Bye, Bye Baby...

It's true. My baby very seldom acts like a baby anymore. While it is absolutely bittersweet to say "bye bye" to her baby stage, it is so fun to see her learn and grow every day!

I am absolutely behind on EVERYTHING around here, so my apologies for a super-long post! :) We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to celebrating Jesus's birthday in just a few short weeks! Meanwhile, a lot has happened around our house... :)



Avaree brushes her own teeth!

(Or at least, she enjoys holding it in her mouth after Mama has brushed her teeth with the toothpaste!)

 GiGi and G-Pops came for a visit the week before Thanksgiving!

 Riding in style in her new shopping cart!

 She loves to shop... :) (Watch out, Daddy!)

 Dancing with GiGi...

 "Itsy Bitsy" with Daddy!!!!!

 I think this picture is hilarious! Avaree was mad at me for trying to take her picture when all she wanted was to dig in Shannon's glass of water. (Please note her mean stare...haha, it's too cute not to laugh at her!)

 All pretty before church a few weeks ago. It was one of the random 80 degree days we had! :)

 Reason # 5,367 that we LOVED Thanksgiving Break: Mommy and Ave stayed in their jammies until after lunch on Monday! That was the only day that we had to relax and play...so we did it up right! :) She was doing "touchdown" to distract me from the fact that she wasn't eating her meat! ha! :)

 New skill # 3000 for the month: Avaree can feed herself with a spoon!!!

Putting mashed potatoes on her spoon....

... and in her mouth with minimal spillage! :)

 Daddy getting the turkey ready on Thanksgiving Eve. I'm sure that you can tell by this picture that we were beyond delirious. We had had a long adventure to Houston and back by way of College Station that day! Thank you, Daddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*And, though I don't have any pictures to show, we did get to see Poppa and Niecey over the break too! They met us in Houston and played with, rocked, held Avaree while Mama was in the doctor's office! We are so grateful for them and can't wait to go to Bridge City for Christmas! :)

 Mama, Daddy and Ave on Thanksgiving!!!

 YES...we were together for a little while over the break! :) And GOOO Cowboys! Brandon (and the rest of the men on my Mom's side of the family) got to go to the Cowboys v. Saints game. They had a blast!

 Ave laughing at Paz and Pop Pop! :)

 Relaxing with Great-Maw Maw!

 Showing off her jacket with Granmama!

 Uncle D's legs are a fun jungle gym!!!

 "This Little Light of Mine" with GiGi!

 Dancing with Uncle Darrin...!!! We looove Aunt Jamie too! Somehow, I didn't get a picture of she and Ave together! :(

 Sweet Ave in her beautiful dress from GiGi/G-Pops

 In case you ever wondered why Brandon calls Avaree "Pooper face"....haha! :)

 Cuddling with Granmama!!

and

Pearson Family Thanksgiving 2010! This was the first time in years that we were all together and it was soooo fun! :)

 My sweet girl...

I am no Kerri, but last week I took a few pictures of Allie Tingle at Prestonwood, and of course I snapped a few of Ave too! :)

 I love precious Allie's face here... :)

It won't be like this for long...

...so I am trying to soak up every litte thing! We had another crazy week! Tuesday morning, we all woke up sick, but we all pushed through. Tuesday night, however...Avaree couldn't sleep. Wednesday morning, I took Ave to her pediatrician and sent Brandon to our family doctor. Ave had the croup (I couldn't believe that that awful sound could come out of that little body!) and B had (and still has) pharyngitis, and I am sure that I had some combination of the two--but I never went to the doctor! Alas, we're all on the mend and life is still a wonderful, crazy adventure. I try to cherish every minute. I was just telling my brother today that Avaree's smile never ever gets old. She can go three seconds without seeing me and run (yes she is now running--or at least briskly walking with a little hop in her step!) to me and throw her little arms around me with a big 'ole smile like she hasn't seen me in a week. It's pretty much the best thing ever. Enjoy the pictures! :)

Goooooooo Aggies! What a great game (or at least second half!!) on Saturday night! YAY! :)

Please keep Brandon in your prayers. He is starting to get his voice back, but I am still worried about him. His voice is very important to all of us...

Last Sunday afternoon, Avaree and I got to have some wonderful girl time! We went to Jamie and Daniel's and made a couple of meals and baked cupcakes to bring to Lauren, Brian and Berkeley! It was soooo fun, and Avaree was perfect! She loved walking in circles around Jamie and Daniel's dining room and living room! This is "Aunt" Jamie with precious Berkeley!!!!!!! She's perfect.

 And this is her beautiful Mommy!!!! :)

 And this is MY beautiful baby girl! :) She played sooooo sweetly in the living room and even let Brian and Daniel watch her (aka...she played with Daniel's iphone..hehe) while I visited with the girls and held Berkeley for a few minutes.

 Love this sweet face...

 I put the Christmas tree up Saturday morning while Ave was napping. Yes, I realize that it is early, but I have several things going on in the next few weeks and didn't want to be rushed! I carely planned out where I would place all of the ornaments (the top half of the tree!) so that the Princess wouldn't be tempted, but I also put a few special ones on the bottom just for her. I was so excited to get her reaction...and this was it. She just stared at it for a few seconds and then moved on. hehe. :) Maybe she'll be more interested in the presents... :)

This is what happens when we say "TOUCHDOWN" to Avaree. Her Daddy has never been more proud! :) It's also a great trick to get her clothes on/off and to help her when she has a mouthful and gets choked up!

 I am soooo glad that my precious angel loves to read!!!!!!!!!!!! This makes me soooooooo happy! :)

 I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was upside down. I just sang the ABC song as she pointed to random letters! :)

Only one more week of school until Thanksgiving break! YAHOOOOOOOO! :) Enjoy your week!

Berkeley Alise Tingle's Birth Day! :)

 The girls in the Labor/Delivery room! This is around 1pm. Lauren has already been in labor for a few hours!! Doesn't she look amazing?

The epidural made Lauren really itchy, so sweet Mrs. Terri (aka Tootsie) was making her feet happy by scratching! :)

Uncle Eric, Aunt Kim and cousin Allie!!!! This family is so precious!

I was soooo happy to have my baby girl for a few hours while we waited for Miss Berkeley! Thank you, Daddy, for being amazing and taking care of Avaree so that I could be at the hospital!!! It was such a great afternoon! I was able to take off of work early and be there for several hours! I loooved visiting with Lauren and Brian's families (and my precious Jamie Dekat!!!!), and, of course, I didn't want to be anywhere else until I knew Berkeley was here and Lauren was okay! PTL for a wonderful day of celebration!

Mama and Avaree taking a little snack break!

My little beauty!

 Waiting to see sweet Berkeley...!

Uncle Tanner, Uncle Sawyer, Aunt Lisie and Uncle Nick!!!!!!

 This is precious Allie. She is the only one in the world that can get away with calling me "Big Allie." :) She was playing with her Grandpa (Brian's Dad)! I just love the look of adoration on her face!

 This was just one moment after Brian announced Berkeley's birth! What a precious moment!

 Beautiful Mommy and baby!!!! Princess Berkeley weighed 6 lbs, 10 ounces and is perfectly healthy!

 Precious family picture...:)

I am soooooooo happy to get to experience motherhood with my precious friend. Thank you all for praying for Brian, Lauren and Berkeley. Please continue to do so as they go home and start their lives as a family of three! Berkeley is one loved baby girl.

I'm sooooo happy for you LaLa! :)