Handmade Hair Bow Giveaway (over!)

So every now and then when my darling Avalyn is taking her naps, I get some time alone to myself. Usually I spend this time trying to clean up the mess I call home, but today I decided I wanted to treat myself to a bit of crafting.
I have been dying to dapple in the bow making so believe me when I say I was ecstatic to have found something I could transform into a bow on clearance at Michaels.
After a little bit of brainstorming, a few burned fingertips, and fighting the cat for table space, I was able to come up with these two beauties:

The first bow is an adorable little felt flower accented with baby pink tulle on an alligator clip.

The second bow is a double silk flower accented with a white tulle puff on an alligator clip.













Isn't she just the cutest?! She is quite the little model and absolutely loves the camera; which is awesome since I am ALWAYS taking photos of her.
I really enjoyed making these bows and I wish I were able to make a few more today! I found it to be incredibly relaxing (despite the burnt fingers!) and the outcome was well worth it. Avalyn loved holding the bows and feeling the different textures and helping me model the finished product.

So, who would be interested in a giveaway with the prize being the felt flower hair bow?!

Yes, you have read that correctly, I will be GIVING AWAY the first bow pictured.
Why on Earth would I do that??
Well, while making bows I decided it would be fun to make an extra one and share it with everyone. Plus I have been wanting to host a giveaway of some sort for awhile now and thought that this would be the perfect opportunity.
I bet you are wondering what you need to do in order to be eligible to win, right?
All you have to do is leave a blog comment with any number 1 through 100. I will choose the winner by using the random number generator and if your number is chosen you will receive the cute little hair bow!
The giveaway will end on Monday, May 6th!

Good luck!
<3

The winner is:

The person with the closest number was Caylon! Congratulations! 

Thank you everyone for your entries! I will have another giveaway again soon, so keep an eye out!

Caylon, please get ahold of me!

What Is In Your Diaper Bag, Aubrey?

Our first Mommy to share with us what is in her diaper bag is my friend, Aubrey.
Aubrey and I have been friends for 11+ years. So when we were pregnant with our children at the same time, of course we were ecstatic to be going through everything together.
Unfortunately distance kept us apart and we had to rely on modern technology to keep us connected. Our blogs were one way of doing so and I am so glad that we have been brain storming up some pretty awesome ways to help share our parenting experiences with each other and with all of our friends who are also parents or parents-to-be.
I have been curious as to what she keeps in her bag since the moment I saw her awesome looking bag back in December, when I was visiting home for the holidays. I of course fell in love with the pattern of her Vera Bradley (I LOVE Vera!!) the moment she showed it to me.
Well, on to the bag!

Your name: Aubrey Jamerson

Your blog: Eager Reborn Sunshine 

Your child/ren and their age: 1 son, Allen who is 6 months old.

1.  The Bag:

Vera Bradley's Make A Change Baby Bag in Baroque print

I absolutely LOVE my diaper bag. It has so many pockets and has enough room for everything that I want to fit in it and room for even more. I would recommend my bag to any new momma. I think that any mom would fall in love with the bag just as I have.

2. The Goods:

1. Wipes babies plain and simple are messy and wipes are a lifesaver and timesaver when it comes to messes.

2. Diapers that cute little tush has to be covered and the diaper that has worked the best for us is Pampers Swaddlers.

3. Johnson's Hand and Face Wipes they are alcohol free and work so great. I have a child with goopy eyes or eye boogers and these work perfectly.

4. Bib of course to keep Allen's clothes somewhat clean while he feeds.

5. Aden & Anais swaddle blanket. Soooooooo worth the money and so soft to snuggle with.

6. Paladin or miracle in a jar. This is the diaper cream that was used on Adam and I and it seriously is the BEST diaper cream around.

7. A & D for when Allen just needs a little cream and not a miracle preformed on his tush.

8. Aveeno baby lotion this stuff will make anyone's skin super soft and I love using it on Allen.

9. Avent Soothie paci Allen will only use this paci and have to have plenty on hand just in case he turns into a baseball player and thinks that it needs to be thrown.

10. Hand sanitizer so I'm keeping my hands as clean as possible.

11. Chicco monkey one of Allen's two favorite toys. Either the monkey of the horse that is currently in use HAVE to be in his carseat with him.

12. Cowprint wet bag. Originally had this for when we were doing cloth diapers. Those didn't work out for us but man is this bag amazing for holding dirty/wet clothes or bibs.

