Avery's Playroom

What started out as the sunroom, when we bought our house, quickly became the office. But, little by little, toddlers having a way of taking over. So, although the computer is still staying at the moment, the rest of the room is officially the Playroom. And, I think it was Avery's plan all along... she looks pretty pleased wouldn't ya say?

So much to choose from, hard to make a decision!

The dog (a.k.a. 'ruh-ruh' because thats what they 'say') always wins!

Computer Games

On Sunday, I let Avery play a computer game. It was the first time she has been on the computer for something like this. She loved it. The first time around she repeated a lot of the letters that Big Bird was saying. Of course, once I decided to video it, she was more interested with the animals associated with the letters. Here is the short video I got. Charlie was golfing Sunday and even though she was sick, Avery and I had the best day together. She is so precious and growing so much every day!

Chocolate...

...makes

me

happy

and

I

think

it

makes

her

happy

too!

This cannot be a good sign!

So, this morning, Charlie was watching Baby Einstein with Avery. We have really been working on her letters and words, as we both feel she is a bit behind in this area. Charlie was saying the names of the animals that came on the screen and she was beginning to repeat some of them. After about 30 minutes, once the DVD started over, Avery was saying some of the animals without him asking (yes, we have a genious on our hands!)   ; )

The turtle came up and Avery pointed and said "tuh-tle"

The fish came up and Avery pointed and said "fis"

The whale came up and Avery pointed and said "mama"

Oh, this cannot be a good sign for mama! I guess Avery needs to teach mama how to say "Atkins"!

Pig Out Inn

There's a great little BBQ place in Natchez that we love to visit when we're in town. I think Avery loves it too. Well, I'm not sure how much she loves the BBQ, but give her a corn-on-the-cob and she goes.to.town! Here are some pictures I took the last time we visited Nonna & Poppa and got some Pig Out Inn after church.

In the heart of downtown Natchez...

Yes, the table was actually a door!

This was originally my corn-on-the-cob, but not for long!

Of course, every classy Southern lady knows you must keep your mouth perfectly clean, even at a BBQ!

Love this wall...things about the South...I cut off the part about LSU : (

The plan was for her to sit on the pig. And, as you can see, the corn on the cob did NOT stay on the table when we left. Well, from the look on her face you can guess...

...she was much happier in Nonna's arms, than sitting on a pig!

Not Me Monday

Well, I wasn't planning on doing a Not Me Monday, but I refuse to let the month of October pass without at least entering the Not Me Monday giveaway on MckMama's blog once. Go check out her blog for the info on Not Me Monday's so maybe you can win a prize too :)

• I did not start typing this post while leaving one piece of lemon icebox pie on the counter in the kitchen. Avery did not find her way into the kitchen, discover the pie on top of the counter, grab it and bring it to me in the opened container without dropping it. Yeah, I'd say she earned that last piece of pie!
• I did not fill my iPhone To Do list with all the things that needed to be done this weekend. I did not have something to do at each 30 minute interval from the time I woke up until I went to bed on Saturday and Sunday!
• I did not do all of those things and still put off buying winter clothes for another weekend because I was super busy and figured I could make it another week. I was not freezing this morning!
• I am not rethinking the whole RSV lockdown that I had decided wasn't neccessary this year. It's barely getting cold here and we're on RSV - Round 1. Hmmm.....
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, I am not totally excited about the thought of taking Avery to Playhouse Disney Live! on the 30th, the zoo and pumpkin patch on the 24th and scheduling fall pictures somewhere in between.
• I am not racking my brain trying to think of an adorable Bible character that I can dress Avery up as and I am certainly not thinking there has to be a mention of a ladybug somewhere in the Bible!
• I did not go into work this morning at 6am so I could feel a little less guilty about leaving at 9 to come home and watch Avery, so Charlie could go to work.
• I did not make a big mistake by letting Avery play computer games, so now she has a total meltdown if anyone else is on 'her' computer. Ooops! Looks like she needs a Mac from Santa! ;)
• I do not hope you have a fantastic Monday!

I'm Still Here... I Promise!

Whewww....what a month! This entire month could probably be summed up in one word: Stress. And that really stinks because it's my BIRTHDAY MONTH! So I have many different excuses for why I haven't blogged in over a week and yes, I am prepared to list every single one of them!

• We're selling our house! Well, at least we think so. After 1 1/2 years on the market we got our first offer. Then we got a low appraisal (boo!) and an even worse inspection (like you have holes in your roof kind of inspection - BOO!). Now can you see why this month has become Stress-tober! We're not ready to buy again so quick, so currently, I'm frantically searching for a rent house or apartment that will meet our needs. The more I look, the more stressed out I become and the more I realize that I just don't really like where we live. Period. Enough about that!
• This has been a month of bumps, scrapes and bruises. First a scraped knee, then a carpet burn on her nose (ouch!) and a bump on the head! After this week, I really think it should be socially acceptable to allow your child to wear a helmet 24/7 until they're 15, or so...!
• Avery had yet another trip to the pedi. She has an ear infection, red throat, runny nose, she is wheezing and coughing. Dr. K was out Friday afternoon so we saw Dr. Y. She said that she could test her for RSV, but that she was almost certain it was RSV and she was treating her the same way regardless. So I opted not to do the test, since the treatment would be the same. She is on amoxicillin for the ear and throat, Zyrtec for the runny nose, and Xopenex for the wheezing/congestion. She was worse yesterday but seems a little better today. It looks like I'll be staying home with her tomorrow and I'm praying she'll be good to go on Tuesday. So far, no fever! YAY!
• Oh, did I mention in the midst of all of this I hosted a baby shower? And we missed the Natchez Hot Air Balloon Races! (BOO!) I was so looking forward to watching Avery watch the giant balloons. There's always next year though!
• And this is especially for Niki, my coworker, who stalks my blog (and probably yours too) and continually reminds me that I haven't updated since I got my iPhone. So yes, part of the blame is to the magnificently-wonderful-amazingly-fun-iPhone. Can ya tell I love it? But, as soon as I find a free app that allows me to blog, you will know it and you will be sick of my updates! Just ask my Facebook friends : )

I did manage to take a few pictures and those posts are to follow. While Avery is napping, I'll schedule two or three posts so Niki can't gripe at me this week. Hope you have a wonderful stress-free week. I'm determined to!

First Scraped Knee! : (

Playing with my new iPhone I edited this pic with iPhone Photoshop

Priceless

Tickets to the Fair... $8

Parking at the Fair... $5

Food at the Fair... $23

Watching Avery run around like a madwoman, screeching with excitement... PRICELESS!

Although the fair, in our opinion, was a bit overrated, Avery had a blast. She was too little for any of the rides, except the carousel, but she lovvvved watching all the lights blink and the rides spin. She was super excited about those, not so much about the clown though! Once again, I did a poor job at taking pictures. We had a good time, but it will be more fun when Avery can ride the bigger rides. I think the hot air balloon festival in Natchez will be even more fun for her, and I know it will be much more classy. Let's just say I underestimated the crime rate at the fair! So here are the few pics I snapped...

Did I mention she also loved the live music...

Feeding herself

Lately, Avery has been practicing feeding herself. It takes much longer, but she is getting the hang of it. The other night, we had rotel chicken for supper and she fed herself most of the bowl I made her, without even making a big mess. I was so proud!