Avery's First Christmas

I'm not sure where to even start with this Christmas. It was wonderful because it's the first one I got to spend with my little girl. I didn't find out I was pregnant with her until early January, so last year at Christmas I was praying so hard for her. Now I am so blessed and happy she is here. But it was also an incredibly sad Christmas because my Grandad passed away on the 20th. I think it would just be too hard to try to write one post and combine such opposing emotions, so for this post I am just going to focus on the good parts of this Christmas and write a separate post about my Grandad later.

Avery started off the holidays with a new trick - the night before we left for Wichita Falls (the 18th) she rolled over for the first time! I thought it might be a fluke so I put her back on her tummy to see if she'd do it again and she did, but she hasn't done it since, so I'm not sure what to make of that. I guess she'll do it again when she's ready.

Avery and I left for Wichita Falls on Dec. 19. I was going to spend the week before Christmas with my family since it was Rustin's parents' turn to get us for Christmas this year. I had a hair appointment scheduled on the 20th to dye my hair back to its natural color, and much to my surprise (and I think everyone else's) I actually went through with it... and even like it! I just wanted a change and since my hair is so dark naturally, I felt like I had noticeable roots two weeks after getting my hair highlighted. Plus, it's expensive! Here is a picture of the new look...

We tried to do a photo shoot of Avery in her "First Christmas" outfit my grandma gave her but it didn't go too well because she wouldn't look at the camera and kept making faces like this...



And this...

Also the outfit was very close to being too small, and to make matters worse (or more funny) she kept grabbing her shirt and lifting it up to reveal her poochy little tummy.

We went over to my grandma's and had Christmas lunch and decided to take a few more pictures of Avery with the family.



After lunch we came home and opened presents. I think Avery got the most! She even got a cute little dress all the way from Virginia from Aunt Holly and Uncle Greg!

My grandma and aunt came by a lot that week to visit with Avery and she liked chatting with them. Here is a picture of her doing what she loves - holding her hands and laughing.

I'll end with an update on Avery's sleep habits (my main concern). She is still doing the same thing - only taking 20 minute naps during the day and not going to sleep until around 10 at night. I've tried everything to get her to nap longer and go to bed earlier and nothing works. I guess the only thing I haven't tried is cry it out. I just don't know if I can do it. Part of me thinks that it would be cruel to let her cry like that, but then the other part of me knows that sometimes as a parent you have to do hard things for the benefit of your child. I want her to have healthy sleep habits and for our whole family to be rested, but how? I think I've driven myself crazy reading all the books and their opposing points of view and still feel just as lost. If any moms have any advice on what they did to sleep train their babies, I would love to hear it. I want to do what is best for her, but I just don't know what that is. But I do know that what I'm doing right now is not working and she's not sleeping enough.