standing ovation!

Avery has been pulling up using our hands for awhile now but today she decided to use the furniture. check out the video...

 

she's our little monkey!

laughing with momma

Avery got such a kick out of me trying to "eat" her toy! her laughs just make my day!

pianist

avery tried her hand at playing the piano today, i think she may have a future... :)

8 months old!

She's 8 months old!!!! Heres what we've observed about Avery this past month;

*We weighed her on our bathroom scale this morning and she weighed 20 lbs!!!

*Avery will sometimes sleep with her head up against the crib bumper and her right hand through the slats!

*I've forgotten to mention this but Avery loves to have her ears rubbed. She gets very still and quiet. Her eyes even start to close! its too funny!

*She has become quite the little chatterbox! I just love her little coos

*We moved Avery to her new big girl carseat. except for our long car rides, she sits up like a big girl!

*She had her first sink bath!

*Avery attended her first wedding! Her auntie CiCi and uncle Aaron's wedding!

*Avery had her first real "mommy anxiety moment"

*New foods Avery ate this month; homemade apples, cheerios, avocado, blueberries, carrots, corn

*She had all but stopped drooling.. but this past week it has started up again, maybe closer to teeth???

*Avery said her first word!!! DA-DA on June 15!

*avery has started showing "mommy anxiety", when i would walk away from her when she was playing she would fuss and even start crying. we are working to help her be more comfortable being independant!

*she has started using her right hand alot more, there for awhile i thought she might be a lefty!

*Avery took her first vacation, we went to Lake Tenkiller with my family!

*She finally gave in and started rolling back to tummy, she started doing it at the lake.

*Avery definitely lets you know when she is bored or upset, she does this grunting/fussy noise that sometimes leads to a cry if you don't move fast enough! strong willed!

*she is starting to want to get into everything.

*she reaches for people now and will even push up when you pick her up. she also started leaning to the side and looking up at me when I'm holding her on my lap.

*she helped celebrate her first fathers day with chris!

*avery thinks she is a toddler, when holding her she reaches for the ground like she wants down to walk!?! too funny!

*she loves to mimic her little fake cough, although it turns into her just basically yelling! but its really cute!

This is such a fun time to watch Avery develop, she's talkative and wants to do everything we are doing. Its amazing and I can't wait to see what she does next!

click here for Avery's pics from this past month!

oh that face

Avery makes the funniest face when she is going.... well... poo! :) I know, I probably shouldn't post this but its just too cute!

she gets this little smile on her face and her face turns bright red! :) yep, thats her poo face!

LOVE HER!

bathtime

Last night, while I was giving avery a bath I watched her grab the sides of her tub and try to almost stand up! i grabbed the camera and caught a few seconds of her doing this... she cracks me up, she hates being on her tummy or her knees (so crawling is who knows when) but she loves to stand up and walk!!

Lake trip

We just got back from Avery's first VACA! We met my family in Cookson, Oklahoma for a week at Lake Tenkiller! We had a great time, swimming, cooking out, tubing, skiing and boating! Avery had lots of people vying for her attention. big thank you to my family for such a wonderful weekend. and a big thanks to Chris' parents for letting us bring their boat for the week!

out to dinner at Soda Steves!

beautiful sunset

grandpa and avery

first time in the lake, she HATED the lifejacket. was the first and last time she'll probably wear it! :)

on the porch with Gigi and auntie Cici before going swimming!

Mommy and Avery

 

Our view of the lake!! sorry its moving alot, I forgot to stop swinging before taking the video!

I have tons more pictures, will try to post a link to the shutterfly album once I get them all uploaded!

paci

Well, I've gone back to letting Avery have her pacifier. For about 3 weeks Ave would wake 3-5 times in the night (cry out once or twice) and go right back to sleep. this made for some restless nights not just for her but for me as well. A couple nights ago, I put her to bed and she cried for awhile, after about 20 minutes I went in and gave her the paci. Of course she went right to sleep and slept all night (till 8am) without a peep from her! So, I've given in (partly for my own sanity) and she can again have the pacifier for naps and at night. during the day she only gets it if i've kept her out past naptime or she is in the car, and I still try to get her to go to sleep on her own. We have also started placing paci's in her crib so if she does lose it in the middle of the night she can find one and plug herself back up!! :) This was something my mother did with me when i was a baby. funny how history repeats itself. so the other day i put her down for a nap, she fell asleep with one paci in hand and one in her mouth;

thats my daughter!

i love watching her sleep

copy cat

Avery and I played a little game today! for the first time she actually seemed to mimick me. she let out her "fake cough" and I did one back and it just went from there! she's funny;

first word video

check her out! at about :26 seconds in she says DADA!! listen close! :)

first word! (no video)

Avery spoke her first "legible" word tonight... DADA!

