the three bahns

Tinkle Tinkle! :)

2010-09-13T20:27:00.000-05:00

Avery Singing Twinkle Twinkle...pretty cute!!

Getting Back on Board with Blogging!photo

2010-08-26T15:22:00.003-05:00

So yes, I realize it has been months since I blogged. I was so good about it, and then I'm really not sure what happened. I got busy, but that is no excuse. I'm ashamed. I loved blogging. It was such a way for me to keep track myself of what was going on with Avery and with us, as much as it is about sharing.

I made the coolest book ever for Avery of her first two years from this blog. I've kind of missed the boat on year 2, but hope to pick back up again for her third year, which I can't believe is just 2 months away.

I can't access new photos right now as I'm uploading stuff into Iphoto, but promise I will tomorrow. The biggest news is that Avery got her new big girl bed yesterday. She was just getting too long for her old bed, and with all the friends she likes to sleep with there just wasn't room. The first night in her new bed was a success. She looked adorable! So there will definitely be pics soon!! Just waiting on her new bedding to arrive. We have the sheets, etc. but the quilt isn't here yet. As soon as it is all set, there will be pics. So anyway, consider this my welcome back to the blogging world! I really do hope to be better about it.

Just one photo from our family photo session this summer with tasha of red bird hills. They are beautiful and I love them. I made this one into a pretty big canvas, and did a photo wall downstairs of a bunch of others! love it!

Easter Eggs with Ansley!

2010-03-14T22:03:00.006-05:00

I hate when weekends come to an end..that this one was especially good! It was filled with lots of good family time and fun. Yesterday morning, Ansley came over and we colored Easter Eggs. Avery just loves her so much, I love to the two of them together. Then we went an looked swingsets and ran some errands. Today, we woke up and went to the Mall of America to Underwater World, and lunch at Rainforest, just the Avery, Mama and Daddy. We had so much fun!! Avery liked the Aquarium, but wasn't super sure about it all. She LOVED the end when she could look at the seahorses and jellyfish in their own aquariums. She loves seahorses, as she has one in her play-dough set she likes to make. She even got to pick out her own pink seahorse stuffed animal to take home. I mean, we really did need one more stuffed animal, really. Then we had lunch at Rainforest, and got to sit right by another aquarium there. She was so great. It was such a fun morning. Afterwards, we stopped in to look at more swingsets at an awesome showroom where they have a bunch set up so the kids can play on them and try them out. They were so great. We found a good deal, so Avery ended up getting her very own new swingset! She is quite excited!! It isn't delivered yet, as we need to wait for the ground to dry out just a bit, but should find it's home in our backyard sometime this spring! I can't wait to see her face when she sees it in our yard. Other than that, not too much else is new. Just loving the spring weather. I even got in my first senior session of the year this afternoon, so that was so fun too. I can't wait for senior season! So hope this spring weather sticks around, as it felt to great to have all the windows open today and fill the house with fresh air!! Happy Spring!

The Easter Egg Coloring - Avery and Ansley, March 13, 2010

Smelling the eggs

She didn't really like how they smelled

The Swingset!

2010-03-14T22:02:00.000-05:00

Here it is..well not exactly, but pretty close. I couldn't find a picture of the exact one online. Some fun times are sure to be had on this. Can't wait!!

Mega Update

2010-02-22T21:41:00.005-06:00

So I know that I've been completely neglecting my blog lately, and if you check out my photo blog, you hopefully understand why. I've been so busy, which is so great. I'm LOVE LOVE LOVING it!! But with teaching full-time, and doing quite a few session a month yet (I thought this would be a slow time..and it is slower than spring/summer/holiday, but keeping busy enough) being a mom and wife...my blogging on here has taken a back seat. But after talking to my brother last week on the phone (thanks for calling..we miss you:) He reminded me that I'm not posting nearly often enough, and he depends on these to keep up with lou-who, so I'm going to try try try to be better. With that said, I'm downstairs working, and my point and shoot camera is up stairs and I haven't uploaded the pics and that has all of my funny pictures on it of what she has been up to, so we're left with these from our little Valentine's day session. My hope was just to get one for valentine's day cards for her daycare friends, which I did get and loved, but she was a riot that day, so I got some more funny ones as well. The bad news is this pink is a horrible background to shoot on, very uneven with the natural light, so not good really for pics, and I didn't take the time to really edit them all, other than this first one, so don't judge! But she is, of course, Adorable in them..or at least we think so!!

She is just hilarious lately! The things she says and does just amaze us every single day. She continues to grow, and is getting quite tall, but is continuing to grow up instead of out, and her pants are all getting too short. It's definitely time for capri season to come back! The things she says each day are hilarious. Just a brief rundown for you Uncle Jeff..and anyone else who cares:

*She is obsessed with smoke alarms, which Cullen nicknamed Jim. She has one in her room, we have to say good night to it every-night, and tell him to keep her safe, and give him thumbs up.

*She has had a rough month of being sick..pink eye, hives, croup, and a fever all in a matter of about 4 week. The croup was SO scary. Ended up with a run to the ER one Saturday night. It was the scariest night ever. I wish they warned you about those things. She seems to be on the mend now though.

*She thinks every doctor is now the Eye Doctor. When she wants to eat too much candy or cookies, we tell her she might get a tummy ache if she eats too much, and then she replies with "Go to the eye doctor" not sure, but we'll roll with it.

*She is still obsessed with baby dolls and now we're into putting diapers on them and taking them off because they're "stinky" all the time. We went out to eat for my dad's and my birthday last week. She had to bring her bear with, in his diaper, in her play carseat into the restaurant and put him in a high chair next to hers. Cullen took a pic on his phone, and I have to put it up here. SHe also covered up the carseat with a blankie because her bear was sleeping.

*LOVES Taylor Swift. Not sure how this came about. We have to watch Taylor Songs all the time on tv. It is about the only tv she likes to watch. Thankfully, or not thankfully I guess, depending on how you look at it, Taylor Swift has her own channel on demand..all Taylor videos all the time. She loves to listen the song, You Belong With Me, in the car all the time, and even sings along at the part where she says I Do. In the video, she points out the mean girl and the nice girl. It is pretty darn funny. She has some pretty sweet dance moves to go with it too.

*Loves her friends at daycare, Abby and Maddy, three little 2-3 year old girls, and of course the babies Kendra and Catherine, who she names her babies each night. She either has baby Kenna or Caphin. She loves them. There are little boys out there too, but she loves those baby girls and her little girly friends. I'd LOVE to be a fly on that wall one day.

*She is in a phase where she HATES baths and washing her hair. It is a battle and stinks. We can get her in the tub by letting her pick out her bubble bath, Dora or Spongebob..tough choice! But the hair washing..wow is it rough. I'd LOVE any tips!

**Loves to go outside in all of her snow gear and help daddy shovel! She even has her own little shovel..such a big girl. Hopefully we aren't breaking any child labor laws!

**Talking ALL the time. Spoke her first complete sentence which was.. "Daddy, shave it whiskers RIGHT NOW!" It was so great! She doesn't like him to have whiskers on his face, and made it clear she would like him to shave right now!

Anyway, I guess that is a good update for now. It is just amazing how fast she is growing up. Too fast. She doesn't look like a baby anymore :( Where or where did that time go. Man. The things she is learning and remembering too is just amazing. Cullen and I are about the same, busy as ever with school and our other businesses. I'll save you the details..not too exciting! Check out all of the adorable little newborns I've gotten to photograph lately on my photo blog. ADORABLE. So much fun!! So there..Jeff..hopefully that will tide you over for a bit! I'll try to post some of those other pics this week sometime..from going "pretend shopping" with no pants on, her tennis shoes, and her purse..HILARIOUS..to taking pictures of her baby doll like mama with her play camera, SO CUTE! I will try to be better!!!

Our Valentine's Day Photos

My fave..So pretty here

Can't get over how old she looks here

Her goofy cheese face

This is pretty much her these days...just a nut! Her personality is just the best. Nana got her this sweet hat, and she found her shades. She also went through a phase for about a week where she only wanted to wear these silky jammy pants, and her popsicle jammy shirt..no, they do not match, but she rocked it! Yup, this is also what she had on the night we ended up in the ER..we looked like loser parents..silk jammy pants in January, and a too small popsicle shirt. Nice. :)

So tough

Happy Valentine's Day!! Love, Avery

2010-01-30T19:32:00.003-06:00

Well it's a little early for Valentine's Day, but I had a photo session get rescheduled today, so I took advantage of a free morning, and did some Valentine's Day pics with Avery! I'm going to make these cards for her friends little Valentine's goody bags at daycare, and I thought it was cute so I'd share with you all too!! She was so good for pics this morning..looked at me and smiled at me. I know, I can't believe it either. Apparently she has hit the age where she actually understands bribery! Or else I just got lucky..either way, I'll take it!! Happy Valentine's Day, just a tad early, from our little love!

**And I couldn't decide if I liked all the pink, or the coordinating colors..I haven't decided for sure yet, so you get to see both!!**

Snow Baby!

2010-01-17T10:32:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Avery helped Daddy shovel the driveway and played outside in the snow. I haven't taken pics of her in too long, just playing around, so I got lots of fun playing in the snow snapshots. Here is one for now. I just love this one..so pretty!!! More to come tonight hopefully. I know I have been a bad blogger lately. It's on my list for today!

Christmas Tree Pics 2009!

2009-12-20T21:29:00.003-06:00

So I did a pic like this last year at my mom's house because I just love her tree and I loved how the picture turned out. So we went over tonight to try it for year #2. We got Avery decked out in her new Christmas jammies, complete with slippers this year! I just love these pictures!!!!! My mom's tree is so pretty, and I love the windows behind it and the reflection of the lights. I really think I will try to make this a holiday tradition! Here are a few from tonight!

Blog Book!!!!!!!!

2009-12-20T20:24:00.003-06:00

So to all of my blogger friends...you MUST do one of these!!!! There is a website called blurb.com and it takes your blog and turns it into a book. It is pretty easy. You can change layouts, colors, do tons of cool stuff, or just keep it simple and follow their layouts. You can do hardcovers, dust jackets, square books. Mine is just the 81/2 x 11 hardcover. It really didn't take much time. I changed a few things but kept it pretty simple. I meant to do it last year after her first birthday but am a little behind, so I made it of Avery's first two years and it is beyond what I expected. It is just so awesome. They aren't really super expensive either. Mine was very long, like 250 pages and it was still under $100. It is great quality. She loves to look at it, so I actually think I'm going to order another one to put up for her and let her keep this one out to look at. I tried to take some pics, but I suck at product photography. Guess I need to work on that. Really though, if you have been keeping up with a blog, I can't recommend this enough!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Funny Pics!

2009-12-09T22:21:00.002-06:00

These are from Cullen's phone, so sucky pics, but so funny!! The first one is Avery getting ready to help Daddy go shovel out of our big snowstorm this morning. We had a snow day, and it was so great. All of 3 of us snowed in..we stayed in our jammies most of the day, had a fire, baked cookies, took naps and had lots of snuggles. We tried Avery's snowpants on to see if they still fit, and she walked around in them saying "Snow Day, Snow Day"! Do you think she heard us mention it once or twice??!!

This one is hilarious! She stayed overnight at Nana's and Grandpa's on Saturday night when Cullen and I were at a party with some friends, and they apparently stayed up way too late. She went pretty hard in the morning on Sunday, and then after lunch, she all of a sudden got really quiet as we were cleaning up, and we looked over at her and she had just fallen right asleep...quick. She was out. It was too funny. She has never fallen asleep in her high-chair. She is usually a crib girl. She just doesn't fall asleep anywhere, so she must've been TIRED!!! Just thought I'd share these funny pics of our sweetie!!