13. Chang of clothes. I currently had a sleeper packed. Allen is a fan of sleepers.

14. Bottles for when Boogie gets hungry.

15. Wristlet or mini to the big bag. Yes it is the same print as my diaper bag and on a quick run I just grab this. It's my wallet plus a place to carry my phone all in one.

16. Mommy items. Chapstick which is a necessity item for me, my own little lotion, and a few makeup items, contact lens items, and a mirror all are in the Coach bag.

3. What must you ALWAYS have in your bag?
    Diapers and a change of clothes. Allen has blowouts it seems like it's his daytime job.

4. What is the most random thing you carry in your bag?
    A Bible for church on Sundays.

5. Any diaper bag mishaps?
    No mishaps to speak of.

6. Dirty secret?
    I have forgotten a full bottle with formula a time or two inside and realized a couple days later. Oopsie

A big thank you to Aubrey for sharing! I love that cow printed wet bag for your little mister's soiled clothes! And the fact that we both have a Vera wristlet in our bags...great minds think alike!

So there you have it! Make sure to keep an eye out for our next momma's diaper bag and what she keeps inside! 

It's Earth Day!

Here in the Felda house it feels like every day is Earth Day!
What I mean by that is we are constantly tossing recyclables into the recycle bin, saving things to be reused later, planting new things in the yard, etc., etc. But the biggest thing that we do is cloth diaper! My newsfeed on Facebook was full of statuses asking me, "What have you done to help the Earth?" and well, I definitely think that cloth diapering my little Avalyn has definitely been helpful. Not only have we saved ourselves some money, but we have significantly reduced the amount of waste that we put out.
Anyways, what I am trying to say is that every day we are trying to improve our way of living not only for our benefit, but for the benefit of the planet that we live on. I am anxiously awaiting the time that Avalyn is old enough to understand why it is we do what do and why I am constantly trying to create new (and better) routines for ourselves. I want her to understand the benefit of having electricity and running water and why it is we need to remember to turn lights and electronics off when we are not using them. I want her to know the benefits of recycling and why it needs to be done. I want her to see us doing these things and then turn around and teach her children.
But all of that will come in due time. :)
For today, I thought it would be fun for her to create one of my favorite sea creatures out of things that we had hanging out in the house.

First, you will need:

1. Tissue paper-I had saved all of the tissue paper from Avalyn's baby shower and Christmas that did not have any tears/rips in them.

2. Scissors

3. Coffee filters-these are ALWAYS in our house.

4. Spray bottle with water inside-the cats were not pleased to see this in my hands...

5. Markers-I love Crayola brand because they are non-toxic!

Then, you take your markers and color, doodle, scribble, or whatever you want onto your coffee filter!

Avalyn enjoyed holding the marker and she did even make a few little scribbles on her coffee filter on her own.

She did need a few pointers...

...but she really was more fascinated with the filter and stuffing it into her mouth.

It is kind of hard to see, but she had stuffed the filter into her mouth and given herself a blue tongue. 

So I let her play with some closed markers while I finished up our sea creature. 

Any guesses yet as to what it may be?!

Once you have colored onto your filter, take the spray bottle full of water and spray the filter. This will cause all of the colors to bleed and make really cool designs. You will want to set it onto a cup or bottle to dry. Oh! And make sure you lay some paper or something down when you spray the filters because the colors will bleed onto the floor or table if you do not! I just used some of the moving paper we had left from when we moved into our house. 

After it is dry, you will cut the tissue paper into strips, crimp them with your fingers, tape them to one side of your filter and...

VOILA! 

You have yourself a little jelly fish!! Avalyn LOVED watching these things once they were finished. She got so excited when I made them do a little jelly dance over her head. I made about four of them and we plan on hanging them up somewhere in her room (hello! perfect addition to her beach themed room!). 

I also stamped Ava's hand and feet and we made an "Earth" to hang up on the refrigerator for Daddy to see when he came home from work! 

So cute!

Before having a child I probably would have never gotten so into little things like Earth Day (even though I remember loving all of the activities and festivities when I was a kid). But I am so glad that I did something today so that we have it to look back on. 

