We had a fun weekend in the b-family household! Friday night Artie had his last softball game of the summer, he was sad, but Avie and I are happy to have Friday nights with daddy again! Saturday, Artie and I had a mini-date at the spa to get facials! We hadn't been out together without Avery since she was 2 months old and we hurried out to see Sweeny Todd and then rushed home! This time we didn't rush so much, but we weren't out too long since her sitter was a first timer...Aunt Cimmy. Thank goodness Cim's boyfriend, Brian, helped out because Cim had never changed a diaper.  Fortunately, Aunt Cimmy finally faced her fears and changed a wet diaper, but didn't feel up to braving the poopy one and made Brian do it...small steps Cim! To round out the weekend, we met Aunt Beth for lunch and had a great time catching up. Avery got to show Beth her knew eating skills since ditching the baby food...she had mini corn dogs-that apparently looked so good daddy had to sneak a few-and broccoli, plus some sweet potato fries she shared with Aunt Beth. Then out of nowhere, Sunday night Artie said "mmm, Garrett's popcorn sounds good." Lo and behold, today around 2:30pm his boss had to make an emergency trip back to Fort Wayne from working in Chicago and...Artie gets to go finish the job! So, sadly he will be away from Avery over night for the first time, but he gets to get the popcorn he was craving without much of a wait! Hopefully, she won't do anything huge...like take her first step-which she's on the verge of doing. We are on tooth watch though, as Avery is almost 9 1/2 months and still has NO teeth! T minus 4 days until we leave for South Carolina so the house is crazy getting everything it takes ready to travel with a baby! We can't wait until we get to see you Wednesday night daddy/Artie! 

Aunt Cimmy's

Today, we got to go hang out with Aunt Cimmy at her apartment with Grammy!  We got to go to the pool, which Avery absolutely loves:) Although, she doesn't quite understand why she can't crawl around in the water like she does in the bath. We couldn't get into swim classes until September, so mom's a little paranoid!  While hanging out back at Cim's pad, Avery found some 3-D glasses and Aunt Cimmy got her to wear them for a bit...she looked so cute and wondered what the heck was going on! 

First Trip to the Park!

Today, we got to take Avery to the park for the first time.  I know, what have we been waiting for!  For some reason we haven't gotten to the park, even though it's 2 minutes from our house! She really had a good time.  She couldn't take her eyes off the little boy that was running around climbing and sliding all by himself!  The swing was especially fun because Avery loved to look down and watch her shadow swing by.  We can't wait until Avery can explore the playground on her own:)

Ladies Lunch

We hosted a mini 'ladies lunch' at our house today.  Avery got to show off her new eating skills to Grammy, Aunt Cimmy, and Great Aunt Beverly!  We had a great lunch with lots of girl chat:)  Great Aunt Beverly just had a knee replacement only 5 weeks ago and is doing so great-you can't even tell she just had such a major surgery!  Rocco (our beagle) ran away today for the 2nd time in 3 days!  I told Artie to just let him go and maybe he'd learn how good he has it at home!  But then he almost got ran over so Artie ended up chasing him down.  I think he'll be spending the night in doggie crate accommodations.  God love Rocco, he's definitely the reason we have the patience to raise a child! 

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Cincinnati to attend Janelle's wedding!  Janelle was one of my roommates sophomore year at SMC and is one of the nicest people I know.  We had such a great time catching up with many SMC/ND alums.  It was Avery's first wedding and she was great, even showed some moves on the dance floor!  We had a blast staying at Artie's dad's condo for the weekend.  Artie and I even braved the hills to go for a long run outside!  Avery loves spending time with her aunts, Cindy & Beth, and uncles, Tom and Dave.  They are so great with her, Avery's ready for some cousins to play with (hint, hint!).  Overall, it was a fabulous weekend...thanks to Janelle and Joe for letting us be part of their day!

How Avery's Grown

Here is a photo compilation of how Avery has grown over the last 9 months!

So here's our first blog!  We've moved from our .mac account and are trying this out:)

Today, Avery had her 9 month check-up.  We can hardly believe that she is getting so old.  She's crawling, standing and taking a few steps with her walker!  Avery weighed in today at 17 lbs. and 13 oz.  She's only in the 30th percentile, but that's mostly because she's so active.  Her body has finally caught up with her head, as her head has gone from 75th to 55th percentile!  And, she measures in at 28 inches...Dr. says that Avery's ready to be taken off baby food and bottles!  She's pretty much on a toddler diet, already...mommy and daddy aren't quite ready for her to grow up so fast!