Thankful

This month on my facebook I've been doing what a lot of people have been doing and listing things that I'm thankful for.  There is so much I have to be thankful for all the time, but I feel like this year there is an extra lot to be thankful for.  :)  Here are a few of those things:
-I'm thankful for our beautiful new home.  It's still too big for us, but we're working on growing into it.  :)
-I'm thankful for our 2 reliable, dependable cars.  Michael's is paid for and I have a little less than 2 years left on mine.  They get us safely to and from our jobs and also help us to be able to see our family, which is very important to us.
-I'm thankful for my handsome nephew who was born on April 3rd of this year.  He's brought so much joy to our family.  Love you, Dayton!
-I'm thankful for my sweet puppies who make me happy and confort me when I'm sad.  They always seem to know how to calm me down.
-I'm thankful that we got our fence put up in the back yard!  It's going to take a while to get it paid off, but Michael and I are good at making our payments and getting things taken care of.  It's so great that the puppies have room to run now!  I know they appreciate it.  :)
-I'm thankful for a healthy pregnancy.  There were a couple hiccups along the way, but for the most part, we couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy.  Not only did the pregnancy go well, but I went into labor naturally and didn't have to be induced, which was awesome!
-I'm thankful for my family who is always loving, supportive, and amazing.  I don't know where I'd be without each and every one of them.  I love you all so very much.
-I'm thankful for the newest addition to the Voss family (not ours though).   ;)  Madison was born yesterday.  She's healthy and doing great.  Nathan and Chelsey are very excited to add a little girl to their family.  I am excited to have my first niece finally here.
-I'm thankful for Michael's job.  They have been so great to him.  They are very understanding and they help him out in whatever ways they can.  They made sure Michael had time to spend with Avery and I when she arrived and that was amazing.  It has been a huge blessing for him to work at AeTR.
-I'm thankful for my job and it's flexibility.  I was able to take off a total of 8 weeks before and after Avery was born to relax and spend time with her (also thankful for FMLA).  And now that I've returned to work I only have to work nights and weekends, so Michael watches Avery for me. 
-I'm thankful that Michael makes enough to support our family.  It's so nice that I'm not pressured to work.  Yes, my income is helpful, but in the end, we don't need it.  It's just a little extra to put back and do fun stuff with.  It's nice to know that if I don't want to work, I don't have to.  Michael can take care of us all on his own. 
-I'm thankful for my handsome husband.  Michael is my rock.  He is always at my side in good times and bad.  He's the one whom my heart beats for.  I love him more than I can possibly say.  During this year we celebrated 5 years of life together and 3 years of marriage.  I can safely say that these have been the best 5 years of my life.  I don't know how I was ever happy without him.  I love you, Michael.
-And last, but most certainly not least, I am thankful for my daughter, Avery, who blessed our lives in huge ways on October 5th when she made her way into this world.  She is the reason I get up in the morning.  I live for her smiles and her giggles.  I choke up thinking of how amazingly blessed I am to have her in my life and to have the opportunity to raise her.  She is God's greatest blessing.  Those people who come to visit and hold her and thank us for giving them their "baby fix" have no idea what they're missing.  Having the opportunity to raise this beautiful little girl is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.  I adore her and everything about her.  God is so very good!  :)

So that's what my November felt like to me.  :)  What an amazing time I had, reflecting on my life and all God has given me.  It was a wonderful time.  I hope I will continue to count my blessing each day, even when it's no longer November.

And of course, one of my posts isn't complete without TONS of pictures of Avery!  :D  Enjoy!

Growth Spurt

Well, it's been a while since I blogged last, here are a few things that have been going on in our lives:

Basketball, basketball, football, and a little more basketball.  :)  As many of you know, I bought Michael season tickets to the K-State men's basketball games.  We have been up to Manhattan a lot lately watching games.  We're enjoying our time together and Cathy and Mama have been enjoying the opportunity to babysit.  The men are doing really well!  Should be a good season!  I can't wait to see what we can do once we get to conference play.  :)

Shopping!!!  As Thanksgiving approaches, I have been getting my Christmas shopping taken care of.  :)  Avery and I are out once or twice a week shopping and getting our gifts bought.  We're having a GREAT time!!  Also, Avery does REALLY well on these trips, sleeping through most of them.  We usually only have to stop once or twice for a diaper change and a bottle, and the rest of the time we're go, go, going!  :)

Great sleeping through the night!!  Avery has been trecking along, getting more and more hours of sleep every night!  At 5 weeks she was sleeping 6-8 hours at a time during the night.  But between 5 and 6 weeks she REALLY stepped it up!  She would sleep 8-10 hour stretches!!  It is/was awesome!  Shortly after she hit these nice long strides, the growth spurt hit and thing have temporarily changed, but I'm sure we'll be back to nice long restful nights soon!  ;)  She's been such a great baby! 

Growth spurt!  :)  In the last few days Avery has been going through her 6 week growth spurt.  We didn't really notice much of a change in her or her behavior when she grew around 3 weeks (when the books tell me the first growth spurt takes place), but boy we know something's different now!!  :P  She never seems to be able to get full.  She's eating every 1-2 hours during the day and every 4-6 hours at night.  Now this isn't too bad, because we're still getting lots of good sleep at night, more or less all we've done is add one more night feeding.  So she's not sleeping as well as she was, but from what I've read, these spurts usually last 3-7 days, and then she'll be back to her normal happy self.  :)  I'm just trying to be patient and persistant in this process.  Patient with her and a bit more fussiness than we are used to, and persistant with nursing and trying not to cave in and supplement the formula, which will ultimately only decrease my supply.  We will see how things go.  This is day 3 of the spurt.  I'm hoping she's back to her normal happy self by Thanksgiving.  But we shall see.  ;)

That's about all that's new with us.  :)  Looking forward to Michael having a short week at work and a long weekend with us.  And a week from today I go back to work.  :(  I enjoyed maternity leave and all of my great time with my baby girl.  It will be nice to get back out there and see my work friends again, but it will also be hard leaving my sweet girl.  I just hope the transition goes well.  :)

Of course, I have more pictures of Avery!  Enjoy!  And we'll see most of you for Thanksgiving this week!  Love you!  :D