Trip Advisor

First ride on a carousel in The Woodlands, TX

One of the advantages of being a part of the Air Force is being able to see many interesting, exotic places.  Well we have been based in less than glamorous locations, however, we get to visit friends and family who are fortunate.  Avery Beth and I are super lucky.  We have friends and family everywhere....it seems all over the United States.  When Ryan is deployed we do whatever it takes to help pass the time which inludes a good bit of traveling.  Since Ryan left we drove to Georgia to spend time with my family and friends, flew to Houston to visit Ryan's family, flew to Pensacola to visit our friends the Jacksons (and our friend Lindsay Clinton who met us in ATL for the flight) and we are traveling this weekend to the Georgia coast to visit with my "godparents."  Beyond that is Vegas and potentially Charleston with a final stop back in Little Rock.  Fun, yes.  Exhausting, yes.  Expensive, yes.  Worth it all, yes.  

All the ladies in Pensacola

This Trip Advisor Recommends...

• Purchase the best carseat on the market but keep in mind how heavy that *&^% thing will be when you drag it through the airport.
• Cover your carseat with a plastic bag if you want to check it.  The agent was happy to tell me that my uncovered carseat would be dragged through rat feces on the underground conveyor belt.  Neat.
• Check all your bags.  Bring your husbands deployment orders and 50% of the time your check in agent will slide them in for free.  
• Pack sacks full of Oreo's and Nutter Butters to entertain your child during the flight.  All the "rules" about cookies and desserts get thrown out the window when you pass through that security line.
• Train your little one to scream, "help me!"  "help me!" throughout the entire flight.  We were very popular on that leg of the trip.  
• Accept all offers of help from strangers.  As long as they can't take off with your kid NEVER turn down an offer to unfold a stroller.
• Talk a friend or family member into traveling with you.  An extra pair of hands can mean a bathroom break, someone to pick up the dirty binky off the floor and a new person for Avery to poke in the eye and say "EYES!"        
• Let's keep this simple.  Do not fly with a 19 month old.  Just don't do it.

One tired little traveler!

Bless Her Heart!

I LOVE that my seeds were planted in Georgia and I grew roots in the South. My husband feels just the same way about Texas. Ryan will never forgive me for not delivering Avery Beth somewhere over the Texas border. He said when I was pregnant, that when "the time" came we would all head to Texas so his child could be a true Texan. Well....that did not happen. So even though our little girl loves spicy food and will own her fair share of cowgirl boots, he has a house full of Southern Belles and I love it!

Avery having a "nana" just the way she likes it!

How do I know Avery Beth is a true Southerner? Avery says, "HI!" to everyone we meet and even waves at all the boats on the lake. She may not have been born in Clayton, Georgia but she certainly acts like a local. Southerners like calling people by two names...Bobby Joe, Mary Helen, Avery Beth. She is a good eater and loves fried chicken legs, green beans (with lots of flavor), fried okra, bananas straight out of the peeling as well as walking around in just a diaper, smelling flowers, and begs for more time outside. She has good Southern girl manners with please and thank you and she often calls my mom, "Mammie" (instead of Bebe) just like Scarlett called her favor servant. My mom is not her servant but she certainly bosses her around enough to be one! She loves it when I pretend to be Britney Spears (a true Southern girl at heart) and sit in my lap and help me drive. Southern girls know how to handle things on their own....Avery Beth can use a screw driver to make repairs around the house! The best thing about being a Southern girl is we are raised to be independent and strong -there will be many blog posts in my future about that. The girl was made to be a Southern Belle.

We are having a GREAT time in Georgia!

Waiting On The World To Change

When Ryan is gone it is really easy to wish my life away.  Everything is so much happier, sweeter and fun when he is around.  That is why I love him and married that hairy man.  There is still lots of fun to be had when Avery Beth is around and we certainly are making the most of our time together.  We are happy to be in Georgia and visiting with lots of people we love!  Since we arrived we have been very, very busy! 

We walked for TSC and our friend Kallan Windham in Marietta, GA

We have been to visit "Goats on the Roof" with Bebe

Avery is learning how to do hair

Avery learned how to eat like a good Southern lady...fried chicken, green beans and fried okra.

We got to meet our new friend Marlon Pruitt

And we started the summer off right with some naked baby pool time.

We have done much, much more and I will add those soon!  Happy summer ya'll!

Headlines

My hometown newspaper wrote a feature article about our March of Dimes superstars, "Avery's Aviators."  It is wonderfully written!  You cannot see the picture that ran in the actual paper online but you can see it below. 

