Finger Food

I bought Avery some puffs today hoping she'd love them and it would cheer her up out of her sad little sick funk she's got going on these last couple days. It's been rough...she's turning into quite the sensitive little lady. Today, she woke up screaming from a nap and I couldn't calm her down for over an hour. It's so sad. I wish she could just tell me what's wrong. She's now in drug induced dream land. Hopefully it'll help her get better. Anyway, here's some funny pictures of her trying to get the puffs in her mouth. She was cracking me up!



She finally got it and she's keeping it in!

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That's IT!

These innocent pictures of Avery playing on my bed while I cleaned our room and folded a TON of laundry DON'T show you the fact that Brian and I have been tag-team bouncing her for about an hour now with continuous crying. My blood pressure has never been higher. I'm so ready to sleep train this little girl and have her cry it out. I mean, that's basically what she's doing tonight, just in our arms. If she wasn't teething, and snotty, I'd start tonight. ugh. Here's to you lucky ones who will actually get solid hours of uninterrupted sleep tonight. I'm not the jealous type...but I'm TOTALLY jealous of that!

Picture-A-Day

So this is kinda cheating for a picture of today...this is more of the "oh no, I'm out of the bath, putting jammies on now, getting the babes ready for bed, and haven't snapped a shot" picture of the day. Oh well.

Cousins

We spent the day with some of Avery's cousins and had a great time. The headache I have now is totally worth the fun and the company.

We played in the yard in the SUNSHINE today. Oh dear Vitamin D, I have missed you so. A little soccer game against some tricky girlies...I mean goalies.



And a visit just wouldn't be complete without some Grandma story time!

Need a Nap?

Avery sure did after waking up this morning and staying awake through all 3 hours of church. It was brutal today. Plus, I wasn't wearing very comfy shoes so all the walking and bouncing was that much more fun....yeah fun.

As soon as I strapped her in her carseat...she was gone.


I think the cranky culprit was the fact that her other bottom tooth cut through today...or maybe yesterday...I feel a little bad that I didn't realize her mouth could be the problem. Poor girl.

Fiber Filled Fortune Cookies

While going about our Saturday errands, we stopped by my parents to pick up some toy bins my dad had painted for Avery. (pictures to come...) Anyway, we hung out there for a little while and ended up staying for dinner. Well, I hate to admit this, but we kinda conned my dad into getting dinner. heh...(ps, Dad...that's what Austin was laughing at...) While he was out...we were all feeling a little guilty, so we made him a welcome home sign. Everybody loves a welcome home sign. Plus, we thought we were being funny. It was pretty clever how we rigged it to the garage door so it was revealed as he drove in. I think he liked it.

We enjoyed some yummy Chinese food and then of course a fortune cookie.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED FORTUNE COOKIES! They were good. Really good. In fact, my dad was telling us how good they were when he suggested the place. He was so excited to have them again that he popped one right in his mouth. Fortune and all! He got some funny looks around the table, and then we just laughed. And laughed...and laughed. By the time he realized what had happened, I think it was too late. He decided there wasn't a fortune in that cookie, at least not one worth retrieving...but I did see him take an extra big gulp of water afterward. Haha...thanks for the good food and the fun!

Shopping

Avery tried out a shopping cart today. Oh. My. You'd think she'd died and gone to heaven. I wish I could have recorded her, but I just got a couple pictures. She was squealing up a storm and grabbing anything she could get her hands on. The funniest though is when she would start dancing and bopping her head around. The cart would jiggle a little and it would scare her so she'd grab on for dear life.


Oh, and don't laugh at my shopping cart cover. I'm a selective germ-a-phobe. Like when I go to thrift stores to get out of the house. You should try it...thrift store shopping that is. It's fun...and way less damaging to my budget than Target. It's awesome when you score something fabulous. Just bring your hand sanitizer.

It's Official

I'm claiming "mama" as her first real word. Here's the proof.

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And what do you do with a sparkly clean sink? Bathe a baby of course!




Also noteworthy, I got on my bike on its trainer today because I was going stir crazy with all this rain and well, I got off 20 minutes later because my bum was KILLING me! It felt good to get back on the saddle, even though my saddle will hurt for a couple days now. Anyone have a good recommendation for a bike trailer to chariot my daughter behind me when I decide to brave the outside world again on my bike? I'm ready!

She's gone!

Remember this little baby??

SHE'S GONE!!

It's not all sad though. She's been replaced by a smiling, talking, scooting backward little lady. Oh, and a TOTAL momma's girl. Annoying at times, but totally sweet when she babbles ma ma ma ma ma at me.


This next one's for Uncle Austin. She's been practicing her silly faces. I think you've got some competition!

Naptime Craft

Perusing all these baby sites and crafty blogs, I came across THESE...and fell in love. Well, in love with everything but their price tag. So, what's a girl to do? Google a tutorial of course!
I happened to have a box FULL of felted wool sweaters (there's another store for you there...) so I whipped this little dog up with scraps during Avery's naps today.

He needs some work...but not bad for a first attempt. I learned a little about the assembly and I need to hunt down some more thrift store sweaters!

Avery was not a fan...

