New Haircut

I was told that if I tell everyone I got my haircut that I am to furnish a photo for everyone to see. It's not really styled or anything, but quite a bit shorter than what it was!

It's only been 1 day, but so far, I'm lovin' it!

4 Year Anniversary

I am delayed a week in this post, but better late than never, right? Nathan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on August 19th. It has been a great 4 years, full of highs and lows. Nathan says it feels like 40 years. I'm sure he means that in the best possible way. Someone once told us when we got married that we were so much alike that it would either be the best thing for us or the worst thing. I think despite some of the rocky moments we've encountered, it has been the best thing for us and the best part is, we both seek the Lord first in our marriage.

We've done a lot of things in the last 4 years. Here are the highlights:
-Moved (twice)
-Bought a house (first time for me)
-Bought a new car together
-Traveled internationally to Jamaica and the Bahamas (once on a cruise ship, again a first for me)
-Went to all 4 Disney parks in one day (not one of our smartest moments)
-Got new jobs (each of us has changed once since getting married)
And the best thing we've ever done in the last 4 years has to be...
-Having the most wonderful, precious little girl, Avery, who is about to be 1 year old already!

I have enjoyed immensely the last 4 years and I hope the Lord blesses us with many more and that He continues on with us through this awesome journey. Enjoy these pictures as a trip down memory lane with me.
Family of three
Celebrating my 10 year high school reunion
Nathan's first time to Topsail Island
Our first winter together and also the first snow
Our cruise to the Bahamas
The SEC basketball tournament in Atlanta (where we also survived a tornado!)


Thanks so much for the last 4 years Nate! I love you!

Avery's Day at the Zoo

My cousins Rebecca, her mom Karen, and her son Ethan, my mom, Avery and I went to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo last week. We had an awesome day! Despite it being 99 degrees, we managed to survive and spent a whole day seeing all the animals. The kids were awesome and we all enjoyed it.
Avery got to see what it would be like being a little "joey." I think she would LOVE having her own kangaroo pouch to play in!
The seals were probably her favorite animals. They were swimming around in their tank and she loved to watch them pass by.
We got some dry corn and fed the ducks and geese. Avery thought this was hilarious!
We rode a manatee on the carousel. Avery thought it was so fun and cried when we got off. I'll have to remember to bring a few extra dollars next time so we can ride again. :)
The giraffes were really neat! There was a brand new baby giraffe that was only a few weeks old!
There was a big female lion (you can see her in the back right hand corner) but we didn't get to see the male.
This was a carpuchian monkey. It and its buddies enjoyed putting on a show for us (this is the kind of monkey from "Night at the Museum").

It was such a great day and I'm so glad we got to do this! We are planning a trip to the Memphis Zoo in September and they have lots of different animals that Avery and I didn't get to see in Ft. Wayne. We are checking out library books on the zoo and learning about all kinds of animals. Can't wait for the next trip!

Avery is 10 months old!

Avery's favorite things: Playing with her train, music, Baby Einstein sign language video, swinging, cell phones, snacks, strawberries, sharing yogurt with mommy, talking on the phone, playing with other babies.

New milestones: Takes 3-4 steps without holding on, plays standing up without holding on, helps to "dress" herself (pulls her head/legs/arms out of her clothes), sticks out her tongue when you ask "where is your tongue?".

Dislikes: "Real" peaches, bananas, and melon unless mommy eats it first, loud dog barking, the car wash, bathroom hand dryers, laying down to having her diaper changed.

She is starting to look and act so big! The baby stage is almost over and we are moving on quickly to toddler stage. She is going to be walking and talking full force in a few more weeks. It's almost time to plan her first birthday party. This has been the most awesome year and while I'm so sad to see it pass, I am also so happy to see what kind of things this little sweet girl does in the future. I love you Avery!

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!