4th of july!

we had a great weekend and 4th of july! you can probably tell by the pictures how our day went! :)

as i continue to go through avery's birthday pictures i immediately had to upload and share a few of these. i have a friendship that is so rare in life many people never experience it. we've been friends for roughly 13 years i think. we met in the 4th grade, hung out all the time, went to camp together, went on vacation with our dads, and lived together in the dorm. we haven't been in the same city for almost 6 years now but i know i can call her anytime if i need anything and i think she knows its mutual. it's pretty normal to hang out for a few days and then say goodbye. but, it's a little harder now. she loves avery and avery loves her. it's rare for a non family member to love your own child as much as you do, but she does. how do i know this? because when mentioning mark and i coming to visit her alone she said "but then i wouldn't get to see avery". that response alone should tell you everything. we love aunt alli, formerly know as ala. :) we all do and she means so much to us. all of us.

just thought i'd take a some photos for avery enjoying one her favorite outside activities! she was about to start sidewalk chalking it up on the fence. apparently, i was bothering her!

good things come in small packages. it's exactly true for our sweet avery. we had our 2 year check up and our little shorty is hanging on to 2nd and 4th percentiles for height and weight. we finally broke the 20 pound mark but i'm pretty sure if you took off her wet diaper, clothes and shoes it would be questionable. when they were measuring her height she kept going up on her tip toes. i had to laugh! but her vocabulary is "advanced" and of course she only spoke sentences at the dr's off to show off. i gave her a treat for making me look good! ;) we also finished with shots until she's 4! not that she cried when they gave them to her this time.

as for blake, we have 6 weeks left! i'll refrain from typing the words i'm really thinking! we ordered a crib last week and bought bedding. my carseat cover came in that i ordered from etsy and some swaddling blankets! we're making progress slow and steady! next week we start going every week!

my sweet little avery.

how two years have gone by so quickly. the older you get the more your personality comes out and i love it. you are so sweet natured. i love when you tell me you love me out of the blue and when you run up and give me hugs and kisses without me asking for them. i love it when you get clingy and hide behind me sometimes and also when you run into a new situation with such confidence. you feel the need to stop and dance when you hear a song you like, no matter where we are. you love your family and those dear friends you are close to so much. i anticipated the day you would say mommy and now you speak full sentences. you have taught me patience over the last 2 years and i've also had moments that i'm not proud to admit. but, you never get mad and always come seeking for hugs. you don't like to get in trouble and put your head down and frown when you do. you are super sensitive sometimes when you think me or your daddy is mad at you. when you get hurt a simple kiss from me makes it all better. i sometimes think you just want me to kiss you! i hope you know you never have to get hurt or fake an owie for a kiss. i love you so much!

she had a birthday party this weekend and we decorated with yellow since it's her favorite color. i feel so very blessed that avery has so many people who love her so much! she had both her grandmas here to celebrate and aunt allison who traveled! not to mention all of the great friends we have made since we moved here 1.5 years ago and those friends from my own childhood. she is such a lucky little girl! avery had so much fun so i would call it a success. i think the only thing she didn't like was when everyone sang happy birthday! this is part 1 of the birthday pictures if you can believe it! more to come!

then we sang happy birthday.

just trying to keep cool in this heat!

we love avery.