Santa Claus

We made a second attempt at seeing Santa before Christmas.  As you can tell by the picture, it didn't go very well.  We got Avery to sit on his lap, but that was quite a feat in and of itself.  She didn't like him at all.  Hopefully, Santa doesn't take it too personally and still brings Avery some gifts this Christmas.

After getting over Santa, we explored the rest of the Christmas decorations and activities at Bass Pro.  Avery absolutely loved the train.  I think we need to get one to go around our tree next year.

 There were also cookies to decorate.  Avery had a great time putting the icing on her snowman and then making a mess eating it once we got home.

Decorating for Christmas

 I'm not sure why it took so long this year, but we finally put our Christmas decorations out.  By decorations, I mean our tree...we really kept it simple this year.  Avery had a good time picking out the ornaments and looking at them, but really had very little desire to put them on the tree.  We had fun anyway, though.

Once we got the tree up in the living room, we put up a little tree in Avery's room.  It's just a little white tree with pink ornaments, but it looks so cute in her room!

Jeremy's Birthday...the big 2-9!

It seems that the older we get, the less important our birthdays seem.  So, it's nice that we can have a little time to celebrate birthdays, especially when they fall so close to the holidays.  This year, for Jeremy's birthday, we managed to squeeze in a day trip to the Lake to celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma Cover.

 In addition to a birthday celebration, we had our first chance to see Santa this year.  This was as close as Avery would allow Santa to get, and if you notice she's even leaning away from him in the picture.

 Although she wouldn't sit with Santa, he still gave Avery a nice Christmas present...a little stuffed frog and bunny.  I think this picture is actually the second or third time she opened the present.  She kept putting them back in the paper, putting the bow back on, and then re-opening the present.  It was good practice for Christmas morning.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for an excuse to celebrate a December birthday and for our first Santa experience of the year!  We had a great time.

We had such a great time at the Lake, that Jeremy and Avery were exhausted for the ride home.  Luckily, I managed to keep myself awake to get us home.

Daddy Phase

 Avery is going through a bit of a "Daddy phase."  She's really started to notice when Jeremy's not around and asks for him.  She's also taken notice of the fact that every morning, at about the same time, her DaDa leaves for the day.  That is the point where she now cries.  So, on this particular day, in order to appease her, I gave her Jeremy's robe (something she knows is his and can kind of cuddle up to).  She decided that the best thing to do with it would be to wear it...whatever makes her happy!  I somehow managed to roll the sleeves up enough to see her hands, tied the end of it up in a knot, and secured the front with a chip clip.  Yes, I said a chip clip.  That made her happy enough that she was willing to part with Jeremy's lunch (in the bag in her hand) and tell him good-bye for the day.  However, there was not one point throughout the day that I was allowed to take that robe off of her, including nap time.  Again, whatever makes her happy!

Breakfast in Daddy's robe

Even when Daddy was home for the night, she still wore that robe!

Thanksgiving 2010

This Thanksgiving was spent cooking, eating, and playing with lots of little kids.  We hosted my family for Thanksgiving dinner, which consisted of 8 adults and 6 kids.  It was quite a crazy house for the day, with 5 of the kids being 3 years and under.  We had a great time with the family and always look forward to an excuse to get all the kids together.  

Avery helping to make rolls with Mama and Grandma.

Avery with Grandma and Ethan...the baby!

Avery and Mama making rolls...she's always so helpful!

Jackie and Jason came over to spend some time with us on Friday.  We always have such a great time with them and are so thankful to have friends like the two of them.  Avery really liked Jackie that night and spent most of the time on her lap asking her to read books.

A Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Cover

We spent a very nice weekend in Clinton celebrating Thanksgiving with Grandpa and Grandma Cover and the rest of the family.  The three of us stayed at Grandpa and Grandma's house for the weekend, giving Avery some much-needed time with Grandpa.  She spent about the first year of her life not really being into her grandpa that much.  He's big and loud like her daddy, but that was intimidating to her.  However, this past weekend, she really took to Grandpa, much to my excitement (as his too, I think).  Before the weekend was over, she was asking for him whenever he wasn't around and has continued to ask for him since we left.

Avery and "Winnie" (Winston) riding in the car!

Playing with Grandpa!

Thanksgiving lunch with all the family.

Baby Jack

Avery is in a "baby" phase right now...she loves all babies (which includes children up to and beyond her age on occasion).  So, on the few occasions that we have been around Avery's newest cousin, Jack, she is just in awe.  Unfortunately, we haven't gotten many pictures of the two of them, but here's a cute one of Avery, Grandpa, and Jack at Jack's baptism party.

The Last Days of Fall

Avery and I really enjoyed playing outside this summer, but I'm afraid those days are coming to an end.  While the Missouri weather is always known for its unpredictability, I doubt that there are very many nice days ahead for this year.  So, Avery and I really enjoyed the unexpected warm weather and the chance to visit the park one last time.  We stumbled across a park that is perfect for toddlers...all of the equipment is smaller.  It was absolutely perfect, and we'll definitely be going back once spring rolls around.  

