Avery's Big Girl Room

For the last month or so, I have been thinking about Avery's big girl room.  I feel like she has outgrown her crib and her "baby" room.  So I have been pinning like crazy trying to get ideas of what I can do to revitalize her room.  So far...I have purchased a new dresser-a four drawer dresser from Vintage Crush in Bentonville. I LOVE IT!!!

My color scheme is red, purple, turquoise, yellow, and orange with an accent color of gold.  Again, I am shooting for a lack of pink. I am going to use the purple chair that I found on craigslist for a reading chair.

I am also going to incorporate some of the pieces that we already have, like the creme mini table that is already in her room and the light we purchased from Pier One. I am going to attempt to blog about my plans for Avery's room as things develop, so I can document my thoughts. I am ultimately going for a room that is a big girl room that can grow with Avery rather than a room with a specific theme that I will have to change every other year.

Avery at 19 months!

Today (January 20th), I was off work for MLK, Jr. Day!  So Avery and I got to spend some valuable Mommy-Avery time! And the weather was perfect, so we spent some time outside playing! It was so much fun! Avery is growing up so fast! I feel like she is constantly on the move, constantly wanting to learn more (by asking "this?" and pointing), and quickly becoming our little girl instead of our little baby.

Just a few of the highlights...

*She can count to 3 in English and Spanish
*She knows a lot of individuals' names, including Me-Maw (Grandma Curran), GaGa (Grandpa Curran), RiRi (Riley-Grandma and Grandpa's dog), Uncle Jake, Aunt Penny, Mimi (Grandma Albritton), Poppi (Grandpa Albritton), MagMag (Maggie the Dog), Marley, and BayBay (Bailey the Dog).
*She attends tumbling class every Saturday morning at 9:30 and LOVES it!  She can even do a forward roll by herself.
*She is still sleeping at least 10 to 11 hours a night.
*She loves bubble baths.
*She can say "more," "please," and "milk" in sign language.
*We are working on potty training.  She tells us (generally immediately) after she uses the bathroom in her diaper, so we are working on getting her to the big girl potty before that happens.
*She loves going to toddlers children's church on Sunday mornings.
*She always kisses John and I before bed and gives us big hugs.  She says "night, night."  Then, we head to her room.
*We turned her around to be front facing in her car seat a little early, and she LOVES it! She can see out and look at cars, horses (on South German Lane), and the street lights.
*She knows where a lot of her body parts are.
*She likes to make the sounds of all kinds of animals.

New Year's Eve 2014

This year, we celebrated New Year's Eve by having some friends over to our house for finger foods.  It was great to ring in 2014 with such a great group of friends.

Avery's First Pedicure

Avery had her first official pedicure at Solar Nails on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, with Miss Maria.  She had so much fun and LOVED it! We will be back very frequently in the future.  Avery got to sit in the Hello Kitty chair (she loves everything cat). Grandma accompanied us and got a pedicure too!

John's Photography

This past Fall, John and his dad took a trip to Hawksbill Craig in northern Arkansas to take pictures of the fall foliage.  His pictures turned out beautiful. Below are just a few.

Avery at 18 months

Last Christmas, we took a super cute picture of Avery with white Christmas lights and a Santa hat.  Then, she could barely sit up long enough without falling to one side.  This year, we could not keep her seated for any length of time. It is neat to look back and see how much she has developed and grown.

                            December 2012                                     December 2013

Our little girl has turned into a rambunctious toddler.  She awakens every morning with a "momma, mommy" that can be heard through her baby monitor, which absolutely melts this momma's heart.  She has to say "hi" to BayBay, a.k.a. Bailey.  And her daddy sings her the song "Good Morning to You" each morning!  Avery smiles from ear to ear when she hears John's voice.

She is talking like crazy now.  At her 18 month check-up, our pediatrician asked if she was consistently saying more than 12 words.  I almost busted out laughing.  She repeats things constantly. She knows the names of all the important people-the dogs in her life.  She loves talking about BayBay, Marley, RyRy (a.k.a. as Riley), and MagMag (a.k.a. Maggie). She also LOVES cats, which she calls "meows."  She has been working on her letters and numbers. Avery currently knows about ten different animal sounds.  She is so observant and inquisitive.  I think she is going to be very receptive to learning new things at preschool in the Fall of 2014.  She also loves music.  She has a recorder, a piano, and a mixture of other small instruments that she likes to beat around on.

Avery is also creative.  She enjoys painting and drawing. John and I even completed a pinterest project to display her beautiful artwork.  Although she loves painting, she hates to get her hands dirty, which can be a problem.

At her most recent check-up, she weighed 23 pounds 7 ounces (30% percentile), measured 30 inches tall (37% percentile), and had a head measurement of 19 3/4 inches (99% percentile).

I found this cute list online and thought I would use it and update it each December.

1.  What is your favorite color? Red
2.  What is favorite toy?  Toss up between ELMO and baby doll, Callie.
3.  What is your favorite fruit?  Orange
4.  What is your favorite TV show?  I do not watch much TV
5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   Ham and Cheese
6.  What is your favorite outfit?  Anything
7.  What is your favorite game?  Hide and seek (but I only hide)
8.  What is  your favorite snack?  Welches Fruit Snacks
9.  What is your favorite animal?  Cats and Dogs
10. What is your favorite song?  Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
11. What is your favorite book?  Any Maisy book, Humpty Dumpty, and the Napping House
12.  Who is your best friend?  Bailey
13.  What is your favorite drink?  Milk
14.  What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas
15.  What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Pink Panther stuffed animal and Caterpillar stuffed animal
16.  What do you want to be when you grow up? Not sure

Holiday Fun

Each year around Christmas, John and I purchase a puzzle to put together.  This year, my spirit was almost broken.  The puzzle was absolutely beautiful but very frustrating to put together.  The pieces were shaped very oddly, the only full picture of the puzzle was tiny and on the side of the box, and it is difficult to put together a 1000 piece puzzle with a very active, inquisitive, and energetic 18 month old wanting to help.  But, after two days (off and on), we finally finished it.

Christmas 2013

This year, John and I decided to go all out since it would be the first year that Avery would truly understand what was going on at Christmas time.  So I made sure to wrap each gift, so Avery would have to open each and every one. Seeing the shear happiness on her face, absolutely made me smile!!  She loved opening all of her presents.  We even learned that she exhibits slightly OCD tendencies when opening gifts because she will not even look at the gift until ALL paper and tape is removed.  LOL!

Before opening gifts from John and I on Christmas Even, we went to Christmas Eve service at John's church.

Then, we went home and ate a delicious dinner of pigs-n-a-blanket. I may become an Albritton Family Tradition. :) After eating, we changed Avery into her Elf on a Shelf PJs and let her open her presents from John and I.

She got a Hug Me Elmo, a Kitty, Piano, some Melissa and Doug Puzzles, some coloring books, paint, crayons, and a few other small items.

After Avery went to bed, we helped Santa put out Avery's presents.

On Christmas morning, Avery ran to the living room and checked out her loot from Santa:  a kitchen set, a cozy coupe, a baby stroller, and a few other gifts from Santa's toy bag.

After Avery played with her toys from Santa and read her letter from Santa, we loaded up in the car and went to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Avery got even more Christmas presents there. In addition to her VW power wheels, a balance beam, a mini trampoline, tumbling mats, puzzles, a piano, books, and clothes, Avery got a drawing table from Uncle Jacob and Aunt Penny.  She is truly a blessed little girl!