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!"