Don't Go!!!

We told Avery the sad news that Abby Leonard was leaving us, you can see how he felt about it.
Here he is being very charming to see if he can convince her to stay a little while longer.

This summer we have had the privilege of hosting one of my best friends from high school. I will be the first to admit that I was a little nervous about having a new baby and new roomie, but it has truly been a blessing to have Abby with us for the summer. She has helped us to enjoy our city more than we normally do, and has provided so much fun for our family of 3. She has lavished Avery with attention, been a great friend to me, and been the voice of East Texas when Michael needed someone on his team. I can safely say she will be deeply missed by all 3 of us. I knew it wouldn't last forever but it has been so fun to have a girlfriend in the house for the summer. It has been the best of both worlds for me to be married and have my family and have another best friend to live with, too. Abby thank you for putting up with us this summer and all of the sweet things you have done to make it our best summer yet! We are missing you already. Get ready for many invasions this fall when we come to Aggieland for the games.

Out the Gate in '98

This weekend we traveled to Tyler, AGAIN, but for yet another really fun reason. Our 10 year reunion. Michael and I had a great weekend with friends. Here's my 10 year Reunion TOP TEN (in no particular order).....

#1 While I was way too shy to put on my bathing suit in front of our whole class at the scheduled official pool party in town I was great with inviting my close girlfriends and their peeps out for some quality time on THE MEGASTATION!!!

#2 Listening to the 90's station on XM on the way to the reunion to "get in the mood" only to hear all the same songs from the cool cat DJ while we were there.

#3 Joni, one of my good friends from the good old days, brought us a Dairy Queen Thin Mint Blizzard ice cream cake. OMG, as Michael thinks he is now cool to say, it is Michael's new favorite dessert. Everyone loved it. We girls were the L7's in high school, I can't remember why, but I am sure we had a great reason.
#4 Seeing that while everyone had changed, no one had changed. I was surprised that everyone was still hanging out with the same people doing just what you would expect for the most part, ourselves included. Everyone even still basically looked the same. #5 The super cool name tags we all wore complete with my HIDEOUS Senior yearbook picture. These were so bad we had them retaken so Mom could frame on for the casa's wall of shame.
#6 The guy that we all probably thought was gay in high school showing up midway through the evening in his black t-shirt that said "I Heart My Penis"

#7 Watching former classmates do the Electric Slide, I am pretty sure most of them were under some influence....

#8 Spending time with 5 of my 7 best friends from high school! It was such a treat, I am so thankful for great friends who made great choices and helped me do the same. I am even more thankful that after 10 years we can still pick up where we left off time and time again. I can't wait until December when we all get together for Kim and Slim Jim's wedding.

Kimmy, Joni, me, Abby L., Neta and Mere

#9 For those of you that only read for Avery pictures.... Watching baby boy roll over so many times and be so proud each and every time. He is loving it and soo good at all the sudden.

and......

#10 ONLY HAVING TO GO TO 1 REUNION BECAUSE I GOT TO MARRY THE BOY I HAD A CRUSH ON IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!

Please note the red and black... Go Red Raiders, see you in another 10 years! And on that Red Raider note 10 1/2 Hearing the fight song after the class picture and being so tempted to do the dance :)

4 months old

Oh my goodness our baby boy is 4 months old, I can't believe it. He is getting to be so much fun. He smiles and coos and does all kinds of great tricks. We are slowly but surely loosing the passy battle, but oh well what can you do. We are so thankful for our precious little boy. Aunt Linde took this picture for us, it is so nice to have a photographer in the family on call to babysit on a whim. Thanks Linde for helping us out 2 days in a row, you rock!
I couldn't resist posting this picture. Michael carries Avery way up on his shoulder and Avery loves it he looks around takes it all in and gives me this look. I wonder what he is thinking, something sassy I am pretty sure. Please note the drool as well. Is it possible he is already starting the teething process?

