Christmas day

Christmas Morning

This had to be the best christmas ever! Avery was so cute in the morning everytime we said santa came she would give the biggest grin. When i went to get brett and avery up, brett already had her in the bed and they were cuddling it was so cute. She was so happy all morning and loved all of her presents.

This is my favorite picture of christmas morning. Annie also came with us to bretts parents. Annie gets so close to her face and you think she is going to lick avery, but she just wants to smell her. Soon annie and avery will be the best of friends running around together. Avery already loves the dog so much she gets the biggest smile when she is around.

I had to get a picture of avery with all of her presents. She looks so little with all those big presents around her. Most of the gifts she won't be able to enjoy for a couple more months, but its nice to have things she can grow into.

What a great christmas it was, and i couldn't ask for anything more. After opening gifts avery was worn out, so she went down for a nap. Debbie made us the famous breakfast we have every year it was delicious. After eating we enjoyed playing the wii, playing games and just hanging out. Brett and i stayed for awhile until the snow storm settled down, so we could drive back to layton to see my family. As i look back at last christmas i would of never thought i would be spending my next christmas with our daughter. We feel so blessed to now have our little family we always wanted. Avery i want you to know what a great first christmas you had. You enjoyed it with all the many people that love you. After leaving the muirs we headed off to see my family to share what we had left of christmas. We went to my sister jennys to see what santa brought her kids. They got rock band, so that was our entertainment for the night. After all the festivities we were worn out, but at the same time so sad that christmas was over. It comes so fast and leaves so fast. This will be a christmas i will never forget and i am so excited for next year!!

Christmas eve

Christmas eve was at brett's parents house this year. We started with a turkey dinner that debbie made it was so delicious and she did it all by herself she didn't have us bring anything. Thanks debbie for all that hard work!! After dinner it was time to open presents. It was so fun to have avery and boston open their presents. Avery of course is still too young to know whats going on, but its still fun to have little kids around. She loved playing with the wrapping paper and trying to eat it. She got so spoiled from her aunts and uncles and of course by her grandma and grandpa. All the presents she got on christmas eve was plenty and we still had christmas morning to open presents. We had such a fun night and we were all excited to get ready for santa to come! We stayed the night there, so we didn't have to hurry home and be able to enjoy christmas morning with the 2 grandkids. I will be posting christmas day when i get some more time.

Anne & Avery

On tuesday my sister anne flew in from portland. This was the first time she met avery, and my sister just feel in love with her. She just kept hugging her and giving her kisses it was so cute!! Now that i have avery i want her to now all of her aunts and uncles, and it makes me so sad that anne lives in portland. She is such a fun aunt and i want avery to know her. Hopefully my sister will move back to utah, but if not i know anne will make a special effort to keep in touch. Avery i want you to know what a special person aunt anne is. She is so fun to be around and when anne and your mom get together we laugh so much!! She is so caring and the best person to call for advice. She always knows what to say when your having a bad day to lift your spirits. We love you anne and we are so glad you finally got to meet little avery.

photo shoot!

The other day i decided to do my own photo shoot! She was just being so sweet that day and she is always so happy when she is just her diaper. She just has the cutest little round face and her eyes just make me melt. She is so precious and has such a sweet little spirit. Who needs to spend hundreds on a photographer!! Avery you are just one in a million we love you so much!

My first doll

Avery got this cute doll from my sister. I gave it to her a few days ago and she loves it. She grabs it and tries to eat it and gives it hugs. Its so fun to see her start enjoying her toys and also nice that something else can keep her occupied. On monday avery turned 4 months! She is getting the cutest personality always so happy!!! Another thing thats exciting is she is sleeping through the night. On monday night we decided it was time to try to see if she could get to sleep without one of us rocking her or swaddling her. I was a little nervous because we have swaddled her from day one, but i was so sick of doing it and she would escape from it anyways. So around 9 we just set her in her crib awake and let her cry it out and boy did she cry! it was the worst night ever i hardly slept and i kept wanting to go comfort her. I have been reading this sleep book called "healthy sleep habits, happy child" and it talks about getting your child to comfort themselves to sleep and if you do it early they will get good sleep habits. I have known a few people that have gone by this book and swear by it. But that night i was thinking i don't think this is working, but i knew from reading the book that i would have to stick to it for a few days to know. So after that awful night we attempted it the next night,and this time she only cried for one hour and then slept all night!! and since then it has just been getting better and better. Now i can say this book is so right! Its so nice to be able to get a full nights sleep and i have to say she is much happier as well. So if anyone wants to get there baby to sleep better read this book. Its not easy and is still hard to hear her cry, but i know now that even if she is screaming she will go to sleep.
Avery is now 14 lbs and 23 1/2 inches she is 75% in her weight, but only between 25% and 50% in her height. She is just growing so big , but the doctor said she is growing good and is a healthy girl. She is such a sweet girl and i am such a proud mom!

