Thankful

Tonight, we are so thankful. Tornadoes ripped through Alabama yesterday and completely demolished towns and communities. Just a few miles from us, three small towns/communities were completely blown away. I started to post a few pictures, but you've seen the news (I feel like it's kind of disrespectful because I don't know who might be connected to any of those pictures).

Please play for those who have lost their homes, their churches, their schools...but most of all, pray for those who have lost their family members and their friends. I truly cannot imagine the devastation they must feel.

We are thankful that we are safe and that our house is still standing. We are thankful for close friends with whom to wait out the storm.






Tonight we count our blessings. I am so thankful for a little girl who cooks beside me, cleaning out every pot and pan in my cabinet and stirring her little heart away.






I am so thankful for the toys (and pots, pans, and lids) that are strewn all over my house and the dirty clothes that are piled up in the baskets. I'm thankful that I get to sleep in my bed tonight and go to work tomorrow. Did I mention how very, very thankful I am for that little girl eating her dinner?


I am so thankful for the opportunity to have a normal night with my family...baths, bedtime stories, and rocking my tired girl for about 3 minutes before she fell fast asleep. And my heart hurts for those who have lost so much. Please pray for them.

Wordless Wednesday {Eskimo Kisses}

First Haircut

Dusty has been saying Avery Claire needed a haircut since before her first birthday. It was getting a little uneven in the back. I really wasn't one of those believers in having to wait until after the first b'day to get a haircut. We were busy, we wanted Uncle Mike to give her her first haircut, and I was a little emotional about it.
So, Saturday afternoon, we headed to Mike's shop for Avery Claire's first haircut. The left side in the back had gotten longer than the right side and it just needed evening up. We didn't even touch the front or sides.
Avery Claire had her goldfish and sat so still while Uncle Mike cut her hair.





Doesn't it look so sweet and pretty?


Thanks, Uncle Mike, for being a part of this major milestone in our baby girl's life! We love you!

13 Months

I had almost decided that I was done with monthly posts after Avery Claire's first birthday. Then I decided I wanted to continue to document what she was up to, for memory's sake. So, I compromised and decided to just include pictures of her on that particular day...it had gotten a little too time-consuming to coordinate pictures to go along with what she's doing at the time.
Avery Claire, at 13 months, you:
- have 12 teeth. You did a lot of drooling last week and biting on things, so we're wondering if more are coming.
- are walking/running everywhere you go.
- can say Da-da, Ma-ma, ball, gah (which means dog, we think), bye-bye, bite, Hi, Hey
- give the best kisses in the world and will blow a kiss on demand (most of the time)
- love, love, love to be outside. You look at the door, jiggle the door handle, look at us, and give us the "come here" with your little fingers. It's too sweet.
- love to talk to Win at the window. And he just sits there waiting on you.
- enjoy any kind of bag, basket, bowl, container that you can put things into and take things out of. Tonight you are walking around with a gift bag filled with a remote, a paci, a ball. You have played and played with your Easter baskets and eggs.
- are so busy. You seriously never stop. Everyone is amazed at how busy you are. How can one little girl have that much energy?
- still sleep through the night. You did have a hard time for a couple of nights falling asleep when we laid you down. I think you just hate to stop playing and having fun. When I ask you if you're ready to go night-night, you look at me and shake your head no!
- are strictly on whole milk and have completely given up the bottle. You love milk and passed up a bottle for a sippy cup. Guess you got over it a whole lot quicker than Mommy.
- love to eat cheese, green beans, cheese & spinach ravioli, rice, Puffs, Mum-Mums, cheese puffs, mini Vanilla wafers, mac-n-cheese, waffles, pancakes, grilled cheese, rolls, pizza, french fries, Goldfish, Cap'n Crunch. And you love raisins!! Mrs. Teresa says you like purple hull peas, black-eyed peas, and pinto beans at daycare. I can't get you to eat them at home, though.
- are such a friendly little girl. You wave a complete strangers wherever we are, which usually results in us meeting lots of people. You make friends with everyone around us when we eat somewhere. You will go to just about anyone, which makes lots of people very happy. I love it that you're so friendly.
- are a fiesty strong-willed little girl. You know what you want and don't like it when you don't get your way (which isn't often). We are working on discipline. We guess you've heard "Do you want a spanking?" when Mrs. Brittany says it to her daughter at daycare, because you give us a "wah" when we ask you. And you shake your head when we ask you if you need to go to time out, so you must hear that at daycare, too. Although you've been sat down to finish out a fit a couple of times yourself.

