Life's a Beach

I know I havent posted in a while (um, try about 9 months!). But I am vowing to do better. Over the summer we didnt do much. Just went to the beach a lot. Avery loves the sand and water. She tires us out wanting to play in the waves. The last few times we have gone out, the water has been very rough due to tropical storms and hurricanes. One time a couple months ago the water was nice and Jeff was able to ride the body board with Avery. She loved it!

Here is a recap of our summer at the beach.

It Shouldnt Just Be Father's Day

Avery is quite a Daddy's Little Girl. We want to tell Daddy today, how much we love him. We had a great day at the beach; it was warmer, the water was so still, and we saw some dauphins. We are so lucky to have such a great daddy and husband!

Christmas morning

Of course Avery has no idea why we decorate a tree and wrap presents she sure did enjoy Christmas. It helped that her birthday was a week before, but she totally got into ripping the paper off of the presents and pulling her items out of her stocking. She loved all the new toys she received from Santa, Mom & Dad, her grandparents and other relatives. THank you all so much for thinking of us and Avery. Although last year was technically her "first" Christmas, this was the first year she could participate in the festivities. When we were done opening presents at home we went down to Dad & Carols to celebrate with them and the Gantts. We had a wonderful time, Avery enjoyed chasing the little puppy dog around the house. We hope everyone had a great Holiday season.

1st Birthday

I know Ive been slacking with my updates. With the holiday season and her birthday, we have been so busy! Its hard to believe that she is already a year old. She started walking at 11 months and now practically runs all over the house. She loves to point at things and then watch our mouths when we say what the object is. She loves to laugh and make squeeling noises. We think she is saying "duck", "turtle", and "ball". She still says "mama" and "dada". It has been really fun to see her imitate us more and be able to follow simple directions from us. It is clear that she has a good understanding of some of the things we say to her. This age is so much fun!

Here are some pics from her 1st bday party:

Let it Snow!

Avery was able to experience her first snow when we went to the mountains to choose and cut our own Christmas tree. When we arrived on Friday night it was cold, but no snow. When we woke up Saturday morning, everything was covered! It continued to snow pretty hard until after lunch. It was beautiful. Avery enjoyed the snow. We didnt quite have the proper outdoorwear for her but we made due with what we had. It was a great weekend. We found the perfect tree the next day. Avery was so interested in all of the trees. 3rd annual trip for our tree was a success!

A short update..

Our computer is up and running and I am able to load pics now! I will try to post some of what we have been up to, but for now I will just post some pics from our recent trip to St. Louis. We took Avery on her first flight to MO for my cousin's wedding. She did great on the plane and during the whole trip. We spent Sunday at the St. Louis zoo (which is amazing) and she really enjoyed looking at all the animals.

I know, I know!!!

Our computer has been on the brink lately and I cannot get onto our blog site to update!! So, I will update on my work laptop and for now, there will be no pictures.
So a quick update on our little Avery...
She crawls like a champ now. She is starting to "chase" us and "run" when we chase her.
She pulls up on everything and is starting to cruise along the furniture. She borrowed a push toy from our neighbor and loves it. She pushes it a litttle bit on the carpet and is able to take a few steps with it.
She is now starting to let go of whatever she is holding onto and just standing there for as long as 4 seconds!!--Im having a hard time with this one...I cant imagine my little baby walking!!! She is growing up too fast!!!
She is eating like a champ and has started taking bites of things like bananas and cooked apples.
She continues to babble with various consonants, her newests is b and z. She says "zuzuzuzuzaaaaaa" and I love it!!! But nothing beats the continual "dadadadadadadadadadadadad" that she talks all day long.
Her receptive language is expanding. She responds to words like cat, dogs, dada. She will now follow a point if I say "look at the birds".
She has a couple tickle spots, one under her arm and another on her inside thigh. She giggles every time!!
Still only 2 teeth, on the bottom.
The major accomplishment of a set sleep schedule of 12 hrs!!!
She likes banging two objects together
She now pats the cat versus grabbing his hair
Well....that is a lot!! I will get some new pics up as soon as I can.
Thanks to everyone who still checks up on us!! And sorry for not updating sooner!!!