Temple square

Friday night we went down to temple square to see the lights with our friends. We had such a good time, and it totally got me into the christmas spirit. We got avery all bundled up as you can tell, but she didn't want to be in her stroller she wanted to be out where she could see the lights. She loved it and was being such a good baby all night.

Brett and i are so lucky to have such great friends. We have so much fun laughing and talking with our friends i wish we could see eachother more often. The boys were being so cute taking the kids while us girls got to walk around and talk and catch up. What great husbands we all have. After we saw the lights we went down to the gateway to eat and the california pizza kitchen. By the time we sat down it was 9:00 and way past the bedtime for our kids. They all did so good and were all so cute! But around 10 they were done and needed to sleep. I guess no more late nights with friends. Thanks guys for your friendship and i say we make this a tradition.

I just love going to temple square especially during the christmas season. To remind me what christmas is all about, our savior. Its such a neat place to feel the spirit and remember whats important this time of year and the true meaning of christmas. This time of year i want to be around those i love my family and friends and build special memories.

Avery has taken her first big step she rolled over last night. I was cooking dinner and had left her to play on the floor . I would come check on her every once in awhile and first i noticed she was rolling to her side,but this is normal for her because she has being dong that since she was born. Then i came back in and she had rolled over, but she had her hand stuck. Then i rolled her back to her stomach and this time she rolled over and if got her hand out. I was so excited and such a proud mom. I got the camera out and then she stopped, so this morning we tryed again and i got it on camera yahoo! The small things that make us moms so excited and proud of our kids. Today she has been doing it all day and she loves it, but now she is getting frustrated because she can't roll back over. Its so fun to see her try and figure it out and then accomplish it. What smart kids they become! I can't believe how big she is getting it felt like yesterday that we brought her home. The only thing now is brett needs to see her do it. He was at work yesterday and today he was sleeping poor daddys always miss all the fun.

So much to be thankful for!

These are some pictures we took at thanksgiving at my parents house. This was avery's first thanksgiving and she was so cute all day!! By the time my parent's got pictures with her she was not as happy since we had all ready taken millions of her she was done for the day. I have so much to be thankful for this year and i just want to take this time to name a few.

I am extremely thankful for our little angel avery. I couldn't be more grateful to be able to be a mother to this sweet girl. And also at this time i am so thankful for samantha our birthmom for her strength and love for avery. I can't think of a better time than thanksgiving to thank my heavenly father for this chance to be parents and i know without this gospel and eternal families this would not be possible.

I am thankful for our families. This time of year makes you reflect on how lucky brett and i to have such wonderful supportive families. Family is always there when you feel like everything in our lives is falling apart and it just makes you grateful for the plan of eternal families. Brett and i are so lucky to be so close to our families and love spending time with them. Avery is so lucky to have 2 families that adore her!

I can't go without letting my husband know how thankful i am for him. He is such a hardworker and is so busy, but he always makes time for avery and i. He is the cutest dad he just loves her so much and avery just gets the biggest grin when she sees her daddy. Brett is always making me laugh and he can tell the same funny stories over and over and i still laugh just as hard. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and most of all the greatest bestfriend.

I love this picture lola my neice wanted to be in the picture so bad to be close to avery. She just loves avery so much and just wants to hug and kiss her all the time. Lola is also adopted and these 2 little girls have so many people that love them! Avery loves all her neices and nephews she gets the biggest grin when they are around. I can't wait til she can run around with them. I love this holiday to reflect on all our many blessings we have, and to remind us to always be grateful throughout the whole year.