our little firecracker is 5 months old!

miss joy avery is 5 and a half months old! here's what's new in our world:

grabbing our feet and sitting for short periods without help

eating our toes

still putting everything in our mouth

getting a little attitude.

still spitting up. we hear it peaks at 6 months and then slows down. i sure hope so.

socializing with any and everyone. especially her best friend in the mirror.

naptime. she's started watching my every move...and noticing when i'm gone--

her eyes follow me out the door...saying pllllease take me with you!!

using our arms!!

and we've outgrown the swaddle system. she started rolling around in her crib so it was time to pull it. kind of annoying because she loves that thing! it kept her all snug and warm and used to keep her in one place all night long preventing unecessary waking. oooh well.

sitting pretty. ha!

giving serious kisses and always pulling my hair.

and i think it's safe to say that these two are pretty much twins. coco and the little pumpkin head-- at kerbey lane for breakfast on halloween!

well there you go. little miss wild thing is showing her true colors more and more each day. she is such a little personality. loud and proud. loves to flirt and socialize. a tiny little ball of energy... and is proving to be very strong willed. she's gonna keep guinn and me on our toes.

sneak peak from the patch!!

jumparoo joybirdee

check out wild thing in her jumparoo!!

kicking cancer to the curb!!

BRENNAN BERG IS OUR HERO!!

today we were able to visit brennan and bring him a little JOY!

together, they embraced their baldness, discussed the meaning of life, and of course- shared

some laughs!

And, perhaps most importantly, they celebrated the soon-to-be completion of Brennan's chemo treatments --- only one more week! Way to go, Brennan!! We love you :)

proud aunt jules and uncle guinn!!!

that's right. i am obsessed with my little nephew, grant. he is so perfect and adorable and i cannot wait for he and joy to grow up side by side....along with the ring leader, and oldest cuz-- lila ann!! she will lead the troops, i have no doubt.

matt and grant

mama-mindy! looking fab just days after delivery!

he's so tiny! it's hard to believe that joy was that small just 4 months ago!

Beans and the Band [The Museum]

watch The Museum rock the anthem at the chiefs/49ers game!!

study buddies with breaks -- that's for you, kath!! ;)

just doing my part and covering all my bases--

trey has taken a series of sitdown exams for the past 3 fridays. this week he has been given an in depth question that requires a rather lengthy response. he only has 5 days to research and write this thing [50+ pages or so-- due wednesday].

He's quite overwhelmed by the whole process alone...and then throw in dorm duties, teaching out at concordia, and communication consulting and we have ourselves a hell of a week.
SO, i'm just getting the word out to LEAVE HIM ALONE ;) don't ask him to do anything-- saying no has never been his forte.

after this he will do his oral defense (beginning of october) and then he/we can breathe!!

until then, joybird and I are trying to do our thing and leave papa guinn to his studies!!

you know what they say, "what happens here, changes the world" go get 'em guinny!

my new night life

it's 11 pm and i'm --

a. baking a cherry pie [well, marie calendar baked it first]
b. eating cheese and crackers until it's ready/and feeding guinn the same while he
c. is typing, editing, redrafting, and studying for his comp on friday... while we both
d. are chilled and relaxed by tonights album of choice, john mayer -- battle studies.
i am, well, taking a quick blog break-- as i have been
e. researching researching researching-- all things baby. this is my nightlife. everynight-- i put joy down, do the dishes (no dishwasher in these digs), and then sit down with my laptop and snack of choice (ranging anywhere from blue bell to blue moon) to learn as much as possible in 3 hours!
really, there is so much to learn and so little time. last night i spent the evening researching pacifiers (how to drop 'em), CIO methods (you know, cry it out), naptime, things that change at 4 months, etc. the night before that, it was starting solids...book of choice "the well fed baby"...when to introduce them, what to start with, how to make these thing on your own, and all the other wonderful things in this new world of SOLIDS that we are fast approaching.
tonight, i'm researching "books". i love this topic. i am learning, and most definitely believe, there is SO much value in reading to your babe-- even from birth.
there are so many amazing books out there. and sadly, you can't have them all.
i have guinn over here on my left, saying "jules, that's why we have libraries!!"
and i'm over here on amazon wondering if i can justify dropping way too much cash on all these books that i'm convinced that she neeeds.
i mean, it's an investment right? you can't put a price on education and development...and we'll have more kids! they'll love and benefit from all these books too ;)
anyway, the point of this blog break is to ask you, my little blog-following friends-- what are your favorite baby books?!!! i've read just about every top 10 list on google-- they all vary a little. of course, there are a few books that make every list (goodnight moon). joy loves this so it doesn't surprise me.
but i'd love to know your faves!!