 The swings are one of Avery's very favorite things! 

Avery the Elephant

For those of you that haven't had a chance to see the cutest elephant on the planet, here's your chance.  In addition, to trick or treating, Avery dressed as an elephant for her gym class last week as well.  

After her trial run as an elephant on Wednesday, Avery was all practiced up for Halloween night.  Jackie and Jason came over to see the little elephant before we headed out for the evening.  We then went trick or treating at Hyvee, yes I said Hyvee.  It seems a little odd, but the set-up was great for kids Avery's age.  They had little stations set up throughout the store with employees dressed up, handing out goodies.  She made quite the haul...candy, apples, toothbrush, balloon, juice boxes, and more.  After the Hyvee festivities, we made a trip to Grandma's to show off our elephant.  Then we were off to probably the busiest house in town. Terry and Teresa just LOVE Halloween and totally go the distance when it comes to that holiday...decorations everywhere, blow-up yard decorations, a cemetery in the front yard, ghosts and goblins everywhere.  While we were there, Avery got the chance to hand out candy to the other kids, and I'm pretty sure she liked that as much as she liked getting the candy.  There were so many great pictures from the night...check out the slide show!

Our Morning Ritual

Avery has developed quite a routine in the mornings.  She wakes up, and the first thing she asks for is either her Dada or TJ.  Once I get her out of bed, we have to go locate both of them.  Once Dada and TJ have been located, the incessant asking for her newest friend begins.  Avery has discovered television, and fallen in love with Mickey Mouse.  Luckily for me, that happens to be a show that is appropriate for her and on early in the mornings.  So, Avery (and her baby doll...another obsession) both have a seat in the living room to watch Mickey (Mimmie according to Avery) while I fix breakfast.  It's so cute!

Homecoming Parade

For many reasons, this was the first year for anyone in our family to actually attend the Homecoming parade (except for 2 years ago when Jeremy and I were in it), but we decided to go this year.  Chelsea and Jackie went with us, and we had so much fun.  Avery really enjoyed watching everything in the parade, especially the mules (which she thought were horses).

 All the girls!

Thank you Mr. Police Officer for standing directly in front of my little girl!  You could not have chosen a smaller child to plant yourself in front of...perhaps next time you could block the view of one of the hundreds of intoxicated adults.

 Trying to see the mules/horses as they disappear around the corner...she loved those things!

More Pumpkins...

This weekend we went to another pumpkin festival and had such a great time.  A special thank you to Nana for making the trip all the way to Columbia to have some fall fun!

YouZeum

This week brings with it the unfortunate closure of the YouZeum here in Columbia.  We're sad to see it go, especially since such a landmark event for our family took place there.  We had so much fun at Avery's birthday party and were grateful to have a place for all ages of people to enjoy.  


To pay homage to the place that our daughter had her first birthday party, Avery and I decided to take one last trip through the YouZeum on Friday.  We had a great time and are sad that Avery will miss all the future learning opportunities at such a great place!

Rest in Peace, Old Friend

I'm sad to report the passing of one of Avery's most beloved friends.  We lost PaaPaa (paci) late last week in Avery's transition into toddler-hood.  PaaPaa and Avery shared so many memories together, and while the loss was sudden, Avery is taking it very well.  Over the past 18 months, PaaPaa has become like a member of the family with Avery growing closer to him each day.  Their relationship began as a casual friendship.  They were together from the beginning...sleeping together, together right after meals, even bathing together.

As Avery grew, so did her relationship with PaaPaa.  They got closer and closer, and when Avery became mobile, this afforded her the ability to find PaaPaa anywhere he was hiding.  Sometimes, however a relationship, while enjoyable, can become detrimental to one or both parties.  I'm sad to report that this was the case with Avery and PaaPaa.  So, while we're sad to report his passing, we look forward to the growth that will come.  

Remembering PaaPaa...

Some of their best times together were spent playing.

Avery and PaaPaa on their last day together...

Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival

 This weekend, we made a trip to the quaint little town of Hartsburg for their annual Pumpkin Festival.  It turns out that we weren't the only ones to make this trip, actually about 30,000 other people were there on Sunday as well (along with another 30,000 on Saturday).  Who knew that we'd been missing something so popular all these years.  There were so many things to see and do, and Avery had a great time.  She and Jeremy made a little wooden car with some woodworkers...CUTE!

Avery also got a chance to pick her very own pumpkin (or ball as she likes to call it).    

We had a hard time finding a small one that she could pick up, but we eventually found just the right one.

Once we did find one that Avery could pick up, she decided to throw it.  She has a slight obsession with balls...she thinks anything round is a ball that needs to be thrown in order to be chased down by one of her parents.  While I enjoy burning off the calories (kettle corn in this particular case), occasionally this game becomes slightly redundant.  All in all, we had a great time.  Sign us up for another pumpkin festival!