Post-vaccine Appt photo shoot!

She did so great! Even smiled and waved bye bye to the nurse :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Visitors

This past weekend, Avery's grandparents (Nana & Poppa) came to visit!!  We did some shopping, lots of eating out, lots of playing...and of COURSE they came bearing gifts.  Over the course of the weekend Ave acquired a new stuffed animal, a couple of new outfits, & a new (super cool) book!
She even went to her first bowling alley!  Nana & Poppa took her home before the bowling actually began so that Brian & I could spend a night OUT celebrating Amy's bday!  It was super fun.  Thanks MarshMarsh & Dav!!  Avery loved having you guys here!

I didn't get any pics, so I'm HOPING Marsha caught a couple of cute moments on her camera!

We also had a little mini gender-reveal party (kind of like Mer's).  Brian and I found out what we were having last Thursday but waited until Friday night to tell our parents.  I baked a cake, slathered it in yellow icing, and as soon as Marsh & Dav arrived we skyped my parents and cut into the PINK cake!  Everyone was actually SUPER surprised.  Literally every single person in both of our families was expecting a boy!  Of course, though, we're all pumped!  YAY for babygirl!!

Cherishing Every Moment...

So I spent last night reading an entire blog from start to finish.  The couple started it in May of 2009 when their 18-mo-old, who had been 100% completely healthy her whole life, was suddenly diagnosed with cancer.  The blog chronicles their painful, yet hopeful, fight against the cancer that has eaten away at the life of sweet little Layla Grace.  In the last month, the couple has learned that the cancer is continuing to take over Layla's body, leaving her with 1-2 months left on this earth. 

In the last few days, Layla's mom has blogged about what it's like to spend your last few days with your child.  She has blogged about how much she wishes she could take back all the times that she wished Layla would nap longer or stay quiet and still.  Because now all she wants is for Layla to be pulling on her legs, crawling around the living room, and making noise.  These days, Layla just sleeps.  So her parents just watch her.

I can't even begin to imagine watching your baby get sick, lose all of her energy, take chemo treatments for months upon months that make her miserably ill EVERY day.  I can't imagine sitting in her room with her for 2 months straight just watching her sleep and waiting for God to bring her home.  I know that God is glorified through even the most painful situations, and Layla's parents have shared a million amazing ways that God has worked through Layla's illness.  I still can't imagine it.

Today I could not be more thankful that Avery woke up smiling... ready to eat and ready to play.  I could not be more excited to roll out of my bed at 6:40am, a teeny bit sleep-deprived, to take care of my munchkin.  Today I'm cherishing Avery's sweetest moments along with the high-maintenance ones, and I pray that I am blessed with the luxury of experiencing these moments for the rest of my life!!

100th CUSTOMER!!

Aves & I headed out to run some errands and decided to stop at Chick-fil-a for lunch.  Avery seems to LOVE their chicken nuggets and yummy fruit cups.  So, we get our order in and whip out the wallet to pay....and are then told, "CONGRATULATIONS! You're our 100th customer of the day!  Your order is on us!"  SWEET.

Too bad I didn't know what was coming or I totally would have ordered some extra fries & a milkshake :)

Thanks Chick-Fil-A!!

Sleeping Beauty

It's snowing in the DFdub AGAIN today!  Craziness.

More to the point though... yesterday Ave slept from 7p-7:10a!!!  And THEN napped from 9-11:30.  And then napped AGAIN from 1:45-4:15.  And then STILL went to bed at her normal bedtime of 8p.  And at 7:28a on this snowy morning in N.Dallas, she is still sleeping soundly in her bed.  Can you say sleepyhead?

Last Thursday we kept her out a LITTLE bit late bc of some appointments that Brian and I had down in Dallas.  And then her sleeping was thrown off all weekend bc her awesome Nana/Poppa were here to love on her!  AND she helped us celebrate Aunt Amy's bday on Saturday night.  Needless to say, the sweet little thing has had some catching up to do!  I'm so glad she seems to SLEEP when she's overly tired instead of just getting cranky :)   

NEW CARSEAT!!

Okay moms-

Help a sister out.  Little Aves is movin' on up in the world.  Brian & I have to pick out a new carseat for babygirl this week bc she has surpassed her carrier days!  I have been doing some research online, but could TOTALLY use your input.  I appreciate YOUR opinions a little bit more than those of random ppl online.

I would appreciate ANYTHING you have to offer!  We're thinking we'd like something that will last through her booster days...but that's is def not a necessity :)

K.  Thanks loves.  Happy Monday!

Hi Cameron!!

Well folks,

It's another girl for the Bradford Fam!  CRAZY!  Brian and I were both actually really surprised, but of COURSE we're thrilllllllled!  Can't wait to meet little Cameron!  I felt her moving around in my belly for the first time last night!  FUN :)  I had forgotten how much I love that feeling...so cool. :)

Now we just have to decide on a middle name....we've got until mid-July!!

XX or XY !!?

We are headed to find out if Baby Bradford#2 is a boy or a girl!  PUMPED.

