More PIctures...

I wish I knew how to add several pictures into one post, but I'm not that computer literate. Here is some more fun pictures taken of Avery. She seriously finds something new each day to "climb" into, literally!! She has figured out how to climb on things and stack things to climb on. She now has figured out how to get in the fridge. What's next...??

You guessed it the dog crate! She also loves to give kisses and blow kisses, I think that is what she was doing to Kyle while he was snapping the picture. What else could she possibly get into...??

Now the dishwasher...she definitley keeps us busy to say the least.

Avery now has 11 teeth. It's crazy how fast those babies came in. She has 6 on the top (2 are molars) and 5 on the bottom (1 is a molar). So she can eat a lot more things now with all those chompers. One of her favorites is tortillini and ravioli, and she devours itas you can see.

Here she is in her Easter dress her Grandma Jones bought for her. She didn't actually wear it on Easter because of all our car drama but eventually she did and doesn't she look adorable!! Man I love this girl!!

Picture Update...

So much has been going on I just thought I would put a few pictures up of my baby girl!! I can't believe how FAST she's growing. She has such a cute personality and is already a drama queen, but we still love her. Gangsta Avery

She loves to put my heels on, but gets a little frustrated when she can't get them to stay on. And if your putting the heels on you gotta have the BLING too.

Gotta LOVE that smile. Still not sure who she looks like...Kyle or me??

Loves to play in her sandbox we had done for her at our new house. She screams bloody murder when you bring her inside.

She also LOVES the phone. She knows just what to do when she sees one. So if you get a call from me and all you here is heavy breathing...Avery's got the phone. We have already had to apologize to several random people she has called on the land line.

The Blogging Funk...

I apologize to all my family and friends (my dad) who look to my blog for updates/pictures of my cute family. I've got a case of the blogging funk. I guess I'm still trying to figure out the balance between work, motherhood, and everything else. We have had things going on (Avery is now walking, crazy stories of clients that I work with, and illnesses to boot) so I can't lie and say nothing is happening I just caught a case of the funk. I promise I will pull out of this and get back to my blogging ways and post some updates and pictures of my family, although I haven't been taking a ton of pictures either. What is up with me?? I've seen other friends go through the blogging funk too so I know I will pull out of it, I just can't tell you when. I guess at least posting this crazy message is a step in the right direction. Wish me luck out of this FUNK!!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY AVERY!!

I can't believe my baby is 1! It seems just like yesterday I brought her home from the hospital. Avery truly is our little miracle baby. It wasn't easy getting her here (concieving & pregnancy) but we don't know where we would be without her. She is such an amazing little baby and we love her with all our hearts. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives and I truly know she was meant for our family. I hope one day to have more children just like her, but if I never did I feel so incredibly lucky that our Heavenly Father chose me to be her mom. I feel so privelegded to call myself "Avery's Mommy". It hasn't always been easy with the endless poopy diapers, sleepless nights, and crying but I wouldn't change it for the world. I hope she never forgets how much her dad and I love her. Happy Birthday Avery, we love you so much!!



We had Avery's party the day after her birthday and she had so much fun...well until the cake part (scroll down to see what I'm talking about). She had so much fun playing with her grandpas, grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Obviously we had a princess party because she is our little princess and what little girl doesn't pretend to be a princess at one time or another in there life, so we made her princess for the day (really it's everyday). We had family and friends over for dinner and then cake and ice cream. My parents and sister even came from Utah to be here for this special occasion. My family is amazing, but they LOVE to spoil her!! Here she is showing off her lion walker and jewlery case.

In her new wagon Grandma and Grandpa Meenderink gave her.

Showing off the princess cake with her cousin Kayli.

Deciding if she wants to dig in or not.

Guess she didn't like it after all. She is definetly my girl if she doesn't like to get dirty. But she also had a ton of people in her face, which she wasn't really fond of.

Happy Birthday Honey!!

Today Kyle celebrated his 32nd Birthday and Avery and I just wanted to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! And in honor of his birthday I am posting pictures of Avery in his favorite "outfit" on her, the Aggie hat. We all know how much he loves his Utah State Aggies even after they got there butts kicked by Boise State in Basketball. He's a die hard fan, through and through. We love him very much and hope he has a fabulous birthday!When she can't get the aggie hat off her head.......and when she can!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

New Job

I have decided to go back to work part time, we need a little extra cash as Kyle was laid off in October, but also because it is a great opportunity and they are paying me quite well. I will be working as a Social Worker for a Transitional Home in Nampa. It's only 20-25 hours a week with half the hours being on site and in the office and the other half in the comfort of my home on my laptop doing paperwork. It's also not a set schedule either, I set the schedule with the clients so it's really flexible. My husbands friend is the controller for the company and I guess he thought I would be great for the job, so here I am going back into the work field.
Kyle has been doing mortgage loans from home and keeps looking for a job (but what bank is hiring right now for a Constuction Loan Officer!) and so he will stay with Avery when I am working. The job is temporary right now as it is program that runs off of a grant from the State which is renewed every June, so then I find out if I will continue to work or not. But for now I am at least working until the end of May and I am super excited. Although I will miss being home with my little girl I know she is in good hands with her dad and maybe it will give him an idea of what I do everyday.
So wish me luck on my new adventure!

