TJ and Avery

Avery and I went with Searcy to her bay house this weekend while TJ went fishing with Evan and Micheal on the big boat down in Destin. We had a good time, and so did they (and they brought home lots o' fishies to eat!), but I have never seen Avery give anyone a warmer welcome than when her Dada came home. She smiled and laughed, and buried her head in his shoulder when he picked her up. It was the cutest thing ever! This photo was moments later (and not nearly as cute as the initial joy of seeing him!).

"Mom, seriously, get me out of this car seat!"

Avery had her shots on Thursday, and was a little fussy and feverish on Friday still. I was worried when Beverly called to tell me she was running a low grade temperature of 99.7F. When I got there, she was back to normal temperature and I think she may have just gotten hot. Crisis averted. Just as I realize she is fine, I get a call from Allison, whose son, Riley, was headed to the hospital for a fever and coughing! I was so upset! Luckily, he is all better now! Thank goodness! I have never been so worried about someone else's kid!

Fun with Jake and Carolyn, coyote, etc.

Wednesday afternoon Avery and I went to the Dwyer residence for a little conversation and some swimming! It took Carolyn and I about an hour to get the babies dressed in their swimmy best, get the float blown up, and slather everyone in some chemical free sunscreen. Then, as we were about to go outside, it started raining! What a disappointment. Luckily, the storm blew over in just a little while and we were able to take the beb's out! By that time though they were both about to fall asleep in the pool! We took these photos when we realized we had a few minutes to kill while it rained. I love Avery's face in the first one!

All dressed up and nowhere to go! Don't you just love Jakey's little board shorts?

They were so kind to snug up so we could take this photo!

And this is Avery giving Jake some flying lessons. He looks so concerned about her.

This was Avery's morning activity while I got dressed today. She loves that little machine because it plays so many different songs and noises!

Just hanging out in Mommy and Daddy's bed (TJ lays her down in the bed with me after her morning bottle (that is their special time together), and she loves to try to wake me up! She talks and coos and squeals at me to get me to play with her. It's really cute!)

This is the coyote puppy TJ and Justin caught and brought home to me. He was so cute! Searcy and I played with him, and if he hadn't smelled like an incontinent homeless man, I might have tried to keep and tame him. Maggie would whip that kid into shape...but, they took him back to the woods. And yes, I did wash my hands thoroughly after touching him.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

This video is also before the swimming lesson, and I didn't realize I was filming the whole thing, but I had to post it because Avery sneezed on Jake, which normally wouldn't be funny (you know the whole germ/disease spreading phobia I have), but Jake had just sneezed on Avery. Carolyn was apologizing for him, and I had just finished saying, "Don't worry, I'm sure she will get him back." Two minutes later, as I am filming, she drops two bombs on him, and hence, me giggling in the video.

The last thing I want to post about today is our 4 month doctors appointment, even though Avery is 4 1/2 months exactly. She weighed in at an astonishing 16 pounds 4 ounces and was 25 1/2 inches long. That is the 90th percentile for her age and gender. Wow! Big girl! The other exciting news came when Dr. Winston told me, "Avery is at least a month ahead developmentally." Can I stress that those are the most awesome words a parent could hear? It was like I did something right, even though it has nothing to do with anything I did or didn't do. She said because she is "tripod-ing", which is the precursor to sitting up unassisted, squealing, and rolling front to back and back to front, she is acting more like a 5 1/2 moth old! G Daddy's been saying she is going to be smarter than all of us!

the thrifty side of me + Aves in da' crib.

Remember when I was saying that Avery wakes up in different and strange positions in the morning...well I captured it on video today! It starts off dark, because I had not turned on the light yet. Smart, I know.

