Catch up

Ok - Andrew "borrowed" a computer for the weekend, so I wanted to catch you all up on everything that we have been up to for the last 2 months!
Every year my family goes to a halloween parade in Medford and this is us at the parade with some weird guy in the backround!
Avery went trick or treating on Halloween. She was a skunk. . .her but said "little stinker"!
This is Avery with her P-Pop! So Cute!
We went to Michigan in the beginning of November to visit my sister and her family. Avery had so much fun with her cousins! We missed the birth of my newest nephew Gideon Joshua by 2 weeks. . . bummer!
This is me reading to Olivia and Garrett and Avery!
Esther loved Avery. . .I think they look alike, but most people think I am crazy. Do any of you see any resemblance?
This is every one in the bath together - it was a fun time!
Olivia is such a big help. We took the kids to a play area that they have in the malls in Michigan. Olivia took Avery down the tree house slide. It was so cute.
Would someone please change this kids diaper!!
One day I will post a slide show of all of the pictures we took to try and get a cute picture of all of the kids. . .this is the best one!
Next we drove the Virginia to visit my brother J and his wife Cheryl for Thanksgiving. It was really fun. My parents went too, we had a really good time!
Avery loves animals, Johnny is big enough to ride and Avery did!
I have no words. . .
She loved her uncle J. As a side note she really loved her Uncle Josh Crisp too.
Avery was tired from the day. Here she is resting with Daddy.
This is us with J and Cheryl the day we left. It was easy to leave because my whole family will be in NJ for Christmas.
I cut Averys bangs the other day because they were growing into her eyes. Andrew was cracking my up. . ." be careful" "thats to short" "don't cut it uneven" OK daddy chill, it is just hair it will grow back!

This picture was just for fun. . .Avery looks like a DIVA here. She is getting so big and I cannot wait until Christmas. She is going to love Christmas!

No Internet

For all of you who read our blog I wanted to let you know that we haven't stopped blogging. . . Our computer will not let us get on the internet. We have a lot to catch you all up on because we have been busy traveling, visiting family, but until we get our new computer you will have to be left with this short, "I am at work and shouldn't even really be writing this" blog!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have a Merry Christmas! For my family I can't wait to be all together!
Ange

Hello Sunshine

Avery loves books!! I thought this was such a cute picture of Andrew reading to Avery, she looks like she was really listening! How CUTE!


This is Avery with her pumpkin. Doesn't she look ghetto in just a diaper?

I love fall clothes! I wish it would stay cold out so she could wear all of her new clothes, but this outfit is one of my favorite! Hello SUNSHINE!

Date Night

Ange and I have been attending this great,young married class and we were told that we should find time to go on a date. It's not a marriage class for counseling, but one where we can learn more about each other and build our marriage on Biblical principles. We have such a great time there. It's hard having an 8 month and leaving Avery to go out spend time with each other, but we are going to try harder to have "date night" once in awhile.

The other night we were going to go out, but I didn't have anything planned. Throughout college I got into a lot of outdoor sports including rock climbing so Ange came up with the great idea of going rock climbing. I was so surprised and excited that we were going to go together. We went and had such a great time. I think all married couples should try something adventurous like this because your trust with the other person is really tested.

Ange and I have now been canoeing, water skiing, and rocking climbing. What an awesome wife! She'll try and do anything once, but she really has enjoyed all of those activities and has been great at doing them. Whats next...sky diving? Umm that would be a no for me.

Well here is a picture of our date night! It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the night with my best friend and favorite person in the world!

My Brother's New Edition

There is another new edition to the Hulfish family. My brother and sister-in-law had a boy, Grayson Walker tonight. We were just able to get one picture, but I am sure there will be more posted.

Fall Fest

Last year my brother posted a blog about carving pumpkins with his friends and Andrew and I thought that was a great idea! So, last night we invited some friends over (Matt and Brooke Baker and James and Miranda Duff) to carve pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. We bought a kit from Target that had tools and designs. Andrew initially said that we didn't need it, but once we started he was really glad to have the little carving tools:)





Here are the finished products:)


These are Andrews Averys and mine - aren't they cute. Andrews is the 2 face and mine is the spider. The little on is Averys first pumpkin!

James and Miranda with onlly Miranda's pumpkin because James was trying to be very creative and he messed up his pumpkin. We all thought he could salvage the pumpkin, but he was too upset to continue. . .


Matt and Brooke and their dog Emery. Matt was so tired from all of the carving he could barely keep his eyes open!


Andrew and I (Avery was sleeping).
We had a great time and are considering making it our new tradition to carve pumpkins together!

Party Fun

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Averys first birthday party. It was for Vincenzio and Sophia (the younger twins, aka the babies, for the family I used to nanny for) and they had the party at Johnson's Farm. For those of you who are not familiar with the farm it has a market, animals that you can feed, hayrides, seasonal produce picking, and much more. This was an event and Avery had a great time. Rocco and Domenico (the older twins,aka the boys)just wanted to hang out with me. I never see them anymore and I really do miss them! They are almost five and I started working for them when the boys were 2 months old! Crazy! Anyway, I pretty much worked the whole time, but it was fun. Any of you who have heard me talk about my nanny experiences know that every party is an event. . .and it was. There was a lady singing and dancing and doing the Limbo (which I did). Then we went on a hayride to the Pumpkin patch where we picked out own pumpkins! Avery had a great time. Here are some pictures from the day!

