The Morris Family Blog

Sweet Sisters

2011-10-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

Avery& Lucy have been playing so sweetly together lately (hope I'm not jinxing them). Here are two separate instances where I told them to go & play and Avery set up an activity for them both.

Here she made an office with a desk and is reading her a magazine that Nana sent for her birthday. I love how she is quizzing Lucy on the animals and can understand Lucy's funny little language to know whether she is right or wrong. Hope you can hear them, I was trying to observe far enough where they didn't see me.

A few days later I see them under this blanket on the couch. They love to make forts and get under them with flashlights, but this is one of their less elaborate designs =)

other pics from the last few weeks:

Team Mimi/Lucy challenge Avery to an air hockey duel at Chuckie Cheese

pic from Dave's birthday dinner in Vegas

Disney on Ice!

Lucy at the pumpkin patch in front of our church

Avery's pumpkin family that she made from the pumpkins she & Mimi grew this summer in Hickman.

September

2011-09-28T23:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it's been another month... sorry! Here's what ya missed:

We rounded out the summer with our last pool days during Labor Day weekend.

have been enjoying the cooler weather taking our babies out for strolls every day

enjoyed a long overdue visit with Rebecca and Erica. LOVED catching up with my dear friends!

celebrated a joint birthday party for Avery, Papa, & Dave

got some kisses from Papa and Gigi

practiced dressing up for Halloween

dressed up and smiled with sisterly love

we have been playing lots of hide and seek lately, and I busted them hiding together under Dave's office desk

dressed Lucy up to cheer on Vanderbilt

went to Gracie Lee's super fun birthday party and had lots of fun with friends!

Some photo-free activities included a visit from Nana and Daddy Jim, several zoo trips, and an extended weekend under the care of Mimi & Grandaddy so Dave & I could have date weekend in Vegas. Ahhh, feeling relaxed and refreshed after lots of shopping, eating out, and reading by the pool. Can't thank you enough Mom & Dad!

Jennifer Sheehan's wedding

2011-08-24T21:34:00.000-05:00

This weekend, we packed up the birthday girl & Lucy and ventured up to Lexington, KY for my cousin Jennifer Sheehan's wedding to her adorable, funny-man fiance, Bill Allen. I wish I could draw you a family tree to show you how literally every living person that I am related to came together for this event. Avery and my cousin Christy's daughter, Ellie, were the 2 cutest flower girls ever, and the whole weekend went off without a hitch (well, almost)

Here are Ellie, Avery, and Hannah (my cousin Sara's youngest daughter)

running around with cousins is the best!

Aunt Nancy remembered Avery's birthday and had a cake for her at the rehearsal dinner!

Backyard Brunch at my Aunt Ellen's house Saturday morning. Dad reading books to the girls so they stay out of trouble =)

Katie & Jordan

Jennifer with the hostesses... Linda, Charlene, Ellen & Kathy

Avery with Ellie, the other flower girl. They had never met each other but luckily became friends right away. Ellie is also 4 years old and lives in Lexington.

Lucy and Avery hanging out, harmlessly messing around in the dirt.

then my girls start playing with their slightly older and cooler cousins (Mary Browder & Madeline Howell and Rachel & Hannah Roberts). Right after this picture was taken, I took Lucy in the house for a blueberry muffin, turned my back on Avery and these girls for 2 seconds, and...

BAM! They found a wagon in the garage, loaded Avery in, and immediately flung her out onto the concrete face first. Shoot, so much for a Christmas card picture. Avery had an awful black eye for the rest of the day, but was luckily in good spirits and did fulfill all of her flower girl duties, despite the less than flawless flower girl complexion =( Sorry Jennifer!

A nap and a dab of concealer later, we were back in action.

my and my dear cousin Julie

Here she is! She did so wonderfully, I was shaking with pride. Ellie decided not to join her walking down the aisle, but Avery took it in stride, and said she still wanted to go because she LOVES being a flower girl!

Mary Browder "hugging" Avery and little brother Owen

Avery with Jason & Renee's 3 kids- Madeline, Mary Browder & Owen

Jennifer & Bill

the girls with Julie's cutie-pie, Jacob

Jennifer with the girls, love this picture

The Sanger/Morris clan

the kids dancing the night away while the adults were in the next room over eating dinner

The reception was at Keeneland, the famous horse-racing venue in Lexington. It was beautiful! Lucy didn't join us at the wedding or reception, since her 18 month old busy-body self would have put a damper on my fun, but she had lots of fun with our dear friend Joni Beth Lattus Waldroup who agreed to help me and babysat her in the hotel room. Gotta love JB!

We had such a great weekend, lots of thanks to the Sheehans & fam!

Wilson County Fair

2011-08-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures we took at the Wilson Co. Fair last weekend. We live in Sumner County, but our fair isn't quite as elaborate as this one, so we joined some friends and made the trip over to the next county =)

Love love love this picture

fun night!

Avery turns 4

2011-08-24T13:43:00.000-05:00

On August 19, Avery turned 4 years old! At 39lbs and 41.25 inches tall, she is a joy in every way. The weekend before her birthday, Mimi and Aunt Katie came to celebrate, and we had a party with all of her friends at My Gym.

Here is the birthday girl

With her Rapunzel cake (that I made!)

My Gym parties are so much fun, the teachers there are energetic, the games are age appropriate, and they just do such a great job of making the birthday "girl" feel special.

The best part is when they dressed her up as a princess and rode her around in a circle on a motorcycle, the look on her face was priceless!

her sweet friends

silly face!

towards the end of the party doing a "go to sleep" game. check out Lucy.

happy girl!

Silly Girls This Summer

2011-08-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some misc pictures from our summer adventures. I sure have some fun, silly girls!

Avery really likes the movie Peter Pan (broadway version) and Peter Pan's signature move is to "crow". Here is Lucy who builds up to it, but finally gets her crow out =)

Avery started taking ballet lessons this summer and really enjoyed that. Here is a picture with her and her friend Annie. The fall session just started up last week and they added tap dancing. You know Avery loves to tap!

Avery and Lucy learned what water balloons were this summer and LOVED them. Lucy liked to squeeze hers, and Avery cradled hers like little eggs until she would accidentally drop them.

On July 23, Dave did the Music City Triathlon, and he had the cutest spectators around.

here is a little interview with Avery & Lucy hanging out around the house

Avery is really into drawing this summer, and loves to draw portraits of her family. (She also likes to draw Rapunzel, Peter Pan on Capt Hook's ship, and rainbows). This picture is of Daddy, Avery, Lucy, & Mommy, with Mimi and Granddaddy. Note the puffed sleeves and eyelashes for the girls and curly hair for Mimi.

