Mariner's Season Opener

On Avery's 11 month birthday, Grandpa gave us Terrace Club tickets to the Mariners season opening game. Though everyone asked us if this was (his - morons) first game, this was her 3rd game. We had a lot of fun, we brought Diana and Anthony with us. Unfortunately the Mariners got creamed. It looks like there will be alot of available tickets to Ms games this year!
As usual at sports events, Avery snozed through it. I don't blame her on this one!
Snuggling with "Auntie" Di.
I know this looks bad, but she's not drinking it. :) Avery is obsessed with beer bottles. Maybe because Grandpa blows in them and makes cool noises with them?

Blog delay

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. All our weekends (and more to come) have been consumed with wedding events. I have the honor of being in the weddings of 2 of my very best friends - Kristen & Diana - so I have been a busy girl! I promise to update ASAP - with LOTS of pictures of Avery's 11th month photoshoot, Mariners Game, and our trip last weekend to San Diego for Kristen's wedding. Stay tuned... :)

Here's a picture of my little stinker from her last visit with Nana and Daddy to see Mommy at work. She's sitting on my desk.

11 Months Old

(This blog update is 1.5 weeks late, but reflective of her birthday stats)

Our little stinker is 11 months old now, I can't believe how fast she's growing up. I swear, in the last month she has changed so much from a baby into a little girl. She has so much personality, and is really starting to become a pretty girl. We want to be around her every minute so we don't miss out on anything! Here's what she's up to:

Thanks to Daddy, she has a new trick: spitting. She does it mostly when she's mad, and has a lovely spit after each cry. But sometimes she does it just for fun and if you're lucky you will get a lovely spit bath in the face from her. She's also excersized her lungs and has developed quite a scream when she's not happy. She's a little bi-polar, she can go from being our cute smiley girl to a very mad screamer in the blink of an eye. Her favorite word is back to "Mama" and I often catch her crawling after me through the condo saying "Ma-ma." So cute. She has perfected her crawl to a high-speed cruise, escpecially when she has her eyes on something she wants to get her hands on. We think she is on the brink of walking - she likes to walk along furniture and will pause to pick up her hands and balance by herself quite often. Any day now!

Mommy taught her a new trick of Eskimo kisses. It is the cutest thing ever, she loves to give them when she's in the right mood, and wrinkles up her cute little nose. Sometimes if I don't give her enough kisses she will grab my head and continue shaking it back and forth. We think her wrinkled nose face is the cutest one she makes at us and it's often accompanied by a snort. She has become quite independent and will only eat food that she can pick up herself. No more spoon-fed baby food for this girl! Avery also had her first weekend away from just Mommy too when I went to Vegas for 2 nights for Kristen's bachelorette party. She and Daddy bonded and now they have an even more special relationship - she gets so excited when Daddy comes home from work. There's nothing more touching than seeing the bond between your sweet baby girl and your husband who loves her more than life.

As usual, here are the pictures from her photoshoot. These were actually take the day after her 11 month birthday since we were at the Mariner's game that day. I think Avery is a little tired of these, as you can see she's not a huge fan of sitting still while Mommy snaps tons of photos.
Now there's my sweet smiley girl. That face just melts my heart.

Hands always in the mouth. I think she's working on tooth #7.

Ok Mom, I've had ENOUGH!

I love you my sweet baby girl! I can't believe that in less than a month we will be celebrating 1 whole year since we welcomed you into our lives. You are truly the light of our lives.

Fun with Cousins

The last weekend of March we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's for a night to attend Great Grandma's birthday party at the Van Valey House in Everett. It was quite the turn out.

Here are some pictures of Avery and her cousins, Nolan and Braden.

Avery and Nolan getting cleaned up. (I cannot get this picture to upload the right way)
Avery being mischievous as always.
The cousins posing for a picture before the party. They color-coordinated so well!
Thanks for letting us play Grandma and Grandpa! We get to see the whole family again this coming weekend for Easter!

