Avery's First Birthday Party!

This past Saturday afternoon we celebrated our sweet little love with 40 of our closest friends and family!  The theme for Avery's party was a vintage tea party.  The inspiration came from the invitation..

I figured if it's a vintage tea party, it must include Alice in Wonderland.  Must.  Avery's official colors were rose pink, cream, and robin's egg blue.  I couldn't have dreamed it would turn out as well as it did.  It was fantastic.

Of course I had to add a Cinderella aspect.  Had to.

Avery's smash cake which was too perfect for words.  It turned out exactly as I wanted it.

The cupcakes were 2 flavors: Almond cake with raspberry filling and Vanilla with lemon curd.  

We had fruit and veggie trays, chips and salsa, and cake batter rice krispie treats.  It can't be a tea party without tea too!

If you've been following the blog monthly to see how much Avery has grown, you know that we took her picture every month with the same headband.  I used those pictures to make her banner for the mantel and I think it came out just splendid.  I loved looking at the changes she's gone through in these short 12 months.  I think the most difference was between 2 and 3 month's pictures.  It's like she sprouted into a little lady over the course of those 30 days!

 The banner was a labor of love so I think it may stay up for a while.  I'm ok with it. 

Avery loved helping opening her gifts.  She can definitely find her way around some tissue paper.  :)

"Adda, open my new cell phone!  I need to call people!"

Another phone from her boyfriend Jackson.  They are obviously planning on talking to each other a lot.

Forget reading these books, they're tasty!

Giving her brand new lambie lovie a kiss.

Finally getting the hang of ripping paper.

Yay presents!!!!

Legos!  (I may or may not have already stepped on all of them a few)

After opening presents, I whisked Avery away for a quick outfit change to get her ready for her cake smash.  I had already come to the realization that she may not smash it at all and may cry....and I was fine with it.  It's her birthday, she can cry if she wanted to.  :)  We got her dressed and in her high chair out on the front porch.  Everyone sang her Happy Birthday (which confused her more than anything) and then cake smashing began.  She did AWESOME.  She wasn't quite sure of it at first, but quickly got the hang of it once we took her hand and smashed it into the cake.

Little Princess in her rose tutu, custom headband, and custom necklace. (Custom in that I made them....)

Adjusting her headband, she wanted to look perfect.  :)

"You are all singing for me?? Wow!"

"You want me to do what with this?"

"Oh my gosh this is so good!"

"Do I have anything on my face?"

"Who wants cake!?!? I'm sharing!"

"You want cake?"

The damage...

Avery Grace-  what a year little love!  It has been so much fun to watch you grow and learn.  You change every day and we wouldn't have it any other way.  You love people and love to laugh.  Don't change that- it'll come in handy as you grow up.  Your independent spirit is a gift as well and your "adda" and I have learned so much from you through it.  Your eagerness to start each day with a smile on your face has challenged me more than you'll ever know.  I think you're bound and determined to make me a morning person, and- just between us, you're succeeding.  I can't wait to see what the next year holds for all of us!  Here's to many many many more birthdays my little love, 

With love to the moon and back, 

Momma

11 Months!

Stats:  21.5 lbs, 28.5 inches long

(Please note....she got herself into this pose on her own....promise)

Milestones: We've got a walker.  Her first few steps were hilarious.  Absolutely hilarious.  We've also started pushing her bedtime back around 15 minutes.  Avery is an early bird (in every sense of the word) and we want her definition of "sleeping in" to change from 5:30 to at least 6:00.  Please.

Behavior:  Avery's comprehension of what we say is increasing as evidenced by her little tantrum throwing when we tell her "no".  Oh well....  Avery is such a little ham.  Anytime someone brings a camera out, she cheeses it up.  She loves people, loves to laugh, and loves to sing in the car.  (Just like her momma...)

Sleep:  Starting to get back to normal.  Our routine starts around 7:30ish and she's asleep in her bed (9 times out of 10) by 8.  Starting the routine a little later is working well, so far.  Avery is a tummy sleeper and curls up in the cutest little "ball of baby" that you could ever imagine.

Clothes:  12 months still.  She wears a size Infant 3 in most shoes.  Avery recently expanded her wardrobe to include spring attire thanks to momma's handy coupon shopping.  A girl can never have too many clothes.  Ever.  :)

Likes:  Walking, moving around, being outside, Ellie, playing with her lipstick, reading books, going for short car rides, her new car seat, and FaceTiming (if you'd like to receive a FaceTime from Avery, let me know.  This kid loves FaceTime).

Dislikes: Staying still, being told "no", getting her jammies on when she's really tired.  Luckily we don't have a running list of dislikes this month.

Favorite Moments: An overdue visit from Gigi and Granddad, learning to walk, helping momma with laundry, learning to wave "bye bye".

Learning the drums.

Most Challenging:  Nothing really challenging this month!  Praise the Lord!

Looking Forward To: First Birthday!  First Easter and first Easter egg hunt!

10 Months!

Stats:  21 lbs, 28 inches long

Yeah little love...I'm as shocked as you at how big you're getting.