Our Little Helper :)

2009-11-28T20:14:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays! This little lady of course is what we are so thankful for this year. Family Family Family. That is what it is all about right? I am so blessed and so lucky to have such an amazing family. Husband, daughter and my whole family. Cullen and I hosted Thanksgiving this year for both our our families (just siblings...we aren't that ambitious just yet!) It was so great to have everyone all together. We had a great time. Thanks to our moms who did SO much. We pretty much just provided the home. :)

On Friday, my mom and I got up early and did the shopping thing. I hadn't done that in awhile, and remember why now, but it was fun and we had a great time and found some great deals on presents! It felt nice to get a dent in the Christmas shopping. Then we decorated the tree yesterday.

I took one of these photos last year at my parents house, and will have to do that again, because my mom's tree is so pretty and I love the windows behind it, but this one is of our little helper putting the finishing touches on our own tree..complete in her "new new fuzzy wuzzies" She calls everything that is new, "new new" and calls her jammies fuzzy wuzzies. Did I mention how much I love this girl. I realize I haven't even gotten pictures of her birthday up yet, but I will soon, I promise. I'm done taking photos for the month of December after next weekend and took the rest of the month off from photos, and I'm very excited for a little break to enjoy some much needed holiday family time! Avery can't get enough of all of her new toys from her birthday. Thank you all to those of you who helped us celebrate. Thank you cards are on the list for tomorrow. They are coming!!! We decorated yesterday and it is finally feeling like Christmas and I love it!!! Happy Holidays to you all and I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.

Aww..my heart melts.

Avery's Message for Uncle Jeff

2009-11-10T21:15:00.003-06:00

Avery was having a snack today and I was messing around with a flip video

that I am using for school this week. Avery has really taken to singing her abc song.

It is so darn cute. She lost interest here around v, but come on..she is 2! :) She also has a little message

for uncle Jeff at the end. She misses you Jeffy!!! Please excuse my singing and voice..I am losing my voice.

Please also excuse all the boxes in the back. We are slowly but surely getting unpacked in the new

place!!! More to post with updates soon. It is a busy time at the Bahn house!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Avery - We Love You!

2009-11-03T20:00:00.000-06:00

Happy 2 Years Avery!!

Dear Avery,

Another year has come and gone, and now you are 2! Wow..where did that last year go? We thought you were big when you turned one. In a year, I can't believe all that you have done. You are a running, jumping, dancing, singing, talking machine! Again, each day you somehow manage to yet even more joy and happiness into our lives. Right now some of your favorite things to do are to sing the ABC song..of course this is your own version, but it gets better and better each day. You are hilarious when you sing the Bitsy Bitsy Spider song..complete with all of the actions. You tell us you love us multiple times a day, and each time our hearts melt just a little bit more. You are the light of your grandparents' eyes as well...with those same words of I Love You Bapa - Nana - Damma or Dammy or whoever is lucky enough to be on the receiving end of those words, and with your hugs, kisses and squeezes.

You love to hide, chase, climb and be tickled. You grow smarter each day with your growing vocabulary and amaze with each new thing you learn to do. Right now you happen to love Dora, Abby Cadabby (Adabadabby..as you say) SpongeBob (you squeal and jump each time you hear the song) Puppies, and Baby Doll. You LOVE your blankie and still love your bottle..though mama and daddy are really trying to work on that one. You love to be a puppy too! You are such a good mama to your baby doll. You always make sure she has her bottle and gets burped. You take her for many walks in her stroller all around our house. You always call for her (Baby-Doll) first thing when you wake up and you make sure she is okay. You love to color with your color crayons, or as you call them "tully tans". You are becoming quite the independent lady, and insist of buckling yourself into your high chair and carseat and you even like to try to put on your own pants! You still love to snuggle, and daddy and I often fight over who gets to rock with you to sleep each night. We love to wake up to your kisses and hugs in the morning, and LOVE reading books with you. You can't get enough books. We have them stashed all over the house so we are never far away from one. You especially love books that have the moon in them. For some reason, you just LOVE the moon. You also love your cousins!! You love the time you get to spend with Donner (Conner)...A-E (Ansley) or No-No (Noah). You love when you get to play with Noah and Ansley's puppy Tucker also, and are very good at telling Tucker No-No!

Your favorite foods right now are Yo-Gos, Cheese, Goldfish, Mac and Cheese, Toaster Strudels, Yogurt, Apples, Oranges, and......french fries..but we try not to have those too often. You love to run and play outside. You love to go to Lori's to see your friends Zachy, Baby Catherine, and of course the puppy Molly. We are so lucky you have such a wonderful place to go while mama and daddy have to go to work. You get to go to the library each Tuesday and are always learning new things at Lori's house. You are our favorite little helper and love to help mama and daddy out in any way you can. You love to hand us things and help us clean up! You usually sing a song when you do this, which of course we love! Your faces you make crack us up daily! Your excited face is the best thing ever and you are usually willing to share it with us!!!!

As you can see, you amaze us each day. Your words you use are countless and I've lost track! You pretty much hear it, say it and you've got it! (Mama and Daddy need to be careful!!) We are always surprised with a new word that you use! You have lots of nicknames..you are our little Lou-Who, Avers, Avery Lou, Lovey. But most importantly, you are the sweetest, most beautiful little thing in the world. It is safe to say you are definitely a Daddy's girl, but I know you love your mama too!! Your hugs and kisses let me know for sure! Watching your personality develop makes us so proud. You are becoming such an independent little thing, with a personality the size of Texas! You are smart, sweet, loving, funny and beautiful! We love you more than you can ever even imagine, and that love grows deeper each day. We love you so much Avery Ellen Bahn. Happy 2nd Birthday to our Avery Lou. We LOVE you.

Love,

Mama and Daddy

The After-Birthday!

2009-11-03T19:02:00.000-06:00

Avery woke up SO excited to play with her toys from her birthday party the next morning. She is in heaven with all of her babies and accessories! She takes her strollers on laps around the house and says she is going to the mall! :) Gotta love her!

Avery Turns 2!!!

2009-11-03T18:30:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Avery's 2nd birthday this weekend!! (I pulled out my old point and shoot for the birthday party so I didn't have to worry about my camera, and I think something is up with my camera. They are HORRIBLE. At least you get the idea, but I'm pretty bummed.) Anyway, her party was a blast! Thanks to all of you who came over!! It was so great to have family and friends help us celebate Avery turning TWO! She is in heaven with all of her new toys. She is so in love with her baby dolls lately, and got lots of fun new baby doll toys. She is such a good mama to her babies!!! It was a great evening. Thanks again to all of you!!!! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! The pics are kind of random, just uploaded and put here, so no order..sorry!

Hew new "jogging" stroller...And notice the 98 piece food set all over the floor. Yes, 98 pieces of play food. She loves it! (THANKS Aunt Dana for that one!)

Singing the Dora song with Ansley and Jaxon

Cake with Ansley and Nana

Daddy getting her some cake

Loves that frosting

Blowing out her candles on her Dora cake!

Waiting so nice while we sing to her

Playing at her new table

Lots of friends and cousins

More friends

SpongeBob coloring book!

And her other stroller and new bath baby doll. She LOVES to give her baby baths, and sure helps us with bath time also!

Seriously, when did she get so big???

Friends Kate and Orelia

A little possessive over her new stroller..sorry Conner

Eating Dinner

Leaves Take 2!!

2009-10-19T23:41:00.003-05:00

Yes, I LOVE fall colors, and I am starting to get sad already thinking that the leaves are nearly off the trees, and winter is right around the corner. Avery has a super cute fall jacket, and boots, and I figured we should take advantage of this beautiful day and get out and do some pics in her outfit. We had so much fun. Just the two of us this time, Cullen had a football game, and she was great for me! The pics aren't perfect, I haven't had time to edit them just so yet, but I love them!! They are just so her and where she is right now...such a big girl!

This picture is horribly out of focus, color casts, everything it shouldn't be, and I can't believe I'm putting it up here, but I'm putting my mommy goggles on because I just love it! She was running to hug me, hence my shaky camera and the blur. Didn't want the lens to knock the poor girl out, so I had to be quick!

Playing peek-a-boo----The Reveal!

The hiding..I love how she thinks if she covers her eyes you really can't see her!

Pretty hair..getting so long...Avery pondering life

Cheese Mama!

She thought this was a pretty flower

Apple Orchard!

2009-10-19T23:35:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to Minnesota Harvest Orchard, to take advantage of the beautiful day. It was packed, but so fun. Avery loves horses, so we thought we'd try a pony ride. We thought she'd get up there and hate it, since the one at the grocery store is hit or miss (and it isn't real), but she LOVED it! She was all business on her horsey (pony) and did so great! She even would pet his hair and blew it kisses when she was done. Then we checked out some pumpkins, and she had to try to lift them all. We just can't believe how much she is growing up, and are more amazed by her, and in love with her each day. Here are a couple snapshots from the orchard:

Beautiful Fall

2009-10-01T20:31:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was such a beautiful fall weekend, we had to take advantage and go play in the leaves. I was searching for that perfect fall leaf photo, but it didn't happen. What did happen was Avery had a blast playing in the leaves, throwing them herself, and having Daddy rain them down on her. I can't believe my little sweetie will be 2 in a month, but she looks so old in these pictures, I can't even believe it. She is so not a little baby anymore. She has been talking so much lately, and is full of hugs and kisses. It is just the best. She also went potty in her potty all by herself the last two nights! We haven't been potty training, we just have one set up in the bathroom to try to get her used to it. She will go sit on it sometimes, and that is all we were really going for right now. Then two nights ago we were getting her bath ready so she was naked. Cullen and I were in the kitchen, and she was running around naked. Pretty soon we hear the little music her potty plays when something is in it (yes, very cool potty!) and sure enough, there she was sitting on it, and she went all by herself! Then she did the same thing last night! We aren't getting our hopes up, as we aren't totally potty training yet, but I think we may hopefully be getting ready to do that in the near future! What a big girl she is! She also has been kissing a little boy at daycare. She just loves her "Zachy" from daycare. I got a report about two weeks ago that she has been kissing him and hugging him. Yesterday as we were leaving, he was ahead of us with him mom, and she said "Zachy"...and made a big kissing noise with her little lips puckered up. Now she asks about him every night, and if you ask her what she does to Zachy, she will make the kiss noise. We may be in for it. At least she is kissing and not biting right?? Anyway, other than that not too much else is new here. Uncle Jeff comes home for a visit tomorrow with "LoLo" (Lauren) so we are WAY excited to see them, and plan on spending some major family time this weekend. I only have 1 photo session scheduled, and left the rest of the weekend open so I can enjoy him being home. Yay!!! Happy Fall everyone!

Daddy raining leaves on her

Every time I would ask her to smile that day, she would grin and cover her mouth with her little hands..such a cutie pie - she just messes with me! :)

Love the excitement in her eyes here

Making the leaves go crunch!

Family Pics

2009-09-19T00:13:00.004-05:00

So a few weeks ago I met up with a friend of mine that I've met through photography (www.liciamariephotography.com) and we did a family swap for each other. We had a great time, despite the fact that Avery wasn't having it AT all!! She didn't care how much thought mama put into find cute, coordinating outfits, or how badly I just wanted a good family picture, she wasn't having it! I should've known. We did it a 6 in the evening. I always tell people with toddlers to do it in the morning, I don't know why I thought I would be different! Anyway, Avery had a blast playing with her little 2 year old guy Jackson and we all went to dinner after and had a great time. She did manage to capture some fun moments for us. I just wish Avery didn't look so sad in our family ones. She wasn't even sad..I don't know what the deal was! Oh well..we still got some I like. Here are a few that I've edited so far. (We just swapped files and we're editing our own..fun!)

