Thursday, June 30, 2011

Avery's 1st Birthday Party

Avery's yummy cake and cupcakes with decorations

Avery with Grandad West, Mommy and Nonna

Singing Happy Birthday to our baby girl



That cake was yummy!


Opening presents

Playing with Peyton

Pictures with Peyton

Happy birthday Avery Marie!

Trying out our new wagon, thanks Aunt Tiff!

Monday, June 27, 2011

13 month milestones

13th Month Milestones - 6/4/11

Height - 28+ inches

Weight - 17.5 lbs?

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You rarely wake up once a night to eat. You usually take 2 naps a day and these are getting shorter. Not sure how we'll transition you to 2, because you get sleepy about an hour or so after you get up each morning. Oh well. We'll cross that bridge soon!

Eating - Still a healthy appetite. The only thing you've refused so far is a grilled cheese sandwich and I think the texture was too much for you. Other than that, you eat anything we give you. Chewing has gotten much better this month. Maybe that's because you have 6 teeth now! 4 on top and 2 on bottom. You still nurse in the morning and at night and take bottle or cup of milk during the day.

New discoveries - You can walk everywhere now! It started the week after your birthday party. You just took off one day and haven't stopped since. You have great balance. You are learning more words, we think. We still can't understand most of them, but you respond when we ask you questions or talk to you. Oh, and we introduced you to the pool. I thought for sure you would love it. You love bathtime. But you aren't crazy about it. I think its because you can't touch the bottom and we have to either hold you or put you in your floatie. You would rather be on your own. :)

New accomplishments - Walking/almost running! This started the week of May 15th.

Places you went - To Ada, OK for Aunt April's graduation from ECU. To Grandmama and Grandad West's for a late Easter/Mother's Day celebration. Had your first birthday party with all your family and friends. Had a 2nd birthday swim party with more friends.

Special Memories - Watching Aunt April gradutate. Hunting Easter eggs with Peyton. Loving on Grandmama and Grandad West. 1st birthday party. Walking full time. Swim party with friends. Mommy and Daddy found out you were going to be a big sister the day after your first birthday. Hanging out with the girls for Tiffany's Girls Night Out party.

Sorry this post was much shorter than the last 12. Mommy has been super busy this month between chasing you, throwing 2 birthday parties, and finding out you were going to be a big sister. We are so thankful for you. Seeing you grow and change is so much fun. I find myself wondering how I could love you more. God has been so good to let us be your parents. To be honest, when I found out about your baby brother/sister, I was excited, but nervous at the same time. You are still so young. Would having a baby brother/sister mean I couldn't give you the attention you need/deserve? But then I remembered, God never gives us more than we can handle. So He must know that you and I (and Daddy) can handle this with Him. I'm so excited to see you as a big sister. We love you so much baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy





Monday, June 6, 2011

12 Month Milestones

12th Month Milestones - 5/4/11

Height - 28 inches

Weight - 17 lbs, 2.5 oz

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You rarely wake up once a night to eat. You usually take 2 naps a day and these are getting shorter. Your doctor said we could transition to just one nap a day over the next few months.

Eating - Still a healthy appetite. The only thing you've refused so far is a grilled cheese sandwich and I think the texture was too much for you. Other than that, you eat anything we give you. We are working on chewing with your new teeth though. You prefer to inhale versus chew. We'll get there though. You have 3 teeth now, 2 on top and 1 on bottom. The top ones came first, which normally doesn't happen so I'm told. You still nurse in the morning and at night and take bottle or cup of milk during the day.

New discoveries - This is more of a Mommy and Daddy discovery, but we think you are saying words and phrases now when we ask you questions. We're the only ones who can understand you, but you do respond when asked questions. You like to ask "Who's that?" when the door bell rings. This is from me asking you that whenever Mrs. Marilyn or Frannie arrive at the door in the morning. You say "Thank you" when you hand stuff to us, probably because we say thank you to you when you give us stuff. You say "here" sometimes too. You can nod yes and no. You nod No when we tell you no. I think I've heard you say "what's that?" but still not sure on that one.

New accomplishments - You've taken as many as 6 or 8 steps on your own! Most of the time you have to be completely distracted when you walk, because if you realize you are doing it, you sit down and crawl. That's ok though, we aren't in any hurry. Your first steps were on April 29th. 

Places you went - Let's see, April was a busy month for us. We had Eddie and Michelle's wedding the 2nd weekend. Then Nonna and Poppa came down to celebrate Mommy's birthday the next weekend. We loved getting to see them. Easter weekend we went to Tyler to see Mim, PaPa, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Kristi, and Bella. We even got to have a picnic at Tyler State Park. We had fun, but lost a paci somewhere there. We went to church with them and hid eggs in the living room for you and Bella to find. The weekend after that, you and I headed north for Aunt Tiff and Uncle Brent's wedding shower in Ardmore. It was so fun to see everyone, plus all your baby friends were there - Sam, Ava, & Amelia. It was a busy month.

The one place that wasn't a fun visit was your trip to Cook Children's in Ft. Worth. See after you got sick last month, your doctor wanted us to have some tests run to make sure your kidneys and bladder were working correctly. We weren't sure, but after a 2nd opinion decided to go ahead. You were a trooper. We arrived early, like we were supposed to, only to find out they were running behind. So we waited, and waited, and waited. We finally got called back for the ultrasound. You were fine until the tech started moving the wand around on your tummy. We survived it and then were sent to another area for more waiting. I do have to admit, for a children's hospital, waiting wasn't easy. I know all hospitals are busy, but we were like an hour to an hour and a half late from our appointment time. Crazy for a almost 1 year old who hadn't had a nap or eaten anything since early that morning. Anyways, we finally got back for the VCUG and they had Veggie Tales for you to watch! Much better than the dark ultrasound room. We got the results back a few days later and everything is fine. Your kidneys and bladder work great! We were so thankful. God is so good!

Special Memories - Seeing Mrs. Michelle in her wedding dress. Celebrating with Mommy for her birthday. First Easter egg hunt with Bella. Playing with Sam and stealing his snacks (we're working on sharing!).

So what about your first birthday? I'm saving a whole post for that. Let's just say it was special and went by way too fast. I can't believe that you've been a part of our lives for a whole year, baby girl! Wow! Thinking back to how much you've grown and changed, it makes me sad. Sad that you'll never be that tiny again. But oh so happy to see you growing, healthy, learning new things, and becoming you. I love that. Your Daddy and I are so blessed to be your parents. Thank you for letting us figure this parent thing out. You've been a trooper. :) Here's to the year ahead!

Love you baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy





Ms. Michelle's wedding

Mommy's Birthday

1st Hospital visit

Playing at Tyler State Park

Easter Sunday

Opening Easter basket

Hunting eggs with Bella

Loves to eat!

1st birthday present from Nonna and Poppa

Tiff and Brent's Shower

Sleepy head!

Birthday pictures with Bella

Silly girl :)