My sweet sweet babies!

Destin, FL July 2011

2011-08-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, sorry, I have been really bad with the blog this summer! I will try to catch you up if anyone is still listening =) Last month, we took a family trip to SanDestin to hang at the beach for a few days and had so much fun!

Some friends from Hendersonville, the Prestages and the Valentines, overlapped a little with our trip so it was super fun to have friends to hang out with! Thank goodness for Granddaddies with beach houses!

we did a lot of hanging out and playing outside

feeding ducks

swimming at the pool

and hanging out on the beach

At the end of our trip we got to hang out with another family of friends, the Baders! Jess, Brad, and Kaitlyn were dear friends of ours in Ann Arbor, and we haven't gotten to see them since we both moved away 2 years ago. We hadn't gotten to meet their newest addition, Brayden, and they had never met Lucy. We had so much fun catching up, and I wasn't surprised a bit that our friendships picked right back up where they left off. If you've been with me here for a while, you remember them (click here for their last photo shoot)

Our dinner out at Louis Louis- so yummy!

and tried to get some pictures on the beach

Great trip!

Toby & the 4th of July

2011-07-07T08:31:00.000-05:00

Last week, Avery spent a few days in Hickman, then Lucy & I went to pick her up on the weekend. The girls have so much fun at Mimi's house, especially exploring the yard, garden, & blackberry bushes, and having adventures with Aunt Katie's dog, Toby. Here is Avery with her buddy.

anticipation

apprehension

woah!

love =)

Here are some pics of the girls on 4th of July weekend

kisses

elephants

my sister is hilarious!

not so in the mood for pictures on the actual 4th

ooh my favorite show

Mom, I can't see the TV, move! =)

Sprinkler Time

2011-06-23T13:42:00.000-05:00

Here are Dave and his little ladies on our Father's Day hike at Percy Warner Park

here are the girls playing in the sprinkler

LOVE that Lucy is giving Avery a spanking in this picture =)

What's an elephant say?

2011-06-13T10:37:00.000-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of the girls. Avery started a new preschool last week (The Goddard School) and I wanted to take her picture before her first day. Lucy NEVER will sit still for a picture but of course the one time I didn't want her in it, she went and stood perfectly beside Avery just like it was her first day at school too.

my big girl =) She is doing alright with the new school so far... we haven't fallen in love with it yet but will keep ya posted.

Here is me trying to get a picture of them before heading to the pool. Amusing but unsuccessful!

Ha!

It has been so ridiculously hot that we have been going swimming almost every day. Lucy LOVES the water and piddles in the baby pool with her buddies. Avery has started taking swim lessons and is doing really great! We've just had 2 lessons so far and she is already jumping in and swimming to her teacher over & under the water. She told me that she thinks "my body is a swim body".

Here are a few pictures of my sweethearts before church yesterday. They are getting along great these days, even playing together quite a bit. Avery is very patient even though Lucy is a bit of a stinker, always coloring on whatever she is coloring on or sitting right in the middle of whatever activity she is trying to do. Lucy is starting to imitate EVERYTHING Avery does, and I just love hearing their little giggles when they are together.

I asked, "What does an elephant say?!"

So blessed =)

Alone time with Lucy

2011-05-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

Dave has been out of town recently, and Mom & Dad took Avery home to their house for a few days, so Lucy and I have been having some quality time together. I thought she would be fussy without Avery, but she is just fine! Cheery as ever and quite content to have me all to herself. Here are a few pics from the photo session I did of her after church =)

I started singing and this is her dance pose, hands up, mouth stiff:

Adventures in May

2011-05-25T22:55:00.000-05:00

We've been busy this month!

Here is a picture of Avery's class at their end of the year preschool performance. Those are squirrel-ear hats in case you can't tell =)

On May 7, Dave and I left this kids in Cleveland with Scott & Carla and went down to Atlanta for Alison Lake's wedding. She was one of the three urology residents in Dave's class at Michigan, so we were so excited for her to find her soulmate, get married, and have a good excuse for us to catch up with dear friends. The girls did great with GG and Papa, we so appreciate having the night to ourselves!

Our friend that now practices in Richmond, VA, Tim Bradford.

Raneen, Alison, and Me =) Miss these girls!

Bradford with Dave, Alison, & Ryan (the three residents who were the same year)

The next weekend, Dave was at a conference, but Avery, Nancy, & I went over to Lebanon, TN for Dave's cousin Blake's wedding. We had lots of fun... Avery was thrilled with herself in a "fancy" dress, and danced the night away.

Dancing with Dave's cousin Katie and Aunt Diane

Aunt Diane with Avery, tearing up the dance floor

Avery with her new best friend, the flower girl, Jill =)

cute idea- they had a photo booth!

great big-girl night with my sweetheart! When we got in the car, Avery told us that she has NEVER had as much fun as she had that night =)

Ok, I see some serious bug collections in our future- my girls are obsessed with cicadas! They LOVE them. Notice Avery's serious face, same face she used with the cutie baby duck. Gross! Every day she c;ollects them and makes them little homes in bowls or cups with grass and flowers for food. Ha!

Lucy loves them too! I have a funny video of them that I need to upload. My children have no fear of anything!

After a bit of a stomach bug, Lucy gets her appetite back chowing down on her favorite food in the world, beans! Love that face!

Oh, and this was in April, but here are some pictures from Kristopher & Jessica Kimball's Dogwood Formal party in Knoxville. My parents watched a croupy-cough Lucy here at our house and the Carmon's had Avery so we could spend a wonderful child-free day with our dear friends from medical school. So thankful to be living close enough to these folks to see them for super fun events like these! It was a wear-your-hat-and-seersucker dress up type party =)

The Kimballs, the Crooks, the McKinneys, and us. LOVE this crew!!

Betsy, Robin, Jessica, Lynn

Royal Playdate

2011-05-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

In honor of the Royal Wedding, we hosted a playdate for some of our friends, and all the kids were to dress in Royal fashions!

aren't they cute?!

playing outside

me commemorating Lucy on this historic occasion!

Easter in Hickman

2011-05-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

We spent the Easter holiday in Hickman, KY this year, and had so much fun. Here are the girls at the church Easter Egg hunt. Lucy was set after she got her one candy egg:

Avery was a little more ambitious =)

"little Avery", "big Avery" and Lucy. Notice Avery Coffey trying to steal some of my Avery's eggs

not so fast, sista!

