Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends who are reading this right now. The holidays and moving into our new home have kept us super-busy, but things are beginning to slow down a little now... just as our little Avery begins to speed up! She is getting so quick on her feet these days!

Our new home is coming along. Before moving in, we added a fresh coat of paint to the rooms and kitchen cabinets. After moving in, I was determined to have a Christmas tree in our new home - even if it was buried behind boxes! SO - week before Christmas, we bought one of the last 3 trees at Lowes. Needless to say, we got a super deal! It was kind of sad to have to take it down only a couple of weeks later, but at least we had a Christmas tree for our first Christmas in our new home.
After Christmas, we made our way through the normal unpacking progression: boxes to piles and piles to actual places. Thankfully, things are a little more sane now. David and I have moved so many times during our 7 1/2 year marriage that I can pretty much gage how long until the madness gives way to sanity. However, this time around we had our sweet little Avery to help find new homes for all the things that I put away!

Since Avery is my favorite subject these days, so let me share a little about what the cutest baby in the whole wide world is doing!

All four of her little molars are coming in at the same time. That has caused some grumpy days and sleepless night but her one comfort through it all as been her beloved ba-ba. Dr. Snider is NOT going to be happy with Mommy for not weaning her from the bottle yet. I just don't have the heart to take her "ba-ba" away just yet. She loves it so much.
She was deathly afraid of Santa this year. Her Santa picture is pretty sad. In the picture, she is screaming and reaching frantically for mommy while Santa is looking slightly jaded and more than a little helpless. It cracks me up! What's funny is that after her traumatic first meeting with Santa, she became obsessed with him. Now anytime that she sees a person or object in red she repeatedly (and I do mean REPEATEDLY) says, "danta".
These days, everything round is a ball. While I was changing her diaper today, she looked at my polka-dotted pj's and said ball --- like 5000 times. It was really cute.
She loves to play peek-a-boo and chase. Her favorite t.v. show is Yo! Gabba Gabba! She calls it "Gid-a-gah". She will take the remote and put it to the t.v. and say, "Gid-a-gah". She also loves to say, "bye-bye" with her cell phone up to her ear. She will walk around the house with it on her ear and just chat up a storm. I guess I need to start watching my P's and Q's now that I have a little mimic around!
She got a baby doll stroller for Christmas and just loves it. I bought the prettiest little doll to go with it. As I was purchasing it, I imagined how precious it would be for her to play "mommy" with her new doll. I pictured her lovingly holding her doll and making the cutest little attempts at putting her it and out of the doll stroller. Avery really does love her new stroller. The doll, however, is a different story. At the end of each evening, after she has gone to bed, I put away all of her toys. Each night I put her doll in her stroller and place them in her little playroom. The thing is, it really ticks her off that the doll keeps ending up in the stroller every morning. Every time she gets ready to push the stroller, she yanks the doll out and throws it on the ground. Then happily pushes her stroller around the house. She's so maternal! Avery makes me smile. It is fun to watch her little personality develop.
David and I are totally in love with her and becoming more so every day. We are really super thankful for our life. It's pretty cool.

I will try to post pics of our new house as the work progresses... I really need to find the USB cord --- it's probably in a box somewhere...