Besides, today was a pretty memorable event despite it being all about Mother Earth...today Avalyn said "ma ma" for the first time!! :') It was an incredible moment and as most moments are, a complete and total surprise! I was sitting on the couch with Ava's Grandma Lisa (aka Gamma) and she of course was throwing a little tizzy and as she was doing so she looked at me and said some baby babble followed by "mama". It took me a few seconds to realize what she had just said. I looked over at Gamma and she smiled at me...I think I had tears in my eyes as I said, "SHE JUST SAID MAMA!!!". 

I immediately sent Brian a text message telling him what had just happened. He was on his way home from work so I was really hoping that it was not a one time incident.

Thankfully it was not!

During dinner tonight, I managed to accidentally capture a three second video of Avalyn saying it again! 

                                  

Can't believe that my little bug is TALKING...well, sort of! She is sitting up and saying "ma ma" and can almost say "da da" to the point of us understanding it. Oh man. Can't handle all of this growing up so soon!! Bring on the mommy melt down! 

So with that I leave you with these adorable photos from dinner time tonight; Daddy Marine finally able to sit and feed his daughter some carrots...the best part was when she sneezed and he got hit with the orange goo. Ooh man do I cherish these moments. 

p.s Happy Earth Day, everyone!!

What Is In Your Diaper Bag?

I am sure a lot of my fellow mommies (and daddies!) out there often wonder what in the heck is in the diaper bags of other parents?
Well, if you don't I sure as heck do!
I don't know how many times I have been at the grocery store and have caught myself staring at other mom's diaper bags wondering how they manage to fit everything they need into such a small bag, or how they can find anything in that massive black hole of a bag? Or my favorite one yet, "OHMYGOSH! That is the CUTEST bag ever!! HONEY!! Where do you think she got her bag?!?!" No, my darling husband never gives me the answer I am looking for (he almost always shrugs his shoulders).
If you are anything like me, you want to know these things!
So, my best friend (who has been my partner in crime since middle school) and fellow blogger, Aubrey and I came up with a fun feature for our blogs, "What is in your diaper bag?".
We plan on asking our fellow momma friends what is in their bags with a series of questions:

Your name:

Your blog's name (if applicable):

How many children and their name and ages:

1. What bag do you use?

Do you love it?  Would you recommend it to a new momma?

2. The "goods"? (I.E a brief description on what is in there and what it is for).

3.. What must you ALWAYS have in your bag?

4. What is the most random thing you carry in your bag?

5. Any diaper bag mishaps? 

6. Dirty secret? 

Alright, to kick this off I thought I would start you off with a look at what is in the Felda diaper bag!

Well, I hope you all know my name, but in case you don't...my name is Chelsey! And I am Mommy to Avalyn, who just turned eight months old.

1. 

Alright, I have two diaper bags that I often switch between depending on the type of trip/outing we will be having. The first (left) is my fabulous Thirty-One Retro Metro Tote; which is used for road trips, over night stays, and outings that will last longer than five hours; such as a day trip. The second (right) is my Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Bag; which is used for those shorter trips. 

I would definitely recommend both bags! I love, love, LOVE my PPB but once my little bug hit six months old and started to require more things when we would leave the house, it was just not big enough. I also LOVE my Thirty-One tote because of all of the room I have! My favorite thing about the PPB is the detachable changing pad! I love how I can just take it out of the PPB and stick it in my Thirty-One bag!

2.  The "Goods":

1. Face wipes because let's face it, babies are messy. ;)

2. A pen, Wet Ones, and Pacifier/Toy Cleaning Wipes: I keep a pen in the bag because I always need one when I don't have one in it, the Wet Ones are for those dirty high chairs and carts, and the wipes are pretty much self explanatory. 

3. Baby food, travel spoon, formula/formula dispenser, baby juice, and my Thirty-One thermal pouch to keep it all in.

4. Baby Mum Mum's, a granola bar for Mommy (or Daddy!), spare/emergency formula, and baby snacks (teether biscuits and puffs).

5. Wet bag and cloth diapers.

6. Bottles and a sippy cup. 

7. Teether toys!! I would DIE without these!!

8. Wipes holder with cloth wipes inside, diaper creams, and hand sanitizer.

9. Mommy's wristlet, Kleenex, and chap stick: the Kleenex because it is allergy season and the chap stick because Brian is always asking me for some. 