My sister, Katie, raised some ducks at her house and recently hatched these cute little ducklings, which of course my girls were in LOVE with. Gotta love Aunt Katie! Recently, Avery carried a plastic toy bin with 3 rubber ducks in it (looking very much like this bin) to me and said "look what I brought for you to see! I'm pretending to be Aunt Katie!"

her serious face as she snuggles them precariously

Lucy loved them as well

Easter pics before church

excited ladies

Easter lunch with the fam, cutie cousins: Madeline, Owen, & Mary Browder

Busy Girls!

2011-04-27T15:48:00.001-05:00

Oh... guess I haven't updated the blog in a month or so, sorry! These girls don't leave a lot of time for uploading pics =) Here's what ya missed:

Quick trip to Hickman, playing in the rocks

picking Mimi's flowers

hunting Easter eggs

playing with Toby

getting in a golf lesson

Back at home, breaking in the new sandbox

cheesy girls pic

Tigger hugs before church

Avery's school Trike-a-thon to benefit St Jude

her class of cute girls

my sweethearts

the fam, as Easter Eggs =)

Church Easter Egg hunt, with our friend Annie

Thanks to our super-talented Nana for making us such beautiful spring dresses!

We went to Disney World!

2011-03-10T20:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, our little family plus Mimi ventured to Disney World last week and had a blast! Avery (um, and Me, and Dave, and Mom) are big Disney lovers, so we knew it was going to be fun, but I am happy to report that Lucy survived and seemed to have a good time as well. Avery is really into a ton of Disney movies, so it was great that she knew most of the characters, music, themes, etc., and of course she LOVED seeing all of the princesses. She was a little hesitant about the rides at first, though she warmed up by the end of the trip (who wouldn't be apprehensive about loading into a boat and ricketing off into the dark if you had no idea what was going to happen). She also liked the shows, it's great that they were based on her all time favorite movies- The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King! What she loved best though was meeting the characters- she didn't mind standing in line, and she didn't even care about their autographs, she just wanted to see them up close and get a picture with them. We did two different meals where princesses wandered around the restaurant to greet you, and she was in heaven. Ok for the record, I am going to list all of the characters who we met, all of whom were so so friendly, patient, and sweet. Here goes: Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Mary Poppins, Jasmine, Tigger, Eeyore, Little Einsteins Leo, Annie & June, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, Cinderella's stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella plus Lady Tremaine, Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, ARIEL, and Prince Eric, Aurora, Lilo, Stitch, Pocahatas and Mikko, Flik from A Bug's Life, Pluto, Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Buzz Lightyear, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Fairies Rosetta and Videa, Alice in Wonderland, Mulan, and Marie the Aristocat. WHEW! We physically waited in line and personally greeted all of those people! She was thrilled, so therefore we were too. We would scope out the time schedule, head to one place, then send Mimi and Lucy to stand in another line while we took shifts photographing and waiting in line. It really wasn't that bad, luckily the parks weren't too crowded while we were there. We had to wait about an hour for Ariel and about an hour for Rapunzel, but the rest were about 10-20 minute waits. It was totally worth it!

First night in Epcot before our first princess meal in Norway:

We all know Avery loves Nemo

sweet patient Lucy

Avery's first princess- Belle. See how she melted into her? She literally laid down on the ground beside her she was so star struck!

classic Epcot shot

first day at MK

Mimi and Avery cutting a rug at the Move it Shake it Street Party

Unbridled joy =)

my favorite picture from the trip. Avery is OBSESSED with Ariel, so she was so excited. I want to blow this up and put above our mantel, ha ha.

princess dress before a princess dinner (no, we didn't do Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique this time... Avery doesn't like anyone messing with her hair so we thought we'd save it for next time)

worn plum out

Avery- thrilled, Lucy, not so thrilled.

check this out if you can, my sister Katie and Lucy look just alike!

Group shot at Animal Kingdom- Mount Everest on left, Tree of Life on right

Mimi and Lucy's favorite pastime, bird watching! Looking for birds totally occupied Lucy the entire week! We were so lucky to have Mimi with us on the trip to help with both the girls. We made some wonderful memories =)

Minnie Mouse dress that I wore when I was 4 years old =)

Loved the teacups

Toy Story Mania!

Minnie checking out the vintage dress

Classic!

Also classic!

Lucy enjoying the street party

Mimi and her gals

Love it!

Lucy's Birthday

2011-03-10T11:11:00.000-06:00

On February 16th, my Lucy Ellen turned 1 year old! At 20.11 lbs and 29.75 inches long, she is a bundle of pure joy to our family. Lucy has been walking since she was 10 months, so by now she can get around pretty darn quickly. She is sneaky and will high tail it up the stairs or swish her hand around in the super fun toilet water the moment you leave the gate open or the potty seat up. She has recently started climbing everything, and loves to stand at the top of Avery's sink-stool and act like she's brushing her teeth. She has been climbing the stairs for months, can climb up onto Avery's bed, and yesterday she climbed up the entire steps to the top of the swingset. Then this morning I found her sitting happily on top of two stacked Lego boxes! Lucy is very affectionate with those she loves the most, and can usually be prompted for a wet sloppy kiss or a sweet hug. She is a cuddler, when she's not trying to keep up with Avery, and Lucy loves to lay around in her bed for a while after she wakes up the morning. That's quite a switch from Avery who is go-go-go from the moment her eyes flutter open. Lucy is a good sleeper at night and will usually take one long nap every day as long as Avery's schedule isn't interrupting her too much. Lucy loves loves loves her "beets" (Little Giraffe velvet blankie) but couldn't care less about a pacifier, though she does think it's hilarious when she sees any other kid with one in their mouth. Lucy is a great eater, though she never wanted to eat any Gerber baby food or other bland infant stuff. She went from being breastfed until 9 months straight to roasted chicken, green beans, string cheese, and waffles. Her absolute favorite is fish- she loves tilapia, salmon, mahi-mahi, and catfish, and she will eat meat over fruit any day of the week. She loves pot roast, pork tenderloin, chili, chicken tikki masala, and chinese chicken with broccoli.

Lucy is also quite serious and studies things a LONG time before she cracks a smile. She takes everything in, and can give the cashiers at the grocery store quite a hard look! But she is quick to warm up to people, especially her sweet grandparents. She, of course, adores Avery beyond belief but will stick up for herself in a battle over Ariel or a stuffed penguin or kitty. Lucy isn't saying many actual words... just Mama, Dada, and Cat (Dat), but she definitely has no problem getting her point across, and has quite a strong opinion about many things, including which book she wants to read. She will find her favorite Elmo or kitty book, bring it to you, turn her sweet booty around, back up to sit in your lap and really just won't take no for an answer! She loves animals a TON, is obsessed with our cat, Dawkins, and loves to pet and follow him around. He is such a good sport with her and will lick and nibble on her but never use his teeth or claws. She will go right up to dogs when we go on a walk, and LOVES to look for birds. This was a wonderful distractor at Disney World with all the long transit rides and princess-viewing lines =) Lucy loves to be outside, toddles around with no fear, and would prefer to be sitting in our sand box than playing with any toy in our house. She is a sweetheart and a blessing to us all, and I quote Avery in saying that "I am so thankful that God gave Lucy to us" =)

Here are some pictures from her birthday and her birthday party that she shared with her sweet friend Audrey Mewbourne, a birthday buddy born two days after Lucy.

