Apple Butter Festival 2012

YAY Apple Butter Festival! We were so excited to head out to the apple orchard once again to enjoy some apple picking! It was such a great dreary day to head out and have some family time outside. Avett slept the entire morning, not even to eat did he wake up (he was really enjoying the feeling of being lazy on days like that). We picked lots of apples, went on the hayride, had some yummy apple cider slushies, looked at a couple of farm animals, and Addy got her face painted. It was such an enjoyable time!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Honors College Cookout

We attended our annual Honors College Game Day Cookout on the first weekend in September. As usual, Thomas was the grill master! We had some yummy sausage wraps, chips, and ice cream. This year was special because we were able to bring Avett to his first Texas Tech event. He did wonderfully and it helped that there was an air conditioned building that we could hang out in and not get overheated. The next best thing about the cookout was that I got to hang out with some great friends this time! Trinity, Diana, and Grace and Dan and Jeremy came to enjoy the cookout and go to the game! It was wonderful to spend the weekend with them, let Addison and Grace have some playtime together,and start the introduction of all of our family traditions to Avett!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

One Month

Avett is officially one month old this week! It is so hard to believe how quickly he is growing. We have seen different changes in him every week. We have been so lucky that we have this sweet little boy and sooo lucky that he is such a great baby! We have really had no problems or hard times with him thus far! Here are some things he is doing:
~ He has definitely begun to fill in and has started to become our chunky monkey. He has quickly moved from his newborn to the 3 month outfits and barely working the 0-3 month outfits. He is eating very very well! He is eating every 1 1/2 to 3 hours. I am still in and out of having problems, but things have gotten easier.
 ~ He is sleeping really well at night. We feed him between 8 and 9 in the evening and he will sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. He will only eat a small amount and get his diaper changed and is back to sleep for another 2 hours, eat a tiny bit more and get changed and sleeps some more. He is still sleeping in our room, but the moses basket is increasingly getting tooo small. So since I have been home alone with him this week, I have been transitioning him for napping into his crib. It seems to be going pretty well, and once he is sleeping longer through the night we will move him into the crib at night.
~ He is smiling, making eye contact, and cooing so much more. He looks around and observes so much, especially his sister while she is playing. He enjoys smiling when he is getting "silly kisses" and will give you eye contact, noises, and open his mouth to "request" more! It is so fun to see him become more interactive. When he is not hungry he will lay on the pillow with Addison at night and listen to the bedtime stories, I think he more enjoys laying on the comfy pillow and laying next to sister.
~ He is not a fussy baby at all! Thank goodness! The only time he really cries is when he is "starving" and when he has had a dream that startles him awake. He will make one or two "sad" noises when he is starting to get sleepy. We have not used a paci at all and I am very happy that we have not had to use one. What luck we have!
~ Addison has done so so well with him. She has been a big helper. She enjoys picking out his diaper and throwing them away. She will watch him, while mommy or daddy walks away for a moment, she loves to talk to him, kiss him, hold him, sing to him, pretty much anything she can do with him, she enjoys! We are working on her having a quiet voice while he is sleeping and to not touch him or things around him that move while he is sleeping. She just can't help herself and it has been a bit of a struggle for her...lots of reminders are being made by mommy and daddy.
In the next month, we will be having some more changes on sure physically and developmentally, but there will also be some changes in the environment. Mom will be going back to work on the 10th and will begin going over to Nana's everyday for "Nana Daycare". I am very happy that she will be taking care of him, but I am so sick to my stomach about not being with him anymore. He will begin the transition to taking a bottle this week. Hopefully, this will go well!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Pre-K

Addison had her first day of Pre-K at All Saints yesterday! She was so excited to be there and so happy to have the teacher she had been wishing for all summer, Mrs. Oatman. We had her open house last week on Thursday and that day she had received a postcard in the mail welcoming her to Pre-K, but it did not reveal who her teacher was. When we went to the open house she brought her postcard with her in anticipation of meeting and showing her new teacher that she got her mail. The class lists were on the doors of the teacher and when we saw that she was on Mrs. Oatman's list she was over the moon, she told me, "I wished and wished and it came true". We are so happy that she is such an excited kid, eager to be at school. We hope that this feeling will be everlasting and we can't wait for all the great things that are going to happen with our big girl in Pre-K.

