Friday, December 31, 2010

2 Weeks

Avery,
It is so hard to believe you are already two weeks old but as your Daddy and I were discussing yesterday it seems as though you have always been with us and apart of our family. You are such a happy little baby, you are very rarely fussy, you have one small fussy time a day, normally around 10 pm and it doesn't normally last too long. I usually just give you a half of a pumped breast milk bottle and that followed by your pacifier normally gets you calm. You sleep a lot probably about 18 plus hours a day so I treasure the time you are awake. You are so cute when you are awake, you are so alert and just look all around, it is super cute! Your big sister is totally in love with you, she kisses you first thing every morning and you are the last person she says goodnight to, she loves to get her turn to hold you and talks to you a lot about anything and everything, she has a lot to say.  I have really enjoyed our time together as a family with both Rich and Jolie home from school but I look forward to our time alone together.  Mommy is finally getting into the Mom of two routine with you and Jolie, just the other night when Daddy wasn't feeling well I made dinner while watching both you and your sister.  I put you in your bouncy seat in the kitchen with me and had Jolie watching a DVD on the portable DVD player in the living room.  Here are pictures of the two of you.



I even took you and Jolie to the doctor yesterday by myself, I got you both in and out of the car with no issues, I am getting the Mommy groove!!  Dr. Anton says you are a perfect little baby and I have to agree with him, you really are perfect.  Here are your stat's from yesterday's doctor's visit:

Weight: 8lbs, 10oz (79th percentile)
Length: 21 inches (64th percentile)
Head Circumference: 14.57 inches (77th percentile)
You are a beautiful baby and I thank God every day for the blessings you have brought to my life.  I look forward to raising you and I am so proud to be your Mommy.  God gave your Daddy and I such special gifts when he gave us you and Jolie!  Know always that Daddy and I love you!!

Love,
Mommy


The Most Memorable Moments of 2010

Wow what a year it has been...I truly can't believe it is all ready over. As a reflection on the last year I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on some of the most joyous and then some of the most sorrowful moments of the year as we draw to an end of 2010 and welcome in another year that will soon be unfolding.

1. Rich and I ushered in the New Year together quietly at home and made wishes for the year ahead and had the hopes of a year full of all joy and no sorrow. We made resolutions for the year ahead and looked on to the year.

2. We spent Superbowl Sunday celebrating my Dad's 59th Birthday, it was a great time! Little did anyone realize this was going to be the last time our entire family got together, just 6 short days later my Dad's mother passed away peacefully in her sleep. So in the wee hours of the morning on February 13th my family gathered around my Grandmother in the ER of St. Joesph's Hospital and said our final goodbyes. Truly one of the most sorrowful times of not only 2010 but of my life. I have spent most of the rest of the year reflecting on all that she meant to me and my family. I miss her greatly but realize she is still watching over me and a major part of my life.


3. Rich and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on February 10th with a great night out to Roy's in Tampa. It was hard to believe then that we were already married 3 years and now we are only about 6 weeks away from being married 4 years. I am not sure that there is such a thing as a perfect marriage but Rich and I have strived to find our way in our marriage and it is really working for us, it isn't always perfect but we truly love each other.

4. On April 7th I turned the BIG 3-0 in a quite celebration with my family and a night out with some friends the night before. It is so hard to believe that I am really 30 years old, no longer in my 20's and coming into my own as a woman, as a wife and as a mother.


Rich and I out at Roy's.

Did I mention my friends and I went to "Drag Queen Bingo"?  It was so much fun!!

5.  Just 9 days after turning 30 Rich and I were excited and nervous to find out that we were pregnant with our second child!  I had dreamed of my family of two and always wanted a second daughter so they could grow up together and be best friends as adults, it was a dream come true.  Although I know Rich secretly wanted a son, I mean what man doesn't, we were thrilled to learn that we were indeed having a second daughter the first week in August.  We were excited to know that we would be having an amazing Christmas season as we were due on Christmas Day and would be scheduling a repeat C-Section just a week or so before the holiday.  Most of our year focused on being pregnant and getting ready to be a family of 4.  We started this blog to remember our journey and we started with the moving around of our house in preparation.