Lucy's 1st Birthday

2011-02-16T23:01:00.000-06:00

Dressin' up Lucy

2011-02-08T12:45:00.001-06:00

We've done a lot of dressing up here in the Morris household lately and a lot of playing princesses, thought you might like to see pictures of the girls just messing around =)

Here is Avery with her love, Ariel. She prefers Ariel when she is in the "pink dress" from end of the The Little Mermaid movie, not when she has a mermaid tail, so we are constantly on the lookout for Ariel paraphernalia that showcases the rare pink dress.

Avery dressed as Rapunzel

Lucy's first day of dress-up, just got the tutu that day.

My birthday- the big 30!

Lucy's 2nd day of dress up- fairy wings, tutu, and fairy wand this time.

She really loved the wand- check out this video- ha!

Cutie Lucy

my girls in blue after church

Lucy hugging her "beets"

Lucy's 3rd day of dress up- the Little Mermaid herself! Ha! She was confused at first, but got used to it =)

Ah, the joys of being a little sister.

Snow Day

2011-01-25T21:00:00.000-06:00

Last Friday we had ANOTHER snow day and decided it was time to take Miss Lucy out for a walk so she could see what this white stuff was all about. She was pretty curious- insisted on walking herself in it, and though she never really smiled or laughed at it, she didn't cry either =)

this was after she had just face-planted... no crying, but looked concerned

wanted to get her hands in it!

Mommy got her workout for the day pulling these kids all over golf course hole #8!

Lovely Lucy

2011-01-17T16:57:00.001-06:00

I can't believe she is 11 months old! Lucy's walking all over the place and is so busy. She loves to play in her "kitchen" with Avery, rearranging princesses, moving all the dollhouse furniture around, spreading her balls everywhere and tossing crayons all over the ground. Oh and Lucy LOVES ELMO. She got tickle me elmo for Christmas, hated it for the first few days, and now totes that big heavy doll all over the place =) She is getting better about not putting EVERYTHING in her mouth (Strawberry Shortcake is pleased about that), but has started to be a drooler, so a bib is now a full time part of the wardrobe. She is still just saying Ma and Da, but loves to point her finger at everything, and has started imitating Avery so that's pretty darn cute. She buzzes her lips when Avery does and pats and pokes on her all the time. Avery is such a good big sister- helpful, patient, and loving, what more could I ask for!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-07T20:18:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, we went up to Indianapolis to visit our dear friends from residency, Ron, Andrea, Vivan, and Beckett Suh. They lived just around the corner from us in Ann Arbor, and we miss them a lot! Vivian is 6 years old and Beckett is 3, just a week younger than Avery, so they had a blast playing together. And what a treat for me to take them on a trip where there is constant built-in entertainment! Whoo hoo!

Our little New Year's Eve Party:

Beckett & Avery's "office", where they practiced their favorite activity: cutting

the kids

On New Year's Day, we went to Ron's parents' house for a traditional Korean New Year's Day. We had a delicious Korean feast and dressed up in Korean outfits to perform a ceremony where the children honor their parents

check out Avery bowing to us. Avery was LOVING this! You know she is the dress up queen, and Daddy was even dressed up!

The rest of the day we just hung out, sang karaoke in Ron's parents' basement, and relaxed while the kids played together. What a treat!

Back at home, we finally had a warm enough day to play outside so the girls were enjoying their swingset.

This was Lucy's first time to play outside since she truly mastered her walking skills so she was having a great time.

heading out across the golf course- Bye!

sister to the rescue!

GARTH!

2011-01-07T07:45:00.000-06:00

The week before Christmas, Garth Brooks did 9 shows in Nashville to raise money for flood victims, and me, the ultimate Garth Brooks fan, attending 3 yes, THREE of the shows =) Whoo hoo!

Here I was the first night, Dave & I had date night but we weren't sitting together... got my new Garth fan friends to take my picture =)

best show ever! He played all the good stuff.

Show #2, I took Mom and Dad - here we are before leaving to head downtown

we were sitting together this time, though we had the worst seats ever =) Oh well! It was still a blast!

Show #3, we took Nancy & Jim

seeing how far my camera could zoom in =)

our seats weren't together that night either, but the seats around Dave weren't full so I joined him for the second half of the show

Garth is retired you know, so he doesn't do these kind of shows anymore... just has the acoustic show in Vegas. You could tell he was loving his wild crazy auditorium fans, though I don't know how he survived 9 shows in 6 days!

Gotta love how much the audience sang along.

Family Christmas

2011-01-05T11:26:00.000-06:00

We had such a nice Christmas! No drama, not much stress, just a lot of Christmas spirit 3 year old-style, quality time with our family, and some quiet time to think about all the blessings we've had this wonderful year.

Nana and Daddy Jim

the girls helping me whip up some Christmas goodies

Mimi

Mimi and Granddaddy before heading to our church's family Christmas Eve service.

The church service was wonderful- Avery was so cute at the end when the Mary & baby Jesus, Joseph, Shephards, Kings, etc. came walking down the aisle. The look of adoration in her eyes was priceless- I think she was more excited to see them than she was to see Santa Claus.

Chilling out on Christmas Eve watching Christmas movies

Lucy loving pulling all the paper towels off the roll

Christmas cookies for Santa

coming down Christmas morning... Avery woke up early but forgot there may be presents downstairs, ha!

her love, Ariel, with the pink dress!

Lucy got Avery's Nerds open and helped herself!

Christmas dinner!

Merry (Belated) Christmas to all!

Christmas Misc 2010

2011-01-04T21:33:00.000-06:00

decorating the tree

our beautiful Christmas stockings- Nancy made both Avery's and Lucy's and they are EXQUISITE. Nana is awesome!

Avery's Christmas program at school- she did pretty well

except that she spent a lot of time looking at the older kids singing behind her, ha

This is Dave's step-grandmother, Avery's one and only living Great-Grandmother, our Gee =) So glad Scott and Carla brought her to play with us!

