One Year!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!!!

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!

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!

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

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!

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!