ONE YEAR OLD!!

Avery turned one year old last Tuesday, October 25th.  Chris and I cannot believe we are parents of a one year old... are we old enough for that!?! haha. Seriously, though, this last year with Avery has been the most rewarding year of our lives. We are so grateful that God has allowed us to be Avery's parents and we cherish every moment with her.

It's hard to even remember her being this tiny..... 

She looks like such a big girl in this picture... bitter-sweet.

On Avery's first birthday, we went to Chris' clinic to eat lunch with him. They have this awesome outdoor area on the roof of the clinic where we hung out for an hour or so. We didn't really celebrate too much on her actual birthday but had a great party planned for her on Saturday the 29th.

Birthday lunch with Daddy!!!

Things Avery is doing at 1 year old!!!

-eating table foods 3- 4 times a day

-drinking whole milk (3-4times a day)- NO MORE FORMULA!!!

-cruising and crawling everywhere. The girl is constantly on the move.

-she has 4 teeth (top and bottom centrals) with both top laterals about to break through

-is losing her first nail on her right index finger. (We have no idea what she smashed her finger with, but the nail is almost off)

-Still in size 3 diapers

-Wears 12 month and 6-12 month clothing.

-can sign "more" and "All done"

-Waves hi and bye

-says mama and dada, duck, bye bye (sometimes) and Bob (as in Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales!)
- Loves to play outside and to show us things that she collects

- Met characters for the first time and did surprisingly well- as long as Mommy was holding her! :)

Bob and Larry from the Veggie Tales at our local christian book store

-Doesn't watch much T.V (because Mommy and Daddy won't let her...) but when she does it's usually a Veggie Tales DVD- which she loves! She also watched some of the Lion King with Daddy the other day and was fascinated by all of the vibrant colors.
-is getting brave and will let go of something for a few seconds and stand all by herself... again, it's only for a few seconds before she plops down on her bottom.

-Loves to dance to music 

-Is very ticklish

-Likes to play peek-a-boo or hide and seek around the ottoman in our living room
-Fell into a nightstand while trying to pull up on it... she was a little bruised by her left eye for a day or two...

-can finally hold her bottle on her own!

and prefers to do so while lying on her back and Mommy/Daddy hold her toys over her so she can still look/play with them while eating....

but occassionally she will do this!

STATS at 12 months:

Weight: 17.8 lbs (5-10%)
Length: 28 inches (10-25%)
Head Circ.: 17 1/8 (10-25%)

Avery is still very small and petite and her weight even dropped a curve... The Doctor said it is nothing to worry about but we do need to feed her fatty foods. She is just very active and doesn't have much desire to eat. As long as she continues to grow there is nothing to worry about.

Her 12 month well check-up was quite different than the previous well check-ups. Avery has a much better understanding of what was going on and she started crying.... or screaming, rather.... as soon as we walked into the exam room. I could barely take off her clothes to have her weighed she was so hysterical. We finally calmed her down and then it was time for the shots. FOUR of them... poor thing screamed and screamed. It gets worse. After the shots they sent us to the lab so they could draw blood to check for anemia and lead levels. Apparently this is something new for 1 year olds, but all of my friends said their pediatricians didn't do this for their child.... hmmm???? Anyway, there I am trying to hold Avery still and comfort her while to lab techs are trying to stick the inside of her elbow to draw blood. YEAH RIGHT! She was hysterical and after trying to draw blood from both arms they concluded that she was too stiff and upset and that we should go back in a month to try again.... I felt horrible for my sweet baby girl. I'm sure she felt tortured and will refuse to even go into the building next time we are there! She was asleep in the car before we even got home. Poor thing.


Happy first birthday sweet girl- we love you more than words can express and are so very proud of you! We have all come a long way in this past year and look forward to many many many more years to come!

Pumkin Patch

We took Avery to her first pumpkin patch on Saturday! It's a little different going to a pumpkin patch in 80+degree weather, but it was still fun! Avery was so excited when she saw all of the pumpkins and bounced up and down when we let her play with them. Enjoy the pictures!

Not a fan of the prickly straw!

My favorite picture of my two favorite people!

Love this! 

Pink Cadillac

 I tried to tell her it's not okay to get behind the wheel when she is so sleepy....Let's hope she listens and obeys when she is 16! 

4 new posts!!!

I finally had some time to update the blog today! There are 4 new posts below or you can simply click on the following links. I'm still way behind and promise to blog about our trip out to Arizona soon!

Spaghetti

Pensacola Beach Triathalon

Beautiful Flowers

Organizing the kitchen cabinet

Happy reading!

Organizing the kitchen cabinet

I'm hooked on the iheartorganizing blog and am now trying to de-clutter our home with new organizing ideas. Today I decided to conquer the kitchen cabinet where I keep all of Avery's food, bowls, plates, sippy cups, etc. It's still a work in progress, but I am happy with the outcome thus far.

This was constantly driving me crazy!!!

A meat thermometer was even stashed in the cabinet.... really!?!?

starting over....

I lined the shelves with fun, girly scrapbook paper! 

The almost finished product... still have a few things left to do, but I'm SO happy with Avery's organized kitchen cabinet!

Beautiful Flowers

Chris surprised me with 3 bouquets of flowers yesterday when he got home from work! He is the sweetest husband ever!!!!

Pensacola Beach Triathalon

Chris participated in his second triathalon on Saturday, October 1st. Since the race was an hour and a half away in Pensacola Beach we decided to go Friday and stay the night. We left Avery with my parents so that she didn't have to get up at 5:30 Saturday morning. Chris and I split a hotel room with Jack and Lachlyne, Chris' co-workers, who also participated in the race. Race day was cold and windy. I think it was in the low 50's that morning, which is chilly for Florida in October! I stayed in pants and a sweatshirt until about 10:00 that morning and was cold even in my sweatshirt! Thank goodness for hot chocolate to help keep me warm while watching the race! Fortunately for the participants (all 1,200 of them!) the water was a warm 81 degrees. Of course, getting out was a bit chilly. They also had to swim through hundreds of JELLY FISH.... Chris said his entire body was stinging through half of the bike ride after the swim.... Glad I wasn't the one in the water! hehe.

Stats for the race: swim = 600 yard, bike = 18 miles, run = 5k (3.2miles)

Love seeing the sun rise over 1200 participants by the ocean!

Danny (purple cap) and Chris (white cap)

Danny, Jack, Lachlyne and Chris waiting for the race to begin- and freezing!!

Chris is the one on the left in the white cap

finishing the 18 mile bike ride

starting his 3.2 mile run

feeling good!

finishing the race!!!!

2nd triathalon complete!!!!

I am so proud of him!

Danny and Gwen
So glad I had Gwen to hang out with during the race- love that woman!!

Chris did fantastic and finished the race in 1 hour 40 minutes (approximately.... I actually don't know his exact time...) I am so proud of Chris and can't wait until next year's triathalon season!