Our first snow fall of the year- Avery was thrilled!

we tried to get Lucy to make a snow angel- she was less than thrilled

here was Avery's first snow angel, January 2008 =)

Avery's cute little snowman

Dave & Avery's gingerbread house, a success!

cuties in their Christmas pjs

Lucy kissin' Daddy

Santa Pics

2011-01-04T21:12:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know I am way behind here! Here are a few of the pictures that Kristen Weigel took of the girls when they met Santa Claus for the first time this year. Avery was very serious, a little shy, excited, and told Santa just what she wanted. Lucy was ok from a distance but did not like sitting in his lap at all =)

Happy Birthday Mimi!

2010-12-13T07:21:00.002-06:00

The girls and I weren't with it enough this year to get a card in the mail in time for Mom's birthday today, so I thought I would make a picture montage of her, Avery, and Lucy. We are all so lucky to have this wonderful lady in our life. Being such a great Mom, it is no surprise that she has taken the grandma role in stride, and it warms my heart to see the special gleam in Avery and Lucy's eyes when they see their Mimi or hear she is coming to town. From your squeeze hugs to your scouring the sale racks for gorgeous little girl clothes, we appreciate everything you do, Mom, and wish you a stress-free, fun-filled, snow day birthday. We love you!

(double click to watch at youtube so it isn't cut off)

Thanksgiving

2010-12-09T12:12:00.000-06:00

Not much time to write, but here are some pics from our super fun Thanksgiving in Destin. Had lots of fun hanging out with Mom, Dad, and Katie, had a great time shopping. The weather was kind of cold, but the girls loved playing on the beach.

Lucy really loved the sand and surprisingly didn't eat any!

Movie afternoon

let's go fly a kite

picking up seashells

learning to walk- yikes!

Christmas pjs!

Christmas Spirit Already!!

2010-11-20T22:21:00.001-06:00

Avery is brimming with holiday cheer already and I thought I'd show you these super cute videos from this week.

Thanksgiving Diddy she learned at school (make sure to listen to Lucy's humming along) Lucy "sings" like that every time we are singing!

Here are the girls meeting Santa last weekend at Kristen Weigel's photo shoot.

Love Lucy's transition from suspicious to upset =)

And here are the girls singing their FAVORITE song, Frosty the Snowman. Lucy sings along here too- we are having too much fun with Christmas already!

You may need to double click these videos to watch them directly from youtube, not sure why it cuts part of it off here on the blog!

Lucy 9 months

2010-11-11T12:34:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures of Lucy- she is amazing up with her ability to crawl super fast and even stand up all on her own. Her favorite thing is to head for the stairs so we're in the market for a new baby gate there =) The stair video is even several weeks old- you can imagine how fast she is now.

she is obsessed with Frosty the Snowman- here are her faces... she thinks she hears the song

frosty!

yay! and you haven't even seen her with the singing frosty stuffed snowman =)

new tooth up top!

Halloween

2010-11-11T12:25:00.001-06:00

Here are my 2 bumble bees on Halloween. Avery was VERY into Halloween this year, and we had so much fun. We walked over to our friends, the Hannolds, trick or treated with Annie and Addison, and walked home to hand out candy from our house. Avery loved that part just as much. She was standing at the corner of our house shouting to people who didn't bother to walk up the little hill to our house, "Hello trick or treaters! Do you see, our light is on!!" So cute.

Pumpkin Patch, Misc Fall

2010-11-11T12:13:00.000-06:00

Here are some misc pics from before Halloween.

We went up to the Bottom View Farms Pumpkin Patch in Portland, TN. Avery liked picking her own pumpkin off the vine, the hay maze, the super fun slide, and the hayride!

Avery's first official soccer picture

Soccer is finally over!

Here are a few pics from their team party:

Visitors from Far and Farther!

2010-10-29T19:45:00.001-05:00

This past week, we've had the pleasure of having two sets of dear friends come to our house. Sunday-Tuesday, Chris Brede and Nick Douville came down. Chris (on the left) is a urology resident at the Cleveland Clinic and Nick is an MD-PHD in Ann Arbor. Both were great friends of ours while we were in Michigan so we were delighted that they drove down to see us and our new digs.

Here they are accompanying us to our church's "Trunk or Treat" festival

While Dave was at work, we hit the park, took a driving tour of Nashville and ate at Nashville staple, Rotiers.

Both guys are SO good with the girls- I would love to have house-guests like these all of the time, I just got to mill around while they played with Avery & Lucy!

Here we are Monday afternoon at our My Gym Halloween party (didn't subject the guys to that one)

Lucy loved the balls!

My big bee =)

Then on Wednesday, we had another set of guests- Dave's brother Dirk and his lovely girlfriend, Crystel. Dirk & Crystel did get to meet Lucy in May when we visited San Francisco, but that was just a quick hello, and Dirk hadn't seen Avery since the Christmas before last! Wow! Anyway, Avery & Lucy immediately bonded with both of them, and we had a great visit with them. We really enjoyed getting to know Crystel, she is wonderful. When they left last night, Avery gave Crystel the longest, most lingering, touching hug I'd ever seen. I just wish they both lived closer- California is so far away!

Here they are snuggled up to watch the Princess & the Frog. I brought in some Halloween candy for them and Avery was literally in heaven. She proclaimed it a "snack party!"

Brothers =)

A darling picture of them- I love this one!

Mimi goes to Soccer

2010-10-29T14:35:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Mimi came in town to see one of Avery's soccer games. It was a pretty sad performance really, but anyone who knows 3 year olds knows that crankiness is always in the cards =)

She did manage a few good kicks, so that's better than nothing!

Next we went to the "pumpkin patch breakfast" at our club, which included a hayride that we all enjoyed on this beautiful day.

And that night, Daddy Dave went to work on his annual pumpkin carving project, subjects chosen by Miss Avery herself. This year was Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake, they are awesome!

check out last year's pumpkins, Nemo & Dory as well as Simba & Pumba

the year before he did Dora for her but I didn't capture it =(

Misc Pics

2010-10-29T14:11:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from the last week or so, us just hanging around! Lucy is crawling super fast these days, and she can cruise all around the furniture, even standing "no hands" every once in a while. She has 2 sweet teeth on the bottom and one now on the top!

