Day at the Arboretum

Now that Avery is older, there are a few things in Dallas I have been dying to take her to. One of them is the Arboretum. Well I happened to find a deal on Groupon for tickets, so I decided it would be fun to go! 

They have a flower garden set up that is Alice in Wonderland themed, and Fridays are for kids, so I thought it would be the perfect time and she would have a blast! 

First we stopped by the Alice in Wonderland garden - 

So she has started smiling (although not always looking at the camera) when you say "cheese." Well now, apparently, she has started posing - 

Since she loves the water, she was all about the waterfall - 

She loved seeing the fish in the koi pond -

And perhaps the best part - there was a petting zoo!! This girl LOVES animals! She cried when we had to go. 

She liked looking at the lily pads and dragonflies at the pond. I guess it would be a cool pic - looks like we're in the middle of nowhere - except for the random car in the background. 

So she wanted to sit on the ledge, and I thought she looked cute so I started taking her picture.

Then she found something and I kept taking her picture because it reminded me of the exact shot of her in our family photos for Christmas, and still thought it was super cute.

Then Rustin took it from her and we realized it was bird poop.

Then no one was happy. 

I really wanted a picture of us in front of the flowers, but of course she started crying! 

Later she was a little happier so I decided to be brave and ask strangers to take our picture. Normally I would be too scared, but I just had to have a family pic of her first time at the Arboretum!

After the pictures, she was done and ran off into the flowers by herself. 

When we got back around to the entrance, it was time to go. We were all super hot and tired. We decided to stop by Sonic to get a drink, and she thoroughly enjoyed her water.

Oh funny story - while we were at Sonic this elderly lady next to us was waving and smiling at us. I was wondering if I was on that show "Off Their Rockers." Then she even came up to our car! I rolled down the window and she started waving at Avery and looked at me strangely. (I just smiled...what do you do?) Then when she got a good look at Rustin, she said, "Oh I thought you were my son!" I felt bad for her because she seemed embarrassed, but it was pretty funny! 

Angie's Wedding & My 31st Birthday

So two weekends ago one of my dearest friends, Angie, got married. We met while working together at IBM, but even after we both left we stayed in touch. We were in a small group together at The Village and she was in my wedding.

I've had friends mention they're worried when they get married their friends won't care that much since they've already been to so many weddings, but I don't think that is the case. I feel like I was more excited for Angie's wedding. It's just so cool when you walk with someone through so many stages and  know that they have waited patiently for God's best.

I don't think I blogged about her bachelorette, so I guess now's a good time! We got a limo and went to dinner and dancing in Dallas. It was a blast!

On Friday we had her bridal luncheon at Chocolate Angel in Richardson. I had never been but it was really good! Here is one of the bride to be and me -

And then one of Katie and me -

That night was the rehearsal dinner at Times Ten Cellars in Dallas. It was really a great evening and really impactful to hear what everyone had to say when they opened up the floor. It just further confirmed that they are a really godly family. Rustin said that he hopes people say things at Avery's rehearsal dinner like what they said at Angie's. We both really liked Angie's dad's quote - "When you do it God's way, you get God's results."

This is Rustin and me that night -

Then on Saturday was the wedding. It was amazing. The ceremony was at Royal Lane Baptist Church and the reception was at the Ritz.

This is Kristen and me doing our "house party" duties -

Angie and Drew's first dance -

They gave out sunglasses and glow sticks during the dancing, which Rustin loved.

The next day was my 31st birthday and I got my one wish - to sleep in! My parents still had Avery so I slept until 11am! But I was missing her a ton, so I was super excited to see her when she came home later that day.

So the next weekend we decided to do a join birthday celebration with Catherine and me and go canoeing... with guys this time! 

Getting ready -

And cheese! 

Even though the river was super low, we still had a lot of fun!

Summer Play Time

Now that the weather has warmed up, we have loved hitting up all the parks! Avery has the time of her life while she's there, and it wears her out so she sleeps good at night!

