Funny Avery

well, I am not sure where the cable is to offload pictures from my camera, so more pics will have to come at a later date. I just wanted to take a minute to write down a few of the funny things Avery has been saying latey so I won't forget. She has been hilarious the past few weeks and one thing she says a lot is "I NEED to ____" (fill in the blank).
For example, "I NEED to eat some Cheerios right now."
"I NEED to wear my lello (yellow) panties today!"
"I NEED to watch a movie right now!"
Where did she get that?
Another thing is she cracks me up when she talks in compelete sentences.
I will ask her, "Do you want oatmeal for breakfast?"
Response: "Yes, I do want oatmeal for breakfast!"
Question: "Do you want to play upstairs now?"
Response: "No, I do not want to play upstairs now."
A simple yes or no would do, but she usually repeats the whole sentence back to me. Cracks me up! One more thing I cannot forget...When we say our prayers at night, she has gotten pretty good at saying her own things without having to repeat after me. So I get her started with "Dear Lord..." and this is her newest phrase after we bless our family members..."...and bless Mickey Mouse, Little Lamb, and Stinky Dee-Dee." The first time she said this I burst out laughing... I just couldn't help it, so now she laughs everytime she says this. As serious as I try to make prayer time, it's so hilarious! For those of you who may not know, Mickey Mouse is one of her stuffed animals that someone gave her that she just recently right before we moved got really attached to. Maybe because all her other toys were packed in the truck, but anyway, he goes everywhere with her and she always sleeps with him. Little Lamb is a lamb beanie baby with a purple tutu on that Grandma gave her and she has been attached to her since around the time she turned two. And if you don't know who Dee-Dee is, then you have not met Avery! Dee-Dee is her purple blanket she has slept with since she was like 4 months old and it usually stinks since she has it around her mouth so sometimes we call it "Stinky Dee-Dee." I realize not many of you have made it this far down the post and stopped reading a while back, but if I did not record all of this, I would soon forget! Thanks for those who stuck it out!! :)

Mess, mess, mess

Well, we are officially in our new house! We spent our first night last night and are headed to the bed for the second night. Our old house is cleaned out and we said goodbye to it yesterday, and our new house is a MESS, MESS, MESS! You know how it is after you move in...where is this, where is that? In a box? What box? Where is the box? No one knows any of these answers! But a ton of work has already been done and we could not have done it without the help of our family and our good friend Bart Ives! Even though most of the boxes are not unpacked and the house is a mess, all the bedrooms were painted today which is a huge task done! And after these nasty curtains were all taken down, the rooms looked 100% better! Too bad wallpaper is not as easy to take down.
Our little Avery Grace has been a trooper through it all. I could sense a few days ago that she was really needing some normalcy once again, but though she has had her whiny moments, she has been great. She has slept in a different place for just about every nap and nighttime, but as long as she has had her dee-dee, she has been fine. Thankfully tonight we found "Elmo Horsey" a DVD she has been begging to watch, but we just couldn't find it! As much as I hate to sit her in front of a DVD, you need a distraction for a 2 year old when you're trying to unload boxes and unpack! She is excited about her new house and the most excited about her new "stairs!" I had to buy a baby gate to keep her from going up the stairs because I am afraid she will fall down them when I am not with her!
Hopefully we will have some new pictures to post soon of all the updates of the house, but for now just wanted to post an update of our status!

Little Girl Bed

I snuck in at naptime to get a rare picture of Avery sleeping!

I finally made the time to get out the toddler rail to Avery's bed and put it up. I wanted to do this in our new house, but since we are moving next week, I thought I would give her a little while to get used to it in the old house before making two changes on her at once. I will change the bed to a double bed probably around Christmas before the baby comes or whenever her bedding is ready. I am calling her toddler bed her "little girl bed" so when we change it to a double bed, we will call it her "big girl bed." Hopefully she will be comfortable sleeping in it the way it is for a while in the new house that way she will feel all settled before we make another change on her and then a huge change when the baby gets here! She has slept in it for 2 nights now and has done so well! I was afraid she would get up to play with toys, but she hasn't gotten up once! Even after naptime and nighttime she stays in there and calls for me! I'm so proud of her.

