Thursday, October 23, 2008

Here are some fun 12 month pics. Is it just me, or has Avery matured so much in just a month?? Man.... so crazy! The first pics are ones I just captured while she was hanging out in the window. I love it when I'm able to get ones like that... no posing, no making her stay still.. she just looks at me and I get the shot. Great! There are also some of her in her fun halloween shirt on our front porch with pumpkins. I had to get this shirt for her because of the owl. The girl loves birds! :) The last few are of her playing in her room. She loves to play in there with all her new toys and all the things that Mommy hasn't put out of her reach yet. It's sad, but her pretty room isn't very toddler friendly. I don't want to constantly be saying "no" to her in her space, so I'll have to start putting away all the pretties very soon. As you can see from the pictures, she's a little climber. I don't let her climb in the chair very often, but I had to capture her daringness on film. It's hilarious that she looked right at the camera with that "am I supposed to be doing this?" face. She's still cruising, but not quite ready to let go... so no walking yet. She stands for a few seconds without holding on and then falls on her bottom. She then proceeds to do her "scrawl" to get where she wants to go. Our little individualist.

On her 12 month check up she weighed 18 lbs, 14 ounces and was 27 & 3/4 inches long. She's eating lots of different table food now and really doesn't want anything to do with baby food. In addition to hi and bye-bye, her favorite word is bird. She loves birds and daddy takes her outside every evening when he gets home to look at them. Maybe we should consider getting her a membership to the Audubon society. :)

Happy Weekend!
Andi

Some 12 month pics!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

We had Avery's first birthday party on Saturday, October 4th and it was sooo fun!! We had it outside in our backyard and the theme was a garden party with birds, bees and flowers. The weather was absolutely beautiful!! We had lemonade, popcorn, a sundae bar and bee & flower cupcakes from Tom Thumb... props to Courtney for making them so fun. Avery had her very own cake from Tart. It was precious!! They made my vision happen. I highly recommend them for your next event. :) My mom and sister-in-law Alison put in lots of time helping me make the party happen. Daddy also logged many hours in the yard making it pretty for his little princess. Before the party on Saturday, our whole family was out in the yard hanging tissue balls, and getting the last minute stuff done. I am so thankful for their help... beyond words.

We were blessed to have lots of family and friends celebrate the day with us. Avery had about 12 little friends in attendance. She's quite the social butterfly you know. :) Not only did the guests shower Avery with gifts, but they also generously donated to our diaper drive for Nueva Esperanza orphanage in Honduras. Our sweet friend Stephany Stimson, who is also a fabulous photographer, was at the party and took pics the entire time! (Can't wait to see them... we'll have them up soon.) We truly have amazing people in our lives!

As most of you know, I typically don't do anything "ordinary", so lots of planning went into the party and there were lots of little details that I felt were important. Brian thought I was crazy and over the top. He, being his usual positive self, assured me that Avery wouldn't remember any of it. I assured him that I was fully aware of that and when she was older that she would have pictures to look at and would know that her mommy planned an extra special party for her 1st birthday. To me, all the planning (and stress) was well worth it. I have been waiting a very, very long time to plan my little girl's 1st birthday party.

It was a beautiful day and the best part of all was after the guests were gone and the decorations were taken down, Brian and I were able to watch our sweet, exhausted baby girl play with her new toys. We were able to get her ready for bed and then watch her drift off to sleep. We were reminded once again, as we always are when we look at Avery, of the goodness and faithfulness of our God. What a precious gift He has given us in Avery Grace. In the words of our nephew Connor.... "Avery Grace, you're my best present."

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17

Our Avery Grace is a good and perfect gift from our Jesus who is the ultimate gift.

Blessings,
Andi

Avery's Birthday Party!

Sorry for the hiatus, but "birthday week" was super busy and the Stubblefields have been fighting a viral cold.... so fun!! Avery's actual b-day was on Thursday, October 2nd. We had a relatively "normal" day and celebrated in the evening with daddy and a special cupcake from Sprinkles! I'm posting some pics of the actual b-day festivities and will follow with a few pics from her birthday party. Note: The birds and owls are ones that I made for the party to be hung in the trees. The huge pink tissue flowers are from a Martha Stewart kit. My mom and dad helped me put them together and then we hung them from the trees. They looked great! It was so girly and maybe just a little over the top. :)

Blessings,
Andi

Avery's 1st Birthday