First Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  I feel this way every year when Thanksgiving gets close but after all that has changed during the past year, I feel especially blessed.  It was so fun to celebrate Avery's first Thanksgiving!  She got to play with her cousins and get loved on by extended family and even partook in her first black Friday shopping adventure!

We were able to leave for Temple Wednesday afternoon but unfortunately didn't beat the traffic.   Before we left a small package arrived for little A.  Her Grandma Nelson sent her first Christmas present!! We had to open it right then (with Grandma's permission of course!).  She bought Avery a beautiful "baby's first Christmas" ornament with Avery's name and picture on it! So cute!! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the actual gift but here are Avery and Cash inspecting the package.

Thanksgiving Day was beautiful.  The food was great and it was so fun to watch Emily and Avery playing together, Em is so good with her!

All of the cousins, Emily, Avery and Grant.  Not sure why Avery didn't want her picture taken!  Silly girl!

Avery and her Great-Grandmother

Avery and her Great-Granddad

Emily even fed Avery dinner!! So sweet :)  Avery had butternut squash and corn along with a few little bites of mashed potatoes!

First time in the big bathtub!

All ready for bed.

Trying again to get a picture of all three.  Still unsuccessful.  

Friday morning Linda and I got up at 3:30 and joined the other crazy people at Target.  O.M.G.  The line was wrapped all the way around the back of the building when we got there!! I didn't know Target could even hold that many people!! Luckily most of them headed for the electronics section while I was headed for toys!! It was fun, we were able to get some good deals and get back into bed by 5:30!! Not sure if it was fun enough to do it next year though.  We'll see...  After a few hours of rest we headed back out to the mall with Avery.  She did great, this little girl loves to shop!!! 

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What I'm Thankful for

(in no particular order)

My sweet daughter

My love for her, well, there are no words. I shower a little faster, I wear less makeup, my clothes might not match all because I want to rush to play with her.  There is no greater joy in my day than seeing her beautiful smiling face.

My loving husband

God blessed me more than I could have ever imagined when he gave me Matt.  He is my rock, my strength, my sanity when I'm lost, my friend when I'm lonely and so much more.  I love you babe!

Our loving God

My faith and trust in Him always gets me through the day.  There is no problem in my life to big for Him, no obstacle I can't overcome through Him, no miracle that is possible without Him. 

My parents

I would not be who I am without the guidance, patience and love of my parents. They are the reason I wanted to get married.   I know their marriage isn't always perfect but they are perfect for each other.  They have always supported me and I miss them everyday.  

(sorry mom, I know you don't like this picture but it is the only one I have of the two of you!)

My beautiful sister

I miss my sister/best friend so much.  I think know we drive each other crazy sometimes but she is and always will be my best friend, no matter what.  We've had so many memorable/crazy/fun experiences together.  I love the laughing fits we get into.   I love that she will always be there... always.

My wonderful friends

Because Matt and I were such nomads for a few years after we graduated, we lost touch with many of our college friends.  Luckily, I am very blessed to have a couple of friends that I have known since kindergarten.  We were in girl scouts together, we lived in the same neighborhood, our parents were friends, we literally went through K-12 together.  Eventhough we don't talk all that often I love these girls and always enjoy it when we do get to catch up. 

Since moving to Dallas, I've been "adopted" by a great group of girls who all have ties to DBU.  They are awesome and I really appreciate them including me in their circle!! Some of us were pregnant together and now our kids are so close in age, it's a blast getting together and having play dates!!

(Just realized I don't have any good pictures of my girls friends, I'll have to work on this!!)

My job

Anyone that knows me AT ALL is probably very surprised that I am thankful for my job.  It's a hard job.  It is a thankless job.  It is a demanding job.  BUT, it is a job and I know I am getting great experience by working there.  I have faith that God has a plan and that He hasn't put me there to torture me, I know there is a reason I'm at TranSystems... I'm just not quite sure what that reason is!!!

My puppy, Cash

He is certainly a handful but his sweet face makes me smile everyday.  He always manages to do something cute when I'm so frustrated with him, it's impossible to stay mad at him!! I can't wait until Avery is older, I know these two will be best buds!!

 

I am thankful for so much more but I need to start packing for our trip to Temple!! Time for turkey day, football and shopping!!!

 

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Psalm 107:1

Free Starbucks!

Great news!!  Starbucks is offering buy one holiday drink and get the second drink free between 2-5 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 18, through Nov. 21, 2010. Holiday drinks include the Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulee Latte and the Gingerbread latte.

YUM!!! You know where I'll be tomorrow afternoon!

Itsy Bitsy Avery

We had our family Christmas / Avery's six month pictures taken today.  The photographer was great and already posted a sneak peak on her blog.  Here are a few... LOVE THEM!!!! 

Avery did pretty good during the photo shoot.  I think she was a little overwhelmed, we got a bunch of grins the first ten minutes or so and then she was done smiling.  The photographer took a lot of the pictures in this great field but about half way through I realized Avery had never sat in the grass before!! I always put her on a blanket when we sit in the backyard.  She was fascinated by the grass.  We could not get her to look up!  Matt was jumping up and down, I was clapping and making every silly noise imaginable but she was completely fixated on the grass!! Silly girl. 

Persistence paid off and she snapped a few when we finally got Avery to look up.  Thanks Brooke, they turned out great!!!!

Splish Splash!!!

Avery has discovered how much fun bath time can be!  She loves playing with her little bath toys and splashing around... until the water gets in her eyes, she then looks at me like how could you let this happen mom???

These pictures make me smile... I just love her sweet little baby rolls!!  I've always loved chubby babies (and puppies)!!!  Seriously, when else in life is so so adorable to have rolls??

