Happy Birthday Avery

We had a party for Avery today to celebrate her first birthday!! It was a lot of fun and Avery had no problem being the STAR of the show. Every now and then she would take inventory to make sure everyone was paying attention to her! She was so funny. Here are a few pictures from the day. . .


Nan and Pops got her a rocking horse. Nan said "I hope she doesn't get stitches playing with her horse", stay tuned we may have a follow-up post.














Avery loved when everyone sang Happy Birthday!
















At first she was not sure what to do with her cake, but . . .








She figured it out!!

Picture Time and Alittle Obsessed, but its OK because she is an amazing little girl!!

Ange posted earlier that Avery will be 1 on Saturday. We got her picture taken professionally at 11 weeks, so we decided to go and get her 1 year old photos. The photographer took plenty of pictures and we had to narrow it down. It was hard for Ange to narrow down the photos so here is a preview of some of the proofs we got. Ange ordered a lot of pictures (she only turns 1 once!), but they are all beautiful. I have to admit I got emotional when Ange was going through each of the poses.
Here is one of the pictures of Avery at 11 weeks.








This photo we got in a sepia and it is my favorite!!!

The things that entertain kids

The other night Avery was settling down to go to bed. She was sitting next to our coffee table and I was watching American Idol. At a commercial break I thought "Avery is being very quiet". I looked down and this is what I found!


Thats right she emptied the entire tissue box!! Atleast she had fun doing it!

Avery Dancing

I finally figured out how to take videos from the video camera and put them on the computer. This is one of probably many videos that will be posted.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks for Avery

Avery is turning one this month and I can hardly believe that it has been a whole year!! It has just flown by. This past year with Andrew and Avery has been a blessing. . .I never knew I had so much love to offer, but having Avery has made my heart grow. The love I have for Avery is like no other love I have experienced before, if you do not have kids (or dogs - that is for J) just wait. The love can not be put into words. Avery has also made me love Andrew more and in a new way. I have seen him grow as a man and step up in our family. I love to watch them play together, I love the look on Averys face when he walks in the door, I love when he hugs her, or when I catch him waking her up because he just "couldn't leave without looking at her". Not only do I love her, but I am in awe of her. It is amazing to watch her learn. . .new things everyday! You can see on her face when she is discovering something new and I get so excited for her. This past year has taught me so much. I now know what it is truely like to blessed with a gift from God. HE has reminded me on many occasions that she is really HIS child and Andrew and I have just been given this time to raise her up in the way HE would have her go!! I have learned that I CANNOT do EVERYTHING. I need to lean on God and others to help me, and that is ok. I have learned that Gods TIMING is perfect. So. . . Thank you God for my precious gift, for stretching me and requiring me to rely on and call on you. Avery has made me want to be a better Christian, I want her to love Jesus more than I know how, but I learned that I have to change and be a model for her to see Jesus EVERYDAY. This next year I want to pray more. I want Avery to feel and see her parents praying over her and for her. I want to love more. I want Avery to love people where they are and for who God made them to be! I want to share my faith more. Be an example for people I see everyday that are not (not yet) coming to heaven with me. I want people to know that I am praying for them. [As a side note if you are reading this - pray for my OLLY girls - they have burdened my heart (esp. Stacie).]
This past year has been the BEST one of my life and I cannot wait to see what this new one brings. It is funny how a 1st birthday can make you think so much. Just for fun here is a then and now of Avery.


Avery I love you and thank you for forever changing my life!