- don't miss a thing. You know when someone's phone rings/beeps. You hear Win every time he barks. You know when someone is putting their shoes on to go outside. You know when you hear Daddy's garage door opening. You know when someone goes into the bathroom without you. You like to be involved in everything that's going on, and we love it that way, too.
- have provided so much joy and laughter over the last 13 months. You are so sweet and funny. We love to see you learn and grow every day. It's so much fun to watch your sweet, out-going little personality emerge. We love you to the moon and back, our sweet Avery Claire!

Easter Weekend

We headed to Clay County Saturday morning (after our dear child slept until almost 9:30!). We played and played....and accomplished another big milestone - we'll tell you about that tomorrow...and played some more.

Sunday, Avery Claire must have been excited about the Easter Bunny's visit because she was up at 6:40, which required an 8:30 nap.

She woke up with a belly just begging to be tickled.

And Daddy obliged.

Then she saw the loot left by the Easter Bunny.


Oh, boy, Daddy, I need you to open these now!

There was lots of waiting while Daddy and Mommy opened toys. If you have children, you know it's like trying to get into Fort Knox when you're trying to open up two tiny plastic rolling toys that cost $2.49.

Attempt #1 at a family picture:

Attempt #2 at a family picture:

We headed to Aunt Betty's for lunch and our first Easter egg hunt of the day.

One of Avery Claire's least favorite things is walking on grass, which makes it kind of hard to hunt eggs properly. She spent a lot of her time like this, just curling those sweet fingers towards her so the eggs would come to her basket and she wouldn't have to go get them. Believe it or not, it usually worked.

We had her a soft basket so she wouldn't have to lug around a big basket. Hers, of course, wasn't near as much fun as Melinda's basket. Thanks, Melinda, for sharing.

Then we headed to Mamaw and PaPaw's for our second egg hunt of the day (and our second dessert). Yes, that would be our child - in Ashley's arms - fast asleep for the only 30 minute nap she got that day. I knew when I laid her down on the floor, changed her diaper in a crowded room with kids all around her head and she didn't wake up, that there was no getting her up from that nap until she got ready.

When she did wake up, she was ready to swing. And Ashley and Maggie were ready to push!

Avery Claire was in such good hands in the swing, Mommy and Daddy relaxed for a second.

We started the trek home with Aunt Steph in tow (to get her car in Cullman). That two hour drive probably added at least two years to Aunt Steph's "when to have kids" timeline.

Avery Claire really didn't do that bad...she just requires constant entertainment, and that can wear a person OUT! And when she got really, really sleepy, it required a mama to keep her awake. We were all restless by the time we stopped to drop Aunt Steph off.

Thank you, Easter Bunny, for that handy-dandy medical kit you brought. It saved us during the last 30 minutes of our ride.

We were a tired bunch by the time we got unpacked and ready for bed last night!

Today, daycare had their Easter party since it was cancelled due to bad weather the Friday before last. I caught the snacking part of the party this afternoon.

Group shot:

Avery Claire and her BFF, Leah. They were both sooo happy to see each other this morning after a 2-week break!

As busy as our weekend was and as hectic as life gets, I have so tried to stop and thank God for my many, many blessings. We are so thankful for a RISEN Savior, for a wonderful family and for the best of friends. I am so grateful for my husband, who is more to me than I could ever have asked. And, certainly, we are more grateful than we could ever express for our healthy, happy, sweet, sweet girl. God has blessed us abundantly, and we are forever thankful.