6.  On Mother's Day we celebrated Jolie's 3rd Birthday with family and joyfully announced to our families the upcoming arrival of our newest addition.  A week later Jolie had a huge, wonderful, Tea Party Birthday Party with family and friends to ring in being 3.  She truly enjoyed her day and was thrilled to know she would soon be a big sister.

7.  At the end of May Rich and I were lucky enough to have me win a short cruise from work.  So my parents watched Jolie and we set sail from Miami for a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas, it was truly a great time and like the mini-honeymoon Rich and I hadn't gotten a chance to take yet.



8.  In early July we had a memorable and wonderful summer, family vacation to visit my parents in North Carolina.  It was a great time full of awesome adventures for Jolie...we went blueberry picking, we went to the gem mine, Rich and Jolie walked all the way up to the top of Mt. Mitchell (being pregnant and it being hot I waited at the store), see fireworks, go fishing.  We also got the chance to see my childhood best friend and her family for a day while we were there, I got a chance to meet her youngest daughter and my husband and her husband finally got a chance to meet as well, it was amazing to see her as I hadn't seen her since Jolie was very small.


9.  In August the preparations to clean out and rearrange our house took over in full swing.  We had the entire house painted by a professional...it looks great, I really love it.  We moved Jolie into what use to be our office/guest room and in the process we loose what was our office, so I took a whole desk/room full of office stuff and put it all into a tall bookcase in the hallway upstairs and three canvas bins that sit on the underneath shelf of my China Cabinet, that was a major under taking!!  We cleaned out every closet in our house and totally reorganized.  We then proceeded to do more home improvement projects the rest of the year until Avery's arrival.  We cleaned out the garage and rearranged things and made our home into a cute little home for our family of four.

10.  We celebrated Rich's 32nd Birthday in September with a quiet little family party.  Jolie and I got Rich a round of golf and an overnight stay at Bay Hill Golf Club over in Orlando for his Birthday so him and his friend Scott headed over there in early October to take part in that and had a GREAT time!  Rich said it was easily one of his most favorite gifts ever, success!!  Rich is probably the most difficult person to purchase gifts for as he is a man of little wants or really even needs and isn't much into "cluttery" things so most often the best gifts for him are things that he can do.


11.  We had amazing fall holidays, starting with a GREAT Halloween with Jolie dressed up like the cutest Lady Bug you have ever seen.  That was a fun day at my Mom's house for a little party and pumpkin painting and carving.  We then had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner together as a family, it was truly memorable to all be together, even my Aunt from Chicago was in town.  I enjoyed my last family gathering with a family of three and while being pregnant but I can honestly say I was ready to pop and have Avery and just have our completed family.



12.  On December 17th bright and early in the morning Rich and University Community Hospital Women's Center and at 7:50 am via repeat c-section welcomed an 8lb, 5oz baby girl we named Avery Marie Perillo.  She is beautiful and amazing and since this just happened and I have already written a huge post about her, I will just leave the link here.



13.  We then celebrated what felt like the most magical Christmas ever.  It was complete and wonderful and the only thing that would have made it better was having my Grandmother here along with us.  Once again since I just wrote a massive post on this I will just add the link here.


And here we are...the dawn of a new year.  I am so excited to see what 2011 holds for me and my family, while I could sit here and make resolutions for the new year and talk about all the things that I am going to do and the things that I am going to give up, I think I will refrain from that this year.  I think this year instead I will make just one commitment to myself and that is that in 2011 I promise to put my family first, I will thinking of them before making commitments for work or with friends and remember what is the most important and that is my family and spending time with them.  I want to use 2011 to make the turn to simple, I want to make my life simple, so here is to a year full of the simple, important things and making memories with my family!!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Jeans

So I can remember and because I am proud of myself I will declare on the Internet for all the world to read....my pre-pregnant "fat jeans" officially fit this morning! That's right, one day short of two weeks after delivering my second beautiful daughter I can wear my old jeans. The bad news is I was heavier pre-pregnancy than I wanted to be so I still have plenty of pounds to loose but at least I am moving in the right direction, guess breastfeeding and running after an active 3 year old helps!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas 2010

Here is my completely overdue post about Christmas with the kids, what a great time it was.  I have to say I think this was my favorite Christmas to date.  First, Jolie was so excited about Christmas, truly into this year and then holding Avery and knowing our family is complete was an amazing feeling!

