The Avery Family

a not so happy birthday.

2010-07-17T22:56:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have nothing to blame but cranky kids and a little bit of laziness (or a lot!)

Did I mention that today is my birthday?? Yep, that's right, today I reached the halfway point to fifty. (For anyone like me that can't do math without a calculator, that makes me 25!)

We spent the day running our usual Saturday errands, came home for naps while I finished up a very last minute birthday gift, and then went to Pump-It-Up for a birthday party for one of Millie's little friends. My husband got a phone call from his dad during the party, and he wasn't going to answer because it was so loud in the room, but he got a feeling that he should. Just a few minutes after cutting into the birthday cake, he came to me and told me that his sweet Grandma Millie had passed away. I know that she had been ready to leave this earthly world for quite a while, her husband passed away about 40 years ago, but it still breaks my heart to see that she is gone. Todd was so close to his grandmother, I've never seen anything quite like it. I've cried on so many occasions at the close relationship that the two of them share. She is such an amazingly wonderful woman that we even decided to name our first child after her.

Millie and Millie

October 21, 2007

June 16, 2008

I hate myself for not getting a picture of the two of them together during Grandma Millie's last visit in February after Anson was born. I was still exhausted from having a baby, and Little Millie was going through a no-sitting-for-pictures phase so I didn't want to put Grandma Millie through all the trouble. However, I did manage to get a picture of her with Anson.

She would always fight everyone over holding Anson. She'd say, "Let me have that baby!" I never expected to have so much help from an 86-year-old woman, but she definitely knew how to take care of things!

Grandma Millie was such a strong woman. After her husband died at a young age, she raised 6 girls by herself. She's such an example to me, and I love her so much. I have so many memories from the past 5 years that I've known her, like her obsession with butter, playing cards, and her never letting me forget that time she caught me clogging in the kitchen. I miss her so much already, but I know that she's happy. We love you Grandma Millie!

playing catch-up

2010-06-07T08:27:00.009-05:00

i'm terrible at updating this blog lately, but here are the latest pictures!

millie loves to curl her hair! she's definitely a girly girl.

having fun at the family farm!

millie loves any excuse to wear her rain boots!

playing with uncle A.J.

we made flower jewelry, millie loved it!

millie's new sand toys

sand cookies anyone??

or maybe just a yummy ice cream cone!

don't forget the sprinkles!

anson's first time eating rice cereal!

i let millie get in on the action... i don't know what i was thinking, now she tries to steal the spoon from me every day!

anson's first time swinging

first swim of the year!! millie can swim laps around the pool with her life jacket all by herself!! i'm a proud momma.

anson chillin' in his froggy float

this is what millie does to entertain herself while i'm on the computer... i guess i won't leave my sewing supplies lying on the kitchen table anymore!

3d movie with braxton the day before they moved away. they had so much fun! except millie wouldn't keep her glasses on for long, so she watched most of the movie without them, which is SO blurry!

millie's potty chart! she's so excited about it, hopefully this will be our last case of diapers!! i guess we'll see...

anson sleeping in the jumperoo, too funny!

even more craftiness

2010-05-25T09:45:00.004-05:00

i forgot these on my last post. a few weeks ago i made these crafty little quilted cards for mother's day. i thought it would be really fun to make one for my mother-in-law to match the pillows that she helped me make. i even made tiny little flowers for it (and burned my fingers in the process!)

for mother's day, we got my mom a hand-stamped necklace with all the grandkids' names from the vintage pearl, and got todd's mom the dainty eclectic initial necklace and had it delivered straight to her since we all know that it's impossible for me to ever get anything in the mail on time! i LOVE these necklaces, i'm waiting for my husband to get the hint that i want one. but once again, for it to actually get any use, i guess i need to wear something besides pajamas all day.

love it!

more sewing!

2010-05-25T09:13:00.003-05:00

i still need to catch up with my regular posting, but i couldn't wait to show off my latest creations! we just moved millie into a twin size bed so that we could give her new bedding. before this, she insisted on using FOUR blankets with her toddler bed and wouldn't give any of them up, she was starting to get an awful heat rash on her back, so we thought something new would be the perfect distraction to take away a few blankets. it worked, and she loves her new big girl bed! we went to target and found a bed-in-a-bag on clearance for $27. millie wanted hot pink, but i wanted to try something new, so i was sneaky and switched it out. i'm loving turquoise and yellow lately, so i'm hoping to have those be the main colors and then add a little brown, green, and pink into the mix. i made this name pillow (the first of many pillows i hope to make) and i think it turned out pretty cute! i'm definitely not a sewing expert, and just so you know, it is REALLY hard to make something like this when you don't even have a ruler! i really need to invest in some new sewing supplies! anyway, here is the final product:

at first i was sad that millie's name was mostly a bunch of straight letters, i thought it would look really boring, but once i started to applique around all of those difficult curves on the "M" i was grateful that she had so many straight letters in her name! and i think it turned out pretty cute anyway!

i also made these quick reversible headbands. they were SO easy to make. i didn't follow the instructions because they seemed to make it so much more complicated than it had to be. i can see myself making LOTS of these headbands for upcoming birthdays for millie's little friends! and there's even an adult pattern too, so if i ever feel like getting all cutesy and dressed up (instead of wearing my pjs all day like normal) maybe i'll even make a few for myself!

now i just need to figure out what my next project is...

my sweet little family :)

2010-05-06T09:11:00.001-05:00

♥ them!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Julie!

