As in life – timing is everything.

So when Bessie-girl realizes at 5pm that she still hasn’t’ done the weekly photo shoot – this is what you get:

Even with dad there to calm her down… still nothing…(but funny none-the-less).

Luckily, she doesn’t stay fussy TOO long, and I still managed to steal a few fun shots.

Maybe she was hungry… ha…?

Baby girl – we’re getting SO close to your one year birthday. SHEESH – the time is flying.

New this week: You were SO hilarious this week. I mean, REALLY hilarious. You’ve taken to blowing big loud raspberries on my arms – REALLY funny. The only issue becomes that you haven’t’ really figured out if you want to blow a raspberry, or instead bite me. So what I end up getting is some kind of vampire combo – half bite, half funny (slobbery) raspberry. Keep on girl – at 47 weeks you’re still the funniest person I know.

Beyond that – our 5th and 6th teeth are breaking through. Remember when I said we like to work in twos? Yes, over achiever baby – I know. Two teeth coming through AGAIN. She hates when I try and look in her mouth – but at this point you can see that they’ve come through the gum line, so hopefully we’ll have smoother sleeping.

Our little foodie is evolving. Feeding her is either becoming easier, or i’m now more relaxed in this new phase. Maybe a combo of both. She doesn’t seem to be a big fan of (any) meat, but I can sneak in my sisters tofu without issue. Jokingly, I call my sister’s food hippie food. I’m fearful my sister whispers hippie thoughts into Avery’s mind when i’m not looking. How she goes for tofu and not meat – is BEYOND me. Sheesh!

We’re experiencing a small amount of separation anxiety. Not much, but she has moments when she just really needs a cuddle. I’m not going to say anything else but that I’m cherishing these moments. Soaking it in and loving every little cuddle. Even if it’s at 2am.

In other news…

Birthday party plans are in full production. Along with my super duper stationary friend, we made Avery’s birthday invites. I fully realize I’ve gone way overboard for a one-year-olds birthday party – she probably will not fully comprehend any of it. But, we are so excited to celebrate the year, to celebrate our gift, and all the joy she brings to our life. It’s a big thing in our world. So big, in fact, that i’m NEARRRRRLLLLY done making her birthday quilt.  I’m not a quilter, i’m not a sew(er), I’m awful at ironing, and i’m not even close to being good at math (deerrrt) – so somehow I came up with the hair-brained idea of making a quilt. And you know what? It turned out great, and i’m SO happy with it. I’m sure I’ll do a whole post on it (if not more considering how much blood, sweat, and tears that went into it) – once it’s done-done.

It was a great week – and even more, we are SO excited to get our bathing suits on (*correction – i’m excited to get Avery into her bathing suit – but no so much myself – ha*) and finally enjoy the pools. This will be our first time enjoying our local pool – and will be a great kick off to summer.

Happy summer friends!

What we’re wearing: Sassy new dress from my mom – can be found here. And her oh-so-fabulous hair bow is from my dear friend Donna. Nice team work ladies – LOVING this outfit. NOW if Avery would only stop touching the hair bow so that it would stay nice.

It’s taken me FAR longer to actually put this post together. And I apologize for that.

I teased you way back during Easter time, and i’m just NOW coming back to fill in the gaps. The basket gaps.

Not because I forgot – but because I literally needed to run all around the house to take photos of all the baskets my mother-in-law (or MIL) has made us.

I tell you the truth, I’m not a big fan of ‘country’ design. Meaning, if I had to describe my taste, i’d say classic with a twist of modern and funky. Baskets, ironically, can be both. They are incredibly useful as they can be a really chic way to organize your mass mounds of stuff. Or make ordinary things look more fancy. Unless of course, you stumble across country baskets – you know the kind – twangy. But not my MIL’s baskets. They’re like pottery barn meets chic artisan store.