A few weeks ago we went to the park by our old house and met Shannon and her baby, Jaxson. He tried to put the moves on Avery but she was not going for it haha...

Another night we went to Gloria's to eat. Afterwards we were going to let Avery play outside of the restaurant. There is a splash park, but she usually just looks at the water. Because of that she was definitely not dressed to play in the water, but she decided to anyway and had a BLAST!

I also got a video of her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbQFEXOYLlQ

So as I mentioned in a previous post, Avery has not been happy at the pool because she wants to swim. Well someone enlightened me to puddle jumper life vests. Wow - best.invention.ever! She can basically "swim" by herself now and we don't have to hold her the whole time - which makes everyone happy.

Her friend, Abigail, came for a swim the other day and they had a BLAST! Here are a few pictures:

Then the next day we went to the splash park with Abigail...

This girl loves the water! Now to just get her to the beach... :)

Miss Independent

If Avery had a theme song right now it would be "Miss Independent." She's still cautious and gets nervous when her mom is not around, but she is done with all the "baby" stuff. She doesn't want to drink out of a sippy cup - she wants a regular one. She doesn't want to sit in a high chair or even a booster. She also tries to put her own clothes on.

Now all of these things are good and things she would eventually have to learn, the problem is, she's not ready yet. When I give her a regular cup, water ends up all over her or the floor. When I sit her in a regular chair, she's not tall enough to reach the table, and she gets easily frustrated when trying to put on her own clothes.

It's also caused a problem with swimming. The two times we've taken her swimming this year, she's been so unhappy the whole time, but I couldn't figure out why. I tried taking her to different spots in the pool, giving her toys and floaties, etc. Nothing worked. Finally Rustin and I figured out she's upset because she wants to swim herself. The problem is - she can't swim! I'm going to get her one of those puddle jumper life vests and hope that helps!

Here is a picture of her swimming the other day at Lolly and Pop's pool. She had to wear goggles because daddy did.

She's starting letting us know when she's not happy with something by hitting. She not only hits me, but also the cat, so we've had to start doing time outs. We have a spare room upstairs with nothing in it, so I've been putting her in there for a minute, then she has to say sorry. When I let her out the other day she went to her room and started reading her Bible... hmmm. 

She has also loved praying. Sometimes Rustin and I will forget to pray before a meal and she will remind us. She always asks to pray when we put her down for naps or bed and says "amen" at the end with us then laughs. It is SO cute!

We Made the News!

Avery and I went for our regular trip to Wichita Falls last week, and had so much fun! We went swimming at Uncle Colby's apartment pool, went to eat at Samurai (of course), and made the Wichita Falls news!

They are tearing down Wichita General Hospital and giving away the bricks. Since I was born there, I thought it would be fun thing to get.

So my mom, Avery and I drove down there. As we passed to u-turn back around I saw some people taking a picture with their brick and the hospital in the background. I thought that would be a cute idea, so we parked to do the same after we got our brick.

As we were getting Avery out of the car, the news crew approached us and asked if we wanted to be interviewed. My mom refused to get in the shot (although her van made it on in the background), but I was all about it. I wanted to hold Avery though so I wasn't awkwardly standing there by myself. Hey she needs air time too, right??

Anyway here is our 3 second claim to fame:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBX1UFVXXQI

And here is the picture we took:

Catching Up

I think when you don't do something for a while (even if it is a thing you enjoy) it's hard to get back into it. I realized blogging is one of those things along with going to the gym and spending time with the Lord. But when you do go back, it's always worth it!

When I don't blog for a while, I get overwhelmed about all that's piling up that I want to share and so I just don't do it. I feel like I need to go into detail and try to be witty, etc. But if I wait until I have time for that, I will never blog! So here is a super fast (non-witty) update on what has been going on...

First, Rustin and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on March 29. When we went on our honeymoon we decided we would go back to St. Lucia or our dream, Bora Bora, on our 5th anniversary. Ha! Did we think we wouldn't have kids and have won the lottery?? Oh well we had fun celebrating right here!

