Rehearsal

Friday morning we headed to Austin for Justin and Brandi's wedding! I am sooo happy for them! They make the best couple and I know they will have such a wonderful marriage and awesome future together! I was so honored and excited that they had asked Avery to be a flower girl in their wedding! It was so special to include Avery in their special day!

We got to Austin Friday afternoon! Avery was such an amazing child in the car on the way there. We put on a Dora the Explorer dvd and she never said a word. She sat back there and watched Dora the whole time, we even started it over, so she watched the same thing twice, but she was so good and so happy! We were in shock and thought oh wow, we should do this more often! (hahahaha) We stayed with Harold and Cara Friday night, they were so sweet to open up their house to us and let us stay with them and make us feel so at home!

Once we got to the rehearsal that is when things started going down hill and it pretty much stayed like that the rest of the weekend! Avery wouldn't pay attention to anyone or listen to any of the instructions! All she wanted to do was run around in circles and play in the little pond! We decided it was just because she had been in the car for over 4 hours and needed to get her energy out! We even told Justin and Brandi that if they changed their mind about the little flower girl we wouldn't be mad! =) Really, I wouldn't have blamed them one bit, it was that bad! Avery just ran circles around everyone while they did the rehearsal! After that we had the rehearsal dinner at Harold and Cara's house! Niki did such an amazing job! It was the perfect little party! Great food, good drinks (not for me), great company, awesome decorations...it was just perfect! Avery didn't stop there either, she ran around their huge back yard for hours! I was thankful and knew she would go right to sleep as soon as we laid her down! She hadn't had a nap at all and was beyond exhausted! Boy, was I wrong! She was so tired, so we brought her in gave her a bath, had some milk, watched some cartoons and laid down in bed with her! Around midnight Avery was still awake and singing and playing in bed. Finally I think we all fell asleep after that! The next morning she was ready to go outside and see the deers bright and early around 7am!! Not sure what happened to my child this weekend but it only got worse!!!

Taking a break from running at the rehearsal!

Climbing in all of the chairs!!
Crazy, silly, non listening girl, but still as cute as ever!!! I love her sooooo much!!!!!
Having sooooo much fun with Garrett and Rachel!!

New clothes...YIPEE!!!

My dad and Brenda are always sooooo sweet and sending Avery things in the mail! She loves to see that big brown box on the front porch and knows it is for her every time! They are always spoiling her with new things. Last month it was a box full of all kinds of goodies: new plates, spoons, cup, shirts, stickers for the window, candy and even silly string; which she opened right away and used the whole can right then!! This week it was a box full of new clothes! It really feels like a present for me too! Avery opened the box right up and dug in! She pulled each thing out and looked at it saying "Oh, how cute!!" to every piece she pulled out! Then she was off to something new! But, this morning she wanted to know where all of her new clothes were and wanted to look at them again! Thank you Grandaddy and Nanny for all of my new clothes, I love them! This morning she said "That was so nice of Grandaddy and Nanny to give me ALLLLL these new clothes!!" She is really a blessed little girl!

We had to lay out all of the outfits so she could choose which one she wanted! I have to admit....Avery picked out a really cute brown dress to wear, but I convinced her to wear the plaid shorts, my personal favorite!! =) She was just as happy and kept spinning around in front of the mirror!!
Being silly with her shirt!
All dressed and ready to go!
Helping me pick up the clothes!
But, then decided she needed to look them over one more time!
New clothes make me really happy!!!! Thanks again Dad and Brenda...they are all sooooo cute and greatly appreciated! Also, can I just say Avery is 2 1/2 almost...and all of these clothes are 4T and fit perfectly...big girl!! =)

Painting with Daddy

For some reason the Easter Bunny brought Avery a Dora paint set...I'm not sure why. The poor girl has been asking every day if she can paint, finally I had to give in and let her! She had a BLAST and did not even make a mess at all! She did so good and loved painting!!

Giving Daddy a BIG hug!! She is soooo sweet and really LOVES her Daddy!

She concentrated really hard, she had to make sure everything was perfect!

Ryan even taught her how to put your fingers in the paint and put it on your forehead. I think he realized that was a mistake when she turned around and did it right back to him!!

Spring has Sprung!!