I do like this one, and she doesn't look quite as sad here

Windy Windy..but love this. She is fixing mama's "pretties"!

Smiles of course on daddy's shoulders!

This one isn't too bad either

This is hilarious..she was trying to get Avery to play peek-a-b00 so she had us stay and she tried to get her to peek around the tree. As you can see, she was much more into bringing the stick to her new pal Jackson. Too funny! We look like dorks!

Love this one too, too bad it was so windy! Her hair was so cute too in a little clip, but it kept falling out from the darn wind!

Some of just Lou-Who - I do love this one! It is so her look!

She is getting so big!

Pictures Pictures Finally!

2009-09-07T22:23:00.008-05:00

Here are some pictures FINALLY!! These are taken with my new camera I bought before we went to the Dells..a Nikon Coolpix! Yes, I bought a new point and shoot camera! I didn't want to haul either of my good ones around and I love having one of these again as well, for those everyday moments you want to capture quickly. I keep it in my purse and always have it handy! Plus, she always smiles more for me with this one. I think because my face isn't covered up. Oh well. This is pretty much August! These pics are straight out of my camera, not even cropped, so excuse the fact that the vertical ones are sideways here. I'll put captions on a few, but will try to post an update with what we've been up to tomorrow. It's back to school for us tomorrow, so if I didn't get these up now, it would probably be another month. I will definitely try not to go so long . It's been a busy summer! Happy Back to School for all you going!

Avery working on an important coloring project! She looks so grown up to me here!

So hard at work

Avery and her friend Kirk. She LOVES him! We met him at BWW today and she had to hold his hand. She asks for him all the time..it's pretty cute and I think the feeling might be somewhat mutual! :)

Visiting the horses with her cousins, Patience and Ans and Nana of course

Her Halloween costume, granted it still fits then, we'll see. She will be our little duck. I didn't know how she would feel about it, but she loves it! I had to take a picture early in case it doesn't work. It was a good deal!

In her pretty shades..this was her saying cheese

Watching Daddy play ball..he is on deck!

At Daddy's games with Grammy and Grandpa Dale

She loves to eat P0p-Pop (popcorn) at the game with Grandpa - I think she thought Grammy should have some too!

At the park with Conner when he came down to visit!

She loves to climb..yes, we needed a haircut and it was windy!

Busy girl - Crazy Hair

In the bike buggy on the way to the park

Wisconsin Dells July 2009 - She LOVED the Moose at the Wilderness where we stayed, but she didn't want to get too close. This was her excited face when she saw him!

The Indoor waterpark..she LOVED the slides!

The awesome indoor waterpark..we will so need to go in like January. It totally feels like you're outside.so great!

Striking a pose net to the little bear

The outdoor waterpark..she loved it but it was a little chilly

Another slide

2009-09-01T20:23:00.003-05:00

I don't have time to update lots right now, but we had a try at family pictures on Friday night. It was a bust. I've learned we have to do pics in the morning. That is when I do them with every other child, I don't know why I thought it would be different with mine! They are so much happier then. These are the two I've seen so far. A friend who I've met through photography, Alicia of Licia Marie Photography, took them for us. I love this one of Avery, despite a smile, because it is her total serious face. The family one is okay, but she looks so sad :( The little stinker. Alicia had a 2 year old little guy with her and I did some family pics for them, and of course the rest of the time Avery is running around playing, and when it was time for pics, our little diva decided it was really not what she wanted to do. So anyway, here is a mini blog update. I PROMISE I will update lots soon, but with the start of school and a crazy busy senior picture season which has taken off like crazy for me, football, drivers' ed., etc. we hardly have time to eat and sleep here at the Bahn house these days. Soon...I promise! :)

Her total Kauzlarich look...she looks a lot like uncle Jeff's baby pictures here

Our family..I think she was a bit unsure of the waterfall too. poor girl.

July Update - Pic Overload!

2009-07-15T20:16:00.006-05:00

Yes, I'm aware I've been a horrible blogger. I'm sorry. We have been pretty busy at the Bahn house. If you check my photography blog, you will understand why this one hasn't received quite as much love lately. I've been CRAZY busy with photo sessions this month. It is awesome and I'm loving every second of it, and really feel like I'm improving. I've even done quite a few seniors, have a few more booked, and have my second engagement session this weekend. It sure is fun. Other than that, not too much is new with me. If I haven't already posted, I got my job back at Chaska for next year. I was pink slipped in May, with all non-tenured elementary teachers, but found out in June shortly after school got out that there were two openings added back at my building. I had to reapply and interview, and was one of the lucky ones who got hired back. Whew! :)

As for the rest of the fam, Cullen is pretty busy also with his driving school. He is in the midst of his second session and has had about 35 kids or so this summer, which is kind of just where he was hoping to be starting out. He has also been busy with baseball, but with the driving school and pictures for me, he has missed more games this summer than usual. He also got a new bike and trailer for Avery for Father's Day. He had a really nice one in college that got stolen, and he finally got a new one. Avery LOVES it!

Avery is 20 months old already..4 more months until she turns 2. Wow. She is so busy. We started swimming lessons this week, which she really likes, but didn't love the going under part today, so we may skip that one next time. She did blow bubbles though, so we're making progress. She is also talking a lot more, and repeating, which means we have to be a little more careful with what we say around here! She goes to daycare 1 day a week, which gives me a good work day for pictures, and she gets to see her "friends" and Lori, and Molly (the dog!). It seems to be the only dog she doesn't scold regularly! We had a fun weekend with my family last weekend when we spent the day at Valleyfair and had a picnic. Avery went on some rides and had lots of fun with Audie (Auden) and all of her cousins. We also took a trip to Shell Rock to visit the Nieman's and the Garmans. We went swimming, to Chucky Cheese, and she got to go for a ride on Jackson's gator (she even drove!) We went up to Chisago for the 4th of July and also watched fireworks over at our friends house and Avery got to play with her friend Orelia! We also finally went and checked out the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. It's just beautiful. I can't believe we live this close and have never gone. Avery enjoyed all the fountains and flowers. We are headed to the Wisconsin Dells at the end of the month, just the 3 of us and can't wait for a little mini-vacation together.

I guess that explains why it is already July 15 and seems like summer has hardly started. It will be back to school before we know it! I hope all of you are enjoying your summers too!! I really will try to be better about keeping our blog up to date. (Especially for you Jeff...love you!) :) Here is picture overload on what we've been up to. I'm going to tell you right up front that NONE of these are edited. I want to edit all of my photos now, it's is a bad habit, but I'm biting the bullet and not doing it. These are also snapshots, so don't judge me. Go see my photo blog if you want to see good photos!

Getting ready for a bike ride!

Really excited!

A few from the picnic - didn't bring the camera in to Valleyfair

Patience and Kade...so cute! I don't get to take enough pics of them since they are in Iowa. Maybe they should consider themselves lucky?!

The girls minus Ans..not sure where she was here!

A few from the Arboretum ( I was practicing full sun pics here..I suck and need a reflector - hence the brightness!)

Avery's new excited face!

This one is funny because it shows how she is growing. Thank goodness it is summer. We put jeans on her, and they are way too short, but the next size is way too big around her waist. She is growing up, and the out part has slowed a bit, so....she has floods for jeans for now!

Riding the gator with Jaxon - He is showing her how to drive

Avery Driving - 9 and 3..does her dad teach Driver's Ed or something?!

Working hard on coloring at Uncle Jeff's

Jeff and LoLo at the beach with Avery

She loved the sand

Cullen got her a tube and she loved riding the waves up and down in the ocean. This is the one pic I got and my mom's camera died. I didn't bring mine down to the beach.

A Few From Florida :)

2009-07-01T13:15:00.003-05:00

We just got back from our trip to Florida to visit Uncle Jeff and Lauren..we had SO much fun! Here are just a few pictures from our trip. We started out trip in Tallahassee at Jeff's place. We hung out, ate way too much, watched movies, and went swimming. It was so much fun to see him! We also took a trip to the beach for the weekend to Saint George Island, which was GORGEOUS!! Avery loved playing in the ocean and on the beach. I have lots of great pictures from the pool and the ocean of our little fish in the water, but they are on my mom's camera, so I'll get those later. I wanted to get a few pics up right away, or I know it would be too long, so here are a few!

In the airport before Avery's first plane ride. She loved riding in the airplane and did a really great job. She yelled Wheee every time the plane would start to descend before we were going to land. Pretty funny!

Playing at the park..she thought the moss hanging from teh tree was really funny

Jeff and Lauren..they let me take some pictures of them to practice pics of couples..I had fun..don't know if they did..but here is a cute picture of them :)

Avery's cheese face

Nana and Avery at the beach

She LOVED LOVED the waves and the ocean. This was one evening after dinner we went back out the beach and we couldn't keep the girl out of the water!

Love her face here!

Splish-Splash

cutie pie

I just wanted one family picture..but not so easy with the little one...this was about the best I got. It was too late and Averyw as too tired. Thanks to Uncle Jeff for helping!

Playing in the sand

Heading out to those waves again

Love the next two..happy to mad in about .5 seconds...Happy.....

.....mad... :) Love the folded arms too! I think this one may come back to haunt her!

bustin a move in our beach house we got to stay in

1 pic of the main floor of the beach house..more pics to come later

view of our place from the beach

more pics to come soon

Thanks so much Jeff and Lo-Lo (this was what Avery called her) We had so much fun and it was so good to see you. We miss you already!! :(

Happy Father's Day!

2009-07-01T13:09:00.005-05:00

Avery made Cullen a special project for Father's Day this year. After 3 years of teaching, he finally gets his very own classroom this next year, so we made him a special frame for his desk. She got to finger paint him a very special painting. She loved it, as you can see. I should've taken a picture of the final product..it turned out really cute. It was a double 5x7 frame with a picture of her painting on one side, and the painting on the other..super cute!

figuring out it can go on other places besides the paper

hard at work on her masterpiece

all done..our little smurf!

So pretty!

2009-06-11T22:12:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty excited! I've been wanting to try out these very cool gallery wraps and haven't had a picture yet to try out. I of course want to try one of Avery, as they are pretty spend, but they are AWESOME! I got this one tonight. I can't for the life of me get her to look at me and smile, so I have to take one or the other. I love her face here. It is cropped out a bit, because the edges of the photo will wrap. It's pretty cool. I'll post a pic when I get it. It will be a 16x20, so pretty large, but it is more like a piece of art. We have the perfect place for it and I can't wait! Here is the photo of my pretty little lou-who (Yes, that has somehow totally become her nickname..Avery Lou-Who, or Lou-Who, or now even just Lou. It just fits for some reason! Poor girl is going to be confused what her name really is!) I should also note it will not have my logo on it.

Daddy's Little Helper

2009-06-10T21:18:00.004-05:00

So on my way to take pictures on Sunday..wouldn't you know I'm driving down the interstate and thought to myself...Wow. this is a bumpy road. I was right to my exit and thought, sheesh, this exit ramp is pretty bumpy too. Being the bright one that I am, I decided maybe it was more than a coincidence that both roads were so bumpy..so I pulled over. Needless to say I had a flat tire. My first one ever. My dad and Cullen both came to the rescue, since I have no idea how to change a tire. (Cullen has decided I must have a lesson in this, being the driver's ed. teacher he is.) So Avery was a good helper putting the new tire on when we all got home later that afternoon. Here are a couple snapshots of her helping. This has also reminded me that I need to buy a new point and shoot camera for moments like these when I don't want to run in and bring out the big guns. Such a cute little helper she is.

