12 months, 3 weeks!!

Avaree is now walking more than she is crawling. Her independence has really increased, even in the past few days.

Avaree can now say: "ball," "baby," "baat" (bath--she even uses the same inflection that I do!), "bye-bye," "mama," "da-da" and "da ee" (daddy). She is also becoming very good at copying the words that we say. :) It is amazing to watch her little world expand before her eyes.

Her favorite songs are: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (she does the motions!), "The Tree Song," "He's Got the Whole Wide World in His Hands," "It's Night Night Time," "ABC song." Actually, this kid just loves music. period. She will dance anytime she hears it and looooves for us to sing to her.

Avaree is eating all people food and tries new things every day. She loves her YoBaby Yogurt, and I'm pretty sure her favorite flavor is blueberry! She looooooves cheese--almost as much as her puffs! Some of her other favorites are turkey, chicken, MACARONI (she is so much like Brandon), mashed potatoes, PEACHES, pears, tortillas, cinnamon toast, oatmeal, and anything that I have on my plate! :) Our only issue is that she has gone from looooving her vegetables, to not liking the textures. So, I'm currently working on sneaking them in again. Although, I can get her to eat green beans most of the time anyway.

Enjoy the pics!

 We love Uncle Spencer and Shannon visits!!!

 Walking!!!!!!!

 "What happened?"

Ave and Mama ready for the Aggie game!!!! :)

 Daddy: "Touchdown!"

 To the Aggies on television: "What is wrong? Why can't we win?!"

 Love...

 :).

 Playing pat-a-cake with Daddy!

Well..Avaree is finally WELL. We went through 2.5 weeks of the hand-foot-mouth virus. Last Monday, I had to take Avaree back to the doctor with fever near 102. They cathatarized her again and did bloodwork. It was an awful experience for her, but I was thankful (based on our past experiences) that they ruled out other things. We basically learned and though her immune system was clearly trying to fight the virus, all of her blood counts were very low and that she had a really awful strand of the virus. She is back at Mrs. Donna's and happy as a lark now. In fact, when Mrs. Donna opened the door this morning, Avaree started squealing with delight and kicking her legs. Then, she reached for Mrs. Donna and gave her a big hug. I will be eternally thankful for such a wonderful, precious soul to care for my baby when I can't!

In other news: Brandon's youth choir (Crossroads!) sang on Sunday morning and did a FANTASTIC job! I was so proud of the kids and of Brandon! This Sunday B will be leading worship and I can't WAIT!!!!!!! :) We are so blessed to be a part of such an amazing body of believers!

Please say a quick prayer for Brandon: He is sick right now and needs to heal quickly. He has flu-like symptoms, so Avaree and I are trying to keep our distance, but he's just so cute...you know? :)

Thank you for reading about our little family and for keeping up with us from wherever you are. May the remainder of this week find you and yours very blessed--as we all have so much to be thankful for.

Stay Tuned: In my next post, I will post pictures of Avaree's first trip to the zoo! :)