I forgot to get a picture of all of Santa's presents under the tree before Jolie started to dive in but just let me say that there were TONS of gifts under the tree from Santa, from Rich and I, from my MIL, from my parents, and just from our entire family.  Jolie was so funny because she can read and write her name so she would look through all the presents and say "I think this is mine".  She would wait for confirmation and then rip it open.  She got so many of this year's hottest toys and a few other things that I think she is going to love.  She hasn't gotten a chance to open and play with everything yet but I am sure she will love it all.

From my MIL, Jolie got a Disney Princess Scooter, she took it out briefly Christmas morning but it has been so cold since she hasn't gotten much practice on it so hopefully as the weather warms up this weekend she will get to go out on it some more.  Here is a quick pic of her riding out in the neighborhood with Rich.

And yes she is out there in her pj's, she was VERY excited to be riding and yes I made her wear her bike helmet, I even told Rich I think she needs knee and elbow pads, we'll see if the Mom in me wins that battle!

My parent's hit the jackpot of hot toys of 2010 and found Sing-a-ma-jigs, I don't even know the best way to describe these if you don't know what the are so I am including a link to their website, here.  But my Mom and Dad literally bought these for everyone, they got both Rich and I one, both of the girls got two, they sent three to my Aunt in Chicago, they got one for each other, you name it.  Below is a picture of our family of Sing-a-ma-jigs.  Rich doesn't love them but since it was Jolie's only gift that makes noise he is living with it.  Rich's is the green one, third from the left in the back and it has the deepest voice you have ever heard and it just makes me laugh!!


My parent's also got Jolie one of those indoor/outdoor tents with a tunnel, well actually there are two tents and you can connect them with the tunnel.  However, Jolie doesn't know yet that there are two tents as I couldn't have my living room any more trashed with Christmas so we only put up 1 tent and the tunnel but let me say it has kept her super busy for the last several days.  The day after Christmas when my Mom came over she played in that tent and tunnel for hours and allowed Rich and I to rest without hysterical scream so as far as I am concerned it was successful.

As you can see Jolie took several toys inside and made it her own little cave of play.

Santa was also kind enough to bring Jolie the one gift she wanted more than anything and that was the Ladybug Pillow Pet, she loves that thing and takes it everywhere with her.  It goes up and down the stairs at the house a million times a day with her, she has taken it to my MIL's, my parent's house, my Aunt's house for dinner, you name it that pillow pet has gone with her.  She is about to go to the play area at the mall with Rich and she is already begging to take the pillow pet with her. 

She also received from Rich and I a responsibility chart so we can start working on the idea of chores and allowance, it is really cute, we got it from Melissa and Doug, I found an amazing website before Christmas that I did most of my shopping at, you can find it here.  The have flat shipping for $5 and the items were here in less than a week on standard shipping.  We also bought legos, lace and trace, and pattern blocks for her from there, they were a mix of gifts from us and Santa and worked out perfectly.  One of her other favorite gifts was a rough and tumble little kid camera that she has used to take pictures of everything under the sun, I find it so much fun to download the pictures and look at them, they are funny to see things from her perspective.  Here are a few of her "best" pictures.


After Jolie takes the pictures she looks at them on the little screen on the digital camera and says "that's a great one", it is so cute.  As you can see she might need a little practice but she has gotten the hang of it pretty quick although quite a few of her pics are just a blurry black mess but at least there are a few good ones!

She got tons of coloring things and coloring books, markers, crayons, art kits, all kinds of that stuff.  She got some clothes and socks.  She got number, letter, and word trace cards from my Grandma.  She got a ladybug that lights up and puts stars on the ceiling at night from my Aunt.  She got one of those recordable books from Hallmark from my Dad's sister.  She got Uno Moo, which I have to say is super cute!  She got a huge aqua doodle floor mat.  She got so much!!  Here are a few pictures of Jolie opening presents and having fun with Christmas.


This is Jolie with her "Cootie" Bug she made while playing the game Christmas morning with my MIL.