Read the article here:  http://www.theclaytontribune.com/articles/2010/05/13/news/news03.txt

I love that I grew up in a small town called Clayton, Georgia.  I love that I have "roots."  I love where I came from and wish I could give my daughter the same steady, happy, small town upbringing.  I cannot give her that because of our military way of life, however, I can give her stabillity within our family, love and expose her to opportunities that were limited in a small town.  Enjoy the read!       

Mother's Day

Everyday is Mother's Day at my house but May 9th was super special.  Luckily my mom was able to be with Avery and I and we could share our special day together.  I kept thinking, "I wish Ryan was here."  However, I know there is nothing better than TLC from my mom!  She knows how to spoil...take a look at me and then my daughter too!  Ryan was very thoughtful and ordered a charm for a necklace that I have wanted for quite some time!  It has a charm with our anniversary date, a cross, Avery Beth's name, my dog's initials and my initial.  I had a "vision" of what I wanted my necklace to look like and here it is! 

I received breakfast in bed and Avery delivered (threw at me) roses from the yard.  We spent the day getting ready for our long drive to Georgia followed by a trip to the mall to buy Miss Avery Beth some new shoes.  Strangely enough buying new shoes for Avery is all I wanted to do on Mother's Day!  Her new shoes are in the first picture.

"Picnic N Playhouse"

Avery has a new outdoor playset from her grandparents and nothing else could have brought her so much joy!  I moved it onto our porch for now; we have had TERRIBLE weather the last couple of days!  When it clears up and our yard dries out it will go back in the grass for her enjoyment! You will notice she has two hairbows instead of one. Now when I put one in she immediately asks for "one more!" Funny girl!

Daddy on a Stick

Ryan and I looked long and hard for homes when we decided to move out of the Little Rock Air Force Base Housing. We really disliked our living situation on base and resented the Air Force taking our entire housing allowance ($1000) for a tiny, 800 sq ft duplex. We did not know how good we had it; if we found a bug we called the housing office and they came and sprayed, when the AC was out someone came and worked on it for free, we had a tiny yard to mow, a fenced in yard for the dogs (in fact our new puppy at the time, Hondo, ate a hole in the side of the house and no one said a word) and we had lots of family time while there because Ryan was able to come home during the day. We are so thankful for our home in Sherwood, AR. We really like the neighborhood, we love the location (a Wal-Mart is literally across the street and the base is 10 minutes away), the size is just right and there is amazing storage space. However, there are some really negative sides to our first house. Our bath room layout is poor and the bathtub/shower were not installed properly, our bedroom is way too small for our furniture, the insulation is average - you get the point. The worst part of our home is the yard. We bought on a hill which didn't seem like a big deal at the time but now that we have a child it has become very clear how yucky it is! If you want to see the problems with the yard check out my submission to DIY's "America's Most Desperate Landscape." I hope they pick us! We could really use some help! 
http://my.diynetwork.com/amdl-2010/South/Erosion-Explosion/detail.esi?oid=16115344

Half Birthday

Avery turned 18 months old on April 15th and to celebrate we went to one of the Sanders' favorite places, "Shakeys" for some homeade custard!  Our friends Chris and Sarah met us and because Miss Avery Beth does not get many sweet treats she was over the moon excited! 

The first 16 or 17 months or her life were spent "catching up" developmentally.  It is so cool to look at an 18 month developmental milestone checklist and realize that your child is on target or more advanced.  It was a first for me and I was so excited.  So what does this 18 month old do?

• Avery loves to color and play outside.  If she is not doing one she is doing the other!  She has a new playset from her grandparents that she ADORES! 
• Avery is saying all kinds of funny words and is so spunky!  Her favorite word is "uh oh" followed by "help me!"  She also says, eat, hungry, Georgia, Hondo, outside, cracker, juice, ball, hot, cook, clock, boo boo, please and thank you, night night, binky, baby, car, truck, Avery's slide, bubbles, nana, cheese, poop, mess, MORE, one more, dance, music, Bebe, doggy, deer, HI!  Wow!  I've got a little chatter box on my hands.
• She loves to mimic.  She sees things done one time and then imitates them exactly.  It is crazy!  She saw a screw driver being used once and now she walks around the house trying to screw things in!  She saw me shave my leg once and the next week came at me with the razor and tried to shave my legs.  She found the fingernail clippers and tried to clip my nails!  
• She explores everything.  She loves to clean out my purse and the cabinets in my bathroom.  
• She loves her baby and she loves her binky!  I just do not have the heart to take her pacifier away!  
• She sleeps through the night and when she wakes up in the morning she entertains herself for at least 15-20 minutes.  I am not a morning person so this agreement between us works out nicely.  It takes me about that long to clear the fog.
• She is charming.  Everywhere we go she makes a friend and says, "HI!" to anyone we pass...even when they aren't looking.  She often smiles and tilts her head and waits on the, awwwww she is so cute.  She knows exactly what she is doing!

