Happy July!

First, I can't believe that we are well into July. Sadly, this is my mother-in-law's last week of watching Avery. After a month off from daycare, Avery will start up again on the 14th (our daycare was on vacation for a month). Ceil has had an absolute blast watching Avery these last four weeks. She got to watch her as she learned to sit up all on her own, make funny faces as she tried some new stage 2 foods, had a great time on their daily walks together and their trips to the softball fields to cheer me on! Ceil also witnessed Miss Chatterbox expand her vocabulary as she is now saying "la-la-la", "ma-ma-ma", and "da-da-da". Fred came over with Ceil this week, so we've been having a lot of fun! Thanks again Ceil for all your help this last month! We were truly grateful for your help with Avery (and the house) and thank you for Avery's jumparoo - she loves it!

We had a great 4th of July. Fred, Avery and I took a little day trip - a hike to Taneum Lake with my parents, Jody, Ryan and Grayson. We had a great time! It was a 1.1 mile hike to the lake and it was a beautiful one. Once we got there, Grayson headed straight for the water. We all brought our dogs along with us, so Grayson and Avery had a blast watching the 4 dogs jump in and out of the water. Actually, Winnie doesn't jump into any kind of water but she was very curious!! We think it's because she has such pretty golden hair for a retriever that she just didn't want to get it wet. :) Afterward, Fred and I were planning to go check out the fireworks at Ellensburg's 4th of July celebration but the good old wind got the best of us. Plus, the three of us were exhausted!!
Avery is now 7 months old. She is just this little sweetheart with a big personality. We've been very blessed with her easy-going attitude, the way she's learned to put herself to sleep at night, her delightful squeals, gummy smiles, watching her little hands grab at whatever she can, learning to take sips from a cup on her own, and the way she loves to talk, talk, talk. We'll be visiting Avery's doctor soon to get a weight/height check. This visit is more than likely for my sake and not Avery's, but it's always nice to know that she's growing steadily...Plus a visit with no shots? That's our favorite kind!