1st Christmas Party

Avery and her little friends had a Christmas party on Sunday evening.  We have a great group of friends with kids 5 months - 2 years old.  It is always mayhem when we all get together but I love it!! It's so crazy to think that this time last year five of us were pregnant and now our babies are growing up so quickly.  I love that we all have babies so close in age, it makes getting together so much easier because everyone understands if one is crying or spits up or any of the other fun things babies do!!

Unfortunately my camera battery died early in the evening but I was still able to get a couple cute pictures.

This is one of my favorite Christmas outfits... I just love the little tutu-crawler.

Ok, I think I need to explain this picture a bit.  Our friends Ashley and Brant are expecting a baby girl, Emmalee, in May.  So of course we had to include little Emmalee in the Christmas party fun!! She also had to be in the picture so we had Ashley hold sweet little Tatum on her cute baby bump so her little one could be part of the picture!! So cute!!

Whittaker, Brenley, Kennedy, Tatum, Emmalee, Avery, Gage and Cade!

Here is a glimpse of the mayhem... 

I just love this time of year!!

Christmas Outfits

So, I may have gone a little overboard buying Christmas outfits for little miss.  Yes, I know, this is shocking.  Well anyway, I'm hoping she can wear each of them at least once so... a few random posts with no real purpose will be up soon!! This one makes me laugh because it says Always Jolly.  Okay, seriously, what 6 month old is always jolly?  I tried SO hard to get a picture of her smiling to show her "jollyness" (pretty sure I just made up a word).  Anyway, this girl is way too busy and curious to smile for the camera!!

Sitting still for half a second

Distracted by Cash running in the room with two balls in his mouth and growling at us

She has discovered her hands!! They are oh so interesting!!  So cute!

This is her "I really want to crawl and grab whatever is in front of me but I'm not quite brave enough" face

Seven Months

Sweet little Avery, you are at such a fun age right now!  You are trying so hard to crawl!! You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth but when you try to move your arms you fall back to your belly.  You seem to realize how close you are to being mobile.  You can scoot around in a circle and can manage to go backward, just not forward!  You are reaching for everything, and you are so fast!  You don't miss a thing!   You still love to stand and are starting to try to pull yourself up.  You reach your hands up try to pull and look at me like, "a little help here would be nice".  Once you're up you can stand supported for a few minutes.

Your hair is finally starting to grow!! I cannot believe how much hair you had when you were born and then about 75% of it fell out!  It's coming in a little lighter than it was before and your bald spot is finally filling in :)

You are such a good baby.  You still go to bed around 7:30 and sleep 11-12 hours at night.  You are having four 7 oz bottles a day and baby food twice a day.  You seem to like just about everything I give you now, including gerber puffs!  You make a funny face at first but seem to enjoy them.  Speaking of eating, you got your first tooth (bottom left) about 2 weeks ago!!  You didn't seem phased by it at all!!

I absolutely love your sweet little laugh, it is so contagious!!!  Sometimes it is a challenge to get you to laugh.  I do something that you think is funny and you just laugh and laugh... but then I do the same thing the next day and you're already over it!!  It is so fun to watch you explore, you are a very quiet, observant baby.   I love your mild, easy-going temperament. 

You are such a blessing little girl, I fall more in love with you each and every day.

It won't be long...

Until this little girl is crawling!!!

She's up!

 

 Look at me go!

Sweet little pumpkin

Phew, this is a lot of work

And we're done...

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