Christmas Morning

What a picture to start with, I know. But, this is how Avi looked when she woke up on Christmas morning! She had some crazy hair going on. She took a bath and washed her hair at my mom's house the day before, and for some reason her hair went crazy. It looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket. We even rebathed her that night and rewashed her hair, and it didn't help! Drew was VERY concerned about her hair!

So, of course, he had to brush it before she could go see what Santa brought her! It looked a little better after he brushed it, but it was still very funny looking.

I love this picture! When Drew put her down, she started running to her toys! It was so cute.

She loved gettting all the things out of her stocking. I'm sure it was like a treasure chest!

Showing us her Hello Kitty playing cards.

And, of course her favorite, M & Ms. She was very proud of them!

Opening one of her presents. You can see it in the bottom of this picture...she got a sit & spin. She loves it. She spins and tells us to look at her spinning. Very cute. I think she had a great Christmas morning! It was fun to watch her slowly discover and understand Santa this year!

Drew's Gaming Abilities

Okay, those of you who know Drew will really get a kick out of this video! Joel, my sister Abbi's husband, has a Wii, and he brought it home with them for Christmas. He got a new set of games for Christmas, and one of the games was sword fighting. And, so the video is of Joel (in the back) and Drew (in the front) doing their best sword fighting. Ya think Drew got a little into it??!! Notice the difference between Drew and Joel!

I don't wear diapers anymore, I'm a big girl!

This is the phrase I hear every morning when Avi wakes up & I am changing her diaper!

She says, "I don't wear diapers anymore, mama! I'm a big girl. I only wear diapers at nighttime!"

And, I am very happy to say she is right. I would venture to say she is potty trained! It just kinda happened. She decided she was ready...she's had a few accidents, but really not very many. I'm sure she will have more over the course of time, but she's doing pretty well! She pretty much tells us anytime she needs to go to the potty, and oh how nice it is not to be changing diapers all the time! I guess the focus has shifted, though! We're constantly asking her if she needs to go potty. Most of the time she says, "I don't." It's been fun to see her figure it all out, and it's pretty amazing that she understands when she needs to go potty now! So, I guess I got my Christmas present after all! And, it's a great one. Oh, and I promise, Christmas pictures to come. I'm working on it!

Big Girl Panties & Boots

Yep, it's hard to believe, but we are potty training. Notice her big girl panties in the picture (Elmo panties at that)? She loves wearing big girl panties. She's been potty training with pull-ups at school since September, but it's been pretty slow going at home. Even last week I would have told you she really wasn't cognitively ready. However, all of a sudden this week she seems to have turned a corner. She tells us when she needs to go (most of the time), and she's really making some progress! We are very excited. I'm hoping to be done with diapers very soon!! Wouldn't that be a great Christmas present?!

Bob, Judy & AnnaClaire gave Avi her adorable boots for her birthday. She L.O.V.E.S. them! I have to admit, she looks pretty cute in them. As she would say, "thanks, y'all!"

Every morning this past week Avi got a pillow off my bed and would pretend to take a nap on the floor. Then she would instruct me to take her picture! I made her pose with her baby doll, Amy! Aren't they cute?

Halloween Fun

Halloween started out with Drew, Cory & Joan completing an adventure race Saturday morning. They won the race, and they were the only team that did not consist of college students! I think they had fun! (Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it; I forgot my camera). In the afternoon, we played outside at home, and Avi loved the owl on her Halloween shirt...she was showing it to me in the above picture.

Avi was clapping because we were getting ready to go see Jack Fountain and Emily Adkerson.

Avi and Daddy

I tried really hard to get Avi to let me take a picture of her in her rain boots. She was totally ignoring me, and she did not want me to take anymore pictures. It's starting already!

Jack (the firefighter), Emily (the cowgirl), Addie (the zebra, oh wait a horse as she said...it's a long story), and Avi (the ladybug)

A close up of the girls

This picture is of Avi walking down the road to go trick or treating.

Walt or "Walt Man" as Avi loves to call him!

So, Walt was in the stroller, but soon into the trick or treating, Avi was so over it, and she booted Walt out and got in the stroller herself...she was relaxing!

Avi enjoyed the little kid's room at our church's Fall Festival. She loved riding that tractor, and she kept asking for the keys to it! All in all, we had a fun, full day. I'm glad Halloween only happens once a year! It's pretty tiring! Hope you all had a fun Halloween.

What's Red, Black & Polka Dotted All Over?

Why it's a lady bug, of course! Isn't she cute? Avi got to wear her costume to school this morning for a Halloween costume contest. Most of the kids and the teachers at her school dress up on Halloween. It's a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoy it!

This is Avi's best "cheese" smile. She kept saying, "Cheese. I wanna look at it, mommy." Everytime I took a picture, she wanted to look at it on the camera. Funny how they start understanding technology at such a young age.

These are a few of the kids in Avi's class. From left, Morgan, Miller (aka Miller Man), Avi, and Peter.

The kids with Ms. Elaine, their wonderful teacher

Haircuts & Pumpkins

I finally took Avi to have her haircut last Friday. It had gotten fairly long in the back, and it had some beautiful curls. However, the piece in the center of the back of her hair had gotten significantly longer than the other part, making it look like she had the infamous 80's rat tail. Drew had been on me for a while to get it cut, but I was just so hesitant to cut the sweet curls off. I took the plunge last week, and I am very happy with the results (the picture above is after the cut was finished). Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, and I took these with my phone; thus, the poor quality.

I had promised Avi M&Ms if she didn't cry and if she was a sweet girl while she got her hair cut. Needless to say she loves Ms (as she calls them) enough that she was an excellent little thing while she was in the chair getting her hair cut. I was very proud of her.

Last night we went to Starkville's first Pumpkin Palooza in downtown Starkville. We had a fun time, and it was a chore to get Avi to take a picture with the pumpkins. Again, I forgot my camera, so my phone had to do.

As a side note, we're headed to tailgate before the MSU/Florida football game. Go Dawgs! Hope we pull off a major upset tonight!