The Sweetest 1

Today was sweet little Avery's birthday. Look at this picture of her only a year ago. She was a tiny little one weighing in at only 5 lb. 13 oz.

Now look at her! She has grown so much over this last year.

We love her so much and can't imagine this past year without her. And, we are excited to see her grow and change over this next year. We had a fun celebration yesterday with our family and friends. I can't wait to share more about her birthday party later.

Uh - Uh - Oh

Here is a sweet little video Avery's Bibi captured this week.

Avery - 11 months

Our sweet Avery is 11 months old! She was quite the traveler this week as we drove to see both sets of grandparents. I think we drove a total of 1,400 miles, and she did very well for a girl who cries the whole way from daycare home each day.

Hopefully soon I will post some videos/more pictures of her latest milestones. Last week she began walking while holding our hands. She wants to walk a lot back and forth.

She is also becoming quite the talker, saying ma-ma and da-da and uh-uh-oh when she drops a toy.

Let me just say that it is much cuter in person than me typing it on the blog.

Avery: 10 Month Pictures

We just got Avery's pictures! I love them! They turned out great thanks to Laurel at Eilas Photography. She always does a fantastic job. Avery, as I have said before, LOVES to stand and pull up. Isn't she a doll? She is getting SO big SO fast.

I am pretty sure she ate a flower or leaf while taking these shots. The girl LOVES to eat these days. We have to literally stop giving her food. She is eating LOTS of finger foods now. Her favorites are wheat pasta, steamed carrots and cinnamon, cheese, green beans, black beans, blueberries ... well, like I said the girl just likes food.













This is possibly my favorite picture ever of us! I don't get enough time with Avery, but the time I do get is precious. When I get home at night, she is always very playful. She crawls, I chase her, and she laughs and laughs and laughs.













This is a sweet picture of Avery and Matt. Just look at that face. She loves her daddy for sure. She has a special game she plays with him at night too. He puts her on the couch; she rolls around and then off. Good thing dad is always there to catch her. I believe we may have a little "fearless" one on our hands. She and her cousin, Kylie, are going to be GREAT friends!

Avery - 9 Months

Well, actually Avery is now 9 1/2 months. I LOVE this age. It is such an age of discovery, growth, and laughter. She is a lot of fun to be around. Her teachers at daycare love her too. They say she is full of personality. I would definitely agree. Here are a few pictures and a little update of her current milestones.


















About three weeks ago Avery started getting her two bottom teeth. It took about three weeks for them both to come in. It is near impossible to get a picture of them. So, here is a sweet picture of her playing in a box! Who needs expensive toys?!













Like I said, she LOVES to laugh. She is the perfect fix to a bad day at work. I love coming home to a happy baby.













Look at me! I LOVE to stand! It is definitely her favorite thing to do right now. Avery goes from sitting or crawling to her knees. Most of the time she still needs help to get up ... but other times ...













she surprises us and does it her own! She thought it was hilarious that she was standing in her crib.













Ma Ma and Da Da have become a part of Avery's vocabulary. I certainly think she knows what it means. I am pretty sure she even understands the word NO, except when it comes out of her mom's mouth.

She Likes to Move It, Move It ...

Wow! It has been a hectic last two weeks. I truly can't even remember what happened yesterday and SLOW is not a word in my vocabulary these days. But, we took the good with the not so wonderful and made it through. Here is a little recap.

After Labor day, Avery spent the next three days at home with a double ear infection. Matt stayed home with her most, because ya'll they don't make it easy for teachers to take off! It took me an extra 2 hours to prepare to be off with Avery just for ONE day! Now, is there a trick I don't know about?! I mean, don't hold out on me teacher friends. If there is a secret to quick sub planning, fill a girl in, would ya?!

So Friday, Avery finally went back to school. Yes, we got to donate four days of tuition to Avery's daycare. Gotta love that! That afternoon, I was late leaving school and missing my little girl. Once again I left my classroom in a HUGE mess, rushed out the door, got in the car (the nicest one I have EVER owned), and backed up like I normally would. Unfortunately, there was a car parked RIGHT BEHIND me on the curb and BOOM, I ran into it. What a way to end an already less than perfect week. Still my fault I know, but ya'll I seriously think there should be a rule about people parking on curbs! Especially when I could back up and hit you.














So, apparently a stomach virus was going around daycare and the one day that Avery went that week, she picked it up! She was sick (if you know what I mean) almost all day Saturday and into the night! Poor thing was PITIFUL! We took her back to daycare on Monday because we thought she was well. At 1:30 that afternoon they called Matt to come get her. Matt called me right before dismissal at school that same day and told me that he was sick too. Oh. MY. WORD. YA'LL. Seriously?! I did my bus duty, got excused from the faculty meeting and went home to take care of both Matt and Avery. And guess what?! We donated another day's worth of tuition to Avery's school on Tuesday. Icing. on. the. cake!














So, that my friends is the "not so wonderful" news. The good news is this ... Avery is into everything now! She is army crawling EVERYWHERE! She started on Labor day. That is not all! She is pulling up on her new favorite toy! Our little girl is growing up fast.

Labor-Less Days

Labor day weekend could not have come at a better time. After 17 (what seemed like 30) days of being back at work, I was ready to relax, refocus, spend time with my little family, and clean our neglected little condo.


















We took Avery to the zoo for the first time. Since it is so close to our condo, we bought a membership and will be taking her this fall for sure. It was MUCH cheaper than buying day passes for two adults. Plus, since I am an educator we got $10 off! Yippee!


















Avery also got to play with a new toy! One of the sweet families in my class last year was cleaning out and gave us this awesome toy. Avery loves it already!
















Seriously, did you just love your Labor Day holiday as much as we did? It was low key, but really good! Now I will be looking forward to Fall Break! Until then, I am hoping to figure out a better routine to get more lesson planning and prep done during the week so I can enjoy my weekends more often.