Helping daddy..with her golf club in hand :)

Taking a break to watch the sprinklers

Trying to move the spare tire for daddy

Hmm..maybe a little too heavy...need another plan...hence the angry face:)

Cullen Senior Pictures Take 2 :)

2009-06-10T21:09:00.002-05:00

So I have about 6 seniors lined up for pics this summer, as practice for me. This is an area I hope to venture into in the future with my photography. I ordered a new backdrop and needed to try it out before my first session tomorrow, so when Cullen got home from golfing today, he was SO excited to see it all set up in the garage for me to test it out! :) Here are a couple. I told him I would only post a few. They are too cute. He's kind of big for a senior :) I love it! The one of him and Avery is my new favorite picture!!!!! My two favorite people ever..and I love Avery's cheese face!

Yes, I've Been Neglecting The Blog

2009-06-09T21:30:00.003-05:00

Okay, I know I've been neglecting the blog. Things have been crazy busy around our house, and I've so been meaning to update with pics, but this has fallen lower on the priority list these deays. So tonight I sat down to do it and have tried to upload pics twice and have gotten errors. I have a pretty big headache so I'm off to bed, but I promise I will put this on the top of my list for tomorrow. So Jeff...you will have new pics soon, I promise :) But for now, I must go to bed and try to make this headache go away. Check back tomorrow afternoon for an update..I promise.

Avery Lou-Who

2009-05-15T23:21:00.005-05:00

I rented a lens for my camera for the last few weeks, but had to send it back the other day, so it was nice outside, and Avery was in a good mood, so I thought I should take advantage and try to get a few pics of her before I had to send it back. I also bought an adorable new petti-skirt for photos that I was dying to try out with Avery. She hated it at first, but then figured out she could twirl, and had fun for a little while. It helped that there were birdies around to distract her and I was giving her smarties to cooperate! I'm not above bribery! Here are quite a few, because I haven't posted pics in awhile. I think these pictures give you a pretty good taste of ALL of her moods! (I should mention this was impromptu, so I didn't do her hair, but it is her, so I'm embracing it! She is going for a trim tomorrow though, so we can lose the Avery Lou-Who look - though I think the name is sticking!)

Ahh..the sweet one. Love this picture!

Aww Mom...do I have to take these dumb pictures and wear this thing??

At least my toes are still there

Where did the birdie go??? It flew away. This is totally her "What's that?" or "Where did it go?" face and hands!

Twirling!!

More twirling!

I think she was saying the dreaded...."Cheese" This is her cheese face!

Yes Boss! (Again, hollering at birds!)

Maybe a few too many smarties in that mouth. She looks busted!

Laughing at mama...Love her little laugh and scrunchy nose

Being goofy

Fun With Bubbles!

2009-05-05T21:01:00.003-05:00

Avery stayed overnight at Nana and Grandpa's house on Saturday night as Cullen and I had to chaperone the Chaska High School prom. Wow was that an experience! Cullen decided Avery is never going to prom! :) We did have fun, and it appears Avery did too, as she always does over there. On Sunday, it was so beautiful out. These are just a few pics of Avery and my mom blowing bubbles on the deck and a great picture of Avery finding her button. She is loving the warmer weather and the fact that she doesn't have to wear a onesie under her clothes, which means all she has to do is life up her shirt to find her button! The trouble is she likes to try to find everyone else's buttons too... Look out!

Ahh..my button is still there..whew!

My Website!!!!!!!!

2009-05-03T21:03:00.001-05:00

If you get a chance and are bored, you can check out my BRAND-NEW photography website!!! I will be keeping my blog for sneak peeks, but now have an official website. I'm pretty excited!!!

www.jenniferbahnphotography.com

**I've proof-read it about 1000 times, but if somehow I've missed a mistake that you catch, I won't feel bad..let me know!!! :)

Please Check This Out!!!

2009-04-24T19:33:00.000-05:00

If you have a second, check out this site that was shared with me by a teacher I used to work with. This story will make you cry and smile all at the same time. I already ordered some cards myself. What a fantastic thing this little girl is doing. Ever since I have a child of my own now, these stories just touch me like they never have before. I can only imagine how difficult something like that must be. Sometimes kids are just truly amazing, not to mention inspiring. How proud her daddy must be.

www.cardsbyreese.com

Climbing Girl!!

2009-04-19T21:27:00.002-05:00

Well these days Avery likes to climb on EVERYTHING..as you can see from her gate post a few below. Well the other night she was climbing up her changing table. I really didn't think she could do it when she started, so I stood there and watched her (and was sorting of acting as her spotter). Well sure enough, she did it. So we waited for daddy to get home and then went back up there. We didn't want to tell her to do it again, so we just waited to see if she would. Sure enough...she did. So we quickly caught it on video and have been telling her "no-no" ever since! Anyway, here is the clip of her latest climbing escapades

Click here:

Avery Climbs

We're Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!!

2009-04-19T16:30:00.001-05:00

The Easter Bunny brought us a pass to the zoo this year, so we broke it in today! Cullen had his big conference and presentation for his master's this weekend (all done!!!) and so Nana, Avery and I went to the zoo. Despite the rain and a bit cool, it was SO much fun and that didn't really stop us at all. We had a blast and I can't wait to see Avery with all of the animals when it is nice out! Here are a few snapshots from today:

Avery got to use her new umbrella today

LOVED the monorail ride - and the other 2 little boys in our car she was trying to climb over to play with! (This is my NEW favorite face she makes! She does this every night when Cullen gets home. So cute!)

Looking out at the animals

Riding with nana

Minus the horrible picture (I didn't want to use my flash with the glass and it was pretty dark in there) She spotted a dolpin!!!

Watching the dolphins

Avery got a new ball on the way out

Spotted the monkeys - and even made her monkey noise!

Doesn't she look thrilled to be with me?!

My attempt at nature photography - ha :) I think I'll stick to portraits! Though it was a cool flower-

Avery in her pre-zoo outfit and she actually left the clip in her hair for more than 5 minutes. We realized it was too cold and had to change - dang weather

Our Pretty Easter Girl

2009-04-13T20:58:00.004-05:00

Happy Easter! What a fun weekend we had! On Saturday Cullen's high school team had a baseball game and then he enjoyed some golf with his friend Bob..in the meantime we girls took of for Iowa with my mom and niece Ansley to meet my cousin's new little baby Evan! OH MY GOSH...he is just adorable. I got to take some photos of him and you have to check him out. Check out my photo blog to see some pics of this handsome little man.

Then on Sunday we went up to Chisago for Easter with Cullen's family. It was a beautiful day. We went to his cousin's house and they have such a great place with so many fun things to do outside, for the little ones (and the big ones..we went on a mule ride - not the animal, but a type of atv thing - and Cullen and his dad went through the creek and got stuck, on purpose. Oh my they had fun). The food was great too of course and we ate way too much. Thanks again Julie. Avery and Conner had fun playing together as always and Avery just couldn't get enough of being outside. She was non-stop. I had to take lots of pics in her dress, as it was just too darn cute. We need something else to dress up for so we can wear it again, or one day we might just be dressing up for daycare! Anyway, it was an awesome weekend and went way too fast. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!!

Some inside pics - they suck and were just on auto, but this may be the ONLY one all day I got of her looking at me! She was just TOO busy. She looks way too innocent in this picture! Don't be fooled!! :)

A nice shot of her whole little dress, except the shoes. Love it! I can't believe how grown up she is starting too look. AGGHHH...where is my baby???!!

Kind of twirling in her dress - of course she wouldn't twirl when she actually the dress on!

Conner going in for another kiss..it's the only way we can get them to sit still next to each other. They're going to hate us when they're older!

Avery has brought back "the face"! I love it . Here is a side view!

Playing with a rock

Love this one...the girl freaks out over leaves!

Playing with a swing

Uncle Jeff...if you're reading this..you need to come home to visit!! We miss you lots and Avery is getting way too big. She has been asking to play with her Uncle Jeff. But really..we miss you and love you!

Go Twins!

2009-04-06T20:44:00.002-05:00

We're gonna win Twins, we're gonna score! We all got decked out in our Twins gear today for the opener. Hoping for a fun season!

Sunday at the Bahn's

2009-04-05T21:56:00.004-05:00

So here are a few pics of Avery from today. I haven't posted pics in awhile and she as seemingly grown overnight! Honestly, she is getting to be such a big girl, I can't believe it. So here are a few snapshots from today. I really do need to take some "real" pics of my own child soon. I've been so busy with other pictures, and it has been such a blast! You can check some out on my blog if you're interested. I'm really excited as I'm working on a real website I hope to have ready to go in June! But for now, all we have are these snapshots, yes on full auto, of miss Avery. I think they pretty much sum up her personality that is beginning to unfold (which could be trouble for us!) No, it is amazing to watch her little personality develop each day. We can't get enough. Oh..and did I mention she is a total Daddy's girl these days??? Oh yeah...wrapped around her finger! :)

Daddy bought her new Twins shirt for the opener tomorrow. It's pretty cute!

Bringing mama her lens cover - really, she looks so grown up in this picture

Likes to carry her toothbrush around

Loves to sweep with her little broom

Taking a time out for a quick snuggle with daddy and her blankie (Thanks Jamie..this is her FAVORITE blanket ever!)

Reading her book for a few (notice Cullen's eyes focused not on the book, but on the golf tournament on tv)

Ahh..busted..picking her nose. She has discovered her fingers fit in there. We're going to have to break this habit!

A quick shot of "the face" that she has recently busted back out

Sneaking into the bathroom as we apparently didn't shut the door = trouble

Pretty sure she probably just unravelled all the toilet paper or did something else she wasn't supposed to in there! She looks guilty and his apparently running out of there!

Thinking about trying to scale the gate again - see post below

Trying on daddy's shades

New Gate???

2009-04-05T21:52:00.002-05:00

So we've been lucky so far with our gate. It's actually my sister's old one and it has worked great to just stick it up in the hallway. Avery never really knew that we had a downstairs, as she doesn't go down there much. It isn't finished, and it is mostly just storage and Cullen's office area. Well she got to play down there a little this weekend, and now she wants to go down there. So she discovered she can scale the gate to try to get down. We let her keep at is this once because we had to capture it on camera, but now we battle this and I think we are going to need to find something different, as she is one fearless little climber! (Please excuse the no pants...we were mid-change and she ran away before we could get her jeans back on her!)

Oh my....

Working on it

My Dad Update

2009-03-31T16:12:00.002-05:00

I thought I should give a quick update on my dad, since some have been wondering. He had his surgery on Thursday and it went really well. Apparently the tumor was contained, so it hadn't spread anywhere else, as far as they know. They give tumors grades I guess (this is different from stages) and his was a grade 4, which means that the cells were pretty aggressive and he is at a higher risk for it occuring again. Though he could very well never have them pop up again. They will scan him very closely, every 3 months for the next year. Otherwise, he doesn't need any further cancer treatment like chemo or radiation, so really the news was pretty good considering. He came home on Sunday and has been getting better each day. We saw him last night and he was moving around a lot better and was looking really good. He goes back in to the doctor on Thursday. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!! You can keep them coming in hopes that this stays away for good!!

Matt Logelin

2009-03-26T09:43:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to share another blog that I follow quite frequently. Beware if you're going to look at it, you will need to have a box of tissues handy. I can only look at it on certain days or I'm a wreck. Long story, he is from Minneapolis but lives in L.A. A year ago on Tuesday, he had a baby girl, and a year ago on Wednesday he lost his wife. She passed away the day after her daughter was born of a pulmonary embolism, minutes before she was going to go hold her daughter for the first time. This is his story about taking on the challenge of giving his daughter the best life he can, the life he knows his wife would've wished for her, and doing it without the love of his life. It is an amazing story.

www.mattlogelin.com

Dad

2009-03-26T09:41:00.002-05:00

Well for those of you that maybe haven't heard, about two weeks ago they found a tumor on my dad's left kidney. We are in today actually at the hospital and he is in right now getting his kidney removed. They won't know the extent, if it has spread, etc. until they are done with the surgery. We are just hoping and praying for the best.

