Christmas Part 1- Mimi's House

The weekend before Christmas, Avery and I ventured up to Hickman to visit Mimi, GDa, and Katie for some hometown fun. Meanwhile, Dave ran a 50 mile trail race in Chattanooga- eek! Avery and I basically hung out, helped Aunt Katie look at houses, and made sure to play all of Mimi's musical stuffed animals as much as possible. Here are Mimi and Avery decorating a piggy bank as a present for Granddaddy

and the finished product

Avery and Katie's boyfriend, Michael, are big buddies so she was very excited when Michael came to visit, especially since he brought his dog Levi.

Here are Avery and Katie playing with Avery's new shopping cart- look out walls! Whew, that heavy, metal, destructor on wheels stayed at Mimi's house =)

Here is Avery wearing poor Mimi out as much as possible.

It's a wonder Mimi survived the weekend! Especially since I left Avery there in Hickman when I left on Sunday so that I could get some major Christmas chores done back here in Nashville. I hosted the Sanger and Howell clans here on Christmas day... here is a pic of some of the work I got done during my alone time- getting our new dining room table's first major event =)

 

Urology Associates Christmas Party

Dave's office emailed him a couple of pictures from their Christmas party last week- this is when Avery was dancing with the very kind Dr. Christopher Hill. He was twirling her around, and their dancing was quite impressive. At the end everyone clapped and she covered her face like, "oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm doing this!" So funny. And don't worry- we didn't let her be "that" obnoxious child- it was only one dance!

Gigi, Papa, and Gee!

On Sunday, Dave's Dad (Papa), Step-Mom (Gigi), and her Mom (Gee) came to celebrate Christmas with us and to let Gee see Avery while while she is down visiting Tennessee. We had a great time hanging out. Dave and his Dad went to the Titan's game on Sunday afternoon while the ladies went out for some Christmas shopping and a horse drawn carriage ride!
Gotta love Avery's expression here- as usual, she was wary at first, but warmed up to our ride pretty quick!
Avery snuggled up next to Gee on the ride- they got to be big buddies!
Back at the house, we made sure Papa got his fill of playing ball and reading books, Avery's two favorite pastimes.
And then we opened Christmas presents- one of Avery's gifts was a baby that pee pees in her diaper after you feed her a bottle of water. As you can imagine, that's a big hit!! Thanks for everything yall!
Yesterday, Dave got done with work early so we decided to take Avery to her first movie- Disney's the Princess and the Frog. We all enjoyed it! Avery was wary at first, very serious, then excited, then a little restless towards the end, but she watched the whole thing, did a little dancing, and had a great time. She's David Morris's daughter- you know she has to like movies!

Parties and Parties

Last Thursday night, Dave and I got a babysitter so we could go to the Hendersonville Hospital physician Christmas party. Here we are all dressed up!
Then Friday was a very busy day- Avery and I went down to Cool Springs to help shop for needy families with my co-workers. When we were done, we hit the mall and saw Santa! Here is our first attempt at Santa's lap. No tears, but no smiles, and some very wary looks =)
Afterwards, we went downtown to crash Dave's work Christmas party- it was at the Urology Associates office and Avery was a bit hit dancing to the music. Here she is in her "frosty the snowman" coat, as she calls it:
with Mom
and Dad
Unfortunately, we didn't make it back down to my office Christmas party that night. We were all pooped and I'm sure they appreciate me not dragging my tired 2 year old there that night. We missed you all though- too bad so many parties in one day!

Saturday morning, Dave ran the "Frostbite 5k" and actually won his age group! So Avery and I went to cheer him on at the awards ceremony:and lo and behold, Santa was here too- yay! Still no smiles, but she was agave a little hugand talked to him about her wishes for this Christmas (a dollhouse, please)Later on Saturday morning, we went to the Fairvue Plantation Breakfast with Santa, here in our subdivision. I told you we've been busy! Here is Avery with Dave after getting her balloon animal reindeer:
Coloring after eating a yummy breakfast
And here's the family pic with Santa- this Santa was great! Still no real smiles from Avery, but no tears either. She had some very serious expressions, but I still thought we looked cute =)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

After Thanksgiving, we started decorating the house for Christmas- here I am with Avery unwrapping all of our beloved ornaments.

Totally in sync!Hanging out in Christmas pj's:
putting finishing touches on the tree:
and playing with Rudolph and Clarice from our new favorite Christmas movie:
Even singing some Christmas carols at the piano. Avery is a stellar Christmas Caroler- I have GOT to get some videos of her singing on here. Check out her singing expressions, ha!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are 2 pics from Thanksgiving- Nancy and Jim came for the big day, as well as my parents head through on the way to Destin, and then Scott and Carla came that weekend. Fun family time!
On Dec 3rd, Avery and I went downtown to see Sesame Street Live- featuring Elmo. We decided to go at the last minute, and I'm glad we did. We had lots of fun, though she told Mimi on the phone afterwards that it was a little scary. Those big characters are a bit overwhelming, but it was a fun Friday morning adventure! We technically weren't allowed to take pictures, but here a few I took with my phone =)

Local Celebrities

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DN&Dato=20091203&Kategori=PHOTO10&Lopenr=1203003&Ref=PH&Item=3
Check us out from our Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning!

Also here's a family pic from that morning: