Happy

Just a few words to sum up my title...fall weather, boots, pumpkin spice latte, football, and friends...

The weather has been amazing the past few weeks here in Nashville and me and Avery have been going outside every chance we can get. She is walking like crazy these days and so we take frequent, but really slow, walks down to the end of our street to look at the flowers and swing. And when i say slow i mean, stops every few feet to pick up a new leaf. :) I love this age though...she has been learning so much lately and its so great to watch her learn and change.

This past weekend me and Avie took a drive down to Birmingham to spend some time with Ash and Brookie. We had such a blast shopping, laughing,watching football, and learning how to crochet! Ash is so good at it and has been doing it for years so she taught me how! So maybe i will be able to make some baby sacs, hats, and booties for some of these new babies i know arriving in the next year! My little football player also helped with the crochet. I know she looks just like a little boy here but i LOVE this T shirt. It was Jonas' as a baby and she has been wearing it now for like a week. haha  

Last night, Jonas helped out with Avery while i got to spend some much needed time with these two gals...

We have had so much fun the past three years hanging out and laughing at and with each other. I love these two and always have a blast with them. Thanks for making life fun and exciting you two!!

The Past Two Weeks

Well let's see...

In the past two weeks we have

A. switched Avery from bottles to sippy cups, which went surprisingly well.
B. Levi had his surgery and after a week in the hospital, went home and he is doing well.
C. Uncle C and Aunt kookie moved into their new house in Cottonwood and Avery has already broken it in with her pack n play.
D. I have officially begun decorating for fall in our house...i mean its September 1st, just be glad i didnt do it August 1st :)
E. we have booked a trip to Seattle for the beginning of October which i am so beyond pumped about. I am a huge Grey's anatomy fan(so sad i know) but i have always wanted to go out there because it looks so beautiful. Jonas is going to be out there on business so i am flying out to meet him for a long weekend! who knew southwest flew out there for dirt cheap!?

And thats all i can think of for now. Hope everyone is doing great!!!

-Blessings-

Dooms Day

So i woke up early this morning to clean up my house a bit and go to publix to get some cow's milk for Avery. That's right COW'S milk...no more formula for this little chickadee. We went to the doctor last week for her 1 year appointment and he told us the best way to take her off of bottles and onto sippy cups is cold turkey. Is there a patch for that? I wish...someone should totally invent that...maybe after these next couple of days me and Avery will patent a design for one of those because to get this little girl off bottles is going to be pretty rough. Probably more rough in the fact that we wont have our snuggle time like we have had for a whole year while taking a bottle. We have been using the sippy cup for months now and she has gradually gotten better but she would still totally prefer her bottle over the cup. So today is Doom's Day in a sense that it marks our first day to go 'cold turkey' and be done with bottles. Doc said she could go a few days without drinking milk and be fine and that she would eventually get hungry enough and figure it out. Here's to hoping...we'll keep everyone posted on this new change...

Poor girl...doesn't even know what's coming...

Levi's Surgery Week!!

So one of my favorite little boys is having a big week this week. On Thursday we ask for your prayers for Levi cause he is finally going to undergo surgery to have his trach reversed. We aren't exactly sure what the process will be like for him because there are multiple outcomes and surgery routes that the doctors could take. However, we are believing God for a miracle of healing in his airway. God created Levi, knew what his life was going to look like and partake of, and He is our ultimate healer so we are trusting God to do something beautiful and miraculous for Levi. Please pray for peace this week for Brian, Roch, and both of the boys as im sure this can be a confusing and anxious time for all of them. We will keep everyone updated on Levi and his progress and we appreciate your prayers!

Bittersweet One Year

WE MADE IT!!! A whole year!

In order to properly do this post i am going to have to refer everyone back to one of Avery's very first pictures when she was brought into this crazy world.

Now lets look to today as a ONE year old..

I really am at a loss of words to say for this post. I seriously cant believe that it has been a full year since we had Avery. She has brought so much love, joy, and craziness to our lives and has made both of us realize just how much God loves us. Not only because we see the resemblance of his unconditional love for us in how we love Avery, but for Him to entrust us with the well being of one of His children is one of the most humbling experiences we have both ever had.

We started Avery's birthday off with a song

Then we had a big birthday breakfast that daddy woke up early to make for us...

and of course thanks to The Wood's she has been reunited with her favorite monkey lovie so he got to join in on the birthday breakfast too.

We have been playing all day with some of the toys that she got from her party on Saturday and tonight we are going to celebrate with dinner and ice cream.

 On Saturday we celebrated Avery's bday with a bunch of her favorite people. We had a big pool party over at FarFar and FarMor's to celebrate AP's big day. It was such a blast to have everyone we love come and celebrate Avery turning one. Thank you to all who came!! Here are some pictures from the day...

