Thanksgiving

Since it's been a reallllllly long time since I've updated I thought now would be a good time to put up some Thanksgiving pictures. Avery spent her first Thanksgiving with both sides of her family. We spent Thanksgiving day in Natchitoches with the Coopers and the day after Thanksgiving in Tioga with the Watsons. She is growing so fast! I don't know where all the time has gone. Here are a few pictures.

Bath Time = Fun Time!!

7 weeks old

Family Vacation & Jake

My family & I headed to Florida for a family vacation from September 20-September27, 2008. We had a wonderful time. We relaxed on the beach, went shopping & was just lazy for a whole week. Mom & Angela took turns waking up with Avery at night, while I enjoyed some uninterrupted sleep!!
Pictures from our Family Vacation:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408460&l=51650&id=23401590

While we were gone our other "baby", Jake was in an accident. We decided to board Jake for a few days while we were at the beach. Well Ben wakes me up early Friday morning (Sept. 26) to tell me that when he called to check on Jake, they told him that Jake was bit by a big dog (at the kennel boarding place). He made it through surgery ok, but is paralyzed. So needless to say....I'M DEVASTATED!! Ben & I decide to leave Florida early, come home & see about Jake. We also decided that since we needed to get home as quickly as possible it would be best to leave Avery in Florida with my parents & sister to ride home on Saturday. So we took off headed to Pineville at 10AM & drove like a bat out of hell. We made it home around 4PM & went straight to the vet. We looked at Jake's x-rays & found out that his spinal cord was severed meaning that he would never walk again & couldn't defecate himself. So, as much as I wanted him to be ok, he wasn't & we had to put him to sleep. We got to see him & say goodbye, which i'm SOOO thankful for. I kissed him & petted him & told him how much I loved him! Mr. Kirk buried him by Lily (Blake & Lindsay's dog who died last Spring) I'm so glad he buried him b/c Ben nor I were in any kind of shape to do that. I swear it was the absolute hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life. (I'm crying as I type). I feel like I lost my best friend & my baby. It's only been a few weeks, but I still beak out in tears randomly throughout the day.

I think about him all the time & I wish Avery could have grown up with him because he was the sweetest dog!! He only lived with her for a week, but he was so good with her. He would have been a wonderful big brother!!

A few weeks before Avery was born I said to Ben "I wonder if I'm going to love Avery as much as I love Jake?" Well, I do & that's the only way i'm getting through this. I miss him so much!!


August 16, 2002-September 26, 2008

Time flies...

Wow!! I can't believe my baby will be 8 weeks old tomorrow!! Time flies & I don't seem to find time to update my blog near as often as I should. We have had a rough 8 weeks, but we're getting into a routine now.

Avery had severe reflux for the first 5 weeks of her life. We tried 3 different formulas, but nothing seemed to work. For the past few weeks she has been throwing up about every other time she ate. This really concerned Ben & I, but the Dr. didn't seem all that concerned saying that some babies have problems with reflux, so on and so forth. She went to the Dr. before we left for the beach & she was just now back up to her birth weight, so we decided to increase her calories so she'll put on some weight. Well what he suggested didn't work b/c it was more formula (which her stomach couldn't handle & would throw up). So, then we tried putting a little rice cereal in her bottle to make it thicker thinking maybe it would stay down easier. Things got a little better, but she was still throwing up often. (Side note: She wasn't just spitting up...it was like vomiting her whole bottle back up) So, I called the Dr. back while we were in Florida & made it clear that things were still not working. So, now we're trying her on Zantac for reflux. She's been on the meds for two weeks & she has made a complete 360. Today marks a week that she has not spit up!!!! She's on Infamil A.R. which is for babies who spit up frequently, rice cereal & the Zantac. I read where some babies have reflux b/c their esophagus muscles aren't strong enough to keep down food. Hopefully this medicine will help build those muscles & she'll start putting on some weight & growing like she's suppose to. I stepped on the scale with her the other day & it said she weighs 9 lbs. I'm not sure how accurate that is. She goes back to the doctor for her shots & check up on Oct. 16th.

We went to Natchitoches to take some family pictures on Sunday!! Here are a few. Hope you enjoy.

Avery Elizabeth Cooper is HERE!!!

Avery is finally here!! She was born on August 15, 2008 at 4:08PM. She weighed 7 lbs 6 1/2 oz & was 21" long. She is happy, healthy & her looks are changing day by day. Here are a few pictures we took in the hospital.


First family photo.


7 lbs 6 1/2 oz; 21" long


Just born!! Daddy & Avery


Day #2 Eyes closed & eyes open


Sleeping Princess! First Doctor's Appointment

Baby Shower #3

The sweet people in the Accounting & Administration department at Rapides Hospital threw Ben & I a baby shower on Friday, August 1, 2008. Ben works in Accounting & my mom works in Administration. We had such a good time & Avery got some very nice things. She got some precious booties, a newborn gown & a great gift card to Wal-Mart. I have a feeling we will have lots of visitors in the hospital once Avery decides to grace us with her presence. =) Here are a few pictures from the shower.

The adorable cake!


Ben & I with the cake!


The first cake they bought. They thought the ladybugs looked like mutated cockroaches, so they decided to get another "baby" themed cake. It was a big joke around the office. =)


Newborn nightgown from Jennifer.


Cute little booties Jodie's mom made for Avery. I can't wait until she can wear them.

Work...

Several people have been asking me lately if i'm going back to work. The answer is yes, but not right now. My plan is to take the fall semester off to stay home with Avery (if she ever gets here...haha). I hope to find an open teaching position for the spring semester starting in January, but it all depends on what positions are open & available at that time. I still would love to go back to PreK, but the chances of a PreK position being open in January are very slim. We'll see what happens. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something amazing will come along. In the mean time i'm just trying to relax & take it easy because I know my days are numbers without Avery.

I've made an appointment to get a prenatal massage tomorrow. I'm so excited!! I was reading that this is one way to "naturally" induce labor. The relaxation releases hormones in your body that tells your baby it's time. I also read that eating pineapple & spicy food helps induce. I'm trying anything & everything. I have another doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon. I will update if he tells me anything interesting. As of last Thursday (July 31st) Avery was "head down", but I was "closed". Hopefully she has started her descent & she'll be here soon! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

We're now at T minus 3 1/2 weeks (24 days!!)