18 Months

I find it so hard to believe that Fred and I have an 18-month old. Where has the time gone? Pretty soon she'll be 18 and off to college. Ugh. That is why it's so important for me to savor every second I have with her. I can't get enough hugs and kisses and sassy little "No's" from my sweet pea. Her personality is infectious and she loves to try new things on her own. She has mastered farm animals, and knows where many body parts are located, can count to three ("waa, toooo, feee"), and say "a, b, c, d" on a good day! Here are some of the words she can say:

-dog
-kitty
-Elmo
-bug
-shoe
-sock
-brush
-cracker
-water
-baby
-fish
-fishing
-blankie
-binkie
-juice
-please
-brush
-teeth (when we are brushing our teeth)
-cheese
-potty (yes, we are in the early stages of potty training!)
-icky
-no
-ear
-nose
-eye

She loves music and tries so hard to sing along to songs like "Old MacDonald", "If You're Happy and You Know it", "Itsy, Bitsy Spider", "Rock-A-By Baby", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Ring Around the Rosey", and the alphabet. She loves Elmo and Sesame Street. If you can't already tell, we are so proud of her and we're just amazed at what a great little girl she is turning into. :)

**On Tuesday Avery had her 18-month appointment. She was 20 lbs, 4 oz and she was slightly over 31". So, looks like she's still in the 3rd percentile for weight. She apparently likes it there, that's where she's been since she was about 2 months old! And she's over the 30th percentile for height.

To celebrate one and a half years old, I gave her an Oreo. She loved it!

Dancing Queen!!

We went to my cousin Sarah's wedding in Portland this weekend. It was a beautiful wedding and they couldn't have asked for better weather! Leave it to me to forget my camera at the hotel! My sister took these and I hope I'll have more to post of the actual wedding soon enough.

At the wedding at the Oregon Golf & Country Club

These next two photos are hilarious! Avery and Grayson wanted to dance, dance, dance. It started off sweet enough...

Dancing together so lovingly

Then things took quite a turn!! What is Avery even doing? Didn't you know this is how all the cool kids are doing it?! :)

The remodel

These pictures are for those of you who have asked how my parents' remodel is going. They started in February and had to "move" out of their house into a rental until July or August. As you can see, it's coming along pretty well! Drywall and painting the exterior is next on the list!

North side of the house (garage)

The big great room!

The kitchen/dining room was the only "untouched" part of the house because it was remodeled in 2000.

Driving up to the house...

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a wonderful day today celebrating my 2nd Mother's Day with Avery and Freddie. We spent some time outside and when Avery took a morning nap, we worked outside on the house. We are prepping it because we'll be painting the exterior soon. We went out to lunch and played with Avery for awhile before Fred went outside and started pressure washing the house.

Here is the before picture:

I am looking forward to when I can post the "after" picture!

I am one lucky mom. I know this isn't a conventional Mother's Day gift, but something we needed so badly that I am actually looking forward to (gasp!) doing laundry. We ordered these a few weeks ago and we should be able to pick them up in two more weeks. Can't wait.

Swim Lessons with Daddy

Avery had a blast kicking and splashing with Daddy in the pool! I think Daddy really enjoyed it too. :)

This last picture makes me laugh. Fred always makes me laugh. It's not everyday you see a big guy in Hawaiian swim trunks, a camo jacket and a beanie. Oh, and you can't see the flip flops he has on! This is when we first got to the pool and I took a picture of Avery because she couldn't take her eyes off of the pool. It was pure excitement!

It's the Little Things

Fred put in a new kitchen sink and faucet on Monday night. I did not like our stainless steel sink because it was not deep enough. I could barely get a pot and pan in the sink to be able to wash it. So this makes cleaning so much more fun now. It's the little things in life that bring me joy!
Stay tuned for our next big project - once the weather warms up (isn't it Spring?), we're going to paint the outside of our house!

Early Easter Egg Hunt

Who knew Avery was going to know just what to do when on an Easter Egg Hunt? She and Grayson had a great time today in Grammie and Papa's yard! She'll be a pro next week for sure.