A White Christmas

This Christmas, we flew North to Pittsburgh to spend Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We really talked up the snow to Avery, and she could hardly wait to get from the airport to my Uncle Dwight's house to experience it. I bought an ebay snow suit, Meme sprung for the pink snow boots, and we borrowed a sled from my cousins Shea and Karl. We were officially ready to hit the backyard!

This Southern girl had a blast tasting the snow, touching the falling flakes, and most of all, sledding!

"More!"

But let's not forget....

...this Daddy supervision fail!

Girl's Night Out

Avery and I are fresh from a school night outing for dinner and a story, just us girls. Earlier this week, I discovered that our local library branch was hosting a "Polar Express Pajama Rama" this evening, and knew that Avery and I had to be there. Conveniently, the Polar Express Pajama Rama coincided with Chick-fil-A family night, so Avery was a very cheap dinner date. We even ran into Avery's school friend, Naomi, and her parents, so sat next to them. Avery was pretty unfazed by their presence as she gobbled up an entire nugget kids meal (with ketchup) and drank all her milk!

The Polar Express reading was enjoyable, and though Avery was a little unsure of the lights going off at first, she settled in with me to listen to the story. She thought the special sound effects were pretty neat, and enjoyed seeing the book's pages on the big projector screen. A couple of teens sitting nearby even giggled when she recognized Santa and exclaimed "Nanta Claus!"

After the reading was over, we did a craft together. Avery doesn't mess around when a glue stick is involved! We passed on the hot cocoa, but Avery did go for the cookies, then set about finding some new books to check-out and read. After perusing the library's entire board book selection, she chose two: "Go Dog. Go!" and "Curious George's ABCs." I opted for a more mature choice, the newly released "As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto."

On our way out, we made a stop to check out the library's dozens of decorated trees!

And last but not least, we took a self-portrait to commemorate our outing. Here's to a new holiday tradition at our local library!

"Nanta Claus"

We took Avery to see "Nanta Claus" this weekend. After a failed portrait session with Santa at school, I set my expectations low. When it was our turn to see Santa, Avery wasn't at all interested in sitting on his lap, but agreed to sit on mine while I sat next to Santa...as long as blue puppy could come, too. With these compromises, Avery indulged me with a tiny smile. It's not a perfect Santa photo, but I'll take it!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a very busy Thanksgiving full of good football, food, and family. On Thanksgiving Day, we waited for Meme and Pa to arrive while playing a little football in our front yard. Avery didn’t let a silly dress keep her from the pigskin action!

That evening, we were fortunate to share Thanksgiving dinner with some of my mom’s extended family. We really enjoyed seeing several relatives that we hadn’t seen in years, and Avery was the life of the party! I was more than happy to take home an empty dish of corn pudding as our hosts did the cooking. As for Avery, she wasn't into the delicious meal and dined on goldfish instead. Sigh.

Friday afternoon, two of Greg’s closest friends, Marco and Eric, arrived to join the fun. They kept Greg busy drinking beer and playing pool, so we left them to their own devices on Saturday and headed to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Avery had a big time running around the gardens and watching the miniature trains with Pa.

She wasn't so sure about Santa Claus, though.

Sunday, we left Avery in Meme’s care and headed to the Georgia Dome to watch the Packers take on the Falcons. We had a blast at the game despite the Packers 3-point loss. It was really a treat to be able to go to a game and leave Avery in such good hands.

Avery sure had a nice weekend with her grandparents, and can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

Packers #1 Fan

Now that she can say "Go Pack, go!" Avery has become a devoted Packers fan, and her Daddy couldn't be more thrilled. She busted out her pink "00" Packers jersey to watch the Pack take on the Eagles Sunday, and helped cheer on the team to cinch a four-game winning streak. She's looking forward to the Pack coming to town this weekend to take on the Dirty Birds! In the meantime, she wanted to get in a little powder puff football with Daddy, and I was there with the camera to capture some of the action. She's actually got a pretty good arm for a nearly two-year-old. Go Pack, go!

