April

We rescued this Eeyore from the dumpster at our apartment years ago. He was tagged to be sold for a very low price at our yard sale but Avery rescued him.

Reading some Nicholas Sparks. Apparently Eeyore will be used for our little trick rider. Now that our office/junk room has been cleaned out due to selling the bookcases, futon, and tons of books it's like we have a whole new room. Half has become Avery's playroom and I have reclaimed the other half as my scrapbooking area.

Avery and Sasha have a tea party.

Up bright and early Saturday morning...have cup of cheerios...will yard sale!

Nanny and Papa Keim bought Avery this cozy cottage. Shawn and I put it together while she was napping so she was very pleased to come outside and find her new abode. She loves it...and so do all the neighbor kids. :-/ I hate being the mean lady on the street but sometimes the mean teacher in me comes out and I have to reprimand an 8 year old for climbing in and out of the windows and remind him it's made of plastic and we don't want it broken on the first day Avery gets to play with it. Yes, I'm the mean mom on the street.

Avery and Michael (the babysitter's son)

The whole gang...Amari, Avery and Michael

20 Months Old!

Time flies! I can't believe Avery is 20 months old and while posting this I realize that I'm a month behind and today she is actually 21 months...will I ever be an up to date blogger? At 20 months Avery is still the light of our lives and we love every moment with her. When I got home from school I dressed her in this adorable dress that Shawn and I got for Madeline a few years ago and hauled her up to the pool/playground area for a little photo shoot. Mind you, Avery rarely naps at the babysitter's and her usual routine is to take a nap as soon as I get home, so on this particular day she had been up for 9 hours with no nap.

Our happy girl!

We are continually amazed at the new things Avery learns. Avery repeats everything we say and has an ever expanding vocabulary. Some of our favorite phrases are "tank ou" and "wov wu."

Avery was very confused as to why I wanted her to read a book on a bench at the park. Guess I was trying to be a little too artistic for her taste...there is one reason to go to the park...to play!

Trying to get her to smell the Bradford Pear blossoms.

And now she's happy!

Majorly cheesing!

March Highlights

Yes, now we are those parents with their kid on a leash! I never thought that would be me, but it's a different story now that I have a very busy toddler. We do travel a lot and we go to lots of museums and sometimes it's nice to let Avery stretch her legs a bit and now I'll know that she's three feet away instead of getting lost in a crowd. So far she thinks it's pretty cool to have a monkey on her back. We leave it in the car and a few times when she's really sleepy we've handed her the monkey and she's cuddled it like she does her doll when she's falling asleep.

We have a shoe lover! Upon waking up Avery's first words are "Sasha" (her doll) and next she looks at her feet and says, "shoes!" We keep our everyday shoes by the door and now they are continually scattered throughout the house as Avery tries to walk in one or two different shoes at a time. She'll try anything but definitely prefers Mommy's few pairs of shoes with a little heel. My mom tells me this is all my fault since Avery owned 12 pairs of shoes when she was born! I'm worried about what the teenage years will bring!

Walking in Mommy's very worn brown shoes...but they do have a three inch heel.

Cheesing it up big time!

Fun in the sun!

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Giving her dolls some fresh air.

On March 19th we went to Charlotte's St. Patrick's Day Parade. It was a pretty spectacular parade with lots of bagpipers, beauty queens, Irish dancers, dog rescue groups and even a Star Wars club/gang?...guess they let anyone in. :-)

We walked around downtown a little after the parade and went to Fuel Pizza for lunch.

Our new favorite all in one dish...low country boil. I'm sure we don't quite do this authentically but it is yummy and super easy. We just boil the corn, potatoes and sausage for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and then add the fresh shrimp (we've found fresh NC shrimp to be the best) and boil for about 3 minutes. We use about 1/2 cup of Old Bay seasoning and it tastes delish!

Heel's are better but any shoe that isn't her own will do.

Triple the paci's!

Grandma Sue comes to visit!

Mom came to visit during the last week of February. We were so glad to see her and Avery warmed up to her pretty quickly. Mom watched Avery while we were at school and Avery loved all of the attention. I loved coming home to supper cooking, laundry caught up and a happy, well-napped kiddo. We do love our babysitter but would love for Mom and Dad to move down here and to be our permanent babysitter. Mom did get to enjoy some pretty nice weather for February so maybe someday...we can hope, right? :-)

On Saturday we took a day trip to Charleston. It was a gorgeous day and we got to see the Bradford Pears, daffodils, magnolias, etc. in bloom. We love this city and someday we shall live here!

Avery found a seat just her size.

Walking along the Battery.

Mom feeding Avery some She-crab soup...yum!

We stopped at Isle of Palms and enjoyed the beach for a little bit...even in February it was fun to play in the surf.

And it is fun to chase seagulls!