Avaree's first Christmas!

Daddy singing in the Pwood North Christmas musical, "Northern Lights!" He was a-ma-zing!
Punkin stealing Daddy's remote on Christmas Eve. She felt that she has the right to hold it since she gave it to him! :)

Baby girl with the presents! :) Of course, she was the best present of all!

I love our home! :)

Can you guess who has the most stuff in his/her stocking? You got it! :)

Daddy opening on Christmas Eve!!

Avaree opening her present from Mama and Daddy!

Clearly she could care less... :)

Yay, yay! Something pink that plays music...her favorite! :)

Opening presents wore her out...it only took her a few minutes to fall asleep after opening her stocking and presents!

Avaree had a WHITE CHRISTMAS! :) This was just after the snow started!!

Loving her first Christmas! She makes everything just a little more special!

Clearly, she wasn't too enthralled with the snow, but I thought it was so special for her!!

Avaree is as big as her stocking! (At 14 weeks, she weighs 14 lbs, 13 oz with her clothes on and is just over 25 inches long!!)

Avaree's beautiful Christmas dress that Granmama bought her!! It's hanging on her pink Christmas tree (in her room)!

Avaree and Daddy at the Christmas Eve candelight service!!

Hi Mama!! She was soooo good during the service!! It was SNOWING sooo hard and she was such a trooper!!!

The view outside our house when we got home from church!!!

Our roof...and it wasn't even finished snowing yet! We received a total of 4 inches!!!

Avaree with her Great-Grandaddy!! He just adored her and she, of course, put on a show for him!

Avaree checking out her first piano!!! :) It plays classical music and she just loved it!

Avaree and Daddy playing by the fire on Christmas Day!

Avaree taking a bath in the sink in my bathroom in Hemphill! She took up the whole thing! :) Too cute!

We truly had a very special Christmas. We can't wait to tell Avaree about Jesus and let her make him a birthday cake in the years to come! What a gift a child can be! Avaree got to visit with her Granmama and Granpapa, GiGi and G-Pops and is looking forward to seeing her Papa and Nana this weekend! She is such a ham for her uncles too! Darrin and Spencer just adore her and she is clearly smitten with them. It has been so fun for Brandon and me to watch! We had a wonderful first Christmas as a new family and are looking forward to many more wonderful memories together. :) Thank you, Jesus!

We have a 3 month old!

I was thinking about childbirth today. :) My baby is three months old and as I watch her grow and change each day, I am amazed at the little person she is becoming. How quickly time has nummed the intense pain that I experienced on September 21, 2009--particularly between the hours of 1 and 2:43 pm, when my epidural was not working and Avaree was trying to come out; however, as soon as I think of the pain...I think of the immeasurable joy that she has brought into our lives. She, of course, was not in our plans until much later down the road of life, but oh how glad I am that God is in control (and not me)!
I told Brandon this afternoon that the pain of childbirth does not EVEN compare to the crazy roller coaster of emotions that I had (and have still) to deal with after. I never knew how much a tiny little person could change my life!! (All in great ways, of course, but it has still been an adjustment--for me and for those I love.) The greatest challenge has been trying to balance my life and still give my best to all of my other relationships. Every day, I am trying to balance being a wife, a mom, a teacher, a friend, a daughter, a sister, etc. and some days I do it well, while other days I fail miserably. Those that love me have certainly been full of grace for me since my little angel came into the world, but I know that I haven't always made it easy. I pray that in this new year, I will be able to do it all better. Today, I've reminded myself that "I am a daughter of the King and he calls me beautiful."
Brandon's parents came to visit this weekend and his Dad was telling us about a challenge that a pastor had given recently at a men's event. He said that if you want your sons to be good men, emulate the kind of man that you want them to be. Likewise, if you want your daughter to marry a great man, be an example of that man for her. WOW! I want someone to be PERFECT for Avaree...so what a challenge for Brandon and for me.
Lord, thank you for my sweet baby girl. Thank you for sending your sweet baby boy to die on the cross for our sins. Christmas is one million times more meaningful to me this year. I think I finally understand what Christ did for me. Thank you for forgiving my imperfect life and loving me just the same.

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Brandon, Avaree and I are so blessed to call you our family and our friends!

12 weeks!!!!