10. Pacifiers (always carry a spare!).

11. The "Med" Bag: in it we have things like gas drops, Tylenol, baby chap stick, teething gel, amber beads, etc. 

12. A big and a burp cloth because Ava always seems to spit up when we don't have them.

13. Spare clothes in their own wet bag.

14. Some crazy light up spinner Cinderella toy...not sure why that is in there...

3. What must I always have in my bag?? That is a tough one since without one thing we almost always need it; which is why I carry so much! I would have to say that right now the one thing I must ALWAYS have in the bag is a pacifier and the wet bag...without the pacifier I can't distract her from her hunger in the even that I forgot the bottle, formula, or BOTH; which has been done before. And without the wet bag, well, let's just say we have one STINKY diaper bag without it. 

4. The most random thing in my bag is definitely that Cinderella toy...I think I stuffed it in her bag when we were traveling to Georgia a few weekends ago...not sure why...

5. My biggest diaper bag mishap was when Brian told me not to bring the bag since we would only be gone for no more than 20 minutes as we ran to the store and for whatever reason I listened. Well we ended up being gone for over an HOUR and poor Ava was hungry so we had to buy her a pouch of baby food to hold us over until we made it back home. Parent of the year award goes to....

6.  My dirty secret is that I am guilty of having forgotten to take the dirty diapers out of the wet bag...oopsy! I should also swap out the spare clothes since I am almost positive they are from two months ago...guess that means we are lucky for not ever needing them! Now watch, we will need them and the clothes will be waaaaaaay too small! Ha! 

And I bet half of you are wondering how in the hell that all fits into the bag?!

Just like this!! ;)

So there you have it! That is everything currently in our diaper bag; I am constantly swapping out the toys so little Ava does not get bored or tired of looking at the same toys. I also always have her Wubbanub in there as well, but it was not pictured since it is tucked away snugly in her arms as she is asleep in bed. 

Make sure to check out my dear friend, Aubrey's blog as she features her friend's diaper bags! Soon we will all know the answers to our questions..."what is in that diaper bag?!".

And make sure to keep an eye out because Aubrey's diaper bag will be coming soon!! 

       

Eight Months Old.

Guess who turned eight months old!?

Age: eight months, four days

Weight: 13 pounds, 5 ounces

Height: 25 inches 

Favorite food: fruit, fruit, and fruit! 

Loves: books/bedtime stories, sitting up, and playing in her exersaucer.

Dislikes: keeping her head bands on her noggin' and laying on her back

Alright, so, this passed month has been both atrocious and adventurous!!!
I never thought that my sweet, adorable, tiny, little Avalyn could be capable of producing the most blood curdling, and mind blowing screams one has ever heard! She has been teething for almost two months now and I swear for the longest time I thought that I would never get my precious baby back. She was a totally different baby when her teeth started to bother her! She refused to eat solid foods for almost three weeks, would scream bloody murder when we would take her bottle away from her after she had finished eating, and some days she would do nothing but whine and cry ALL day.
Basically everything that the books said COULD happen did. I was convinced we were being punished because she had been such the perfect baby from the day we brought her home from the NICU.
We invested in EVERY teether toy and remedy out there; or at least it sure felt like it. She would be content with one thing for a few minutes before she would go back to the screaming. I have a lovely stash of teether toys, Tylenol, teething gels, and teething tablets. I have about three of the self feeders that we like to try frozen fruit in, but truthfully, the only thing that seemed to help her through the worst days was sleep. I felt like a terrible parent for letting her sleep most of the day and all through the night, but I was at my wits end. As long as her tummy was full, I didn't care if she didn't eat the food I gave her. As long as she was not screaming, I didn't care if she slept all of the time. As long as it gave her relief, I was all for those dreaded teething tablets.
Eventually the worst of it passed and now we are waiting for these little teeth to cut through. She has three little bumps (the incisors and canine teeth) on the bottom right of her gums and the middle of the three is the biggest so I think that will be the one she cuts first. We still have a rough day here and there, but she is eating her solid foods again so I think the worst is over...for now...
Teething pains aside, we have had a great month!