Painting

Well, I have had these watercolors for a long time and have been planning to let Avery paint, but sadly, we are just now getting around to it! Anyway, she loved it of course like I knew she would and had a blast painting a picture. We put our pictures on the refrigerator and she still goes up to it and says, "Look what I did Mommy!" It's so sweet.

4 Wheeler & Horses

I love to play in the dirt!

This was my old spring horse from when I was Avery's age! It's still getting good use!

On our way to Florida last month we were at my parents a couple days to get that ultrasound that revealed our precious new baby is a girl! These are a few pictures from the one night we were there when Avery and Craig got to enjoy Pop's new 4 Wheeler for an afternoon! They both loved it of course and Avery still begs to go back and ride it! Also, the horses are getting friendlier, especially the gray one, Lola. She is an attention-hog and loves you to pet her. Avery talks about the horses all the time and asks to go to Pop and Nona's all the time so we can see them and feed them. There are three now and she calls them "RubyRockyLola"...all one word! It's hilarious. I'm not sure why she doesn't use "and" but she seems to do it to other people, too!

Big Girl

Just had to post a couple pictures of Avery in this adorable dress and hat set. It used to be her cousin Ashley's who wore it about 6 1/2 years ago when she was Avery's age! What a grown up girl she is getting to be!!!

Florida Vacation

OK I know I have been lazy this week and have been meaning to post pictures of our Florida Vacation, but I am just now forcing myself to sit down and do it!!! We had a blast in Destin as usual. This is the place where Craig and I got engaged 7 years ago and we have been back several times with family...we just love it! Avery has gone every summer since she has been born and this year was definitely the best with her. She loved digging in the sand and playing in the pool, finding treasures on the beach (seashells, rocks) and putting them in her bucket. She liked the ocean ok after she got used to it, but if it splashed up in her mouth, she was revolted and had a terrible look on her face! The first day we went down to put our toes in, she asked me, "Mommy, what is that noise?!" It was the ocean waves crashing onto the shore! She just never hears it and had no idea what it was! This year we went with Craig's brother Chad and his family. Avery absolutely LOVES her cousins and Ashley (9 yrs old) was like a little mother to Avery and took care of her so much for me! Thank you Ashley! They played and walked down the beach and swam in the pool and played in the house a ton! We enjoyed some delicious seafood the whole time whether in the restaurants or meals we ate at home. I just love good fish and shrimp and Craig has come to love them, too, over the years, even though he used to think he didn't like seafood! Can you imagine?! :) All in all it was a wonderful week of relaxing, sleeping, and eating! What can beat that? This has got to be a yearly tradition!

New House!

Hallelujah! The Lord has answered our prayers with a new house! We will not have to move twice!!! Here is a picture of the outside of the house, but you will have to wait for inside pictures. There are several things we need to update, and I want you to have before and after pictures! The lot is almost half an acre so Avery and her little sister will have plenty of space to run and play! It's a beautiful neighborhood called Country Lake Estates and it is here in Jenks! We close on our house here and the new house on September 19th, so please keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly and be completed on that day so we can move in immediately after! Thanks for your prayers so far...God has heard them!

IT'S A....

GIRL!!! We are so excited to be having another girl! Craig said he doesn't care if we have a house full of girls! I am super excited to be able to use all of my girl things again from Avery! This new little girl is totally nameless right now, so don't even ask for a couple months! We will let you know when something is decided. Praise God for this wonderful blessing! We can't wait to meet her!

Baby Poll

OK I thought it would be fun to copy my friend Emily and put up a baby poll. This Thursday I have a doctor's appointment. However, I do not think I am going to have an ultrasound. They usually don't do the sex check until 20 weeks and my doctor is pretty strict about sticking to the schedules. I am 16 weeks this week and I am going to beg and plead for one, but if they say no, my mom is going to be my savior. She is actually retired from her job as a mammogram technician, but she is filling in for a girl who is on maternity leave right now. Her friends at the clinic (they also do sonograms) told her to bring me in and they will let me know the sex if the baby cooperates THIS FRIDAY!!! So if my doctor says no on Thursday, hopefully we will make it down to Texas for an ultrasound Friday! I am super excited! So here is a poll to vote whether you think it will be a girl or a boy. I have absolutely no feelings one way or the other, so I am going to be no help guiding your vote! If we do find out on Friday, I will update the blog shortly after!