Some Sneak Peeks...

I have had Avery's Halloween costume for a month and a half and never tried it on her. I told myself I was going to wait until next week...I came close, but I could not resist. Isn't she just the cutest butterfly EVER?



Also, we are so excited to be heading to Hawaii next month. It was a spur-of-the-moment trip and we are really looking forward to sharing one of our favorite places on earth with Avery. We are also going with my parents and my sister, Ryan and Grayson. The kids are going to love the pools and the beaches!! I think Avery is ready to go! Actually, she just wanted to show you her new swimsuit and sandals (that I got for 70% off!!).

FUN FACT:
Technically, Avery was in Hawaii this time last year when we went to Maui with Fred's family. We had a blast! This was the day that we saw dolphins and the first whale of the season!

Here we all are! Nik, Fred, Ceil, me (I was 31 weeks pregnant) and Freddie

Our Little-Big Eater

Avery is trying all different kinds of foods lately. And she's loving it all, I might add! She loves cheese, pancakes with maple syrup, sweet potato french fries, taco meat, macaroni and cheese. Oh, and we can't forget Pirates Booty! We're really trying to expand her eating horizons and she seems to enjoy the new textures and flavors. Even with her one tooth, she manages to gum through her food like a pro. We really are very proud of our little-big eater! Here she is in all her dirty face/messy hair/cheese-eating glory...

Harvest Festival

It was 32 degrees at the Harvest Festival at Suncadia this morning! But we had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa, Jody and Grayson. Avery rode her very first pony, walked through her very first straw bale maze and sat in her first pumpkin patch. After the pumpkin festivities, we met Ryan at the lodge and had a wonderful lunch. What a great Sunday!

Avery Leist, Pianist

This might be her calling, with 2 sets of great-grandparents who were very musically inclined, you never know! She has the piano fingers down pat...and a little help from Grandpa while she sits on the stool. :)

Grayson's 2nd Birthday

Today we celebrated Grayson's 2nd birthday a few days early. Jody did a great job with the Wall-e themed party, even making Wall-e cupcakes. It's hard to believe Grayson is 2! It seems like just yesterday when Jody called me to tell me her water broke while she and Ryan were shopping at Macy's!! It wasn't but a few hours after that that we got in the car to head to Spokane to await the arrival of my little "Biggles"!! Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of Grayson from the last two years. It's so much fun watching him grow to be such a smart, sweet and caring little boy. We love you!

Here are a few pics from the party today

Avery's 9 month (almost 10 month) check-up

We took Avery to her 9 month (almost 10 month) check-up on October 1st. She is growing, growing, growing! She is a petite little thing and has stayed consistently in the 3rd percentile for weight. Her head circumference and height are in the 35th percentile on the charts. The doctor said she's doing great and we're so thankful that she is getting over her first illness, a cold. She didn't run a fever over 101 and was in such good spirits. She did lose her appetite for 4 or 5 days from her cold, which made her lose a little weight during that time, but she's definitely back to her old self again now! Look out world, this is what Avery's been up to lately:

Crawling all over the place! She's learning to grab a hold of things and push herself up. She's not quite making it to a stand yet.

Clap, clap, clapping! Whenever she deems it appropriate (which is ALL THE TIME) she claps for herself! Oh, she picked up a toy? Clap, clap, clap! It's so cute and I must admit that I inadvertently taught her this when she was learning to eat by herself and when she was learning to crawl. Kids really are like sponges, they soak up everything!

She can say "duh-duh-duh" which we think means "dog". She is fascinated with Grace and Sebastian. Since Avery isn’t even close to saying “Sebastian”, we started calling Sebastian “Buddy”. And when she sees him, she says “Buh, buh, buh”. She also tries to say “Sage”, my mom and dad’s dog. "Sagie" loves to lay next to Avery and they roll the ball back and forth to eachother, with a little help of course. More often then not, whenever Avery sees Sagie, she says "g-g". Coincidence? I think not.

I hope to capture a few little clips of video of Avery "talking" and playing with her two favorite things, her yellow ball and her pinwheel. More to come soon...