We didn't get these out in time, so Merry Christmas from the Nielsens!

WARNING:

If this is what you see when you look out your window, you may be susceptible to dressing your child in over-large clothing just to see how cute they look in their warm, winter attire!

I just couldn't help it! She looks so cute!


Happy Snow Day!

Guess Who Slept Through the Night?

Yup! 16 hours of sleep with just two feedings! Can I tell you how amazing that is? And it wasn't just any sleep... this little angel spent the whole night in her crib and very own room! We are excited for both of these changes and about getting some much needed sleep on our end as well!

Happy Sabbath!

Daddy - Daugther Time

Avery has had Brian wrapped around her finger since they laid eyes on each other. I love seeing them together and I can't seem to pry her away from him in the evenings when he's home from work. I have loved seeing Brian become the daddy he is and I'm excited to see these two continue to bond.

{she was absolutely demanding his attention}

{snuggle buddies}

{daddy's favorite outfit}

{getting ready to leave the hospital}

{after-work hugs}

{she was quite enthralled in the Christmas tree lights at the time}

{daddy in training}

One Month

One month of diapering, midnight feedings, crying, snuggling and burping, that is. :) We are in awe of this little angel each day and we can't believe she is a whole month old. I guess that means we are doing something right. Or at least not too many things wrong.

{big blue eyes}

{snuggle buddies}

{we love this little outfit from the Simmons- hood and all!}

So remember how I said we must not have too many strikes against us...? Well today was definitely one [huge] strike against us being any kind of parents. Brian and I decided to get some Christmas shopping done this afternoon and got all bundled and ready to go. We finally got Avery all packed up into her car seat and Brian headed out to put her in the car with me close behind. Just after I shut and locked our front door I heard Brian shut the car door and then he shot me an alarmed look. After tossing the keys into the driver's seat, Brian had put Avery into the car and shut the passenger door just to hear the car automatically lock itself. I really don't understand why my car has that feature, but regardless, we had a locked door in the cold weather with our little girl inside. Big oops!

{Brian felt so horrible and wouldn't leave her side the whole time}

{she did pretty well considering how cold the car was}

As soon as we realized she was locked in the car and that we were locked out of our apartment (the keys were also in the car), I headed to the neighbors to call a locksmith. Luckily there was one just down the street and we only had to wait a few minutes for him to arrive. He used a little contraption to unlock our car and she was contently sleeping when we got back in. We felt like such horrible parents! Hopefully we can have a little more success in the coming months!

A Day of Jammies!

So we're moving on into the 0-3 Month clothes. As sad as I am that our little Avery is growing, I love some of the outfits she's starting to fit into. These footed jammies are high on our list (thanks Julie!)

{I have the cutest baby in the world. I mean, seriously!)

{She's getting so big- I love those chubby cheeks!
}

{tummy time doesn't last too long around here. Avery has rolled over within 30 seconds of being laid down each time I try}

{And this is what she's doing right now! Allowing me to get a bite to eat and work on fixing this little problem...}

{Notice the very large hole. It's the size of my pinkie and sent loads of water under the sink this afternoon when I [finally] got to the dishes!}

Christmas is Happening

On Sunday I went to church for the first time since Avery was born. Brian and I did the tag team for different meetings since we're not taking Avery to church for another couple months. When I was at Relief Society Brian and Avery put our Christmas tree up to surprise me. :)


Last night for FHE we decorated the tree and put up our other Christmas decorations. I made gingerbread men for our tree this year with real gingerbread. It was supposed to be a gingerbread house that we do in October but with the pregnancy stuff, it never got past the dough making. I'm glad though because I love the feel it gives our tree and the smell of gingerbread in our house!

{Brian also hung lights in our window. What a sweetie!}

{There were some extra gingerbread men so I hung them on a string and we used them as garland above our window.}

{Brian hanging the garland}

Avery also had her first bottle last night. She was skeptical at first, but soon got the hang of it and drained the whole thing. It was fun for Brian to be able to feed her.

My First Bath

Avery had her first bath on Sunday night. Her umbilical cord stump came off over Thanksgiving allowing us to have a real bath instead of the sponge baths she's been getting. She did pretty well for such a new and foreign experience and we had fun getting her clean.

{I love her little chubby cheeks!}

{She started getting cold near the end and decided she was done. I think next time we'll steam up the bathroom before we give her a bath.}

{Getting dried off and warmed up with daddy}

{Such a proud momma!} :)

Two Weeks Down- A Lifetime to Go!

Well, we have successfully survived two weeks of parenthood. Sometimes I feel like I'm just keeping my head above water between feeding her, changing her diaper, and getting her to sleep. And then there are the times I just sit and marvel at how perfectly beautiful she is. A tiny miracle in my arms. I learn a little more about love every day. Unconditional love- the kind that doesn't change even when she poops all over me in her nighttime feeding/changing and then pees all over her clothes so I have to change them too! Isn't parenthood great?

The second night that Avery was home from the hospital we had to put her in the bili bed. Her bilirubin levels had gone up a few points from where they were in the hospital and to be safe they wanted to have her on the bed as much as possible. So besides feeding her, burping her, and changing her diaper, she was in the bed. She made this sad experience a lot easier by sleeping the whole time and by looking so cute in her protective eye wear!


A week ago we took Avery to get some photos taken of her and we are so happy with how the shoot went. She slept for two hours of a photographer positioning her body and only peed on Brian once. :) We don't have the pictures back yet, but we do have a family photo that she shot for us.

{I shot this one from my phone}

So far Avery has been a pretty good sleeper. In the first two weeks she slept for 6-7 hours straight at night and after one feeding would sleep for another 3-4. In the last couple of days she has been a little more alert at night, but she's still an angel.

Avery at 2 weeks:
8 lbs 2 oz (43 percentile)
21 inches long (75 percentile)
Head is 13.75 inches around (23 percentile)

We love this little wiggler so much and already can't imagine life without her in our family.

Introducing: Avery Mae Nielsen

Baby Avery Mae Nielsen
Born @ 10:09 a.m.
November 4, 2010
8 lbs 0.5 ounces
19 inches long

More posts to come...

Another Finish and a Baby Shower!

With only three weeks left in the pregnancy, we finally pulled the nursery together. I really love how it turned out and I'm so grateful for a helpful husband who was willing to take his 'day off' from writing school essays to put this together with me. :)

Brian stained the pieces of wood to match the crib (and the changer that will arrive next week!) and then we attached the ribbon and letters. It's strange to have her name on the wall. It makes this so much more real, which I probably need at this point, haha.

The little shelf by the door with some added wall decals. :)

We got it all put together just in time for a baby shower at our apartment. Two of my best friends, Crystal Howarth and Sherstin Pearce threw the shower for me and we had such a great time! Thank you girls for everything. You are wonderful!

I don't have all the pictures from their cameras yet, but I will be sure to show more pictures when I can.

Freshman roommates

Sherstin, me, Christa, and Crystal

Finished!

This past weekend we headed up to Farmington to watch conference at my parents'. We had a great time visiting with them and everyone else who came and really enjoyed listening to the wonderful speakers. I took initiative to finally get my LOVE quilt bound! YAY! An actual finished product? I know this was just my learning quilt, but I have to admit that I am pretty proud that I now know how to do binding. I spent three of the sessions hand stitching it on and I think it turned out pretty good for a first-timer.

{such pretty colors!}

{hanging outside for a pic because I just can't get enough of it}

{and another picture to show the backing... did I mention I love this?}

We had a great weekend and of course, I couldn't come home without more projects from my mom's stash. :) Hopefully I can get to them between editing Brian's application essays and before the baby decides it's time to come.