Happy Easter!

Please enjoy the following video of my amazingly talented husband and the FBC Hurst choir as they sing about who "He is" in all the books of the bible and in our lives today!



Happy Easter to you and yours! May we always remember why we celebrate...

(pictures of the princess to come...)

18.5 Months and P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S!!!!!

I am still planning to take our blog private, but it is going to take me having a couple of extra hours to sit down and type in the safe list and get it all straight; however, in the mean time I have "watermarked" our pictures to keep them from exploitation. I have a few more steps to go in order to disable the right-click features, but this will do for now, as I am afraid that if much more time passes I will forget all of these precious moments! Enjoy!!

At 18.5 months, Avaree is growing and TALKING non-stop! :) She signs everything, but most things she signs and says. She prounces her m's as b's, but I think she's just trying to play a silly game because she can say both m words and b words separately when she wants! :)

At her 18 month appointment in March, she weighed 27 lbs, was 31 and 1/2 inches tall, and was (again) off the charts for her giant head. :)

Below are a few pictures that we took at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens a couple of weekends ago. It seems like every week she gets some new sickness, so we've been couped up a majority of the last couple of months. Avaree was sick for basically the whole month of March (as was I) and then she was sick the first wknd in April (with a terrible case of the croup and then a virus) and after a week of feeling good (and eating, drinking, sleeping normally), we started our latest adventure.

Around 7:15 pm last Wednesday, Avaree came down with a very scary (what I thought was an) allergic reaction. She started itching her belly and when I lifted her shirt she was covered in bright red skin and welps from her chest to her diaper, and I watched it spread. I tried not to panic (but inside I was). I was afraid to go to sleep or let her got to sleep, so I held her most of the night. After some benadryl and being up all night with her screaming (she reacts adversely to benadryl, as we now know, ha!), I thought we were over it--though I still had no idea what caused it as nothing was out of the ordinary. I woke her up from her nap at Mrs. Donna's the next afternoon and she was covered in those "welps", but this time they were all over her body in isolated little pockets. So, we went straight to the doctor (and they had spread to different spots by the time we had gotten there). The doctor told me it was hives and that there are multiple reasons for children to get hives, but she suspected hers was either from allergens in the air or a virus. Thankfully, she recommended that we take Allegra and motrin and we have been sleeping throught the night again ever since. She still has some "break outs" of hives, but they are controllable and hopefully she will grow out of them soon. 

I took 73 pictures that day and the amazing Kerri O'Neal took one! Guess who's was better? Please check out kophotoblog.com for all your photography needs! Beside being wonderfully talented, she is also a dear friend! :)

 I love this one. She was walking straight into my camera lense. :)

 I was singing the "Tree song" and she was doing the motions! :)

 Mama love. And, yes, I cut my hair off. ha.

 Daddy love!! :)

This is (by far) my very favorite age. She is a real little person, and my favorite little sidekick. She puts her makeup on while I put mine on. She brushes her hair while I brush mine. We had a fairly unsuccessful nail painting experience this weekend, but don't worry....I'll try again! :) Enjoy the pictures... :) I will try to get to my March Madness, Part Two post as well as some recent pictures once I get all this figured out! :)

Going Private...

Due to some alarming statistics that I have recently learned, and mostly to make sure that I do everything that I can to protect my sweet baby girl, I will be taking our blog private before I post anymore. I will put all of our immediate families emails into the "safe list," but if you are not in our immediate families and read our blog (and would like to continue), please leave email me or send me a message on FB and I will add you to the safe list. I regret that you'll now have to take this "extra step," but I hope that you will understand. Thank you! :)

A sweet moment...

Every night Avaree picks up something that she wants to take to bed with her. Usually it is one of the Penguins (Mumble, Penguin, or Guinee), lately it has been horsie, and sometimes it is even her sippy cup, but tonight she chose a picture. It was a picture of Brandon and Gimli (his dog) on our wedding day. As Ave and I sat down to rock for our two songs she held onto that picture (saying "Dadee" over and over) and pressed it against her sweet little body. I laid her down while she was still holding it and watched it slip out of her precious little fingers as she drifted to sleep. This meant the world to me...

