ALLERGIST

September 28th - Today we took Avery to the allergist. I have to say it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. They did not take her blood but they did stick two long boards in her back containing 20 pricks. The nurse stuck her quickly and of course Avery turned red and did a silent cry, where she doesn't breath but you know a big cry is on its way. We had to hold Avery in such a way that she nor we could touch her back for 15 minutes. The places where she was pricked turned into what looked like bug bites if she was allergic. She was not tested for food allergies because the doctor looked in her nose and determined the swelling could not be caused by a food allergy. It has been determined that Avery is allergic to Oak trees, most grass and ragweed. Her only option as far as treatment (because she can't avoid going outside and she is to young for allergy shots) is a nasal steroid that should reduce the swelling in her nasal passage. I'm really hoping she out grows these allergies in a few years.

Avery's back showing her pricks and what happens when she has a reaction to an allergen. She did great. David was able to get her laughing after the first few minutes and after that it didn't seem to bother her.

GETAWAY WEEKEND

September 25th - David and I escaped to Tunica, MS this weekend for some R&R. We dropped Avery off with her Great Grandma and Papa and hit the road. However, we were really missing Avery by the time we passed through Jackson. We arrived in Tunica late on Friday night so we didn't do anything. On Saturday we slept late, had a good breakfast and lost some money at Caribbean Stud Poker so we decided to visit the Memphis Zoo. We had a great time at the zoo but it is not a place you want to visit when you really miss your child. I would totally recommend the Memphis zoo to anyone, it is much better than the Nashville zoo. We topped off the day with a trip to the outlet mall, a nap, dinner at Paula Deen's buffet, another place I would recommend to anyone visiting Tunica and some quality time in the Casino helping put some money back into the economy. David and I had a great weekend getaway. We weren't able to quit our jobs today because we hit the jackpot but we did come home with more money then we left with, which is the goal.


Elephants, my favorite animal.

The Memphis zoo has two panda's on loan from China. I once saw a panda many years ago in a California zoo w/ my parents.

The hippo's were magnificent. I have never seen one up close...they are huge.

Paula Deen and I on her porch in front of her buffet. (OK, so it is a cut out of her but who can really tell).

FINALLY

September 19th - We took Avery back to the doctor today to make sure her ear infection cleared up in the right ear and to have the doctor check her congestion. Well the infection cleared up in the right ear but moved to her left ear so we are continuing ear drops...but thankfully no antibiotics. The doctor seemed to express the same frustrations we have had about the continuous runny nose and ear infections and has referred us to an allergist...FINALLY. They will not be able to test for all allergies since she is under 2 but they will do some skin tests on her back. She has an appointment on 9/28 so I will keep everyone updated.

TWITTER

September 18 - Have you ever sat around and said "I wonder what Avery is doing today"? Well now you can follow Avery on Twitter. I know what you are thinking "Avery has her own Twitter account"? Well she does now. David thought it would be fun to have Avery on Twitter. I enjoy updating our family blog and David enjoys Twitter. So check her out on Twitter at the following address.

www.twitter.com/AKatdiamond

I am always amazed how technology advances over the generations. I can never seem to stay on top of technology and sometimes I don't really want to. I don't really facebook and never Twittered till Avery got an account. So if Avery has a Twitter account at 15 months....what is she going to have by the time she is 5?

GRANDMA'S VISIT

September 12th - Grandma came to visit me this weekend. We had a great time. Mommy and Daddy let me skip "fun place" on Friday to play with Grandma. We had lots of fun. On Saturday Mommy wanted Grandma to take some family pictures so we headed to Centennial Park in Nashville. It was a beautiful day, hot but with a nice breeze. Mommy was really excited about family pictures but the sun kept getting in her face so her smiles looked like frowns, Daddy really wanted to be inside watching sports and I just wanted to run around and play. Grandma did a great job of dealing with us and she got some good pictures. Below are just a few. Thanks for coming to visit me Grandma and taking our pictures.

Daddy and I in front of the Parthenon. There were lots of stairs but Daddy wouldn't let me run around on them by myself.

My family.

A shady spot under the tree. The only way Mommy could keep me still was to feed me snacks.

Walking in front of the Parthenon.

