Wordless Wednesday

{Prom 2006}

I'M ABOUT TO MARRY THIS BOY!

38 days, Yes.. I'm counting!

Letters to Avery

Holy Smokes!!!! Your 9 Months Old baby girl,
Your personality is huge and so is your smile! I'm so in love with your little mouth; every time you open it up those little teeth just melt my heart! A toothless grin is nowhere near as darling as one with teeth! {You have 4 Teeth now} They change your appearance and makes you that much cuter. I totally didn't think that was possible, but you amaze me each month with your perfection. You are so beautiful Avery Anne don't let a soul tell you otherwise! But you knew that, we can't go out in public without a million and one complements about your big blue eyes! You love the attention & you love leaving the house. I'm pretty much convinced you hate it at home. I have never met a child more bored of her toys & of her Momma. You get so fussy and upset with me if we stay home. I joined the YMCA this month and your one hour visit in the 'Kids Zone' is pretty much the highlight of your day now. You never fuss when I leave your sight and the teacher always tells me how much fun you have starring at the other children and chasing them around the room! The interaction is so good for your development, but I think an hour is all you can take. It might just be all I can handle too, for now! Your eyes light up with excitement when you see me and that is one thing that will never get old. I plan to get you involved in the swim program this summer and that will be new and exciting for the both of us!

You’re Our biggest change this month has been the process of getting you off Momma's milk. It took me several weeks to wean you and it was very hard for me. I knew it was time, my production was not nearly enough anymore to continue slaving away at it, but I did not think it would pay this big of a toll on me, physically and mentally. You handled it like a Champ; thankfully formula does not bother you. Stopping has led my hormones to go in overdrive; almost two weeks now of not pumping and my body still is confused. I shed tears for the first time since your first month of life: tears of pure joy, tears of sadness, tears of fear, and tears of love. My body has finally let me have my emotions back and let me tell ya little girl, there back with full vengeance! I could cry on the drop of hat thinking about how proud I am to be your Momma and how happy I am to see you grow so perfectly. It's bittersweet to watch your little helpless self, turn so independent. It truly is a love/hate relationship, although I'm okay with it, each day you bring some sort of new happiness into my life. Looking at old pictures of you as a baby is all I need, you can grow and grow and grow baby girl. The world is yours to explore, I will be right by your side!

We will get your weight and height measurements next week. I am anxious to see where you fall on the charts, since you still completely dislike your solid foods. I'm lucky to get you to eat 10 bites of solids a day. I know you’re getting your nutrition from the formula still, but this is our largest obstacle to overcome. I'm thinking one of these days you will decide food is your friend, until then I'll continue giving you different choices daily. Hey! That’s what Momma's do, they don't give up and I'll teach you that for the rest of your life.

You absolutely love when I say, 'Give Kisses Avery'



Moose is becoming your Best Friend & I’m actually starting to believe {hopefull thinking} that Moose is becoming quite fond of you as well. I Love this! Maybe it’s all the table food you leave behind for her. Whatever it is she’s handling all the pushing and prodding quite well! I'm anxious to watch the two of you grow together.

The shoes stayed on for a good 3 minutes!

Another month goes by and i'm so unbelievably in love with you baby girl. I will continue to teach you all that I can. I will provide you with all the love a mother can. I am certain that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a mother to her daughter.

Lets see what this month brings baby girl, each day is a true blessing!

I will love you forever and ever,

Momma



ⓘ ⓦⓐⓝⓣ

My daughter to wear cute shoes!

This child refuses to wear shoes, boots, sandals...

For starters, we cannot get her heel down into them.

I think this is due to her always being on her tippy toes.

& the one pair we can get on her feet,

she has mastered getting off in 2 minutes tops!

Seriously look at these:

Total baby cutess, right!

Well maybe by the time shes one...

Atleast it keeps me out of our pocket book!

Love,

Jayme

Look at that face.

