i know most people hate daylight savings but i've really enjoyed it! avery sleeps in, it stays light later and it's getting warmer here in texas! i dragged (not literally but almost) mark to the park with avery and i this evening! we stayed until the sun went down and avery had so much fun!!! i wish i had a video of her laughing as she came down the slide and landed in all of the rocks. she was cracking up hysterically!

off to the park!

for a fun comparison this was taken august 7th

we ALWAYS swing first!

august 7th, 2010

then we go over the bridge

up to the slide

down...

and again!

i have 8 shoots this week! well, i have 2 down and they were great so i'm looking forward to this week! it's spring break around here and aunt allison is coming to texas the following weekend so i crammed them all into this coming week! with that being said, most pictures will be coming from my cell phone! i'm not sure our family really minds though. :) feel free to look at the photo blog because there will be a lot going on over there! it's probably just me that this bothers! :) these are not from this weekend but they're new to anyone who hasn't seen them!

her hair is getting so long!!!

4 HOURS

every 4 hours a child dies from cancer. cancer is a scary word and it sucks. it took my dad's life and my mom beat it. for a child it's difficult to deal with. but, for a parent i can't even imagine watching your child suffer. children should not get such a horrible disease. layla grace battled stage 4 neuroblastoma and earned her wings one year ago today. i can't imagine what an emotional day this must be for their family. but, they started the layla grace foundation (http://laylagrace.org) to help raise awareness about childhood cancers and fund research. they also help parents who have a child with cancer. the foundation was built on so much love and everyone who has read layla's story wants to watch and help this charity be a success.

i have signed up for the 2nd annual portrait party for the layla grace foundation. on april 9th photographers from around the country will offer mini sessions for $75. the money goes directly to the foundation and you get some family portraits just for helping out! if you were waiting for the right time to get a couple of photos now is the time!

if you or someone you know wants to sign up go HERE!

feel free to email me at aubreytorrey@yahoo.com for more information or visit www.aubreytorreyphotography.com for details!

we had a small little celebration last night because it's our good friend's birthday!!! avery and i decorated cupcakes for amanda yesterday. well, i decorated and avery just ate. i love my sweet girl with sugar all over here! :)

MORE!!!

final products

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!!

i was editing a session late night and when i got to the end there were pictures of avery. bonus! these are from 2 weeks ago at the petting zoo!

some days i feel like my life is so boring. other days i think i could be a reality tv show and actually have viewers. today is one of those days. it started out nice. we had breakfast, played a little, met daddy for lunch, and visited the animal adoption shelter. we make it home and i go to straight to the bathroom. because i'm pregnant of course and thought i was going to be pee in my pants! :) well, i made the mistake of throwing my stuff on the kitchen table. avery pulled the chair out, climbed on the chair and had proceeded to drink over half of my coke. of course it was right before nap time. so i start cleaning off the table and the house alarm starts going off! avery was so scared and laid on top of the table. part of me laughed because it looked like a cop just yelled at her to get down. of course i pick her up and she is clinging on tightly. luckily i have the alarm company on speed dial because this isn't the first time. i'm trying to call and avery won't let me put her down. the sheriff hasn't showed up yet so i'm hoping they got the message because after the first time they charge you! she's finally asleep now. too bad i can't have a drink! ;)

update: because our new ridiculous neighbors refuse to park in their own driveway they were blocking the road and the school bus had to continuously honk their horn so someone would come out and move their car. grrr!

i'm taking some pictures tonight and avery is coming along so maybe i'll snap a few of her! :) but in the meantime here is a cell phone pic of avery eating her yogurt this morning. she ate the whole thing without a drop going anywhere else.

here's a shout out to aunt allison at ucla! she's looking left-handed too!

we are pretty routine around here when it comes to naps and bedtime. i put avery down for her naps and daddy puts her down to bed. we usually read books, then i say goodnight, put her in her sleepsack, turn off the lights and daddy rocks her a little while she drinks her milk. he puts her down awake and she goes to sleep. we both go straight to the kitchen to grab our treat (because we deserve one after we get her down) and settle in the couch to watch our shows. i put avery to bed for the first 15 months or so but then we switched. it was a nice change and i enjoyed the little break. but, once a week or so mark is out and it's just us girls. avery is a total daddy's girl and i think we both needed last night. she never said dada and when he left she said buy bye. so we did things a little different. instead of reading books i turned off the lights and we rocked and i sung to hear. despite my horrible off key voice she kept asking for more. she eventually fell asleep in my arms. instead of rushing downstairs to watch the bachelor i decided to just hold on tight to my sweet girl. we probably rocked for about an hour until mark got home. of course he thought she was sick or there was something wrong with her. i realize my days of rocking my sweet girl to bed are numbered. she won't be in a crib forever and in 6 months our bedtime routine is going to change again. there is something so sweet about her being so comfortable in my arms and just falling asleep and then proceeding to drool all over my shoulder. i took a lot of mental pictures last night for her looking up at me just smiling!

i can't turn my back for one second these days!

she thinks she's funny