I can’t remember exact when I learned that my MIL made baskets, but I know that right before we got married (**cough 2009**), my MIL-to-be asked if she could make a few baskets for us – for the wedding. It was such a kind gesture  - and given that she was MAKING them I knew that she would find a cool way to make fancy baskets. So for our wedding MIL-to-be made us quite a few baskets. A baskets for the cards we received, a basket for the favors, a basket for the kids favors. You name it, we had a basket for it. And it was fabulous. I still have them and use them daily (don’t judge that I have a fancy coffee basket – pretty fun way to start your day, right!?)

It was a fun process – I assembled a few photos of baskets I liked, and MIL-to-be quickly made baskets EVEN BETTER than I imagined. And i’m not blowing smoke. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to know that navy blue was one of our wedding colors. Well, crafty MIL even wove satin navy ribbon into the baskets. SUCH a treasure – so much so, that as you’ll see below I STILL have our wedding cards in the basket. I haven’t taken them out. I know. I’m a hoarder. (well, not really – just a sap).

So anyway, after the wedding, thankfully our baskets kept coming.

We got a new one when we got our house: (*Respectfully, we love these baskets and ACTUALLY use them – hence why this basket now is now home to all avery’s puzzles. Stylish – right?)

one just because (hello, this one is PERFECT for tea bags and splenda!):

one for fun trinkets:

and in a fun birthday surprise, basket napkin rings!

And even better … when Avery came along, a whole new reason for baskets! If you’ll remember, her Easter basket was SUCH a treasure. We used it on her first Easter, and will be using it every year moving forward. (And yes, she braided all these colors of ribbon onto the handle – pretty snazzy, right!?)

Even better – the baskets continue to help me get better organized. This one (forgive the awful photo – HH is still working on staining it), she made to fit exactly in our SUV to help keep Avery’s “car toys” organized. Once this baby is stained, it will help contain the baby chaos that is currently my back seat.

It’s long overdue, but thank you MIL for the baskets you make for us. We know they are made with love, and while we truly use them, we appreciate how beautiful and meaningful they are. Each completely unique and JUST my style. No honkey-tonk baskets here, no sir-e-buddy.

My MIL is pretty crafty. That’s for darn sure. I’ve jokingly(ish) asked her to start selling them. She laughs at me (politely) and says she couldn’t. But I tell you what, I bet my stylish readers could all appreciate the style and detail that go into these.

So keep-em-coming MIL. We love the baskets, and greatly appreciate you and all the work you put into them!

-Bessie, HH, and baby-girl-basket-lover

After a wonderful mother’s day, Bessie was riding high.

In fact, see the inspiration in baby girl’s outfit? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right? Oh, how I love me some polka dots. It does my old sorority girl heart good. Ha!

Where oh where did my baby go? I look at these (fun) pictures, and all I see is a little girl. No baby left – just all girly girl. It makes me so sad, yet so excited for all that is to come.

With 45 (now 46) photos shoots under our belt, when Avery sees the camera come out, and is placed on her chair, (providing we’re having a good day), she knows EXACTLY what to do. Look at this ham-bone. Work it Heidi Klum:

Then she becomes a fashion maven. Hair bows are getting trickier these days. She realizes they are there now (especially the really great BIG ones). She pulls them out with ease and tortures me.. waving them all around. HA-HA – look at what I can do mommy!?!

… AND .. I can shove it in my mouth…

If this face doesn’t say it all, then I don’t know WHAT does. She KNOWS EXACTLY what she’s doing. (And secretly, I love the mischief buried deep in her soul!) HA!

And some of my favorites – some REAL ACTION shots. Look at the movement people! See what I mean?!

To see this on in person is hilarious.. she does this ALL the time… flapping her arms and sniffing in and out with her nose (the same sniffing sound a dog makes). Pretty hilarious  and SO Avery. This is her SO happy.

And to show you she MEANS business…

And after ALL that… we are pooped.

And then, shoot over. We change and go back to play time. Reading books, and taking all the toys out of the basket. It’s fun, to make a mess after all. 

New this week:

We are continuing to stand and get closer and closer to walking. Ohhhhh any day now. We are close (I think). Avery’s SO much more alert and observant these days. She loves to watch other kids, and even waves “hi” to them.