She is however, a fan of her new sippy cup. She doesn't do much sipping, just playing for now, but I'm keeping my hopes up. She never caught on to a bottle...so my freezer is full of milk I painstakingly pumped and stored that's just going bad.

Look how proud she is!!! And, what a hair-do this morning!

Don't Get Any Older!

Six months is a really fun age. Avery can sit and play with toys on her own without having me be her constant entertainment. I can actually leave her to herself for a few minutes and make some real food for lunch. (Cold cereal for breakfast and lunch gets old...)

Her new favorite thing is string! Oh, and yes, that's a message for my seestar. I bought the glo-doodle for your budding artist's birthday...but it's way too fun! Hopefully I'll be able to part with it come June.

Need a Laugh??

Okay, I'd heard about this video so Avery and I checked it out this morning before her nap. She just stared but I laughed so hard I had to fix my mascara.

Enjoy.

Good One Brian...

After cleaning up the kitchen, I peaked in the living room where I found this:

I realize Brian was just being resourceful as he practiced his knots to teach the Boy Scouts, but Avery doesn't seem to be impressed...or amused.

It's Time.

She can now scoot sideways and flip her leg over the edge. Although it looks quite relaxing, it's time to move the baby to the big tub.

Where's my Baby?

What happened to my baby who just yesterday was a pile of goo? It seems like overnight she learned how to push up to her knees!! Crazy!

That's her super concentrated face. I'm afraid I passed that one on to her.




I discovered another little something that appeared overnight. After 800 pictures like this one.....


I finally snapped one that captured a SURPRISE!!!

I actually screamed when I felt it! I was so shocked. Then a little sad that my baby really is growing up.


That pink intruder in the earlier picture is her new favorite thing. Mine too. She always grabs the spoon when I feed her, and now she can and I'm not afraid of her gagging herself. PLUS, it's a great teether. She's been chewing and drooling on it all day.






One more thing before I call it a night. I think I might start a new blog of just Avery. I realize this, and my life, have been taken over by her since I started this picture-a-day thing, but I'm really missing the days when blogging was a hobby and not a nightly ritual. I know a few of you look forward to your daily dose of Avery, so I'll keep that going in pictures, but I feel like I've lost my creative writing juices. Anyway, just a thought--tomorrow I may change my mind again.

Play Time!

Avery went to play with Darien today. Despite her frowny faces, they had a good time.

Sweet Potato

Breakfast of Champions!

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I don't know how I feel about feeding her colored food. It gets EVERYWHERE! I finally just stripped her top half down because I'm so sick of pre-treating stains! Anyway, she didn't love sweet potatoes this morning. I think because they were room temperature. And really, who wants sweet potatoes for breakfast? She liked them much better for dinner when I warmed them up for her.

Baby Toy?

I'm getting kinda sick of playing with squeaky toys and pictures books with Avery all day, so I was pretty stoked to find this cool marble race track at a thrift store today.

I decided I'm going to start buying toys that are fun for me to play with that Avery will enjoy as well...as long as I keep the marbles away.

Love It...

...When my girl wakes up happy from a nap. Even if it was only 45 minutes long.

Daylight Savings Time

Normally, springing forward puts my body out of whack for a couple days. While bathing Avery tonight, Brian and I both agreed that we didn't really feel the effects of the time change. We are still very much feeling the effects of a baby. For once I appreciated the morning coming an hour early.

Snow.

We went to the snow today. Here's the proof.

See those two trees on the left...yeah, that's where we decided to set up camp. Next time the girls are going to pick the hill so it's not the STEEPEST slope in the place.

So, let me rephrase that...we hiked to the top of a snowy mountain today. I went with high expectations of great fun but poor Avery had other plans. We learned a lot to make it much more fun next time we go...but I'm afraid that won't be for a LOOONG time. At least not till next season.

Big Girl!

We love a day at Grandma and Grandpa's!! Look at this big girl at the kitchen table in her own chair! Such fun!

Really??

Guess where I went today??

Guess what happened??

Target. Yes. Blow out. Yes.

Guess what I didn't have with me??

Extra clothes. NO!!!!

Oh it was a nightmare. I totally laughed and then groaned when I realized I hadn't put more clothes in since Sunday's adventure. You'd think I would have learned by now! I ended up wiping out her pants the best I could and luckily she only soaked through the onesie under her shirt. She managed to get her socks contaminated while I was cleaning her up, so my orphan baby returned. Fabulous.


On a happier note, I cut Avery's hair tonight. I kept going back and forth about it, but it was looking so scraggly that I just went for it. Brian kept her attention so she wasn't jerking all over the place and I gave it my best shot. Let's just say I'm glad she's got curls because it's totally not even. I kept trimming a millimeter off one side, then a millimeter off the other...I had to stop before I'd chopped it all off! I'm just so glad the rat tail's gone.

Gettin' ready...


Her hideous rat tail...I would always push it over to one side or the other...how did it even grow like that?

Snip, snip!

Do people save baby hair?? I think I have a snip of my hair from when I was little...hmmm, I won't throw it out just yet...

What a beauty shot...I've gotta figure out why she does that tongue thing.