Toy Story 3...she loves it and has watched it probably at least 5 times already.


This is the sock monkey hat that my Mom and Dad bought for her while they were in North Carolina this fall.

On the other hand Avery got more than any one week old baby needs but not near as much as Jolie got. Avery got several different crib toys, she got a car seat cover for the cold weather (we need that right now), car seat toys, tons of clothes, she even as I said earlier got two sing-a-ma-jigs, she got money for her bank account. She had an amazing first Christmas, wish she had a chance of remember everything. Here are a few pictures of Avery from Christmas.






Now on to the most important part of Christmas, family.  Here are some great pictures of my girls with my parents.


I think I have said it a million times already but I will finish my post with it again, this was truly the most blessed Christmas I have ever had, it wasn't about the gifts (although my husband did out do himself with my gift), it was about what really mattered, it was all about our new family of four and I have to say I loved every minute of it, even when I was sick for part of it (well I didn't love that part but it was a part of our family being together since it was complications from Avery's delivery).  I hope that all of you were able to have as joyous of holidays as we did!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Cold!!!

Why is it so freaking cold here in Florida, it is suppose to be so much warmer! It is making me crazy that it is so cold because basically Avery and I can't leave the house. I left for an hour on Friday and for the doctor's on Tuesday and Wednesday, other than that I have been held up in the house trying to stay warm for the entireweek Avery and i have been home from the hospital. I don't know how people that live up north do it with little tiny winter babies! I think we own every cold weather baby item but we still find that Avery gets so cold. Sometimes even in her bed while sleep she takes her arms out of the blanket and her hands get so cold and that is inside the house. Do you have any good ways to keep small babies warm during the winter? Also I am working on a big Christmas post...I hope to publish sometime today or tomorrow as I am writing it and thank you notes in-between caring for my kids and cleaning up the Christmas mess that is all over the downstairs of my house. Hope everyone has a great last Monday of 2010!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Update on illness...

So for the first time since I got it I am using my I-pad to update my blog. I have to say spending half of Christmas sick as a dog was totally uncool! I took the medication the OB called in last night about 9 pm, my mom came over to our house to help Rich get the kids settled in for bed and pick up my Meds and a few things at the drugstore. I ate half a bowl of beef broth that Rich made me, drank some fluids and by 9:30 pm the meds kicked in and I was out for the count! The OB said I could continue to breastfeed despite the meds and bowel issues so I told Rich just wake me up and I will feed, well I was so out of it he didn't think it was a good idea for me to even hold Avery so he used breast milk I had in the fridge and I just pumped. Of course Avery had her only fussy night in her life the night her Daddy had to watch her. Needless to say this wasn't how I envisioned our first family of four Christmas, good thing we have many more to go!
I am feeling a little better today but I haven't moved much, I am currently laid out on the sofa. My Mom was over earlier to play with Jolie, that was great as both Rich and I got a little rest!I sure hope I feel completely better soon!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone is having a Merry Christmas, we are playing it very low key at The Perillo House as I wasn't sure how Avery and I would be feeling a week after delivery.  So Christmas Eve we are hung out and my Mother In Law came to our house to make a nice Christmas Dinner, all I did was open up my kitchen to her and set out the china and silver for the table, I have to say it is a GREAT feeling to be able to just sit back and relax.  We had Christmas breakfast over here this morning with my MIL and my parents and we just bought muffins and bagels and made some coffee.  Jolie had an amazing time opening gifts, I promise to have a whole post about Santa and gifts later.  The bad news is that after breakfast I began to feel really sick, I think I have totally over done it, I have now spent the rest of the afternoon throwing up, totally uncool.  In fact as I sit here writing this post my husband and kids are at my parent's house opening gifts and eating Christmas Dinner.  I just got off the phone with my OB as I have had enough of this and he went ahead and called in an anti-nausea medicine for me and I am just going to continue to lay in bed and try to get some sleep, not exactly how I wanted to spend Christmas Night.  Below are a few quick pictures I took yesterday of the kids.  I promise to have more post about Christmas when I am better.  I will say though that I have a truly amazing husband that got me the second best Christmas gift EVER, of course Avery was our greatest gift ever but material wise his gift this year was way up there....he got me an I-Pad, it is AMAZING and I have barely got to play with it because I have been sick. :(  Wishing you and yours a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and that you aren't sick in bed like me.