We baby-sat for a friend last night and Avery had such great fun with her friend Emma. Please forgive the fact that they are playing hide and go seek in the dog cage (UGH), but it’s so sweet that I couldn’t resist sharing. Look at how Avery tries to play like a big girl. And Emma? Oh my gosh – cutest two year old! Such a sweet heart!

Even more sweet (but not shown) – Avery crawled over to Emma and gave her a big hug. My heart LITERALLY grew – watching her ALREADY intentionally share love with others. It’s so sweet and innocent, does a proud mommy heart good.

Oh Avery girl – every time I write these posts I think I couldn’t be more impressed and proud – and yet, each day it grows more and more. You truly are a blend of all the ‘great parts’ of daddy and I. May your heart continue to love big and share big.

-Mushy-gushy-Bessie.

So here’s what I now know about mother’s day….

Last year, having been 8 months pregnant, I was trying to con – errr… suggest to my [wonderful] husband that since I was basically nearly done “growing” our child, that I was already basically a mother, and therefore should be entitled to celebrate the day… (gifts, dinner, back massage, the works). He did not agree. Not even close. No falling for my shenanigans – and that was firm. I pouted, told jokes to others about how ridiculous he was (peer pressure), and tried to get him to change his mind.

He didn’t. Stubbon mule.

But it turns out,……(take a breather, I can’t believe i’m about to say this…..)

…(wait for it)…

……………

…..he was completely right. (Yes, HH, I did just put that IN WRITING – for the world to see!) Turns out, Mother’s day really is for MOTHERs. And it really MEANS something [MORE] when you are an actual mother.

Mother’s day was probably one of the best day’s I’ve had in a really long time. You know those days? You wake up in a good mood, the weather is right, people are wonderful to each other, the food is right, there is no fighting, no long lines, great sales (ha), and so-on-and so-on. Mother’s day was one of those days – not only for me, but it appears for all the other mother’s around me.

We spent the day spending SUCH good quality time together. Avery was in a great mood, and as is always critical when you’ve got a young baby – the naps were good, and she ate well (wewww!). We spent the day together, both with our little family, and with my mom, sister, and uncle.

To top off the day, I was incredibly overjoyed that the hubs agreed to allow me to buy a china cabinet, a piece of furniture we desperately needed. We called it my mother’s day gift – and I was overjoyed. It was even delivered on Saturday – so I spent the whole night before arranging and filling it with all of our lovelies. Nothing like waking up on Mother’s day to admire you’re new now-even-better-looking dinning room.

Until you spot a little silver jewelry box. (Bessie’s heart begins to race..)

HH really outdid himself and surprised me with a beautiful necklace. Let me pause here to say it’s not about the necklace or the “things” – but the thought that went into this. Hubs isn’t usually a jewelry guy, so all the more special when you get a piece from him. And even more so that he put such love and thought into it – he picked this out and had it in the works for months.

The gifts were the wonderful cherry on the mommy-sundae, but the day was so happy and peaceful. Baby giggles, delicious food, many laughs, lots of love, and a family that I am so blessed to be a part of.

Turns out, you can’t really grasp the full depth of mother’s day, until you are a mother. They made me feel so special – but the real truth of the matter is that the hubs and the baby-girl are my real gift.

To my family – i’ve got to be the luckiest mother/wife, ever – - and I thank you for that special gift. Our Family.

Much love.

-B.

Truth be told, I think i’m too young to know what the heck the ‘jive’ is – (I think it’s a dance?) but rhyming is wonderful, so i’m going to make it work.

Last week was wonderful – and exhausting. I think thats what the future holds for us as we move into this next chapter of parenting. Big rewards and big exhaustion.

Baby girl is ON.THE.MOVE. She’s showing her personality – BIG time. And in to E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! She’s crawling, standing, reaching and at times attempts some pretty scary acrobatics (especially when i’m holding her – ugh).

A few of my favorite shots from this week’s photo shoot:

*Please note, some of these shoots get to be pretty hairy. Meaning – we’ve got infuse a few new props to keep her smiling. I wasn’t looking for hair brush photos, but we work with what we’ve got – right?!

