Trip to St. Louis

Last week our family made a trip to St. Louis to visit Pete's family and work on our ministry partner development for Campus Crusade. We had such a great time introducing Lucy to family and friends, and having her spend time with her Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Margaret, and Uncle Tim! She also got to meet her Great-Grandma.

We've discovered that she is a great traveler. She also loves to smile! Here are some pictures from the week.

Fun Info About Lucy's Name

Thought it would be fun to let y'all know some background on Lucy's name. Lucy is actually the name of our Lucy's Great Great Great Grandmother (my Grandma Joyce Hedrick's Grandma). The funny thing is, we didn't know that when we chose that name! According to the family, Lucy Bozworth Young was born March 26th, 1878 and was honored as Indiana Mother of the year in 1956.

Lucy's middle name is Catherine (which happens to be my middle name as well). My Granny's name was Catherine (my Mom's Mom). She was a wonderful woman and we wish she (and my Papa) could still be with us to meet and enjoy their great-grandchild. They both passed away several years ago and are now with the Lord.

On a totally different note, Lucy has been doing very well in her second week of life. She pretty much just eats, sleeps, and dirties her diaper... sometimes she is awake for us during which we have tried reading to her, playing with her, giving her baths, and going on walks. She likes all of those things except baths, but she does like it when we wash her hair. She has done AMAZING at sleeping during the night. We feel very blessed that the Lord has given us rest.

New look

Yes, you're in the right place. We decided to switch to a less gender-neutral theme since we are now 100% certain that we have a girl. Also, spring is in the air, and this just felt more fun and fresh to us. Enjoy the new look!

More pictures from the actual birth day

Sorry we forgot to post all of these earlier!

9 Days Old

Yesterday we decided to take a family outing to Target for just a couple needed items and some exercise. Plus, its so much fun to put Lucy in her carseat and push her around in the stroller. :) Here are a couple of pictures- we thought she looked really cute in her fuzzy sweatsuit.


We have had some funny moments in the past week. One in particular was when Lucy was crying in the evening (she had just been fed, and, we think, just tired and fussy). Pete was holding her and decided to put the Northwestern fight song on (NU marching band cd) and sing it to her. She immediately ceased her crying and calmed down while Pete played/sang it several times. Here's a picture of her chillin' in the swing with her NU blanket!


Pete has enjoyed some precious moments with Lucy. Here are a few that I captured.

6 Days Old

We're learning more about Lucy every day. One thing is that she is very sleepy. But that's okay because that means we can sleep too! Last night was our best night so far. We both feel very rested.



Lucy had her first check-up on Monday. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz (normal to lose a little weight) and the doc said she looked great. She is feeding well and enjoying her Nana and Pop (my parents.)




We have so very much enjoyed having both sets of parents here in the last week. Pete's family was here from the beginning and provided an abundance of delicious food and helped out a lot! They left Sunday night, just a few hours before my parents showed up. Both have been such a help to us and Lucy loves her grandparents, aunts, uncles!




Over the weekend we had Matt and Leslie Sfura and their kids over for dinner (I should clarify that I didn't do anything but sit on the couch the whole time and rest).


We love our little girl so much. Its still sinking in that she's ours. We praise God for a healthy baby. "Lucy" means "Light." Our hope for her is that she will not only know the Light of the world, but also spread His name to the world.

Lucy's Awake Time

Lucy was a great baby this morning and afternoon. She spent a lot of time downstairs playing with Grandma Avery and Pete's sisters while I caught up on sleep upstairs. Here's a little video of Lucy that Pete shot while I was resting!

Lucy Catherine Avery is here!

Well, our much anticipated baby is finally here! Michaela began having regular contractions late Wednesday night, right as we were about to head to bed at 11pm or so. This was really encouraging to us, because it was just a couple days before we were scheduled to induce. They were growing stronger and more frequent, so we headed into the hospital around 1:30am (early Thursday morning, April 1). After what seemed like an eternity to both of us (Michaela struggling through contractions and Pete doing all he could to stay awake), Michaela gave birth naturally to Lucy Catherine.

Lucy was immediately active, alert, and happily calm. She's a beautiful and healthy baby, and while she has definitely interrupted our ability to catch up on sleep after our all-nighter, she's such an incredible joy to have with us that it's definitely worth the loss of sleep :). We'll most likely be heading home Saturday morning.

Here are a couple teaser pictures. More will come later after we get home!

Heading in to the Hospital

Hi it's Pete here. We just wanted to let everyone know that labor has begun and we're going to be heading into the hospital soon. Hopefully we'll have this baby tomorrow, or...today? :)