Milestones: Finally cruising from furniture to furniture, "imitating" what we say (she's pretty good at vowel imitation), eating big girl grown up food at school (she came home one day smelling of tuna fish....she had a tuna bake at school.  I promptly burned those clothes. :) )  Avery also graduated from the baby room at school and into the bigger kid room.  I'm not going to lie...this was hard on momma.

Her new crib in her new room.

Sitting in her high chair at school.  This is probably the same day she ate tuna...

Behavior:  Avery continues to show what a free spirit she is.  One of my favorite memories thus far is when we were out shopping.  Avery was in her stroller and just pleased as punch to be people watching.  She saw this rather large (large as in tall and muscular) gentleman in the store and decided to yell at him, "Hey!".  He was a very good sport and bent down to talk to her.  She thought he was the greatest thing ever.

We still have our moments of fussiness, but they are fewer and far between.  Luckily we've gotten good at reading her so we know when to avoid a crisis at all costs.

Sleep:  Regression as of recently.  I think she's cutting her 9th tooth which could be the culprit.  Avery is a champ at her bedtime routine and is usually asleep by 8 and up by 6ish.  I recently discovered that she loves her Wub-a-nub pacifier thing with the animal attached to it only because she likes to chew on the pacifier.  As far as I'm concerned, that's all she ever needs to know it's for.  We named her Wub-a-nub "Charlie" back after she was first born.  As long as Charlie is in her crib with her, she'll keep herself occupied until between 6:30-7.

Clothes:  We've entered the new realm of 12 month clothes.  I'm not going to lie, the first time we were in Target and I realized that she "graduated" to the next size up, I got reallllly sad.  I won't be shopping in the baby baby section anymore!  She's got her own "toddler" girl section.  Sure there's more of a selection...but still!  So sad!  We had to get another storage container for her 9 month clothes.  She has now secured that achievement of having more clothes and I do.  Actually, I think she has more clothes than Jacob and I combined.

Likes:  Her love of books was reignited for some reason.  She can't get enough books.  Avery loves long walks, her Ellie dog, bath time in the big girl bathtub, big girl food, and her new car seat!

Dislikes: Staying still, getting into her car seat, getting dressed (it's like trying to lasso a cat.), falling (who enjoys that, really), sweet potatoes (I'm a little upset about this....she used to love them....now she gags.)

"Come on Momma....The Bachelor Wedding is about to start!"

Favorite Moments: Learning to somewhat stand up on her own, getting a new big girl car seat, going on lots of shopping trips with Momma and Dada (or, "Adda" as she calls him)

Most Challenging:  The week long virus that had at the doctor, in the ER, and back at the doctor again.  Poor baby's fever got as high as 104.  She was miserable and so was I.  Luckily it was just a virus and she's just fine now...like it never happened.  Building an immune system is a rough job.

How she preferred to spend most of the 6 days she was sick...cuddled up in someone's arms and watching Mickey Mouse and/or Doc McStuffins.

Looking Forward To:  Walking! ....maybe?

Avery's First Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Opening her first Valentine's Day card from Gigi and Granddad

Excited about her new elephant from Momma and Dadda

Big Girl car seat!

Such a happy little love!

9 Months!

Stats:  20 lbs, 27.5 inches long

Milestones: Walking with assistance, climbing stairs, and drinking from a cup....to name a few.  :)

...lest we forget "my first ponytail"

Behavior:  Avery is starting to assert some of her independence.  I know, you're in denial that this kid can pitch a royal fit too.  Trust me- she's done it.  Several times.  She's still hilarious and altogether laid back.  She's got her moments.  Don't we all.

Sleep:  7:30-6:30 or 7ish.  After her 5 new teeth finally cut through, her sleep went back to "normal".  Praise the Lord.  Avery is still a horrible napper.  At school she only takes two 30ish minute naps per day.  At home on the weekend she can sleep for 2 hours.  I'm assuming it's because there's way too much going on at school and she's scared she's going to miss something.  I would be too come to think of it....I guess that's where she gets it from.

Momma's shopping buddy on New Years Day

Clothes:  9 month everything.  She got a lot of 12 month stuff for Christmas but it's still a little big for her.  She's still about a half pound to full pound from being on the low side of the 12 month scale.  I'm fine with it.  I figured the longer she can stay in 9 month clothes the better.  Like I said on facebook, she'll wear Christmas jammies until the summer if I have my way about it.  :)

Wearing one of her new 12 month shirts.  The sleeves are long enough to fit my arms, but whatever.  

Likes:  All of her new toys she got for Christmas, Ellie still is fascinating, being outside, going for walks, bath time, exploring via her walker, and going on adventures.

Grocery shopping is way more fun with Avery "helping".  This was after she grabbed a bag of Doritos and threw them in the basket.

Dislikes: Staying still, getting into her car seat, getting dressed (it's like trying to lasso a cat.), riding in her car seat, being told "no".

Favorite Moments: First Christmas, spending almost a week at Gigi and Granddad's house, seeing a lot of extended family,

Just a girl and her dog.

Most Challenging:  Separation anxiety as started.  Hearing Avery scream "mamamama" at me as I leave her at school for 3 mornings straight is enough to drive anyone looney.

Exploring. ...it's what she does best.

Looking Forward To:  Growing up!

Just walking around...wearing a crown.  Wait...you don't?  She must have learned that from me.