Our little zombie walker

Avery started walking little steps about two weeks ago, but now she has completely taken off. It is so sweet. She is our little zombie walker.  We can't believe she started so soon.  I guess the helmet makes her a little fearless. 

Nine months and growing

It is so hard to believe our precious Avery is already nine months. She is getting to be such a big girl. We went for her nine month old check-up, and she is 30 inches (97%ile - she is tall!!), 19 lbs (50%ile), and 17 in head circumfrence (25%ile - guess a small head is better than a bigger one). Avery started taking a few steps over the last few weeks and now she has taken off. The most we have seen is about 10 -12 steps. It is so precious because she gets so excited and normally turns around to see your reaction and falls.  Avery is a very happy baby and is babbling all the time.  She says "mama" "dada" "naanaanaa" but she is not associating them with anything.  Last week Avery started to wave Bye Bye...She has completely mastered it now to where I can be on the phone talking with someone and say "Bye Bye" and she starts to wave.  She opens and closes her hands facing her though.  It is so cute!  Videos to come.  As you can tell we are just overjoyed by our darling girl.  Here are a few recent pics. 

Avery was not too excited about trying on her new coat.  My mom and Josh's mom both got her the exact same coat for Christmas and didn't even know it.  It is really so cute on her, but she was not in the mood. 

Avery and her cousin, Carson, playing.  They are really starting to have fun together.  Carson just talks to her and she wants to follow him so bad.  Soon they will be running together.  They are 15 months apart. 

Avery with her "evil eye"...it isn't too bad in this picture, but she normally gets a really big wrinkle and small left eye when she looks up due to the helmet. 

Avery, my mom, and I went to see her Great-Grandmothers in Beaumont.  I didn't get any great pictures, but Avery really enjoyed crawling all over Grammy's apartment and sitting in her big girl toddler seat to eat cheerios at Nanny's.  What a blessing that she has seen all of her Great-Grandmothers in the last week.  Josh's Granny was here too for his brother, Jason's wedding.  More pics to come on next post. 

Our sweet Realtor and friend, Barbara, knit this hat for Avery with a precious duck on it. 

One year will be here before we know it! 

Happy Valentine's Day

Avery will be nine months on February 1st. She is standing by herself playing with toys in both hands. She is still learning how to balance well. She has taken two steps and fallen. It is exciting and also a bit scary...she will be on the loose. Here are a few recent pics. We are hoping and praying the helmet will come off in the next month or so. We go this coming week for a follow-up.

Walking with Daddy

 

  

So my windows look really dirty...Avery loves to bang on them.  

 

The dog crate is one of her favorite places to hang out.

Here it is...

Ok, it is official...we can finally share.  Thank you to all of you and your wonderful prayers because Josh was offered a job at Marathon Oil here in Houston!!!  We are so excited.  He will be a Land Analyst and all of his education and skills over the last two years on the road will definitely pay off.  It is all worth it.  It is crazy to think that next week he will have been on the road for two years.  It has definitely had it ups and downs.  He has worked for fantastic people and learned so very much, but the downside was definitely being away from me and Avery.  We sure missed him, and I know he hated leaving Avery each week and missing all of the fun.  He will begin the job on February 15th.  God has been so faithful to hear our prayers, and we thank each of you for keeping us in your daily prayers. 

On a completely different note, Josh and I have decided to get in shape together!!!  We started this week the Couch to 5K program.  My dear friend, Bonnie, has encouraged me to run so here it goes.  Over the next nine weeks, we will run/walk three days a week.  I am actually very excited about it.  I have completed one day and Josh has completed two.  We promise to keep you updated with our progress because we need you all to hold us accountable.  At the end of the nine weeks, we should be running consistently a 5K (3 miles).  We pray for nothing to get in our way of our goal! 

Happy Days

It is just another great day at our home. We have been enjoying the nice weather, and I am about to take Avery on a walk outside. We haven't been able to do that in many months (or it feels like). All is going great here. My brother-in-law is getting married in a few weeks so we are having lots of parties and showers leading up to the big day. More pics later. Avery had a helmet check-up, and she is looking very good. We haven't heard an official timeline of when she might have it off, but I am hoping we are getting close. Next week she will have been in the helmet for four months. It is so hard to believe time has flown by this fast. I almost don't recognize her without it on. She is a very busy, mischievous girl. She is definitely on the brink of walking. She has taken a few steps, but it is more at fault and on the way to the fall. She loves any toy that she can push around.

We have some exciting news to share soon....No, it is not a baby! Keep checking back here!!

Avery's new favorite thing to do is pull up on the subwoofer and play with the Wii balance board. She has learned to pull off the board's feet.

Master Clapper

I forgot to mention how Avery began clapping yesterday! I guess she knew she would have some exciting things to clap about. I haven't video-ed it yet, but here is a sequence of pictures. Enjoy!

Oh Happy Day!!

What an AWESOME day!!!   Yesterday, we received an email saying the Insurance is going to APPROVE Avery's helmet.  It took a 150 page appeal letter that took me months to pull together.  I can't tell you how many times I re-read the email to see if I was reading it right.  God has been so faithful, and we thank each of you for the many prayers.  Avery is still wearing the helmet, and it has definitely made a huge impact on her head and face. I will post before and after pictures someday soon.  I have learned several very valuable things from this experience 1) Never back down when your insurance company tells you NO.  It took two appeals and finally my company had to approve it.  2) It never hurts to send a copy to your senators and state reps.  (Reminder to myself to send them a letter of the outcome).  3) Have faith that God will provide for all of our needs.