Playing Dress Up

Playing dress up is one of Avery's favorite things to do! Can you tell?

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was a beautiful, relaxing day. We went to church with Nonna, Poppa, Uncle Josh, Papaw, Lynn and Uncle Walter. It was so neat to go to church with both sides of the family. :)

After church, we headed out to Granny’s for some delicious food and of course - the annual Easter egg hunt! Avery doesn’t have many cousins on my side of the family that live close; I am so happy that Charlie’s family is full of children. She had a BLAST playing hot potato while the adults hid the eggs and had fun hunting eggs too (with a little help from Mamaw, of course!) She even found one of the prize eggs. I am so thankful for my big, sweet family. We are so blessed to be able to see them so often, especially on holidays. But most of all, thank you Jesus for what you did on the cross!

Bram is pretty happy with what he found!

After all was said and done, I think Easter and Christmas looked about the same! Stop.the.madness!

HOT POTATO! Avery LOVED playing this game. She laughed and laughed!

Finding eggs with Mamaw

The cousins!

NICU Reunion

Yesterday, we had the privilege of attending Avery's first NICU reunion. Taking the short drive to the hospital, I remembered all of the days I took that route to visit Avery. 58 of them to be exact. I remembered the happy, uplifting days. And, of course, there were some very sad, disappointing days. Days where I cried all the way to the hospital and all the way back. I also thought about those moms that didn't get the invite. The moms whose baby's entered the NICU but never got to go home. There is no explanation for that. There are just some things in this life that aren't explainable. That is one of them.

As Avery played and ran and jumped and laughed and pretended I thought about how easily she could've been taken from us. How the doctors would've been able to explain the science of what happened but no one would've ever been able to explain it to my heart. There is no explanation for why Avery is here today, except His love. Oh, how He loves us!!! That is my new favorite song because I can't get through it without thinking of the heart ache and miracles I have already experienced in this short life. I am so unworthy, but y'all, HOW HE LOVES! You should really add this song to your iPod today!

"When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me."

Playing with the bubble machine...

She loved meeting the 'real' princesses

Horseshoes with daddy. She would hurl them across the room and then look at me to teach me, "Like that, Mama!"

Bean bag toss. "Your turn, Mama!"

The first time she's been brave enough to crawl through a 'jumpy thing'. Can I tell you she loved it!

"Just one more time, Mama!"

Playing dress up...

"You be the prince mama." And of course, we danced!

How He Loves 

David Crowder Band...

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! 

Photos credit to Van's Photography

Weekends are the BEST

We love weekends in this family. A time to relax and spend time with those you love! All week long, I wait for Friday like Christmas. I usually always have a great Friday, nothing can get me down because I know the weekend is coming! This weekend was no different..

from cruisin in the Barbie car...

to posing with pretty flowers...

And shooting some hoops...

You just can't beat weekends!

A Day at the Zoo

Charlie and I scheduled a few days off in the month of April to recharge. I should've been a school teacher because I need a break from work every couple of months! We had a fun day at the zoo, Avery loves all of the animals.

The Tiger was swimming and playing, fun to watch!

Avery's favorite part...the petting zoo!

She LOVES to feed the animals. "Mister Bull" (according to Charlie) was her favorite one to feed.

Here is the miniature horse that we were all too scared to feed. I felt sorry for him and tried once but as soon as I saw those big teeth, I threw the food at him and ran. Fun times!

Pretend

Avery is SO in to pretending lately. Here are a few of the things she has been pretending lately...

• "Mama, I'll be the mama, you be the baby."
• "Mama, I'm the pin-pess (princess), you be the King."
• "I'm the big bad wolf, you be the little piggies. I say "HEY LIL PIGGIES...LET ME IN!" You say "NOOOO WAY" Then I huff and blow you house down, k mama?"
• Frequently, Avery will be the only dog of the house, who Charlie has named Rufus. She stays in character (tongue hanging out, barking, the whole nine yards!) and even demands dog food. She is so funny!

I love that her imagination is taking off. It is so fun to play a part!

A Day at the Garden

We had a fun time last weekend going on a tour of the Coke museum at Biedenharn and Nonna got some great shots of Avery in their garden. Thanks so much, Nonna!