A Very First: Aquarium Visit

We took you to the aquarium when you were 8 months old! I was nervous that you wouldn't know what was going on...but you loved it! You loved watching all of the colorful fish and the animals. I can't wait to take you back in a year or two!

A Very First: Christmas

A little late on posting, but we had an amazing first Christmas with Avery! Meeting Santa went WAY better than expected! She was so sweet sitting up there on Santa's lap. We had a fun Christmas dinner party and Lulu and Pepes. She let me take a adorable Christmas card photo (although some photoshopping was required). We attempted a Christmas Eve service with her, but had to leave before the sermon because of her newfound love of the word "Da-Da" :) My favorite part was when Jason walked her downstairs in the morning and she saw all of her presents from Santa waiting for her there! She had so much fun playing with her new toys and of course unwrapping (and eating) her presents! Thanks for such a great Christmas Avey! We love you and can't wait for the next one!

Avery Monthly Update - 9 Months

This past month has definitely been one for the books! We were so busy with Christmas events, that I haven't even had time to post those pictures yet. Our first Christmas with Avery was amazing though- so much fun seeing her open and play with her toys, being with family, and our "attempted" Christmas Eve church service :) What a fun 2013 it was...we cannot wait for an even better 2014 as we get to watch Avery grow into an even more precocious 1 year old!

Dear Avey,

9 Months old?! You are getting SO big!! I can't believe that soon, we will be telling people we have a one year old! I can just see you learning how to hold up that little index finger now :) I am so excited for your 1st Birthday...It will for sure be one to remember!

This past month has been amazing! It was so fun to have you in our family for Christmas! You got some great toys, and you just love playing with them all. Your favorite I think is your activity garden from Santa, little toy car your Uncle Blake and Aunt Kelly got you, the tractor Lulu/Pepe got you, the xylophone Mimi/Grandpa got you and your favorite Bunny stuffed animal that Ally got you! You had so much fun ripping apart the presents and reaching inside the bags! We have two videos of your from Christmas morning, so remind me to share those with you when you read this :) By the way, you started saying "Da-da" and haven't stopped since Christmas Eve. As you can imagine, this was your Daddy's FAVORITE gift that he got this Christmas. Thanks for giving him that!

Thanks to you, 2013 was our favorite year yet. But I am sure 2014 will be a close contender! You are so close to walking. You incessantly pull up on everything and love walking with your push walker. I am hoping you will start walking on your own this month (hence the walking shoes in the picture), but I know you will do it when you and only you are ready! You are going to be a crazy little rascal when that starts. You already are curious about EVERYTHING so the faster you can get to things...believe me, you will!

This month we are going to get you ear tubes. Your poor little ears need them and I can't wait for you to be able to hear better and be pain free from those ear infections! Hopefully these will be the only set you need. They stay in for 1-2 years then fall out on their own. I am a little nervous about the procedure and the anesthesia, but I know you till do great and be so thankful to have them!

You are the sweetest and most joyful little baby I know. You love giving hugs to your bunny and snuggling with us. You are ALWAYS happy. You laugh at the littlest things and remind us to be happy each and every moment of the day. Your smile and dimples are contagious and people comment on them everywhere we go. We are so lucky to have you!

You are the favorite part of our world and we love you so much. Happy 9 Months Avery Reagan!

Love,
Mommy

8 Month Pictures

Avery gave me about 5 minutes the other day before her nap to take a few shots. Here they are!

A Very First: Thanksgiving

I am a week late in posting, but better late than never in the blog world =) We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break this year. It was SO relaxing and we got to spend some great time with Avery without the stresses of the work week. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year...it is always easier staying at our house with all of Avery's things than leaving! Here are some pictures from the day!

Avery Monthly Update - 8 Months

 I feel like I was just posting Avery's 7 month post, now here we are at month 8!! Boy how time flies. This has been a crazy and amazing month of her life. We LOVED having our little turkey with us for Thanksgiving and getting almost a whole week off to spend with her. 4 more months until she turns one...I bet it will be here before I know it! I guess it is like they always say, "Time flies when you are having fun!" Happy 8 Months Avery Reagan!!

 Dear Avey,

8 Months?!? Holy cow, Avery, where is time going?? We are enjoying every minute of it, but boy it is sure going by fast!! I am sad you are growing, but as long as you always promise to be my baby, then I guess it is okay. Your Dad loves it...he says that this is his FAVORITE stage right now (between you and me, he says that every month!) =)

You got your first tooth this month on the bottom right!! It is so cute...and it really didn't seem to bother you. I know some people blame everything on teething, but so far I wouldn't blame anything on that. You really haven't seemed to mind. We will see how the other teeth go!

