The Brown Five: Catch Up

During my week long absence, Miss Ava turned a whole 3 months old. She certainly has gotten big in the last few weeks. I wish I could figure out how to post all three pictures together. Maybe I can get Rusty to play around with them sometime. I want to do them all in a row when she hits six months and then a year. Just to see how much she changes each month.

At three months she is:

Rolling from back to side
grabbing toys hanging in front of her
sleeping at night about 6 hours at a time
grabbing her legs and sometimes feet when I am changing her
she still loves her bath
has a toy that she snuggles in the car seat (you will see a pic later)
recently decided she does not like riding in the car (hence the doll she now snuggles)
has a new cry, no more newborn sweet cry
trying to scoot herself around while having tummy time.
not trying to roll over during tummy time
biting/gnawing on her fingers all the time.
drooling constantly, though not so much that she's all wet
still wearing 0-3 months
her feet are still too small for a size one shoe
big time snugler, especially right up under our chin
hates, hates being laid back when she is awake. she wants to be sitting up or standing up all the time so she can see what's going on
very quiet and not too much "talking"
Recognizes Mommy's camera and stares at it while I am trying to get her to smile

Like I said, Ava isn't very vocal. She is starting to laugh, though. Here is a little video so you can hear her. It is very quiet, and like I've said before, Sorry for my voice!

I took this next picture of Hannah tonight. It's just so my Mom could see how the dress was going to fit her. When I downloaded the picture I was just kind of shocked at how grown up she looked. She is so pretty. I was getting all lovey and proud of her & thought about what a great kid she really is. She's got great skin, her proportions are finally evening out....
Then I thought, junior high is right around the corner.
Poor kid!

This next one is too dark, but I couldn't get it to delete, so sorry. Just a shot of Ava sitting in her exersaucer. She loves that thing. And I most certainly DID NOT put her in it yesterday while she watched PBS so I could get some emails sent out. No way, not me, not ever!

My friend Celeste recently went to China to get her daughter they adopted. Well she was gone for two whole weeks. We missed her so much & decided we needed to make her and Natalie (new baby) a banner welcoming them home. Isn't it just lovely!! I'm not sure she could read anything on it, but it was the thought that counted.

By the way, it says: Welcome Home Natalie, and then in a few places the girls wrote: welcome home Celeste and Natalie in Chinese.

I saw this one and had to post it. I don't know why, but I just want to pinch those fat, squishy, adorably soft baby cheeks! I don't know why though. It's not like she's cute or anything.

I'm apologizing now. I have posted a few too many of the next few pictures of Ava in her swimsuit. She should really think about modeling. Just look at those legs. And she already recognizes the camera. What three month old knows how to work it for a camera? The big girl behind her certainly did (and still does)!

This picture might be my new favorite! Ava is , is , just so precious. Rusty and I constantly express how grateful we both are to God that we have such a good baby! We know she could be colicky, or sick, and we thank God that she is well and so happy.

Okay, so I wanted a cute pic of all three girls. In three shots, the baby looked at me every time. In three shots, her two older sisters couldn't look at me at the same time or the right way one time. In three shots, Mallorie looks like a big 'ol dork!

Thanks girls, really. Thank you.

Could these be any better for future blackmail? I think not!! (ah, the one eye open, one eye closed pic, gotta love it)

Oh, maybe this is my new fave. There are so many things that could be going through her mind in this picture. Here is what i hear:

Mom, mom, mom. What are you doing? Are you going to feed me soon?

Look what else a big three month old can do. With the help of her Boppy she can sit up in her crib and play with her new toy.

Look at this back view. Her hair is still sorta brown in the back. I don't think it will be quite as light as her big sisters

Here's that new elephant baby that she loves to snuggle. She also enjoys biting it. Rusty's been calling it Ellie the Elephant.

Alright. This next picture is heart melting. I'm not even over exaggerating.

What a doll!!! Also, I must note that she didn't pee all over her clean clothes. That's the even more awesome part of this picture.

For the last two weekends Hannah has been running a fever. This last Saturday it started up again. The school called me again on Monday and she had to leave again, so I took her to the doctor. She thinks it might be two viral infections back to back. I don't. But she said if her fever persists for more than five days then to bring her back and they would draw labs. Hannah truly has no other symptoms. She throws up when she gets a fever all of a sudden.

Here is how the fever goes. One minute she looks like this:

And then the next minute:

It's like all of a sudden she spikes a fever and feels lethargic and horrible. Tylenol seems to be helping. I told her doctor if it happens again this weekend we'll probably bring her back in and draw labs next week. I hate it when she's sick. Plus she can't go to school until her fever has been gone for 24 hours.

Here's how Mally felt until she heard the doctor say Hannah couldn't go to school the next day. That's how a Mommy hears it. Here's how Mally heard it: "You have to go to school and Hannah gets to stay home with Mommy and eat candy and watch all her favorite TV shows and play with all your toys. Nanny, nanny, boo, boo!!!"

I didn't take the picture of her face after that. It was too traumatizing!