Avery's 9 month pictures

Back from the Beach

We've been back from our beach vacation to Topsail Island, NC for almost a week now. I HATE coming back from vacation! It's so hard to get back in the rhythm of things. We left and drove overnight on 7/9 which worked really great for us. Little missy slept most of the time, waking only when we stopped and then went back to sleep. When we stopped in Beckley, WV, she got really excited when she saw a little boy. It turned out that they had the EXACT same birthday! It was so fun. We drove back part way on 7/17, had lunch in Greensboro, NC with our friend Amanda who we used to worship with in Fort Wayne. Then we stayed overnight in Charleston, WV and drove the rest of the way Sunday and made it back in time for a little rest before evening services.
We have a beach babe on our hands! Avery loved everything about the beach (I think it's inherited!). She wanted to go right into the water, didn't mind the sand at all (even the few mouthfuls she got) and took the BEST naps. Her doctor was very proud of us for not letting her get a baby tan!
We liked taking walks on the beach every day. Sometimes they weren't very far, but often they ended up in a nap for Avery! One day, the three of us walked down to the house where the rest of our family was staying....about 2 miles away. Avery took a nice nap in the stroller, Nathan pushed her and I looked for shark's teeth. It was great!
Avery liked going shopping at the beach stores and she wanted to check out this super cute Avery-sized chair!
Avery was super fascinated by Grandpa's fish. She really wanted to touch one, but as her hands frequently end up in her mouth..that didn't happen. She DOES have her own fishing pole now, though!
She is also practicing to be a Charlie's Angel. Check her out in her speed boat! It was a great way to unwind after spending lots of time in the car.

We really had the best time. She was great and usually quite a cheese. She took nice, long naps and went to be early every night...giving us plenty of time to boogie board during the day and play euchre at night. Our new car also did very well on the trip...glad we made the change so we had something roomy and reliable for the trip.

Avery is crawling full force now, standing for short periods of time without holding onto anything and pulling up on everything. I will have more pictures of her milestones to post soon. We also had her 9 month (can you believe it?) photoshoot today so those will be posted probably next week.

Well, I guess it's back to reality. The summer is going by too fast!

Fun on the Fourth

Little Avery got all dolled up in her stars and stripes swimsuit for the 4th. She loves to swim and kick in the water. It was 90 degrees so a great day for swimming!
Avery got her new big girl carseat just time for our North Carolina trip!
Avery likes to eat sour pickles!
Hanging out in the water...
Getting ready for her first fireworks! She liked them although they were a little loud. She actually fell asleep during the last 15 minutes of the display!
On 4th of July morning, Avery got to get up and eat her first pancake before church.

Avery likes to get snuggled up and take walks with mommy and daddy. We'll be using this a lot on the beach!

We have a lot of things to get done before we go to the beach and I think none of us are really looking forward to the 14 hour car ride. We are leaving at night so hopefully little miss will sleep most of the way! So ready for a vacation!