Eight Months Old!

My baby girl is eight months old today! Only a few more months until she's 1-that's just crazy!

She has learned a lot this month-sitting unassisted, going from lying down to sitting up, army crawling, rocking on her hands and knees, and getting tooth #2.

She's tried some new foods this month-peaches (she HATES them), mashed potatoes, yogurt, pears, and graham crackers. She is just starting to try and feed herself. We give her the little puffs and she really tries to get them in her mouth. She doesn't have the pincher grasp down just yet, but she does find a way to get them in her mouth.

She loves playing with her Fisher Price fish and fish bowl set that we got at my baby shower. She loves taking the fish out of the bowl and shaking them!

Her other recent obsession is with Gabe's slippers! I have no idea why, but she loves them and will crawl across the room to get them. My slippers she doesn't care about, but his are like diamonds to her! It's pretty funny!

Today's photo session didn't go as smoothly as I hoped. When I got the sticker on her onesie all she did was want to play with it:




Then I put the giraffe next to her and she wanted to eat it:


After that, all she wanted was my camera...she kept lunging forward to get on her belly to try and reach it. It took a lot of distracting her to get a few good shots of her!





I even tried her toothbrush as a distraction:


Look at those cheeks:

This is my fave....so darn cute:

Snowy Day

We have lucked out in the weather department this winter so far...no real big snow storms. Until today. Yesterday while I was at work, it snowed all day but none of it stuck at all. Well when I woke up this morning this is what it looked like outside:

The view of our deck area (our grill far left):

Looking out the front window-yes that's my car to the far left!!

Thankfully it was my day off so I didn't have to worry about going anywhere. Gabe was parked on the street so he could get his car out with a little bit of rocking. If I had to go anywhere, it would not have been fun. And the best part? It continued to snow all.day.long. Avery and I had a nice day holed up in the house.
I got a good tooth shot:

And a semi-smile:

She played with her finger puppets:

And her fish and fishbowl:

We looked at our hands:

And Avery showed off her new talent:


We had a pretty nice day (although she did not take an afternoon nap for me!) and were happy to be comfy cozy in the house and not braving the elements.

Finally Finalized

Last year sometime when I was pregnant...I think around April, Gabe and I met with a lawyer to draft our will.

Morbid? Yes.

Necessary? Yes.

Well, this process was a little ridiculous. We got them all of the info they needed then nothing.

It took them forever to get a draft to us to edit. Gabe got his first and I think all of it was fine. When I got mine (in November-yes, November-it took them 7months to get it to me!) there were a few mistakes in it. Gabe contacted them and told them about the mistakes. They said they would fix them and contact us to come in and sign the documents.

And then?

Nothing.

So here we are in February almost a year later with no will. The whole point of having this done was so that it would be finished before Avery arrived. I wanted it done in case (God forbid) something happened to me in labor.

So I called them last week ready to really bitch. Gabe had already emailed them once before threatening to go elsewhere which got them to respond right away. Well after months and still no will, I was really not happy. So I called last week ready to do whatever needed to get this done.

The woman I talked to claimed that after they sent my documents in November that they never heard from us. Wrong! I told her Gabe emailed with the mistakes that needed correction and we were to be contacted when it was correct. She claimed she never got the email and that their system has been messed up....whatever. Anyways, I told her over the phone what was wrong and set up an appointment for this week to finalize things.

So today was FINALLY the day-I went in and it took a whopping 5minutes to get it all done (Gee with it being that difficult you would think it could have been done last year like it SHOULD have!).

Now I officially have a will, a health care proxy and power of attorney. Just another thing to make me feel like an adult. At least now I know if something happens to me, my shit will be taken care of!

Friends and Graham Crackers

Yesterday we had some of Avery's friends from daycare over for a little playdate. We try to get together once a month or so. It was my turn to host so we had everyone here and had some brunch. The girls had a great time playing together. It's fun seeing them all grow up and change. Last time we got together, Avery wasn't sitting up yet and both her and Josie were without teeth. Now they both have their 2 bottom teeth and are both sitting up like pros!
Here are a few pics of them today...
Avery giving love taps to Amelia:



Last night at dinner I decided to give Avery a graham cracker to see how she would like it. I started by breaking off small pieces and putting them in her mouth, then handed her the whole cracker.....she had fun with it!


She broke off a few small pieces and just had to pick them up right away:

A close up of the gooky mess:

And a little video of her when I first gave her the cracker:

Happy 2nd Birthday Carly!

Last night we went to Julie and Richie's house to celebrate Carly's 2nd birthday! Her birthday is on leap day, so obviously we can't celebrate on her actual birthday. It was a very nice party-Avery had fun watching the kids and playing with them. We had to cut out early though since it was after Avery's bedtime. So we missed out on some gift opening and cake (bummer!), but it was a very nice party!
Here's Carly's cake:

Avery all dressed up and watching everything:

Opening gifts:

During gifts, Carly decided she wanted to take a break and eat some chips:

Avery liked the gifts too!!

Happy Birthday Carly! Thanks for having us at your party!

Trying

I've been trying to get a picture of Avery's teeth. She's not a fan of having you put your hand near her mouth so getting a look at them is tough. The past few days I tried snapping pictures of her in the hopes I'd catch a glimpse at the chompers.

Obviously no teeth here:

A cute smile:

Getting closer:

Bingo!

See those pearly whites?!

While I'm trying to catch a pic of the teeth, this baby is trying to crawl! She is definitely finding ways to get around the room now, but crawling will be here very, very soon....

A Big Girl Moment

Yesterday Avery and I went out shopping at my favorite store, Target. It was the first time since she's been sitting up on her own that we've taken her to a store....so that means she can now officially sit in the cart by herself! No more infant carrier for her!


My girl is growing up so fast!!

Happy First Valentine's Day Avery!

Happy Love Day!

Yes it's the day to celebrate everything about love-falling in love, looking for love and being in love.

A holiday I really don't care too much about...I mean, do you really need a day designated to tell someone you love them? If you love someone, you should tell them everyday....or at least not when a calendar (or Hallmark) tells you to. Just my opinion....

Gabe and I don't really do gifts for Valentine's Day. Our "gift" is going out to a nice dinner. This year we went to one of our faves, 2 vine. We haven't been in a very long time-like pre-Avery time. My Mom was nice enough to come out and babysit for us so we could enjoy a nice baby free dinner. And it was very yummy.

On Valentine's Day we just exchanged cards (from us and Avery) then went to his parent's house for dinner with everyone. We haven't done that in a long time either. Avery got a nice teething caterpillar from his parents:

Owen got some planes and helicopters:

Bianca was running around:

And Gabe got to hold his 2 girls:

Did I mention that I spent Saturday making Valentine's for Avery for daycare? Yes, apparently 7 month olds need to exchange valentine's. And not just the cards, a treat too! I didn't take a picture of what I made (darn!) but they turned out cute-I cut hearts out of red paper and put the kids' name on it with a message inside from Avery. Then I filled a baggie with some candy for each kid. Oh the fun just begins-you think when they're this young you can get away without doing this stuff...apparently not anymore. Those days are gone! She made out pretty well at daycare-a cool glass, a sucker, some chocolate, M&M's....of course Mommy and Daddy will be helping her eat it ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!