My little darling had her eight month well visit (not a typical exam for babies, but her new doctor has her on monthly visits so as to monitor her weight gain) and it boy was it an interesting one! First of all, let me say how much I really love our new pediatrician! He is spectacular and is very good at explaining things to us; such as the difference between her weight/height on a typical baby growth chart versus the preemie growth chart! I love how he explains both of the charts to me.
So we learned that Avalyn is growing how she should be and that the feeding schedule we have her on now is a good one; although now we are thinking about starting her on solid foods three times a day now instead of two. She is currently getting 6 oz. bottles every three hours with the exception of over night because she is sleeping through the entire night. I personally thought that that many bottles was a lot but he suggested to keep giving them to her because she does still need to catch up. We also discussed a few of our concerns as far as her hunger strike and he did confirm that it was due to teething and that it will not last (thankfully she is starting to eat again!).
Our biggest concern was her coughing; since she has come home from the NICU she has had this questionable cough. I was so worried that she had contracted RSV or had Croup, but thankfully the doctor dismissed those ideas. He told us that she is showing signs of allergies; which generally start to pop up around six months. He asked us if we have pets; which of course we do, and he gave us the "look". He was not saying that she was allergic to the cats or dog, but it could very well be a possibility. It could also be due to the excessive amounts of pollen; which is what is giving Brian and I a hard time. The amount of pollen down here is simply ridiculous! But he suggested to keep using her cool mist humidifier at night, keep her nose clear, and to get a wedge crib pillow or to prop her up when she is asleep. He informed us that with these allergies and with teething she is just all sorts of uncomfortable. He could tell by the way that she was breathing (with her mouth open) that she was suffering from some serious congestion. Poor thing! He prescribed us a low dose of Zyrtec for her to see if it helps.
I am not going to lie, I was very hesitant about giving her the Zyrtec, so I put off giving it to her until the weekend when Brian was home so he could help keep an eye on her after giving to her; I was paranoid about an allergic reaction.
I was also a litte skeptical about trying the wedge pillow, but Brian and I figured if it did not work we would just return it. At first she kept sliding down off of the damn thing and we had to move her back onto it about three times the first night she used it, but after about a week of using it, she pretty much stays in one spot.
Since trying all of those things she has been feeling much better! Of course she can't stand having her boogies sucked out of her nose, but I don't blame her on that one. That is just annoying!
So the part that made our visit rather interesting was when the doctor was giving Avalyn her look over and she gave him a major freak out. This little baby was completely fine with him touching her, talking to her, etc. but once that stethoscope came out and he put it on her chest, she looked up at him and her little eyes got huge, filled with tears, and she did this sort of scared grimace thing with her mouth and then just started bawling! I was so confused by her reaction considering she has seen this doctor before and seeing doctors is nothing new for her.
Of course after I picked her up she was completely fine the rest of the time. We think she is starting to become leery of strangers when they are near her; I really hope it is not the beginning of separation anxiety!

As the month progresses we are beginning to hit several milestones!
Avalyn is now able to sit up on her own for several minutes before collapsing onto her pillow. She is starting to want to stand more and for longer! She has even stood at our coffee table for a few minutes and watched the T.V. before I scooped her up because I could not stand the thought of her being able to stand with the furniture's help. It was definitely one of those "devastated momma" moments. I want her to be my tiny little bug again!! She is so close to rolling over from her back to her belly and she is able to roll from belly to back like it is nothing.
She is starting to become much more aware of her surroundings when we are out and about town. We no longer leave her in her car seat when we go into stores; she either sits in the cart or is carried by Brian or myself. She has started to get so excited over things...she does this crazy cough/pant thing when she gets excited...I swear people must think she never gets out by the way she reacts to being in a store.
She loves going into book stores and helping me pick out books to read to her at bedtime. We took her into Barnes and Noble to pick out some books as a little "Happy 8 Month Birthday" gift and she went NUTS. Brian was holding her in the adventure position (facing outward) and I would pick up a book and show it to her and she would do her crazy cough thing and flail her legs and then squeal. Funniest thing EVER! I hope to catch it on video some day.

Well, another month has almost come and gone and before we know it Avalyn will be a year old...I am so not ready for that! Where does the time go?!

On that note, I leave you with some of our favorite photos and videos from this month!

                                     

Just some assisted standing...no biggie!

Sitting up like a big girl!

Rocking one of my Mommy's baby dresses. 

Pretty in pink!

Matching tootsies! 

Finger painting for the first time using home made paints.

Making music.

She loves the sensory bag that Mommy made for her.

Reading a new book. 

Soaking up the attention. 

                                       

Seven Months Old

Avalyn turned seven months old on March 16th!

Age: seven months, nine days

Weight: 13 pounds

Height: 25 inches 

Favorite food: Vanilla teether biscuits and mommy's home made pear puree!

Loves: Sophie the Giraffe toys, her exersaucer, and being outside.

Dislikes: green beans and peas and anything cold.

