Look What I Can Do!

and....and...

Life As Art

Here is a photo gallery of some of my favorite pictures that never made the scrapbook/blog, and their titles:

a cold floor on a hot day

Timbaland knows the way to the top of the charts

watch dog

comfort in an scary world

mexican hat dance

ballerina

9 months old

not enough pillows

bless you my child

baby's first cold

Jimi's Idea...

...of entertaining Avery.

Speaking of entertaining Avery, I thought of something last night that totally bummed me out.

Every night around 6:00 pm, Lazy Saddle Drive spews out her occupants to enjoy the sunset weather. Kids ride bikes, dogs on leashes, babies in strollers. Some sit in lawn chairs on their "porch" (an open garage), some throw a football around, and some use gravity and a scooter to carry them down the length of the street. Rainbow park is packed, and Ben learns how to ride without training wheels. (yay Ben!)

It's a good time to entertain the kids and babies before it's off to bed. For me specifically, it is the hour before Avery's bedtime when she gets really fussy. Going out to our Lazy Saddle block party saves me a lot of frustration, plus I like to catch up with my neighbors.

So here is the bummer: What am I going to do when the time changes? It will be way too dark to take her strolling at 6:00 pm. And maybe even worse than that, will she wake up super early when the sun comes up around 5:00 am? Dang it, Daylight Savings! The extra hour of sleep doesn't even excite me anymore. Down with Daylight Savings!

Green Baby

Grandma Cook, the same grandma that made Avery's blessing dress, made this quilt for Avery. I was looking at it today, and I can't believe how much time and love she put into making it! But that's not all. Grandma Cook makes these quilts for all her grandchildren.

Here is Jimi's. Notice how love worn it is. Jimi has a twin brother, Joe, and when they were babies, Sharley would distinguish the two by the color of their quilts. She would say, "green baby is crying!" (yeah, it used to be green)

I love all the blankets and quilts Avery recieved! I have used them all in some way since she was born. From top to bottom, these are from Allison Whitaker (beautifully crocheted), Sarah Humes (I love cherries!), and Grandma Cook (this one matches a nightgown she also made for Avery).

I anticipated this quilt from Nettie the whole 9 months. After Avery was born, I called her to let her know that Avery was for sure a girl, so send that quilt NOW! (I hope that's not rude; I just really love her quilts! Check out this blog to see her other masterpieces.)

Mary surprised me with this one at my baby shower. I was not expecting it! She even sewed Avery's name into the middle. Look close.

And here is the one I made for her. While I was pregnant and sewing it, I kept wondering what she would be like and look like...

I probably shouldn't let Piper sit on the quilts, but I don't want to deny her the pleasure.

I love blankets and quilts because you can actually see how much they are loved.

Naked!

in honor of Nettie's birthday, Avery wore her birthday suit

happy birthday Nettie

Top 5 New Discoveries

I could only think of 3 things that are really great discoveries, but I like the number 5 for this kind of a thing, so some of them are a bit of a stretch.

#5. Jamie and I like to sit on a curb. Thursday we went to lunch, and we were sitting outside Golden Spoon for like an hour just hanging out - like when we used to sit on the front steps of our house, that kind of a thing. We realized our husbands didn't find this amusing, and there is no way we would have gotten away with that if they were there. #4. Avery used to be so little! I didn't realize it until I was looking at old pictures. She was never a tiny baby by any means, but she used to fit in newborn diapers and stuff. We went to the doctor on Monday and she is 18 lbs 11 ounces! Geez Avery! That's like the 105 percentile or something. But the doc says it's ok and a lot of babies shoot up at 4 months. "She carries it well," he said.

#3. Avery Can Giggle. I hesitate to post this video because I don't like to see/hear myself being so nerdy with my baby, but her giggle is soooo cute! So please, ignore me. And only watch this once because each time you watch it I get more and more annoying.

#2. We love Mikey the Mad Bear. Jimi calls this bear by a new name every time he refers to it. So who knows what it's name is. But Avery loves it; more like I love it with Avery because the two of them are so cute together. Either way, Maddy the Bear Cub is with her when she goes to sleep.

#1. Brian Regan. We have been watching this guy a lot lately. He is hilarious, rivaling Jerry Seinfeld. His humor is nice and clean and observational. You MUST YouTube him. Look specifically for the following bits: "walkie talkie", "ironing board", and "I walked on the moon". I haven't laughed this hard at a comedian in a while.

Going to Work With Daddy

Yesterday, Jimi woke me and Avery to ask if we wanted to come to the canyon with him. 30 minutes later we were showered and packed up to go to work with daddy!

This was our view of the canyon from the air. We hung around the airport and had a barbecue with all of Jimi's co-workers. One of the first officers, as soon as he lands, takes off his shirt and shoes. He just walks around the terminal in his socks and thread-bare undershirt.

We also saw Ken "my ball" the flight attendant. (About a year ago, Brandon and Emily came on the tour with us. While we were boarding, Abbey stood up to go sit with Emily, and in a Dramamine induced stupor, stumbled and somehow hit Ken's jewels. He then fell to his knees and cried out in pain, mixed with an Asian accent, "my ball!".)

While in flight, Jimi gave me a Quagmire announcement. I was cracking up so hard:

"Hello ladies and gentlemen from the flight deck.......uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh,

we've begun our initial decent into the Grand Canyon.....uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh,

we should be landing in about 18 minutes; we've got a nice little tailwind......uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh,

once again thanks for choosing Vision Airlines."

Avery loved the airplane. I've never realized it before, but airplanes are rather womb-like. We're all cozied up inside the uterus/fuselage, there is comfortably loud white noise (especially on a turbo-prop), and lots of gentle rocking. She slept the whole way, there and back.

She needs a t-shirt that says, "daddy's favorite co-pilot".

We love going to work with daddy!

By the way, this is the 3rd outfit of the day. She already pooped in 2 others...

Welcome to My Crib

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!

So I was in Relief Society yesterday talking with my good friend and baby wisest of the wise Karen Kim... we got to talking about babies...how much does she weigh, blah blah blah...when will she start eating cereal, blah blah blah...does she sleep through the night?

No, she usually goes about 2-3 hours. How do you get your babies to sleep longer?

And Karen tells me, at that age it is more of a psychological need, not a physical need to feed at night.

So I decided I should make the move from her cradle to the CRiB.

I put her to sleep at 8:00 pm

and she woke up at 6:00 am!

Woo Hoo!

Was it a fluke or will she do it again tonight? We will find out.

Now how do I get me to sleep through the night? I got up to check her like 3 times and had to pump around 4:00 am...

Bravo Avery!

Avery is learning so many new tricks. When she's on her belly, she doesn't face plant anymore. Out of nowhere she discovered her elbows hold her up.

She can sit in her high chair. She's not eating foods yet, but she likes to sit there and watch us eat dinner.

She is smiling like crazy- all the time! (finally, a little recognition for my hard work)

Also, she has recently discovered that she has control of her vocal chords. On the way to St. George, she just started "talking". One night she woke up , but she didn't want to eat- no, she just wanted to talk. She talked for about 30 minutes and then went back to sleep.

She is rolling over on her side. Diaper changes are prolonged by 5 minutes thanks to this milestone. And she "plays" with toys. Jimi thinks this bear's face looks like Wyatt... Bravo Avery!