ZOO Lights!

We started a new tradition this year, we braved the cold last night with our good friend Heather and went to the Zoo Lights. It was lots of fun. Avery did really good considering that he's usually in bed 30 minutes after we started. He really seemed to like the fire dancers. Sadly, I didn't get any pics of them. Another highlight was the carousel ride shown below... 

Avery and Heather!

Avery's a little unsure about this cassowary. It's fierce!  

Starting to crash.

First family photo!!

Waiting for the "fire mancers"...

Merry Christmas!

Hang Loose!

Happy Birthday to Avery!!

I can't believe that a year (well 13 months) has already passed! It goes even faster than all the well-meaning-advice-givers say. With the exception of the first 12 days when he was in the NICU, I have wanted time to SLOW DOWN. I love this boy more than I ever thought possible. (And I thought I would love him a lot.) We celebrated by pretty much partying all month long. Avery ate lots of cake (and let's be honest, so did I). He's so smart and funny and somehow, miraculously, he manages to get cuter every day. I can't wait to see what the next year brings! I love you Avery Jay!

Presents!!

Juust hangin' out...

Bring that cake over here!! 

That's better!

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Best. Toy. Ever.

One more reason...

...we are alike.

Are they done yet?!

Yum-O!

Our Hog!

Bill told me he had bought a bike on Craig's List. He went to pick it up and came back all excited about his new treasure. He said he needed a new project...and a 'crash pad scooter' since he's working at a different base now. When I went unsuspectingly out the the garage, this is what I found. Soo... Sturgis here we come! 

Fall Was Upon Us...

I know it's been a loooooong time since I last blogged. Here's what we've been up to in the past couple of months. In October, it was so nice that we had to enjoy some time outside. Avery really enjoyed discovering the leaves.

Avery loves to watch the cars go down the street!

Avery loves this pumpkin. He especially loves the metal leaves.

Hooray for fall!

Run Grammy Run!!

My mom is quite the athlete. She ran in a race in my home town last month. She ran really fast (as you can see she's like a blur!) Here are the highlights of her race! Here's her big finish...

Grammy and Avery...in their race day shirts...

"See Grammy? Hydration is key after a race like this..."

The awards ceremony took place next to the porta-potties...classy.

The gentleman in the middle is a very serious racer. (Yes, I swiped this pic without his knowledge. I'm a bad person.)

1st PLACE!!

We're very proud of you Grammy!

It's FALL in Denver!

September is here and for Denver, that means the beginning of cooler weather and the changing of seasons. We've had our windows open for the last 3 days, and it's been in the 60's in our house. I've broken out the pumpkin candles, the long sleeves and the soup recipes. I got inspired to decorate for fall this year. I didn't want to spend very much money because you never know when I'm gonna lose it and start decorating for Christmas! I can get a little crazy! I shopped the house and yard for most of the decorations. I think I spent $20.00 and most of that was for the wreath on the front door. I have to confess that I drew most of my inspiration from Martha Stewart, who doesn't have a 9 month old son and who can sit and craft for hours and hours. I do not have that luxury, but I was able to accomplish this in a couple of days. It's very simple, but I kinda like the way it all came together. 

The finished product. I'm going to put pumpkins where the large candles
are when a person can buy some.

This garland is made of old book pages. I used buttons instead of
berries because I had lots of extra buttons from clothes we've bought over the years. The string is
embroidery thread that I found in the craft drawer. 

I borrowed frames from around the house and I made "custom stationary" by typing up "fallish" words
on some cream colored resume paper I found in our desk. 

These corn husk wreaths were THE WORST to make but they turned out pretty good.

More book pages in a wreath.

This grass was in our back yard and I just wrapped more paper
around a vase I already had.

Here's the wreath that I made for the front door.
It's the real budget buster coming in at $13.00.

This is Welcome Bear. We received this as a wedding gift, and every
year this gal comes out.

Of course Avery had to get involved. He wants to help with everything
and I love it!

My Doppelganger...

Avery has figured out how to hoist his tubby body up to the window in the past few days. He looks out for minutes and minutes. That's a long time for him! I like to have the windows open and if they're not, I'll often peek outside anyway. I'm teaching him that constant vigilance is paramount. Billy thinks is ridiculous for both of us, so chalk one up for me!!

Peek-a-Boo!

I was making Avery's lunch yesterday and I looked up to find this... 

Followed by this...

Mop me up. I just melted into a puddle!

Look out for lawn sharks!

Avery had his first experience in the grass a couple of days ago. Being a boy, I've been afraid that he would eat the grass or dirt. Also, we've had mosquitoes pretty bad in the grass and the media has really been hyping up the whole west nile thing (blah blah blah!). Bill has been working really hard on the yard all summer. I told Avery that lots of people would love to have grass like ours, but he didn't care. He was very nervous about the whole experience. Here's how it went...

Fun at the park!

We've gone to the park a few times now. Up until a few weeks ago, Avery was always fell asleep in the stroller before when we arrived at the park. Now that he can stay awake, we put him in the swing and he LOVED IT!

On our way!

Sliding with daddy!

This is how it always ends.

Mountain Man!

We took a trip to the Boulder area for My mom's birthday. We had a good time and Avery became a real mountain man. By that I mean he slept for like 2 hours in the car while we drove around in the mountains.

Avery had his first picnic! 

Fun times with Uncle Shayne!

 It was really pretty and cool in the foothills. Here's some of what we saw...