Aunty Di's Bridal Shower #1

Last weekend was "Aunty" Di's first wedding shower at Salish Lodge. Avery, Nana and I had a great time, thanks Kathleen for a great shower!

Here's my little munchkin with the beautiful bride to be, Diana. She's going to be turning quite a few heads walking down that aisle huh? :)
Amy and I are lucky to get to stand up next to Diana on her special day. PACCAR wasn't all bad, it led us both to being friends with Di!

Mommy and Avery after the party. (Avery had reached melt-down stage so we weren't able to get pictures by the falls).

And Avery and Nana.

We had dinner and Nana & Opa's afterwards (with Daddy too!). I guess Avery needed a drink because she was very interested in opening the liquor cabinet. (She's learned all too well from Mommy, Daddy and Opa!)

Avery must be growing, she's been very sleepy lately, taking some long naps. Saturday night she fell asleep next to Mommy on the couch. How cute is that?!

Friday night she bonded with "Uncle" Scott again and took a snooze in his arms. Ahh! She missed most of the Husky game - round 1 of the NCAA basketball tournament.

10 Months Old

This week Avery hit the 10 month mark. Her actual birthday was a crazy day for us, I had to go into work for training and Starbucks big 40th Anniversary bash (did you see us on TV closing the NASDAQ?!), then rush out and take Andy to the doc for surgery on his thumb. Avery was a very good girl, even took a nap in her stroller while waiting for Daddy to get out of surgery, but we weren't able to get to her photo shoot until the next day.

Avery has become a little girl. (though size-wise she's still on the smaller size - she's getting into 9 month clothes). She is so much fun, has so much personality, and is becoming very mischievous. She's very proficient at crawling now, and once something is in her sights that she wants she books it - knees barely touching the ground. We've finally had to baby-proof our place since we're constantly chasing after her, shouting "Avery NO." She's learned the word NO now, and will stop, look at us, keep going and laugh. When the NO is solidified she gets mad and throws herself backwards. Stubborn little girl.

She pulls her self up on tables and couches and has found a very careful way of getting down. She did get her first bruise on her forehead last week though, slipping on the floor on a dismount from the coffee table. Poor baby, she's tough though! She's since had a few more bumps. She also thinks her crib is a great teething toy when she's not feeling her naps - now her crib has lovely bite marks all along the top. Crib teether is on the way! We think she is working on teeth #5 & 6. She's been pretty grumpy lately and doesn't have much of an appetite. Before the teeth issue she had been eating very well - as long as it came from Mommy & Daddy's plate. She even seems to like spicy food - a must have in this house!

Avery is starting to develop traits that we're learning, and they crack us up. She has a face when she's not amused: wrinkled up nose & snorting. She's thinks she's a dog sometimes panting. She gives a good hollar when she thinks there isn't enough attention on her. She likes to follow Mommy and Nana all over the house and tug on our pant legs. She's full of personality and definitely not afraid to show it. We love this little girl so much and love spending each and every new day with her.

Here are the pictures from her photo shoot. These are getting harder and harder - she will not stay still or keep the month sign on her onsie. I had to bribe her with toys and wrapped candies to get this one. (We even had a small temper-tantrum in the middle). Enjoy!
Does she know how to work it or what?Happy birthday mijn Albertinje! (my little Albertine)

Random Acts of Cuteness

Cleaning out my camera to get Avery's 10 month photoshoot pictures, I came across some from the last couple of weeks that I took of Avery just being her cute self. I had to share. :)

Here she is stretching before a big workout.
Enjoying the last Husky home basketball game for the season with Grandma and Grandpa.

And being very mischievous while getting changed into jammies. She's all over the place!

This video is for Great Nana. She bought Avery this bear for Christmas - not knowing that she sings. Avery thinks she's very funny and likes to rock out to her tunes. (Daddy thinks the bear is kinda scary) Thanks Nana!