin, we're getting the hang of what 'normal' is. Answer: Nothing. Knowing that makes everything easier to deal with. Now we can look forward to another day and some more 'normal' experiences. Happy New Year everyone. Love that tree. Yawning with Nonnie and Grandpa.I'm Always a good girl when hangin with Daddy. Avery, Amy, and Great Grandma Betty. Three generations of Harms. Relaxing with Aunt Dede. Tummy Time!!!

Life with Avery ...

Only 1 word can begin to describe our first week at home with Avery ... AMAZING! Everything from her tiny feet to her many crazy facial expressions has both of us totally head-over-heels for our little one. She is steadily developing a routine to her feeding, sleeping, pooping, etc. and we continue to find it incredible how she can totally entertain all nearby adults with her cooing and her big bright eyes. She's also starting to have a little more alert-awake time, as you can see from her pictures! Even though we're only 10 days into this adventure called 'parenthood,' we are rapidly forgetting what life was like before Avery and living in continued amazement that she actually belongs to us. How blessed are we!

Happy family comes home.

After 3 nights in the hospital and mere minutes after the contractors finished fixing the window in Avery's bedroom, Mom and baby came home to 696 Mowbray Arch on Monday, December 3rd.

Amy was instantly relieved to be in her own clothes, in her own bed, and free to walk around again. We like to think Avery likes it better here, too. Even though she can only see a few inches in front of her face, we're pretty sure she likes the big windows. Life is a little (lot) different than when we left last Friday morning, but there's a lot of cuteness floating around the place now to compensate. Having Nonnie (Grandma Schnettler) here is also a blessing- who knew one 7 pound pound person could singlehandendly book three grown adults' day? Being a parent is starting to open up our eyes regarding how we view love, responsibility, worry, and patience. (many other things, too) I think that perspective change is one of the blessings of parenthood; one that I'm thankful to have. I could blather on for ages about everything that's new, wonderful, different, and challenging, but I know anyone reading this really just wants more pictures to look at. Enjoy.

She's a twitchy little munchkin- I think she's dancing in the infant rocker pictures.

Avery Denise Harms

I don't have words for the miracle I witnessed yesterday. So I'll give stats instead:

Avery Denise Harms was born at 10:44 am in Norfolk Virginia, 7lbs 9oz. , 18.8 inches, and beautiful from head to toe. Here's a few pics. God is good.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

It's off to birth we go....

Finish my joke.

So I had a thought while I was changing the lamp in my car's headlight. This thought came about 45 minutes into the project with the wheelwell liner removed, a couple broken plastic clips lying benignly by, and me lying on the concrete: "How many nuclear engineers does it take to change a light bulb?" I actually couldn't think of anything humorous to finish it with.
OK, on to the big news: Amy and I will be pursuing our lives as parents starting this Friday. Our SCHEDULED birthday for Stoke is November 30th at 7:30 in the morning. I'll keep it short- prayers are appreciated and we'll let you know when we have some news to share.