2010-05-05T10:37:00.004-05:00

♥ Todd, Vickie, Millie & Anson

2010-05-01T15:00:00.003-05:00

here's millie playing with her magnifying glass (or as she calls it, her pink glass). she loves searching the yard for bugs! but freaks out a little when she actually finds one...

i walked into the kitchen the other day and saw these cute little pictures hanging on the fridge from millie. she said, "i made some pictures for you so you be happy mommy!" she's so adorable!

it seems like just yesterday when anson could barely reach the floor with the very tips of his toes in his jumperoo,and now he can reach it completely flat-footed! my little baby boy is growing up too fast!

another day, another milestone

2010-04-27T15:47:00.004-05:00

sometimes i get bored being a stay-at-home mom, but really, who could complain about spending all day with these sweet little children?? aren't they adorable?

in other news, anson rolled over from his back to tummy today. he already learned to go from tummy to back at about 1 1/2 month old, so now he can roll both directions. looks like he'll be rolling all over the house pretty soon, i guess i better work on getting this place baby-proof!

tie onesie

2010-04-27T15:21:00.005-05:00

i made this appliqued tie onesie for anson yesterday while the kids were napping. i'm so proud of myself!

the complete instructions can be found here. it was so much easier than i expected, i've always been afraid to applique onto a shirt or onesie because of working it around the sewing maching. after seeing how easy it actually is, i see lots of appliqued t-shirts and goodies in millie's & anson's futures!! the only downside is that i stayed busy sewing the rest of the day, and today my house it suffering from it. i left millie's closet open so she'd stay entertained with her toys, and now there are toys EVERYWHERE! i even let her take a few snacks in her room, i don't know what i was thinking...

here's some more fabric that was calling my name at hobby lobby... not sure what project is next!

2010-04-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

millie said she was too FREEZING to go potty, and this was her solution... she was so excited saying "i have my top on my bottom, my top is on my bottom!"

later that same day i realized she had been awfully quiet in her room. i went in to check on her, only to find her and her kitchen completely COVERED in baby lotion. i don't even know where she found it!

millie asks to sleep by this picture every night, and wakes up talking to it each morning. this morning i even found it mixed in with her 5 blankets and 8 stuffed animals that she insists on sleeping with every night. i'm so sad to see her cousins moving away. it looks like i might need to get out of the house and make some friends so she can have someone to play with!

enjoying the sunshine

2010-04-22T12:11:00.001-05:00

somebody get this girl a swimming pool!

Millie is getting to such a fun age. It's so bittersweet - I love seeing her do all these new things, but at the same time I just miss my little baby girl! She's really started using her imagination lately. She has her dolls and pet shop that she pretend plays with almost all day. I seriously don't know WHERE she comes up with the stuff she says when she's playing. She always changes her voice when she's pretending to be one of her little pets or people, it's so funny! She makes her pets fight over whose turn it is to take a bath, and then the pet gets mad and stomps around saying "i'm MAD" until the other pet comes to apologize and gives him a turn in the bathtub. Then if one of the people falls on the floor, they have to swim to get away from the imaginary crocodiles, and then they have to go to the doctor because the crocodile hurt them. She makes their friend walk to the store to get medicine for them while they rest in bed so they can get all better. I can't even remember half of what she says, it's something new every day! She definitely knows how to entertain herself!

i ♥ my kiddos

2010-04-21T10:53:00.000-05:00

peg dolls

2010-04-19T09:59:00.004-05:00

I painted these little peg dolls for Millie to play with. I found instructions to make a cute little dollhouse out of stiff craft felt, so I might try to make that to go along with them soon. She told me that she wanted them to be our family, so here they are! Todd, Me, Millie, and Anson! Except I realized that if i really wanted it to be accurate, I probably should have left Anson bald for the time being. Oh well! Oh, and she picked out all of the colors, she wanted daddy to have a red shirt and blue pants, she wanted mommy to have a yellow dress, she wanted a pink dress for herself (of course!) and she wanted Anson to have a green shirt. I think she's got pretty good taste!

Daddy:

Mommy:

Millie:

Anson:

more pictures

2010-04-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics of my favorite kiddos!

Millie loves to pick flowers for mommy!

Anson stretching out on his elephant play mat - which used to be Todd's when he was little! So cute!

Anson just chillin in his bebe pod!

Millie's crazy morning hair:

A close-up of that beautiful little grin! I can't get enough of my adorable little man!

ms braves game!

2010-04-09T23:39:00.000-05:00

We went to a MS Braves game with the whole family, and had a blast! Anson was SO good the entire time, he slept in the snugli carrier most of the time, woke up for a bottle at the end of the game, and then watched the fireworks! Braxton and Millie had a lot of fun, they even got matching hats and giant foam fingers! My cousin works there and got Todd in as a game contestant. I was hoping it was for one of the embarrassing games (like running across the field in a giant inflatable ball) but it was just a car race that was pretty much just a game of chance. We did get to see him on the giant screen for a minute though!

I can't wait to go again!

the new sandbox

2010-04-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

We bought Millie some sidewalk chalk for Easter and let her play with it in the street. Instead of coloring with her chalk, she spent most of her time playing with all that nasty dirt that collects on the edge of the road, so we decided that maybe it's time for a sandbox! We borrowed my dad's truck to go to Toys-R-Us and pick up a crab sandbox, and somewhere along the way Todd decided that he wanted to build a sandbox instead. So we spent 2 hours at Home Depot with our cranky kids getting supplies, and Todd built it the next day. I guess it was worth all of the extra effort, because Millie LOVES it! The first thing she says every morning is "I want to play in my sandbox mommy!! I want my sandbox!!!"

hoppy easter!

2010-04-01T14:44:00.000-05:00

We took the kids to the church to take pictures of them in their matching Easter outfits from my mom (which I LOVE! thanks mom!)

