Fast Forward in Photos

As usual, I'm a bit behind.  Quite a bit.  I thought the quickest way to catch up would to tell the story of the last few months in photos.  Here we go!

Our dear friends, Jake and Laura, hosted a wonderful birthday party in Fort Worth for Avery the weekend after her birthday.  (Notice the cute letters in the background...all a la Laura.)

"Owl" birthday party

Laura and Jake gave Avery the fun whale pool in the back ground, we had a little ball pit and yummy Mexican food and cupcakes.

Avery seemed to enjoy the cup cakes...slowly.

Still working on the cupcake

Still going...

Avery's Aunt Janey and Grandma Dot came in from Waco and her Gammy came in from Abilene. 

The Simmons came too!

And the Smiths with their sweet Maggie.

We also had a little family party in Midland...sticking with our owl theme.

My parents drove in from Iowa for the week!

Uncle Bailey was there to lend a hand with his culinary skills

And Avery's Gammy too.

And Aunt Sally too!

The Midland 4th of July Children's parade with my parents.

We had a little "100" party for Aunt Sally, who had recently lost 100 lbs!

We took a trip to San Diego at the end of July to see Zach's grandma, uncle and his family with Zach's mom.

Avery's first beach trip!

Loved seeing the ocean and the cooler weather

Amazing brunch at Hotel del Coronado

Fun with her great- grandma

More beach time!

The Midland county fair

A visit from Gammy

First day of Mother's Day Out!

Miss Independent

Basin Pediatric Dentistry at Andrews County Health Fair

The color is going up at the new Midland office!

So that's a quick overview of what we've been up to these last few months. Zach and I continue to be amazed at how Avery is growing and changing...becoming less of a baby daily.  She took her first steps about 2 weeks ago- so exciting for us to see.  She's all about waving and blowing kisses.  Whenever she sees something she likes- especially dogs- she always gives herself a big hug.  She's sleeping through the night- thanks be to God!  Her favorite books currently are GO DOG GO, 100 First Words, her alphabet book and Good night Cowtown.  She still loves to swing and listen to music with her Dada.  Her favorite time of day is eating her banana in the morning (this girl is crazy about bananas) and when her daddy comes home in the evening.  Her favorite foods are bananas, oranges, grilled cheese, sweet potatoes and peas....oh and anything that Zach and I have on our plates.  She has been doing great a mother's day out.  More to come...

Happy Birthday Avery Grace!

Happy 12 months!

Our sweet baby Grace is one year old today!  She actually gave me a great present by sleeping through the night again ( 4th consecutive night...record setting).  And this was the happy sight when I walked in to get her this morning...

 We went to music class, the fabulous Midland mall, and then home for a 3 HOUR nap!- who knew the girl had that kind of napping in her???  Zach came home from working in Andrews and we took Avery to get her first ice cream (frozen yogurt).  It went a little something like this...

Pre-ice cream

Post ice cream

Post ice cream swim

So I think she had a great first birthday.  It's been a good day for Zach and I to think back on this past year and on this day a year ago when we first met our girl.  I went back and read my journal from one year ago...I had written on June 25th, 2012- which I had labeled post due date day 9.  In this entry I wrote, "we're hopeful tomorrow will be Avery's birthday- and that we will hold our answer to prayer in our arms."  And we did get to hold her that next day, the answer to so many prayers,- and praise God for his grace abundant- we've held her every day since.

We're looking forward to celebrating her birthday a little more with family and friends over the next week.

Here's what she's been up to over this past month:

Crawling, crawling. crawling

Pulling up to stand lots

Mama is still her favorite babble, sometimes directed at me...more often directed at the iphone

Loves her new trick of taking off her bib

Really enjoys using her shaker and music sticks she got from her music class

Has been sleeper better at night...yay!

Buddy bear

Some good quality Lego time with her daddy on Father's Day

Celebrating Tenley's frist birthday in Abilene

Bear had been surprisingly sweet to her...or maybe just tolerant

My helper

A good reading place

A good relaxing place

New instruments from music class

Let the curls begin....

Trying out her standing legs

Beating the west Texas heat!