And when the hair brush no longer works, we make this face…this face means MOVE QUICKLY.. I’m on the verge of something…(bad)…

And then Bessie quickly passes along a flower toy. She may look angelic playing with this little toy, but truth be told – it was broken minutes after the shoot. Sheesh. Destructo. 

Baby girl is now consciously waving hi and bye. In the mornings when she wakes up and see’s the dogs for the first time – she’ll giggle and wave at them. Pretty darn sweet. I’m enjoying the time now – you know the time when your kids actually WANT to see you. She sure does light up when she see’s HH and I. It goes without saying how wonderful it feels to be wanted by the little ham-bone.

In other news, the food riot continues. She’s eating, but I definitely do not look forward to meal time. She’s goldy locks – that’s for sure. Sometimes the food is too big, or too hot, or too cold, or maybe instead she just wants to feed herself. with a spoon, with a fork, with her hands… WHO KNOWS!? Maybe once upon a time I THOUGHT I was a mind reader – but i’ve learned that I definitely am NOT. Mother’s intuition seems to be guiding me a little – but it’s still an up hill battle. She might like something one day, and the next day? No.Way.Jose. I’m holding my ground, but I sure do look forward to the day she’s a little more flexible with what she eats. (and to a glass of wine after she goes to bed).

Okay, enough griping. We’re having so much fun with baby girl. As the sun is starting to come out, the park is a whole new fun adventure for us. Up next? The pool! Bessie finally found a few bathing suits (Thanks-be-to-God), so we’re ready to go. Looking forward to enjoying the baby pool with Avery and getting out into the sunshine.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful spring (and summer). And eat your veggies, will you? Your mom will be so grateful!

-Bessie.

Trying to get back into the swing of things – and back from vacation. The next week was difficult as we AGAIN tried to adjust to the time change. Granted, Avery adjusted coming back to east coast time a lot quicker (and easier) than she did moving to west coast time.

But Avery was interested in making adjustments to more than just time. She is currently boycotting baby food. That’s right. No more baby food – at all. Nada. All of a sudden, she just decided that she’s not interested in anything that isn’t cut up into pieces. Hello – stressful. So Bessie girl is franticly trying to reorganize and adjust to finding new (quick) and healthy menu items for our little ham bone.

And even more of an adjustment – Avery started walking(ish). What do I mean by (ish)?? Well – my mom saw her (twice) take two steps forward – ALONE. *enter motherly panic* Did I (or we) miss Avery’s first steps? Umm.. no. We aren’t counting it – unless we see it. So instead, we’re working off the old adage – seeing is believing. She’s standing, she’s walking with assistance, and even standing holding onto something with one hand. But no steps by herself (in front of us) – just yet. But I can tell we are SO close (ish). HA!

So I’ve got to cut her a little slack throwing a little hiss-fit during our photo session. Truth be told – it was difficult trying to any photo, much less of her smiling. I got a few – although it’s slim pickin’s… ha!

Here’s where the fussin’ begins….

And just for a little comedic relief – in these pictures Avery is having a tantrum on the top half of her body, but seems to be a baby yogi on the bottom. Ha! Look at these poses!

 

And another fun feature to add to this little family blog… Avery has been so fortunate to receive the sweetest gifts from friends and family. Most of these make up some of my favorite outfits that Avery owns – so i think i’ll document these sweet gifts in a segment i’ll call “who are you wearing” (get it – like the oscars?)

Who are you wearing? Avery’s outfit this week was a sweet gift from my Aunt Michelle.  I absolutely LOVE this outfit – and the super sweet matching bow. Now that Avery actually HAS hair – hair bows are not only cute, but actually functional holding back her long bangs. Oh the days when I would clip bows to the 5 strands of hair on her head. Thank you Aunt Michelle for the sweet gift. HH, baby girl and I all loved it!

So remember when I said we went on vacation to California? With a work trip and vacation back-to-back, baby girl has been in a temp chair two weeks in a row. However, the view this week was FAR better. We spent the week in Coronado, California. SO nice!