On another subject, I am not sure what it is about becoming a mom that makes you more thrifty. Perhaps it is the fact that you have to provide for another person all the time, but I have become a coupon-er. A lot of my friends who are also moms have turned into penny pincher's, and can find any deal within 100 miles. I am just beginning to see the beauty of saving money, I mean who doesn't want to pay less for what you have to buy anyway. I saved $33 yesterday at Winn Dixie, even though I would much prefer to grocery shop at Publix. But couponing is easier at Winn Dixie, and their prices are lower to begin with. It does take a little time, but I was so proud of myself that my grocery bill was $59 instead of $92, that I had to post about it! It is especially helpful since I try to buy as much organic as I can, it makes the bill seem more like I am buying at a non-organic price. Ok, enough about that. Avery and I are going swimming at Carolyn's this afternoon, and I can't wait to get some super cute photos of Aves and Jake for tomorrow's post!

Growing up so fast!!!

Just playing with my feet, trying to cool off after the walk Mommy and I took! It is so freaking hot outside at 8 o'clock in the morning!

I am not sure why she looks like a little girl rather than a baby in this photo, but I just want to squeeze her! This is right when we got back from our walk this morning.

We went to the beach last weekend, and Avery got to play in the big pool for the first time! She loved it! She kicked her feet and splashed around, and she floated in her float! This is after the pool, but still chillin' in her float! I will post more photos of the pool when Mom emails them to me.

This was on the way home from the beach, and Avery decided to try to eat Tigger's tail. Her Aunt Searcy gave her that toy, and she loves it!

"Mom, why is that thing always in my face?"

So lately Avery has been sleeping pretty well, although sometimes I still have to get up and put her paci back in. We do not require a bottle at night anymore, and haven't for a while now, praise the Lord. It means much more sleep for Mommy and Daddy! However, the past few days she has been waking up, not fussing, but talking to herself when she rolls on her back. I am not sure how she is scooting all around the bed so easily. This morning I went in to find her playing with her feet, talking to herself, on her back, upside down from the way I had her. She was quite content! Which was nice because I was able to throw a load of laundry in and brush my teeth before I had to get her up to feed and change her. I hope this trend continues!

I switched her formula (Vermont Organics) a few weeks back, and have really liked it, because she is no longer constipated, but she has been spitting up all over the place. With the Similac Organic, she almost never spit up, but spitting up doesn't seem to bother her at all. Whereas the constipation was heartbreaking. She was in so much pain! So I finally broke down and bought her some of the Dr. Brown's bottles, and the spitting up has gotten so much better! Crazy how changing one little thing (I would have thought formulas were pretty much the same!) leads to a bunch of other problems! Hopefully we have got it all fixed now! I am so happy to have such a happy, healthy baby!

A little Chat with Uncle Evan

Avery has a new trick! Squealing is now her favorite thing! She does it all waking moments! It is very cute...for now.

TJ is so cute! Every night, he begs me to pick her up out of her crib and move her to our bedroom so he can spend some time with her. And every night I have to be mean and say no so that she can get a full nights sleep! I want to play with her too, but if we get her off her sleep schedule, she is not a happy camper!

We are taking her to the beach today. This will be her second trip down there, and I am hoping to take her to the ocean (we stay on the bay side, so we normally do pool rather than salt water). I would also love to take her putting around the bay in the boat! So I have a life jacket for her (thanks to Jane Ann), a floatie seat, and a rockin' cute bathing suit! She liked her baby pool so much the other day, I just know she will love the ocean and a real pool! She is turning into such a wonderful little girl, I wonder how we ever got so lucky.

In other news, TJ "rotisserated" a chicken last night, and it was quite beautiful...and it tasted pretty good too. I made a very different kind of potato salad, and a green bean casserole that TJ said was, "The best I have ever eaten!" Can I tell you how proud that made me? Since they were both so good and easy, I thought I would share the recipes:

Red Potato Salad:

3 lbs organic small red potatoes

1 pkg dry ranch dressing

2 scallions (chopped finely)

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup organic milk

1 quart organic chicken stock (or however much it takes to cover the potatoes in pot, I added some water to mine)

Bring your potatoes in the chicken stock to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are soft (about 20 min). Stir remaining ingredients together and let sit in refrigerator. When potatoes are done, remove from heat, strain, and chop into bit size pieces. Then toss with dressing mixture and serve warm or cold...I preferred it cold!

