Seven Months, Two Weeks and a whole lot of sweet love!

The best part of this week was Avaree reaching out to us! She holds her hands up if she wants to be picked up and she will reach out to you if she wants you. It is the sweetest, most heart-warming thing EVER.

One other highlight was Friday morning before I left Mrs. Donna's house. Tatum (almost two) came over to Avaree and me and said, "Avaree...friend." It melted my WHOLE heart to pieces. My baby has a friend!!!

Playing!!

Playing around with Uncle Spencer's hat! It was soooo cute! (Thank you for stopping by TWICE last week, Uncle Spencer! :)) We love your visits!

This was hilarious! Brandon stuck his tongue out at Avaree, and then she HAD to touch it. It was the funniest thing EVER and she did it several times!!! :) I guess you had to be there, but you can't imagine how hard we were laughing! She was soooo serious, though!

I had wanted to get some pictures of Avaree in her tutu at the Botanical Gardens, but she started feeling bad, so we wrapped it up. Then, I tried (unsuccessfully as you will see) to get a few shots of her in it! :)

This picture cracks me up... :)

She LOVES my pearls! Watch out, Daddy!

Listening to Daddy read her favorite book: I Love You More Than Rainbows!

She LOVES this book!!!! We probably read it at least four times per night!

Playing!!!

A few more favorites!

I love that each one of these captures her little personality so perfectly. She is soooo interactive right now and these are the perfect reflection of her little life.

If you're in the DFW area and need an AMAZING photographer, please call my friend Kerri or check out her website: kophotoblog.com!

7 month pictures: a sneak peak!

My friend Kerri (kophotoblog.com) took these at the Botanical Gardens in Grapevine. She's amazing and we love her--as a person and a photographer!!  Enjoy the pictures!

This is Daddy's favorite!

In other news: Avaree has an upper respitory infection. PTL that it is not her ears this time (I took her back to her ENT doctor today), but she has snot everywhere and is coughing, sneezing, growling and having trouble sleeping. :( Please keep her in your prayers. Even though she is sick, she is precious and every moment with her is an amazing treasure. I am so ready for her to be well again. It hurts my heart so much when she is sick...especially when I can't be with her.

*Note to family: I will send you these pictures via snapfish once I have them all. :)

She's SEVEN months old today!

Princess Avaree is 7 months old today! Where on Earth has the time gone? This may sound redundant coming frome me, but I am so serious! It seems like just yesterday we were waiting on her to roll over and now we can't keep her on a blanket!

Latest developments in Avaree's little world:
--She's pooping again (hallelujah!!!). Poor thing--when she's a big girl she will wonder why I was always talking about her poop or lack thereof-ha!
--She's not only scooting backwards, but she is getting up on all fours and wiggling around. She wants to crawl so bad!
--She's raising her arms up when she wants to be picked up! This is the sweetest, most amazing melt-my-heart gesture in the whole world!
--She's in LOVE with all things Peek-A-Boo or the "Where's Avaree?" game! :)
--She still looooves to sing songs! Her current favorites are "Playmate," "He's got the Joy, Joy, Joy..." and "The Tree song," but she always loves "Jesus Loves Me" and "Far Away Places" to go night night to!
--She still looooves to bounce!
--She sits up on her own and loves to play with toys!!! (Especially ones that make noise!!)
--Her favorite show (and yes, it holds her attention) is Paz the Penguin on "Ready, Set. Learn!" It comes on right before "Hi-5" on Discovery Kids! She still loves Mickey too, but it can't hold her attention like Paz can!
--She says "da-da-da-da-da" and "nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh" and "maaaa" (maybe this is the precuror to mama)! Brandon told me that he heard her say "Mama," but I think he was just being sweet, since she clearly says "Da Da!"
--She has now eaten green beans, squash, and carrots along with apples, pears, and prunes! Her favorite veggie is green beans, while her favorite fruit is pears! We have to mix in the prunes, but she doesn't mind them too much!

This past month with Avaree, even though she has been sick, has been (by far) my favorite month! She has grown, changed and learned so much in such a short amount of time! Please enjoy the pictures of the last couple of weeks!

My Dad came to visit us last weekend, and I had to go take an ESL certification test early Saturday morning in Denton. So, Poppa got to babysit! I think he did a pretty good job: she was sound asleep when i got back (and so was he)! :)

Avaree has a new obsession with straws and she LOVES drinking cold water from them! She makes the funniest little face! :)

Mama's pearls got us through church Sunday morning (well, part of it at least--thank you, ears!), so I put them on Avaree when we got home and she suddenly became so "dainty!" :)

"Want to crawl...want to crawl!"

The famous MRS. DONNA and Avaree!!!

Avaree loves Mrs. Donna!!! So thankful for her...

The BIG kids that Avaree gets to play with every day: Tatum, Mya and Logan! (The girls had just woken up from their nap and weren't quite ready to smile yet!) They are all precious!

Avaree sent Mrs. Donna flowers for her birthday! She is posing with Mr. Bob, Mrs. Donna and Tatum!! The Hembree's are sooo good to us! There is no way I could ever express how comforted I am to know that my baby is LOVED and cared for when I can't be with her!

On Tuesday (the day after Ave's surgery), it was FINALLY not windy and she and Mommy got to go for a walk! :) YAY!

Daddy singing "Happy Birthday" to Avaree!

big girl!

Tubes and thanks!

I love alliterations. I guess that makes me an English teacher, ha! :)

Thank you so much for praying for Avaree. Our day started very early this morning (or at least mine did...at 4 am!) and I am happy to report that we were home by 8:15am. (We were very pleased with the facilities and staff at the brand new Methodist Mckinney Hospital!) The surgery (all five minutes of it) and aftermath was a bit traumatic for Avaree in that she woke up hurting and scared b/c she didn't see Mama or Daddy anywhere, but once I was able to get to her, feed her and love on her (maybe a few kisses and a tearful song or two also), she was ready to go home. When she woke up from her nap around 10am, she was a very happy (smiley) baby! And yes, I cried, but I didn't really lose it until I had her in my arms and it was all over. I am so very thankful for a healthy baby and my heart breaks for Mommy's whose babies are in the hospital. Thank you God for nurses and doctors that have devoted their lives to pediatrics. They do amazing things.

Enjoy the pictures!

She kept trying to wiggle the pulse thingie off...so this took several tries!

Waiting...

Love her.

".......MAMA...what's going on??" This is when she figured out that something was happening!

I promise that this was just for a picture. She was carried everywhere today. Of course, all the nurses loved her and she was never left by herself!

We were doing the hot dog dance: Mickey was on in the room! :)

"My ear hurts and I am mad at all of you!!" Right after this, I scooped her up and sang her one of her favorite songs and she was silent. Guess what happened next? That's right...Mama lost it! Thank you, Lord for allowing her to hear better!!! :) Don't worry, Daddy got plenty of smiles and kisses once she woke up and the anesthesia had worn off a bit. We love our Daddy...he is the best! :)