Happy Birthday Grandma

We celebrated my Grandma's 85th Birthday last weekend with a big old party.  We are so incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful influence in our lives.  I am so thankful that Avery has gotten to know her and love her.  And Natalie will soon! 
Kathy was the photographer.... I hope she doesn't mind me sharing some pictures from the big day!

 The Birthday Girl!

 Our Family

 Avery chowed down on a couple pieces of cake.

 Playing with PaPa.

 She found a baby in the nursery to push around.

Me and My Girl...  

Avery's Surgery

As many of you know, our sweet Avery had to have surgery on her neck last Friday....  We had been watching a little mass on her right neck for a few months, hoping it would go away, but when it kept getting more red and irritated, her doctor sent us to ENT.  After a CT-scan, he decided to explore it to see if it was a cyst that needed to be removed, or some sort of atypical infection from a lymph node.  So, our brave little girl went into surgery on Friday morning.  Everyone was so nice and the surgery went very smoothly, taking only about 45 minutes.  At this point, it looks like it was some sort of atypical infection that needed to be drained.  She has a little incision on her neck that is healing, and you would never know she had surgery.  She's doing great!  So, thank you all for your prayers for our little girl!  We are so glad this is over with! 

 Waiting to go into surgery...

 Her cute little fish gown.

 Recovering from the anesthesia on Daddy.

 Our sweet girl.

 Once she started to wake up, this was the first thing she wanted off!

 At home, finally enjoying some breakfast!

Donut holes fix everything!!!

19 Months!

As of yesterday, we have a 19 month old!  These months just seem to fly by...
Avery now weighs 26lbs (50th percentile), wears 18-24 month clothes, size 6 shoes, and size 4 diapers.  She refuses to wear bows, and hates to have her nails cut or her diaper changed... I usually have to chase her around to comb her hair or trim her nails, and diaper changes sometimes consist of kicking and screaming.  She is so independent and strong-willed.  She wants to do everything by herself now, whether its putting on her socks and shoes, brushing her teeth, picking out her food from the refrigerator, or buckling herself into her booster seat.  Her speech has really taken off in the last month too.  She will now try to say any word you tell her to say... she is probably saying 50 words now.  She loves to tell you everything she is doing.  She can point out different people and body parts.  She continues to be very affectionate, giving kisses and hugs to everyone. 
Her favorite activites include playing at the park or doing anything outside, playing with play-dough, playing dress up with her box of shoes, hats, and bracelets, cooking in her kitchen, taking care of her baby dolls, and reading books. 
She is busy, busy, busy.... but so much fun! 

Playing after church.

Driving her car around the house.

Enjoying some indoor activities on a rainy Saturday morning.

Eating breakfast with "Bee-Bee" and "Blanky."

Me and My Girl before church.

Ted and Avery

Swinging!

Saying "All-done."

Saying "Bye!"