Avery's 1st Birthday!

Avery's 1st Birthday celebration was a day to remember.  It was awesome that her 1st birthday on May 1st was on a Saturday.  Here are a few pics of our big girl!  The theme of the party was "Our Little Cupcake is Turning One"....if you can't already tell. I had so much fun preparing for it.  I had a lot of inspiration from TomKat Blog She created the cupcake labels for me.  Enjoy!

 The night before her party...check out her jammies..Party Animal!

The morning of her birthday!  She loves making this little grin where her tooth can rub her gums.

Puppy comes everywhere she goes!  We are on #5. 

MomZ (My mom) helping me get Avery ready for her party.

Getting ready for her big day.  She had a two hour nap prior to her party...it was awesome!

Pops (my dad) with Avery

PaPa (Josh's Dad) and Avery.  Avery was holding her new baby!  Her new friend, but it does not replace her favorite puppy.  

Grandma (Josh's Mom) with Avery.

Our family!

Checking out her party table.  See her baby pic this was moments after she was born.  WOW so hard to believe.

Happy Girl!!!  She was so excited to see people more than presents.

I absolutely love this face.  I can't believe we have a BIG blue-eyed girl!

I made all of the cupcakes and desserts, but I did have this giant cupcake made for Avery.  It was so precious...the whole thing was cake and can you believe the bottom part is not a wrapper but icing?

My sis and Andrew with Carson and Avery.  Carson had so much fun with Avery's party and his dinosaurs.  

Digging in...well, sort of.  She liked the icing not so much the cake.  Once she saw Josh's Blue Bell ice cream cup, she was done with the cake.  Bring on the Ice Cream!

YAY!!!  She was so happy!

YUM!

Avery greeting Uncle Doyle and Auntie Viv (sorry little out of order but blogging is a pain with pictures)

Avery and her friend, Farah.  I wish I had one of all the little kiddos. They were all precious.

Do we see a future couple in the works?  This is our friends, Mike and Jessica's precious boy, Drew.

We got Avery a little swing to have from our tree outside.  Avery and Drew hanging out after everyone left sitting in the swing.  It was too cute!  Pics of Avery in her swing to come.

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet baby girl!  We have enjoyed this past year more than we could have ever imagined.  She is such a joy to both Josh and I.  We are grateful to our Lord, Jesus Christ, for giving us this healthy, beautiful baby girl! 

Pre-Birthday...

Two nights before Avery's birthday her Daddy was sharing some of his Giant Weight Watchers Fudge Bar with Avery.  She was enjoying every minute.  It looks like she is going to be an ice cream gal! 

Trying to give Daddy a bite back, but she was teasing him. 

Finishing it off. 

Our Baby is Turning One in Two Days

I am sorry I have been MIA on the posting.  I have been preparing for Avery's first birthday not to mention just keeping up with our busy girl.  So hard to believe a year has flown by.  I always knew I would love being a mother, but I never knew the extent of unconditional love I would have for this baby girl.  I love her more and more each day, and I know I can speak for Josh too (who is smitten with her!).  Her second tooth just starting popping through yesterday.  So I guess our song "All I want for my birthday is my two bottom teeth" actually worked!  Pictures to come from the big celebration! 

Easter Day

Here are the pics from Easter Day! Avery's first Easter was so much fun. I am happy to report she actually wore her dress to church. I was a little worried because she pulled on it when I tried it on her.  We had a wonderful Easter at both my family and Josh's family. It was a great day!!

And other news....Avery finally got her first tooth. It popped out this Saturday, April 10. It only took 11 months and one week to pop that little sucker through. She is definitely eating more foods. She is so funny about picking up anything slimy. She will eat bananas and cantaloupe if you put it on a spoon or fork but not if you make her pick it up. She loves refried beans, rice and butter, recently found she loves broccoli rice casserole with chicken in it (I pureed it a little bit so it wouldn't be so chunky). When I fed it to her and put her spoon down so I could eat my food, she would pick up her spoon and hand it back to me. It was precious. She also says "Uh Oh" all the time...it sounds a little like "Eh Oh."

Easter baby!

Pulling out her book and bunny out of her Easter basket.

Our nephew, Carson, hiding the Easter eggs. If someone would hide them, he would go right behind them and pick them up. It was precious!

Happy Easter from our Family to yours!

Trying to get our little girl to give us a smile...even though she is a very happy baby she is not a huge smiler. 

My parents with their grandkids.  Avery 11 months and Carson 2 years old. 

My sis, Kristin with her husband, Andrew and Carson

My sis and I with Avery...this was the best one. 

The fingers stay in her mouth...her tooth was getting so close! 

"What you talkin' about Willis?"

I made Josh hold up her dress so you could see her cute bloomers.  My friend, Jessica, gave them to her. 

Carson and Avery having a serious conversation the laundry room over crackers. 

On to Grandma and PaPa's for Easter afternoon.  We saw them at church, but we didn't have time to get a pic with Avery.  Then I was a bad photographer and never got one of Avery with both of them. 

PaPa is fixing up his old Bronco, and I love driving it!! 

Having a ball!

"Daddy showing me how to hunt Easter eggs."

Learning to put them into my cute bunny basket from Grandma and PaPa. 

Wrinkled nose pic...one of many.  It is not just the sun...it is her signature expression. 

"Hmm...this egg is heavier and has a sticker on it." 

"Grandma showing me the cheerios in my egg...YUM-O"

Chowing down. 

This is one of my favorite pics.

Us with Josh's brother, Jason and his new bride, Chrissy. 

Last pic....she found the mother-load of eggs!