Christmas 2011

Avery's excitement about Christmas was fun to experience this year. We took advantage of it and participated in as many holiday activities as we could squeeze in. The weekend before Christmas, we took her to see "Madeline's Christmas" at the Horizon Theatre. She really enjoyed the production put on by 12 little girls - the smallest one was, of course, Madeline!

On Christmas Eve, Meme, Avery and I headed to the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts to see "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." The show was great; Avery especially enjoyed watching it from Meme's lap and decorating her very own Rudolph shadow puppet.

After the puppet show, Meme treated us to lunch at Hobnob. It was a cozy venue and we had wonderful company as cousin Laura Bona joined us!

Finally, the big day arrived. Avery couldn't wait to see if Santa ate the cookies and sippy cup of milk she left for him and left her toys in return. Santa didn't disappoint. This year will go on record as a Disney Princess Christmas!

We hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas - we sure did!

It's All Dagwood's Fault

Avery’s assigned elf, Dagwood, has been on good behavior during his stay at our house. Greg and I appreciate that we didn’t receive one of Santa’s more mischievous helpers; we have enough messes to clean-up! Most of the time, Dagwood hides, plays with Avery’s toys, or brings Avery a little gift, like these Grinch coloring pages.

One night, Dagwood did arrive back from his North-Pole-debrief feeling a little under the weather. Avery offered him some milk which expedited his recovery.

Dagwood got a little restless being so nice, so decided to play a prank last night and replace all our Christmas stockings with undies.

This innocent prank went awry when Avery woke up to discover she’d wet her bed. When she got cleaned up and went to find Dagwood, she thought her panties hanging by the mantle meant that Dagwood was going to take her panties back to the North Pole to show Santa that she wet her bed and belonged on the naughty list. Avery was beside herself until Greg was able to convince her that Dagwood was just playing a joke on her. Dagwood felt pretty bad about the unfortunate coincidence so has decided to suspend future pranks. He's been eyeing up the new toys Avery's aunties have sent her for Christmas anyways!

Projects and Holiday Hijinks

A few weekends ago, Avery and Daddy happened upon free kid's craft day at Home Depot. Avery loves to craft, so she couldn't get the child sized bright orange apron on fast enough. She and Daddy sure has fun painting, decorating, and assembling a snowman napkin holder. It's such a cute contribution to our holiday decor!

Avery and Daddy had so much fun that they went on a Michael's run to get more wood craft kits, aka "projects," to do together at home. Greg even set up a special workshop area for them in the basement to work. Avery likens their workshop to Santa's workshop, naturally.

And yep, here's the concentration face.

Not to be outdone by Greg, when Avery was home sick last Wednesday, we decided to do a project of our own: decorate a gingerbread house. She stuck most of the candies on and really did a nice job decorating...in between stealing little tastes of Royal icing, of course!

While projects and crafts have kept Avery pretty busy, she has also enjoyed hunting for her elf, Dagwood, every morning. His hijinks most recently involved challenging Mrs. Potato Head to a round of Curious George match game. She just thinks it's hilarious when he plays with her toys or eats her snacks. I wonder what that silly Dagwood will get into next!

Thanksgiving 2011

We've been so busy getting ready for Christmas that we haven't had a chance to share the details of all the fun we had over Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving with Meme and Pa and were joined by our good friends Heather and Luke. The weather was beautiful on Thanksgiving Day which gave the kids an opportunity to play "soccer ball" outside. As you can see, dress shoes don't hold Avery back a bit!
The nice day also gave me an opportunity to capture some photos of two very busy little kids.
This is my favorite. Doesn't this look like a toddler engagement portrait???

Avery and Luke shared snacks while enjoying an episode of Winnie the Pooh.

Wait a second, should I be worried that this was a date?!?!?

On black Friday, we ventured over to Bass Pro Shops to visit Santa. Avery couldn't wait to tell Santa that she wanted a Rapunzel dress and a sled. Her visit with Santa has officially gotten Avery extremely excited about Christmas. December is going to be a fun month with lots of good memories!

First Trip to the Fox

Today, Avery experienced an Atlanta rite of passage: she saw her very first show at the Fox Theatre. The Fox originated as a 1920s movie palace and is now a unique venue for movies, Broadway shows and concerts. It's also where Greg took me on our second date so it really holds a special place in my heart!

Today, we saw the premier of "The Elf on the Shelf: An Elf's Story" the animated version of the Elf on the Shelf book. The movie included the experience of a winter wonderland complete with snow, Santa's workshop, hot cocoa and live elves!

As you can tell from her "concentration face," Avery was really into the crafts in Santa's Workshop.

Ornament decorating was not to be outdone by cookie decorating (and eating).

Despite looking like she's scowling in the photo, the highlight of Avery's day was touching a real live elf! Avery can't wait for an elf to come live at our house in the weeks before Christmas. I can't wait either as our elf will report any bad behavior straight to Santa at the North Pole!

Fabulous Prizes!