Here are the girls last weekend at a play-date where we painted pumpkins in the park and had a picnic =)

Fall Saturday

2010-10-17T18:38:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, we had a super busy fall Saturday! Starting with soccer pictures at 8:00, we then had a soccer game at 9. Here are a few videos- Avery does a good job, but she gets intimidated with any kind of defense when she has the ball =)

sweet Lucy the spectator

after soccer, we went to the Halloween event at the Streets of Indian Lake. The shops all had candy for kids to trick or treat and there were bounce houses and craft booths and a Halloween parade. Here is Avery, the bee:

and she found another bee that she became friends with =)

here she is with her friends, Madelyn and Ashlynn, the dinosaurs

and her OTHER twin friends, Chloe and Madison! We saw a ton of 3yr old buddies at this event!

THEN after that, we went with our Sunday School class to the Honeysuckle Hill Farms pumpkin patch!

SO dirty waiting in line for the jumping thing... geez =)

jumping with all of our gang

Lucy and her friend Audrey

Trip to Michigan

2010-10-17T15:18:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, we drove up to Ann Arbor, MI for a urology conference/reunion weekend for Dave and a visit old friends fun trip for me and the girls. We had such a nice time seeing everyone, Dave would go in to the hospital for his meetings and Avery, Lucy and I would go meet friends for breakfast, park dates, museum dates, lunch dates, etc.

Here are Avery and Tommy hugging- ironically they had also gotten to see each other the weekend before at our house so they were already big buddies! It was so sad that Avery didn't remember a thing from Ann Arbor at all. We drove by our old house and she was like, no I never remember this, why are we driving so slow, can we drive any faster? We had gone to the children's museum there once a week when we lived there, and she didn't remember it one iota. I guess she was just 2 years old but it was still sad.

Our dear friends, the Hollenbecks, let us stay at their house and take over their fabulous basement, even supplying us with a pack-n-play, toddler bed, etc. Here are my girls with their girls, Kate & Olivia.

Here we are playing with Nadia and Sophia at the park. Avery is still talking about Sophia (same age as Lucy) and how cute she was.

Here they are together =)

Here are the girls at the Hands On Museum. We met Susie with Grant and Hunter and Cecilia with Nadia and Sophia. So mad I didn't get a group picture! All the kids have grown up so much since we left =(

On Saturday, we went tailgating for the Michigan game with the urology crew. It was a beautiful day and Avery got a big kick out of it, though she did continually sing the song Rocky Top and kept saying she saw Smoky! Ha!

and then went over to Anna's house to play with her, Kate, & Tommy. We had SO much fun playing and just hanging out. I miss ALL my friends from Ann Arbor so much and I'm so lucky that they are all (mostly) still living there so I get to see them when we come back. Go Blue!

Mama

2010-10-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

Lucy hasn't been talking much at all and we were getting a little worried about her, but I guess she just didn't want to talk babble if she didn't have anything important to say. Now she is saying Mama mama mama whenever she wants me, take a look =)

Fun with Mimi

2010-10-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

I don't have anything too exciting to report from the last few weeks, we've been battling a couple of colds/viruses that have kept us pretty homebound, but finally the girls seem to be feeling back to their usual happy selves. Here is sweet Lucy before Avery's soccer game.

Avery is doing a bit better with soccer games these days, but still doesn't really "get" it =) How can we expect them to be aggressive and competitive when we've only been preaching sharing and politeness their whole lives?!

My girls just hanging out

Lucy, who has discovered the stairs, and today she actually made it up one! Oh geez...

Last weekend Dave went up to Ann Arbor to run a race with a couple of dear friends.

The girls and I stayed at home for this one, and Mimi came to play- thank goodness for all of her help!

Mimi taught Lucy all sorts of tricks, here they are saying "bye bye." She also taught Lucy how to splash in the bathtub, thanks a lot! Hmm... reminds me of when she taught Avery that same special trick- see here.

We are sure grateful to have our parents close by and the girls definitely love the special relationship they have with all of their sweet grandparents, we love ya!!

Videos of Lucy

2010-10-02T08:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of videos of Lucy from the last week or so. Her personality is starting to shine through and she's so darn cute, in my biased opinion that is =)

Happy 7th Months

2010-09-17T08:50:00.000-05:00

Lucy is 7 months old, and what a cutie. She is very happy, loves giggling at her sister, is very quiet, but takes everything in and doesn't miss a thing. She has really gotten great at crawling the past week or so- this video is dark, but you get the picture. =) I've got some baby-proofing to do!

Family Pics

2010-09-10T17:03:00.001-05:00

We had our family pictures taken!
Here is the link in case you're curious =)

http://kristenweigelphotography.com/#/betsy-morris/

password: morris

Go Vols!

2010-09-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

Labor Day Weekend, we ventured over to Knoxville to stay with our friends Kristopher and Jessica Kimball and to go to Avery & Lucy's first TN Vols Football Game! Yes, we are crazy to take them both to a game, but we had the tickets anyway and Nancy was out of town that week, so we decided to make it a family affair. The weather was perfect, the girls were on their best behavior, and we had such a good time hanging out with our friends. We tailgated right next to the stadium and both girls made it through the half time show. Here are some pictures!

Soccer!

2010-09-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, at the ripe old age of 3, Avery has joined her first soccer team =) It's pretty fun- there are 6 people on each team, co-ed, and they play 3 vs. 3 with no goalie and no score board. They have only had one game so far, and it was a bit overwhelming, but Avery seemed to have fun so we'll see how this season goes! Thought you might enjoy some pics.

First practice

Video from 1st practice- she's a pretty good little runner/kicker!

trying on uniforms with Julia Kate

Second practice

team meeting

First game! Go Tigers!

hot

cheering on her team

we survived!

Here are a few clips from her first game. Whereas in practice she runs and kicks with the best of them, at her game she REFUSED to leave the middle of the field. Ha! The other team freaked her out a little bit =) She literally never moved from the middle circle. Frustrating, but cute.

Doctor, Zoo, Lucy scoots

2010-08-30T14:12:00.001-05:00

Both girls had their well check-ups last week, 3yr and 6 month. I already reported on Avery, but Miss Lucy is 15.5lbs, 26.26 inches long, and looking' good! We brought along our own doctor kit to use as entertainment while we were waiting so here are a few pics of the girls.

Last Wednesday, we met Katy and Elliott Parker at the Zoo. We had a great time catching up and enjoying the little bit cooler temperatures.

Sat night was Movie Night at our swimming pool- here are Annie, Addison, Ella, and Avery patiently waiting for the movie, the Princess & the Frog to start.

having some ice cream

Lucy is sitting up all by herself and really looks like she's going to up and crawl any day now, here are a few pics that I took before church.

she didn't fall down after this picture, I swear!

her determined look- there is probably a Stawberry Shortcake on the floor

I feel like she looks like my baby pictures in this one- can anyone confirm?

Day in the Life

2010-08-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

So funny, Lucy is in to EVERYTHING she can get her hands/gums on these days =)

Up later this week- First Soccer Game!