This man has a trip to China planned that we need to get him all better for so he can go and enjoy. If you know him, this is really cramping his style right now :) I will keep posted with what we hear. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. We'll take all we can get.

Avery Update

2009-03-25T22:48:00.007-05:00

We have been bad bloggers lately. I realize it has been almost two weeks. We've been pretty busy with baseball, pictures, conferences, family, etc. Avery is doing great. She had her tube recheck yesterday and one ear looks great and one is still clogged, so we are trying some other drops, go back in two weeks and we'll go from there I guess. Here is a little video of her from tonight. Cullen brought home a cool little video thing from school to tape his hitters at baseball and brought it home to show me. It's pretty cool.

This is Avery tonight after we got home from my parents. It is just before bedtime, and she is pretty tired, but pretty funny! She has a new word, hello and it is so cute. She also said Grandpa tonight clear as day at my parents. It sounded like ba-pa and was so cute. Of course, she wouldn't do it again. Cullen has also added the cow to her animal sounds that he likes to try to teach her, and she makes a little moo sound. Anyway, thought we would give this a try at uploading, since I'm too tired to go through and upload pictures right now. And yes..she did just get a haircut, and already needs another one. Wow her hair grows fast. She also gives kisses here..big, wet ones like she does.

Some other fun things she has been doing lately are twirling..it is so cute! She got a fun dress I tried on her about a week ago, and showed her how to twirl. It is so funny. She gets her whole body into it. She still isn't a really big talker, but new words are coming little by little everyday. She is also totally enjoying spring, or at least what we had of it last week. We went for a walk or to the park about every single night and the poor girl just cried on Friday when it rained and we couldn't go. I can't wait for summer with her. Cullen and I were also looking at some old photos tonight and realized she is totally looking like me when I was about that age. Yes, I can honestly say I loved that. I see Cullen so much more in her, so it was fun to see some pictures where she totally is looking like me. So that is what we've been up to. Enjoy the video!

If the video doesn't work, try this link:

Avery March Update

Tubes Were A Success!!!

2009-03-11T14:46:00.003-05:00

Avery is home and the tubes were successful. She was such a little trooper. We went to Children's West and it was amazing. They had so many toys for her play with while we waited, and the nurses and doctors were the best. It wasn't fun watching her get the gas to be put out, but she did great. The surgery only lasted about 15 minutes and she came out of the anesthesia just fine. We are back home, she played hard and was pretty much her normal self, besides the 3 1/2 hour nap she just got up from! They said she definitely needed them as she had lots of fluid in there. They said there are 2 different kinds of fluid, a clear/watery kind and a thick glue like. She had the thick kind, which they said was definitely causing a little hearing loss, so she should be hearing much better now and might be sensitive to noises for awhile. They did also say sometimes if it comes back it can clog the tubes, so we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully not, we're being optimistic.

I didn't bring my camera, but had my phone, so we took a picture of her in her little hospital jammies. They were a little too small, but the toddler ones were too big. She even got to keep her sweet yellow slipper socks! I'm glad it's over!

Little Miss Personality!

2009-03-10T21:57:00.004-05:00

Oh Avery..what a funny girl she is! Avery has taken to feeding herself. She will let us help sometimes, but she much prefers to do it herself. You can imagine what kind of mess this leads too. After seeing her cousin Conner use a fork last weekend, she thought she should try that too. Which leads us to dinner tonight...

Tomorrow morning Avery gets tubes put in her ears :( I'm equally terrified and excited. I know this will be best for her because the poor thing has ear infections ALL the time. But I'm terrified for the surgery because she has to totally be put out. So because of the anesthesia, she can't eat after midnight tonight, so we wanted to be sure she ate well tonight. So she got a supper full of all her favorite things. #1 of course is Macaroni and Cheese which she loves, some broccoli (can't figure out why she likes this), and topped off with a nutri-grain bar. She had lots of pears this morning, which she also loves, so she had a great day! The girl takes FOREVER to eat if you let her, so of course, we let her go until she was good and done tonight. I think this may be the messiest she has ever been, and she was just a nut! She was so darn funny. We had to take some photos!! Here are a ton of them!!

All done!

Being goofy - laughing at Daddy

Not sure what she was doing here..

Showing off her big girl teeth

Yup..pretty sure I'm full guys! It worked!

What is this look??

And as if she didn't get enough, topping it off with a nibble of her toes!

Get nakey and coming after me - there was a bath that came IMMEDIATELY after

Helping sweep the floor after the mess

Saving a little for later

Combing her pretty hair..nice look!

All clean

A day of cousins!

2009-03-01T21:33:00.001-06:00

After Conner left today, Dana and Ansley stopped by. Avery loves to play with Ansley too, so it was a great day with her. If only we could've had Noah, Kate and Patience up we'd have been all set! Ans had on this super cute coat and we had to take advantage and snap a few pics. I thought I'd share this one over here because she is just too pretty not to share! The camera seriously LOVES this girl!

Cutie Pie Conner!

2009-03-01T21:31:00.002-06:00

Here are just a few of Conner from playing today! He has the biggest blue eyes. He is such a funny little guy! I'm so excited he and Avery get to grow up together and be buddies!

Gotta love him on Avery's cool pink and purple horse!

Fun Day with Conner!!

2009-03-01T21:23:00.004-06:00

Today Avery's cousin Conner, Grammy and Grandpa Bahn, and aunt Jess came down to hang out and we had so much fun! Conner is just 6 weeks older than Avery, so it's so fun to watch them interact. They both like to give kisses, so of course, they gave each other kisses! They also both give wet kisses, so that was interesting! Yes, they are cousins, but hey..they will love these pictures years down the road! :)

Goin in for the real thing!

Conner going in for another!

And yet another...

Both kids on Avery's horse! (Avery had just woke from a nap, hence the bedhead and lack of pants!)

Conner checking out Avery's tent...She and Grandpa were in there, but he was having NONE of it. He did not like the tent!

Putting the kids to work..Conner on the vacuum and Avery was sweeping the floor :)

Reading a story with Grandpa

Fun with Grammy

First Haircut!

2009-02-23T19:44:00.004-06:00

So finally here are some pics from the haircut on Saturday. It went really well. She didn't love it or hate it, just kind of kicked back and let them do their thing! She sat really well for them. They gave her a sucker, so that kept her busy. It went as good as we could've hoped! We went to Kids' Hair in Savage. So now the poor girl can play until her little heart's content without her hair in her eyes! Here are a few (okay, a lot) of pics from the event! Cullen made fun of me for bringing my camera in, but I informed him this is a very important first!

Getting pigtails put in

Just another day at the salon :)

Such a big girl

Getting ready

Waiting to get in (Do you think she needed it cut??!!)

No Baby Mullet Please :)

2009-02-21T10:43:00.002-06:00

So Avery is napping and when she wakes up, we are headed to Kids Hair for our first haircut. I've been putting it off for months, but it has gotten bad. She apparently doesn't think her pigtails and ponytails are as cute as we do, because lately she has been ripping them all out. Then her poor hair just hangs in her eyes. Here is just a little shot of her bangs from the other day. So I will post some before and after pics when we get there. You better believe I'm bringing my camera with me. I'm sure they will think I'm the crazy mom, but oh well. :) Wish us luck, and for a happy baby that sits still for the hairdresser! (What are the odds of that happening :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-12T21:22:00.006-06:00

So on Saturday I got Avery all ready to go to take some Valentine's Day pictures. I was just about to set up and got a phone call from Cullen (who was at class) that they were going to show our house on Sunday. So...change of plans, no pictures for us (lucky for Avery) because I needed to start cleaning a.s.a.p. She was too cute not to quick snap a few though, just to capture her cuteness in her tutu and pigtails. She enjoyed playing in her room with her toys and reading some books in her girly outfit. (Please also try to look past the remains of her first big bruise smack in the middle of her forehead. We knew it would happen someday. Poor girl! If these would've been official, I would have worked some photoshop magic, but they were just for fun pics, no editing..takes too long!) So anyway, no fancy Valentine's day pictures this year, oh well.

I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day and enjoy the time with all of the special people in your life.

Gotta love the cheeks in this one!

Avery's Update

2009-02-06T19:33:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe Avery is already 15 months old! Crazy...

We had her 15 month appointment on Tuesday and things all looked great. She weighed in at 23 lbs. and 3 oz. which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight. She was 31 in. long, which puts her in the 75% for height. Her head was in the 95th percentile..which I guess just means she is going to be brilliant!

She is as busy as can be. She loves to climb on anything, and explore everything she can get her hands on. We've had look at our house in a whole different way now, as she is really into EVERYTHING! It is so fun though, to watch her discover her new world. She is slowly becoming a better eater, but she still is still pretty picky about what she likes. We are also still using our bottle, not all the time, but we just can't give it up yet. She loves it. She will do a sippy, but will only take her milk from a bottle yet. Plus, maybe it's a little bit that mama really loves our bedtime bottle and snuggles and just isn't quite ready to give that up yet..maybe... :)

She still doesn't sleep through the night regularly, but we will get a couple nights here and there, sometimes even in a row. It is getting better. When she is up, it is only for a few minutes, so really, it isn't too bad.

Last Saturday we enjoyed the beautiful weather and a short trip down to Iowa for my cousin's baby shower and Avery got to run around outside a little. She discovered her shadow for the first time. It was so cute to watch her chase it around and try to touch it. I can't wait for summer with her! We also have added a new step to our morning routine..I have to do her hair! It is getting long, and I just can't bring myself to cut it. So we are in the process of it growing. Which means we either need a ponytail (which stick straight up on the top of her head), pig-tails (though this is a challenge), or just the clip. This has added a whole new dimension to our morning routine!

She is also starting to repeat more words, or at least she tries. She will however, not say mama. Everything is dada. If we say, Say Mama...she will say, Dada. Yes, she is daddy's girl for sure. It will come though. I will be patient. We are really loving every minute right now. It is so much fun watching her little personality unfold. We will get more pictures up soon.

A Cake For Cullen!

2009-02-06T19:31:00.003-06:00

Yes, a cake for Cullen, and no, I didn't bake it! This is kind of a funny story...so at the beginning of the semester in Cullen's driver's ed class, this girl was really worried about taking her permit test and passing. So Cullen told her she didn't need to worry, because he was such a good teacher. So they made a deal that if she passed her test, she would owe him a Snickers. She said she would do one better and bake him a cake. So the semester went on, and came to an end. A few days later, the girl returned with...yes...a cake for Cullen. She passed her permit test, and so she followed up on her end of the bargain, and Cullen got cake. It was win, win for all involved!

Busy Bahns!

2009-01-29T21:15:00.009-06:00

Lots and lots of new pics!

(I'm lazy and they aren't cropped, edited or anything else. I still do just take random snapshots of Avery. They aren't all fancy pics!)

Reading a favorite book

Her "Grrrr" face...look out! (She was jumping in her bed!)

We now have to do Avery's hair every morning, whether it's a pony, pigtails, or a clip, so she's got some fancy new hair accessories

Giving her daddy kisses

Aww..loving her daddy

So Avery somehow got herself under out barstools the other night. It was pretty funny actually, but then she got mad. We had to run and get the camera though, it was so funny. We did get her out safe and sound. She looks pretty tough in these pics - we were getting ready for bathtime, and she had ripped out her ponytail, hence the hunk of hair in front!

Somebody get me out!!!

She got this horse for Christmas from my cousin Erica and she LOVES it! She rides it around the kitchen and it even plays music and has a basket for her favorite things.

I LOVE my horse!