The kids had a lot of fun sitting there eating candy. We took a million pictures and I could never really decide on a favorite, mostly because it's impossible to get all 4 of them to cooperate at the same time. Millie was running all over the place (like usual), Anson was fussy, Braxton was good MOST of the time, and Shelby just sat there eating her candy and never looking at the camera! Oh well, at least they had a good time. I posted a million pictures on Facebook but I'm too lazy to wait for all of them to upload on here, so if you haven't seen them already, just click HERE

Happy Easter!

gone fishin'

2010-03-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Millie fishing at Uncle A.J.'s house. She had so much fun, she'd probably never leave if we gave her the choice! Which reminds me, she was coloring yesterday and randomly said "i made a note for A.J.!!" and asked me to give him his mail from her. He must be working his way up to favorite uncle!

random pics upload

2010-03-31T10:08:00.006-05:00

So I've managed to get behind again, and have a lot of random pictures to share!

I found Millie in her room being sneaky and putting on some (more like ALL) of my old eye shadow, she was so proud of herself!

Millie being sneaky once again. This time she found her pull-ups and panties and decided to try and put them all on over her diaper!

Millie picking flowers for me, she's so sweet!

I caught Millie feeding Anson his bottle again while I went to get a diaper for him. She's such a great helper!

All decked out in her Hello Kitty tricycle gear!

Easter Egg hunt at the church

Here's Anson lookin' like a stud in his Easter outfit. Already a heartbreaker!!

Playing outside again. The weather has been SO nice this week, I'm trying to get lots of outside playtime before it gets too hot and unbearable!

Guess who's almost big enough for the jumperoo...

Yep, my favorite lil' man Anson is getting so big! He's growing up WAY too fast!

2010-03-19T12:31:00.002-05:00

After our visit with the pediatrician yesterday, I decided to give potty training a try today. It's pretty difficult when you have a child that literally only sits still for about 2 seconds out of the day. I surrounded her with some of her favorite toys and snacks, and we had a successful morning with her peeing in the potty twice in a row! However, I've come to realize that she still goes about every 30-45 minutes, so we might hold off on potty training for a while until she can hold it a little longer. I still haven't decided yet, so I guess we'll see!

Here is a picture of Millie saying "I DID IT!!!" She was so excited, so cute!

Dress-up fun

2010-03-19T11:38:00.003-05:00

Millie saw pictures from her cousin Reese's fancy birthday party and decided that she wanted to dress up too! She said she wanted to wear pink, so we got all of her pink dress up clothes and had a blast!!

just a few pictures...

2010-03-13T12:25:00.002-06:00

2010-03-11T09:11:00.003-06:00

We took a few more pictures of Anson, but I still haven't gotten a smiling picture that does his real smile justice. Since then, he's been really cranky with a cold, so he doesn't want to give his big gummy grins anymore.

Here are a few pictures of Millie playing at Mamaw's house. She really needs a swing set of her own one of these days!

Millie is being such a great big sister lately (with the exception of the day she kept complaining that Anson touched her, ha ha!). Yesterday I went to grab a diaper really quick before feeding Anson his bottle, and when I came back in the room, Millie yelled "I got burp cloths for you!" Then I realized that Anson wasn't crying anymore, so I looked over in his little seat and realized that Millie had tucked a burp cloth under his chin and propped his bottle in his mouth. She tries so hard to help out, it's adorable. I've felt like a bad mom this week, neither of my kids have been getting much attention because I was literally puking my guts out. But things seem to finally be turning around today, so we had some family bonding time singing and dancing in the kitchen. Millie was so happy that she kept giving me hugs, so it really made my day. And I came really close to getting a chuckle out of Anson. Hopefully we can all stay away from sickness for a while so we can have more good days like this one.

2010-03-02T10:03:00.003-06:00

As requested, here are a few pictures of our newest addition to the family!

Anson Jack Avery

He's such a smiley little boy (well, the few moments that he's not crying...) He was born smiling so big (even though everyone says those first smiles are just gassy grins) so I'm not exactly sure when his first real smile was. He smiles almost on demand now, anytime that Todd gives him lots kisses on his cheeks or when I smile and say something like "Hi hi hi hi hi" or "Hey hey hey hey hey!" I tried to get a few smiling pictures, but I'm not very good at pointing our camera while still trying to get a smile out of him, and I could only get the end of the smile because as soon as the camera started to make a noise, he would start frowning. These are the best I could get, but he smiles so much bigger than this, I almost didn't want to post them. Kinda like I didn't want to post Millie's crazy hair pictures yesterday, ha ha!

Millie loves her little brother! Any time that he starts crying, she runs over to try and make him happy. She even sings him the "be happy song" (something she created all by herself!)
Oh, and as far as milestones go, Anson rolled over for the first time yesterday! And I missed it because I was on facebook, shame on me! He rolled over again just a few minutes later, and has been rolling over today too! I would post a video, but he pretty much screams anytime that I put him on his tummy (probably why he learned to roll over so soon). My kids seriously amaze me. I have no idea how he learned to roll over so soon, because we've had so much family around since he was born, he hardly ever even gets put down unless he's asleep. I just made it a point yesterday to give him tummy time like they advise you to, and suddenly I glanced over and he was on his back! Looks like my hopes of having a calm, still baby are diminishing. I guess he wants to be like his big sister, always on the go!

2010-03-01T14:52:00.002-06:00

with lots and lots of help from my mother-in-law, i made these pillows! i think they turned out pretty cute, and they were SO much fun! we even managed to find all the same fabrics as the example except one. the orange swirl fabric is by far my favorite, i'm so glad we were able to find it! and the flowers were so much fun to make... i'm thinking they'll make great hair bows too! i'm probably going to break our bank account buying fabric...

while i had the camera out, millie decided she wanted me to take her picture. most days i have to chase her down just to get a quick picture, but on the day that she actually wanted to cooperate, her hair looked like this:

2010-02-23T22:49:00.004-06:00

I just entered to win one of TWO sewing machines at http://www.thediydish.com/. The DIY Dish is a new show from the makers of http://youcanmakethis.com/ and http://www.swakembroidery.com/. Watch this video to learn about the new show!