This little girl has me at a loss for words. She's a mess lately & my one wish was to wake up today {Monday} & have my happy Avery back. I cannot pinpoint the problem. A little over 2 weeks ago it was teething & this little dolly hates them bad boys; both of her Upper Lateral Incisor's broke through, which was a shocker to us because she doesn't even have her middle two yet!! So that explained her fussiness. Then it just continued... stomach bug, I thought. But at this point I honestly don't know if that's the answer for her messy diapers, runny nose & refusal to eat solids. You can tell shes just simply tired out: mind & body. "Poor girl" is an understatement. Poor Momma, Shes been such a "cling-on" and its obvious in my tired eyes too.

It certainly could still be a bug she caught, or teething {although, I see no pressure on her gums}, or both. I just hope too see this girl get some relief this week. With no fever or tugging on the  ears, I don't see the point to call in the doctor yet. Maybe she just needs some more cuddles from her Momma. I can handle that.

Jayme

Five.

{Overwhelming reasons why I’m glad it’s Friday}

1. Avery & I had the bad case of the flu this week. It's Friday & so far we both have NO signs that it's still around. However, shes pretty good at throwing an afternoon diarrhea diaper in there, lets hope not. Not today, its Friday.

2. I've woke up every morning this week with a headache. Thats misrable. Its Friday & I'm over it, I want some good weekend sleep with my hubby. (I could totally get used to saying that word!)

3. Bryce has not been home earlier than 7pm for weeks. It's Friday & he's coming home early tonight (-: 

4. There has been a few really tragic deaths in my home town. My grandparents were hospitalized. My Great Aunt had a stroke. It's Friday people & I've recieved NO bad news yet!!!

5. I've had a lot on my mind lately (jobs, childcare, SAHM, deaths, wedding planning, sickness, money, really the list goes on...) & now that it's Friday, I vow to throw all of it out the door & devote my entire self to my family. I think it's essential for the soul!

Seriously,
I'm really glad it's Friday.


Love,
Jayme

Wordless Wednesday

Enough said! I Love you baby girl,

Momma

Hands-off, we all have different perspectives!

This isn't really a 'touchy' subject in my household, it’s just not talked about very often and I'm still very unclear on how I want to direct this issue towards the upbringing of my children. I was raised in a Christian home. We went to church every Sunday, sometimes even during the week. I was part of the church choir, active in Sunday school, had major roles in all the holiday services, went to confirmation classes, youth group outings/retreats & loved every part of the faith-based community we belonged too. My family created strong friendship ties through church and we made lasting memories! Church was fun & without even realizing it, I was learning & following Gods word. My parents never pushed Christianity on me & my brother, they never forced Lutheranism. We have always had our choice to believe in God’s word. My parents gave us the opportunity to learn about God and his creation, they never told us it was the right way to think. I am blessed for this & I would never look back & wish it any differently. I later learned about evolution in school and formed my own beliefs on our existence (Leave this for a later post). My parents gave me an opportunity to learn & grow as an individual and I truly believe the involvement in church has made a strong & a lasting impression on which I am today. Now, we quit going to church regularly when I was in my last few years of high school; our pastor moved on to a different church and I became very active in sports. We decided that our church was not the right place for us any longer and since then I have not actively been part of any faith based community.

My fiancé was not raised up going to church, he was not taught Gods lessons through Sunday school, he was not confirmed or baptized. This does not make him or his family, bad people & certainly does not imply he is not a Christian. Believing in God is completely up to him & I do not believe you need church to make you a better person or a follower of God’s word. Nor do I believe you need to be active in church to speak to god through prayer or ask for forgiveness.

With this said, Bryce & I do not go to church...yet! Bryce has gone a few times with me to my Grandparents church, but it is not even close to a regular routine for either of us. However, we are now forming our own family bond; we now have the decision to teach our child & our future children about Gods word. We have the decision to give Avery the opportunities to learn about God and his creation. He has the choice to actively attend church. We have the choice to get Avery baptized, we have the choice to give Avery the opportunity to learn and socialize with children of the lord. This is something I strongly believe in. I want to give Avery the opportunity to gather with other children and make her own decisions and beliefs of church. I believe it is our job as parents to educate our children in every aspect of society, not just faith. She deserves to know the options, children deserve to learn about a variety of things; and then as they get older they can do the same as I did, form their own decisions, beliefs & standards.

