Can you hear the words that are coming outta my mouth?

I was about to post on Avery's tubes when an email came in from Ama that summed it up quite succinctly.

"One would think she is going to be a Diva except that she is not very selective in her choice of shoes-male/female,high heels, flip flops, any kind will do. Isn't it great to see our baby feeling so good after her tubes?"

Dad forwarded the following pre-op photo to Floyd who, of course, had something to say. "She even has designer hospital clothes?? What a tough life!"

Apparently there is a clinical term for what happens when children/babies wake up from anesthesia. It is called Post Operative Agitation, which doesn't sound too bad- like she might throw her bottle down to see if you will pick it up for the 10th time-but in actuality is the worst thing I have ever experienced!!! Well, not really, I'm being dramatic, but Avery totally freaked out...for 20 minutes! She writhed in pain, screamed, tried to bang her head, wouldn't accept a paci, bottle, or even tylenol, and then, as fast as it started, she fell asleep. "It's normal", the nurse kept telling us, but not convincingly enough for me. By the time we got her to the car, she was fine! Like nothing had happened. She ate her cheerios, drank her milk, and acted normally! Her naps were right on schedule (I even got her to snuggle with me for the afternoon nap in our bed! Ahh, heaven!), lunch went as planned, and then we turned Jack's BIG Music Show (compliments of Aunt Searcy) on repeat all afternoon. And here is the big kicker...Avery sang, danced, and chattered ALL DAY LONG! The doctor told us he sucked out a ton of fluid from behind her ear drum, and he said she could probably hear MUCH better now. I agree. She was happy, energetic, talkative(we may be regretting that part later! Kidding!) and back to being my sweet kid! Yay for tubes!

All the photos I have been hoarding.

Avery and Cousin Taylor watching SpongeBob at the lake on Saturday. They were loving each other's company!

Playing in her jewelry box! I have been saving up costume jewelry since I found out I was having a girl. I used to love playing dress up! Check out those fab purple heart earrings. Most appropriate for Memorial Day.
Guacamole sauce...Hi, my name is Avery, and I am addicted to avocado.
Just like Daddy! She loves to help cut the grass...or what's left of it...the backyard is looking a little sparse!
Learning to share...GERMS! "Here Mags, try my delicious banana Popsicle!
BEACH!
On the way to the BEACH! Me and Ama fell asleep.
Sorry for the bra shot in this one, but I had to document Avery's first "outside-the-exit-doors-of-Walmart" ride! Actually, this wasn't at a Walmart, but at a much classier establishment...Lambert's. Home of the throwed [sic] rolls.
Me and my buddy Charlie!

Look at me! 2 Posts in 24 hours!

Cameron, Denise, and I threw Mom a little birthday party(I will be discreet about which birthday for her sake, cause she is a GRANDMA now.) Regardless of her age, she still looks great! See the photo below...

It was Kentucky Derby themed, hence the julep cups, roses, and big hats! We had great food (thanks to Cam and Denise) and delicious, although very strong, mint juleps!

Yesterday, Avery and I went out to water the garden, and I made her put on her sunglasses, because it was so bright! How fly is my baybay? She is learning new things everyday. I just love that little sponge. She has been shaking her head (since I try very hard not to say the word "no") mimicking me for several days now. Its really hard not to laugh when she does it. I will try to capture it on video. She is eating well again, and taking on new words every day. She said Bible on Monday, and duck and juice are getting their suffixes added now, so it actually sounds like duck and juice rather than "duh" and "jue" respectively!
Uncle Evan will be done with his last final of his first year of law school today. Congrats on this milestone Ev. We love you! That's all today.

The beach, the backyard, it don't matter to Avery!

Mom and I took Grandma (and Avery) on her annual trip. We went down to Orange Beach, and no, we did not see any tar balls. We didn't go near the actual ocean though. It was a great 2 days and I wish I had more time to stay. Avery adored everything we did! She loved the sand, and the playground at the Crab Shack, the "throwed rolls" and the train at Lambert's, and the indoor pool at the condo. She had a blast playing in the splash pad and riding the carousel at the outlet mall (see photo below for how she clued me in that she wanted to ride it!). Most of all, she was thrilled to see her Uncle Floyd and Aunt Linda and eat meatballs at Geno's. It was wonderful...even the car ride wasn't too bad. Which for us, is a big accomplishment!

Avery and Cameron at Evan's birthday dinner!
Aves playing in the backyard with Hank and Maggie. I love that little outfit!

Where the Indian shot me.

