Monday, May 10, 2010

Avery's many faces on Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2010 got off to a rough start, but ended well. I can't complain at all because I was able to spend it with Michael and Avery, and some mothers didn't, or weren't, able to spend it with their family...so for that reason, it was a great Mother's Day.

We went to Lake Lanier, where you'll see many pictures of us this summer, to visit with Michael's parents. The day was actually quite windy and chilly, but I never pass up an opportunity to be on the water. Avery had many different expressions throughout the day that I captured on camera.

Here she is directing the captain where to go. She kept us safe by avoiding islands and other boats.

She's eating something here, probably a Goldfish.
This is the look she's giving her daddy while he's trying to make her smile. This face is very common if you are acting like a fool to entertain her and she's not very amused!
Daddy won and got a smile out of her.
I asked her how much she loved me and she said, "Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssss much!"
Hahaha, oh Lord! All I can think when I see this is "bless Michael's heart." He probably sees this expression more than I realize, but somehow still puts up with me.
Yaay! Finally a good one of both of us.
If you look closely you can see her two top teeth.
All was well in Avery's world until we put on her life jacket. She kept trying to push it off her face, squishing her cheeks while doing it.
Her daddy didn't seem to mind his so much.
This face just makes me laugh. She's looking at her Granddaddy here, waiting for him to do something amazing.
Uh-oh! Avery fell. It's ok, though. We just clap our hands and say, "Yaaay! It's ok!"
But for some reason, I don't think she believes us.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

I never thought I would be this excited to finally celebrate Mother's Day. As the day gets closer and closer, different feelings are evoked. Feelings of honor, pride, and belonging come from being a mom, myself. Michael has always honored me on this day since I am a mother to our first baby, Cotton! However, it's totally different this time around.

Last year I was 37 weeks pregnant on Mother's Day and still celebrated, but it's official this year, I'M A REAL MOM! Other feelings of gratitude, thankfulness, and understanding fill me as I think of my mom and all that she has done for my brother, sister, and me. Thank you so much, Mom, for every single thing...because now I know! You are wonderful.

(Here's my mom, pregnant with my brother, Jacob)
Mother's Day wouldn't be complete without honoring those wonderful women in mine and Michael's life....here's to you...Mom, Mrs. Vickie, Mamaw, Bama, Ma-Ma, and Grandmother!

Happy Mother's Day Mrs. Vickie!
To the Grandmothers...

My Bama...
My Mamaw....who we all miss so much. She was the perfect grandmother to us all.
Michael's Grandmother...Mrs. Evelyn.
Michael's Ma-Ma...Mrs. Elsie.

Proverbs 31:10-31

10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.

16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Avery walks through the house

Avery officially starting walking long distances by herself at 10.5 months. You've seen video on here before where she might walk from one object to the next, but two days after Easter she walked all around the house holding a bottle of McCormick's Lemon Pepper. Haha! I think it helped her keep her balance. Then we gave her one of her toys, chewed up by Cotton, to try it again so we could video tape it. Here's what a I got on April 6, 2010:)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Pointer finger

Avery is really good at using her pointer finger to point at everything. See how well she uses it in this video with one of her favorite books.







Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Lately...

Lately....I haven't been blogging. Lately....Avery's only taking one nap a day. Lately...I use that time to work on a number of things. You get the idea!

Like I said before, Avery's running on only one nap a day, which means less free time for me. And lately...things have been busy with my new business:) Yaay! I mentioned a few months ago about starting my new photography business, and it has been going very well. So during Avery's one nap a day, I've been editing photos...or working on my new website...or cleaning (or not!). But one thing I have not been doing during her nap is posting new blogs. Just been busy, people! You can see what all I've been doing here at MY PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG!

Other than my last post about Avery's 11 month update, you really don't know what's been happening with that little girl. Actually, she's not so little anymore. I have to make a correction with her height measurements from that post. I said she was 28 inches long at 11 months...well, according to her last doctor's appointment at 9 months...she was 28.5 inches long. I guess she shrunk! Or maybe I'm just a bad "measurer!" We'll find out officially how tall she is at her 1 year check up....which is only 3 weeks away!! Unbelievable.

I'll catch you up to speed. She's really into playing with her baby doll and Michael's "My Buddy" from his childhood. It's sweet to watch her hug, kiss, and feed the baby. She will point to the baby's eyes and mouth. She's pointing at everything now and looks like E.T. with that pointer finger ready to go.


She is really good at walking now, but will still grab onto my finger and try to pull me with her sometimes, especially in the yard. When I don't go or try to pull my finger away to encourage her to go by herself, she gets mad at me. Just this month, 11, she has started pulling up on objects and furniture. I know, she got it backwards. She started walking, then pulling up, maybe next month she'll crawl. What if we have a Benjamin Button on our hands? She's way to cute to be Benjamin Button when he was a baby, gross!

Look at all that hair!! No more 'fuzz head' anymore :(
Whenever she wants to get rid of a toy, or sippy cup, she will hold it behind her head and drop it. (Ex: blue ball behind her back) It's just her thing.

