A day in the life of a precious pumpkin doodle bug... and a few other things! :)

Ave thinks the refrigerator is the best thing ever. Seriously, if she hears it being opened, she turbo crawls to the kitchen to try to get to it before we shut it! :) I usually don't let her...but I broke the rules today to get a picture!

Let me explain the next few pictures. My mom had an Elvis doll that Avaree just loved. Thankfully, instead of giving us the Elvis Doll, mom ordered a pink bear that sings and dances! :) Since its arrival at our house the other day, Avaree has been dancing to it non-stop! :) (I promise to get a video!)

She also kisses it....

a lot. :) (She is the MOST loving child. She gives kisses to everything...and especially to Mama and Daddy!)

She still smiles for the camera.

...and loves to laugh at Mama. She is the only person that thinks I'm funny...and i'm okay with that! :)

I loooooooooove this picture of my two favorite people. :) On Tuesday, we went to FBC Hurst to visit Daddy's office and meet more wonderful people!

Daddy's office that we helped decorate!!!

Daddy and his sweet friend Ryan after church on our last day at Pwood!

We love Uncle Spencer visits!!! :) (and Shannon too!!)

Avaree is slightly obsessed with mirrors. Every time she sees her "friend" in a mirror, she kisses her. Now that she has discovered this hand-held mirror off of her baby play mat, the mirror will feel very loved! :)

She kisses her "friend." (And this did not just happen one time...I even had to clean the mirror. She loves her friend.)

Can you tell that part of her hair is in a pony tail here? Ahhh--this is the best thing, ever! :) Now, she can't pull her bows out! (Yay for sweet Shannon telling me about these "no pull" clear pony tails!)

On Monday night, we got to have dinner with beautiful Kylee!!! It was so great to catch up!!! :)

The beach...refreshment to Mama's soul...

I have always loved the beach. It was a "twice a summer" ritual growing up and I certainly couldn't wait to introduce Avaree to the beach. There is something about the sound of the waves that just relaxes me. I love to just stare at God's creation as a taste the salty air and feel the gentle breeze. Ahhh...

Anywho, we weren't sure that we were even going to get to go due to Brandon's job situation and other committments in our lives, BUT... (amazingly) we got away for 2.5 days and it was wonderful! :) My mom and Ken had a beach cabin in Treasure Island (west of Galveston, near Surfside), so it was FREE and FUN! :) Enjoy the pics!

Avaree and Daddy while we were stopped at the gas station before heading out! :)

Avaree was not a huge fan of the sand. In fact, she didn't want to get dirty at all! :) What she LOVED (though) was jumping the waves in my arms! I must admit that going to the beach with a little one definitely provided a different experience as there was no laying out involved--ha--but it was wonderful to share that time with the pumpkin doodle! And...I'll take the beach any way that I can get it! :)

Her first time touching the water...

Of course Avaree spent most of her time chasing/petting Bella. She just adores animals.

Mom and Ken brought Avaree's swing from their house and rigged up under the beach house. Avaree LOVED it. She swang and swang and swang. Every time you tried to take her out, she would lean all the way over (and she weighs 21 lbs now) to try to get back in it. She fell asleep in it both mornings. :) So...we just carried her upstairs and put her in her bed for her morning nap. (Who can blame her? You're swinging and listening to the waves...I wanted to fall asleep too!)

She rides in style... :) (And...this wagon is amazing.)

Daddy went fishing with Ken and caught a trout--yay, Daddy!!! :)

Avaree played and played and played with Granmama. Love her. Love this wrinkled nose!!! :)

We went to the beach twice a day for about twenty minutes at a time. I can't wait to see how Avaree will do next year. Meanwhile, she enjoyed jumping waves with her Daddy! I didn't get many pictures at the beach (unfortunately), but in my defense...my hands were full! :)

This was the view from the front porch...I'll wake up there any morning! :) (Thanks for letting us come for a couple of days, Mom and Ken! It was a much needed mini-family vacay!!!!)

