Guess who's 9 months old today!!!

Dear Miss Avery Lynn,

You are officially 9 month's old today! You are getting so big and growing up so fast right before our eyes! I cannot believe another month has passed us by. It seems like a blur due to the holiday madness!

* You are still nursing. We have made it this far together! Way to go midge! We are only doing it 3 times a day, so we are slowly weaning you. (Except you have had a cold ALL week, so we have been a little more lenient trying to keep you hydrated!)

* Gerber Chicken Noodle dinner is your favorite pureed baby food. BUT, you will do anything to get a piece of whole wheat bread!!! You are eating THREE pieces a day! I don't know if that is really healthy, but sometimes it is all you will eat!

* Your sleep pattern is a little up and down. Some days you will sleep 12 hours straight without a stir. Other days, you are waking up every two hours to be held. I think some toofers are around the corner!

* You say Momma, Dadda, and Bob still. All other words have disappeared. Hmmmm....

* You give High Fives, you LOVE to wave hello and bye bye, you also like to make Indian noises with you mouth!

* You are a little monkey. You climb EVERYTHING! You love climbing the shelves of the fridge, flights of stairs, your toys, the couch....basically anything and everything!

* Your naps are becoming fewer and farther in between. =( Your morning nap is maybe 20 minutes and your afternoon nap is maybe 30-60 minutes. Sometimes your mom doesn't get to shower. Sorry daddy!

* You also can stand on your own for 5 seconds. You usually only do this when you are switching your toys from one hand to the other. Still....it's pretty cool!

* You are OBSESSED with dancing!!!! (Mom is standing by saying YYYYEEEESSSSS!!!) Anytime music comes on, especially Beyonce, you shake your booty! Well, you rock back and forth and shake your hand. You are so cute we can't stand it!!

* When we came home from your 9 month appointment, you started talking in a new voice. It is the cutest thing ever!!!!

* You still love apple juice. Nothing else still.

* You now have a Britax BIG GIRL carseat. So far, you really enjoy it.

* You have a baby doll that you love to give kisses to and you make sure we all kiss her too!

***Speaking of your 9 Month Appointment, you rank 30% in weight and 90% in height. You are so active, you burn everything off!!! We are upping your juice intake to try and put some meat on your bones!!!

Ave, you are SO much fun to be with and we are SO lucky to have you. I can't believe you are already 9 months old. Pretty soon, we'll be throwing you your Sesame Street Birthday Party. We love you Midge!!!

You love napping on daddy!

You LOVE giving kisses! Even to your self!

You are a total girl, which means you know what you want...when you want it!

Yep! Still have that dang Separation/Stranger Anxiety! Grrr!

You love playing with other kids. This is you and Saylor!

You are SO curious! ALL THE TIME!

Monte and Gracie make you laugh all day long.

You hate anything that touches your head.

You are your mother's daughter. You LOVE brownie batter like me! (Dad turned me in to the pediatrician and told him I was feeding you RAW eggs. What a butt!)

You and your best friend....Mr. Sippy!

Merry Merry Christmas!

My oh my! Christmas is ALMOST here! I cannot believe it. For the most part, we are prepared. This year we are trying something different. Since we have four sets of parents and it is Midge's FIRST CHRISTMAS, we are celebrating at our home in Salt Lake. We are having the grandparents come see us and we are making dinner. Wish us luck!!! (I will need it. I haven't cooked a turkey in ages!)



Ave and I have been having a ball the last couple of weeks. We are adjusting to this new Stanger Danger phase, but we have become closer through this process. We both know how to push each others buttons. (Hee hee hee!)

Here are some of the things we have been up to:

Avery LOVES to "help" with chores. When I fold and put laundry away, Avery is doing the exact opposite. Unfolding and scattering it everywhere. It makes me laugh SO hard! She will sit there for 15 minutes playing mommy before she gets frustrated. I tell her I get frustrated too when the chores start to pile up. ;-)


We went to dinner with Matt, Emily and Grace at our favorite place, The Beehive Grill. Grace's face is priceless. "Dude, stop touching me!"

We were able to hang out with my sis Smash before she left for Christmas break. We miss her already!!

Nick baked 17 DOZEN cookies for his clients at work. (I wrapped all of them.) He is definitely Suzy Homemaker now!!!

Avery LOVES her biters biscuits. Still no teeth. BUT, she sure knows how to make a mess!

Afterwards, we head straight to the tub!

We had another playdate with Grace and Emily! The girls interacted with each other for maybe 5 minutes, then did their own thing.

Love this munchkin!

Ave is obsessed with my Iphone. (You will see why at the end of the post!) And yes.....those are some nice bruises she is sporting. My child must be "head-heavy", she topples onto everything. I must say she is very advanced though. She climbed up an entire flight of stairs at my dad's with no assistance. Told ya I had my hands full!