When I was little, my Pa (G Daddy's father) called me Possum, and taught me a song (which I sang regularly, and still to this day don't know what it's called) that went a little something like this:

"Eighteen men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and and a bottle of rum." I just want you to have background info into what hanging out with Pa was like before I get to how this all applies to Avery and this photo:

Pa swore up and down that the "hole" in his belly (and mine) was where "the Indian" shot us. The Indian never had a name, I don't know if he was from India, Indiana, or the Poarch Creek Reservation, but I do know that he had a death wish for Pa and little Possum. (I think I should also point out here (for dramatic effect) that with every new grandchild, the nickname possum was passed down like a backwoods Olympic torch ceremony.) Long story short, I thought for quite a while that I was a victim of inter-racial violence and decided it would be a wonderful way to continue Pa's tradition to the future generation. And yes, she is wearing a headband of mine, and yes, she put it on herself.

In other news, we went up to the lake a few weekends ago, and of course, Avery woke up at dawn. So I took her out on the porch for breakfast. Isn't she a treasure?

I love that kid! Even at 6am!

Updates from the Homefront-Avery 14 1/2 months

Busy doesn't accurately describe our past few weeks. More like an ant farm on crack and coffee. We are constantly working and moving and doing. Avery is loving school, but had some "incidents" last week. She hit Will in the face, stole Finley's blankey, and got put in time out for the first time. Eeeek. When did my kid become the bully? She is not even the big girl anymore! Everyone else has caught up! Whew. I just knew she was gonna be huge forever. Turns out, she's normal! YAY! She has realized how much she enjoys being outside with all this nice weather. Anytime the front door opens, she runs to it, and tries to squeeze out into the yard. She loves eating dirt, washing rocks in her mouth, and anything else that irritates the stew out of me. She's obsessed with the hose, picking off leaves of my best looking plants, splashing and stomping in puddles, and blowing kisses to lucky passer-byers. Here are the words she can say with some consistency:

1. duck

2. dog

3. Boo (my moms dog)

4. ball

5. uh oh

6. juice

7. bye bye

Words she says occasionally:

1. mama

2. da (that would be daddy, but she just says "da")

3. baba

4. hie (Heidi)

5. Hi

6. hot

Words we have heard once or twice:

1. squirrel

2. puppy

3. g daddy

4. flower

She is currently eating all food and has no desire to eat anything for babies. She only wants what we eat! Which is good and bad. Because sometimes I just want a french fry and she is not allowed to eat those yet. We are sticking to mostly organic and home cooked foods for her right now. She gets lean meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, and legumes or potatoes everyday. I send her food to school since they eat all kinds of processed food that I don't want her eating. It is my goal to teach her as early as possible about good nutrition. We have been watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and it has made me even more aware of the growing problem with our diets. I think Allison has posted somewhere on her blog about this too. It is truly an epidemic. I won't get on my soapbox today, since you have heard it from me before, but I am recommitting to eating organically, locally, sustainably, and healthily. I hope you will, too.

And now, a quick photo montage of our past few weeks:

After Grant's 6th place finish in the ARCA race at Talladega and a 3rd place finish the week before at Texas. TJ and I ended up not going, but we watched both raced from the living room on Speed Channel.

Avery at the park, again. The obsession continues!
The day we took 5 neighborhood kids to Hobby Road to fish, and I almost lost my mind. You can't go from one toddler, to 5 children under 13 in an afternoon, and keep your sanity. Although TJ somehow managed to.

Swine Flu

I thought this whole H1N1 thing was about over, and WHAM, somehow I end up with it. While I would never have self diagnosed this, and neither did WebMD, Dr. K guessed it right away, ordered the incredibly evil nasal swab to test, and positive it was. Fortunately, it is not as bad as I would have thought. Mostly feels like the worst sinus infection/chest cold ever. No fever, body aches are mild, so I would never have guessed it to be the flu. I texted TJ as I walked out of the Doc in the Box simply, "swine flu". Immediately, he called back (I think he thought I was joking), and his first question (which was mine as well to Dr. K) was what about Avery and I. I regurgitated the response of "cross your fingers". EEK. That's it? Cross my fingers that my little 14 month old doesn't get freakin' swine flu? Well, as I may have posted in the past, I think she has already had it. At this point I hope she has already had it.

As you may have guessed by now, I have been quarantined at home today (hence the time to blog) and tomorrow, but pending how I feel, I may be breaking out of here and headed to Birmingham for a shopping trip. Did I mention Saturday is my birthday? I would really like to be feeling good by then! Plus, I have to dye Easter Eggs and cook some stuff for Easter Lunch.

I have been holding on to some good photos of Ms. Avery since the last time I posted. Here you go:

Aves with her new toy duck.

First time to play in the sand, did I mention she LOVES IT?
At the Easter egg hunt.

With the Easter Bunny
On the boat at the lake.

Daddy fished one day last week. I thought he deserved a photo on here too.