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...

a weekend to remember...

David and I just got back from an awesome weekend in Williamsburg, VA where we went to a Family Life marriage conference. Avery stayed with her Boo while we were away. Leaving her at the airport was so hard. I cried the entire way to the gate and then some! While we were checking our bags, I felt it necessary to confide in a complete stranger (aka the airline employee) every detail of my traumatic morning. While she was busily checking our bags, I managed to blubber out the minute details of how I was leaving my baby for the first time and how we were going to a conference and "I know it's a really good thing and I know I will have a good time but it is just hard..." You get the point. Suprisingly, she was super-sweet and genuinely sympathetic. I was just plain...pathetic.

After our initial "bump in the road" had passed, David and I were able to relax a little (did I mention that we called Boo every hour of every day just to check in?) and ultimately had a blast hanging out together. David rented a red mustang for us to drive (By the way, every time we got in that crazy thing I had to beg him not to rev the motor or peel out of the parking lot ~ he was definitely channeling his inner redneck in that car). We ate at really great restaurants where we were able to actually eat our meal while it was still warm and finish a sentence without having to say, "hold on just a minute". Here's the best part: at the end of the meal I didn't have clean up crushed cheerios or smooshed food. It was awesome! We stayed at a beautiful resort on a golf course and stayed up late watching movies and ordering room service. We saw William & Mary College, toured colonial Williamsburg, and drove through the Jamestown area settlement. The leaves were just changing color and the weather was just beautiful.Oh yeah, and we went to a marriage conference in the middle of all that too. Here are the pics!

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happy halloween!

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fall is finally here

Don't you just love that crisp fall air? There's nothing like it. Here in Memphis, the weather has been so hot until just this week. I definitely appreciate the change in seasons. It has been a long time coming. Here are some pictures of our visit to the Pumpkin Patch for Avery's little friend Faith's first birthday party. It was the perfect Fall day. We had a great time.

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birthday party for isaiah

Avery went to her friend Isaiah's birthday party this weekend. She wore her cute little birthday cupcake dress and played with friends Faith and Bethany. They were so cute together!

Hooray!

We just got back from our most recent visit to our home-away-from-home: a.k.a. our house in Columbus.

We were able to rent it for a few months to some good friends of ours. It is a huge blessing for us. Now we will be able to save some money and even look for a house here in Memphis. We will finally be able to settle in a little.

God is so faithful. We are so thankful to Him for His provision for us.

Avery's 1st Birthday

we celebrated avery's first birthday on september 15 at the dixon/brewer park. it was the perfect day. the weather was just perfect and all of avery's little friends and family members were there to help us celebrate. we had a special visit from mother goose and daddy sang "baby girl" to her while she ate her birthday cake. enjoy the photos. be sure to check out the crazy crepe paper flowers that i made!

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how we beat the heat!

It has been sooo hot lately. Many nights, we can be seen at the TCBY trying to "cool off". Avery just loves that yogurt! She is so adorable.

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Elvis Mania

David, Avery and I did something today that we've never done before - we visited Graceland during the insane Mania that is Elvis Week. We saw some interesting people - to say the least! We managed to get a few pictures with some really fun Elivs impersonators. I love the picture of Avery totally freaking out next to the 1970's Elvis. I think she may have had a small crush on Mini Elvis - she totally grinned at him.

Zoo Date with Daddy

We took a trip to the zoo a few weeks ago. It was a miracle that we didn't spontaneously combust due to extreme heat. Seriously. Most of the animals were in hiding under trees or rocks in order to get a break from the heat. It was a bit like "Where's Waldo" or "I Spy"- just with zoo animals. Avery did get to see the polar bears, however. She loved it! We are definitely looking forward to cooler temps so that we can enjoy the outdoors again.

Sprinkler Park Fun

Avery loves her friends! We went to the Suggs Sprinkler Park with our playgroup in July and again in August. It's so cute to watch the babies interact.

A visit with Mimi

Mimi came to visit us from Dallas in July. It was Avery's first time to meet the precious lady she is named after! We had a great time catching up. While Mimi was in town, we went to the Memphis Botanic Gardens. It was super-hot, so we didn't stay that long...just long enough to get a few good pictures!

avery on the beach

These pictures were taken by our friend Josh Malahy while we were on vacation in Navarre Beach, Florida (with the exception of 2 photos). Avery was 9 months old.

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Navarre Beach Pictures

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summer vacation

David, Avery, and I just got back from vacationing with friends in Navarre Beach Florida. We had a great time, but Dave and I realized that those lazy days of lying on the beach with a good book in hand are definitely behind us. Preparing to go to the beach each day was as difficult as preparing for the vacation itself. It took us 20-30 minutes just to slather her up with sunscreen and stick her in a swim diaper and bathing suit, and another 30 minutes to get everything together (camera, coverup, sunblock, toys, baby pool, towels, snacks, etc) and dressed. By the time we finally made it to the beach, Avery was ready for a nap and so were we! We managed to stay out for maybe an hour or two before she totally melted down... Nice. Obviously, little Miss Avery (or as her friend Carter likes to call her "Miss Baby Avery Timman") kept us busy, busy on the beach. I'm not sure that she loved the beach as much as she loved playing with her friends Miller and Carter in the swimming pool. She made a few attempts at eating sand and took more than a few swallows of salt water. We have a really funny pic of her getting splashed by a huge wave while sitting in Daddy's lap...bless her little heart. Anyway - although our vacation was not as relaxing as those of years past, we had a really great time and made really fun memories. And - how cute is my Avery in that little swim suit? Are you kidding me???
jen