Week 43 was SUCH a great week. Since we were on vacation, we were able to spend all our time with Avery – laughing, joking around, and enjoying breakfasts together on this amazing terrace.

Week 43 – you know what Avery learned? We shouldn’t have done it – but we did. And we shouldn’t encourage it – but we can’t help but laugh when she does it. We taught Avery how to stick out her tongue. [YIKES!] I mean, in our defense, it’s not like she wouldn’t have learned it at some time… right? Okay, so she learned it early. Blah.

It was SUCH a wonderful week. Clearly, i’m still trying to dig out from our vacation. But it was great to be together and spend some quality time with our girl. We did the typical touristy thing – but also enjoyed the small moments together. Like watching the [tame] birds while eating breakfast together, and just relaxing together without the pressure of constant things to do. Our little ham-bone was loving EVERY second of it.

And just in case you don’t believe me… Here’s a little funny video proof:

Oh Avery – your personality is REALLY starting to flourish. While you might LOOK a little more like daddy (right now anyway), I smile when I see glimpses of myself in your little smirk. What an adventure we have ahead of us – and loving every second of it.

We love you baby girl! What a wonderful week to watch you turn 10 months old!

 

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So much to say, and so many beautiful photographs to share. So we’re going to do this post in bullet and slideshow form.. who doesn’t love a good bullet?! So here we go:

• I feel incredibly fortunate to have been asked to be in one of my best friend’s wedding. She’s something special. One of my dearest friends who’s been a dear part of my life since my crazy-ole-college days. And even more special – her name is also Avery.  But she came first – she is the original Avery. So Avery got married last weekend. And Bessie girl was in the wedding. Rather than just fly to the west coast for the weekend, HH and I decided to extend the trip and enjoy an entire week in Cali. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The weather? So great. Being off for a whole week with my family? PRICELESS!
• We started the trip thankful for a nonstop flight in economy plus seats, yet terrified for a 5 hour flight in a small cabin with a 10 month old. By the way – did you know that airplane lavatories don’t’ have a baby changing table? YUK. Try changing a baby in an airplane bathroom trying to not touch anything – and even more – trying to ensure your precious baby doesn’t touch anything either. GOOD luck. Hello antibacterial mega-pack.
• HH and I are normally incredibly efficient and super organized. Enter baby girl and add in – 5 additional bags – an awkward pack and play – and a mega-stroller. CHAOS ensues trying to get all the bags where they need to be WHILE carrying a (now squirmy) baby.
• We spent an entire week at a bed and breakfast – which was SUCH a wonderful thing.  Fancy soaps (oh boy – does Bessie enjoy little fancy soaps), turn down service complete with home made cookies (NIGHTLY!), an amazing veranda, oh – yeah – and FREE breakfast!
• We went to sea world – which actually, we enjoyed a little bit more than the zoo. As a 30 year old, I really appreciated the comedic relief of the sea lions. I think if I was an ocean mammal – i’d be a sea lion. they’ve got antics. that’s for sure.
• We went to the San Diego zoo – which was amazing to see. But BOY was it a [serious] hike. A lot to see – so many different animals and species. Avery’s favorite part? Umm – none of the animals. She liked the waterfalls that were IN the animal habitats. Personally? I think they reminded her of her bath. That’s our girl – such a character!
• I FINALLY got to meet my Uncle Ernest and his super nice girlfriend Kathy. We went to both the Bearch Aquarium and San Diego botanical garden with them. Both were VERY nice – and actually probably the most suitable for Avery. PRETTY colors and even more fantastic company. Hopefully they will come visit soon.
• Avery turned 10 months! Oh baby girl. You’re growing TOO quickly. Only a few more months and i’ll have to flip the block counter over to year. *sniffle – sniffle*
• We traveled to Temecula (wine country) – visiting 3 nice vineyards and having a really fantastic lunch. Don’t worry – Avery didn’t try any wine. Not even a grape for baby girl. We purchased 4 bottles of wine – remember I said our bags were full? YIKES!
• We walked (and walked) and walked. HH and Bessie love walks – especially when there are SO many amazing waterfront mansions to ogle over.
• Big success – Avery learned to stick out her tongue. Probably not one of our best parenting moments – but cute none the less.
• We found this fantastic local olive oil shop. Add another 5 bottles of super fantastic olive oil and 2 bottles of balsamic vinegar. That’s a total of 11 additional bottles (wine and oil) added to our luggage. I STILL don’t know how we made that happen. All arrived home safely. THANK.YOU.GOD.
• We enjoyed our first family vacation as a family of three – and you know what? It took far more planning – and a freakish amount of bags – but it was SO worth it. Moving forward, our family vacations will need to be carefully planned (and maybe i’ll pack differently in the future), but it is doable – and completely worth it.
• Vacation is over – but the 800 pictures we took (literally) will last forever. I’ve only posted about 60 here. Enjoy.

