Mom's musings...

It is amazing to see how quickly babies catch on to things! I mean, one day Avery is laying there just able to look at her toys and then all of a sudden she realizes she can pick them up and play with them. Granted it seems like a small feat, but it really is incredible to me how their little bodies and brains grow. Avery loves this toy because it has those crinkly sounding wings. This is Clay's favorite game to play with Avery. He loves to lean his head in and try to get her to give him "kisses". He doesn't think it's fair that she always latches on to my cheek, but will only briefly touch his. Can you blame her though? The feeling of whiskers isn't the most inviting.I love the way Avery is looking at the camera here. She can sometimes stare a hole through you!We took Avery's 3 month pictures the other day and it became a photo shoot of sorts. She just kept looking so cute that I kept snapping pictures. Thank goodness for the digital camera!She's definitely finding her fingers on a regular basis. The big mystery is will she choose fingers or thumb over the magical Paci? Isn't this just about the cutest outfit you've seen? Mama Gay gave it to her and I've been waiting to take pictures in it. Her giraffe is the toy we take all of her monthly pictures with so we can see her relative growth. I think she likes him! It looks like they're about to start up a game of patty-cake here. Notice stuffed animal and baby are sitting in the exact same way! :)

Avery decided games were over and reached in to give Mr. Giraffe a big hug!I think we'll have to say good-bye for now with this picture. I can here Avery stirring and I've only got so long before sweet stirring becomes ardent frustration.

For Martha :)

We traveled to Paris last weekend and were happy to be told that I needed to update our blog more often! It's always nice to know that others like to look at pictures of your child as much as you do (well, almost as much). So this blog's for Martha...

While we were visiting Paris, Roselyn came over to play. RoJo (as we like to call her) is already ballin' at the young age of 3 months in her J's that she got from Uncle Kory and Aunt P. (For my baseball minded family, J's are Michael Jordan basketball shoes.) RoJo let Avery try them on... I'm not sure what Avery thought. Could it be that Avery has more of an affinity for the click of metal cleats and the earthy smell of the leather baseball glove? Not that I'm pushing her in any particular direction. She could be a multi-sport All-American if she wants. :)
Avery finally can sit for a little while in her Bumbo seat. Here she is helping out in the kitchen. After about 5 minutes her little head gets tired and slowly begins to bob lower and lower, so I'm cooking fast these days.
A couple of nights ago we had a great poop explosion experience. We ran out of our wonderful Pampers Swaddlers and were using Huggies until I could get to the store. This is dangerous because somehow Avery can completely circumvent the absorptive power of Huggies and everything ends up on her clothes. This night I heard it coming, but it was too late (notice the dark stain on my sweater). Clay scooped Avery up and tried to save her socks by ripping them off, but instead slung little drops of poop all over the wall, her calendar and one small drop on Jaymie's "Guide to Parenthood" book. It was all over Avery as well so bath time it was!
Daddy better hope it's all out! Naked babies are so cute, but it's a game of Russian Roulette!
Avery has come to like her baths. I love how she is staring intently at her Daddy here.
We got this cute little frog towel from our dear friends, the Kings. I think Avery really likes it!

Catching Up

Wow... I think I'm just now breathing for the first time since sometime in mid-December. Our apartment looks like a tornado hit it, we have a stack of unopened mail a mile high and I just realized I didn't even finish sending out all our Christmas cards! I have to admit though, we had a wonderful Christmas. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks.

Here is Avery with the real Santa Claus. How do I know? Take a look for yourself, his cheeks are like roses, his nose like a cherry, his droll little mouth drawn up like a bow and the beard on his chin as white as the snow... and yes! when he laughed he shook like a bowl full of jelly!

We had Christmas in Paris and Gilmer with Clay's family first. We had a wonderful time with everyone, including little Roselyn of course!

Gifts galore!

That looks like a devious expression on Roselyn's face! :)Then came Christmas with the McWilliams! More toys and high fashion for Avery! Here are Nana and Pop with all the grandkids... it won't be current for very much longer since Tara is due in July with another one!!! Avery didn't quite get into the actual opening of the gifts, but appreciates them all nonetheless.Sierra and Avery in their matching Christmas PJs.Last, but definitely not least, Avery had her 2 month appointment with her very good friend Dr. Cody Mihills! She is doing great and staying true to the Spencer/McWilliams body type... only 10 pounds 12 ounces (in the 50th percentile), but 24 inches long (in the 95th percentile). What a surprise huh?