And...I'll take THIS view over anything else in the whole wide world...

Our trip to College Station!

Daddy loving on Gimli (his first child!)!!

Avaree making Mimi (her great-great Grandmother) happy! One of the reasons we went to College Station was to spend some quality time with Mimi--and we did! She and Brandon got to reminisce about good-times in Centerville and Avaree was great!

Before going to Mimi's, we visited G-Pops at his office and Mommy is sooooooooooooooo sorry that she didn't get any picutres. :( (Allison says: I love you, G-Pops. Please forgive me!)

After Mimi's, we stopped by GiGi's office! Avaree liked playing at Gigi's desk!

...and in her tubs!

When we got back to the house, Avaree went back to giving Gimli kisses! She LOVES animals so much.

Gimli is so docile and was just precious with her!!!

Playing with G-Pops and GiGi at Wings 'N More. (Yes--of course we went to Wings 'N More--Daddy would have been in mourning if we hadn't!)

Avaree got to see some of Mr. Raymond's cows with Gigi! We've been practicing "mooo mooo," so I was happy that she was able to see some "live" cows! :)

Avaree heard Brandon laughing (from about 30 feet away) and just started belly laughing. :) She is the best little copy cat and just looooves to mimic her Daddy!

We also got to visit with Aunt TaTa, Cade and Brock!!!!

Cade was soooo gentle with Avaree. He is just precious. I can't believe that he is going to be in THIRD grade and baby Brock is going to Kindergarten. Where does the time go?

Avaree LOVED the baby swing at Aunt TaTa's!

She also got to swim in their beautiful pool!

That evening, we got to visit with sweet Mema and PawPaw!

Mema looked radiant and I especially loved the curls in her hair!!! :)

We didn't leave our house until after I bathed, fed and rocked Avaree, so we put her in the car sound asleep and it was a great trip. We did the same thing coming back and sweet Daddy did ALL the driving while Mama and Avaree slept in the back seat! It's the best trip we've had so far--ha! :) Thank you, Daddy! Overall, we had a great trip to CS and loved getting to see everyone! :) I hope you enjoy the pics--more to come!

So many blessings to catch you up on....

1. Brandon is now on staff with FBC Hurst (http://www.firsthurst.com/) He will serve as the associate music minister, while his more specific duties entail leading the praise team, youth choir and orchestra. All aspects of the ministry happening at FBC Hurst are aligned with what we believe and we are sooo excited to join with the wonderful team there! We couldn't be more thankful or happy for this new chapter in our lives!!! There have been sooooo many prayers raised on our behalf, and for that we are truly sooooo grateful!!
2. Avaree is TEN MONTHS old AND she got her first tooth. (No, she has yet to let me get a picture of it.)
3. Brandon has been home for the last week or so and we have gotten some wonderful family time (hence, my desire to actually BE with my family and not on the computer typing a blog, ha!)! It will take me a couple of more days to get all of the posts written, but we have had a wonderful couple of weeks that I want to share with you! Also, we will get to have Brandon on the weekends again!!! THIS IS WONDERFUL news. This means that we will get to be a family on Friday nights, Saturdays, AND Sunday afternoons. Week nights are very short and don't give either of us enough time with Avaree, so it killed me when Brandon didn't get to be with her on the weekends either--especially during the school year! When you have a little girl that grows and changes EVERY DAY, it means the world to us to have that time together--as a family! Thank you, Lord!!!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the pumpkin doodle on her 10-month birthday!

She pulls up on her own to play the piano... :) (Who needs a stool?)

She loves playing with her Daddy!

She is slightly obsessed with Lois and chases her round and round and round the house! You can see how  Lois (Uncle Spencer's cat) feels about this! :)

Hot-Dog dancing with Daddy and then Mama! :)

cheeser... :)

Stay-tuned for pics from our latest road trips. School starts in two weeks (yes--i am already crying about having to leave my baby girl), so our summer adventures are coming to an end.