I hope she always treasures her Daddy that much... :)

 Just to make you smile...here is a picture of Avaree trying on the Easter hat that we bought her at Target! hehe...Check out all those teeth! :)

 

March Madness, Part One: Adenoidectomy and Ear Tubes #2

 Mama and Ave in the wee hours of the morning. Avaree was a little afraid of all the contraptions in the room.

 Avaree just after we put her gown on her. :) We think she was beginning to figure things out at this point...

So, of course, we had to play dress up to make the time go faster... :) LOVE this picture! It is SO unlike my dainty little girl... :)

 After the nurse/Daddy (Brandon finally had to do it--ha!) finally got her vitals, she was ready to leave!

 Planning her escape...

 Reading all of the sweet messages from friends and family right before they took her back.. The sweet anesthesiologist carried her back to the operating room and then came back to check on her a few more times.

 In the recovery room....still trying to wake up from the anesthesia. She had a harder time coming out of it this time, but she also had more done too.

 MANY hours later and the first smile that we had seen ALL day! :) YAY!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for our sweet girl! I would like to say that she is all better, but immediately after she finished the post-surgery antibiotics she got sick again (the croup + a virus), and we're still battling it. We're hoping to all get well and stay well really soon!!! :)

Love to all. More pictures to come!

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!!!!

Avaree and Mama would like to wish a very special 30th birthday to DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

We loooooooooooooooooooove you!!!!

Happy Anniversary to my Love.

Three years ago today....

Mama married Daddy.

and then we went on a beautiful honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas.

And although I hardly recognize those young, care-free people in the photos, I am so thankful for the place we are today. When people ask me if it seems like it has been three years, they naturally expect me to say, "No, it feels like yesterday." But it doesn't. It feels like many more years than that--in a good way though. We have been through a lot in the past three years. Many hard things that you will never know, but also many wonderful, joyful things that you do know.  Of course the greatest blessing that has been showered on our marriage is our sweet baby girl. And you all know that she is amazing. :)

I am so proud of where Brandon and I are today. We have learned how to love (for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health), and we have learned how to fight constructively. We have learned how to trust and the necessity of keeping God first in our marriage and in our family. We are by no means experts, and I have no doubt that we have much, much more to learn, but for now, we are blessed, happy, and in love with each other and our little family.

Life is good.

Thank you for loving us and praying for us along the way. The importance of your prayers is not lost on us.

Brandon,

Though I might not be the same girl that you married, I like to think that (despite the lack of a tan and perfect hair every day), I am a better wife and friend than I was then. I love you, and I still want to hold you forever. :)

February Fun, Part Two :)

The weather was absolutely perfect a couple of Saturdays ago, so Brandon and I took Ave to the park! We had a blast--all three of us! Enjoy the pictures! :)

 Okay, so I was a little excited about sliding too.

 Daddy helping his little lady up the hill.

 Love this precious face...

 Avaree chasing Daddy... :)

 :)

 Avaree chasing Mama!

 ...a quick Mama hug!

 The "Avaree look." This is the look of mischief. :)

 When we got home from the park, I made guacamole. Guess who LOVED it? :) She doesn't even need a chip. She'll just eat it with a fork. ha!

 The cutest little dress that I found at Target! :)

 17-month birthday cupcake!!!!!!! "Is this really mine?"

 "Okay parents, I'll take it." :)

 Uncle Spencer came to visit us on Saturday! :) This melts my whole heart!

So many things are happening in our lives right now, and time flies by faster than I would like, but I am oh so thankful for my precious little family. The love that I have for them and the fulfillment that they bring me are so much greater than my wildest dreams could have ever foretold.

Happy March, everyone! :)