I haven't updated in awhile, and there isn't too much exciting to update, but I do have some new fun pics. We've been super busy here at the Bahn house. Some exciting news is that Cullen is now officially licensed and set to open his driving school this summer. His website is up and running and you can check him out at www.bahnsdrivingacademy.com . If you know of anyone in the area up here who needs to learn to drive, he's your man! (Yes, shameless plug for the new business!) I will say I've been pretty busy too with photos lately. It isn't slowing down any either, as I have pictures now scheduled every weekend through February, which is way exciting, but so busy! You can check out my blog here too. So besides school and Avery of course (oh yes, and all of my other domestic, wifely duties like cooking, baking, cleaning and tending to my husband...wait, maybe I haven't quite kept up with ALL of those things!) I have had little time for blogging!

Avery is continuing to amaze us everyday. She is now into blowing kisses, which consists of basically licking her hand. She also is starting to climb up onto everything. She is talking a little bit more, but doesn't say a whole lot yet. She will say night-night, hi, and uh-oh, though not all the time....and of course, everything is dada. We come home everyday after school, and pretty much just laugh and play until she goes to bed! Here are a few new pictures of the little one!

Bathing Beauty

2009-01-19T20:03:00.002-06:00

This Saturday we went to our Brekke family Christmas in Shell Rock. Well the roads sucked and half of the family couldn't make it, and we ended up leaving real early to drive back in the daylight. We drove to Rochester to stay overnight to see Cullen's mom and spend some time with his dad. We stayed overnight in the hotel. Avery had a chance to check out the pool, which she really loved, but it was pretty cold so we didn't stay in it for long. We had to share some pics of her in her little suit. You just gotta love that belly poking out and those thighs!!

Pigtails!

2009-01-11T20:10:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I decided to try to do Avery's hair in pigtails, because I thought it might fit. I LOVE it!!! She actually sat fairly nice for me to do it, and left them in just fine, until she would put her hand up there for some reason and realize they were there. Then she tried to pull them out, but we will definitely be doing it again. Here are just a few snapshots of the pigtails! I can't believe how grown-up they make her look!

Back To School :(

2009-01-04T21:09:00.003-06:00

I wrote below, but tomorrow we go back to school from Christmas break, and Avery will have to head back to daycare. She loves it there, and we have the BEST daycare provider ever, and she has lots of friends, but I'm still sad. I took a few pics of her today, just because she was just in a really good mood, and it was so bright and nice outside. Here are couple fun ones...

Maybe my new fave picture of her

Love that you can see her new top tooth, she got her two front teeth for Christmas! (Well she had one, but finally got the other one)

A little Sunday reading in her favorite chair, and her most favorite book of all time, Trumpety Humpety - it is literally falling apart, and has already been taped up once

She was starting to get mad at me :)

Deep into her book

Avery Kisses!

2009-01-04T21:03:00.005-06:00

Avery has gotten really good at giving kisses, just beware if you ask for one because they are wet ones!! We captured a few today. You can see for yourself. She comes at you... tongue out and all. It is pretty funny! Hopefully this changes over the next 16 years or so! She is a sweetie and just likes to share the love :)

Kisses for her mama

Not sure what she was trying to do to me here!

Aww..a nice one

Kisses for her daddy too

Here she comes!

Mama and Daddy Time!

2009-01-04T20:48:00.006-06:00

Well tomorrow we go back to school and Christmas break comes to an end :( It is this time of year when it is especially nice that Cullen and I both teach. We are so lucky to be able to have this time together and this year we got two weeks. I don't know where the time went. We have had so much fun, the three of us and it was so awesome to have that time to spend together. Avery has just been cracking us up daily, and I swear each morning she wakes up and it seems as though she has grown! She is doing new things almost everyday, and has us laughing most of the time. Today I took a few pictures of Cullen for his driving school website, and so since the camera was out already, Avery had to hop in for a few with Daddy. Then he actually grabbed it and took a couple of her and I, since I don't have really any of those for about the last, hmm...6 months or so? I still have lots of blog catching up to do, so don't be surprised if lots of posts are out of order. I haven't got to my New Years pics yet, but those are coming. It was pretty low key, but we had the best time with some great friends of ours. Mara, Josh, Logan and Kristin came over and Avery even had a friend to play with. More of that later to come.

This is Avery's favorite new book she got for Christmas, we read it over, and over, and over, and over again. The girl can't get enough. She just brings it back and forth between the two of us...thanks Nana... :)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:54:00.001-06:00

So here is my first attempt at getting a little caught up on blogging, so they may be a little out of order because we have lots of Christmas stuff to update. We celebrated Christmas Eve up in Chisago with Cullen's family. Avery got to spend lots of time with Grammy and Grandpa and cousin Conner and it was lots of fun. On Christmas Eve, we got dressed up, went to church, had dinner and opened presents. Avery had a beautiful little red Christmas dress to wear, and the girl can wear red! Her and Conner were so cute all dressed up, but it got pretty late for them. They did really great considering and had lots of fun opening up their presents and trying them out. It seems like it was just last Christmas where they just sat in their little swings, and now here they are all over the place. They just make it so much fun. Even though they are small, it is so great to see Christmas through their little eyes. I know I keep saying it, but we really are just so blessed.

Avery in her pretty Christmas dress - she looked like a little mini-Mrs. Claus..it was way beyond adorable if I do say so myself!

Giving a little Christmas attitude :)

A shot at a family picture, but Avery WAY tired and not loving it at this point..

Grammy and Granpda Bahn with Avery and Conner

Avery and Conner looking for Santa

Avery and Conner all tired out on Christmas..(they were up way past their bedtime!)

Christmas Morning

2008-12-25T21:24:00.004-06:00

Christmas morning was a little different this year. We usually celebrate Christmas morning at my mom and dad's house, after we open presents at our house, but this year, we stayed here most of the day. My brother Jeff got a job down in Florida, so my parents went down there. We sure missed them, and we had a really awesome day, just the three of us. We did go over to my sister's for a little while to hang out, but otherwise, we had a lazy Christmas day, and never even got out of our jammies! Avery got a new pair of Christmas pj's. I bought them awhile ago and it is a good thing Christmas was today, as you can see! She doesn't have much room left in them. I should've known, she is really pushing those 12 month clothes! She LOVES opening presents, and this was her third Christmas now, so she was a pro! We just got her a few small things this year, but she loved them all. She was so much fun today and we really had the best Christmas, despite being away from family. We loved our time together. I think she also finally kind of figured out how to go DOWN the stairs now too. We practiced a lot today. She is fast asleep now after an exciting few days. I can only imagine how much fun next year will be... Only 365 more days! (And uncle Jeff...you better be able to make it home next Christmas! Love you :) - Warning, all Christmas morning pictures are straight out of bed, no make-up, etc..look at your own risk!)

Rockin the new Christmas jammies

Her new little shape van/car thing...she is her daddy's girl

All of her new books, and she still brings me her old favorite to read - the girl LOVES to read books and I'm not going to complain, it is awesome snuggle time

Playing with daddy - what she does best

Reading a new book with daddy

The Bahns on Christmas morning - we're going to try to make new jammies and an early morning Christmas picture a tradition - Avery has two of her shapes from her new toy and her new ornament in her hand..she carried them around all morning! (Yes, this is straight out of bed, no make-up, etc...this was big to post up here, so please don't look too close!)

Hmm..maybe a Christmas haircut next week for the little one?? I may just have to bite the bullet and do it. Those of you who have seen her lately might agree..but I'm having such a hard time with it..though I think it might be time!

Waiting patiently for daddy to get her present out of the box

Checking out one of her new books

Opening a present

Fake Christmas Morning

2008-12-25T18:00:00.000-06:00

We usually celebrate Christmas morning with my family, but this year my parents packed up for Florida to visit Jeff, so we celebrated Christmas morning on Saturday instead! It was Avery's first Christmas this year and she had lots of fun figuring out what to do with those presents and she loved that she actually got to rip up paper! She has also been so funny this year with my parents nativity. She loves to go over and play with the figures. They are just plastic, so she can't hurt them at all, and every time we get to Nana and Grandpa's she heads right for it. On Saturday, she carried a few of them around with her all day long. She always seems to chose baby Jesus, and usually a wiseman as well. She also got a Jack-In-The-Box which she was fascinated with. It was a great day, but would have of course been better if uncle Jeff could've been there.

All tired out at the end of the day

Playing with her friends from the nativity - we need to learn they aren't for eating though

Opening a present with Nana

Avery and her first purse.. She is ready to hit the mall!

Checking to make sure Grandpa is seeing this cool new toy!

Waiting for it to open!

Checking out what this new toy can do..she LOVED LOVED it!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

2008-12-22T22:01:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas! I have been a bad blogger lately and have lots of catching up to do. Last week we visited Santa, and we've also had Christmas with my family, so I have lots of pictures to post. We've been busy, busy, busy and they probably won't get posted tonight. I promise to get them up soon though. I'm thinking we'll have some time on Christmas day when we just enjoying some peaceful, family time together.

We were at my parents for Christmas today with my family, and Avery was playing by my mom's beautiful tree before we left tonight. I took the opportunity to try out some fun things with my camera, and thought these pictures turned out kind of different and cool. The little one near the bottom in her cute, cozy jammies would be Avery! She looks like she is putting the finishing touches on Nana's tree! Here is wishing you a beautiful Christmas. Enjoy this special time with your loved ones. I am so thankful everyday for my amazing family and all of the blessings I am so fortunate to have in my life. May your Christmas be filled with peace, love and joy.

Needed Prayers

2008-12-15T20:35:00.002-06:00

One of my oldest and dearest friends Kristin (she was a bridesmaid in our wedding) and her family are in need of your thoughts and prayers right now. On Friday night, her parents home in Winthrop burned down. From the sounds of it, they lost most everything. However the most devastating news of all is that her mom, Deb, didn't make it. Her dad is okay. He is in the ICU at HCMC right now being treated for smoke inhalation, but should be okay. Her mom was a teacher at GFW and was just a great lady. She will surely be deeply missed by all of those who knew her. In November, her parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Kristin also has an older brother and sister. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for them right now, especially at this time of year, on top of it all. Right now they are just worried about getting their dad better. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Under the Weather

2008-12-13T22:28:00.002-06:00

Avery came down with the flu this week, poor little thing. Luckily it was only a 24 hour thing, but it was no good. I got to stay home with her on Friday and she spent the day resting up. She would try to play, and then just lay her little head down. She got lots of rest, and is pretty much back to normal. Uncle Jeff wanted new pictures, so here you go. I did take a few that day...even though she wasn't feeling well, she just looked so sweet and I loved all the snuggling we got to do that day. We're sure glad she is back to her normal, energetic self again!

This little ice cube thing works wonders and came in so handy when she wasn't feeling well

Oh mom, I wish I could just go out and play

I can still try to play with the tree right??

Sweet girl

Bonding Time

2008-12-07T20:56:00.002-06:00

This was a few weeks ago (notice the sunny sky and lack of snow) and I came downstairs after getting ready to find Avery and Daddy deep in a game of Super Nintendo - Super Mario Brothers 3! What can I say, Cullen loves Mario. Avery just liked to hold the control. I think the Super Nintendo was from when we were like 8 years old or something. It's still fun, nonetheless! However, a Wii may need to be in our future one of these days!

More Lollipop!

2008-12-07T20:31:00.002-06:00

Well I decided to go a different route with the Christmas cards, so since we won't be using the lollipop pictures, as cute as they are, I figured I could share some here. She was so worried about the darn sucker, you can't really see her and I LOVE the pics we chose for the Christmas card!! Also, I didn't take the time to edit all of these like the other ones, so forgive the mismatching whites!

Oh Baby!