More clothes/Seriously Aunt Jess

We just received 2 more boxes of clothes from Avery's cousins. Ange and I are so excited to go through them, but we haven't gotten far yet. I know Avery is super cute and could probably pull off any type of clothing, but I think Aunt Jess forgot to keep an outfit and sent it out to us by accident. Atleast we now know what Avery will be for halloween this year...Anastasia (evil step sister to Cinderella).






LOVE YOU AUNT JESS, THANKS!

My Little Genius

Avery is getting so BIG! I know all parents think their first child is so advanced and I guess I am no different. Avery has been crawling since she was 6 months, she started pulling herself to standing about three weeks later. She now lets go of things and transitions from one object to another. Tonight she climbed up a flight of stairs. There were only 7 stairs because the house is a split level, but she did it all by herself. I was sitting across the room and I saw her playing at the foot of the stairs. I didn't think much of it until she got up on the first step. I ran over to her to make sure she didn't fall. She turned and gave me this look like, "mom look at me. . .I am good!" I would pull her off the steps, but she just wanted to climb them. She did it three times! She is not even 8 months yet. Crazy!

Summer Complete

Well the summer is finally complete. Complete in that school started for all the teachers today, but we were able to get one more trip in. On Labor Day we had the opportunity to go with friends to Maryland and stay with Miranda's parents at their farm house. We were able to ride quads, go boating on the Chesapeake Bay, and learn how to wakeboard, water ski, and tube behind the boat. For the record, Ange was able to get up right away on the skis. She did awesome, even though the skis were loose and fell off once she was up. There are no pictures of her getting up, but that is on video along with some awesome footage shot throughout the day. The best part of the day was when we used the tube in the back of the boat. It was really rough and it seemed a lot faster on the water. Avery really enjoyed herself all day long. She did really well for the 6 hours that we were on the boat. We all had a lot of fun and it was a great time to get to know each other better. Below is a slideshow of our day. Enjoy!!

Maryland Trip

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mobility Madness

I think it is so funny when people have kids they cannot wait for them to crawl and walk, but once it happens they wish that the kids would just stay stationary. Gone are the days of propping them in the corner of the couch or leaving them sleep on a bed. Avery is ALL over the place. Andrew says, "all I do all day is chase Avery around". She pulls herself up on the furniture, pulls things over onto herself, falls onto her face. Here come all of the bruises. She is so excited to be on the move and she is so proud of herself when she accomplishes something new. I love to watch her do new things, but sometimes I wish she would just stay in one place. Changing her diaper is a workout. I know all you moms out there know I am talking about and if you don't have kids yet. . . don't rush them to do things too quickly because you will never get the stationary days back!

Just some thoughts

I have been spending a lot of time thinking and reflecting on my life! As many of you know I have always wanted to be a mom and now I am. . . only the circumstances are not exactly how I pictured them. I thought I would marry the man of my dreams (which I did), spend sometime just the 2 of us. Maybe travel or do some exciting things before we started our family (haha). I dreamed we would save and buy a house that we could grow into. I dreamed that we would do all of this before we had kids so when we DID decide that it was time for kids, I could quit my job and stay home and be a full-time mom! I quickly learned after marrying the man of my dreams that you canNOT plan and control your life/lives anymore than you can control the weather. Now as many of you also know Avery came as quite a surprise to us!! I LOVE her with everything in me. Sometimes I cry just thinking about the amazing gift that she is to Andrew and I. She has changed our lives and the journey has been amazing.
Now, because the circumstances aren't how I had planned we have had to make some adjustments. I still work FULL time at OLLY shoes. Right now is our busiest season because the kids are getting ready to go back to school. I am so tired! Wednesday I found myself crying the entire ride to work. On Tuesday I got home after Avery was already in bed and left Wednesday morning before she woke up! I don't want to miss her grow. She is doing so many fun things and learing about everything around her. . .I want to be a part of that! I spent a long time in child care and watched parents just leave their children ALL day while they went on living like they didn't even have kids. I saw these kids crawl, eat their first solid foods, say their first words, take their first steps, all before their parents because they weren't there. I want to be there! I want to watch Avery grow. . .I want her to know that I miss her everyday when I go to work. I come home and I cannot wait to spend time with Andrew and Avery, but I also am learing that when I come home I still have things to do here. Sometimes I tell Andrew that I feel like I only have enough time in the day to get ready for tomorrow! I love my family, Andrew and Avery mean the world to me. . .I just really miss them right now!
For the record there are things that I do like about wokring. . .I love when I get home and walk through the door and am greeted by the happiest girl in the world. Andrew is usually just as happy to see me because he welcomes the break of chasing Avery around the house!!
Even though life is not how I always dreamed it would be, I wouldn't change things. God has a great sense on humor. He laughs at my plans and says "Ange, I am going to give you something YOU aren't planning, but you can handle this as long as you lean on ME! It WILL stretch you, you may get tired, but I am here" I am learning to lean on God and praise him each day for the life and circumstances that HE had planned for me!

The Shore

Andrew and I spent this past weekend at the Jersey shore with my family! It was a nice time away. . .sometimes the house got a little LOUD, but it was still fun to get away! Here is a little show of our trip!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'll Get That Bunny

I'll Get My Bunny!

Avery was crawling and chasing Aspen all around the apartment. Below is the result once Avery caught up to her. They were all over the place, but it looks like the bunny ran out of room. We think Avery would chase Aspen around all day long!!!

No stopping me now!

Avery is such a busy body. When she figures something out she just wants to keep at it and get better at it or move on to bigger and better things When she started to just scootch around she would get frustrated because we knew that she wanted more. Now she is going to be all over the place. Each day she gets better at crawling so here are just a few videos we were able to get of her accomplishments so far.

craw 2

checking out bunny