UPDATE!!!! Potty training and tricycles!

We are horrible parents. It's only been almost 3 months since I last updated Avery's blog.

Let's see if I can remember everything.

Avery went to summer camp at her school (they follow the school schedule) 3 days a week and she LOVED it. She got to splash in the kiddie pool almost everyday. She kissed a boy. Seriously. She held his face and KISSED him. Daddy wasn't happy. She talks so much now so we are trying really hard not to say bad words. She really can say anything. Oh you should hear her say umbrella. It is something like brellumma. hehe. We have talked about the potty and panties all summer and finally, last Sunday, she asked for panties. So, she picked out the prettiest Elmo panties we had and off she went. There were a couple accidents, but I am seriously amazed at how quickly she caught on. I don't even have to ask her, she tells me she has to go. This has been my biggest dread as a parent for at least a year and it went so easily (for #1 at least).

Avery still sings all day. If she's in a "mood," she will say "NO sing Mommy" when I sing. She used to like my voice! haha! She still wants me to sing HushABye when she's tired, hurt, or scared. She is now scared easily. She talks about being scared of the dark so now she gets to sleep with her nightlight turtle that makes stars on the ceiling (thanks Uncle Scott!!!). The turtle has been a life saver.

And, now she has finally figured out how to make herself go on the tricycle! YAY! My back thanks her!

Speaking of tricycle....

Easter Weekend 2009

Easter weekend was our last Saturday off until July, so Rae's mom and dad came over for a family sail. Avery loves her life jacket this year (finally) and had a great time playing when we got to the beach.

The ELMO party!!

After lunch, some of Avery's friends came over to celebrate! We had ELMO cake, ELMO plates, ELMO balloons, ELMO napkins, he was everywhere!!

Baby Elmo and Baby Cookie Monster were there! These were the party favors for the little ones at the party!


I think Avery "tried on" every pair of pants or bloomers....on her head!


She really cracks herself up!


Our fabulous neighbor, Mrs. Therese (or Miss Atese as Avery says) gives such great gifts. Avery loves her Tinkerbell...so does Baxter!


These are the INFAMOUS squeaky shoes. THREE PAIRS of SQUEAKY SHOES!!!!! Thanks Patsy.


Opening gifts really wore her out.




Aunt Margie made this dress for Abby and I thought it would be cute for Avery's party!




Here it is. The Elmo cake made by ME!!! It was certainly no Betty Weber, but it was good. Since I decided to make a sheet cake underneath the Elmo cake, we had LOTS of cake. I think it turned out decent. I wonder if Betty is shaking her head. haha!


Avery LOVED it and that is all that matters!

2 years old ALREADY?

We celebrated Avery's 2nd birthday this past weekend. Her birthday is actually 4/4, but we will be out of town for a wedding! Anyway, we invited our families over for lunch before the party. We also showed Avery her BIG present since it wasn't easy to hide it. Enjoy!

Oh yeah!! Avery has her very own slide! I swear she could slide for hours and hours!










Aunt Sara got Avery a tricycle. She is slowly getting the hang of it!

Getting ready for Easter!

Avery and I spent the weekend in Mobile, AL hanging with my family. My sister and I moved around my mom's dining room and re-covered her chairs. Now Wesley knows I am capable of manual labor. EEK! We also went to a bridal shower! I haven't been to one of those in a while since I am usually at a wedding. Congratulations to Rob and Deborah who will be getting married in St Louis in May. Anyway, my sister always forces me into photographing her kids for every occasion. She owes me so much money for all these shoots. She bought Andrew and Abby some cute Easter outfits and couldn't resist getting Avery one to coordinate. They were cute, but Oh. My. Goodness....they wore me out. Photographing 3 wild kids was outrageous. Abby and Andrew were trying to out-do each other with their craziness. Avery was annoyed to have no shoes on. She wanted to play with the ducks (my sister has a pond) and she wanted to jump on the trampoline. Seriously, I should challenge other photographers to get 5 good images of these 3. Anyone interested? haha!

OH! Not only were the subjects difficult, the lighting was too. There were huge clouds in the sky that were moving fast. So, some photos were taken in bright, golden sun and others were taken in shade. Weird!

Avery at the Fairhope Pier

We had to meet up Wesley's parents this past weekend, so we thought it would be nice to meet at the pier in Fairhope, AL. It's about half way between both of our houses, and we wanted to make some photos for Avery's birthday invitations. She will be two next month! It started out a little balmy, and within half an hour, that winter front that caused all of the snow up north came through and the temps dropped! That's why you'll see a big shift in clothing here...


The girl LOVES water..... that's all we have to say

Finally! Another Update By: daddy

Let me preface this post with a little note.... In about two weeks, I am going to take the link to this blog off our main blog. Everyone who currently enjoys this blog is more than welcome to continue visiting. However, the only way you will be able to see it is if you already know the address or have it saved in your favorites. I have been racking my brain thinking about how to revamp this blog and update it more for Avery's sake. She is almost two now, and I want this blog to be something she can look back upon to see how she grew up and what brought her joy as a child (besides crackers). Therefore, I have decided that at least once a week, I am going to post at least a couple of snapshot photos of her doing her thing, and give her a little insight of what was going on in the world at the time. I want to give her a lesson here and there, along with some knowledge from both of us that we find important for her to know. I think we live in a time where the values we were raised on and even some we were not, are more important than ever to raise her by. I want her to look back through this blog in 10-12 years and allow it to reinforce the values we have so diligently taught her. While I will do my best not to bring politics into it too much, it is hard to exclude them all of the time. That is why I am taking the link off our main site, because mixing business and politics is never a good thing unless you have a good reason. If our politics do offend anyone....well, tough I guess. ;-) It's our personal blog. Besides, 99% of our friends, family, and even clientele seem to think like us, so I am not too worried at this point.

On a lighter note! Nana and Papa bought Avery the coolest play set for outside. She loved this thing from the moment daddy set it up! She even took her lawnmower and cut the grass through it. She loves to be outside now! She will wake up in the morning and the first word out of her mouth is "outside". Something tells me it's going to be a hot summer for us!





Who's tired?


Buckets are always entertaining too....




This is the, "Daddy can I go out in the grass face"?

Never mind... I'd rather have a snack.