Happy Valentines Day!!

We hope everyone had a Happy Valentines Day, we sure did! We actually celebrated it the night before since the big game (USU vs. BSU, basketball) was on Saturday night. We went over to a friends house and had our annual heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's, but I forgot to take my camera over there. We just ate our "elegant" dinner and hung out while the kids played, it was actually very nice! Below are some pictures of Avery with her gift from her dad and my gift from him too. Avery wasn't really in to posing, so I just snapped some as quick as I could. Here she is with her gift from her dad. He got her a cute little stuffed animal. She loves to play with her dogs, the live and fake ones.Here is another one of Avery with her gift and mine. I love rose bushes. In fact when we moved to our new house I was so sad I had to leave my yellow rose bush behind (it doesn't look like this one I'm just trying to explain) , it was given to me on my 1st mothers day from my mother in-law and it was so beautiful in the spring and summer. So this is my new "rose bush". Let's see how long I can keep it alive.

And here is just a picture of Avery's cute Valentine shoes. A friend gave those to Avery and they are just so adorable.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Avery update

Avery is getting soooo big!! She is now almost 11 months old and such a handful. Avery has now mastered crawling and is pulling herself up on everything. As you can see from the picture Avery pulled herself up on the baby gate at my parents house and it looks like she is in baby jail. She is now also climbing our stairs and falling down them (I only looked away for a minute and she came tumbling down). I guess thats part of learning, for me and her I have to keep my eyes on her ALL the time. You can also see her teeth in the picture. Yes that's right she now has 6 teeth, 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. At the end of November her 1st tooth on the bottom came in and then they all started coming after that. So needless to say she's been a little cranky, but it doesn't seem to bother her much anymore. We've also had to baby proof our house. As you can see she likes to open the cupboards and pull everything out. Good thing this time it was only the tupperware and not the glass dishes.

In this picture you can see her hair is finally growing and getting darker. The other day I was finally able to put her hair in 2 pigtails. They aren't very long, but I was excited I can't wait until it gets longer so I can really start doing it. From this picture you can also kind of see she is now drinking from a sippy cup. She still gets a bottle at nap and bedtime, but for most of the day she likes water from her sippy cup, a sure sign of a big girl!!

In this picture you can see Avery eating her 1st dish of Mac N Cheese. She loves the baby food Mac N Cheese, but she didn't really like the regular stuff. She does however like mashed potatoes, grilled cheese sandwiches and Little Puffs baby snacks. She even feeds herself, it's fun to watch her try to find her mouth. What a cutie!!

In this picture you see Avery looking silly in her hat and gloves. She is getting ready to attend her 1st Winter Carnival at the end of the month in McCall. It will be so fun pulling her around in the sled and letting her play in the snow. We never seem to get much here in Boise so McCall should be a new experience for her.

I hope everyone is doing well I apologize for being such a blog slacker, but it gets busy chasing Avery around all day. How do you do it with more then 1 kid?? I will post some pictures of the house soon now that we're all moved in and settled. I do love all the extra space, but hate the cleaning that comes along with it!

Happy Anniversary!!

I am such a blogging slacker, things are just so busy these days and by things I mean Avery she is into everything, but I will talk about that later.
Kyle and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday while we were in Utah visiting our families. We got to go to dinner at the Praire Scooner on Saturday night and it was so delicious, I hadn't been there in a long time and had forgotten how good there au grautin potatoes are!! It wasn't anything to excititng, but for us a night out without the baby is good enough for us!! I just want Kyle to know how much I love him and how incredibly grateful I am for him. He is such a wonderful husband and father, I couldn't have asked for better. He works so hard for our family so I can stay home with Avery and I truly appreciate that because not all mothers get to do that. He is so amazing with Avery and she has him wrapped around her little finger. She is such a daddy's girl and loves to play with him. I am so blessed to have him as my husband and love him with all my heart!
HAPPY 6th ANNIVERSARY!!