We had a great Christmas and have lots of pictures to share from the big day. But before I get to those, we can entertain you with some photo fun from the days leading up to Avery's first Christmas. The excitement began when a huge package from Aunt Tara arrived in early December, and because we were lazy and didn’t hide the gift after we’d freed it from its Amazon.com brown box, Avery discovered it and started playing with it still it the box. As you can see, she LOVES her Fisher Price walk-a-long lion. She walked all over the house with it the weekend she got it. She also likes to bop Mr. Lion on his nose so that she can dance to his jazzy tunes, which are quite catchy.
The National Gingerbread Competition entries captivated us all at the Grove Park Inn. Here Avery is posing in front of one of the youth category winners.
Avery enjoyed her brunch of puffs, cheese, ham, quiche, and strawberries. Yum!
We spent this past weekend in Asheville, NC with Meme and Grandpa seeing the Biltmore and Grove Park Inn all decorated for the holidays. We had a great time and Avery especially enjoyed the sites. Mother Nature even treated us to a wintry mix and Avery saw snow falling for the very first time. As you can see below, she was very amused!
Avery liked these miniature carolers. They were just her size!
After our tour of the Biltmore House, we had lunch in the Winery Bistro, then visited Riverbend Farms. Avery got her photo taken with Santa again (yes, I'm on a quest now for the perfect Santa photo, and no, I did not get it on Saturday) and visited the animals in the petting zoo. She loved the horses, chickens, lamb and the goats. After a quick wine tasting, we were done sight seeing for the day. Avery was completely worn out. I couldn't even get her coat off her before she passed out for a very long nap!
We packed up the car, which was a bit more full this year with an extra passenger, stroller, pack n' play, etc., and drove up to Charlotte on Thanksgiving morning to spend the holiday with my family. Last year we learned the hard way the Waffle House is the only dining establishment you can count on to be open on Thanksgiving Day. So this year, we just planned on stopping there. Avery provided her seal of approval buy eating a smorgasbord of cheerios, waffle, grits, hash browns, and eggs. The only downside to this feast is that, ultimately, Avery will think this is what all the fuss on Thanksgiving is about, becuase, after refusing her afternoon nap, she ran out of steam and went to bed for the night just before dinner was served at 6:30. Poor girl! She did, however, enjoy a nice buffet of leftovers for lunch on Friday.
While Avery admired the train in the Conservatory, we got a kick out of the sign!
Avery wanted to touch all the pretty flowers.
Avery was too interested in the lights to look at the camera, but this is a good photo of me!
Avery wanted to touch the lights, too. I made sure these weren't hot after she touched them. Doh!
At 10 months old, Avery is into everything. I recently busied myself with something in the kitchen only to turn around to find her like this. She was happy as a clam until she figured out she was stuck!
Avery can now "drink" out of a sippy cup. Mostly she just raises it up and down from her mouth, but she does take a few sips. She can also hold her own bottle now, though she prefers to go the lazy route and have it held for her. She loves feeding herself so I give her as many finger foods as possible. Her favorites are cheese and mandarin oranges. 
Avery is such a little sponge; it seems like she learns something new everyday. She can now wave bye-bye and pull herself up to do one of her two favorite things: play on her Leapfrog table or pull all the books and magazines she can reach off the coffee table. Avery also says several words. Besides mama and dada, she says hi, uh-oh and doggie,. One of her favorite games is to say "uh-oh" then toss a toy or a bit of food on the floor. The dogs really have made themselves useful lately! 
Avery modeled both her Tar Heel cheerleader outfit (thanks Angela B!) and her Halloween costume at the Target Portrait Studio a few weeks ago. We had a great experience there and got some cute photos! 
Last weekend, we took Avery hiking at the Pine Log Creek Trail near our house. She loves being outside in nature, so really enjoyed our trek. She, however, did not like being in the back pack carrier, and tolerated it for maybe 1/2 of the over 3 miles we hiked. She preferred to ride on Daddy's hip, though I did take a turn carrying her. In my defense, last time we went to Pine Log, I was 7 or 8 months pregnant with her, so technically, I took my turn carrying her on a hike!
Avery likes to explore new textures. She thought tree bark was especially interesting.
Avery carried a leaf in each hand almost the entire hike. She was sad to part with them at the parking area, but I knew the minute I took my eyes off her, these would go in her mouth!
Avery had a very fun 1st Halloween dressed as a flower. She was very tolerant of her costume and even allowed me to take her to the Target Portrait Studio for pictures. She wouldn't smile, but she didn't cry. Oh well! We still got some cute pictures and had a really fun day!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Greg got back Saturday with the dogs from two weeks of upland bird hunting in Wisconsin, Michigan and South Dakota. For two weeks, it was just Avery and mommy, with the exception of a weekend visit from Meme and Grandpa! They had recently returned from an Alaskan cruise and brought back some very thoughtful gifts for Avery. Below, she is enjoying her stuffed Husky puppy that Grandpa got for her. She was so tickled with it that she shrieked with delight!
Avery has become so agile in her mobility. She is a very advanced crawler! 
With so many toys that light up, play music, and make interesting noises, Avery sometimes just prefers to play with tupperware. Maybe the appeal is the thrill of her thinking she's doing something she's not supposed to! As you can see below, the tupperware sure tickled her!
Aside from Avery turning into quite the early riser while Daddy was gone, we got along very well. Not so well that Greg will be able to go on another lengthy hunting trip soon, but you get the picture! We'll be back soon with Halloween costume photos!
I do love these two of her concentrating on the treasure she's found!
Sunday afternoon, I hosted my third annual soup swap. Avery loves being underfoot in the kitchen while I'm prepping or cooking, and now she can be just like mommy with this pint sized Calphalon and mixing spoon.
Wrong end of the spoon, silly!
Despite her finicky eating habits, it's my mission to make a foodie out of this baby girl. Can you see this photo gracing the cover of her first cookbook? I dream big.
Danielle got all fancy on us and made us a rainbow soup swap cake. The kids at the party were in awe of her baking talents. Despite not having her Wilton Cake Decorating Class Credentials, we thought this cake was good enough to eat. 
My fridge and freezer were stocked at the end of the day. I can't wait to get my fill of potage parmentier, beer cheese chowder, cream of mushroom, veggie chili, Mexican corn chowder, and pumpkin soup. Fall is officially here!