-Bessie

So we’re still playing the catch up game. This was from week 42 (which was two weeks ago).

It feels like it’s been a whirl wind around these parts. Handy Hubby was on travel, then two weeks ago I had business travel, and last week we went on vacation. That makes three weeks of craziness in our little world. Living out of a suitcases (or a pack-and-play), eating hotel food, and running all around without our typical surroundings and routines. BOYYYYY is it good to be home and settling back down into our little world.

SO, to back up – two weeks ago I had a week-long local work trip. Luckily extensive travel wasn’t necessary, but the hours are SO long that i’ve got to stay locally at the hotel so i’m more easily accessible early (AND) late. Sheesh. Luckily, handy hubby, baby girl, and my mom all agreed to a week at the hotel with me. Being a working mom sure isn’t easy – but having SUCH a support system sure does make the stress more manageable. I hate being away from Avery, but momma girl workin’ hard for the money allows our little family greater freedom.

So week 42 was a blur. With Bessie working her little spots off, Handy Hubby and my mom playing super heroes – it was all hands on deck. But ironically, every time i’m overly stressed and uncomfortable with how Avery will handle a situation, she always does REALLY well. She’s a trip like that. Maybe she gets that from me?! She was a total champ at the hotel. She slept in the pack and play like a pro, enjoyed splashing in the bath tub, and even managed meals without her high chair. Come on – that’s a GREAT success.

And even better? Look at these faces? she’s getting more and more brave (exploring EVERY.SINGLE.THING), more and more expressive, and laughs at everything. In the 10 months  (now) that we’ve been parents – some weeks (more than others) have been stressful – trying to navigate parenthood (or how to parent correctly), but lately, I’m SO enjoying our baby girl. Maybe it takes 10 months to hit your stride? And knowing our girl – now that I am feeling more comfortable, she’ll completely change TOMORROW. But RIGHT now i’m enjoying these little faces… She’s excited to see us, laughs at our little antics, and has a personality that is SO magnetic. Baby girl – we’re completely smitten. And it gets better every week. Truly.

We love you travel pro.

-Bessie.

Ugh ohhh… and THIS is the thanks Mr. Owl gets for traveling. Sheesh.

Here are a few givens:

it’s been WEEKS since i’ve blogged. SORRY – LIFE has REALLY gotten in the way lately. So I am obviously WAY behind in my photos and other fun updates. I’m going to attempt to catch up, but undoubtedly, i’m going to have to skip over a few steps in order to get us to today.

So here it goes:

Week 41 – Baby girl continues to impress and make a GRAND entrance. Week 41 was all about kicking – or at least brining up our legs and getting FAR more vocal.

If I thought I was on my toes before.. FOR-GET-IT. Baby girl is on the move. Kicking, crawling, standing, side stepping, moving ALL around.

But my favorite part?

It’s her faces. The FACES this baby makes. It’s THE BEST entertainment.

Baby girl – it’s been a busy few weeks… you’re growing SO quickly, but we are having SO much fun watching you grow. I always knew our life would change when we became parents.. I tried to anticipate the change and how our family would come to be. But what I never really thought about… JUST how fun you would be, and how much we’d enjoy being your parents. You’re something special baby girl. REALLY and truly. And we’re loving every second of it.

-B.