As you can see I am totally smitten with her.  I told Ryan tonight over the phone some of the funny, quirky stories about his daughter and he says she is who she is because of me.  I say she is who she is because she has TWO parents that adore her, grandparents that could not love her more, family that supports us, friends that keep her giggling and so much love in her world!    

The Sun Did Not Shine...But We Did!

Even though it was raining, hailing and lightening on Saturday at the March of Dimes, "March For Babies," Avery's Aviators were still able to shine!  The walk was cancelled after a major hail storm came through the area...we were all standing under a tent as it came down!  Many of the folks on our team came out despite the weather and looked awesome in their T-shirts.

I was told by a March of Dimes representative that never has a family team raised more than $5,000 in the entire state of Arkansas.  Avery's Aviators raised $8,055!  I am so proud of all of our fundraising efforts and feel confident what we did and the inspiration of my Avery is going to make a difference in the lives of so many.  Thank you to all of the folks who joined our team or gave GENEROUSLY to Avery's Aviators!

 

Professional Photos...18 Months in the Making

There were so many wonderful things that came out of our time in the UAMS NICU.  While there we fell in love with our baby and knew for the rest of our lives we would do anything for her happiness.  Encountering so many families that were struggling made us appreciate our own situation; we realized that we had it pretty good.  Ryan and I learned that our marriage grew stronger in times of crisis and it brought out the best in us instead of the worst.  The best thing we encoutered was the kindness of others.  Nurses gave us tissues when we could not hold back the tears, doctors hugged our necks and shared in our victories, volunteers from Ryan's squadron brought us meal upon meal, perfect strangers sent us emails and words of encouragement through our blog.  We also had a neat surprise the day Avery came off the ventilator.  Crystal Goss, a local photographer, volunteers her time and talents to take pictures of NICU babies and she offered to take Avery's picture.  As you will see below Ryan and I were totally unprepared - he still looks in shock and I look so tired.  But the good news is the pictures were not about us they were about Avery Beth.  So why are we just now seeing these pictures you ask?  Crystal already had one child born prematurely (this explains her interest in photographing preemies!) and was put on bedrest with her second pregnancy shortly after she took Avery Beth's picture.  The March of Dimes preparations reminded me I never received these pictures and I found the name of the photographer and gave her a call.  As it turns out her family is the March of Dimes Ambassador Family for Arkansas this year!  I have been checking my email inbox almost hourly since we talked - I am so excited to share these!

No More Itty Bitty Babies!

When Avery Beth was born I did not have a direct connection with a premature baby. As far as I knew I did not know anyone with a premature baby. In fact I thought of preemies as those small versions of Cabbage Patch Kids! I had no idea what a premature baby looked like, how they struggled and how their birth could change lives forever. After having my sweet baby girl I found friends from all corners of the nation that had preemies, were a preemie or were somehow helpful in educating me about what we were going through. So many people contacted us to tell us their stories of miracles - I was astonished by how many people we knew who had been impacted by a premature birth! I in fact have a close friend here in Little Rock that was a former preemie weighing exactly what Avery did when she was born...2 lbs 6 oz. I am so thankful for her friendship and know that God placed her in our lives for a very special reason. It was comforting knowing that my baby had the potential to grow up to be smart, successful and beautiful too. But because of all of these stories my eyes were opened to a huge problem and that is why we walk with and raise money for the March of Dimes! We walk with hop that no one else we love will go through this struggle! I don't think anyone else but Ryan and myself (and maybe my mom) have seen this video clip. Avery was about 2 weeks old, finally off the ventilator and making her first sounds. I remember crying tears of joy when I finally heard my baby making noises! She even had an opinion then...she did not care for all that stuff "all up in her grill!" I love that you can hear the nurse in the background. I will forever be thankful for those ladies who took care of my baby when I could not!

Marching!

Avery Beth and I will be walking this Saturday in the March of Dimes, "March for Babies!" I am so excited and am desperate for no rain! Above is a picture taken of Avery just moments after her birth. It was such a scary time for us and am thankful for all the people who helped us through our struggle, including the March of Dimes. It is so amazing that this tiny little baby has inspired so many to give!