"Your Mom Goes to College"

I have recently crossed off an important item on my to-do list. It’s been there a while; admittedly since before Avery was even born. And because it’s been there nearly two years, I feel the ceremonial crossing-off-the-to-do list warrants it’s very own blog post. So, hooray! We’ve officially set-up a college savings account for Avery!

But that’s the good news. The bad news is that, according to savingforcollege.com’s savings calculator, we will need total savings of $225K for Avery’s college expenses. And that’s not Harvard tuition we’re talking, but UGA (and clearly, this chick wants to be a Carolina girl). Thankfully, I’ve come up with a very logical solution to this savings debacle: make Avery wicked smart so that she can earn a scholarship. So, I told her to say goodbye to board books and hello to SAT prep!

One last hurrah with the board books!

I'm confident that these pudgy fingers will do just fine with a Kiplinger's prep book :)

Fall Festival at DHA

On Friday, Avery's school hosted a fall festival and Halloween costume party. Avery dressed as Dorothy because there is no place like DHA! She really loves her school, her teachers, and her little friends. She talks about Todd, Naomi, Miss Dawn and Miss Marenda all the time!

She was a little wary of the crowd and all the activies at first, so we retreated to the sidelines to swing with Spiderman for a little while.

After swinging, Avery warmed up to the whole festival situation, and found Mary Jo, dressed as a lioness, to color with.

After our fill of coloring, we decided to hit the slide! Again..and again...and again!

The sensory table the teachers made was pretty spooky. Avery was not interested in at first, but when the festival was ending, she decided it was worth checking out.

Thanks to DHA for such a fun fall festival, and for letting the parents in on the fun this year! We had a great time, and an especially good night's sleep afterwards!

Why I Laugh Everyday

Avery is always doing silly things to bring a little humor into our everyday lives. No matter how rough my day may have been, my little munchkin can always bring a smile to my face!


During a recent bath, Avery used her resources to hold as many Little People as possible when she laid back in the bubbles to relax. Why not, when "girl" fits so perfectly in her mouth?

Avery is certainly a girl who loves to accessorize. I am powerless to turn her down for a round of play dough when she brings the high fashion with her Elmo slippers, gold bead necklace, and a blue bow.

Tonight, Avery decided that Willow was just the perfect size for a seat. Surprisingly, Willow was extremely tolerant of these antics, and just went with it. It might have had just a little bit to do with the delicious raw hide she was chewing on!

Here's to the new laughs tomorrow might bring!

Zoo Atlanta and Berry Patch Farms

This weekend, Meme and Pa treated us to a visit. Admittedly, they missed a certain someone and coudn't wait until Thanksgiving to see her again! We lucked out with a beautiful (yet warm) October weekend. We took advantage of the weather and decided to take Avery on her first trip to the Atlanta Zoo. Our arrival into in-town Atlanta coincided with lunch time, so we stopped for lunch at Six Feet Under. Avery had to accessorize in order to eat her lunch, and once she did, she ate her french fries in style, too!

Our first stop at the zoo was the elephants. Avery was thrilled and treated us to her pha-phant impression. Here's an action shot.

Her favorite, by far, were the 'raffes and bra-bras. She was infatuated and didn't want to leave to see more animals. So, we hung out here for awhile and let her take it all in.

Avery really enjoyed the zoo, and impressed me with all the animals she spotted and recognized.

What a great day!

Our fun with Meme and Pa continued on Sunday with a trip to Berry Patch Farms to take a hay ride, see farm animals, and pick out a pumpkin.

Avery was not a fan of the hay ride.

Good thing she took right to pumpkin gathering.

Avery was perplexed to discover that she could only hold two pumpkins at a time.

Once she had her fill of the mini Avery-sized pumpkins, we hit the larger patch.

Surprisingly, these pumpkins were just perfect for riding!

After we checked out all the options, Avery and Pa picked out one to take home.

When we got home, we "decorated" Avery's pumpkin with some Elmo push-ins. A posed photo just wasn't in the cards, so this was the best I could do.

We certainly had a busy and fun weekend with Meme and Pa, and can't wait to see them again next month!

