Wow!! Catch Up Time!!

Ok, I've been lazy & haven't posted anything in 6 months so I thought I'd post everything (well, all the important things) that's happened since Avery's first birthday. Here goes....

HALLOWEEN

Avery was a cupcake for Halloween but absolutely refused to wear a hat. She hardly lets us brush her hair, I don't know why I thought she'd actually wear a hat. We went to my mom & dad's ranch and took some really cute shots of her in her cupcake costume.

We didn't take her Trick or Treating because we thought we'd keep the "freak out" level at a minimum this Halloween.

CHRISTMAS

For Christmas we went to mom & dad's again and this time Emily & Randi were able to come so Avery got some much needed Auntie time...

She loved opening presents & was spoiled rotten...as usual.

 

And Now...

The Holidays were wonderful this year but it's always nice to get back into the swing of things. We're all doing great. Jesse's work is going well and he enjoys what he does and who he works with.

Im still working a few hours a week just to get me out of the house and I've also started a couponing blog. No, Im not a crazy Extreme Couponer but the blog is mainly just a hobby and it's brought in some extra money so that's always nice.

Jesse took Avery to her 18 month well check visit, all by himself because I had to work and she was 35 inches tall and 25lbs 12oz...I wish her hair would grow as fast as she is!!

She's definitely coming into her own and she's so funny to watch sometimes. Her first word was "cow" (grandpa was proud) and I think she learns a new word everyday. The word of the day today is "no" and Im actually surprised she didn't pick up on it sooner. It seems like every time I turn around she's getting into something she shouldn't. We've definitely learned to pick our battles though.

Avery saying "Cow!"

I never really understood the saying "kids minds are like sponges" until you actually have a little one running around mimicking everything. 

Time flies when you're having fun!!

Just born

6 months old

1 year old

18 months old

Has It Been 1 Year Already!?

We just celebrated Avery's 1st birthday (a week and a half ago! Sorry, I'm late posting this). It was so much fun! She had a blast!

Her birthday outfit!

How lady-like

Opening presents

Cake time!!! She didn't like it as much as I thought she would!

Milk break!

Sticky frosting face!

"Bathtime!"

Playtime with cousin Ayla!

And of course I had to take 1 year shots. A friend of ours made Avery a tutu and I thought it would be perfect to take pictures of Avery in it in Grandma's flower garden.  

Her 1 year well check visit was today and she weighs 21 lbs 4 oz and 33 inches tall!! The Dr. said she looks great but I'm wondering when her hair is going to come in :o/

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly!

Avery got her first war wound a few days ago. She gets into her own little world now that she can walk and she was babbling to herself and not paying attention to where she was going. Sure enough, she tripped and Wa Bam! Smacked her head on the corner of the wall creating an instant goose egg! As the seconds passed and the thing began to grow and grow, I thought for sure an alien was going to pop out of it! I picked her up, popped her bink (binkie) back in her mouth, grabbed her blanket and in a few minutes she was just fine. Back to babbling and walking around in circles. It's amazing how resilient kids are! I figure there's bound to be more bumps along the way & you know me...document EVERYTHING...the good, the bad and the ugly!

Good Old Vitamin D

Since the weather has been becoming more enjoyable, we've been taking advantage of the parks in the Tri Cities. When I'm at work, Jesse has been loading Avery up in the stroller and taking her for a walk down to the nearest park. Being cooped up all winter long, there's no surprise that Avery LOVES being outside. At first she wouldn't wander beyond the boundaries of the blanket. The grass was icky feeling on her feet as you can see from the picture.

But with a couple trips to the park she soon came around when she realized the whole world is her playground now.  

Now that she can walk, she's everywhere. Here's a video of her cruising!

Can't believe she's 11 months already. Next stop, her 1st birthday!

Winners Circle

For those who may not know, I entered Avery in a Parents Magazine "Kid of the Year" photo contest. It was more for fun just to see what place she would get but on the 2nd day of voting she was #1 so I thought I'd take it more seriously and get my Facebook friends involved in the voting. After a long week of non-stop voting, asking people to vote and checking the website EVERYDAY at 8am, 9pm and midnight (because those were the times the votes were updated) to see if Avery was still #1, I was disappointed to see that when the voting closed, she was #2....BUT, I just got an email from Parents Magazine saying the votes were verified and Avery DID get 1st place and they would be sending the $250 prize shortly! I was shocked so I had to check the website and sure enough, she was 1st for week 17!

What a great "day after Mothers Day" present!

On an equally exciting note, Avery has begun to walk! She took her 1st few steps 2 weeks ago but I FINALLY got it on video yesterday! I think her personal best is 10 steps but she's practicing!

Happy Easter!!

Our Easter was wonderful this year. It was just us three and it was filled with fun....and a lot of firsts.

1.) It was Avery's first Easter and the Easter Bunny spoiled her rotten!  She got a stuffed duck, a new pair of shoes, a new snail toy (which she loves because it has a mirror on it), a basket full of goodies including "Are You My Mother" by Dr. Seuss (one of my favorites as a kid), The Care Bear Movie (another favorite of mine), bubbles (because she loves them), big girl cups (which may or may not be a huge mistake), a chocolate bunny (which will probably be eaten by mommy), and Gerber Puffs (her favorite snack and a substitution for traditional Easter candy).

2.) It was my first time cooking a holiday dinner...all by myself. I must say it turned out better than expected. I made a ham, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, cresent rolls, broccoli bacon salad and a funfetti fondant cake.

3.) The funfetti fondant cake (my biggest triuph of the day) was the first time I ever experimented with marshmallow fondant. I want to bake Avery's 1st birthday cake but haven't really had any reason to just back a cake so I thought Easter would be as good as any. I baked it, layered it and frosted it with funfetti icing the night before so it could crust overnight. Then I made the marshmallow fondant. All I can say is sticky sticky sticky but once I was able to nead it into a dough, it was a lot of fun. I think the end result came out pretty good.

All in all it was a wonderful (but busy) Easter Sunday. We hope you had a wonderful Easter as well!

Parents Magazine Cover Contest

So I was on the Parents Magazine website the other day and noticed they were having a magazine cover contest for children 3 months to 6 years. I thought it was a shot in the dark but I uploaded the requested 5 photos and one of them made the cut to be voted on. This was the photo they chose:

There will be 10 winners who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to be photographed for an upcoming issue of Parents magazine! You can vote everyday until the 17th so VOTE VOTE VOTE!!! Heres the link: http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/783992