We did have a slight emergency with a food allergy after she dove into her smash cake, but it was nothing a little alot of benedryl couldnt take care of. 

Avery at ONE year you are loving life and continuously smiling. You have discovered clapping and you like to clap at yourself when you discover a new thing or just when you think about it. hah You continue to be obbsessed with Stoney and yall have started playing your on version of fetch together. He seems to be growing more fond of you every day. You still love music and have started dancing now when you hear it.

• you are still wearing size 4 diapers
• you can sign 'all done' and 'more'
• you say mama and dada real well. You are trying to say all done when you are done eating but it isnt very consistent.
• when we ask you what a monkey says you say 'oh oh ah ah' 
• you are loving soft things right now (especially Jelly, your monkey lovie, and bobbo)
• you love people and love to wave at anyone
• you are wearing 12-18 month clothes
• you love it when daddy gets home from work
• you are an awesome eater. puffs are your favorite along with pickles
• you have taken a few steps but kinda lack confidence and some balance to walk totally on your own
• you still take 2 naps a day (hallelujah)
• you are doing great in nurserys and have started playing well with other kids
• you still crawl with your 'stanky leg' :)
• you are talking ALOT
• you are pretty obsessed with books, mainly bedtime books
• we are trying to wean you off of bottles at the moment which makes us really sad because you LOVE them, but we are down to three a day and you are doing really well with a sippy cup
• you have had two outbreaks with food allergies and we are still trying to pinpoint what it is...we think it could be eggs maybe?

Avery this first year has gone by crazy fast and we have enjoyed watching you grow month to month. Now on to toddler years!

Thanks to everyone who has helped us through this year with your thoughts, prayers, and advice! We could not have done it without yall!

H-E-double hockey stick

If the title of this post isnt a throwback to the 3rd grade i dont know what is...

If you don't remember my post from almost exactly a year ago that you can read here, then the title of this post probably makes no sense...but basically today's title is to give you a little glimpse into the temperature of our humble abode the past few weeks. Its been up in the high 90's almost everyday for the past month so needless to say our 'little-engine-that-could' of an air conditioning unit has been STRUGGLING. Avery has been going to bed in just her diaper, Stoney prefers to sleep on the cold tile floor than his bed, and ice cream has been a staple at our house.  However, i am not as miserable as i was last year because this year i am not 9 months pregnant and about to pop at any moment. All my prego friends out there who are about to pop or who have a few more months to go...you can do it!!! :)

Thoughts of football, early mornings of ESPN and starbucks, chili, and fall weather are the only things getting us through this heat. Avery and 'Bobbo' have already taken there positions for our early Saturday fall mornings...

Happy Thursdays everyone!

Dreading This

For some reason i have been putting off and dreading writing Avery's 11 month post. Im not sure if it's because we have been ridiculously busy, or if i just really don't want to face the facts that she is almost a year old. However, if i wait any longer she is going to be a year old and this post will be pointless....so for my future reference im gunna go ahead and do this...

The 11th month was so much fun. We took her first major road trip to St. Louis to visit Gavin and Margaret which was a blast! Avery LOVES Gav and Marg, and its always a blast when we go up there. We also had a wedding, Avery's dedication at church, and a trip to Birmingham in this 11th month.

In your Eleventh month you are...

•  still walking along objects like furniture, Stoney, and my legs...and she also inherited a walker from cousin, Brooklyn that she has loved to use. 
• You love walking with us holding your hands but get pretty sad when we let go. 
• You will stand by yourself for a like a split second but then fall on your booty. 
• You are still obsessed with stoney and for that matter any dog. You scream when you see the dog from baby einstein. 
• Also Elmo makes you squeal like crazy.
• You are talking like crazy...mostly dada, momma, and all done.
• You love studying other people when we are out shopping
• You do great in public cause you like to be with adults
• when you play you HAVE to have a person with you. This has led to some of my madness but if you have someone to come up to and get a hug from while you play you are one happy little camper.
• you are wearing size 4 diapers
• you wear mainly 9-12 month clothes.
• you weigh about 24 lbs.
• you still take two naps a day which is heavenly :)
• you are going to bed a little bit later now but sleep 8 pm to 8 am.
• you eat really well and there isnt really anything you dont like
• you are doing better with stangers...you warm up to them a little bit better now.
• your favorite animals are still 'Jelly' and your monkey lovie.
• your favorite books are the 'Going to Bed Book' and 'The Monster at the end of this Book

I can not believe you are about to be a 1 year old. It's scarry and sad how fast the time with you is flying by. Everyone always said it would...but there are some days that i would LOVE to go back to when you were a newborn and relive those days because even though i was a crazy person i still love the newborn stage and hopefully knowing now what i didn't know then would help me not be so crazy.

Anyways, on to one year and your birthday party!!! Love you Avie boo!