Click on this link to learn how to make chic pillows! Hopefully I'll find the time to make these soon, they're SO cute!!

http://www.thediydish.com/2010/02/how-to-make-chic-pillows-thediydish-on-studio5/

big sister

2010-01-06T10:35:00.004-06:00

less than two weeks to go!

i know that adding another baby to our family will definitely be trying at times, especially since Millie does NOT like to share, but she is just being so sweet right now as we're preparing for baby Anson's arrival, i just can't wait for her to be a big sister. i think she finally understands that there's a baby in my tummy that will be coming out soon and using all of the things that we've set up. she already likes Anson because he lets her go in his room and play with his toys sometimes, so she decided to return the favor today and put some toys in the pack-n-play for Anson to play with once he comes out of mommy's tummy. she picked out some pajamas for him at the store with dinosaurs, she's so excited to see him wear them. Millie knows where we'll be changing Anson's diapers, and where he'll be sleeping, so she made sure to put a blanket in the bassinet for when he gets here. she also likes to take care of me. yesterday the baby kicked me and it really hurt, so she said "poor mommy, anson hurt your tummy" and gave me her pillow, gave me a kiss, and told me she would make it allll better. i feel so blessed to have such a sweet little girl. she is going to be such a great big sister!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T17:52:00.003-06:00

wayyy behind

2009-12-15T17:40:00.007-06:00

i just keep getting behind on this blog. maybe one day i'll try to go back and post all of the pictures that i've missed (starting around Easter...) but for now, here are a few pictures from this month.

SNOW!!

Christmas Cookies

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-27T09:39:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Mom!! Millie sang a song just for you!

4th of July

2009-07-11T18:44:00.003-05:00

Here are a few videos from the 4th of July. Millie really enjoyed the fireworks, and she was so sad when they were all gone!!

Fireworks

Millie, Braxton, Ethan, and Aiden playing Ring Around the Rosie... Millie's favorite!

wee little fig - 11 weeks

2009-07-06T13:13:00.003-05:00

Baby Avery is now the size of a fig. I'll be really glad when I come across another comparison that I actually see on a regular basis so I'll have something to compare it to. (kumquat anyone??)

in other news, we had a really fun 4th of july despite the fact that i have been extremely nauseated all weekend. i'll try to post pictures and videos soon!!

downsizing blogs...

2009-07-02T20:20:00.002-05:00

I think I finally made the decision to stick to just the one family blog, which means bye-bye to Millie's blog. It's been a lot of fun trying to keep up with her memories from her point of view, but now with baby #2 on the way and the fact that I haven't even updated her site since MARCH (so sad, I know!) I've decided to just stick with this family blog. I uploaded all of her old posts to this blog, so I'm not really losing anything, except the ability to call it "What's New, Millie Moo?" Anyway, I don't quite have the heart to actually delete it yet, so I guess it will just stay out there for a while unchanged. And maybe one day I can get motivated to post all the pictures on here that I never posted on Millie's blog... like EASTER! and everything that's happened ever since!

In other news...

I made a baby poll today at ExpectNet.com! I had so much fun looking at everyone's guesses during my last pregnancy, so I'd love to do it again! And this time I even started it early enough that you can guess the baby's sex! I'm wondering if I'll do as poorly as last time... my mother's intuition definitely was way off! I got 29th place out of only 30 guesses!! Anyway, if you want to put in a guess, there's a link on the right side of my blog! Good Luck!

a little behind...

2009-07-02T19:13:00.003-05:00

so i'm a little (or a lot) behind with the updating. i'm now 10 weeks pregnant (11 weeks on saturday), so this is how big the baby is this week:

Baby Avery at 10 weeks: my little kumquat

Baby at 9 weeks: the size of a grape

Baby at 8 weeks: size of a kidney bean

Baby at 7 weeks: the size of a blueberry

a lentil??

2009-06-01T08:39:00.001-05:00

today i'm 6 weeks pregnant, which means baby #2 is now the size of a lentil, whatever that is. i think i've maybe heard of lentil soup or something...

it is so crazy to think that something SO SMALL is affecting me so much. everything with this pregnancy is just happening so fast. i even had several symptoms before i had even taken the test! and at only 4 weeks, i was already waking up in the middle of the night with HEARTBURN and indigestion. i seriously couldn't believe it, but i guess i've just got some really crazy hormones goin' on that just affect everything. and i have been SO sick this time around. every time i step on the scale, i've lost more weight. anyway, i really need to make a dr. appointment in the next few weeks, but i just can't decide who/where i want to go. i loved my doctor in washington so much, everything was so quick, comfortable, and easy, and i just can't picture finding that again. any suggestions??

another milestone...

2009-05-29T11:42:00.006-05:00

I never remember to write Millie's milestones down in her baby book, so I'm just going to write the dates down here for now. Millie went pee pee in the potty for the first time on Wednesday, May 27th. And now today she went poo poo for the first time! I really don't think that she had a clue that she had even done anything, but we're just trying to let her sit on the potty a few times a day to get her used to it and excited about it so that when it IS time for potty training, she'll be ready.

And in baby #2 news, i'm 5 weeks pregnant right now, which means the baby is the size of a sesame seed. so i guess it's not time to break out the ole' maternity clothes yet, ha ha!