I honestly don't have a pref with this one at all!  We already are planning on having a third.  A baby bro OR sis would be SUPER cool for ave.  Howev- I'm thinking it's a boy!  I'll let you know if I'm right!

Walk This Way

Avery is a full-fledged walker.  Her balance has gotten awesome.  Her steps are smaller and smoother.  Walking seems to be her first choice in transportation options...until she gets too tired and then just bear-crawl-sprints to wherever she's trying to go.  She can even stand up walk a little bit, turn around and walk in another direction without falling!  I've always thought it's so hilar to watch such a teeny little person walking around!

Other Averton Updates:
-You have just in the last few days discovered how cool peek-a-boo is!  You even cover your own face with one hand (sort of) and wait for us to say "where's averyyyy?" to make you giggle.  You haven't figured out that you're supposed to UNcover your face once when we say "PEEK-A-BOO!!"
-You have found the ONE things that holds your attention (besides your musical toys and sports)...The Wiggles!!  You dance your little heart out when they're on and it is PRESH.
-You snuggle with your dolly sometimes and get really happy when you first spot her in the mornings.
-You L.O.V.E. your big pink stuffed froggie. Also- Presh.
-You love chicken nuggets.  Big girl!
-You LOVE your sippy cup...for about 10 seconds.  But you canNOT figure out how to make it work for you, so you always get SO frustrated with it!  It's pretty entertaining.
-You are talking so much more all of a sudden.  And appearing to be having civilized conversations with yourself, Kerbey, us, your toys...or whoever you think is listening.  You say something and then just look at us with a quizzical expression like, "Don't you understand what I'm saying?  Why aren't you answering me?"  Still no real words though!
-Doc says there are NO teeth in sight for you.  Late bloomer!
-You take any and every opportunity to crawl under/over/through things. 
-You love to interact with other ppl at the grocery store, at restaurants etc....but you seem extremely afraid of men with DEEP voices.  (eg- Pawpaw!!)
-You have learned to clap and get really excited when anyone else claps for you.

**K that's all I can think of.  The more REAL this pregnancy gets for me, the more I want to REALLY keep track of Avery's development so we can see how different our next one is!! 

PS- We find out tomorrow (hopefully!) what we're having!  Yippppeeeeeee!!!!!!!

My Kaylas

Every Tuesday I meet my friend, Kayla C, at Starbucks for some life updates, bible chat, relationship talk and just friend-time :)  It's a somewhat new tradish...and I love it.  It's so nice to get out and enjoy some time with a friend.  When B gets off work on time, he takes care of Ave for me...but today I took her with.  I think she likes S-bux.  She def enjoyed sharing my fruit/granola/yogurt parfait w/me!

Kayla is awesome.  She is caring and sweet, has a servant's heart, she's beauuutiful, and she LOVES Avery (which makes me love her even more!....all of you moms out there understand).  She's working through some big time stuff right now, soooo I know she would appreciate your prayers!! Just prayers for God to really work in her heart, to give her discernment/wisdom/direction...and more than anything- to give her peace!!

AND one of my verrrrrrrry best friends ever- Mrs. Kayla Jane Agan- has a big test manana!  Pray for her to do soooooooooo well on it and not have any anxiety or worry or anything during the exam.  Pray for God to just clear her mind, calm her nerves, and give her FOCUS!

Love you Kaylas :)

Just For The Record...

The Bachelor makes me feel so incredibly awkward.  BLEH.  Can't take it.  

SERIOUSLY????

So...I requested transcripts from 4 different schools a little over 3 weeks ago.  Each of the 4 schools state on their website that transcripts will be sent within 24 hours of the receipt of request.   My apartment complex doesn't allow long-distance faxing so I have to drive all the way over to Fedex Office to fax these requests in to get them sent asap.

Fast Forward to a week later when I log on check my application status...just to put my mind at ease knowing that all 4 transcripts should 100% for sure have arrived by this point in time.  NEGATIVE.  One has arrived.  ONE.  A short while later, I check the mail and find a letter from one of my schools stating that one little number (that seems pretty UNessential to me) is missing from the request (which by the way...I called and reviewed with someone from the transcript office BEFORE sending to ensure that I had included all of the needed information..), so I need to fix it and re-fax the request.  ANNOYING.  ESPECIALLY because the letter is dated an ENTIRE week AFTER the request had been faxed in.  Answer me this:  If a request should be fulfilled within 24 hours, how the HECK is it that it took an entire 5 work days to print out a FORM LETTER and get it in the mailbox!??!  So-  that one is taken care of.  FINALLY.

The day after I checked the mail, I called one of the other schools to find out the status of that particular transcript request and was assured that both requested copies had been mailed 48 hours after receipt (late), so they if they haven't arrived yet they should definitely be there today.  I left town for 3 days and when I returned, STILL no transcripts.  I called again today (THREE WEEKS after request) to find out why they hadn't been sent and to re-request.  Turns out they were never mailed out because there is a hold on my account.  Someone was supposed to have notified me of this upon receipt of my request.  They didn't.  When I called to check on everything the first time, they should have been able to access that info easily....they didn't.  I don't know if the dude was 100% confused or lazy and just lied to me to get me off the phone.  So now- I have to wait until Ave wakes up,  drive over to Fedex (AGAIN), fax in another request, AND find out why there's a hold on my account (from 2 yrs ago!!?).