Our little darling is seven months old and that means that we are only five months away from celebrating her first birthday! I have started the planning already and I get so excited every time I add ideas to my (secret) board on Pinterest. I can't wait to see what Brian and I are able to come up with! We have been putting money back every paycheck so we can give Ava the perfect first birthday. After all, you only turn a year old once! 

Our princess has had quite the month so far! 

She has started teething and that alone has been both a nightmare and an adventure. 

We have slowly started introducing her to stage two foods; I started using my Baby Bullet and have been making her food and so far I think we both love it. I find it to be very relaxing to be honest and I can't wait to start trying different food combinations. The food even tastes better than yucky jar food! Yes, I do try everything that I give to her because that just makes sense to me. 

I have also introduced her to the sippy cup and was stunned when she was able to drink out of it without any issues at all. 

Grandma and Grandpa Felda got Ava a high chair and she absolutely loves "sitting" with us and it has made feeding her so much easier. Before the high chair I was using her bouncy chair or Bumbo seat and that was beginning to become very difficult. Plus she really loves sitting in her chair with us while we have dinner! It really is one of my favorite times of the day, particularly because it is when the whole family is together. 

She has also started sitting up on her own! I nearly lost it when I sat her up in the sitting position and she STAYED there! I could not believe that she was able to just sit there on her own. Occasionally she takes a little tumble over but she tries so hard to pull herself up and back into her sitting position. She is not quite strong enough to pull herself up yet, so we have to help her out. I was devastated that Brian was out in the field when all of this happened and had missed her sitting for the first time, but luckily I was able to snap a quick photo of her sitting and send it to him. The photo was insanely blurry, but I was so happy that he was able to at least somewhat share in the experience. 

Ava has also gotten rolling over from her belly to her back mastered and has almost rolled from her back to her belly. It won't be long now! She manages to move herself around somehow though! We think that she may not crawl and just go straight to walking with how often she loves to try to stand/pull herself up. As crazy it may sound, I hope she crawls first...I am not ready to have a walking baby yet! 

We have such a big girl on our hands...I almost can't stand it! I am not ready for her to be older...I want her to stay a tiny little babe FOREVER! 

She is sleeping in her crib throughout the entire night; she no longer wakes us up in the middle of a night for a bottle. She is in bed by 10:00pm  and gets up when Brian gets up for work around 4 or 5 in the morning; in which I give her a bottle and then we snuggle in bed and sleep until about 9 or 10. She loves being in her crib...I don't know how many times I have gone in there to get her up from a nap or something and she is just laying there playing or watching her Baby Einstein's mobile. 

She has finally completely grown out of her 0-3 month and almost all of her 3 month clothes...I started crying when I had to pull out all of the 6 month sized clothes to get washed and ready for her to wear. I can guarantee that when I take that big box of clothes in to Once Upon a Child to trade in for bigger clothes I will have to walk out when they start going through them. Sometimes being a mom is rough. ;)

I have also started bringing Ava along with me outside to help me with the flowers. I can thank the Baby K'tan for that! She is now big enough to be in the "adventure position". So her and I will now go outside and water the plants, bring in the garbage cans, check the mail, play with Bandit, check on the bird feeders, and then end it with a nice long push on her swing (out of the sling, of course). She absolutely loves being outside! She is so fascinated by the water can and gets a kick out of it all...quite literally! She will sit there on my chest and flail her little arms and legs and make little baby sounds. I am so glad she loves it! She is quite the little helper too...she loves trying to reach out for everything. I am sure my neighbors think that I am crazy...if they happen to be watching me from behind and hear me talking I am sure they must think I am talking to myself. Ha! I never understood why I get so many looks while I am wearing little miss though...is it really that unusual to practice attachment parenting? 

Well, anyways, I can not believe how much Ava has grown both mentally and physically this month! I know that I say this EVERY time, but she blows my mind. I still can't believe that seven months ago our little one was in the NICU and only weighed in at about 3 pounds! 

Brian and I will be taking a trip back down to Georgia to pick up Mr. Cody Cat (yes! Almost two months later, our Cody was found!!!!)...perhaps we should drive a little further to Jacksonville and visit the NICU? I still can't thank those nurses and doctors enough for what they have done for Bug. 

Until next time...

...enjoy some of our favorite photos from Avalyn's first Easter!

Excited about her Easter basket.

Reading her Easter cards from Grandma and Grandpa.

Incredibly fascinated by her dress.

The cutest little baby toes I have ever seen!