Avery's 7 Month Pictures

We had Avery's 7 month pictures made with Suzanne Williams out of Montgomery. She is fabulous and a complete joy to work with. She worked so hard to make Avery smile and you can tell that she truly loves working with children. I highly recommend her if you need pictures and live in the area.

Anyways, for a sneak peek visit:http://suzannewilliamsphotography.com/blog/?p=346. They are wonderful!

6 Months!

So, Avery is really 7 months now, but I have decided to post at the end of each month so that I can document everything that happened during that particular month :)
As far as weight and height stats go, she was 17.7 and 26 in. long. 60th percentile for weight and 50th for height. She was still right on track for gaining the standard pound per month. She has become quite the giggler and continues to steal everyone's heart with her sweet smiles. Boy does she love her Daddy!
This month her biggest milestone was getting up on all fours and trying to crawl. This occurred during the first week of March and by the end of the month she could "scoot" to pretty much any object she wanted. At 6.5 months we had her ears pierced and they couldn't look cuter. Since then, we definitely have had fewer "Is it a girl or boy?" questions! The last week of March, she learned how to blow raspberries and thinks it is hilarious when she does it :) While I am thinking great, our sweet little girl is now a spit blower! Last but not least, toward the end of the month she was able to hold her self up in the crib and as long as she was holding on when she fell, she could pull herself back up too. She is getting to be so strong!
In addition to oatmeal, she added sweet potatoes, green peas, and bananas to her diet. She absolutely loves the sweet potatoes, which is weird, since Levi nor I either one likes them. She grew even more aware of the dogs and loves to sit and pet Ellie. Huck doesn't really like the idea of her pulling on his fur so he kinda just sniffs and moves on, but Ellie is content to just sit and let Avery pet her. I think this comes from her having a couple of litters of puppies...plus a constant need for attention :) The picture below is just too funny... Whose boppy is it really?
Until next time...

He Lives!

We had a wonderful first Easter with Avery. Although we didn't get any family pictures, we did get several of her with her baskets, yes baskets is plural...her Mimi (my mom) put them together for her. Since she did two, I decided to wait until next year to do one for our house. Thank you Mimi. I think Avery (and us) loved everything she got!
In sharing a few pictures of Avery from Easter, I wanted to also share one of our favorite childhood hymns; He Lives. As we were getting ready Sunday morning, we were singing it to her and even though I know the words well, I rarely stop to focus on what they really mean. Christ does live within me, within my heart. He is alive and active and moving in my life in ways that I will never understand until I get to see Him.
Thank you God for loving me so much that you sent Your Son to die for me. Having Avery this year has definitely given us a deeper appreciation for this sacrifice. The most amazing part, and the reason I and all Christians have hope and can manage to make it through each day is, that the cross wasn't the end! Praise God! He kept His promise and just as He said, 3 days after His death, He had risen...the tomb was empty! So to celebrate, join me in singing a couple of choruses of He Lives!

I serve a risen Savior,

He's in the world today;
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy,
I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him
He's always near.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and He talks with me
Along life's narrow way.
He lives, He live, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart.
In all the world around me
I see His loving care,
And tho my heart grows weary
I never will despair;
I know that He is leading
Thro' all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing
Will come at last.
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,
Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs
To Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him,
The help of all who find,
None other is so loving,
So good and kind.

Sweet Spring!

Here are a few pictures of Avery on one of the nice days we had over the last couple of weeks. I am so glad that the weather is finally more enjoyable. We are looking forward to many days of fun outside as a family!

We have been working hard in our yard and have planted a lot of flowers...in the ground and in pots. I love working outside, it is such a stress reliever. Tomorrow is Avery's 7 month pictures. We are taking them at Jasmine Hill. I have heard it is beautiful there. I know they are going to be cute. She is at such a fun stage!

Get Ready Cause Here I Come!

Avery is getting so close to crawling! About a week ago, she started getting up on all fours and rocking. Now she will straighten her legs and arms out and move her legs back and fourth as if she is scratching off. I could be wrong but it sure seems like it will not be long before she is speeding all over the house...which means I am going to have to start keeping my floors a lot cleaner!

Having a Little Girl...

It has been almost a year since we first learned we were expecting a precious baby girl. From the moment those words were uttered though, I have been planning and dreaming about all of the fun, girly times, I would get to have with Avery. I am looking very forward to all of the ribbons, bows, dresses, shoes, highlights, and makeup that will come in the days ahead... nevermind how much my pocket book might suffer :)

So, you can imagine how excited and anxious I was on Monday when we had her ears pierced! She is just adorable...look back up at the pictures to see them. Mine were pierced when I was about 6 months old and I have known all along that Avery would have hers done when she reached 6 months as well. Just for fun, here is a picture of me at 9 months old.

Levi and both agreed that we would rather do it now when she will not even remember it, than have her anticipate the pain when she is older. Not to mention that pretty soon, she will notice that her mommy always wears earrings and will want them in her ears too! I am actually in the process of ordering her little pearls so that we can match. All in all, I am so glad we had it done. It was a lot like when she gets her shots. Schock for about 10 seconds, then crying for a few more. After her Daddy got her and was able to provide comfort, all was well. She was laughing and smiling again within a couple of minutes. Here are pictures in sequence from Monday night.

I am such a pretty little girl!


Listening to the instructions :)


Cleaning her ears with the alcohol swab...this kinda tickles!


Using a pair of shiny earrings to distract her from the pain she is about to experience :(


Mommy and Avery with our earrings after it was all over.

Beautiful Baby!

Last Saturday 2/27, Levi, myself, and his mom took Avery for a walk on campus. It was a little cooler than we had first thought and although I had her in thick clothes...I forgot to bring her hat. Not to worry though, we just took one of the blankets we had and placed it over her head to block the wind a little bit. It ended up being really cute and here are a couple of pictures to prove it. How can you not just eat her up!