Out West!

Last month we got the opportunity to travel to Colorado and Wyoming for a family trip. We started in Colorado for our dear friends, Michael and Heather's wedding. It was such a beautiful place to get married, the views were incredible. Then we traveled up to Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Cody, Wy, and then back down to Denver. Yellowstone was such an amazing place and had so many beautiful things to see. These pictures are a brief sampling of our trip. Avery had a great time and really perfected her walking and climbing skills on the trip!

View from the wedding site

Old faithful geyser

Rock climbing in Grand Teton National Park

View of the lower falls in the Grand Caynon of Yellowstone

Hanging out in a field on the northern part of Yellowstone

First Steps!

Avery took her first 2 steps on Sunday the 24th and we caught them on camera! We were taking pictures of her in the hallway after church and all the sudden she just started walking! The most steps she has taken since is 7 steps yesterday. So we are on our way to having to move faster to keep up with her!

Hilton Head Visit

Playing with Grandpa and Grandma

Having fun at the baseball game

With Mom and Dad at the game

Trying to chase the waves in the ocean.

We just returned from a visit to Hilton Head for my Dad's 60th birthday. My Mom had an eventful weekend planned in honor of my Dad. We went out on a Schooner for a sunset cruise and Avery had a great time watching them raise the sails and feeling the wind on the water. The next evening we went to the Savannah Sand Gnats minor league baseball game. Avery enjoyed watching the game, but had more fun watching all the people and kids. She hated the Sand Gnat though, we tried to get a picture of her with him, and she just started screaming, hopefully she will get used to people in costume! The next day was spent at the beach and Avery loved splashing in the water and playing in the sand. Her favorite thing to do was crawl into the water and "chase" the waves! We had a great trip! Happy 60th birthday Grandpa!

July 4th!

Watching fireworks with Mom and Dad.

Playing with PawPaw's train!

Eating crab for the first time!

Hanging with Uncle Brett and cousin Matt

In our red, white, and blue!

We went to Waveland, Ms. to celebrate July 4th with family. We were lucky enough to stay for a whole week and had plenty of time to visit family, play on the tractor and go to the beach. Avery's favorite was getting to play with her cousin Matt. They have a great time together. She also loved playing at the beach and eating seafood for the first time!

Avery's First Birthday!

Avery had a birthday luau to celebrate her first year! She had so much fun playing the fishing game in the pond, watching the kids hit the pinata and eating cake for the first time! Thanks to everyone who came out for the celebration, Avery loved it!

So hard to believe that our little munchkin is one! This year has flown by so fast and had its ups and downs. We can't imagine our life now without our sweet Avery Elizabeth. We had Avery's one year check yesterday and she is still about in the same brackets she has been in all along. She weighs 20lbs 14 oz and is 30 1/2 inches tall. That puts her at 40% for weight and 90% for height, if you keep up with that kind of thing.

Here are her latest stats:

Favorite toys: Anything with music, balls, wheels, baby dolls, anything that she can poke and she loves taking things out of things ( bags, buckets, containers) but of course she doesn't like putting things back in!

Nicknames: Stinkerbutt, Hot bacon bit, Monkey, Munchkin, and Lovey.

Favorite foods: Strawberries or any fruit for that matter, chicken/ turkey, cheese, sweet potato puffs and yogurt.

Least favorite foods: broccolli, tomatoes, hamburger meat

Favorite things: Being outside, cuddling and being read to, men (yes, she loves any man and will flirt with them constantly, we are in trouble!), eating, playing with other kids

Things she can do: Wave hi and bye, blow kisses, give hugs and kisses, patty cake/ clap, point to her belly button and nose, stand without support, cruise along furniture/people, walk with a walker or toy to hold onto, dance to music, can say Dada, Mama, Hi, Hey, Dog (but it sounds like da)

Destin Beach Trip

Playing with my friend, Andrew

Happy on the boat

In the water with Mommy and Daddy

At the pool with Daddy

In the pool

We went to Destin this holiday weekend with our friends Patrick and Aaren. We had a great time. Avery was a bit unsure of the ocean the first day, but was happy to splash and play in the water the second day. She loved the pool, especially the kiddie pool and loved being out on the boat. There was so much to look at and she had a blast playing with her friends Andrew and Will.

Easter

Happy late Easter! Went to Hilton Head to celebrate with Avery's Grandparents and Great-Grandma. We all had a great time. Avery had fun with her first egg hunt ( she really just sat there and we put eggs in front of her)! Here are some shots...

With Grandpa and Grandma

with my G.G.

I love eggs!

Ten Months

I know, shame on me, I haven't been very good at updating. Avery is now 10 months old and she finally started crawling on her 10 month birthday. She still would rather be standing than crawling, but she can't quite figure out how to get where she wants to go just by standing so she resorts to crawling! She can now wave hi/bye and is "talking" all the time, still no real words, but she sure is a chatterbox! Every day gets more and more exciting!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Avery turned 9 months old on St. Patty's Day, hard to believe! She now weighs 18lbs 10 oz and is 29 inches tall. She is at such a fun age. She loves going for walks and playing with her toys. When we are out she loves looking at wheels and things going by ( dogs, bikes, cars, etc.) She has started going to a Parent's morning out program 2 days a week and has done really well. At school, the teacher tells us that she loves interacting with the other kids and that she loves the musical toys. She can sit up really well on her own, hold her sippy cup, she is pulling up to stand on some objects and can crawl backwards, but she hasn't quite gotten going forwards yet. Her new thing is scrunching up her nose when she smiles for the camera, this is something her cousin Matt used to do, guess it is just a Muller thing! We are loving that the weather is getting nicer because she loves being outside and love that she is getting older and sleeping better! :).

Mardi Gras

Visting my Great Aunt Bessie

First visit to Jackson Square

Eating at Acme Oyster House with Grandma and PawPaw

Avery had a great time at her first Mardi Gras. We got to enjoy Waveland with Lance's parents on Thursday with a crab and shrimp boil. Then the next day we went to New Orleans in the French Quarter, Avery got to see Bourbon street in all its glory during Mardi Gras. She loved looking at all the people and playing with the beads her Daddy caught for her. We were a bit disappointed when the big parade was cancelled on Saturday due to the weather, but had a great time visiting with family and friends. Avery can't wait until next year!

January

Here are some shots we took of Avery over the past month, hard to believe she is almost 8 months old!!!

Avery is trying to use a sippy cup now, she can't quite get the concept of tipping her head back but she can get milk from it, so we are halfway there!

She just looks so grown up in this picture.

Lance took this picture one day. Avery is now grabbing everything that she can get her hands on and when he was making her bottle, she grabbed her entire can of formula! She is posing perfectly! I think she needs to be the next Gerber baby spokesperson!

This is Avery's first time in a swing. She loved it. She was so cute holding on to the rope and she just kept smiling and laughing. I think we were swinging for almost 30 minutes!

We were at the mall and saw these hats, Avery wanted to try on the zebra one.

Christmas

Are all these for me?

Christmas Eve before church

Opening family gifts on Christmas Eve

Playing with Daddy

Opening gifts Christmas morning from Santa

I know I haven't posted in over a month.... we took over 600 pictures at Christmas and I am just now getting to sort through them all. We had a great Christmas, Avery had so much fun. It surprised me a bit; she really had fun opening presents and ripping the paper. I really thought she might be too young to really care, but she had a blast. We had so much fun watching her explore the presents and playing with all her gifts. She had 4 opportunities to open gifts, such a spoiled little thing....