oh, and another thing that went down this evening-- i, out of nowhere, decided with certainty, the names of all my children-to-be. this is, of course, assuming that i will be blessed with more.

i told trey tonight, i originally just wanted 3 but now with this new amazing array of names, we may just have to go for four-- because these names are THAT good. ;) all in good fun, people. i'm truly not committing to being pregs 4 times and the aftermath that goes with it. but we'll see what happens.

anyway, goodnight friends and family. no, goodnight room. goodnight moon. goodnight piper and goodnight diapers [guinn family edition].

signing off from the dorms. oh one more thing, we always here a door slamming down the hallway around this time. guinn just realized, and shared with me, that it's everyone's last trip to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their face. ooooooooooh dorm life. who knew.

...goodnight stars and goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere!

we loooooooooove SEPTEMBER 19TH!!!

for several reasons--

12 years ago today, the young trey guinn took me out on the town for our first date, 9.19.98.

then 7 years ago today, he proposed!! get it, guinn!

one year ago today-- we found out we were pregnant!!!!!!!!!!

and today, little joyful is 4 months old!

so one dr's visit later and another round of shots-- the stats are in, 4 month joybird:
weighs: 12 pounds 4 ounces
is 2 feet tall (24 inches)
and has a head circumference of = 40.6cm/16 in
putting her just below the 25 percentile

things we're doing at four months:

exploring our world via mouth.

propping herself up with her forearms.

teething on sophie the giraffe (thanks, hil!!)

dancing with daddy!

panties on my head. guinn's idea.

laundry with mommy!

TV in bed...

...produces desired results

feeding herself!

recently started drooling

and this just in:

we rolled over!!!

-- please note the oversized hiked up jammy-pants with the uneccesary top tuck-in. this is how she and guinn returned from diaper changing.

and now, a one second video that i could watch over and over. cracks me up every time!!

mom + the fan = screams of excitement!

joy just can't contain herself these days. when she sees something she likes, she lets out her little happy scream.





and last, another piper spotting. gets her every time.

take that and rewind it back....

...little birdy's got a cry that makes the mommy go (clap). *thanks, usher.

so last post i mentioned that joy never cries or fusses unless she's hungry or tired..."both easy fixes", i said. spoke too soon!!!
here's the latest:
naptime used to be dreamy. i'd cuddle and rock little miss miniguinny for a few minutes until she was in "sleepmode" and then put her in her crib. worked like a charm. we would even "set the mood/create a routine "-- as the books all say to do...dim the lights, swaddle her up in a blanky for warmth, and glide away to my amazing sing-songy voice.
well well...someone figured out reeeeeeeeal quick what we were setting the mood for and decided she was going to throw a fit when we either a. turned off lights, b. cuddled with a blanket, or c. sat down to glide.
maybe she doesn't like my songs. FALSE...
she's just getting smart and learning manipulation...
here begins baby-bootcamp. i'm in charge, joy avery! ;)
i'm telling you, i would be sitting in the glider and my child would be in a complete arched position screaming. i couldn't even get her back to a normal position to calm her. she did NOT want to take a nap. this is not a matter of being tired. she is tired. she just doesn't want to take a nap.
anyway, all i can do is set her in her crib crying and walk away. this morning begins day one of crying it out. never needed to cry it out previously. but if that's what it takes, we're doing it.
so i put her in bed, kissed her goodnight, and walked away.
she screamed.
it's 11:08am. i tell myself (and texted shelly ;) i cannot go back in until 11:13.
i sit...
stare at the video monitor. she's now looking back at the door screaming and crying wondering where i am. SO HARD! i hold piper and we talk about it. ;) piper looks at me tilting her head side to side like "aren't you going to do something?" no, pipes. not just yet.
11:13. goin' in! pipes on my heels.
i arrive. "joy, it's mommy. you're okay. i love you."
i pat her little chest. [with the intention of leaving soon after and letting her cry it out for 7 minutes this round]
she calms. grabs my arm with both hands and holds on and doesn't want to let go.
she's happy.
i don't want to leave.
i don't.
1 minute later she's sound asleep.
it's 2:00 pm and the girl is still out.

