Christmas in Hemphill!

We split up our Christmas trips this year. We went to BC and College Station before and during Christmas and then went to Hemphill on New Years! In between, (among other things) we had Avaree's 15-month well-baby visit. The doctor told us that at 26.2 lbs she was in the 90th percentile for her weight, and at 32 inches she was in the 95the percentile for her height, but at over 16" the poor baby was off the charts for the size or her head! :) Her sweet Daddy said it must be her brain... :) hehe.

Before we left for our first Christmas adventure, I took pictures of beautiful Shannon and her handsome brothers as a Christmas suprise for their mom. I kept telling the boys that I was soooo impressed by their good attitudes. I know my brother would have called it at two pictures, if that, but these boys were great!! :) We took them in downtown Dallas, which was sooooooo fun! I had a blast and was happy that I was able to help. I am absolutely not a professional (nor do I want to be), but this was fun (and the editing is even more fun!). Here is one of my favs!!



Avaree LOVES Bella. She actually loves all animals. However, when she sees a cat, she immediately starts talking in this unintelligable language. It is the cutest thing ever. She certainly looooved having Bella AND Lois Kitty at my mom's house! :)

 Helping Pop Pop with his phone. If you know Ave, you know that she LOVES technology (cell phones, I-anythings, computers, etc.). Well...about a month ago I noticed that everytime Brandon called I would miss his call. It seemed coincidental at first, but then I realized that it was happening even when I had my phone in my lap. It took me THREE weeks (and Brandon tried too!!) to figure out that Avaree had "auto-rejected" Brandon. I didn't even know that this was an option on my phone!! Crazy girl! :)

 Brandon and Ken played golf at Cypress Bend while we were home. They even had a thrird member to their team, a FOX! Seriously! Brandon has pictures of it. Apparently, it joined around the 9th hole and followed them the rest of the way!

 YAYYYYYY for swinging! Thankfully it was just beautiful while we were in Hemphill. So we got to enjoy a LOT of outdoor time! (Ave's favorite!!) Pop Pop put a baby swing up for Avaree over a year ago, but now he has a big people swing that you can change it out with! Yahoo!! :)

 Avaree loooooooooooooves to swing. It has probably moved up on her top five list too. Have I mentioned how beautiful Hemphill is this time of year?? I LOVE the trees and all the beautiful colors! I miss that so much in our little concrete jungle! I also looooove to take pictures outside. I have no idea how to take good inside pictures. I suppose it's because God already did such a beautiful job with the landscape outdoors! :)

Love this face!!!!!

 Sooooooo sweet! We love Granmama!! :)

 My poor little city child was enamored with the leaves. She had never touched them before!

 Mama and Ave! My mom is so good of always grabbing the camera to take pictures of Ave and me together, since I'm usually the one behind the camera! :)

 Liz and Ave! I looooved getting to spend time with my "little" cousin! I missed most of her teenage years, but she was my world when she was born! :)

 Who knows what just happened here...but it was a cute pic! :)

 Avaree has loved this little dancing/singing Elvis Bear since she was little. She kissed it, talked to it, carried it around, loved on it, etc. :)

 Gotta love this little face. I was wanting her to do the "He loves me, He loves me not...", but she preferred to do things her own way. I wonder where she gets that? :)

 Liz did my hair and makeup for New Years Eve. I remember when she asked me to do her hair and makeup so that she could look just like me. My how time has changed things...hehe! :)

 Mom, Ave, Maw Maw and me on NYE 2010!

 Mom and Ave examining a leaf. Would you believe that my little city girl FINALLY decided that she can walk on grass??! This is huge! :)

 Love those blue eyes...

 Liz snapped this while I was putting Ave's hat on her. I just love the way she's looking at me. That's pure love and trust folks. Love her.

 Love this! Ave is in the background doing her "Where's Avaree? Here I am!" :)

 Liz had my camera and took way too many pictures of me. But, at least I got to play with the lighting while editing. This one is for her.. :)

 No caption needed.. :)

15 months and growing!!

Our first week back to school was difficult. And to top it off, Avaree has a terrible virus and feels awful. When I picked her up on Wednesday she had 103.5 and felt worse than I've seen her feel since the last time we were in the hospital. She had to have blood drawn and be cathaterized this week, so she was definintely traumatized. I finally got her to eat some pureed veggies tonight. Otherwise, she couldn't eat much and has had enough Pedialyte to last awhile. If you think about it, please say a prayer for her. Hopefully we are on the mend! The weather says we are getting snow tomorrow, so hopefully she'll feel well enough to at least look at it!