We have our very own team, "Avery's Aviators" and above is our team logo. We currently have 25 team members and have raised a whopping $6,765!!! We have so much momentum right now! I am so close to my goal of $1,000 but I am $130 short. Click this link http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?pp=79702&ct=4&w=4064292&u=laurengsanders or the purple box to the right to give!

Please think long and hard about giving to the March of Dimes. What a difference they can make in the life of a family. One of the focuses for March of Dimes funds is on educating expecting mothers about what to look for and signs of problems with their pregnancy. How different my experience may have been if I had been more informed about my symptoms and knew to question my doctor. I was so sick. I was literally dying, in my bedroom, alone, with a dismissive doctor who sent me out the door with pain killers and an appointment at a specialist for heartburn. I learned so much from my experience and feel it is MY DUTY to tell expectant mothers to trust their body, visit the March of Dimes website while expecting, ask for a second opinion and trust their new "maternal instinct" if they feel something is wrong. I wish I had.

This image was taken the day Avery was born. Her hand was the size of my engagement ring. So tiny!

Daddy Kisses

So Ryan is deployed. Watching him leave this time just about broke my heart. Daddy and Avery are best buddies and I guess I hurt more for him than anything else. I know it would kill me to be apart from my little girl for almost five months. I would not want to be in his shoes; when he returns from this deployment he will have been gone 9 out of 21 months of Avery's life...including her birth. I get so worked up and sad when I really start thinking about the impact of Ryan's military career and how the story of our life will be told. The Air Force has provided a wonderful life for us, yet Ryan will watch and know his child through stories over the phone, pictures, mailed video clips on a disk and time delayed moments on Skype. I know families have done this for years and "back in the day" had to wait on mail to arrive a month later but this is MY family and MY struggle. Ryan and I spoke tonight and I raced to tell everything Avery had done in the last three days before we ran out of time: Avery is totally obsessed with stickers and coloring, she tried to do a forward flip on the carpet - where she learned that I will never know, she ate dog food today, she tried to shave my legs today after watching me do it once in the shower earlier in the week, she found a panty liner in the bathroom cabinet and tried for 15 minutes to stick it to a body part saying "boo boo!," Avery got a new toybox in the mail today, she finds five day old, scabbed over "boo boos" and immediately goes into hysterics all over again, she is way smarter than we give her credit for, she is wearing me out! Ahhhhhh exhale. And Ryan is not the only one we are apart from because of his job. We live hundreds of miles from any other family member. They miss out on all kinds of special moments and everyday goodness because of the distance. I am so thankful for Ryan and people like Ryan who sacrifice...I just wish the sacrifice weren't so hard on my family.

The daddy kisses jar and a little hang begging for more!

While Ryan is away Avery Beth gets a "Daddy Kiss" everyday. The jar of kisses started with 135 kisses and when the kisses are all gone daddy will be home...and our child will have a serious chocolate addiction. She gets SO excited and insists on opening these kisses all by herself; one tiny little shred of aluminum foil at a time. I love that she has a connection with daddy and something that makes her so happy.

Glamour Shots

So I have so many pictures of my Avery girl I will never have a place to show them all off. So here are a few to enjoy for all time!

My little bathing beauty.


Goodness this one is just cute. I heart that dress!

She is going to kill me for this one someday. Look at that belly!

This precious apron was made for ME by my great- grandmother. So cute.

That is it and that is all.

TEETH!!!

Avery after a nap...check out that crazy hair and that new tooth!

My toothless wonder is finally sprouting some pearly whites! We saw no signs of those choppers for the first 16 months of life and were wondering if they were even in there. Well I take that back about not seeing signs for 16 months. Any time she was getting sick, drooling incessantly or putting random things in her mouth we said, "Oh, Avery Beth is just teething." We call that time PTT (Pretend Teething Time) and it went on for about 1o months. We are no longer pretending; one morning we woke up and there was a little sharp tooth, a really nasty diaper and a pretty crabby baby! We heard horror stories about teething babies but strangely enough I was excited because we had anticipated these teeth for so long. My baby is a trooper and handled it much better than most. We went from 0 teeth to working on 4 at once and she should have been the devil...but not my happy baby. They are pretty cute little teeth; she has two half way in at the top and one poking through on the bottom and I think a couple more that will be in soon. I think she has her daddy's teeth; I see a gap between those top two (:

Can you see those two little top teeth!