First Snow

I logged on to facebook this evening and post after post read "first snow, let it snow, playing in the snow."  I know it sounds strange when we're enjoying mid 70's and sunshine here in Dallas but reading this almost brought me to tears.  I love the first snow.  It is one of my absolute favorite things.  There is something so peaceful and serene about the first snowfall.  The world seems so quiet and somehow simple when you sit at the window watching the flakes fall.  And don't even get me started on skiing, sledding, building snowmen, making snow angels, and enjoying a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of a crackling fire... just a few of my favorite things. 

Don't get me wrong, I love warm weather and sunshine, but right now my heart is longing for the snow.   I want to walk outside and have the cold air take my breath away.  I want to feel the cold tickle on my nose as the flakes begin to melt.  I want to take pictures of Avery in the snow.  I want to watch Cash bound around and bury his muzzle in foot-high drifts.... someday....


Here are a few pictures that always make me smile.  Two years ago we went snowshoeing up above Camp Dick.  It was a beautiful day, we hiked until the snow started to fall and then made a campfire to stay warm.  If you've never stood around a campfire and felt the blazing heat while the winds gust and flakes fall, it is something you need to experience at least once. 

This is a picture of Cody and I.  Cody is my parent's black lab.  He was one of the best dogs I've ever been around... more personality than he knew what to do with.  Back in August my parents found out Cody had cancer in his mouth.  They had to put him down about a month ago... he was only five.  I miss this guy so much, I thought it was a great picture for this post because I guarantee he loved the first snow even more than I do. 

Matt gathering firewood for our campfire!

 Enjoying the beautiful Colorado day

Picture Time

Sleepy girls!

Waiting to go in for her six month checkup

Playing in her exersaucer

Contemplating life as a six-month old

First time in the jogger stroller without her car seat

Ready to go for a walk with mom

Yummy rice cereal and applesauce!

Playing with Cash

First time trying to drink out the sippy cup

Six Months

Pumpkin, I have to admit I'm having a hard time accepting that you are six months old!! A half year! I have mixed emotions about this.  On one hand, I love watching you learn and grow and discover new things.  It is amazing to watch you observe and begin to understand the world around you. But there is a part of me that misses the little cuddly newborn.  You are just changing so fast, I feel like I can't keep up!!

The most impressive thing you've learned to do this month is sit up! You've gotten really good at this the past couple weeks and can now sit for 5-10 minutes unsupported and can usually find your balance if you do start to fall over.  You are really reaching and grabbing at everything that is near you.  You used to just sit and watch me cook but now you want to help!! You have to touch, push or grab everything!!

You are still sleeping great at night but we've had a hard time getting you to take good naps.  This whole 45 minute nap thing isn't working so well for us.  We'll have to work on that during the next month!! You have one meal of baby food each day and 5 six oz. bottles.

We went in for your check up yesterday and you are definitely a healthy, well nourished baby!! In fact, your pediatrician told me you are the size of an average nine month old!! Wow!  17 lb 14 oz and 27.5 inches long!! That puts you in the 97% percentile for height and 75-90th for weight!

I'm so thankful to have you as my daughter.  I love you so much and I'm so excited to watch you grow into a little girl and then a young lady!!  Please go easy on your daddy though, I think he's already dreading your first date!!!

I love you more than you'll ever know!!

Mommy

Just Playing Around

So, I was bored tonight, which, BTW, is very uncommon these days! Anyway, I've always wanted to enhance some of the pictures I've taken of Avery but never had the time or money to buy and use photoshop or other photo editing software.  So, I signed up for picasa and it is so easy!! If you have a blogger account, you can link your two accounts and it automatically finds all pictures on your blog.  You can then edit the exposure, color, sharpness, add frames, text, etc. 

Here is one of the originals before editing.  I didn't save the originals of the ones above but they looked similar to this one... very dark. 

Well, if I find myself bored anytime in the near future (LOL) maybe I'll try to edit a few more, I just love taking pictures of this little girl!!

Weekend Fun

The weather was so beautiful this weekend, I'm really enjoying these great fall temps!! We finally had a semi-relaxing weekend.  Friday night we hung out at home.  Didn't do a thing and it was great!! Avery and Cash played together in the backyard (their new favorite thing)!  It is so cute, she just sits there on her blanket and plays with toys while Cash chews on his bone.  He gets as close as we'll let him, I think he would practically lay on top of her if we let him!!  I don't have any pictures of them playing but I had to snap a few in this adorable outfit before my little chunky monkey outgrows it!! 

Saturday was my birthday and Matt made the day so special!! He got up and brought Avery in to wake me up and sing happy birthday and then made breakfast.  That afternoon Matt had to work so we went up to DBU and watched the soccer game and enjoyed the beautiful day.  That night, Matt took me to dinner at Carrabbas. I love Italian food.  I love garlic.  I love pasta.  I love wine (haha, like anyone who  knows me doesn't know that!!!).  We had a great dinner.

Me and my sweet little girl

Sunday morning we took Cash to the dog park.  It was actually kind of chilly that morning, Avery got all bundled up and he headed out.

That evening we went to the Trapps' to watch the Rangers game and take the kiddos trick-or-treating.  It's so fun to have a group of friends with kids around the same age!!  Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures, maybe next year.

On another note, you will notice that Avery is not smiling in a single picture.  The last couple of weeks we've had a hard time getting her to take good naps during the weekend.  This is a bad thing because this little girl needs a ton of sleep, just like her momma!! If she doesn't nap 3-4 hours she's a mess by late afternoon.  I guess we need to put her on a nap schedule, I can't take anymore of these pouty faces, I miss her little smile.

Hope you had a great weekend and a happy halloween!