simple pleasures

i think one of the simple pleasures in life is pulling the covers over your sleeping child to keep them warm and watching them while they sleep. i never knew how much i could love her.

skinny jeans and photo shoots

So I have a really Deep Question...(not so much). I do realize, friends, that there are much bigger problems in the world and I do think about things other than the trivial subject that I am going to talk about here. But, what are your thoughts on skinny jeans? I have some boots thanks to mom/Santa Claus already for Christmas. They are really cute gray boots that are kind of bunchy (what's the word for them?) Anyways, I really love the look of the jeans with the boots...but don't know if they will accentuate my, um, assets, if you get my drift. Mom-hood has left me looking like I just got off a horse with my saddlebags...not sure I could really pull them off, especially pushing a stroller and with spit up all over me (not to mention my hair that seems to be falling out in chunks---pretty soon Tim and I both will need Rogaine:). What are your honest thoughts on the look?

Not too much big news happening with the Whites. Avery got her first pumpkin patch experience this weekend. It was definitely more for Tim and I than her. We wanted to get some cute photos of her and start this wonderful family tradition. Well, someone forgot to tell us that 4 months olds don't care about pumpkins, Halloween, or silly hats. We should have picked up on this when we arrived. We seemed to be the only ones with an infant at the patch. We were also the only ones who arrived looking ready to take senior portraits. While other parents of toddlers and elementary aged kids trudged through the patch in their sweats and sneakers, we watched our step in our leather shoes and tried not to get our sweaters dirty while looking for the perfect pumpkin to take our perfect shot of Avery. When we finally found it, we laid a blanket down for A to sit on and did tricks and sound effects and tried to tickle her. And you know what, I don't think she smiled, even once, during the entire time we were at that stupid patch. I mean, we could barely get her to look in the direction of the camera. And to be perfectly honest, we didn't even pick a pumpkin out of the patch there. Oh well, I guess we can try to start another tradition next year.

4 Months of Loving our Little Lady

Avery turned 4 months old on September 28, which just so happens to be Aunt Stacey's birthday (happy 25th to her!). We had her 4 month appointment on Monday (October 5) and found out that she is definitely growing! She measured 26.75 inches long and weighed 16 pounds 13.6 ounces. She was in the 90th percentile for her weight and was literally "off the charts" for her length and her head size (thanks, Tim).

Avery and I were in Iowa for about a week and a half, returning to Dayton on October 3. We had a great time seeing Grandma Deb and Grandpa Neil as well as all the aunts and uncles on the Johnson side of the family. Avery was sufficiently spoiled both in love and attention and in additions to her wardrobe and toy collection...so much so that we had to take another suitcase back home on the plane. The plane ride went well overall, and it was definitely a learning experience. I learned that while traveling alone on a plane with a baby, I need about 4 more hands. I am looking into how to make this possible. We wish we could have seen more people while we were back, but I was feeling quite under the weather for about 4 or 5 days and then Avery picked up whatever I had. We did have a great time seeing old teammates and their families at Central's volleyball alumni game the first weekend we were back. I can't believe how easy it was to reconnect and how in some ways it felt as if nothing had changed (besides the masses of children running around, pregnant ladies and lack of athletic prowess).

Tim was in Italy (Erice, Sicily to be exact) during the week we were in Iowa. He made it back safe and sound, and is now trying to figure out how to extend his life since he figured he lost a year or two while over there due to secondhand smoke inhalation. He did some sightseeing, gave a talk (which he "nailed"), spent lots of time eating unidentified foods and talked science with other science guys. I think a week on an island surrounded by other scientists made him appreciate his social worker wife a bit more:)

That's all for now. I am going to learn how to post pictures soon...