2009-05-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

so i peed on a stick today...

we are SO excited about this news! i had finally decided a few weeks ago that i was finally ready for another baby (todd has pretty much been ready for another one since the day millie was born) and here we are, 4 weeks pregnant! the baby should be due around January 25th. which is ALSO great because that means that it should be cold outside when i'm all huge and hot and uncomfortable. i'm not sure i'd survive a mississippi summer pregnancy, ha ha! my sister-in-law britni already made me look up the chinese calendar online to see what i'm having, and the 1st site i went to said GIRL, the second said BOY, so who knows?! everyone at church did the "ring test" a few months ago, and according to that, i'm having a girl (millie) boy (this baby), and another boy (future baby). i'm not usually into all this, and i honestly can't imagine having anything other than a girl since that's all i've had so far, but they've actually been pretty accurate with a lot of people i know, so i guess we'll see! it's gonna be a long 16 weeks until i find out though... i'm so impatient!

and to make the day even better, my new sewing machine came in the mail today!! i am SO excited, i just seriously can't believe that i won a $1300 sewing machine on the internet. AND i won a free Name Pillow Instruction Ebook online too, so maybe that will be my first project! now i just need to clean off my table so i can actually have somewhere to sew...

iPhoto

2009-05-08T07:14:00.002-05:00

i've been playing around on iPhoto on our new iMac. it's a lot of fun, they have so many fun things you can do with your pictures. i tagged faces in about a hundred different pictures, and then it came up with a bunch of suggested photos that people may be in. (it has some sort of facial recognition software). so anyway.... apparently, i look like a baby, because it pulled up about a hundred pictures of my 2 year old nephew and a few pictures of millie. maybe it's time to hit the gym and try to get rid of these chubby cheeks, ha ha!

what amazes me most is that there were way more pictures saying i looked like braxton than my own daughter, ha ha! so i guess that everyone who says millie looks just like me is wrong!

something else that's funny... i did todd's dad, and in addition to all the pictures that it pulled up of him (it's actually fairly accurate) it pulled up a bunch of pictures of Jesus that i use for the church bulletin every week, ha ha!

in other news...

i've decided that i'm going to start entering as many online giveaways as possible! last week, out of over 1700 entries, i won the first giveaway i've ever entered, for a Marie Osmond Quilter's Companion sewing machine (retailed at $1299!!) through You Can Make This, and yesterday i won an ebook for making Personalized Name Pillows through Mom Knows It All. it really is simple to enter, you just follow the instructions listed on each blog post (usually you just have to leave a comment, and for extra entries you can blog about it, post it on twitter, or add a button to your blog. i'm so excited about the things i've won, i can't wait to receive them in the mail!!

summertime

2009-05-07T12:39:00.002-05:00

summer is almost here...

the high for today is supposed to be around 87, and tomorrow is 90! i decided that it's finally time to set up the little pool we bought for the backyard, and well...

i shouldn't be allowed to put anything together without todd's supervision.

the pool is maybe a couple feet deep, and it's supposed to be easy set-up, just lay it out on the the ground, blow up the top ring, and fill it with water. the rest will inflate as it fills up with water.

well, first of all, i didn't realize that there were two plug things on the side that were open and needed to be plugged before i even started filling it up. so as i was filling it up with water, water was flowing out of the side. while i was moving it around trying to figure all of that out, it wrinkled a lot in the bottom center so it was no longer laying flat and too heavy to try to spread out with all the water in it. so now there are lots and lots of big folds and wrinkles on the bottom. then after filling it up for about 15 minutes, i realized that i hadn't even put it on very level ground, so all of the water was shifting to one side. after about 30 to 45 minutes, i gave up and unplugged it, so it's currently draining as i type.

who knew an inflatable pool could be so difficult??

Personalized Name Pillows

2009-05-06T11:48:00.003-05:00

I just entered to win a free YouCanMakeThis ebook for instructions to make Personalized Name Pillows at Mom Know It All.

You can go there to and enter to win, the contest ends at 11:59 pm tonight.

http://www.valmg.com/index.php/2009/youcanmakethiscom-personalized-craft-idea-and-giveaway/

photo shoot

2009-03-27T13:12:00.001-05:00

my mommy chased me around the house today trying to take a few pictures of me wearing my pretty pink tutu she made me for valentine's day. i didn't want to cooperate because i just wanted my mama to hold me the whole time, but she bribed me with a giant sucker, and it worked long enough for her to get a few pictures with the new camera!

2009-03-20T08:13:00.004-05:00

I found this cool website called You Can Make This. They have so many instructions and patterns for crafting and sewing, I love it! They also have lots of freebies. Right now, they are having a contest with the launch of their new site, You Can Quilt This where you can win a Quilter's Companion sewing machine! If you're interested, just click on the link below:

I am seriously loving my "attempts" to be crafty and sew. I made Millie a pillowcase dress last week out of pink and white toile, it turned out SO cute! And it was so easy! My mom also helped make a matching dress for Shelby. I'll make sure to take pictures as soon as they wear them!

In other news, I found the cutest idea for anyone that enjoys baking at Bakerella.

I mean, how cute are these? They're Cake Pops, and seem relatively easy to make. Just a crumbled up cake mixed with frosting and rolled into a ball, with white chocolate chips for the ears, and then dipped into white candy melts. I really want to try it sometime soon! I'm just afraid that like many of my other random projects, it'll turn out to be a lot harder than I first thought, ha ha!

i love bubbles!

2009-03-19T21:42:00.001-05:00

it finally stopped raining this week, so i got to go outside and play again!! which means more of my favorite thing: bubbles!!!

Settled In...

