Happy Valentine's Day!

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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 :(

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!

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!

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!

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!)