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Avett is 2 weeks

On Saturday, Avett turned 2 weeks old. It has been a super 2 weeks! He has been such an easy baby and we are so in love with him. He has truly completed our sweet little family and we could not be happier.
When Avett was born he was 7lbs 9oz. And 19 1/2 inches, we left the hospital and he was 7 lbs 2 oz. We had his two week check up on Thursday and he was at 8lbs and grew to 21 1/2 inches. The doctor said that everything looked wonderful! He has been a great eater, a little too aggressive for me though. I have been very sore this time Around with breast feeding and had to go and visit the lactation specialist to figure out a easy less painful way to get him to eat. They helped with a new hold and position. After about a week we are getting better at it, although he is still very eager to eat and get as much as he can!! Avett is sleeping very well. He wakes up at about 2 and 4 to eat and goes back to sleep easily, and he has a longer nap time the same time as Addison so that has been helpful. Crying is extremely minimal. We make some small and quiet whines to show he needs something but there has been maybe two or three real cries. He is becoming much more alert during the day and will spend about an hour or more in the morning and afternoon/evening awake looking around and figuring things out. He is also able to take a real bath now (now that his umbilical cord and circumcision are healed) and he is loving it.
Addison is also doing really well with him. She was a little emotional the first week, just because of the change, but now she's doing fine. She is a great big sister and is very very helpful and loving with him. She holds him every night so that they can have their night time story and in the morning she is ready to get him up and kiss and hold him. Diapers are her favorite thing to help with. She likes picking the diaper and throwing the diapers away.
 Can't wait to share what he is up to in the next two weeks as he quickly grows into a one month old!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Avett Hill

Avett Hill Reynolds is FINALLY here! We are so proud and excited to annouce that our sweet little boy arrived on July 28, 2012 at 11:05 PM.  He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. and 19 .5 inches long.  We wanted to share all the fun details of the past 2 days for you all, Avett's Birth Story!

Since this last Thursday, I had been having pretty serious contractions going up to about a 7 in pain and last about 1 minutes in length for various increments of time from 3-10 minutes.  I knew that within the next couple of days Avett would be joining us, but I had no clue that having these contractions continually like this was going to be as big of a deal as it was.  I was pretty much in the beginning stages of labor 3 whole days. On Friday night, the contractions became very strong and very close together.  Not being able to sleep the whole night because of the intensity and closeness of the contractions, Thomas and I decided at 3:00 Saturday morning we would truck it over to the hospital because I was VERY sure that Avett would come that morning.  Well, once in the car and on our way the increments of time that the contractions were coming in began to separate further out, making Thomas and I very discourage and almost positive that they would send us home, but we went ahead and went so we could see how far along I was and to give us an idea of what were were looking at time was.  I was 3 cm. dilated, 80% efface, and minus 2 station...therefore, no baby for a good while. At 6:30 we went home and hung out with Addison while having some massive contractions, lots of tears, nausea, disappointment, and questioning what to do! 8:00 in the evening came around and Thomas convinced me that we needed to just go back up to the hospital because of the amount of pain I was in.  When we go there, all the of the same nurses and staff were there, and I was PRAYING that I had changed somewhat, because I did not want to be that crazy lady! When they checked me I was 6 cm, 100% efface, and 0 station. I was soooo thankful! They admitted me and got us checked into a room within an hour.  In that hour, I was dilated to an 8 and they broke my water.  45 minutes to an hour later I was ready to push.  I pushed for about 15 minutes and our little boy was out! The early labor was a huge beating and took forever, but active labor, thankfully, only lasted a few hours. I did not have an epidural or any pain medication and I did not have to induce, so I feel very happy that I was able to complete my goal with Avett's birth!

Avett came out sooo quiet.  He cried about for about 5 seconds and then was done for the rest of the night.  We did not hear him make a sound.  He was so happy and content laying skin to skin with me when he came out and even when moved to do his weight check, bath, etc., not a peep! He has been so wonderful.  Some of the things that have happened in the hospital: Breastfeeding wonderfully, slept great 1st night, started spitting up mucus and had to have his stomach cleaned out from the delivery..no more problems, PKU test, 2nd night was harder because during PKU they had him under a warmer and then came back to our room and was very cold...lots of bundling then he was happy and content, circumcision went well Monday morning, got to come home by 11:30 Monday morning.

Since Avett has been home this morning, all he has really done is slept.  He is very out of it from the meds given for the circumcision. He took a bath tonight and was not really a fan, but man he sure does smell good!
We are so thrilled that he is here! He is absolutely beautiful and already so good. Addison has been such a loving big sister and wants to be with him always. Things will definitely be different around the Reynolds' house from now on, but we are so up for the change, the challenge, the excitement, and all the ups and downs that are coming our way! We are a happy happy family of 4!

Much Love,
The Reynolds


More photos on picasa.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend! We woke up and went over to the 4th and Broadway parade, which I felt was much better than last years! We had great shaded seats to keep this pregnant lady cool and we were in a spot that was not very crowded. Addison was more excited in getting as much candy as she could than looking at what was actually in the parade, but I guess that is what the parade is all about for kids. We then walked down and got our brisket burritos that I, especially, have to have every year. They were great, as usual! Thank you Lady of Guadalupe Church! For the rest of the day we hung out at the house and then enjoyed some barbeque chicken, corn, asparagus, and some yummy rolls! For dessert, I made some homemade ice cream sandwiches, which were so yummy! For the evening, we went and did some "Addison friendly" fireworks in the driveway and then proceeded to MacKenzie Park for the big city fireworks show. We really had a great time and great Family time!

Much Love,
The Reynolds