I was lucky enough to meet with these ladies, which I love more than they'll ever know. Thanks Clucker, Erika and Coraline. Let's do it more often!

We attended the annual Holt Christmas party. Sadly, this is the only picture I took. There were well more than 125 people there. Nick was busy mingling while I was busy taking care of our tater tot! It was alot of fun!

We also got together with some more cousins! My step mom turned the big 50, so we got together for some bday & Christmas fun. Kennedy (in the pink) is only 3 weeks older than Ave. Lincoln is 3-1/2 months younger than Ave. It was fun to see how they interacted. (They basically did their own thing, but tried to share their toys as best they could.)

Precious Lincoln!

Kennedy and Avery!

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday!!! We sure do miss our friends and family who cannot be with us this year. Know that we are thinking of you. We love you all!!

Below is an example of how my baby girl likes to dance to Beyonce. She is the NEXT Sasha Fierce!

Weekly Playdates: Our new favorite thing!

So my friend Emily and I started getting our girls together for a weekly playdate. We have had two so far and Ave and I are loving every minute of it! Avery is Soooo attached to her mom and dad, that we decided we need to socialize her more. PLUS, I get to see Emily and Grace every week!!! Double bonus. (Did I mention we bring lunch too? We went to Em's the first week and I brought Cafe Rio. Em came to my house yesterday and brought Papa Murphy's. Yummy!)

We have had so much fun. I think I have the mean child though. Avery doesn't realize how strong she is and likes to hit Grace on the head. I am trying to teach her to be gentle, but so far no luck. Any advice out there from you mommies? She plays pretty rough with Monte and Gracie, so I guess we can start there. We also need to learn how to share. Avery wanted what ever toy Grace had. It's pretty fun to watch these two together. Avery is only 7 weeks older, so having them so close is awesome.


These two went straight for the "FREE" toys. IE: vitamin pill bottles, measuring spoons, remote controls, etc. Goes to show you don't need any of the fancy shmancy toys. =)


Here are some pictures from our fun adventures:

I see you Em!!!

Peek-A-Boo! I see you Grace!

Cute Em & Gracie!

The closest she'll ever get to a horse. (Thanks to a highly allergic daddy!)

Love this kiddo!

Cute!

Hhmmm....be gentle!

Cheese!

Avery: "Mom, where's my hair?" (Love Grace's smile!)

Grace: "What is going on?" I have a monkey on my hands!

Avery liked to push Grace in the walker.

Can't wait for next week!!!

Santa Baby!

(Any tricks on getting kids to wear shoes? Aver's won't!)

Every year I kick off the Christmas season by going to The Festival of The Trees. It is a fun tradition that started when my mom used to volunteer for it. (WAY BACK IN THE DAY!) I have now make Nick go with me. (I secretly think he enjoys it.) Codale even decorates a tree and this year it didn't disappoint. Last year I was waddling around 6 months pregnant and making pit stops every 5 minutes. This year, we actually were able to enjoy all of the trees. Avery even liked looking at them and slept most of the time!

Santa was there as well. So we decided to have Avery sit on his lap. I knew a meltdown was in store. But I was hoping for at least a 2 second smile. Nothing! When we sat her on his lap, she looked confused for a while. All she could see was a big, fluffy white beard. When she realized a stranger was holding her....MELTDOWN MODE! It was sooo funny. I actually felt bad for Santa and not Avery. (I know, mother of the year award!) He has to sit there and hold screaming babies all day. Plus, Avery has a scream all of her own. Even our dogs go and hide in their kennel when she goes into meltdown.

We had a lot of fun and were there for over 3 hours. It definitely helped us get in the spirit and we (well I) look forward to going again next year!

The Codale Tree Display

Hhhmmm.....not so sure about this travel stroller's safety!

Ave preferred being carried around like this. She's a gymnast!

"What's going on daddy?"

Before she realized who was holding her. (Santa doesn't look too jolly!)

After. Oh man, she was upset!

Happy Birthday TC!

I know my brother Tyler doesn't read my blog (or know that it even exists for that matter), but I wanted to tell him Happy Birthday.



Growing up, Tyler and I fought, argued, hit each other and even at one point hated each other. Everything about this little boy aggravated and annoyed me. Fast forward to the year 2009. Tyler is one of my best friends. I love this kid so much and am so proud of all of his accomplishments. He has one of the most amazing personalities out there! He can make you go from fuming angry to peeing your pants in pure laughter!He has gone from being lost to graduating from air traffic control school. (Which only 5 of his classmates made it. AND is one of the hardest and most stressful jobs out there!!!) He has a long and very successful life ahead of him.


Ty, we love you with all of our heart and have been so proud to watch you grow up! Happy 23rd Birthday TC!