and one more makes 4!

So, as our upcoming induction date drew nearer, Mark and I were starting to feel sad about Xander not being the baby anymore. We decided to do lots of fun stuff for him and just spoil him rotten for the week before his baby sister came. One of the fun things we did was take him to his very first movie-Flushed Away. He had such a good time and was so well-behaved! I had no idea, but apparently he LOVES popcorn! We never eat it because it is such a choking hazard for little ones, but I guess he is old enough now b/c he ate almost half of a LARGE bag! Here is a picture of Daddy and Xander after the movie!

Finally, Friday 12-8-06 came and we headed to the hospital bright and early. Here is one last belly shot before getting into the stylish gown! (I think I already miss that big belly)

After 11 hours of labor or so and TONS of pushing (the baby was posterior which means a LOT of work for the mommy to get the head around the pubic bone) little Avery made her debut! She definitely made me work hard to kiss those little cheeks!


She weighed 7lbs 11ozs and was 21 inches long. Her sugars were GREAT-even though I was so worried that I hadn't been a very good "diabetic mommy". She surprised us all. Since all was well with her sugars and she looked great, I was able to nurse her almost immediately after birth. I was so moved to look down and see my little girl at my breast. It was an immediate fit, I knew she was meant to be a part of our family. As I was so numb from my epidural, we decided to wait to let Xander come meet her until Saturday. He had a shirt that said "I'm the BIG brother" that he was so proud of. Avery bought him a Thomas the Train and he was so excited. He thought he wanted to hold her but right as we were putting her in his lap, he announced she was "too heavy" for him :)

Here is Avery's first bath. She absolutely loves them, her eyes get really big and she just looks around at all of us. Xander has been a big helper and hasn't shown any jealousy. He gives so many kisses and is always concerned about where the baby is! We are so proud of what a big boy he is! Avery is one lucky little girl to have such a good big brother!