Giggle time... :)

Is this precious or what? Too bad she only wore the shoes for five minutes. She has tiny feet and they just fall off!

Our little Christmas present! Getting ready to go to the Prestonwood Christmas musical!

Sitting up with Daddy! Avaree's neck muscles have gotten so strong! She grows up more every day!

Mama love after swimmin' in the big bath tub! :)

Hanging her first ornament on the tree!! :)

YAY, Mama's home! The first thing I do when I walk in the door is scoop her up and head to the rocking chair for some lovin'!

This was right after Avaree's bath the other night! Brandon would say "1, 2, 3" and I am not kidding...the child would raise up on command! She's getting so strong! AND..isn't that just the cutest hiney you have ever seen? :)

Hi Mama! :)

Look at me!!! :)

Eleven Weeks... :)

Dear Avaree,

I love you from the top of your head to the tips of your sweet little toes. You are my sunshine and you have my heart. I wish I could be with you every second of every day. I cannot believe that it has been eleven weeks since you said hello to the world. You are the sweetest, most precious little girl in the whole world. I love watching you grow and look forward to every day with you.

I love you,

Mama

Weeks 9 and 10: My precious baby during Thanksgiving, D&J's wedding and Mommy's flu!

Avaree with her Great-Grandmother (Brandon's grandmother) on Thanksgiving!
Avaree always laughs at Uncle Darrin! She thinks he's so funny and he obviously adores her!

Avaree on Thanksgiving in her cheerleading outfit!

Avaree on the way to the rehearsal/ rehearsal dinner. Ave slept through most of it and G-Pops kindly brought us home early so that Ave could go night night!

Sleeping Beauty...

Regretfully, I did not get a picture of Avaree with the bride and groom (Uncle Darrin and Aunt Jamie). I guess I was so busy with making sure she was fed and being a bridesmaid that we'll just have to wait for the professional shots.

Paige and Poppie, Pappa and Avaree at Darrin and Jamie's wedding!

Avaree's wedding outfit (that GiGi bought her)

pretty girl...

Avaree loves her Grandmama! Thank you, Mom, for keeping her! I always know she's well loved!

Brandon and I giving Avaree a manicure! My mom found an electric nail buffer for babies so that we wouldn't have to actually cut her fingernails! Avaree thought it was so funny!

Reading Avaree's new Christmas book that Gigi and G-Pops got for her!

Look at me!! I can hold my head up all by myself!

At the end of a long day... :)

Yes: She is smiling at her MUSIC! This little girl LOVES it. It is a little Baby Einstein toy that plays clips of four classical songs and she looooves all of them.

Look at that beautiful smile!! I feed Avaree between 4:30 and 5 am on school mornings, so she generally wakes up every day at this time and may or man not go back to sleep! This precious smile was Friday morning (Mama was home sick), when my Mom and I had some play time with Avaree bright and early! She is all smiles in the mornings (well, after she is fed!).

So...Mama felt pretty rotten all week and finally decided on Thursday morning that she just could not go to school. It turns out that I had/have the flu--they weren't sure if it was the swine flu or the seasonal flu (i had the symptoms for both) so the dr gave me meds for both as well as for pneumonia as I had my usual Christmas time congestion in my chest. It was certainly not a fun day, but the worst part was not being able to hold my baby! By the next night, though, I was able to be around her with my mask on. I'm pretty sure she thinks that I am wearing the blue mask for her entertainment, though, as she laughs at it every time. She loves playing in Mama and Daddy's bed! Grandmama and Daddy took care of Avaree and me! I know I am not a very good patient, but I am so grateful! I just needed some sleep!!!! I was so worried about Avaree, since I am breastfeeding, but so far so good. We are still praying for her to stay healthy!

Sweet girl...playing on the side of Mama's bed so that she can still see her even though she can't hold her!

Uncle Spencer said he had already been exposed to the flu, so he came over for some Avaree time!

Saturday, we were all three lounging around while Mama was trying to recover, soooo Avaree got to wear her favorite t-shirt: "What part of Princess don't you understand?" :)

Holding her head up and trying to crawl on Daddy whilel he was watching football!

It is hard to believe that we almost have a 3 month old. It has gone by so fast. Avaree changes and grows a little bit more every day.