She has said it a few times this evening! of course it had to be dada! :) momma has got to be next! We were able to capture her saying it on video... but... for some reason it won't upload :( i will keep trying! till then, here are 2 pics from today...

Chris' parents bought a new innertube for the lake! Avery is ready to go :)

Parker got to try it out this morning on lake grapevine! i think she enjoyed it.

What a weekend!!!

Whew! That was one busy weekend! :) I can't believe my baby sister is a married woman! She was the perfect bride, simply gorgeous and their ceremony and reception were beautiful! they are in Maui for the week on their honeymoon (you can't read my jealousy! :) )!! I know they'll have a blast and as soon as they get back we all leave for a week at lake tenkiller. I can't wait, it'll be Avery's first vacation! I wasn't able to capture many pics on my camera between my Matron of Honor duties and motherly duties!

here are a few I did get;

Avery found a friend! we finally got to meet Abigail! she is about a week older than Avery! Mother of the bride getting ready!

Ahh so pretty! she's wearing my tiara that I wore in my wedding!

:)

this pic doesn't do it justice, her dress is gorgeous! You can't see here, but she has purple sparkle heels on under that dress!

It was a group effort!

Auntie CiCi and Avery!

again at the reception!

Melissa and I

Myself and the BRIDE!!

The Happy couple leaving the reception! Sorry I don't have more pics of them together!

Congratulations to the happy couple!

I will try to round up some more pics for a later post! Love you Sissy!

Keep an eye on beatyphotography to see professional pictures from the wedding soon!

video fun

just playing around with auntie chelsea's computer @ gigi and grandpa's house!

big girl

Well I can't believe it but we have moved Avery out of her newborn carseat. We had gotten a convertible carseat (from my registry) for christmas but I didn't realize it was only forward facing. Oops! We found one at target that was pretty reasonable and I figure we'll need it for the next baby anyways. I thought the seat would consume her but she looks very grown up in it. AHHHHHHHH!!!

"really mom, its no big deal"

i think she likes it!

sink bath

Avery is spending the night at Gramma and Papa's house tonight! Cindy sent me a picture from this evening that was too cute not to share...

She had her first bath in the kitchen sink! :)

catch & release

avery amused herself this weekend by playing with a small wooden book. my dad called it "catch and release" she would grab ahold of the book then let it go, and repeat! just more practice using those hands! :)

Today we visited chris' grandad in the hospital. (thank you for your prayers!) He was in for tests to see if his heart needed surgery. Fortunately, all but one of his stints looked good so he has started a new medication to help put his heart back in rhythm! (this is all 2nd hand and I'm no doctor so I may have gotten a fact or 2 wrong!) anyways, he'll be in till friday just to be sure the medication doesn't cause any side effects. After our visit we had dinner with Rusty, Cindy, Grandma Bette and Parker. Here are 2 cute pictures of ave and parker and a short video...

edmond visit!

avery, chris and i visited the family in edmond this weekend! we came up for chelsea's bachlorette party and to celebrate chris' birthday. here are some pics from our visit...

happy birthday chris!! reading time! play time

my giant baby!

grandpa reading ave her bedtime book!

auntie chelsea and avery

exersaucer

here is another video, this one is from today. Avery has become alot more talkative in the past weeks. She especially likes to hear herself when she's in her crib "supposed" to be napping! :)

bathtime

Here is a bathtime fun video from this past weekend at Gigi and Grandpas;

She loved those cups!

sissy

so i can't believe it but my baby sister is getting married a week from tomorrow!!! we are heading up to edmond here soon for her bachelorette party tonight!! gosh, where does the time go? i'm afraid i'll blink and avery will be getting married! :( i'm cherishing every moment i have with her. here is something i found that made me think of sissy;

There is a lot of love in the world, But there’s nothing like a sister’s love. The love you and your sister share is so deep. It’s so deep that nobody can take it away. A sister is a friend… Who listen to your deepest secrets. And understand what you went and going through now. A sister is there holding your hand… When life seems hopeless. A sister loves you for who you are… Not what you do. No matter where you are, You will always have your sister’s love. by Lezetta Clayton

Love you Chelsea! so excited for your big day! :)

Happy Wednesday!

how YOU doin?

Little Model! check out those cheeks!