2008-12-07T17:00:00.001-06:00

I know I said I wouldn't share too many pictures that aren't my family on this blog, but these are all my good friends, so I had to!! The last few weeks I've had the chance to practice up my pictures skills with my friends little ones, and in case you don't check out my photo blog, I had to share a few here because these little ones are just so darn cute! I could hardly even pick 2-3 of each to share here, so if you want to see more of them and some others I've recently done, you can check my photo blog and there are more. Now I just need to keep my friends having babies, and such beautiful ones at that!!!

Orelia- 3 Months

Quinn - 1 Week

Kate - 3 Months

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-03T22:57:00.003-06:00

I couldn't post pics before, so here are a just a few from Thanksgiving weekend. She had a way cute Thanksgiving dress, and even some boots with the fur (which she isn't so sure about!) It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Playing in the yard on one of the last semi-nice days we can do this I'm sure. This was the day after Thanksgiving, trying out her Thanksgiving dress again, with jeans this time as more of a tunic. Yeah, she is stylin! :) (Yes, she wore it two days in a row because I love it and I don't know how long it will fit!)

Thanksgiving Day as we were leaving Grandma and Grandpa Bahn's for cousin Julie's house. She wouldn't stand still for a quick picture. All I wanted was a picture of the dress, the leggings, and the boots! This is the best I got at the given moment!

You will have to excuse the hair - she was fresh up from a nap, and had some major bedhead going on! I think it gives her character :)

Busy Busy!

2008-12-03T12:27:00.003-06:00

We have been busy, busy at the Bahn house these days, like I know everyone is these days, so I apologize for not being a very good blogger late.y. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. We had a nice time on Thursday up at Chisago. Cullen's cousin Julie had us all over for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. It was way too delicious and we ate way too much.

On Friday I got to go over to our friends Mary and Dustan's house and take some pictures of their new little girl, Quinn. It was lots of fun and they were so sweet to let me try out some new pictures with their tiny, little one. She was such a good sport. You can check her out on my photo blog. She is way too adorable. On Friday night we had a little party with Cullen's Brewer baseball team over at one of his teammates homes. Thanks so much Adam and Jenna for hosting. We had a lot of fun, and a Wii and Guitar Hero may definitely need to be in our future!
Saturday was a nice day at home, just relaxing and hanging out, minus a quick trip into the clinic. Poor Avery has come down with a cold, yet again. No ear infection yet, which is good, but the poor thing is so congested, she doesn't want much to do with sleeping or even eating too much these days. She is in pretty good spirits when she is awake though, so that is good. We also spent some time at my parents house, so Avery could play with her bff Nana! :) The girl loves her Grandparents, that is for sure, and got to see lots of both sets of them this weekend. It was great.

On Sunday I got to go take pictures of another little guy. It was fun to get to have a little boy to take some pictures of for something different. This new hobby of mine is sure keeping me busy, but I'm loving all the practice, and am having the most fun. I just love it!
On a note so happy note, Cullen's grandma Evie passed away on Friday. We went to Chisago for her funeral on Monday. She was 92 years old, which means she was born in 1916. That is just crazy to think about. She will definitely be missed. I only got to know her for a few years, but I always had fun talking with her. Cullen definitely seemed to bring out the best in her, as she was always in great whenever we were around! It is always hard to suffer a loss during the holidays, but she is in a better place now, and that makes it easier, just knowing that.
I think that is pretty much it for now. If you even managed to read all my ramblings. I promise, I will post some pictures from the weekend soon, but don't have them on this computer right now.
(Mara, I will even try to find some of Avery causing trouble to post just for you, because trust me, the girl can get into mischief with the best of them! I guess I just always post the happy, sweet pictures!)

What a difference a year makes...

2008-11-24T20:30:00.003-06:00

So I took pictures off Avery last week on the 19th, which marked a year from when she came home from the hospital ( I should say I took snapshots..dark evening, flash..not "pictures"..I have to clarify know..don't judge!) We took pictures of her that day when she came home from the hospital and we put her in her glider. We didn't know what else to do! :) Anyway, I thought it would be funny to take pictures in her glider a year later, so we dug it out and stuck her in it! She liked her new, old, toy! My what a year can do?! From barely 5 lbs. to 21 lbs...just crazy! I can't even believe it to look at it! Our baby isn't such a baby anymore. Honestly, I know I keep saying it, but where did that time go. Aww..I might need to head off for a good cry now :)

Then...

Now...

(Right before she decided it would be fun to try to summersault out of the glider!)

Lollipop, Lollipop...

2008-11-15T15:06:00.002-06:00

I found these super cute lollipops at the Target $1 spot! Of course, I immediately thought to myself, hmm..these would make cute pictures! So since the sun finally came out today for a little while, we decided to give it a shot. This is just one. I might use some for Christmas card pics, but am not sure yet, so we're saving them just in case! We have to leave something for a surprise! But I just wanted to share these awesome lollipops..I may have to go back and buy about ten more!

New Picture Blog!

2008-11-13T21:27:00.004-06:00

This is a big step for me to share, but I figured I would anyway! So I figured some of you might be tired of looking at my pictures on here, so I decided to start a picture blog! My hobby is really starting to blossom, too bad it is November and I have a long, dark Minnesota winter ahead of me. Inside pictures just are NOT the same when you depend on using natural light! It is a work in progress, but if you care to see anything I'm doing, you can check it out there, and I'll stop putting them here and save this for our personal, family stuff. If you want me to practice on your family, I'm totally up for it, but maybe we can wait until April or May! :) Just kidding...we can make it work. I just took pictures of three little ones indoors last weekend. It was a learning experience but we still got some cute ones I think. However, I'm always up for newborn and little ones practice inside, so if you're up for it, let me know!! Keep in mind..it is PRACTICE! Here is the other blog:

www.jenniferbahnphotography.blogspot.com

Avery the Lion..again

2008-11-05T19:57:00.002-06:00

Click here to see our little lion..look out though, she is ferocious!!

If the one below didn't work, here is a link to the same video on youtube - the post below was only working sometimes for us.

Avery the Lion

Avery the Lion!

2008-11-05T19:31:00.007-06:00

Cullen has gotten Avery to make the cutest little lion sound! She has been under the weather with a double ear infection and a really bad cold but, it doesn't seem to be getting her down. Though we have discovered trying to give a nebulizer treatment to a 1 year old is a little more difficult then it was when she was 5 months. It isn't fun. You wouldn't know she is sick though, she has been her funny, little self! We finally caught her lion noise on video tonight after supper. Here it is:
(I took the music off our blog for awhile while we have the video up here, it was too hard to hear it all..also, Ang and Christy, I think we are going to join your no talking on video rule..yes, pretty sure we sound really dumb..Cullen especially loves his So Big girly voice!)

We Love You Avery

2008-11-05T16:21:00.000-06:00

Avery,

On April 9, 2007, we found out that we were going to be blessed with a baby. We were beyond excited. Over the next few months, we thought all about what you might look, what you might grow up to be, what kinds of toys would you like, books would you like, game would you play, etc. We picked out furniture for you room. We thought about what we would name you. We were so full of excitement we could hardly stand it. You were supposed to arrive on December 16, but on November 2, we got a little surprise and found out you would be coming a bit sooner than we expected. When you were born, we still had no idea just how much you would change our lives. Over the past year, you have filled us with love more than we ever thought possible. You make us smile EVERY day. Though you have challenged us at times (when you wouldn't sleep, or were sad, or started throwing fits!) our love for you has only grown. The joy you bring into our lives is indescribable. Your smile is the best thing we have ever seen. Your laugh is the best sound we have ever heard. You started as a tiny, little person that we would snuggle up each day. You have become a busy, little toddler, walking around, eager to explore the world around you with wonder and curiosity. You truly light up our life and we are the luckiest parents in the world. You have taught us to become better people and taught us just what unconditional love is. We can't wait to watch you grow this year, and watch you as you discover the world around you and all it has to offer. You are an amazing little girl and we are beyond blessed that you are our daughter. Always know just how much we love you Avery Ellen, and you truly are the sunshine of our lives. We love you.

Love,

Mama and Daddy

One Year!

2008-11-04T12:19:00.000-06:00

Avery had her one year well child visit yesterday. Poor girl, it has taken us a couple weeks because she has had ear infection, pink eye, and her little bit of pneumonia or whatever that was. So we finally got to go yesterday and everything looks great! She was 30 inches "tall"! I got excited that we get to call her tall instead of long, now that she is officially vertical! That put her in the 85th % for height! She weighed 21 lbs. which put her in the 50% for weight! So she is growing great. I don't remember what her head measured at, but I now it was in the 90% which is crazy to me..I don't think she has a big head! I guess she is just destined to be brilliant! :) Wednesday also marked one year since we got to bring her home from the NICU! We dug the glider out and took a picture of her in there, since we have a picture of her in it the day we brought her home. I will definitely get it up this weekend. I have been crazy busy these last few weeks, so I haven't been the best blogger!

My other news is that my younger brother Jeff moved to Florida yesterday. It was a sad good-bye. Who knew I would be so sad about that big dork moving away?! It is very exciting for him though. He got a great job down there, working for the Florida Sports Foundation. I think he gets to work with the professional/amateur sports teams down there. I don't know all the details, but will fill in when I do. All I know is he gets to leave this freezing tundra and the perfect time. Still, we are going to miss him like crazy... :( but like I said, it is such a great opportunity for him, so we're going to be happy for him, even though we're sad for us. :) Avery misses you already Uncle Jeff!

The Birthday Party!

2008-11-03T19:50:00.010-06:00

Happy Birthday Avery! Here are way too many pictures from the birthday party. We had a great time and thanks to all of you who came to help us celebrate! Like I said before, she is so lucky to have so many people that love her so much. It was a great party, despite daylight savings time messing with the nap schedule. We saved her some cake to try again when she is not so tired! It really was the best day! Here are tons of pics of the birthday party!

The Birthday Girl!

Doing her birthday dance!

It's my birthday...yea!

The end of the party, with mama and daddy..and a sleepy birthday girl!

Avery going for a wagon ride with Conner, and letting all the neighbors know she is 1! Her wagon was her birthday present from Grammy and Grandpa Bahn!

The birthday banner that Ansley and I worked so hard on..thanks Ans!

Hanging out with Kate at the end of the party..crazy how they grow in a year!

Making sure her wagon is safe to go

Checking out Kate and Jay

Ready for her wagon ride in her sweet new winter hat (yes, another hat..I have a problem!)

Uncle Jeff and Lauren...Jeff was a good sport and even put on a birthday hat for me

Since Avery didn't really want to eat her cake, Conner wasn't about to let it go to waste!

Hmm..what am I supposed to do with this?

Our birthday girl ready for cake..or perhaps more ready for a nap? I do love her little thighs in her tights in this one!

Already loves getting new clothes..that's my girl!

Avery in her sweet, new Twins hat!

She loves her storybook bear. She giggles every time it starts to read!

Chasing her birthday beach ball - of course the $3.00 ball would be her favorite!

It is fun to be one!

OMG..I LOVE markers!!! Avery got her first markers, they are way too cute!

Helping Daddy set up her new kitchen on her birthday morning

Music

2008-11-03T19:00:00.001-06:00

I figured out how to put some music on our blog, so I figured I'd give it a try for awhile. It is a really sweet, relaxing lullaby song by erin ivey. This one is called I'm Gonna Rock You Nice and Slow. There is another one called Dreamy Side of the Moon that is really good too. She has some great lullabies. Anyway, just turn down the volume if you don't want it, I don't want to bust anyone looking at blogs at work! :) It only plays once, so if you want to hear it again, just refresh...enjoy!

Happy Birthday Avery!