OPENING DAY & 15 MONTHS

September 10th - Today was a big day in the Diamond household. Avery had her 15 month check-up, it was opening day for football and the Titans started it off and Grandma came to visit.
15 Month Check-up
What is Avery up to now? Well she talks all the time. She says outside, eat, more, nite nite, mama, ball, hat and many more words. She is really good at telling us what she wants and doesn't want. When she wants to eat she will run and pull her high chair out or she will run to the back door when she wants to go outside. She just learned how to say hat so she likes to pat David's head and say hat. She knows where her teeth and hair are and she loves to brush her teeth. She is 31 inches long (68%), weighs just over 25 pounds (87%) and her head circumference is 45 (25%).

Opening Day
The Titan's kicked off opening day and to show her pride Avery wore her Lendale White jersey. She loves to give high five but unfortunately she didn't have much of a chance to since the Titan's lost to the Steelers 13-10.

Avery in her Titan's jersey and her pom pom hair-do.

Do you know how hard it is to get a 15 month old to slow down for a picture...almost impossible.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

September 8th - Happy Birthday baby. Yep, David's birthday is the day after mine. He like to say he married an older women, but I'm only about 24 hours older than him. Unfortunately his birthday didn't fall on a national holiday and he had to work. Avery, Lisa and I took him out to dinner - Japanese Steak House - and we had a great time. This was Avery's first time eating at the Hibachi table and she really enjoyed the food. She ate rice, veggies, steak and chicken. I think she is hooked on Japanese just like David and I.

Avery, David and Lisa before the show began.

Avery, Mama and Dada all stuffed and ready to go home.

David, Avery, me and Lisa.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (TO ME)

September 7th - I was born on Labor Day many, many years ago. I won't tell you how many years ago because that is just for me and a select few to know. I had a great birthday. It started out with David fixing me and Avery breakfast. We spent the day running errands and just spending time as a family. We decided to go eat Mexican for dinner and invited our good friend Lisa to join us. As we headed to dinner we had to take a different route because of a bad wreck (foreshadowing). As we pulled in the turn lane to head to the Mexican restaurant, another car decided he wanted our spot and hit us in the process of taking it. Everyone is ok and thankfully he hit on my side of the car and not Avery's. So we spent part of our evening talking to the friendly Smyrna police. Finally we arrived at the Mexican restaurant to find it closed. Yikes, now we need to go find another place. Needless to say my birthday is one I will not forget.

Avery helps me blow out the candles on my birthday cake. My Mom makes this awesome almond cake, so David made it for my birthday. It was yummy. We even let Avery have some.

FIRST DATE

September 6th - Seven years ago today David and I had our very first date. We met on-line (match.com) and had been talking for a while, but we finally met each other on 9/6/2002. We decided to meet for lunch in case we didn't like each other. He picked me up and we went to O'Brian's in Durham. They had great ribs and shrimp (I say had because I believe all O'Brians have now closed). It started out as a normal lunch with small talk and moments of silence. It then became a lunch I will never forget. As David poured ketchup on his fries, a roach crawled across the table and we both laughed. During this lunch I had no idea David would capture my heart, we would move to another state together, get married and have a beautiful little girl. I have enjoyed these last seven years getting to know him and growing as a couple. Thanks for being the best date of my life. Love you baby!

UPDATE

September 5th - Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Avery has been sick for the past two weeks. After many trips to the doctor it was determined she had a virus and an ear infection. She is back on antibiotics and ear drops (I'm not one to give financial advice but if you want to make some money I would suggest investing in the company that produces the antibiotic Avery constantly takes). She is finally getting her appetite back and is acting like her old self. It has been a tough couple of weeks for David and I but I can't tell you how excited we are to see her eating again. Below are some pictures and video I took while she was under the weather.

The best part of Avery's day was her bath. She enjoyed soaking in the warm water and getting all of Mommy and Daddy's attention.

David was out of town last weekend so I tried to find interesting ways to make Avery laugh since she was cranky. These two pictures show her with her shorts on her head. She thought it was so funny.

Do you notice the pacifier in Avery's mouth. She never wanted one until she started feeling bad and now she loves it.

These videos are of Avery in the bath. She has started talking all the time and she uses her hands, just like her mommy.

Lately Avery is becoming more independent. This video shows her using a spoon.