You were very congested and had a cough pretty much for the whole 7th month of your life. You really didn't let it bother you much though. I take that back, you HATE it when I wipe your nose. You have somehow figured out how to take care of it as you see me getting the tissue out by wiping it on my shirt. Then you look up and smile at me. Thanks for that =)

You switched schools (AGAIN, I know!) and started on Tuesday. Your symptoms seemed to have vanished and your nose and cough are free and clear thank goodness! You got into your new school sooner than we expected. Although we are sad you won't be with Molly everyday anymore and we loved Suzuki, your class size will be more than cut in half, it is so much more affordable, and you are only 5 minutes from our house now. Which is important because you still haven't grown a fondness for being in your car seat! Driving with you is pretty miserable until you fall asleep. You just hate being restrained and not seeing anyone. Oh well, I can't wait until we can turn your seat around to face the front! The only thing (aside from falling asleep with your paci) that can make you stop is the song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"....so naturally you can imagine the scene of me singing that at the top of my lungs to you in the back seat. Hey-whatever it takes!! You had a pretty rough first day at your new school, which was to be expected. But I just called at lunch to check on you today (your second day) and they said you are doing MUCH better and are very happy...thank goodness!!

Boy you are so fun these days. You are constantly laughing and your smile rarely leaves your face. You think EVERYTHING we do is funny. It is great! Your favorite is when we all crawl around and chase each other! You also love when your dad shakes his hair in your face. You love when we leave the room and play peekaboo around a corner. You also love when we chase each other around the house (or store) holding you...you think it is just hilarious! Oh and eating my nose, that is your favorite too. I eat your chin back and you just crack up. Your laugh is the best. It makes nothing else matter, really. I hope you have a little girl one day and can experience the same immeasurable joy that your smile and laugh bring me. We would pretty much do anything (and everything) for it.

It's the month of Jesus' birth!! And we are SO excited for the new traditions it will bring! We had such a great time picking out our tree together. We are going to decorate it tonight and see Santa this weekend. I am not sure if you will like him or cry...over Thanksgiving break you developed a LARGE attachment to me. Before that, you would pretty much go to anyone and be happy. Now, you really just want to stay with me. So I am not sure how you will act with Santa...we'll see =) At least you'll have on a super cute outfit! I'll definitely post some of the pictures on here after!

I can't wait to see when you will start walking. You love to walk holding onto our hands...it is definitely one of your favorite things. You are pulling up now like a champ and can get over/around anything. Boy will we be in for it when you are walking!! I can't wait =)

We are starting to feed you more than just purees. You have had bananas, cheese, avacado, etc...we will start branching out a lot more this month! You love your solids! You have discovered how to take your food and rub it on the wall when we forget to pull your highchair away from it...you can only imagine how much your dad hate that...I think it's kind of funny =) Oh and on that note, you LOVE it when we say no or when you "hurt someone". You think it is hilarious. We are in for it! On a sweeter note, you love saying "Mama, Mama, Mama, etc". You sometimes say it just once, and sometimes you say it about 5 times...and almost all day. I just love it! We are still working on Dada...you will get there!

Thanks for another amazing month Avey. It was one of the best yet (of course!). I cannot wait to experience the 8th month of your life. I love you more and more everyday (I don't know how that is possible). You mean the world to us, because you are the world to us. Thank you so much for being you!

Love,
Mommy

A Very First: Bringing Home our Christmas Tree

Since this year has a lot of firsts for Avery, we decided to start making our own family "traditions". One of them is cutting down our own Christmas tree. In October, we fell in love with the place we got our pumpkins- Kinsey Family Farm up in Gainsville. We read that they sold Christmas trees there too, so we decided that this will be where we go every year as a family to get our tree!

Avery's Mimi and Grandad came with us this year. Avery had a GREAT time! It was a little chilly, but because it was about 2 hours before they closed, there was hardly anyone there! When we first got there, we had apple cider and spent some time at the petting zoo. Avery pet cows, horses, goats, ducks, etc. She loved staring at them and listening to the sounds they made.

We then went on a tractor ride out to the trees where we found the perfect one! It isn't your typical Fraser Fir tree, but instead a Carolina Sapphire Cypress. We loved the fullness and "vintage" look to it. It looks perfect in our house! After Jason cut down the tree, we rode the tractor back to the barn while we warmed up at the bonfire while the tree was being wrapped up. After we loaded it on our car, we had a great dinner at Cracker Barrel then came home and put up the tree! What a perfect day with Avery...one we hope to re-create every year! Below are some of my favorite pictures from the day =)