Playing catch up

This is the post that I have not gotten around to doing. But here it is, our trip to Tucson. While putting together the photos for this post, I realized that I did not take a lot of pictures for some reason. If you are interested, my mom has some additional photos on her blog, here.

This trip took place on March 11-17. Avery had not seen her grandparents and great grandparents since before Christmas, so we decided it was time. She had cut teeth and started crawling since we had seen them last.

While on this trip, she learned to sit up without propping over on her hand, she learned to climb up and down one step, she started dancing to music (more like bopping), and she started a little bit of separation anxiety. Being in a different place really highlighted how much change goes on in 1 week!

Here are the photos I have...

This video is of her climbing the step. I tried getting the down too, which took her longer to master, but she was too distracted by the audience for me to get that on film.

We visited several times with Grandmom and Granddad and Julie. This was also the first time Julie's husband Carl met Avery.

At Grandmom and Granddad's house, this was as brave as Avery got to playing with their dog.

One afternoon we hung out with Samantha and Courtney. We grew up with them and their parents. These two were in my wedding. I can't believe how they have changed!

We also took some time to take the 'Ladies of the Generations' shot. Although this is not the best one of the photo shoot.

This is just a for fun picture of me with my Papa. Notice he shaved!

On the way home there was enough room on the plane for Avery to have her own seat. She loved it! And it made the trip home much easier then the trip out there where she sat on my lap most of the trip.

Now, to really play catch up. These last 2 pictures are from the weekend before our trip to Tucson. My sister, Amber, came up for a visit and she took these for us.

Avery's first swing ride.

And Avery at church in her nursery class (which she loves).

And that is all! I am now caught up. With my record, you can probably expect to not see another update until she is starting Kindergarten. But hopefully not!

9 months old

I realize that I still have more to post to catch up on, but I wanted to make sure and get Avery's 9 month old photos up before too late. This time I actually was purposeful about getting pictures. So, what follows is a chronicle of Avery's day yesterday.

In the morning we watched Taylor and Kenzie who are the kids of a friend of mine. It is a whole different thing now that Avery can almost keep up with them.

In the afternoon, the sun came out (after being iced in this weekend, that's Kansas for you). We went outside and took "official" 9 month photos. The dress is an adorable gift from Nana.

This was Avery's first real experience with grass. After getting used to it some, she did fine. And I am happy to report, it did not even end up in her mouth.

Then it was off to normal activities. Her new thing is to pull up on the side of her her toy box, dig through it, and pull out all the toys. This shot was too adorable to pass up, although I have since realized that the "plumber-pant" problem probably reflects more on the abilities of the person who picked out her clothes and not on Avery's ability to keep them up. Oh well...

For dinner it was peas, carrots, cheerios, and a mess. The mess part is actually with us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

So, Happy 9 Month Old Birthday to my precious girl. I can't believe we are already here!

Waaay Behind...

If you ask me, "Where have you been?!?" I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for you. Can I just say I have been out of it temporarily? At this point, I am so far behind, I am going to post updates in pieces, otherwise it would never get done.

The most interesting tidbit, is that Avery has been crawling since Feb 13th! Pretty much 7.5 months old. This video was taken early on (2/21). She is quite quick and professional looking now. At this point, she is pulling up on everything.

The scariest part of the crawling is that she gets into everything now. To be fair though, she did drop her toy into the purse before I caught her digging in the purse to retrieve the toy. I loved the "Caught with the hand in the cookie jar" moment.

On Valentines Day, Avery discovered her favorite Valentine, herself! If only we all felt this way about the reflection in the mirror.

Also on Valentines, Kevin bought Avery her first Valentine's card. This year she was more interested in the envelope, but it's the thought that counts...

When I say she is getting everywhere, I do mean everywhere. This was great fun for awhile, crawling under the exersaucer, getting stuck and hollering for mom.

She also realizes now that she can follow us around the house. This is her realizing she is alone in her room and coming to find us.

This was the best photo I got for her 8 month old shot. As I said earlier, I have been out of it.

Last, this is a set of letters that my Aunt and Uncle in Austin sent to Avery for Christmas. When we opened the gift, it was 5 white letters with paint and paintbrushes. I finally got around to decorating them, and I think they turned out wonderfully. The next challenge is to get them up on the wall. Thanks Mike and Debbie!

That's all for now. We also took a trip to Tucson which will be another post, but my mom posted some great shots of that trip here on her blog.

Later!

Too cute to miss.

Have we mentioned Avery is a happy baby?

One of these days I will figure out how to turn these videos right side up...