Peek-a-Boo Playtown Party

2010-08-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, Avery had a birthday party at Peekaboo Playtown! Here are some pics from her big day:

Avery "shopping" in the grocery store

Addison and Claire at the train table

Avery and Claire

Annie and Addison

Nate

Dad and Lil' Sis

Nathan and Avery

Peekaboo Playtown is just an indoor playground with a "grocery", "fire station", "hardware store," "house", "school", dollhouses, train tables, and a slide. A super fun place to meet for playdates and birthday parties!

Bryce ready for action

Princess Annie shopping

Group shot

Chin in the Strawberry Shortcake cake while blowing out the candles =)

Lu hanging out

Hugs goodbye

Happy Birthday #3!

2010-08-24T12:58:00.000-05:00

Avery had a big week last week- the big 3rd birthday and the start of a new school year! She turned 3 on August 19th, and I am so proud of the sweet spunky girl she has become. Avery is a girl full of energy and is ALWAYS on the go. She loves to run, jump, climb, and dance, and is as agile as any child I've seen. She also loves books, coloring, drawing faces, writing A's, playing with her dollhouse, legos, Disney Princesses and Strawberry Shortcakes. She never sits idle and especially prefers me and Lucy to be participating in every activity. This is fun and all, but leaves little time for me to do chores! Oh well, I guess I'll have plenty of time to work around the house/yard when she's grown and gone =) She is into all things girly and pink is her favorite color, but she had just as soon kick a soccer ball or gather rocks and mulch in the yard. She loves to swim and can swim underwater like a mermaid in the kid's pool, though she prefers her lifejacket when we venture over to the big pool. With friends, she can be a bit shy and tenderhearted, and is always nurturing with a pat on the back or a gentle hug. No boo-boos go unkissed at our house and at the first sign of a scratch, Avery will fix you up with a bandaid. She is the best big sister a girl could ask for, and is always loving on, kissing, or dancing with sweet Lucy. Avery insists that Lucy is HER sweetheart and that I can take Allie the babydoll to be my sweetheart. She is not exactly gentle with Lucy, and Lucy has had a few flailing arm or leg swipes in her day, but I can already tell that they will be fast friends. Avery is so good about fetching a toy for Lucy when she gets bored, a clean diaper when she needs one, and laughs it off when Lucy yanks her hair or scratches her nose. Avery can work an iphone better than my Dad and "family movie night" is her night time activity of choice. The child requires very little sleep and is quite the early riser, although recently she has been doing a great job of watching her clock in the mornings and right at 6:00 we hear her exclaim, I can come down, it says 6! Avery is as stubborn as they come, smart, and surprisingly tolerant. I can't say that she listens to me 100% of the time, but for the most part she is an obedient child and she is a joy to take on excursions and adventures. I am so blessed to have her as my little girl, and am cherishing every moment we have together. I love you Avery, wish you a SUPER 3rd birthday and look forward to many more to come!

As I am not doing the best job documenting her stats in a baby book, I will go ahead and tell you all: At 3 years old, she is 34 lbs and 38.25 inches tall. She can recognize all of her letters 95% of the time, and can count to 20ish. She knows her colors and basic shapes, the names of her parents, and the fact that she lives in Tennessee and Mimi lives in Kentucky but recently took a trip to Alaska, and that the beach is in Florida. She knows to stop at a red light and go at a green light, and can point out fire hydrants from a mile away. She knows the lyrics to many many Disney songs and really enjoys the Music Together class that we take together on Friday mornings. She can write the letters A, V, E, and Y and knows that my name starts with B and that Lucy's starts with L. She can recognize the word Avery. Her favorite foods are macaroni & cheese, chicken w/broccoli, Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets, edamame, yogurt sticks, apples, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries, pop-ice, and fruit snacks. She is potty trained for day and night, and very rarely takes a nap. She is loving and tons of fun, though I am worn out at the end of every day!

Mimi & Granddaddy

2010-08-24T12:08:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago, Mom and Dad decided to come down and get their Avery/Lucy fix- yay, free babysitters! Dave and I had two lovely nights out in a row, and the girls had a great time playing with Mimi and Granddaddy. Lucy does not love strangers and is actually a bit picky with her affections, but she and Dad are big buddies =)

Dad and Dave played golf together on Sat morning- lucky for them to have a beer fetcher living on hole #8!

Then the next weekend, Dave was on call, so the girls and I decided at the last minute to head to Hickman. We moved Lucy from the infant carrier carseat to a big girl convertible seat, so she is a much happier car rider now, thank goodness.

Katie introduced the girls to her new puppy, Toby

Lucy again with her friends

Gotta love a little spoiling from the grandparents! Thanks yall!

Fort

2010-08-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

Oatmeal, Smiles, Wagon Rides

2010-08-05T11:01:00.000-05:00

Nothing too crazy going on around here these days. Lucy is interacting more and more, pretty much sitting up on her own, and loves to shimmy over to wherever Avery's tiniest, most precious toys are so she can chew on them =) Lucy is a busy bee just like her sister and is constantly on the lookout for something to grab and check out. She especially loves phones, remote controls, and crinkly plastic bags. GREAT. Lucy also started eating some oatmeal, and she just isn't really sure what to make of it. Here are some pics of her first feeding:

Silly faces after church

cracking up at themselves

Happy Sisters

Sitting up

resting =)

Tickling

playing ball

Wagon ride

The heat here is just awful beyond belief, so we barely get out of the house, but this day we forged the heat early in morning and went for a wagon ride. The bumbo seat worked perfectly for Lucy and the girls had a great time, as several spots on the sidewalk were getting hit with the golf course sprinklers. Whoo hoo!

Dancing and Laughing

2010-07-25T19:48:00.002-05:00

You can't see her so clearly in this video but she was cracking up dancing! So funny.

My princesses

2010-07-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, you come here of your own free will so I don't feel too guilty posting all of these pics of my kids! =) Here is a cute one from last Sunday after church:

And here are the outtakes!

My baby girl being adorable:

Scott and Carla have been here this weekend for our Member/Guest Golf Tournament. They gave Avery her birthday present early so they could see how she liked it. Take a look for yourself- she's thrilled!

Of course Lucy gets her turn to be a princess too!

