Cookies for Santa

Before Avery went to bed on Christmas Eve, we made sugar cookies to leave by the fireplace for Santa. She helped pour ingredients into the mixer, cut out the shapes and add sprinkles. They must have been yummy because Santa ate them all!!

Santa Baby

As we were walking through Hobby Lobby the other day, Avery spotted a Santa hat. She thought it was hillarious when I tried it on. But she thought it was even funnier when I put it on her head. She looked so cute I had to buy it. After bath time that night, she didn't want anything to do with her pajamas. But she had a ball crawling around in her diaper and Santa hat!

Baby Jesus

Avery has a little wooden nativity set on the table in her room. She didn't pay much attention to it for the first week or so. But last night, she walked over and pointed to it. When I showed her Baby Jesus, she repeated "Jesus" perfectly. So I grabbed Avery and Baby Jesus and ran to the living room to show Ben. I sat her on the couch and grabbed the camera. Without any prompting at all, Avery started giving Baby Jesus kisses. So sweet!

Christmas Card Pictures

My quest to get the perfect Christmas card picture involved not one, but two trips to Opryland to battle the crazy crowds with a not so happy baby. Lots of people stopped to comment on how precious she looked. A few even plopped down beside us to help entertain her....even after we told them she had a serious case of stranger anxiety. However, we somehow managed to get some cute pictures. Here are some of our favorites.

Copy Cat

Avery has apparently been reading the Troutts' blog because she has found a fun new place to play. I had the same question Kelly did about whether the dishwasher door was strong enough to hold her. Ben's response was, "It hasn't fallen down yet, has it?" So I guess it's okay. And just FYI, the dishes are clean. I am not letting her put dirty spoons in her mouth :)

Baby Dedication

Our church has Baby Dedications about twice a year. All of the new parents come forward with their babies and commit to raising their child in the church and in a Christian home. We weren't able to have Avery's dedication in the spring so we did it this Sunday. She behaved so well during the entire service. We were so proud of her!

Christmas Parade

Mom and I took Avery to the annual Mt Juliet Christmas Parade on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was FREEZING and extremely windy. So Avery stayed bundled up until the parade arrived. Thankfully one of the local churches was giving out free hot chocolate! Despite the cold, she loved watching all the people and animals. Her favorites were the Chik-fil-a cow and the horses. Except she thought both of them were dogs at first and said "woof woof" when they went by.

Date Night

Ben and I got a much needed night out on Friday. Mom and Dad were coming to visit for Avery's baby dedication this weekend. So they came early to watch Avery while we went to my company Christmas party. We went to Buca di Beppo for some yummy Italian food. And we had a great time getting to know some of the other therapists. We realized it had been a long time since we had been out just the two of us and that we definitely need to have date night more often.

Eleven Months Old

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe Avery is 11 months old! She weighs 18 pounds 15 ounces and is 28 1/2 inches long. She is doing so many new things! She is talking up a storm and has lots of new words. And we think she will be walking any day now!

Happy Thanksgiving

Ben and I have so much to be thankful for this year. We are, as always, thankful to have such wonderful friends and family. But we are especially thankful for our healthy, happy baby girl! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

First Steps

Avery is officially a walker!!! She is taking several steps at a time between me and Ben. However, she turns into spaghetti legs and has a complete meltdown whenever she sees the camera. So we have not been able to get her walking on video yet. We'll keep working on it. I think we are both excited and terrified at the same time. I am sure things are about to get a lot more interesting in the Hopper houselhold!

Get Well Soon Granddad

My dad is recovering from surgery so we went to visit last weekend. Avery did a great job helping Grandad feel better! He was able to get out to go to the Kiwanis pancake breakfast on Saturday. And Avery loved sitting on Granddad's new project! Don't worry, they didn't actually ride the bike!

UT vs MSU

We just got pictures of the Mississippi State tailgate from my dad. It was a bit chilly but such a fun day. We were excited that Ben's parents could come up for the game and chose that week for our big tailgate of the year. Thanks to the Williams family for sharing their great tailgate spot! Dad pulled the cooker to Knoxville and did tons of chicken wings as well as some ribs and tenderloin. They were a huge hit as always. This year, we didn't even have any leftovers.
It turns out that one of the guys who dresses up as Smokey was at the tailgate earlier in the day. Ben gave him a hard time about scaring Avery at the Florida game. So he stopped back by the tailgate in costume before Vol Walk and did his very best to put her at ease. He even played peek-a-boo with her! So she is slowly but surely warming up to Smokey.
We stayed in Knoxville that night and got to spend the day with Ben's parents. The original plan was to go to the Smokies but we decided it was a little too cold for Avery and went to West Town instead :)

An Afternoon at the Park

We took advantage of the warm weather this weekend and took Avery to our neighborhood playground for the first time. She was a little unsure of the swing at first but seemed to have fun once she got used to it. Ben took her down the big slide. But I think her favorite activity was sliding down the baby slide all by herself.