there's so much to learn in this parenting world. and this is the very very beginning of a long road ahead. but with each thing we tackle, learn, or go through i feel that much more equipped to be mama-jules. it feels good. so hard at times but there is nothing greater in life than being someone's mommy!!

joy avery -- 3 months!

growth stats:
weight- 11 lbs 4 oz's = 14th percentile
height- 23.25 inches = 28th percentile
head = 28th percentile

new tricks and such:

- number one and most apparent-- she LOVES her own voice!!! if she's awake, she's talking. trey and i will talk back to her and i'm convinced that she truly believes we are carrying on a conversation, and that we know exactly what she's saying! we'll try to catch it on video soon-- but to get the best reaction you have to talk to her in the annoying "baby voice" that neither of us really want on camera. ;)

- she has started "fake coughing" because she likes the sound and thinks it's funny.

- her changing table is next to a mirror. she loves to carry on and socialize with her bestie baby friend (aka- herself) in the mirror. it makes diaper changing quite fun.

- she likes to flirt with males...especially gary guadagnolo

- her biggest laughs still go out to, the one and only, piper guinn.

- she recently discovered her feet. she loves to stare at them and move them all around. they fascinate her.

- tummy time probably doesn't happen frequent enough, but she can lift that head high now and rock side to side. she's got the roll-over legs going but not a whole lot of rolling just yet.

here's pipes-- showing her how it's done.

- some of her favorite time is STORY TIME. book of choice is, hands down, goodnight moon. she makes little oohs and ahhs and likes to touch and semi-turn the pages.

- she sleeps in her crib for most naps (sometimes the swing) and always at bedtime. sleeps now from 8 or 9pm to 6 or 7am...with an occasional 4am wake up.

and when she wakes, it's all fun and games. laughs, giggles, screams. seriously, it's pitch black and 4am, not a creature stirring not even a mouse-- except joybird. stirring away and ready for the day. thankfully, she get's the memo pretty quickly that we're still in sleep mode and goes back down.

- her favorite kisses are eskimo kisses!! if you want to put this girl to sleep just rub your nose in a downward motion on hers and she's out.

-she loves blankies and things with texture that she can hold onto and cuddle with. one of her fave's is a little horse lovey from the mcgees

- the only thing that warrants any sort of crying or fussing is if she's hungry, or tired. both easy fixes, thank goodness!! she's still eating every 3 hours (hoping to make the 4 hour switch at 4 months), and get's tired about one hour after eating.

- people are now saying that she is looking more like me. i still see trey, of course...but definitely see myself now too!! but you be the judge. we think she has trey's mouth and my eyes....although, her eyes are still blue (so not completely my eyes). i definitely wouldn't complain if she turned into my little brown eyed girl!

- she stays home with dad monday and wednesday mornings while i teach class, and she's with me the rest of the days and afternoons! trey gives her a bottle on mon/wed mornings and you should take the time to ask him about his "feeding regimen". he is quite proud ("she never spits up when i feed her, jules") and i'm sure he would love to share his secrets.

HAPPY 3 MONTHS, LITTLE JOYBIRDY!