Daycare Drama

We love Avery’s daycare. The teachers are all so sweet and her class is really small so she gets lots of attention. Most importantly, she seems happy there. But apparently they have the most stringent illness policy in the history of daycares.

Yesterday, for the second time in 10 days, I got a phone call that I had to come pick Avery up because she had diarrhea. And not only does she have to stay home the rest of the day, she can’t return the following day either. The frustrating thing is that both times I have gotten home only to discover that it was, in fact, only a leaky diaper.

This time we even had a doctor's note that said she may develop diarrhea from her antibiotics and is not contagious, but they wouldn't accept it. So when I took her to her checkup yesterday afternoon, I got yet another note. But you guessed it...they still won't let her come back. So I spent the rest of the afternoon rescheduling as many of my Wednesday appointments as possible and cancelling the others so I could stay home with my perfectly healthy child.


My first patient's very sweet mom offered to let me bring Avery with me. So this morning, Avery got to meet one of my most precious little kiddos. She was so good while we were there, but I could tell she still wasn't feeling well after her shots yesterday. When we got home, she curled up with Tucker and took a three hour nap! I resisted the urge to snuggle up with them and used the time to catch up on lots of paperwork and chores around the house. When they finally woke up, we headed outside to enjoy the first warm, sunny day we have had in a long time.

Tax-Free Weekend

Mimi and Granddad came to visit this weekend. When they arrived, they couldn't believe how much Avery had changed since Easter. Not only had she gotten much bigger, she is playing and interacting a lot more now as well.

As if my mom and I needed an excuse to shop, it also happened to be tax-free weekend in Tennessee. So we spent the better part of Saturday afternoon at Cool Springs. Avery got lots of adorable new outfits and her first swimsuit! Thanks, Mimi!! And Ben bought Avery not one, but three Yankees shirts. I think they make her look like a boy, so she isn't allowed to actually wear them again until I make a hairbow to match :)

After shopping, we headed to Franklin for the Main Street Festival. For those who don't know, they block off the streets in downtown Franklin and have all sorts of arts & crafts, two stages with live music and tons of food! Avery loved facing forward in her stroller so she could see what was going on. Her legs didn't stop kicking the entire time we were there! Although she did great all day, by the time we got home Avery was very fussy. So Sunday, we decided to stay home all day and let her get some rest.

Daddy's Ears

We realized as soon as Avery was born that she had her Daddy's nose. Friday, we realized she got his ears as well. I picked her up from school early to go have lunch with my good friend, Ashley. When I got there, her teacher said she hadn't been herself and that she had been sleeping all morning.

She was laughing and smiling when we got to the car so we went on to Panera. However, during lunch she was very lethargic and it became obvious that she had a fever. So as soon as we finished eating, I rushed home to take her temp...101.3...yikes!

I immediately called her pediatrician's office and was told they couldn't get us in until the next morning. After much insisting, I finally got an appointment at their other office that afternoon. Naturally, by the time we saw the doctor, her fever was down to 99.1 and she was back to her happy self.

But when she looked in Avery's left ear, she said there was some wax that she needed to clean out. As she was working on it, I asked if ear infections were hereditary since Ben had such bad ear infections when he was little. Her answer was yes, definitely. As I was joking with Avery about thanking Daddy for passing on his ears, her doctor said we could thank him for the ear infection as well. Poor little girl.

She has been such a trooper, though. We think we caught it early enough that it won't get too bad. And we are praying that this is her first and last ear infection!

Mud Wrestling, Anyone?

Ok, not really....but if you WERE looking for a good spot to mud wrestle, our front yard would have been perfect Saturday afternoon. Ben has recently been growing more and more envious of some of the perfectly manicured lawns in our neighborhood. He finally decided that ours was beyond repair. So early Saturday morning he rented a tiller and began digging it up. Everything was going smoothly until the downpour mid-afternoon that forced us to call it a day and turned our yard into one big mud pit.

That night our Sunday School class had a social at a local pizza place. So much fun! At last count, we had about 50 people there including about 16 kids! As usual, we were some of the last people to leave. Everyone who was still there decided to go to the Wickwires' for game night. Avery was up WAY past her bedtime, but she didn't seem to mind too much. However, we did learn that she does not like it at all when Mommy yells. During the brief period that the girls were winning at Trivial Pursuit, I clapped and cheered when we got the right answer to a tough question. Avery jumped about a foot and started crying inconsolably. Poor girl. I am hoping she will get over that quickly. Otherwise, she may have a tough time during football season :)

Fortunately, Sunday was a beautiful day and the yard dried out enough to get back to work. So by that evening, we (and by "we" I mean mostly Ben) had tilled the yard, hauled away the grass and rocks, tilled it again, raked it smooth, spread seed and covered it with straw. The hope is to have a beautiful lawn this time next year. Miss Avery loved hanging out on the front porch in the warm weather watching Mommy and Daddy work.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

Lately we have been practicing animal sounds at our house. Yes, I know, this is a very advanced skill for a baby Avery's age. But she is doing very well and has learned 3 animals already! What a smart little girl :)

Grandpa's Birthday

Ben's parents haven't seen Avery since the beginning of February. So we headed to Starkville this weekend to suprise Ben's dad and celebrate his birthday with him. Ben and his dad got in a round of golf on Saturday morning. Then we all went to campus to watch the last few innings of the MSU vs Vanderbilt baseball game. It was a little chilly but still lots of fun. And of course, Avery had a great time playing with her grandparents and her Aunt Summer! Travelling with Avery is definitely not as easy as it used to be. Her car seat no longer puts her to sleep. So she is now spending more time awake while we are in the car. And that means she wants someone in the backseat to entertain her at all times! We will definitely have to find some sort of toy to hold her interest before we head back down for Summer's graduation in a few weeks.

It's Softball Time!

Ben is playing on our church softball team again this year. Their first 2 games were Tuesday night and I took Avery to watch Daddy play. It turned out to be a very windy night so Avery spent the first game snuggled up in a blanket with me and most of the second game with Miss Miranda. In case you were wondering, the team went 1-1. So they are off to a pretty good start!

Three Months Old

It's hard to believe it has been another month already. At 10 pounds 12 ounces, Avery has now nearly doubled her birth weight! Getting her to hold still long enough to take a picture is becoming quite a challenge...especially since she discovered the sign while we were taking pictures this month!