A Year Old

I have been really bad about updating our blog. The biggest news is Avery turned one! We had a great celebration, Mary came from New York and all the grandparents celebrated with us. She really wasn't too sure of the cake to start with, but then decided she loved it. Takes after her mom!

We also had fun at Easter. Avery actually took her basket around and collected eggs. It was fun.

We went to Disney for a few days and she experienced a pool for the first time. She loves the water!

Avery is now a pro at walking, in fact she has started to pick up the pace and tries running, sometimes trips. She is saying about 4 words rather regularly. She babbles up a storm and tells us stories all the time. She is also really good at imitating things we do.

Enjoying birthday cake!

All dressed up for her birthday

11 months

No, really, where is the time going?!? I can't believe Avery is already 11.5 months. She is one awesome kid and loved by many. She now prefers to walk over crawl. She still gets really proud every time she walks. It is funny to watch. This month she gave me my first "welcome home from work" greeting by walking to me instead of crawling. She also is starting to give hugs. Avery walks over with her arms out and if we crouch down, she wraps her arms around us and moves in. Adorable! Makes us smile. Avery is still a great eater, haven't really found anything that she doesn't love. A new found hobby of hers is taking things out of the drawers or bags and tossing them on the floor. We have created a drawer for her in the kitchen that has bibs in it so she can do this till her heart is content. Avery is loving the cats more and more each day. She really enjoys hanging out with them and squeals every time one comes into view.

Tom's dad made the move down to Gainesville from California. He is staying with us while he transitions and finds a place of his own. He seems to be loving it.

I keep up with a group of moms who bonded through the hospital I delivered at. The hospital had luncheons for new moms. Our babies are all within 2-3 months of each other. We had a big 1st birthday party at the beginning of March. 30 babies! It was a ton of fun and so glad we are all still in contact after a year.

Birthday party fun!

                                         

Spending time with Pop Pop

 Enjoying time with Aunt Laura and Uncle Justin, along with Grandma and Grandpa

A great looking little family!

Avery doing one of her favorite activities with Easter candy.

Being cute!

Month 10 and the Disney Half Marathon

This month was extra busy! Justin, Laura, Chris (Laura's brother) and Danielle (Chris' wife) all came down to visit. The girls all ran the princess half marathon. We had a great time and of course ran in tutus. I could actually walk and do Disney afterwards! Avery enjoyed time with her aunt and uncle!

Avery is continuing to amaze us each day. She is taking "steps" now. I say it with quotations because she scoots her feet two or three times and then falls down. I don't count it as walking yet! She also waves hi and bye really well and can point at all sorts of stuff. She says "ba ba" which we think is for bye bye. She is also saying "ma ma" more and "da da" with direction. So fun! Avery is a master at eating. I seriously think she would weigh a lot more if we just kept feeding her until she was done. She eats anything we put in front of her. Her favorites are: blueberries, homemade chicken nuggets, green beans, and peas.

Tom takes Avery to a gym for kids twice a week. It is called Stay and Play. There are a lot of different activities she gets to do. Avery loves going!

Half Marathon Pictures

The line for the out houses!

Fun in Disney

Avery now has enough hair to have fun with!

We now get our workout in going up the stairs several times a day!

Enjoying Stay and Play

9 months

We had a great holiday season this year! I can't believe Avery's first Christmas has come and gone. It was a blast. She enjoyed many great gifts. We started a tradition with her called her "Night before Christmas Box" which we fill with small things she opens on Christmas Eve. Hopefully she will love it until she is 18! She did great with the tree. We created a little gate that she couldn't get over. She was fascinated by the lights. Our visit with Santa was a hit. She stared at him for a long time. No tears! Avery is starting to cruise the furniture, she has been pulling up to stand for about a month now. I am sure those first steps aren't too far off. We are now up to three solid meals a day. She is quite the eater. The only food she doesn't seem to like is eggs. I think it is a texture thing. Avery had her first sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's. It went great. We definitely missed her more than she missed us!

With Santa

So many great presents!

Opening her "Night before Christmas" Box

With Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas Day!

Staring at the Christmas Tree!

Avery enjoying nose kisses with Grandma!

 Just being cute!

8 months

We have had a great month. What isn't to love about the month that Thanksgiving is in?!? Avery went to Disney World, Epcot to be exact. We are calling this her first trip since she was much more interactive than when we took her at 3 months old. We had a blast and she was worn out by the time we left. Avery is now pulling up to stand. This new ability has made her really proud of herself. It is funny to watch. In her crib, she will pull up and stand and squeal with excitement. Yes, it can be challenging at bedtime, but all we can do is laugh at how excited she gets! We spent the night at grandma and grandpa's for Thanksgiving. Avery even tried a little turkey. She is now eating cheerios like a champ. It took her no time to figure out that they go in your mouth. She gets excited when she sees the box. I guess she is a good eater! Avery is also babbling much more and has started signing "eat" when she gets hungry. She is growing fast!!

The family at Epcot!

Standing in her crib when Tom went to get her in the morning!

Enjoying Thanksgiving!

Avery loves to take the cat food and put it in the water, we chase her about a hundred times a day as she tries to do this!

Getting ready for Christmas!

7 months old

We have had a very busy month. Avery has decided to start crawling. That caught both of us off guard and we quickly had to make some home changes! She is really fast now and loves to crawl to the kitties. If the kitties move, Avery is up and on the move to where they went next. It is funny to watch! She squeals along the way. Another one of her favorite things to do is pick up a toy and just drop it, then pick it up again and drop it again. She will entertain herself for a while doing this. We also had Avery's baptism on October 18. Thank you to Uncle Ken and Aunt Mary for being our godparents. It was a nice day! And of course, Halloween! Avery enjoyed the pumpkin patch. She was Tinkerbell and Sulley from Monsters Inc.

Avery enjoying the pumpkins!

Dressed as Sulley and Tinkerbell

Crawling for Dexter, he thought he was safe in his kitty house!

And leaving her room!

Everyone at her baptism!

And our little family!

6 months!

We are having a lot of fun around here! Avery is becoming much more independent by the day. She now does a backwards crawl, it cracks us up. We put a toy in front of her and she ends up 5 feet backwards from it. Eventually she will figure out how this whole crawling thing works. Avery made her first trip to Disney World. We stayed at the Boardwalk to see our friends Daryl and Ingrid from Dallas. We went to Epcot and enjoyed the Food and Wine Festival. Avery is also eating more human food, three meals a day. She loves it! We are also able to enjoy the swings at the park now that she has such good body control. We aren't quite sure what Avery does when she sleeps at night, when we go in to get her up, she is never any where near the same place we laid her down in. It makes us laugh!

Enjoying time at the park!

Avery decided playing with the paper before her 6 month check up would be fun!

Now that she is so mobile, everything is her toy, including the cat house!

It got chilly for the first time this fall. We bundled up before our walk!