Big news in our household: Avery has now graduated from pull-ups to panties. Miss Avery just loves picking out what panties she's going to wear for the day. The problem is she just doesn't love keeping the same pair clean and dry all day long. After two weeks of 1-2 accidents a day, to enourage her to use the potty every time, we implemented a reward system where at the end of the day, if she has no accidents, Avery gets to choose a prize from a bag o' prizes. I mostly hit the $1 aisle at Target to stock the bag, but the goodies do include DVDs and art supplies. Avery was immediately keen to the new reward system and earned a prize the first day we started.
For her first prize, Avery chose a Rudolph watercolor book. She just loves anything art related and got busy immediately painting. This photo perfectly captures her "concentration face" with her tongue sticking out of her mouth.

Hopefully the prizes will be incentive enough to keep Avery on track at school when we are not around to remind her to use the potty. If not, I will just keep the "Charlie Brown Christmas" DVD all to myself. No one has to know!

Trick or Treat

This year, we celebrated Halloween with a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. Luckily, Cinderella's friend Minnie Mouse was available to join us for the day. Can there be anything sweeter than two little girls holding hands?

Avery hadn't been to the aquarium since just after her first birthday, so this was a much different trip for her. She enjoyed learning about tropical fish on the touchscreens and as a special treat, got to see the new dolphin show from seats so close we got splashed!

Unfortunately, Avery got sick in the wee hours of Halloween morning and couldn't go to school. She missed wearing her Cinderella costume to the fall festival, which was a huge disappointment. After she napped most of the afternoon, she decided she felt well enough to get dressed up and do a little trick-or-treating.

After a few treats and another viewing of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" our little princess called it a night. We hope your Halloween was filled with more treats than tricks!

Fall Visitors

While Greg and the dogs were away on thier 10-day upland bird hunting odessey, Meme and Pa came for a weekend visit. Their timing couldn't have been better! I was sick all week with a cold/sinus infection so really appreciated help entertaining Avery...though sometimes I am not sure who entertained who!

Meme and Pa sure spoiled us both. I got a pot of Dad's Famous Chili while Avery scored a pink Disney princess coat, a new fall outfit, and lots and lots of attention. We are lucky girls!

Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream

I treated Avery to her very first ice show spectacular this weekend: Disney Dare to Dream. The show featured some of Avery's favorite princesses, Tiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel, and was MC'd by Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. This show was right up Avery's DVR play list!

Unfortunately, to even get to the show, I had to dose myself heavily on cold medicine and we had to brave some horrible Falcons game day traffic, but that was soon forgotten when the show began and Avery smiled and shrieked with pure delight. She was engrossed in every moment and knew every character by name. When it ended, she announced she wanted to watch it again. Fortunately for my credit card, she settled on going to have some lunch instead.

Here's a photo of Avery in her ensemble. It's only fitting to wear a princesss dress to a show about princesses!

And here's a self-portrait: Avery looks good. I don't. But clearly, this isn't about me.

After the show, we met up with one of Avery's former daycare classmates and her mom and grandma for a late lunch. Avery was thrilled to see her friend, Naomi. We were so disappointed these guys moved over the summer!

Of course, such an exciting day can really wear an aspiring princess out. Miss Avery "dared to dream" before we even hit the downtown connector!

Fall Afternoon at Yahoo Farm

October is my most favorite month, and I love to spend it doing as many fall activities as I can. Of course, that includes a family trip to the pumpkin patch. This year, we checked out Yahoo Farm for the first time. It did not disappoint!

We skipped the corn maze and hay ride in favor of having a seat on the largest pumpkin we've ever seen!

Who needs to shoot corn out of a cannon when you can take advantage of photo ops like these?

The highlight of the afternoon was definitely a ride on Milky Way. As you can see, Avery takes her pony-riding quite seriously.

What a great afternoon at the farm! Next up: decorating those pumpkins we picked out!

Birthday and Bourbon

The odometer on my new car has now rolled over 10,000 miles for good reason: this past weekend, we traveled up I-75 to Lexington to celebrate my grandmother’s 95th birthday. At 95, Grandma maintains an incredible zest for life and the experiences she has had. She spent her childhood in India, served as a flight instructor during WW II, has traveled the world, and has now outlived two husbands. She really has some stories to tell!

Grandma genuinely delights in seeing Avery Elizabeth, who was named after her, and is happy to go along with us on any adventure outside of the retirement community where she now spends her days. We opted to spend Saturday afternoon in Bardstown at the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

Avery loves a festival and enjoyed getting her face painted, ringing the Four Roses train bell, and riding the Wild Turkey turkeys. Here are a few photos from our afternoon in Bardstown, including one of four generations of my family. Though traveling with a 2-year old can be a challenge and amasses quite a collection of Goldfish crumbs and empty juice boxes, I’m so glad we had this opportunity to spend time with my grandmother. I know Avery will look at this photo one day and be happy to have known her Great Grandmother Elizabeth.

Hartman Visit - More Photos

 Our friends, the Hartmans, stopped over for a few nights last weekend on thier way back from thier beach vacation.    Avery had a blast showing her favorite park off, playing water table and watching her new favorite movie, Toy Story, with Andrew and Will.  We sure enjoyed having them and look forward to playing with them again at the New Year's cabin!

 Avery, 2 1/2 years

 Will, 1 1/2 years

 Andrew, 3 1/2 years