2009-03-17T10:16:00.009-05:00

Well, we are finally getting settled into the new house. Our garage is a complete mess, but I have to be honest by saying that it will probably stay that way, for a LONG long time. I started to take a few pictures, but then my camera started to die, and all of our extra batteries have been used up by Millie's many many little bubble gadgets. So here is what I got:

This is our living room. I once again have to be honest by saying that those candles on the coffee table are never out, I just wanted it to look pretty, ha ha! They probably won't be able to stay out until we're finished having babies, and by then, they'll probably be way out of style!

So when we actually want candles when Millie's around, we just have to hang them up on the wall over our love seat so they're out of her reach! We'll be in a lot of trouble when she grows a few more inches though!!

It's so nice having this spot for our tv and components! No more finger prints, smudges, and baby slobber all over the screen! And Millie can no longer turn off the tv right in the middle of your favorite movie!

This is Millie's special spot in our living room, full of some of her favorite toys. She likes to drag her bean bag all around the room, either so she can sit at the fireplace playing with her animals or cars, or she can pull it over to sit in front of the coffee table with a bowl full of her favorite snacks!

Finally, a place for my piano! It's too bad Millie will hardly ever allow me to actually play it though, ha ha!

This is our kitchen table. Thanks to my sweet sweet hubby for always keeping our new house furnished with fresh flowers!

And now Todd's favorite part of the new house... the grill!!

This is Millie's crib in her brand new bedroom. Speaking of, just a couple weeks ago, she was being WILD so I put her in her crib so she would maybe calm down and stop hurting herself climbing and falling off of all the furniture, and after about 30 seconds, she sounded like she was up to no good. I opened the door to peek in on her, and she was sitting on TOP of the crib rail rocking back and forth, making noises and pretending to ride a horse!

Millie's cute kitchen play set that she got from her Mamaw for Christmas. She loves to pretend she's cooking just like mommy and daddy!

Yep, that's right! I FINALLY hung the picture frames that I painted over a year ago!

Millie's window with the cute wall stickers from her Grandma and Grandpa Avery!

This is Millie's bookshelf. Pretty soon we're going to need another one to have room for all of her books!

Speaking of books, I am LOVING this book that I picked up at Old Navy. It's Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. It really shows how to spark a child's imagination with pretend play. I'm hoping that Millie will really enjoy it in a year or two, and maybe get a few ideas of her own for what she can pretend with just a simple cardboard box.

AND! We just bought a new digital camera on the internet, hopefully it gets here soon! I am so so very excited to take tons of pictures as soon as it gets here. Hopefully Millie will cooperate and be my little guinea pig for lots and lots of pictures!

Play Dates and Gibberish!

2009-03-13T23:11:00.001-05:00

i had my very first play date on tuesday with my friend, ella kate. we had lots of fun together, i can't wait to see her again soon!!

Here is a video of me showing off in front of my new friend:

we didn't want to let our mommies get a good picture of us sitting together, these are the best ones they could get!

i'm starting to talk a lot more lately, so my mommy got out the camera today and tried to get a few words on this video! i didn't really want to cooperate much once i saw the video camera, but we still had a lot of fun!

this is a video of me with my cabbage patch doll, layla. i love to play with her all the time. today i even danced with her and sang her a sweet lullaby!

2009-03-08T11:42:00.001-05:00

It's been really sunny all week, so I've had lots of time to play outside! I love to throw and kick the ball around the yard, and I LOVE bubbles! I even learned to say the word "bubble" too, it's one of my favorite words to say!

My mommy and daddy just bought me a new hat to keep my pretty little bald head from getting sunburnt, here are a few pictures!

new videos!

2009-02-24T19:51:00.001-06:00

This is a video of my very first bike ride with daddy:

And here I am just playing in the front yard:

This is my brand new bounce house, it is SO much fun!

2009-02-18T20:50:00.001-06:00

Mommy made this video of me enjoying my oatmeal the other day, it was so yummy!!

2009-01-14T22:46:00.002-06:00

So, we put in an offer for a house and should be closing at the end of the month, yay!! Millie really loves to run around in there, hopefully she'll still love it when we actually move in. Here are a few pictures!

The new house:
Living Room:

Front door / Piano Room:
Kitchen:
Master Bedroom:

Christmas!

2009-01-01T23:35:00.001-06:00

My mommy is making me this fun scrapbook online, and she's already finished with the Christmas pages! You can click here to view it full screen, or just look at it below. Just click on the play button!

And here is a video of me during all of our Christmas celebrations. I had so much fun opening presents this year, and I love all of the gifts that everyone gave me! Thank you so much!

Scrapbook Test

2009-01-01T10:00:00.007-06:00

i came across this website, scrapblog, and i spent about 10 minutes making a random test scrapbook. it looks really terrible because i didn't spend hardly any time on it, but i mostly just wanted to try it out and see if i like it. it's pretty cool, you can even post videos on it. anyway, here is my random test scrapbook!

New Family Blog

2008-12-06T21:50:00.007-06:00

Well, I finally got tired of trying to write every single blog entry from Millie’s point of view, so I'm planning to make this a family blog. If you look at the end of this post, you’ll notice that it says:

POSTED BY VICKIE AT...

In the future, you can look there to see who is posting, whether it’s me, todd, or millie.

So now, for an actual update:

Todd only has about one more week of training in Louisiana, and then he’ll officially be the new general manager here in Jackson. We’re pretty excited about this opportunity and hope that it will help us get into a house soon. We’re looking at house plans right now and hope to be able to start building within the next few months.

Millie and I spend our days together at home, and Millie seems to do something new and silly almost every day. Today’s new thing was climbing her shelf in her bedroom (which has already been emptied because she used to pull everything off it every 5 minutes) and just lying there playing and talking to herself.

She’s such a funny character, and I don’t know where she gets some of her latest ideas from. She does something new almost every day, she just amazes me. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl in my life.