I cannot wrap my brain around how much she is changing so fast. Walking, talking, teething....what is next people!? Don't even think about "My Baby Can Read." That is just too weird for me. And besides I want to be able to spell things to my husband without her knowing. Like, "Here Ryan. Distract her for a minute. I'm going to hide in the bathroom and eat a c-u-p-c-a-k-e."

Brainy Baby

When you are pregnant you have dreams and goals for your baby. You allow yourself to fantasize about what books she will like to read, certificates all over the house from the Honor Roll, the things she will be involved in with school, where she will go to college, what she will look like in a wedding dress and so much more. When my pregnancy was cut short and my baby was born 12 weeks too soon I was terrified. All of those dreams of a smart, healthy well adjusted child seemed impossible. Avery Beth experienced a Grade II bilateral BRAIN BLEED at birth. That sounds terrible right? When I found out about the brain bleed my mind started again fantasizing about what her life would be like and I immediately went to Google for answers. Big mistake. There was no way to know how this was going to impact her future. Luckily the brain bleed was monitored very carefully that first month of life and it did not grow and in fact it began to dissolve before we even left the NICU. And Avery had her very first collegiate experience while in the hospital when she participated in a Princeton research study on brain bleeds! What a miracle and what a testament to the power of prayer. Although we still do not know the full outcome of that brain bleed we do know that Avery is a happy, healthy, BRIGHT little lady.



Watch as my baby girl finds, identifies and even tries to put on her socks, shoes, shirt and diaper. I am so proud of that girl.

We will be participating in the March of Dimes "March for Babies" at the end of April. If you would like to support us please feel free to join our team, "Avery's Aviators," or donate to the cause. I include this in this post because I do not want any one else I know to experience a premature birth and all the heartache and tears that come with it. Don't worry I will post this again if you forget! Visit Avery's personal page here. http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?pp=79702&ct=4&w=4064292&u=laurengsanders

Georgia...not the dog but the state

We had such a nice visit in Georgia; never long enough of course but great nonetheless. Ryan is required to complete a flight simulator once a year at Dobbins ARB and so it is always a great trip...and funded by the Air Force! The weather was so nice and Avery thoroughly enjoyed playing outside with her Bebe, family and friends. We saw many people but are never able to see EVERYONE. Hopefully we will be able to spend some time there over the summer while Ryan is deployed. Shortly after we arrived my mom spotted a yard sale. She of course found some great treasures and toys that Avery Beth DESPERATELY needed. Think of Toys 'R Us and you will know what my house looks like. But I guess you just can't pass up a good deal...and Avery loves them.

We got to visit with my dad and Marie, one of my sets of grandparents and Avery Beth had a blast playing in Cannon and Ruth's yard with their grand kids.

The best thing Ryan and I did for ourselves and Avery was to purchase a DVD player for our return home. I really thought I might have to leap from the car window on our 700 mile journey to Georgia. I could not face that car ride again WITHOUT some assistance. Four stores and $100 later we became the proud owner of a 7 inch sanity machine. She will only watch one DVD, however, she will watch it over and over; 6 times to be exact. Luckily I like the Praise Baby DVD and could listen to those sweet children's voices sing songs all day long. How do I know this? Because I did watch it all day long.

To Nap or To Blog?

Well that is a dumb question! I intended to write a very nice entry about out trip to Georgia, however, I can barely keep my eyes open! So instead I think I will have a nice piece of chocolate from this GINORMOUS box of Valentine candy my mom gave us while we were in Georgia and take a nap. See I did write about Georgia. I can rest my head (if Avery will fall asleep!) knowing I accomplished the original task and as Scarlett said, "Tomorrow IS another day!"

February Funk

I am clinging to Winter. Not because I enjoy cold weather, eight inches of snow and big, unflattering coats but because just as Spring brings warmth, flowers and outside fun it also brings a deployment. Boo! I always dread the deployments so much and become instantly weepy when they are discussed. I am constantly reminded of things we will not be doing together; firsts for Avery like watching a baseball game, playing in the sprinkler and baby pool, as well as weddings, trips to visit family and summer fun. As the deployment is upon us I always find a way to make it through and surprise myself with how strong I become. But for now I am in a February Funk knowing that his departure is waiting just around the bend.

We are having so much fun as a family and Avery Beth and I are so lucky to have Ryan. You never know how your spouse is going to react in times of stress or times of need and he continues to amaze me as a dad and I could not imagine a better husband. As you can see from the video my two favorite people in the world have a great time together and what Avery wants Avery gets...particularly with daddy!