Sitting Pretty

When I got home from work Thursday, it was beautiful outside and not too terribly hot for a change. So Avery, Tucker and I headed out to enjoy the sunshine. Avery has been sitting for a while now but still tends to topple over. And I had not gotten brave enough to leave her alone while I took a picture. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity since she was on a fluffy blanket in the grass. They turned out to be some of my favorite pictures so far.

Sunday School Social

Every other month our Sunday school class has a little get together. This month, it was a cookout at our house. Ben and I both love entertaining and were anxious to see how well the new house accomodates a crowd. We had a great turnout...I think I counted 23 adults and 12 kids. Some of the guys played Wii and pool. Meanwhile, the big kids entertained themselves by running circles around the living room. Avery wanted to chase them so badly and kept trying to climb out of my lap into the floor. Overall, I think it went pretty well. We can't wait to have everyone over again soon.

Ashley's Wedding

Our good friend Ashley got married a couple of weeks ago here in Nashville. It was such a fun weekend. On Thursday, our friend Amber flew in from Virginia and stayed with us all weekend. Then Mom and Dad came in on Friday afternoon to watch Avery while we attended all of the festivities. So we had a houseful! The rehearsal dinner was at the Mad Platter in Germantown. It was delicious and it was so much fun to catch up with the girls. I think Ben had forgotten how entertaining it can be when we are all together. Then the wedding was Saturday evening on Legislative Plaza followed by a reception at Legends. Everything was beautiful. And Ashley, of course, looked gorgeous!

Puppy Love

We have had so much fun watching Avery interacting with Tucker lately. She watches his every move and is now trying to crawl after him. She loves when he snuggles up beside her where she can "pet" him. He is amazingly tolerant of her kicking, pinching and ear pulling. And, yes, that is a picture of Avery trying to lick him too!

Playing Catch-Up

I have to apologize to our "faithful blog readers" for the lack of posts the past few weeks. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. But I promise we'll make up for it with lots of new posts over the next couple of days. In the mean time, here is a pic of Avery chilling in her favorite spot....her new exersaucer.

Daddy's Girl

Avery is definitely a Daddy's girl. She lights up whenever he walks into the room. And no one can make her laugh quite like her Daddy can. So it was no suprise when she started to immitate him. Here is her new favorite toy...Ben's X-box controller. She even pushes the buttons and moves the controls. Must be all those hours of watching Daddy play Halo :)

Try, Try Again

For the past few weeks we have been trying to get Avery to start eating solids. At first she wanted nothing to do with her rice cereal. In fact, she would usually end up spitting it back at me. Not wanting to push her too much before she was ready, we would wait a few days and try again. I eventually started to wonder if she just really didn't like the cereal. So we let her try some apples. Still no luck. But this week we had a breakthrough. I got rid of the spoon and mixed the cereal with just enough water to make a paste that would stick to my finger. Avery loved it! She started pulling my finger toward her mouth and even cried when it was all gone. Over the next couple of days she got used to the spoon and will eat from it now. I think she still ends up wearing more cereal than she actually eats. But she really seems to enjoy her food. She likes to grab the spoon and help pull it to her mouth. And she thinks it is really funny if she manages to stick her hand in the bowl. So just a few more days of cereal and she will be ready to start some yummy fruits and veggies!

Five Months Old

Avery turned 5 months old on Wednesday. She weighed in at 13 lbs 6 oz and is now 25 inches long. This month Avery has started doing lots of new things. Her favorite is rolling onto her belly. She loves tummy time and is even sleeping on her tummy. She is now attempting to roll no matter where she is...carseat, swing, bouncy seat (see below). However, she has still not quite figured out how to roll back onto her back. She is also trying to sit on her own. So far, she has only lasted a few seconds before falling over. But it won't be long until she can do it by herself!