Green Bean Casserole:

1 can Organic green beans (drained)

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 handfuls of Organic Crispy Onions

Literally, I just mixed the beans, soup and one handful of onions in a casserole dish. Then I topped it with more onions...and it was great!

I'm taking T-Pain

Last night was Grandma's 85th birthday! We went on a dinner cruise on the Alabama River (thanks to TJ, I now know the name of the river that runs through downtown, and yes, I am an idiot) to celebrate. This was Avery's first time on a big boat...she has only been on Mitchell and Kelly's pontoon before this. So I took this photo to commemorate the big event...I think she is pretty pumped up about the adventure.

She was so cute the whole time...people were in awe of how well she behaved! She loves to be in the middle of anything! (Sounds like someone else I know!) We had a great time...even though it was still 90 degrees at 8pm!

FYI- Download T-Pain's "I'm on a boat" from I tunes if you haven't already. I had the pleasure of seeing this music video, and it cracks me up every time. TJ kept singing "I got my flippy floppys!" Just listen, and this will all make sense!

This weekend's big achievement!

This weekend, Avery learned to grab and hold her own bottle! She pursed her lips and reached her arms out for it, and last night, she finally captured it and put it in her mouth! She was so proud of herself, but not as proud as G Daddy was. He was holding her when the great feat happened! She also tried sweet potatoes for the first time yesterday, and she L-O-V-E-D them. I could not shovel them in fast enough. She has quickly become proficient at eating solids!

On Saturday, we had a little Birthday lunch for TJ's sister, Laryne. Avery spent some time with her cousin, Madison, who was the flower girl at our wedding. She also played dress up with Aunt Hope!

I heart the Bumbo!

This is Avery and Madison hanging out while TJ grilled burgers and taught Johnny how to make a cutting board.

"Chillin' out, max it out, relaxin' all cool."

Surprise Video

Avery's preschool teacher, Ms. Lynn took this video this morning. I haven't even seen it yet! My computer won't let me watch them unless they are uploaded onto the blog, so get excited about the surprise video!

Last night, Avery, Jake, and Riley all got together (which actually means that Carolyn, Jason, Allison, Michael, TJ, and I got together while they slept) for some dinner. They are so cute, little stair steps since Riley was born in December, Avery was nine weeks after, and Jake is nine weeks younger than Aves. Jake turns 9 weeks on Monday, so get ready for some photos! Before Riley and Avery had to go to bed, we did get them together to stare at each other for while. Riley tried to hold Avery's hand, but TJ stepped in and blocked his flirtatious move. (Sorry lil' Earl, I think he is going to be a very strict Daddy!) Jake got there just in time to wave good night to Avery who was getting very cranky. Regardless, we, the parents, had a great time visiting and eating a great meal! Allison made the creamiest grits I have ever eaten and some corn bread. TJ blackened some amberjack, and I made a tomato, cucumber, mozzarella salad. It was divine!

4 things-ism

We had a great weekend, with four major milestones!

1. We left Avery overnight!!!! My mother in law kept her at our house so TJ and I could go to Birmingham for Morgan's wedding. It was beautiful, and I didn't freak out at all! (Well, actually that's not true. When I woke up Sunday morning, I could have sworn I heard Avery doing her signature start up cry..."uh...uh....wahhhh" and it jolted me out of the bed. Obviously it wasn't her. That's when I got a little sad, and wanted her there with me.) But other than that, it was a great time! The wedding was beautiful, Morgan looked like a million dollars (as usual), and I got to do the one-two step. Someone email me the pics!! I know y'all took a ton.

2. Avery found her feet on Friday! It was at her Mimi's house and then she did it for us when she got home!

3. She put her paci back in her mouth all by herself! (The "Soothie" brand pacifiers are the best! She is addicted to hers. We can't leave home without it.)