So this leaves me where I am standing today:  Blank, indecisive, scared, and unsure of where to start. Finding a church, whether it’s just for Avery & I to attend, or my whole family, is a scary process. Walking into an organization (which I hate the thought of) alone, unfamiliar, and nervous, is going to take some balls on my part. I have said many times, I'm going to go to this church on Sunday... Yet, I never go. I guess the point of this post is that I’m looking for your views, opinions, and traditions on raising a family with or without church/God involvement and why you choose to do so! I do believe every family has their own beliefs on how to raise their family, so I'm not here to judge your paths, as well as, I hope you’re not here to do so about mine!

This subject should be talked about openly, fully and without embarrassement.

For we are all children of God.

Love,

Jayme

My Valentine.

A much needed weekend away.

This weekend was Amazing, to say the least! We took a mini-trip up North to Traverse City. It was mine & Avery's first time there. So fun. So beautiful. So romantic. So perfect. The 3 of us relaxed as a family & it was exactly what we needed. There was absolutely no snow, which was crazy & it was still picture perfect! I'm even more excited to go back during the warmer months & really capture the true beauty of pure Michigan! Seriously, 23 years here & I've really never been 'up north' I completely understand why people move there. Its calm, peaceful & the scenery is breathtaking.

On Saturday we checked into the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, dropped our bags off & headed back out. We stopped at the first family owned restaurant we could find & Avery ate like a champ; very unusual, but we were happy!! Then we walked around the downtown area in the beautiful 45 degree weather. Sipped wine, drank beer, ate chocolate, shopped, need I say more...

We even made our way into a few Wineries & had a some samples, fun!

Then we made a quick stop for some swim diapers and headed back to the resort.

We put Avery in the most darling Minnie Mouse swim suit & headed to the pool. This would have been a perfect way to tire her out. I was so sure that swimming was exactly what she needed to get a good nights sleep in a new environment.  Except the water was freezing, Avery hated it! So that didn't last long. We quickly headed back to our room, filled up the Jacuzzi tub and she played her little heart out!

We eventually went back down stairs to the little sports pub for dinner & drinks. It was a perfect Saturday, I couldn't have asked for a better day with my two favorite people. Yet, I was amazed once again with how perfect this trip could go; Avery slept from 8:30pm-8am in her pack-and-play! Yeah!!! We set it up in the bathroom, so she would be in complete silence and darkness, it was perfect! Thank you baby girl!

Sunday we all woke up starving, so we headed to another little ma & pa diner before getting back on the road! Did I mention this child ate & ate & ate the whole trip. She shoved her face at everymeal! I could not stop smiling, I think she just likes to show off in front of her daddy!

Then we drove two & half hours back South to my grandparents in Frankenmuth, where we met my parents and other family members for a late lunch! Yummo, what a perfect way to top off our already amazing weekend. Then of course, the Superbowl & wings on our very own couch! Lets just say we all slept well!

Love,

Jayme







Outing.

We went to the Circus today & ya know what, I don't remember ever going to the Circus before! I'm sure I went years ago, but this felt like just as new of an experience for me, as it was for Avery & boy did we have fun! Avery smiled & babbled for over 2 hours before she took a short snooze on my lap for the remainder of the show! We went with my girlfriend Brittany and the two little girls she used to nanny for! Who I might add, are darling! Everything about these girls is pure cuteness & they adore Brittany! All 3 of the girls really enjoyed themselves. It amazed me to see these 3 precious girls, all different in ages, interact so well together and find complete happiness from the silly Circus! I'm still waiting for Avery to pass out from all the stimulation! Here's a few pictures to show you just how awesome are day really went, Enjoy!

Love,
Jayme

Wordless[ish] Wednesday.

My dearest Avery Anne Funchion, NO ONE ELSE will ever know the strength of my LOVE FOR YOU. After all, you're THE ONLY ONE who knows what my HEART sounds like from the inside.



{Night one in Sleep Sack...Big Fat Success. 12 hours STRAIGHT!}

Love,

Momma