Baptism

2010-07-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend, we had sweet Lucy baptized at our church here in Hendersonville, First United Methodist. We were so blessed to have Mom and Dad, Nancy and Jim, and Katie come into town for this joyous occasion. Here are some pics from the church:

Some pics back at the house:

silly girls

grandparents

the christening dress was Katie's when she was a baby, and Avery wore it as well. It's lovely!

lunch at our house after the service

messing around the house

putting stickers on Mimi

more of my girl in her dress:

a few pics from Avery's baptism to compare =)

Mobile- by land and by sea

2010-07-08T12:04:00.000-05:00

Avery, Lucy, and I went to the pool yesterday, and low and behold, Avery showed me how she could swim underwater! She swam a lot with Dave over the weekend, but mostly with her life jacket on. Granted, we are in the kids pool in this video so it isn't very deep, but I was impressed. Thought you might like to see.

And here is a video of Lucy rolling over- she's been doing it for a while, rarely, but now she rolls over quite a bit. She's a bit cranky here but you get the picture =)

Yesterday, Dave had a few hours free from work in the morning so we met him at the zoo!

Lucy in our sit-n-stand stroller that I love.

Dave and Avery on the merry-go-round

Avery's favorite- the elephants!

Lucy's favorite- the giraffes! (She loves her toy giraffe, Sophie, so that's why)

A few more randoms of Lucy- I just can't get enough of her =)

4th of July Summary

2010-07-08T11:49:00.001-05:00

What a fun, busy weekend! Friday night we went to a friend's cookout:

with the best sandbox in town- I know our club loved that! hee, hee

then came back to our house to watch the Fairvue fireworks

Avery loved the idea of fireworks, but when they were actually going on, she wanted to go in the house =) Not a big fan of the super loud booms. Luckily Lucy was fast asleep and didn't hear a thing.

Saturday we went to Dave's co-worker's house on the lake- I've got a girl that loves Capri Suns

AND water slides!

Saturday night, we went to another friend's house for BBQ with all the kids.

Avery loved running around with her buddies

Lucy even got to join in the fun

Lucy with her friend Bailey

Sunday- another party with another great group of friends! I told you we were busy!

I can't believe that we moved here a year ago this week. We're so blessed to have found great friends, a house that we love, and a place that feels like home.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Avery had a parade at school on Thursday- here are some video tidbits. She started a new "school" this summer, going from the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville last year to the First Methodist Church, which is the church we joined a few months ago. She seems to be doing well with the transition, especially since she already knew most of the kids in her class here at our church. Although, she does still talk about her "right school" and how she misses Nathan and Nate =(.

Here are some other holiday pics from the week.

Avery and her new friend, Lucy =)

Avery's class

Lovin' after school

Here are some pictures from before our festivities last night- we went to a 4th of July cookout at a friend's house in our neighborhood, then watched the Fairvue Fireworks from our front yard with several of our friends. Great night!!

Cousins, Haircut

2010-07-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, my cousins Heather and Tami were through town looking at colleges and stopped by to see us! It had been forever since we'd seen them, so it was so nice to catch up. They even did me a big favor by watching the girls Friday night so Dave and I could go to a cocktail party. Thanks!

Heather and Avery got to be big buddies.

Not much other news from the week- Lucy is getting stonger by the day- sometimes I think she's going to pick up and crawl away.

She still LOVES that sista.

Notice how long her hair is in those pics, now.... tada!

She has bed head here, but her new hair cut is super cute! She was such a big girl at the salon, and we had a fun ice cream treat afterwards.

Chatting in bed

and telling secrets

and we're done =)

We're so glad the temperatures went down a bit- love being able to go back outside!

Video Tidbits

2010-06-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

Nashville Rising

2010-06-24T21:39:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night, Dave, me, and 16 of our dear friends here in Hendersonville went to the Nashville Rising concert. We had SO MUCH FUN!! There were so many great performers there: Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many many more. Each performer played 2 songs and the whole evening was to raise money for the flood victims here in Nashville. Our friends were able to get a suite, so we had our own bathroom, bartender, snacks, etc. and could all hang out and watch the amazing singers. I have to say Carrie Underwood stole the show as far as I'm concerned. No wonder she won American Idol- that girl can SING!!! Here are some pictures from our night:

I'm so grateful to have made such super fun friends here in Hendersonville and I had such a good time getting out on an adults only night. Avery did great at home with the babysitter, but Lucy was not quite as content and refused to take her bottle. Boo! Oh well, they survived =)

Beauty and the Beast, Cleveland

2010-06-24T21:29:00.000-05:00

We've been busy busy these last few weeks! On June 16, Mom came down and Avery, Dave, Mom, and I had a date downtown Nashville for the broadway performance of Beauty and the Beast at TPAC. Here we are before heading out:

Avery did great- though I realize she was a bit young to take to a 2.5 hour show. =) She loved the dance numbers, the music, and the costumes. She is on a major Belle/Disney Princess kick right now so the timing worked out great. She was a little scared of the Beast's super loud roar, but she was a trooper. We all had a great time! Lucy even behaved for the babysitter, her first official one. She took the bottle like we've been practicing, whoo hoo!

The next day we headed out to Cleveland/Chattanooga, TN for Dave to do the Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race on Lookout/Raccoon/Signal Mountains. Dave's Dad and StepMom live in Cleveland so we stayed there so the girls could get their Gigi and Papa fix while Dave drove in to do his races each day. Here are some pics from Dave's race- he did a great job!

the view

Papa and Avery on the lookout for Dave

Avery joining Daddy to cross the finish line

While Dave was racing, one day Carla, the girls, and I went down to the aquarium. Dave had my camera at the race, but here is a pic of them afterwards with their cute pink penguin.

Over the weekend we let Dave stay in his own room to get a good night's sleep before each race, and Avery, Lucy, and I slept in the room together. Here is a pic one night before I moved Lucy over to the pack-n-play, I couldn't resist sneaking a picture- Allie, Avery's baby is joining them.

Here are some pics of Carla, Scott, and Avery having a golf lesson =)

The other day we were there, I found out that my roommate from all 4 years at Baylor was also in Chattanooga! Brantley Johnson and I haven't kept in touch very well, so it was SO nice to see her and catch up. Here is a picture of us!

June 13 pics

2010-06-13T15:08:00.000-05:00

Nana Visits

2010-06-12T14:37:00.000-05:00

Daddy Jim went on a fishing trip last week, so Nana came to get her Avery/Lucy fix. The girls had a blast with her and I got lots of errands done with an extra set of hands. Here's a picture of them before we went to the pool one day =)

Thought you might like to see how much Lucy LOVES Avery- it's like this all day, she never takes her eyes off of her. She's crazy about that sista!

Hello June

2010-06-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

These sweet sisters missed each other last week! Here are my 2 cuties before we went out to the pool this weekend.

Pics after church

Cutest booty in town

Leaning...

and rolling over

Love this baby!