4. She learned to suck her thumb when she couldn't find her paci! I was not a thumb or paci baby myself, so it never occurred to me that she would love hers so much.

While we were in Birmingham, TJ and I went shopping. (Yeah, crazy I know, but TJ actually went into "Janie and Jack" with me.) We bought her the cutest white cotton outfit that has a little blue and white striped bow on the collar (see photo below). TJ got her a birthday present (yes, even though it is 8 months away). He picked out a little zip up red sweater that has hearts on it, since her birthday is right before Valentine's day.

I just love my little lady.

Almost 4 months old!

I watched a movie with Mommy, Daddy, and Bunny last night, but I fell asleep as soon as the room got dark! Check out my chins!

Avery's teacher at pre-school sent me this photo this morning. She is so happy! I love that kid.
I took this video last night before bed! She was telling me all about her day!

It is loud, so turn your speakers down! (This was taken with my phone, so the quality isn't very good, but you get the picture!)

A Tuesday Night at Our House.

Avery helped me cook dinner last night. We made spaghetti and salad! She didn't get anything but formula, which made her sad, but I promised one day she would get to try "pes-scetti" (That is how I said spaghetti when I was little!) She is sitting in her Bumbo (where she can easily see her feet) and playing with a dishrag...her favorite! Sorry they are a little blurry, but you can see how much fun she was having! She was talking up a storm!

A little "Anchorman" on a Monday

We had a much needed, very relaxing, and productive weekend at our house! Friday night, TJ and I went to the Ron White show at MPAC. It was incredibly crude, but if you could get past that, he was pretty funny. We did leave early though, which was nice. We had dinner at Olive Room! If you haven't had their West Indies Salad, you are really missing out. It is so delicious! Then we went home. Mom was there with Avery, who was already asleep. We both had to go peek in on her. I had a serious urge to wake her up and play with her, but I did not follow through. She was so peaceful there in her crib.
Saturday, TJ and I planted one of our flower beds in the front yard. I had been wanting to start this project for a long time! Avery napped on a blanket in the shade while we worked. We planted Fatsia, Caladiums, Hydrangeas, Begonias, and confederate jasmine to fill in our bare spots. We have a mostly shady yard, so it was somewhat difficult to find plants that like a lot of shade. We still have one and half other beds that need to be planted. We all slept great after such a hard days work. Avery, my little angel, slept for 12 hours straight!!!!!! It was incredible! I felt so refreshed on Sunday morning, that I got up and went yogging before church (apparently, you just run.)
Avery fell asleep just as we were about to leave for church, so TJ graciously volunteered to stay with her so I could go to Riley's Christening. It was such a nice service, and we had a delicious lunch at the Godwin's after. Then, Kara came into town to see Othello at ASF, which was so good! Kara and I agree that it is one of Shakespeare's best! She spent the night, so we got to visit while TJ smoked some tuna. Evan, Searcy, and Scott Shashy came over for a beer after Aves went to sleep. And, luckily for us, Scott brought his Ipod, which just happened to have his latest creative endeavor: GumpStain Rap. Yes, that's right. Scott is now a rapper, and a dang good one, I might add. My personal favorite song was "Love 4 da' Gump", in which he raps about his love for all things Montgomery, such as Myrtlewood, Pinehurst, and Mulberry Street. It really is awesome. I think we should begin a petition for Scott to make a whole album! I would buy it!

Here is Aves chillin' in the backyard.
PEAS!

Here is Maggie acting like a goat in the tree stump land in our backyard.

This is rapper "Ay-Vree", she will be starring in Scott's music video.

appology

I need to write a little addendum to my last post. I meant all of that in a very sarcastic, self depreciating, funny tone. Apparently, it sounded like I was mad at Holland. I am absolutely one hundred percent making fun of myself! Her comments were hysterical and by no means were received with malicious intent. This is the problem with the written language. You cannot judge a person's tone. Holland, I apologize for this becoming such a hullabaloo.