Same Dress

Aubrey on the left, Avery on the right :)

Aubrey around 4 months, Avery around 2 1/2 months

Baptism Weekend

This past weekend we had baptism of our sweet

Avery Leigh.

That also meant a house full of company and good times.

swaddled all up tight so her arms don't get out

Grandma and Grandpa Van Grouw came

to help with some projects around the house.

Here Steve and Dad are cleaning out the gutters. 

Mom pulled out some weeds that were much overdue.

Steve on the roof cleaning out the yuck. 

sweet Ave just hung out in the garage 

Then the Wynias came overnight for a couple nights

and the real fun began :)

Aubrey and Camryn having fun in her room.

kids eating supper all by themselves 

everyone enjoying some supper together 

Grandma and the babies having an evening chat

scrub a dub dub, three cousins in the tub 

goodnight stories with Grandpa Van Grouw 

Baptism Morning, May 25

with Daddy 

with Mommy 

Baptism at 1st CRC in Osky

(Aubrey got to feel the water)

"Precious Jewels"

(Avery on the left)

Avery and Aubrey

trying to get a family picture

(better ones on another computer:))

Avery all tuckered out with Grandma 

Gavin, Aubrey, and Camryn giving us a show

on their "stage"

goodnight stories with Jen 

Avery :)

We had to send in a pic of Avery for church for baptism,

so here are some pics I got of her while trying to get a good one.

(and the behind the scenes big sister

trying to get Avery to smile and look :))

Swaddle?!

Okay, for about the past month, Avery has been such an unpredictable sleeper.

There are times she may go four hours without waking,

but lately it has been every hour at least a couple times at night.

We have tried several things to keep her sleeping at night

but she often fusses and won't go back to sleep 

without extensive intervention on our part :)

So, I go to these websites that give you all the advice

on how to keep your baby sleeping and it seems we tried most.

The main thing was: try to figure out WHY your baby 

isn't sleeping or what causes her to fuss.

Hmm...ya, not so easy!

paci? no paci?

wanna rock? wanna be still?

too hot? too cold? 

too noisy? too quiet?

too hungry? too full?

too dark? too light?

too long of walk back to the crib from the living room?

too creaky of a floor?

So, I was really trying to think, what CAUSES her

not to fall back asleep? 

Well, I suddenly realized (DUH!) that she often gets

really upset in the middle of the night because she

tries to eat her fists! OF COURSE!

More often than not, when I (or Steve) go in,

she is getting mad at her own hand!

Okay, I thought, maybe I should try to swaddle her 

WITH HER ARMS IN!

So, I tried it for her nap.

It should also be noted that she is notorious for the

"45 minute intruder" nap.

(meaning she sleeps fine for about 45 minutes but

she doesn't transition well into her next phase of sleep,

for whatever reason, causing her to wake up,

and usually not refreshed)

So, like I said I tried it for her afternoon nap yesterday.

Why not? I have nothing to lose!

And I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!

She slept in her crib, swaddled with arms in for

THREE HOURS!

I actually went in to wake her since I was a bit worried!

Wow! Was that a fluke? Was she just really tired

from the crappy night before?

So, I tried it last night! And it worked, too!

She slept for 5 1/2 hours the first chunk,

then 4 hours, then 3 hours!

She went right back to sleep after her feedings.

No swaying,

no patting

no paci,

no late night prayers, 

no getting Steve up because I had enough!

Just peaceful sleep! AHHHH, bliss!

I went in her room to get her up in the morning

and she was cooing and smiling, no crying at all!

Now, this could be a fluke, by my oh my was it 

WONDERFUL! Let's hope it continues!
And why in the world had I not thought of this months ago!?

Playtime

The girls have been "playing" together and it is really cute to see!

Playing on the play mat together

Having their first tea party together 

2 Month Stats

Avery had her 2 month appointment this afternoon

and Aubrey got to play with her friend Kate at Ms. Lisa's!

As expected, Avery is our big girl, 

much bigger than Aubrey was at this age.

Here are Avery's stats:

Head Circ: 15 1/4 in (54 %)

Height: 24 1/2 in (98%)

Weight: 13 lb 8 oz (98%)

(that means 5 pounds since birth and 3 inches in two months!)

Avery also got three shots and one oral.

She screamed for about 30 seconds

and then just whimpered and fell asleep

about two minutes later and is still asleep, an hour later. 

The doctor said she is in fantastic health! :)

Just for comparison, here were Aubrey's stats

at two months old:

Height: 24 in 

Weight: 11 lb. 9 oz

Mother's Day Weekend

We decided to make a quick trip to Northwest Iowa

over Mother's Day weekend, to reunite all the new babies 

and celebrate some bithdays, too!

We went up Saturday morning and were home again by Monday afternoon.

Here are some of the highlights!

 

Avery meeting Weston

 

Daddy playing with the girls

Camryn and Aubrey have so much fun together!

Aunt Ash meeting Avery

 Jen meeting Weston

The WHOLE Van Grouw family

(for the first time since new babies)

 Grandma and Grandpa "Grouw"

with all six grandchildren

And now by themselves oldest to youngest :)

(too bad we didn't have a video of this ordeal!)

 The 3 newest, only a few weeks apart

Weston, Avery, Jaelyn

Suppertime for the 3 big kiddos

Jen meeting Jaelyn

(I'm more excited than her apparently)

hanging out in Ash's swing

It was a beautiful night to play outside

and run off some energy with the Dads.

Cool, Curt - thanks for the necklaces!

Avery and Jaelyn sharing some secrets. 

We had lots of presents for 

birthdays and baby gifts! 

Playing games with Curt and Daddy

Grandma Grouw and Ave

Happy Birthday, Camryn and Gavin!

Grandpa Grouw with Ave

Enjoying some birthday cake and ice cream!

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma

She's wearing "Her Royal Highness" ribbon from Aubrey

Uncle Curt meeting Avery

such a sweet smiler!

Uncle Josh with Avery 

Aunt Jessica got all three!

Sunday night - things got a little too scary as far as weather goes.

Sioux County was in a Tornado Warning and the whole

Van Grouw family was at Mom and Dads. 

So we all headed to the basement for about 30 minutes.

Thankfully nothing really happened other than wind and rain.

The bigger kids had an awesome time in the "fort" under the

pool table playing games with the flashlight.

All hanging out downstairs just to be safe 

All the babies were nicely asleep and didn't notice a thing.