Project 57 update. Finally.

The good news with this late post is the dramatic difference in the house's progress!

Framing is well underway and near completion!

Status? About 1-2 weeks behind schedule overall but moving at a great rate. It is now almost certain that I will be having this baby before our house is complete. Ironically, something I now prefer. It seems moving post baby will present less challenges.

I said less. Not zero.

Chris and I have worn our "lack of patience and anxiousness" on our sleeves by driving by the house any chance we get.

It goes something like this:

"Hi! Want to go to lunch today?"
"Sure"
".....................................and then drive by 57th?"
"YES!!!!!!"

Day after day despite our goal to wait a few days in between visits. Nonetheless, we get excited for even the addition of one 2x2.

Next step is electrical and drywall!

This process continues to be a blast. We get more and more anxious for moving day!

Beauford.

Avery has many favorite toys but it's only Beauford that she cannot sleep without.

It's adorable to watch her face light up when she sees him and she snuggles him all throughout the night. Precious.

But I can't, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, remember who got Beauford for her! I've reached out to a few friends with no such luck thus far. So hopefully it is a blog follower I have yet to contact that can claim this great investment!

Stay tuned!

Avery's 11 Month Sticker Pictures!

This time I only waited 11 days to take her Month Marker Sticker Pictures! I must say, this one wasn't too difficult but clearly my pictures were "all over the place". Just like Avery.

11 Months. Wow. Well, technically 11 months and 12 days. It becomes apparent to us more each day just how quickly she is turning into a little girl.

She is so fun to be around and her personality keeps us laughing daily!

I will update the blog in a few weeks with her 1 year stats! Here's a hint: she is GROWING! ;)

Baby Boo!

At 22 weeks, I went in for another ultrasound to take a closer look at Baby Boo's heart (I will spare you of all the medical terms) but it looks as though everything is A-okay!

The good news? Another ultrasound of course! Annnnnnd, it was at Fetal & Women's Center which means hi-tech and detailed results. My ultrasound tech was so descriptive (an important quality of someone in her position) and spoiled me with clear 3-D pictures of Baby Boo! Wow. It's just as cool the 2nd time around and if I don't say so myself, it looks like this baby boy may have my nose? Hah. We shall see in roughly 13 weeks. But seriouasly, who's counting? ;)

What a cutie pie!

Avery's 1st Pictures with Santa!

Another first!

Avery's first picture with Santa Claus! This "event" did not come without it's challenges and left us with quite the story.

I received a $25 gift certificate to Buy Buy Baby's picture studio in Chandler for Santa pictures so figured this would go much smoother than a 2 hour wait at the mall. So we packed up the car, dressed Avery in her cute new Christmas outfit and headed east. It was about 20 minutes into the drive when I realized Avery had scratched her cheek badly enough that it was bleeding. BUT it was until we arrived at the store where we realized that this little scratch caused her to bleed so much that the entire sleeve of her new ivory blouse was covered with splats of blood. Are you serious?

Here we are all the way in Chandler for a 10am appointment with Mr. Claus himself and not only is our child covered in blood, but continues to bleed on her left cheek. Ohhhh boy.

Enter brilliant hubby.

What else would fix a problem other than Neosporin, a band-aid annnnnnd a brand new red sweater?!!! Perfect.

So in between "takes" we could dap Avery's cheek as though she was a News Anchor needing "make-up" touches and hope for the best.

Hysterical.

Did I mention Santa was either hungover or drunk? I guess those are interchangeable.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was amazing this year! It always is but celebrating with a baby multiplies the fun instantly.

The craziness that December brought is largely to blame for my lack of posting. Is that a good enough excuse?

It was definitely busy and filled with wonderful parties visiting friends and family. Avery seemed to enjoy all of it and was a trooper through many long nights and some serious "adjustments" to her usual schedule.

The Gulliver Family Christmas Eve was a great time and no surprise that Aunt Jenifer and Uncle Bob went above and beyond. Their house was unreal. Talk about walking into the Christmas spirit. It's the feeling I expect to get when walking into Santa's home.

My annual and last team Christmas party was wonderful but another year heading it on sober. I have got to change that up next year ;) (I will do a separate post for this party) ;) Next year will be the first time I attend as a CB alum. Tear.

Things then became a whole lot busier as the week of Christmas crept in! It was non-stop fun the moment Jamie and Jereme walked through our door! I LOVED that they were able to spend Christmas with us. It's the next best thing to them living here. From an evening with the Ferrari's to intense preparation for our Christmas Eve dinner, it was all memorable.

The big Christmas Eve dinner that James and I have been planning for months seemed to go off well! It was an 18-hour work day but I loved it! It was so wonderful hosting all of my family and enjoying such an important day with them....without traveling!!!! What a nice break.

And although Christmas Day brought back the usual day of holiday travel, it was great. As we anticipated, Avery enjoyed all wrapping materials more than her actual gifts. Something I reminded myself of all through December but continued to buy her gifts. I can't NOT buy my baby gifts on her very 1st Christmas. It will be exciting to experience Christmas with her as each year passes while she grows.

Yet another year to reflect on the meaning of Christmas. In all the hustle and bustle, I can't help but pause and look around in awe.

The blessings in my life are abundant and overflow in my heart.

I am truly thankful and humbled by our Savior.