DIET COKE

July 26th - This post is for you Mom. Every time my Mom comes to visit she has to have her Diet Coke. She never seems to drink it all so she keeps it here for her next visit. Well David and I hate for drinks to go to waste so we end up drinking them all before she gets back and she doesn't have anything to drink upon her arrival. One night last week David opened a Diet Coke and put it on the side table by the couch. He pushed it back toward the end of the table thinking Avery couldn't reach it. I guess he forgot Avery has "Go Go Gadget Arms" when it comes to getting something she wants. David and I were cooking dinner in the kitchen paying little attention to Avery. I just happen to look in the living room and notice she has the Diet Coke. I walk in and there is coke all over the floor, table and Avery. I'm sure she got the coke and tried drinking it like her sippy cup. I cleaned up the mess and that was that.

Now every time I open the fridge she comes running, steps up into the fridge, grabs a Diet Coke and starts holding it up to her mouth trying to drink it. It makes me laugh every time. I'm a Pepsi drinker (regular, no Diet for me) but Mom I think you have another Diet Coke drinker in the family.

ICE DAY AT THE ZOO

July 25th - Today we went to Ice Day at the Nashville Zoo. On Ice Day they have ice treats for the animals, free ice cream for the humans and some ice sculptures of the animals. We met Donita, her daughter Amelia, Scott and his daughters Reagan and Presley. The weather was great and we had fun seeing the animals. I think Avery had more fun watching the people than the animals but what do you expect from a 13 month old. Here are some pictures from our zoo adventure.

Our day started out with vanilla ice cream, a first for Avery.

You can feed the birds nectar and sometimes they land on you to eat, we didn't experience that..I guess they weren't hungry yet.

The elephants are my favorite. We think this elephant was hurt because it was limping. Get well soon elephant.

Since our last visit they have added 3 giraffe.

Our good friend Donita and her daughter Amelia. Avery was exhausted by the end of our adventure.

Ice Day was a hit so I'm sure you will find us there next year.

SINUS INFECTION

July 21st – Avery’s trend of having a running nose continues. We took Avery to the ENT because all three of us are beyond frustration. The ENT told us Avery has a sinus infection (yeah, her ears looked great) and put her back on antibiotics for a month (I truly think Avery has only lived 4 months without antibiotics – which means she has been on antibiotics for 9 months). ENT really thinks this will kill the infection and we can return to life without a runny nose, which is not the norm. If the antibiotics don’t kill the infection, then she will have to have a cat scan and a swab done of the infection, and since she can’t even sit still for a moment, that means being put to sleep again. She is still on allergy medicine morning and night until we rule out allergies but since her drainage is colored and not clear I don’t think it is allergies. At this point David and I (and I’m sure Avery is too) are willing to try anything to get rid of the constant infections. Please pray and keep your fingers crossed that the antibiotics work and once off the antibiotic that the infection does not return.

TOOTHBRUSH

July 17th - Avery now has 6 teeth (2 on bottom and 4 on top) so for the past couple of weeks we have been brushing her teeth with this neat contraption you put on your finger. If you put it on your finger and say "Avery, let's brush your teeth" she will come running to you with her mouth wide open. It is so cute though she mostly wants to bite your finger. The other night I thought she might want to try and brush her own teeth so I gave her a real tooth brush we bought just for her. She was really excited as I opened the package and had a fit until I gave it to her. She had no intentions of brushing her teeth, she just wanted to run around with it. I kept telling her to brush her teeth with it and would make the motion with my hands as if I was brushing my teeth. She did it a couple of times but I was never able to get a good picture of her brushing her teeth. Oh well!

This is the only picture I could get with it in her mouth.

She had more fun playing with it then brushing her teeth.

POOL VIDEOS

July 16th - As we near the end of our first week back from vacation we are just getting back into our routine. By the end of the day we are all hungry, tired and just not ourselves. I think we are all ready for the weekend. As we reflect on our great trip to NC I thought I would post some pictures of our first trip to the pool.

Avery taking a break from the action to lounge by the pool.

Avery and Mommy play in the pool, part I. Julie - notice the free Politics and Prose endorsement!

Mommy and Avery in the pool, part II.

POOL TIME

July 5th, 6th & 7th - While visiting Grandpa and GrandAnn the family made three trips to the pool. I really think Avery's first trip to the pool was so much fun, however, I don't know who had more fun Avery, myself or Grandpa! Avery spent lots of time in our arms and running around exploring the pool for herself. She took a couple of face dives but handled it gracefully. I may have a little Nemo on my hands. We also took some videos at the pool, which I will post later.

Avery and Daddy in the pool.

Grandpa, Avery, Daddy and I at the pool.

The Diamonds in the pool.

Avery is so excited to be in the water. She liked to splash people.

Avery and Grandpa playing in the waterfall.

Grandpa, Avery and I.

Brianna joined us at the pool a couple of days. She visits the pool regularly so she showed Avery what to do at the pool.

4TH OF JULY BIRTHDAY PARTY

July 4th - Avery had another birthday party in North Carolina so our family could help us celebrate. David and I figured it was much easier to bring Avery to NC then to ask everyone to visit TN again. We had a great turn out and we even had a total of 4 kids (Nkosi, Brianna, Gracen and Avery) so Avery was able to mingle among the grown ups and kids. David, Avery and I really appreciate everyone spending their holiday celebrating Avery's birthday. I think we have video of the birthday, which I'll post at a later time. That night Grandpa and GrandAnn babysat Avery so we could go to a cook-out at David's friends house. We had a great time!

Avery got to meet her cousin, Brianna, for the first time. Brianna is 10 weeks older than Avery. I think they really hit it off.

Avery in her birthday hat and eating her cake. I thought she would really dig into this cake since she had done it once before but she followed the same routine with both cakes.

Avery stuffing cake into her mouth.

David, Avery and I before we headed to the showers to clean up.

1ST FLIGHT

July 1st - Today started our long adventure back home to North Carolina. I had a business trip on Thursday so David, Avery and I headed to NC on Wednesday. I was so anxious about how Avery would do on the flight, but she did great. She had two crying fits that lasted a couple of minutes, but I think that was because she was fighting sleep. We kept her entertained with food and toys (thanks for the advice Amanda). Now that Avery has made her first flight I think she is ready to become a world traveler.

Avery and Daddy after take off. We all hope it is smooth flying for the remainder of the flight.

Avery and I after the rough landing. She tried so hard to go to sleep during the flight and finally succeeded about 15 minutes prior to landing in NC. I would call her first airplane ride a success.