Friday, December 24, 2010

1 Week

Avery,
You are 1 week old today...and what an amazing and blessed week it has been.  You are the dream baby, you don't fuss much at all and you sleep really well, you typically feed around midnight and then around 4 or 5 am.  Your Daddy has the ability to sleep right through your little I am hungry cries at night, I think he thinks you actually sleep through the night!!  However, I think he doesn't hear you because I spring up to get you and check on you so quickly.  Sometimes I find myself waking up just to check on you and be sure you are breathing!  You are staying in your bassinet in our room for now, not sure when you will move to your own room but I won't be rushing anything with you as I want to treasure each and every moment with you.  I have taken tons and tons of pictures of you and you seem to be okay with that, thank goodness.  I am totally in love with you and feel as though you are the GREATEST Christmas gift I have ever received.  I thank God daily for allowing me to be your Mommy and I ask him to guide me and Daddy as we raise you.  Your Big Sister is also totally in love with you and begs to hold you, she insist that she get her turn and you take it quite well even though I know so often you just aren't that comfortable in her arms.  I love you baby girl!!

Love,
Mommy




Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Home Sweet Home....

It was so nice to come home from the hospital yesterday, I will say that Rich and I decided it was much like a mini vacation for the two of us, as people doted on us and we only had a newborn to take care of most the time as Jolie was with my parents but it was time to come home and start our lives as a foursome.  So we got home yesterday around 5 pm after a long wait on a few last minute test at the hospital for Avery and then shortly after we got here my parent's brought Jolie home and things were a little crazy for a while but the night went much smoother.  Avery slept well in her bassinet in our room and got up for 2 night feedings (well actually I had to wake her because I had to feed her so I didn't have to pump as my milk came in with a vengeance yesterday).  We got up this morning to take Avery to the doctor for a check up after her blood test results yesterday.  We even took Jolie with us to the doctor and I have to say it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be to get all four of us ready and out the door at the same time, what a relief to know that we can do, we have to do it again tomorrow as I have to go to the OB for a follow up to my surgery, we will be dropping Jolie off with my Mom and taking Baby Avery with us. 

I have to say I am completely in love with my baby and with my family of four, it just feels so complete.  My girls are the best and my husband is wonderful and been such a blessing while we are adjusting and I am recovering.  My husband did laundry at 5:45 am this morning after Jolie came into our room to inform us that she had an accident, so I changed clothes and he changed the bed and did laundry.  In the laundry was also clothes that Avery had pee pee'd on, poor Rich but it was great that he is such a help.  I have to say I am totally digging not being at work and being so into my new family!!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Introducing.....

Rich and Jen, along with Big Sister Jolie are proud to announce the arrival of our newest family member....

Avery Marie Perillo was born on December 17, 2010 at 7:50 am, she weighted 8 lbs and 5 oz and measured 20 3/4 inches.  And I have to say I am just totally in love, she looks so much like Jolie did when she was born, it was like having the same child again....here are a few of the 100's of pictures we have already taken of her and our new family!

This is my last pregnancy photo, it was taken right before we went back to the OR.  I can't believe I just put on the Internet one of the most unflattering pictures ever taken of me!!

This is Rich, prepped and ready for the OR.

Here is a picture of Avery being born via c-section by our OB Dr. Greenberg.

One of Avery's very first photo's after birth, isn't she just beautiful.

This is me holding Avery for the first time.  Since Avery was born via c-section her Daddy actually held her first and then passed her on to me to hold for a few minutes as they completed the rest of my surgery.

This is the first photo we took of the three of us, Rich, Jen, and our precious youngest daughter, Avery.  I have to say that she is the best early Christmas present EVER!

Here is Daddy Rich and his two daughters, look how beautiful they both are, he is going to need a plan to keep all the boys away!

This is Mommy and her girls, they are beautiful!!!


And here is our complete family of four, I feel so blessed!!

We are still in the hospital, probably til Monday but I have to say, this c-section was so much easier than the first and a lot less painful.  We had so many less complications and things have truly been a dream with our new daughter!