2008-11-02T21:19:00.003-06:00

One year ago today Avery Ellen was brought into our world

Here is our birthday girl today! Where did this year go? Avery had the best first birthday! Our day was just perfect. We had a great party. She is so blessed and lucky to have so many people that love her. We are all pretty tired out from her big party day (and the time change that Avery forgot she could've had an extra hour of sleep!) so we will blog all about her party later this week, complete with lots of pictures. For tonight, we are heading off to bed with our birthday girl, but had to share a few pictures of Avery on her big day. Thanks for the shirt Amy, it was perfect! Happy Birthday Avery...my favorite one year old!!!!! We love you!!!

Halloween!

2008-11-02T21:16:00.001-06:00

Avery celebrated her first Halloween on Friday! I think she was just the cutest little ladybug that there ever was! She came down with a double ear infection earlier this week, and was still feeling not quite herself, but we still had a good time. :)

3 More Days!!!

2008-10-30T21:08:00.002-05:00

The countdown is on...Avery turns 1 on just 3 days! I can't believe it has already been a year. When people tell you that you really should enjoy and appreciate every day, and every stage because it goes fast, they aren't kidding. I have no idea where the last year went, or what happened to my little 4 lb. 12 oz. baby that entered our world a year ago?? Now she is a bubbly, walking, bundle of sunshine who can't get enough of everything around her. We are loving every second of it. We can't wait to celebrate with our friends and family on what an amazing year this has been. I'm sure there will be pics following the big day and probably a big sappy blog post by her mama~ :)

More Cousins!

2008-10-30T20:57:00.005-05:00

My niece Auden was over last weekend and I got to take some pictures of her. She is usually a total ham in front of the camera, but was not much in the mood to have her pictures taken Saturday. She was a good sport though! This girl has the biggest, most beautiful eyes ever and these pictures truly don't even do them justice!

Cousins!

2008-10-30T20:51:00.002-05:00

We went up to Chisago two weeks ago and got to spend some time with Cullen's cousin Julie and her family. Katie is a first grader and Jacob is 3 1/2. They have a beautiful place out in the woods so of course, we had to go out and take some pictures. Really though, I think there place would be Cullen's dream. Aren't these two kiddos too cute?!

Avery's New Hat

2008-10-27T22:01:00.003-05:00

I found Avery a hat online a few weeks ago and it was a must have! There is website called www.etsy.com and it is awesome! There are so many adorable things on there. She was outgrowing her old hat though, and I couldn't find her another one anywhere. It was too cute so we had to take a couple pics last week one day after school.

Love the flower on the hat

Avery doesn't look quite as excited as me in this one!

Avery and her Friends!

2008-10-27T21:50:00.006-05:00

This weekend we went out to dinner with my friends Amy and Jen that I taught with at New Prague, and their families and then came back over here and hung out. Amy and Nick have sweet little Orelia, who will 2 months old this week, and Jen and Matt have Baylee who "just had a birthday" (she kept telling us all about it) in September and turned 3, and Caden who is 6 months. We had so much fun and Avery liked playing with her friends. They also all loved Avery's new chair, and she was nice and shared! Caden wasn't so sure about the pink chair and all these girls! Also, this totally made me realize just how big Avery is getting :( She isn't the little baby anymore..crazy. (Yes, these are just snapshots, and I even have...gasp...red eyes!..it was late, dark, and we needed to catch these kids quick!)

Avery and Baylee

Orelia using the chair for a loveseat!

The girls

Caden did NOT want to be in the chair!

Beautiful Fall Colors!!

2008-10-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

You are probably getting sick of my non-Avery pics, if that is what you come here to see..which it probably is! But I just get excited about pictures..yes, I'm a dork..and Avery can only take soo many!! I'm thinking of starting a separate blog just for pictures, so you can go if you want, or just ignore me! For now..you will have to put up with it. :) Last weekend, the leaves were BEAUTIFUL!!! If you know me, you know fall is my favorite time of year. Luckily, my niece Ansley doesn't mind having her picture taken (if you can tell!!) and let me bug her and take her out around town. Combine her with the leaves, and of course you will have beautiful pictures!! Also, I wanted to check out the new blog layout. I'm going for a more simple look. Hope you like it! (Also, I still can't figure out how to get the pictures in the order I want on this mac..hmm..)

The colors are so pretty, I didn't do too many bw pics, but I really liked this one

A goofy one, but it is so Ansley being Ansley!

Playing in the leaves - I LOVE this one!

Love the pics with my $9 chair from Frosted Pane..Cullen officially thinks I've lost it!

Old Posts..Again

2008-10-23T16:04:00.002-05:00

So before I said I was going to start posting older posts so that her year would be complete in her blog book. Since I didn't have this when she was first born I have some catching up to do. I'm getting a good start, but please don't think I'm too crazy. I'm writing as if it were that day. Actually, I told Cullen last night this is the most awesome way to reflect. As soon as I start typing, it brings me right back. Luckily, I have a knack for remembering most everything!!! So you can click on 2007 on the righthand side and see them, but I will let you know when I'm all done. It is a work in progress. So much to catch up on! And oh my...she was TINY!!!!!!!!

The Family

2008-10-19T20:11:00.004-05:00

We haven't posted a picture of the three of us in awhile. On Saturday, we went to our friend Emily's wedding. We tried to get a picture of us beforehand..this is the best we got! Avery was in her comfy clothes for her night at Nana's. We had an awesome time at the wedding. You can see some pics on our friends Angie and Jay's blog. It was a beautiful day and Emily was a stunning bride. So much fun!!!

Avery's New Chair!

2008-10-19T20:06:00.004-05:00

Avery got a new chair for an early birthday present. She loves to relax and read in it! Well okay..mostly she loves to climb on it, but she does enjoy the occasional story! It is too cute!

Our visit to Chisago!

2008-10-19T19:52:00.005-05:00

On Thursday, we went up to spend the day in Chisago and hang out with the family! We had tons of fun. It is so fun to watch Avery and Conner play and interact. We love this MEA break!! I also took a few pics of Cullen's cousins, but don't have them done yet. Here are a few snapshots of our visit!

Avery and Daddy telling secrets

Conner..why do you think they put this chair here?

They look so sad here..they just want to go play! The chair didn't last long!

Sippy cup break!

Grammy was reading a story, and they were LOVING it!

Walking with Daddy

They always seem to have a moment like this together...huh??? I think Cullen was talking to them!

Old Posts

2008-10-14T21:09:00.002-05:00

Since I didn't figure out this blog thing until around February, and Avery was born in November, I'm missing a couple months of her life. I'm going to try to catch up, and post some old posts. So if you see some new posts pop up under nov 07-feb 08, don't mind me. I found the coolest website called blurb.com. You can take your blog and turn it into a book, like a yearbook. It is the COOLEST thing. So I'm going to do this when Avery turns one..like her first year baby book! I just want to have all of those early events in there too! It will be fun to look at those old pics again, from when she was just like 5 lbs! Crazy how time flies...

Maybe We'll Sleep In 2009???

2008-10-14T20:15:00.003-05:00

Avery will be one in just about 2 1/2 weeks. I can't believe how fast the year has gone. This little girl has brought us more joy, happiness, and smiles then we could've ever imagined. I couldn't imagine loving anyone or anything more. Everyday I count my blessings, and this sweet girl definitely tops the list. I guess she feels the same way about us, because apparently she just can't stand to be apart from us for more then about 5 hours or so at a time. Yes, she is still getting up in the night. Usually it is just once, but sometimes more. Needless to say, Cullen and I are starting to look VERY tired. Yes, we've tried to let her cry, and it works for awhile, or even a few days, but then we are back to square one. If you wise souls out there have any advice or input, feel free to send it our way. :) Oh yeah, today marks our 2 year wedding anniversary!! Too bad Cullen has conferences tonight and we haven't seen each other all day :( It is MEA weekend here though, so we get thurs-sun to spend together, so that will be some much needed family time! I can't wait!

Sydney!

2008-10-11T11:34:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I got to practice some more pictures with my mom's friend's daughter Sydney! I've known her since she was just a baby and it was we had a blast!!! She is a fifth grader. How pretty is she? The pretty fence and horses are in her backyard. So much fun!!!

Funny Faces, Sweet Moves and a Cute Hat!

2008-10-11T11:22:00.006-05:00

Here are a few more pics from the other night when we got home. Of course, she got in a super funny mood when we got back to our house, and had nowhere pretty to take pics. Oh well..I still had to snap a few of her funny faces, sweet dance moves, and cute hat! I got this hat last year from a friend I taught with. Her daughter made it. It is my favorite!

Show me love girl!

Yea!! I can stand and clap at the same time!

These pictures really look like she is dancing!!!

11 Month Avery!!

2008-10-08T21:13:00.006-05:00

So we REALLY needed so new pictures of Avery..and I don't even mean that sarcastically! I have been taking lots of pictures, but none of Avery! So here are a ton! We went to my parents backyard today because the leaves are so pretty! She didn't really want her picture taken, so that hasn't changed much, but we did get a few! I messed up on lots though, and didn't change my focus point, and didn't realize this until I saw them on my computer. I guess that is why we practice! At least I made this mistake on my own child when I can just do them again, and not on someone else! She has gotten SO big, and is starting to walk! She will be 1 in just under a month. How fast the year has gone. Seeing these pictures, she looks like such a big girl!

Aww..pretty girl!

Mama look... a leaf!

This one totally looks like she is hiking through the woods!

Making "the face" for her uncle Jeff. We haven't seen it in a few weeks, but it was back today!

Love that cute little booty!

Lauren was making her smile with her bear...it worked for a little while!

Avery Stands!!!!

2008-09-27T20:20:00.004-05:00

The past few days, Avery has been totally standing on her own. It started with just a few seconds, and now it has grown to about 20-30 seconds. She just stands there and isn't really sure what to do next! A few times, she has taken a couple steps, but not many. She is so cute to watch stand there! Here are a few pics of her in action!

Maybe it helps to have my shoes on!

Or I can use this as a a cane to help too!
Climbing in the refrigerator..her new favorite place to play!
Snuggling with Daddy after my bath!
If you look close, you can see her new little tooth on the bottom left (her left)!

That Daddy is so funny!

Conner's 1st Birthday!!!

2008-09-27T20:02:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Conner's first birthday party! This is the first chance I've had to upload these, and have to use Cullen's school computer, so there is no editing on the pics, but they are still so fun! We had the best time. Conner is so much fun, and the party was great! It is hard to believe he is 1 and Avery will be 1 in a month! They have grown so fast it is amazing!

Playing with the birthday balloons!

Conner opening up presents..Avery thinks she might be able to help!
Conner and giving his new monkey a ride in his new truck! He had a monkey birthday party!
Bring on the cake!
Hmm..not so sure I want this cake...
Oh yeah...chocolate cake is the best!

Maybe had a little too much cake

Bathtime after the cake! Love the fingerprints on the tub!

Going for a wagon ride! Conner got the wagon from Grammy and Grandpa Bahn!

What the heck are these blue things around our waists??

Avery playing with Conner's new truck!

Retro Cullen and Jen!

2008-09-26T19:59:00.002-05:00

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!! I was looking at blogs today, and one of the blogs I look at had this website, www.yearbookyourself.com on it. You can put in pictures of yourself, and put them on faces of yearbook pictures through the years! I have been entertaining myself all night while we sit here and watch the Twins. They were too funny not to share!!!! You must check out this website!

1960 - Smartie Cullen

1974 - Hippie Cullen
1988 - Jocko Cullen
1966- Bubbly Jen
1988 - Rockin the 80's look! (My head didn't fit the best in this one, but I like it!)
I think we would've made a sweet 60's couple!

Oh yeah..Avery stood for about 20 seconds tonight all by herself and took about 3 baby steps! We even had friends here that witnessed it. I don't think it will be long and we will have a walker!