And then we adopted a cat. Whenever I go to Wichita Falls, I always ask Rustin if I can get a cat from the Humane Society and he always says no. Not sure why, but this time he said yes. We named her Harper, although we should have just named her Meow because that's what Avery calls her. And yes, Avery LOVES her! She really is the best cat. She is really friendly and laid back.

And last, I went on a girls' canoe trip last weekend. The first time I went canoeing I was sick and shouldn't have gone, so needless to say it was a horrible trip. Not to mention the fact that my canoe capsized immediately upon hitting the water and I lost my oar about halfway through. Anyway I vowed to never go again, but we went for Andrea's 30th and I couldn't say no and have gone a few times since and LOVED it! It was so much fun!! 

So that's the high points of what's been going on. Avery is more and more funny every day and saying all kinds of new words. Hopefully I'll be better about keeping up!

Having Fun!

It's funny - as a mom some days I feel like an utter failure. Like so much so I question the sanity of the hospital workers who let me take this baby home. But then there's other days where I feel like I got this. I feel like this whole mom thing is super easy and I could easily have four more kids - no problem.

So when I write my posts, I try to be careful to stay away from the computer when I'm at either extreme. But sometimes that doesn't work out. I feel (hope) that when I write and feel like a failure other moms can relate and it gives them some encouragement to know they're not alone.

But sometimes I like writing when I feel like "I got this" to show that being a mother isn't super hard all the time, but a ton of fun. I don't want Avery to grow up and read my posts and think that raising her was just something I "made it through" but didn't enjoy. My only hesitation to write about those times is I know for me, when I talk to certain moms or read their blog and it's all rainbows and sunshine 24/7 it makes me feel bad about myself and like I'm doing something wrong. Sort of like "she has it all together, why can't I?"

Having said that I feel like maybe I've earned time to write about how much fun I'm having with her. So I'm just warning you that I'm at the "I've got this" extreme, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to make it seem like life is perfect. But I am past the stage where it gives me anxiety to just go out in public or yelling at poor Rustin at the drop of a hat because I've been waking up at 4:40am for the past month. I just didn't have it easy that first year, so it makes me happy that things are better!

Lately she has been sleeping until around 7am. I am amazed at what getting adequate sleep does for me. I feel like a whole new person.

And Avery is growing more and more every day. Dare I say - sometimes I want her to get up from her nap so we can do stuff. She is saying more and more words and showing more of her cute little personality.

She got a toddler Bible at her 1st birthday and we have been reading it with her and she loves it! She even asks for it all the time by name.

I have been taking her to music class, and she loves that too. She also even loves going to the church nursery (most days). I think she just has a blast around other kids.

One of my friends in my life group has a daughter the same age as Avery and they hang out a lot. Her name is Abigail, and Avery goes around saying "Abby" all the time. She even cries when we leave her. Here are some pics of them. This is Abigail feeding Avery a fake donut (don't ask).

And this is them eating lunch together at Chick-Fil-A

She is also quite the ham and loves showing off. The other day we went grocery shopping and she refused to take off her sunglasses inside. This is the face she makes when you say, "Avery, smile for the camera."

I think the weather being warmer has helped a lot because we can go outside or "side" as she calls it. She likes "helping" Rustin and I pull weeds or brush Baloo. I also got her a pail and shovel and watering can to play with. I would like to eventually get her a swing set, but she has so much fun with nothing out there right now, I guess we can wait.

Nana came for a visit and we had a lot of fun! Of course we had to go to Gloria's. As I mentioned in another post, Avery is learning to use a fork and spoon so she had a lot of fun eating things out of her bowl there - including the bean dip. Hey, can you blame her?

Ok so I have to share this. I always judged moms who put things that were clearly TMI on Facebook (I mean c'mon I don't need to know when your child poops!) But of course, again, I am eating my words. However I feel more comfortable sharing this on my blog rather than blasting Facebook, but Avery pooped in the potty!! I'm not really potty training her, but just getting her used to the idea. Not sure if/when it will happen again, but I was so excited! Now I get why parents post about it...