The most important and life changing thing that has happened this past week....wait for it....SHE SLEEPS IN HER OWN BED! Hallelujah, PRAISE GOD! I told Michael my goal was to have her sleeping in her bed all night by the time she was 1, and he said, "You shouldn't set goals for yourself, because then you don't achieve them and get disappointed." Haha, he has so much faith in me:) Really, he just didn't want to see her leave the bed after four months of cuddling.


After talking to a good friend and mom of two, I was finally motivated to do it! We put her to bed earlier now, 7:45-8:00p.m., and she sleeps for 11 hours straight. It took a few nights of crying, screaming, and taking turns checking on her, but by the 6th night she slept straight through. She even naps in her crib during the day, too, when before I would lie down on the bed with her until she dozed off. I feel invincible now, like I can do anything after accomplishing that feat!


She has a ton of teeth sprouting up. Her two top teeth have come in and her smile is totally different now. The two on the outside of those have just cut through. She has another tooth on the bottom, 3rd bottom tooth, that is 1/3 way up and another one on the other side cutting through. So in the past month, she has gotten 6 teeth! Poor thing, I know it has to hurt. I guess now that she has more teeth she thinks she can pick up her toys like Cotton, with her mouth!

Although she has gained some independence and will play by herself, she can still be very clingy. This is what I see in the computer/play room when she's not interested in her toys.

This is what I see in the backyard when I won't let her hold my finger to walk through the yard. She turns right around and is a magnet to my legs and will stay there until I pick her up. DIVA!
In case you were wondering, Cotton hasn't changed much! He still rolls around in the grass and brings it in our house/bed/furniture. He has a gotten a lot lazier in his age, which I can't complain about because he's a hyper child! Gotta love me some Cotton, though:)


Thursday, April 22, 2010

11 months!

Little Avery Anna, the countdown has begun to your FIRST BIRTHDAY! Today you are 11 months old and the craziest little person we know. This past month was a big one as you accomplished many many milestones.

* You weigh 22 lbs and measure 28 inches long. (It was hard to measure you while keeping Cotton from licking all over your face)

*You wear a size 4 diaper and pretty much skipped 12 month clothing and now need 18 months clothes. You actually wear size 2T shorts!

*You celebrated your cousin Christina's 1st birthday with all of your other cousins.

*Y'all had a great time listening to music and singing along. (Well, maybe not singing, but staring at the music lady)
*You wear a size 3.5 shoe, but we just bought you a size 4 sandal to grow into.

*You celebrated your first Easter with church, lunch with Granddaddy and Grandma Ewing, your great-grandparents, and then an Easter Egg Hunt in the front yard.

*You never learned to crawl, but you are really fast at scooting on your bottom to get where you need to go.
*If something is low enough for you to grab, you pull up to a standing position. You took a little while to do this because all you had to do before was cry and I would pull you up myself.

*You have officially become an independent walker, although you still like to hold my finger when going long distances. You have walked all over the house before with your daddy and I near you, for safe measures:)
*You have three new teeth already showing; two on top and another on the bottom have cut through. There are two more teeth on top and one on the bottom that are getting ready to cut through.

*Teething has led to many sleepless nights. Which reminds me, you're still sleeping in our bed. I'll fight that battle later;)
*You learned so many new things this past month. You know that objects have a purpose and you try to accomplish them.

*You know how to play ball. We will roll the ball to you and you will give it back, whether placing it in our hands or throwing it back.

*You also try to feed us what you're eating. It's pretty sweet when you hold your hand to our mouth, until you give us something that's soggy from already being in your mouth!
*You can now play patty-cake, but would rather hold the outside of our hands and clap them together for us. You just learned how to give a high-five and will hit our hand with your right hand.
*You know what many things are. You know where to go when I ask you where your books are. You also can point to a ball and dog in a book, while you can grab a rubber ducky from the pile when asked where the duck is.
*You love to drive our cars, or your grandparents' mule! It is your absolute favorite thing to go riding on the mule, and you fuss when I put you in your carseat when instead you want to hold onto the wheel.
*I can't walk by our door in the house without you reaching for it, wanting to go outside. You will walk to the door and hold your hand up as far as it will reach to the door knob.
*You will also try to grab our sunglasses off our faces, and then attempt to put them back on our eyes. You also know that the pacifier goes in your mouth, and try to stick it our mouths!

*You made your second trip to the beach, but the first that you could actually do something since you were 2 months old last time. You didn't like the water so much but loved playing in the sand.
*You have been eating more and more table food, and love cheese, still! Your new favorite snack is Goldfish. You won't drink the juices for babies, but will only drink water (and milk).

*Green beans are a hit and you will always eat them when I put them on your plate.
*You have nailed three words, Mama, Dada, and Bye. However, all you really say now is long sentences that I cannot understand one word of! It's like you're speaking a foreign language.

*I forgot to also mention that you love taking keys out of their places and try to put them back in where you got them.
*When you see other children or dogs, you get so excited and point and scream at them. You really know how to flirt with people in the grocery store and flash your toothless smile.
*You've really become a Daddy's girl, which i knew would eventually happen. Our favorite thing of all that you do is give kisses, and when we ask for a kiss, you know exactly what to do!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Ballerina Bunny

Here comes ...
...Avery Cotton Tail...
...hopping down...
...the bunny trail...
...Hippity...
..Hop Hop..
Easter's on its way!