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-05T21:23:00.001-06:00

I made sugar cookies with my cousin Braxton at Mamaw's house today. We had so much fun, and the cookies were delicious! yum yum!

Outside Fun

2008-12-03T12:54:00.001-06:00

All of the leaves have fallen and I just have so much fun running and playing outside!

story time!

2008-11-18T12:39:00.001-06:00

my favorite thing to do lately is read, read, read! i finally noticed that all of my books are way up high on my bookshelf, and i just stand there pointing at them until my mommy picks me up to let me choose a few. i think i could read books all day long if mommy would let me. thanks to everyone that has given me books, i love them!

happy halloween!

2008-11-13T00:40:00.001-06:00

happy birthday to me!!

2008-11-12T23:04:00.001-06:00

i turned one year old on october 19th, and i had a birthday party to celebrate!! it was so much fun, and i got so many presents! i like to play with all of them, and my mommy says thanks to everyone that got the extra loud toys, ha ha!

a day at the zoo

2008-10-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

my mommy hasn't been helping me update lately, so i've got a lot of catching up to do. these are pictures and a video from my very first trip to the zoo last month. i went with my mommy, daddy, grandma and grandpa avery, and aunt abby! they all came to mississippi for my 1st birthday, and we had such a good time. i really enjoyed spending the whole weekend with them, they are so much fun! i love them so much!

after all the excitement, i decided to take a little nap!

Petting Zoo

2008-10-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

I went to the fair with Mommy, Mamaw, and Braxton today. We had so much fun! We saw lots and lots of animals, and I even got to feed some of them! Here is a video of me and Braxton feeding the animals. If you listen closely, you can ever hear my new squeaky tennis shoes!

too too cute

2008-09-25T19:46:00.000-05:00

my mommy and mamaw made this cute tutu dress for me, they're hoping it will fit a little better next spring. the flowers are really huge, but i really like them and had a lot of fun playing dress-up today. i didn't even want to let my mommy take off my new headband!

playing dressup

2008-09-24T20:29:00.000-05:00

one red ballon

2008-09-20T23:02:00.000-05:00

i went to the renaissance mall with mommy and daddy today. we just walked around the mall and at strawberry patch park all day, it was so much fun. and the best part was my red balloon from the lady at the toy shop!

after such a busy day, i was pooped.

Happy Birthday Braxton!

2008-09-20T11:05:00.000-05:00

I went to Braxton's birthday party last night, and it was so much fun! I can't wait for my own birthday party next month!

We sang happy birthday and ate cake and ice cream...

And I helped Braxton open all of his presents! Well, I mostly just ate the ribbons and wrapping paper...

He really had a lot of fun with his new baseball bat, I think it'll definitely have to be an outside toy!

And he liked our present a lot too!

But even with all the food and presents, the balloons were still his favorite!

Videos!

2008-09-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

Daddy and mommy got a new video camera, and they've been shooting lots of videos of me!

Here I am enjoying a leisurely day of shopping:

This is my new noise when I get a little cranky, accompanied by a few lovely spit bubbles:

This is me when I don't like eating in my highchair:

It's bath time!!!:

Laundry Day

2008-09-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

Daddy and Mommy think that I look a little bit like my Uncle Jesse from Idaho in this picture:

And here is a short video, I really liked helping Daddy with the laundry!

Baby steps

2008-08-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm officially walking all over the place now! I took my first steps about a month ago, and I've been getting better every day! Now I just walk and follow mommy and daddy from room to room. I never really like to cooperate for the camera, but here are a few clips of me playing and walking around! I hope you enjoy them!

shootin' some hoops

2008-08-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

I like to play basketball at my mamaw's house. It's so much fun!

These are my pretty pink crocs:

Here are a few pictures of me after church today. I love my pretty blue dress!

Learning to walk!

2008-08-03T21:49:00.000-05:00

I started walking this week!

Yay!! I'm such a big girl!

Bathtime fun!

2008-07-18T12:46:00.000-05:00

shakin' my booty!

2008-07-08T23:28:00.000-05:00

I love to dance! Just turn on some music, and I'll start to shake! Check out all of my cool dance moves on this video...

growing up so fast!

2008-07-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

Look at my new swing!!

It is so much fun!

Watching the Fireworks on July 4th

They were so exciting!!Eating my favorite food... Ice Cream!!

Yummy!

Playing with my toys

I like to put my finger puppets in my mouth!

Me playing with my fun rocket toy, I'm gonna be walking soon!!

swimming time!

2008-05-26T18:38:00.000-05:00

today was my first day in the pool. i had so much fun! so much fun that i didn't want to get out, but as soon as i did, i fell fast asleep and didn't want to wake up for hours. i can't wait to go swimming again!

on the go

2008-05-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

Too much excitement

2008-05-13T21:24:00.000-05:00

Happy half-birthday!!

2008-04-20T18:06:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from my half-birthday party. I'm six months old now, I'm getting so big! I can sit up all by myself now, and I've got my first tooth coming in too!

scootin' around

2008-04-02T18:39:00.000-05:00

i just love to scoot around, it won't be long until i learn to crawl! i can push myself up on my hands and knees now too, it's so much fun!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T20:45:00.000-05:00

what's new, millie moo?

2008-03-14T21:17:00.000-05:00

well, things have been pretty busy over the past month. i've had lots of fun playing with my cousin braxton every day, he's such a funny little boy. and i started eating rice cereal last week! i've also really started to roll around and scoot all over the place. mommy left me out playing on the floor one day, and couldn't find me because i had rolled underneath the coffee table! it sure is fun being a baby!

this is me playing with my cousin braxton:

he's so sweet...

he gives me hugs and kisses every day!

i fell asleep in the jumperoo:

i guess i was just pooped after having so much fun!

this is my first time eating rice cereal:

i made a big mess!

me and braxton went to the fire station in our fire academy shirts from uncle jay jay

i even got to sit in the fire truck!

snuggle time with daddy:

he makes such a good pillow.

this is a video of me playing in my jumperoo, it's so much fun!

