Wiegand Writes

I periodically check in with the California Cryobank to make sure our donor still has vials available. I checked a little less than a month ago and it said he had 25+ (which is what it says when the vials are NOT in limited storage) I had some time the other night, so I figured I would just log in and check...again. Words cannot even describe how I felt when the screen read, ADVISORY No vials are available for this donor, and no vials are expected to become available in the future.  The donor's information remains available for purchase by clients who have previously used this donor. To ensure vial availability, please take advantage of CCB's Family Today/Family Tomorrow Program. CCB Client Services is available at 866-927-9622 to answer any questions. I felt physically nauseous. My heart raced and I was devastated. I turned the screen towards Meg and her face dropped. We reread the notification several times (each time hoping to find a mistake) Meg asked wh...

Ok, so I've been having a lot of problems with uploading pictures to the blog recently (apparently I used up all of my storage space) I think I may have told you that I accidentally deleted pictures from older posts because I was trying to make room. Whoops!!! In order to rectify this problem, I created a share site (also called Wiegand Writes). It's free and runs through Shutterfly. It's pretty awesome, but it requires an invite from yours truly. If you would like to see pictures and videos of Avery on a regular basis, just click on the link below and/or comment on this post and I will send you an email invitation to the site. (make sure you include your email address if you leave a comment!) I hope you enjoy it!!! Please email requests to:  jwiegand83@yahoo.com

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged (NOTE- the following updates are not in any specific order): 1. Avery celebrated her 7 month birthday 2. She started crawling (army crawling, but it still counts...)  3. Her top teeth started coming in (they have taken forever and are just now starting to really breakthrough) 4. She said "Mama" (though it still sounds a little angry)  5. She sat on Santa's lap (and didn't cry...she actually smiled) 6. She picked out two Christmas trees (our first one died two weeks into December).  7. She learned how to clap (she claps ALL the time!) 8. She learned how to blow raspberries (it's really more like spitting in a cute way)  9. She tried turkey and loved it. 10. She ate butternut squash and pasta (she picks them up all by herself) 11. She had her booster flu shot and only cried for a second. 12. She has a new play area in our living room (equipped with her own storage system from IKEA, a LOT of to...

Meg and I took Avery to a Christmas Festival this past weekend. She was really excited! We walked around, did some window shopping, listened to the live entertainment, and shared soft pretzels and apple cider. We didn't wait in line to see the gingerbread house competition. Instead, we stopped to check out the book store (we LOVE books). We ended up buying Avery a Christmas book written and autographed by a local author. (I forget the title, but it's something along the lines of Monty's Christmas...it's a story about a dog who gets adopted later in life. It's a little long for a children's book, but it's cute.) We haven't had the chance to read it yet because we also bought The Christmas Parade by Sandra Boynton (which we've pretty much read every night!) I also bought the last girl Elf on the Shelf. I gave in...

THANKSGIVING: Meg worked on an art project with Avery early Thanksgiving morning. Together they made turkey place cards using Avery's hands and finger paint. They turned out really cute!!! We then went over Meg's parents' house for breakfast. There, we enjoyed some awesome Manhattan bagels and watched Avery and Ryleigh play. For dinner, we headed over to my parents' house. It was bittersweet because my parents were sad (they had to take their 9.5 year old Newfoundland to the animal hospital for surgery) On a more positive note, dinner was great and Avery didn't cry for family (she has really bad stranger danger these days). Here are several pictures from Avery's First Thanksgiving: Hanging with Uncle Brandon... Avery's project... Head of the table... Sitting with h...

Let me just preface this post by stating that I wrote this blog weeks ago! The hold up occurred because blogger wouldn't let me upload pictures (apparently I used up all of my free storage) To make matters worse, I accidentally deleted pictures from my earlier posts while trying to figure it out (I'll tackle that problem another day) As of now, the crisis seems to be resolved (I created a shutterfly share site) Now to the original post... Avery's 6 month check was, by far, the most traumatizing of all of her appointments thus far...she had serious stranger danger for the nurse and flipped at the doctor when he was examining her (she screamed bloody murder and had real tears!) She had to have 4 shots and the rotavirus. In terms of stats, she was/is perfect. She was 27 inches (85%) and weighed 17 lbs 4 oz (70%) This past weekend Megan and I took Avery to New York. It was our first official road trip (unless you count our trip to the beach when she was really little) and...

I know it's probably hard to believe (seeing that we've been together for almost 10 years), but Meg and I created our very first Christmas card today. While I cannot reveal the official card...(not yet, at least)...here are a few pictures from today's photo shoot. *Note* The following pictures were not chosen for the actual card as there were many others, which we found to be cuter

I can't believe that it has been over two months since I last blogged. There is so much to report that I don't even know where to begin. I guess I should go in chronological order, so lets rewind to Avery's 4 month birthday (I think that's where we left off) 4 months (September 3) Avery's 4 month check up went well. She was 26 inches (93rd percentile) long and weighed 15 lbs 9 oz (79th percentile). Also, in September...Avery got her second tooth and slept through the night for the first time (it took her long enough!!) She also went on a swing for the first time (I had a cute video, but I can't seem to pull it up) Mid-September we took Avery to a scarecrow festival...we bought Avery some bows and enjoyed a nice fall evening together. We also went to the Camden aquarium...Avery loved looking at the fish! We had family portraits taken for my mom's birthday..Avery was awe...