Just a Swingin' {& a 24 Win}

Here's our beautiful girl before church yesterday. She was looking for her Daddy, who'd gone to let Win out of the basement.

Look at that face when she spots him!! Can you tell she loves him?

We spent some time outside yesterday afternoon, swinging and visiting with neighbors. We hope the weather stays this lovely!

























Daddy was inside watching the race, and we caught the end of it with him.He was so excited because his favorite driver, Jeff Gordon {#24}, won the race!!
Isn't it appropriate that every redneck NASCAR baby be "nekked?"

"Oooohh! Is Gordon gonna pull it off, Daddy?"

"Yea!!!!! He did it!!!"

Then Avery Claire had her first grilled cheese for dinner. She loved it!

Why, oh, why, do the weekends go by sooooo fast?!

Happy 11 Months!

Avery Claire, at 11 months, you:

- weigh 21 lbs, 9 ounces.
- can say Hi, Hey, Dada, Bye, Bite, and Mama (you say Mama when you're crying, so it comes out like "MaaaaaMaaaaa").
- wear size 4 diapers.
- like to eat green beans, mac-n-cheese, cheese ravioli, waffles, pancakes, any kind of bread, chicken (sometimes). You still eat your baby cereal with fruit/veggies mixed in at lunch.
- usually take 3 8-ounce bottles a day. You take one when you get up, one mid-morning, and then you take some of one before dinner. You usually finish it off before bed. If you want a little more, you get it.

- are walking everywhere!! You are very adventurous and fearless! Where did you get that from?



- seriously have some rhythm. Mrs. Brittany says at daycare when the older kids are doing their dance videos that you kick your feet to the beat. They are just as impressed with your rhythm as we are!


- love to look for Win. When you get out of your carseat every afternoon, you head straight for the window. You don't understand why he isn't waiting on you every day! You've learned to make a little clicking noise, and we think you're trying to call Win. It's precious!




- still love to read and will pick a book over any toy in the house.



- attended your first football banquet. You were very well-behaved, but we didn't make it the whole time due to cheerleader awards and an approaching bedtime.


- are such a morning person!


- love to give kisses. You kiss your babies, your stuffed animals, and characters in your books. You will come up randomly to Mommy and Daddy and give us a kiss, which we.abosulutely.adore.more.than.anything!! We went to one of my student's basketball games the other night, and you would not stop kissing his mom! Don't worry - she's clean and we love her! Apparently, so do you!


- have started patting your babies like Mommy and Daddy do. It's soooooo sweet!



- have a play area in the living room, although your toys manage to get strewn everywhere, which is perfectly fine by us. You love to try to figure things out while you're playing.



- have learned to blow kisses (that's what we think you're trying to do). Unless you're trying to make a "bah-bah-bah" sound with your mouth like when Mommy covers her mouth or yours to make that sound.


- have a deep love for your paci. You really love the Mam pacifiers, but you'll take anything you can get your hands on. You found a pretty Gumdrop paci the other day, and you liked it. Oh, how Mommy loved those pretty pacis and wanted you to like them, too!



- don't so much like shoes. You try to figure out how to get them off, and often succeed.



- like breakfast/snacktime in the living room watching Nickolodeon.


- will sometimes just lay your head down on us, like you're giving us a hug....be still, our hearts!!


- are really a silly little girl!


- can be very serious sometimes, too. You have your Daddy's "serious face."



- are the most friendly, outgoing baby I know, really! People comment all the time about how friendly you are. You will reach for strangers in WalMart. I love that you don't mind staying in the nursery at church, you are happy when we tell you "bye" at daycare, etc. You wave at people everywhere we go and make them feel so special!

- love to share your toys and will now even share a bite with us. Before now, you'd pretend to hand us a bite, then put it right into your own mouth.


- enjoy bathtime immensely! These pictures were taken, I promise, before I'd ever touched you. You slide around and play in the water and get drenched. We can't wait for summer and swimming! You've graduated from your baby tub to the big tub, which I'm not sure is easier!





- are a great sleeper! We know how lucky we are. You go to bed by yourself, unless you fall asleep taking a bottle. You sleep 11-12 hours and wake up ready to go. You nap 2-3 hours in the afternoon (no more morning naps!). You sleep with a cold, with a cough, a stuffy or runny nose, goopy eyes, whatever. Thank you, sweet girl, for being such a great sleeper! We even woke you up the other night to go to the basementn during the storm (Russellville had 63 mph winds!), and you took a little bottle and went right back to bed. Not to brag, or anything!!

- absolutely love it when we clap for you! You get so excited! And you clap for yourself, too. We've been to a basketball game and a baseball game this week and you clapped for the players - everyone loved that!


- have the cutest, fattest, kissable, squeezable baby toes I've every seen!


- can clear every.single.item in a drawer out in less than 3 seconds! It's one of your favorite games! We've got to get you interested in putting things back in!

- don't like bows in your hair. You reach for them immediately and keep checking to make sure they aren't there even after you take them out. I'm working on distracting you!

- are the best thing that's ever happened to Mommy & Daddy! We thank God He gave you to us. We pray that He guides us in our parenting so that we set a Godly example for you. You are truly such a joy to every one you come into contact with, and that gives us such joy. We love every single second of life with you and can't imagine life without you in it. We are so proud of you and cannot believe that 11 whole months have passed since the day you came into our lives. We cherish every moment because we see how fast they go by. We love you so very, very much, Avery Claire, and will love you forever and ever!