Flat Stanley/Round Avery

Well, I have survived another week of work. This week my Mom, Lou Lou, played with Avery. He was again in the best hands possible and had so much fun! I also really had fun because I got play by play pictures e-mailed to me all day Monday and Tuesday to keep me informed, so Flat Stanley style I saw what my little round Avery was doing. I also had a to the minute schedule to look at when I got home. That way I could know when he ate and slept, because my mother knows her OCD girl so well. For example, he finished his bottle at 5:07pm Tuesday... I LOVE IT!!!
Here are just a few of round Avery's Adventures...
He played so hard on his playmat he fell asleep right there, please excuse the pink lovey, it is our back up from the days of Wee not He.
Then, he woke up!
I got to guess where he and Lou Lou were playing, maybe World Market!!
He also tried out his new excersaucer that our sweet neighbors handed down to us. Lou Lou says he's a fan.
And finally he got a yummy treat for Momma, Daddy, Aunt Linde, and Uncle Jeff.
Thanks for all your hard work and fabulous fun with Avery, he loved it and so did I. Thanks for thinking of ways to make me feel connected while I was away.

The 4th and 7th

We had a wonderful 4th of July at the lake this year. This picture is at the end of the day so it is a little rough, but I am so proud of my patriotic family dressed in theme. I absolutely love the 4th of July and every year just keeps getting better. We had so much fun celebrating at the lake with all of my family, even Aunt Susan Jo, Uncle Mark, Meme and the boys.
We look tired, because we had such a hard day. The adults had so much fun lounging on mom and dad's new megastation. It is the coolest thing, a ginormous float for 4 people complete with an area to cool of your body (the mesh in the middle lets you dip in as needed) and coolers and cup holders for your beverage of choice.
Avery chilled in his bouncy seat in the shade on the dock while we were in the megastation. I am telling you it was a busy, stressful day!


July 7th also marked a big day in our family, I am no longer a stay at home mom. Hi ho Hi ho it was back to work I go. While I did have a melt down on Sunday because Avery had a very runny nose and was feeling quite pitiful. I managed to pull it back together and I can honestly say it wasn't so bad going back to work. I think I did okay at work, all the babies were still alive when I left, and I know Avery had a great day.

Sweet Aunt Linde came by and took some pictures to e-mail me to ensure that I knew Avery was having a good day. Uncle Blake also came by to check on Avery boy and give him a bottle, too.
But the number one reason Avery had a great 2 days is Honey. She has been counting down the days to July 7th, since this day 15 weeks ago, so she could have her QT with our boy. I was so comfortable going back to work knowing Avery was in the hands of Michael's mom. She raised my favorite person, how could she not do a great job with Avery, too. A huge thanks to Linde, Blake and Rhonda for making sure Avery had a great first day with no mamma at home. I also have to say a big thanks to Amie, Melanie and the other girls at work for making my first day back go quickly and smoothly for all the right reasons.

Now we are headed back to the lake for more summer fun! Man I am glad Mom and Dad moved.

Water Baby

Avery has had so much fun swimming the past few weeks. He had a blast swimming with friends in the pool and all the other kids were so sweet to him. He kicked his legs and looked around and had the best time! He even did great when he got splashed in the face he just gave Sarah a big hug and looked around to see who was jumping. I am hoping he is going to be a big fan of the water, which would be good since he has no choice.
He is also really enjoying swimming at the lake with Lou Lou and Papa in his sassy new crab that Daddy got him.
However, he only likes to lean forward and kick his legs, NOT lean back.
Happy Monday!

Look Who's 3 months old!

Wow, I can't believe our little prince is 3 months old. We are still working on the whole smile at the camera thing but I think we are getting better.
Here are 3 great things our little one has learned to do in the last month!

1-Sleep ALL night!!! He goes to bed between 9:30 and 10:30, so my child, and gets up for a quick snack at 6, then he goes back to sleep until 9 or 9:30 I LOVE OUR SCHEDULE!!!
2-Smile and talk. We are having so much fun working the smiling and talking out of him. Especially in the past 2 weeks he is getting so interactive and we have the best time.
3-Roll over. Last Sunday Avery rolled from his tummy to his back, he was shocked and so were we. We have not had any repeat performances but I am sure there are more to come. To bad he HATES his tummy time.

Have a great day!