Photo Catch-Up

We've been so busy traveling that I haven't had the time to share a few miscellaneous photos and updates, so, here they are!

I should've included this photo of Avery helping me pack for our WI trip on our last post. Her awesome Auntie KC sent her this shirt a few weeks ago. She loves showing off her Wisconsin pride!

Avery had school pictures on Sept. 13, so a few weeks before, I set out on a mission to find the perfect fall dress. Despite my dress-finding efforts, she still didn't smile pretty for the photos, and they were a bust (stranger anxiety struck and she was crying in the pictures). Oh well, that gives me all the more reason to dress her up in this outfit again and take her to a local pumpkin patch for a mini photo shoot of our own!

Friday, Avery had to head back to the Dr. for the rest of her 18-month shots. A shortage in PCV, HIB, and VCV required us to make a second trip to finish up her immunizations. To lift her spirits, Daddy took her to the store and let her pick out this "Ma Mouse" balloon. I think it did the trick!

A recent rash of pooping in the potty incidents led to a Target trip Satuday so that Avery could pick out a potty of her very own. Avery wisely chose this Fischer Price Pink Princess Potty, and we set it up near the scene of the crime - the bathtub. At this point, I'm just trying to get her used to the idea of her potty, so that when she begins "blowing bubbles" in the bathtub, I can whisk her out of the bath water on to her potty where she can (hopefully) seal the deal. So far, she's had a blast just sitting on her potty (clothed) and talking about going poo-poo in the potty. The only action the bowl has seen to date is a few little people and her puppy. We'll be sure to keep you posted on Operation Pink Princess Potty!

Trip to 'Sconsin

Last weekend, we packed up the essentials and hopped an AirTran flight to visit family and our fabulous friends, the Zachs, in Milwaukee, WI. Luckily for KC, I brought my hula hooping skills and really showed her how it’s done – both virtually on wii and with a real hoop. I am sure KC is busy practicing up for our next hula hoop rendezvous.

Avery came ready to play and got a kick out of Luke and Noah’s play set and toys, that is in between all the other fun activities KC and Marco planned. Saturday, we went to nearby Cedarburg, WI for their annual Wine and Harvest Festival. Even though she missed getting a balloon from Hello Kitty, Avery still had a great time, and even treated the crowd to her silly dance moves. And yes, I do have a video. It will make it here or onto FB soon!

Sunday, Avery helped cheer the Packers to victory over the Bills at the Zach's Packers Party. She also saw her Aunt Sara and met her Aunt Megan, Uncle Brent, and older cousins Sonnet and Eli. It was really a treat to get to meet Brent's kids and to see him and Megan again. They were so sweet to bring Avery a gift - a Sesame Street book and a handmade card with stickers!

We really enjoyed our visit (especially the cooler WI temps) and had a hard time coming back home after such a great visit. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re going to have to pack away the sweaters and jeans we wore in WI for a few more weeks because it’s STILL OVER 90 DEGREES HERE. Just in case you were wondering.

Here are a few pics from our WI adventures!

Avery totally wants to pimp this ride.

Avery had a great time playing with this Nerf football.

Tackled!

Here's a group photo - Noah, KC, Luke, Marco, Greg, and the back of Avery's head.

Greg's brother, Brent, Marco, Rob and Greg. Go Packers!

Avery got to meet her cousin Sonnet (age 9) for the first time.

Thanks to the Zachs for hosting a great weekend. We miss you!

Smooch!

Over Labor Day, we met up with Heather, Jay and Luke at Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure. We had fantastic weather and enjoyed relaxing at the resort, despite a nap boycott on Sunday. I guess these two munchkins were having too much fun swimming and playing to waste time sleeping! Though Avery wasn't too keen on sharing her toys with Luke, she didn't mind slipping him a smooch or two!

Here's Avery planting kiss #1 one on Luke. Apparently, he's plotting how to slip her the tongue...

Here's Avery giving Luke smooch #2! Luke has officially now received more kisses than Mommy. Not fair!


Not so fast there, Luke. Avery gives the kisses in this relationship!

Thanks for a great weekend, Heather, Jay and Luke!