Who would have thought that a few simple transcript requests could really be THIS difficult.  People get paid to do that SPECIFIC job, so I guess I just kind of expected things to go a little more smoothly.

K...I feel a LOT better.  I hope no one actually reads this rant.  Fedex...here I come.

Vday 2010

With all of the snow in the Dallas area, I had begun to worry that B wasn't going to make it home in time to celebrate love day with his girls....but he was finally able to fly in on Saturday! Yippee.

Yesterday was a great day :)  It was good enough just have B home.  We all got ready for church, headed to Einstein's (YUM), then off to The Village, where Avery LOVED her nursery time (as always) & BandI got to worship & listen to a super awesome sermon!  We all headed to the grocery store for our big trip for the week (one of our fav things to do together) and Ave got to enjoy her first piece of chocolate chip cookie!  She DEF enjoyed..

In the afternoon we all hung out for a bit, Ave & I napped while B played video games, then B cooked my FAV dinner (chicken romano-cheesecake factory style).  After I got Ave bathed & in bed, the hub & I enjoyed some strawberries & nutella (ghetto choc covered strawberries that taste just like the real thing...mmm) and just hung out for a bit!

Yay for LOVE day.  Vday is TOTALLY one of my fav days of the yr....always has been.  I usually didn't have a boy to celebrate it with...but I have ust always gotten excited at the prospect of spending an ENTIRE DAY celebrating LOVE <3  If I lived close to ANY of my friends I would have baked you yummy pink cupcakes and left a pretty "I LOVE YOU" note on your doorstep.  At least I like to think I would have.  So...just pretend I did :)

Love you!

SO MUCH SNOW!!

I woke up this morning completely unaware of what the weathermen had warned us DFW residents to expect.  At around 8, after I fed Ave, I checked out some FB updates and everyone in Dallas was making comments about the weather...so I peeked out the window and

 

this is what I saw!!

Sooo...I got super excited, but had to wait until the afternoon to enjoy it!  I took Avery to her 9 mo check up appointment (which was a little bit scary bc it was basically like driving through a Blizzard), got us some chick-fil-a for lunch, let Ave rest for a it and then FINALLYYYY....

headed out to enjoy the crazy snow!!!

Avery really liked it!  She was SUPER bundled, so even though she got pretty covered with snowflakes, she didn't seem to mind!  She kept digging her little fingers down into the snow and stuffing it in her mouth.  So cute :)  Can't wait to take that child skiing someday!

Oh and ps- I can't take credit for the snowman...our neighbors made it, but it was big and cool so I had to post a pic!

At around 5pm the news ppl said that we had already gotten 7.3 inches of snow on the day and it has NOT STOPPED ONCE since then.  Craziness.  The only downfall of all of this snow is that Brian's flight got delayed, then delayed again, and then CANCELLED!! Boo.  So now we have to wait until SATURDAY AFTERNOON to see him!  The weather should be somewhat back to normal by then I think!

ANNNDDD finally- a shout out to my fav sex-machine, Jacci, who is running in the Austin Half this wknd!  Gooood luck!  Wish we could make it down there to cheer you on!  You're a stud :) 

Time to make myself some yummy hot choc and curl up on the couch for Grey's! G'night!

9 Months!!

Baby girl is 9 months old! WHOA.

Height:  28.5 in.
Weight: 18lb. 2oz.
Head: FINALLY above the 50% percentile!!!  haha...not a pea-head anymore (like her daddY!)

-Eating strictly tablefoods (peaches, pears, oranges, watermelon, carrots, green peas, green beans, cheerios, crackers, pasta....), plus 4 bottles a day
-Doesn't like beans...we're working on that
-Ate her first chicken nuggets this week!
-Is getting to be a great walker!  Her steps are getting more and more stable...4-5 is normal, 8-9 is becoming MORE normal.
-Crawls on carpet, bear crawls on hard floors
-Dances (gets low) ANYtime music comes on!  (esp to her baby einstein music player, and to CMT music videos!)
-Now naps only once a day
-Had her first cold/fever this month!  (only got up to 100* thank goodness!)
-Has perfected the deep belly fake laugh and does it ALOT!!  She loves the attention it gets her
-Is still bff with Kerbey...and is learning to be more gentle with the poor pup :)
-Is still reallyyyy quiet around lots of new faces but gets super vocal and playful when she warms up
-Does the, "what's up" head nod thing ALL the time.  NO CLUE where she got this one.
-is starting to like her dollys
-loves stuffed animals and anything that makes noise
-still loves bathtime
-still does NOT like post-bath time (diaper/lotion/pjs)
-loves the hokey pokey
-has learned the clap
-loves "quack quack" and sort of tries to repeat when we say it (sometimes!)

Averton- your daddy and i could not love anyone or anything more than we love YOU!!  you CRACK us up every day, make us happy when we're otherwise not, and you have just made our life 8million times better than it was before you got here!!! We love youuuu!!