Saturday we worked in the yard ALL day LONG! We were out there from 11 until dark and hardly took any breaks. Even Avery missed her nap because she was having to much fun outside! It was a long day, I'm not sure why it took so long, but it was worth it because our yard looks so pretty and ready for spring now!!

It all started with an idea to plant a "few" things!
And, a truck full of mulch!
Avery found some old gloves in the garage and was ready to dig in
She loved taking the old mulch out and putting it in the wheel barrow
Showing me her big gloves!!

Always right by her daddy's side...his little "helper"
She LOVES her Daddy sooooo much!!
Covering her entire body with dirt!!

Having sooo much fun...this is definitely not my child, I would never voluntarily cover myself in dirt!!
But, Avery is having a blast doing just that!

Bruiser has had enough....
Smelling our pretty flowers we put in the pot!!
Relaxing after a LONG day in in the dirt!
We had to get the sink out so she could wash her shoes, feet and hands. Although she loved getting dirty and digging and covering her self with dirt she really wanted to wash her hands!! Maybe she is a little bit mine!
Oh yeah, how else are you going to wash your feet off??
Silly girl!
3rd outfit change of the day! Avery had a blast being outside! Now everyday we have to go check on our "garden!!" She really was a big help and had sooo much fun! I am so thankful for fun days together as a family and that sweet sweet little girl!!

24 Weeks and 3 Days....

That is how long it is until this new baby is due!! I am 15 weeks and 4 days today! The baby is the size of an avocado about 4 to 5 inches and weighs about 3 to 5 oz.! I have no idea why I am already so big...I am already as big as I was when I was over half way with Avery! I am in big trouble, by the time September gets here I am going to be HUGE!! I tried fighting it so hard when I was pregnant with Avery only to realize there is really nothing I can do...I am just going to get big and there was nothing I could do to stop it!! So, this time around I went into it knowing I was going to be big that is just the way it is when I am pregnant and I was going to accept it early on instead of fighting it the whole time....but, wow, I didn't expect it to happen soooo soon! I know it is my second pregnancy...blah, blah, blah!!! =) That is what everyone is telling me, but ughhhhhhh, why can't I just be one of those girls that don't even look pregnant until the very end and then just have a little bump...it's just not me!!! Okay, I am done now!! Just had to get that out there! I will happily gain all the weight in the world for a healthy little baby, it is worth every single pound...really it is!!! I can't wait to find out what this little babe is....we should find out in the middle of May, it can't come fast enough!! Only 24 weeks and 3 days and we will get to meet the new baby....so much to do before then!!! =) In the mean time I will just enjoy our family of three......

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter...we sure did! I LOVE Easter and I am so thankful that God gave his only son to die on a cross so that I can have eternal life in heaven! I can not even imagine the sacrifice he made, by giving his son to die for me and you! I am sooo thankful that he did and can't wait to teach this little girl that Easter really has nothing to do with Easter bunnies and egg hunts but has everything to do with Jesus dying on a cross and rising again for her!!! Wow...thank you Jesus!!!! I really have been wondering this year where did the Easter bunny and egg hunts come from....what do they really have to do with Easter?? We did have fun celebrating the day with them though!! =) I'm not saying we won't have egg hunts and the Easter bunny, because we will, but I'm just not sure how that came to be or what it has to do with Easter and I will be sure to teach Avery what this day really is all about!!

Avery checking out what the Easter bunny brought for her!
Loving her new Dora paint book!
All dressed up and ready for church! This is what our little ham does when I ask her to smile!!

This is soooo Avery! She put her Easter basket around her neck and said "look it is like a drum, I am in a marching band!" She is always singing, marching, dancing, playing the drums or something!
Our little family of three....not for long!
So excited looking for eggs! She was running and screaming! Every time she found a egg she would say "look, there is one, I got one!" She wanted to stop and open each one right away! You can tell she was an only child out there hunting eggs! I remember with my cousins every year, you didn't dare stop for anything....you got as many eggs as you could while running and pushing people out of the way! This is her last year for a solo egg hunt though...she will learn how to do it next year when you have some competition! =)
"Look mommy, I got one!"


Showing us all of the eggs she got!
Checking to see what was in this one!

Another Easter present! They just kept coming!
Even Nana and Dillon came by with a basket full of goodies!!! Avery is a blessed little girl! Easter started to look a little like Christmas by the end of the day!

We had a wonderful Easter full of church, family and good food....couldn't ask for a better day!!!