New Pictures!

2008-02-10T22:05:00.000-06:00

Mommy painted 8 new picture frames for my room, she only has one left to finish and then we can hang them up! I'm so excited!!

Bathtime Fun!

2008-02-10T21:54:00.000-06:00

Don't I just make the cutest little froggy ever?!?

Mom, don't take a picture of me, I'm nakey!!

my new bedroom!

2008-01-27T16:19:00.000-06:00

mommy and daddy finally finished setting up my new bedroom. look at how pretty it is!

welcome to my room!

just hangin' out in my crib

this is my new crib

i love all these polka dots!

i've got all of my books out on the shelf ready to read!

wanna come over for a sleepover??

i love my hello kitty humidifier!

sleepy time...

this is how i woke up this morning!

Play time

2008-01-03T17:24:00.000-06:00

i surprised my mommy today by rolling over for the first time, and i'm only 2 months old! i just don't like tummy time very much, so i just decided that i'm not gonna stay that way anymore. now anytime my mom tries to put me on my stomach, i'll just roll right over!

this is me playing with my new christmas present, a glow worm! i absolutely love it!!

winter fun

2008-01-01T21:30:00.000-06:00

me, mommy, and daddy have had lots of fun the past few weeks, i love winter time!

christmas time is here!

2007-12-01T23:39:00.000-06:00

we took a few pictures today in my christmas outfit, don't i look cute?!?!

New Pictures

2007-11-18T16:00:00.000-06:00

Halloween Costume

2007-10-29T21:18:00.000-05:00

My Mamaw Becky brought me a Halloween costume, I love it so much! My Aunt Penny made it for me, and it's so much fun to wear. Everyone thinks I look so cute!

I'm Here!!

2007-10-28T15:58:00.000-05:00

Well, for those of you that haven't heard yet, I'm finally here! I arrived on October 19th at 3:29 in the afternoon. It's been a tiring week, so I spend most of my time eating, sleeping, and making messy diapers. Here are lots of pictures from the past few days:

i'm a little stubborn...

2007-10-09T01:13:00.000-05:00

i'm already being a difficult child, and i haven't even been born yet! my parents better get ready...

my mommy and daddy found out at the doctor on friday that i've found a nice comfy spot in mommy's tummy... sideways. now we're all going to the hospital tomorrow morning and the doctor is going to push me around until i get in the right place. if i decide to be stubborn, i just might be born by c-section on the 16th! either way, i'm so excited to get out into the world and meet everyone!

until then, enjoy these last few pics of me while i'm still in mommy's belly!

Surprise Baby Shower

2007-09-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

I had a surprise baby shower come in the mail yesterday all the way from Mississippi! It was so exciting! I can't wait to meet all of my mommy's friends after I'm born, they seem like they're really fun! Here are a couple of videos and pictures from the shower:

i need SPACE!

2007-09-10T15:19:00.000-05:00

it sure is getting awfully crowded in my mommy's belly!! and just think, i'm still supposed to gain 2 or 3 more pounds before i'm born!

Baby Shower

2007-08-12T22:50:00.000-05:00

My mommy and I had lots of fun at the baby shower, here are a few pictures:

Here are some pictures of all the presents I have gotten!!

Shower Invite

2007-08-03T14:34:00.000-05:00

This is the fun baby shower invitation that my aunt abby and grandma avery made. I'm so excited to see everyone on Saturday!

Pictures

2007-07-30T16:57:00.000-05:00

My Mamaw Becky bought my crib bedding, and it was delivered today! I'm so excited, and it is so pretty! This is what it will look like after my nursery is set up:

Also, here are a few pictures of me, mommy, and daddy on Alki Beach:

Trip to Utah

2007-06-26T00:36:00.000-05:00

I flew on a plane with my mommy and daddy to Utah this past weekend. I was really excited to go and see my Grandpa and Mamaw Becky, and my Uncle Jesse and Uncle Richard, they were finally able to tell that I've been growing more in mommy's tummy since the last time I visited them in May. We went for my great-grandpa's funeral, I'm sad that I wasn't able to meet him, but he made me two quilts right before he died, so that made me really happy. My great-aunt Tammy crocheted two quilts for me also. Here are a couple of pictures of my new blankets.

Great-Grandpa's Quilt:

Great-Aunt Tammy's Quilt:

This is a picture of me, my mommy, and Mamaw Becky

Practicing Karate

2007-06-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

I kicked my mommy today, and she felt it for the first time! I've been trying to tell her hello for weeks now, but she could barely feel me. I'm pretty sure she felt me this time, it even made her jump!

I'm a girl!

2007-05-26T01:20:00.000-05:00

Today I was finally able to tell my parents that I am a girl. So I guess everyone else can know that I am a little girl. I am so excited to wear lots of cute little clothes, because baby girl clothes are the cutest. I am pretty sure that I am going to be a Daddy's girl. I already like him alot. He talks to me all the time and reads me bedtime stories. My mommy is also really nice, she plays me pretty music on the piano. Well I am perfectly healthy and weigh about 1/2 a pound and am some where between 5 and 6 inches long. The doctor couldnt really tell because I kept dancing around during the sonogram. I am going to be a great entertainer one day. I am already practicing my dancing skills on my mommy's bladder. Well, you can check out my new pics from todays sonogram. I can tell you that I am going to be pretty dang cute. Ok well I got to go practice dancing some more. See y'all later.

Sonogram Pics: