Mud Pies & Christmas Times

Well, we finished our Christmas adventures yesterday. Last  Saturday, the 20th, we had Christmas in Birmingham with Drew's mom's extended family. On Sunday, we did Christmas with Drew's mom and his brother Cory. Unfortunately Jonathan, Drew's other brother, was not able to join us because he had to be back in Atlanta for work on Sunday. On Thursday we did Christmas with my family at lunch. And, yesterday we did Christmas with Drew's dad. We were also missing Drew's stepsister, Susan, from Christmas yesterday. She is pregnant with twins and was unable to join us this year because she is due in the next month or so! Whew! It has been a whirlwind of a week, but we have had fun and we were blessed with a wonderful Christmas! I have a lot of other pictures to post from our Christmas times, but these were all taken yesterday, and I thought I would start with these. The first couple of pictures of Avi Grace were taken before we left our house yesterday! She loves to be outside, and she was just too cute in her dress for me not to take some picture of her!

She loves to sit in any chair, so here she is sitting in one of our patio chairs!

Um, yes, she also loves to STAND in any chair, and my commands for her to "sit down" were not working at this point!

It was such a nice day yesterday. In the afternoon it was about 72 degrees and sunny. We had a big time outside. Avi Grace enjoyed playing in her first mud puddles. I tried to keep her out of it for at least 10 minutes, and then I just gave up and took off her shoes and her pants and let her have at it! She had a big time.

As you can see she wanted to ride the 4-wheeler as well. Thankfully Uncle Cory was there and helped with that mission!

AND, we went down to the small creek that runs behind our house and let Avi Grace and Laura Leigh play in the water. The water was extremely cold, and Avi Grace didn't stay in it too long!

Uncle Cory and Avi Grace on the 4-wheeler.

Laura Leigh by the creek.

Laura Leigh, Uncle Cory, baby Walt and Avi Grace ALL on the 4-wheeler together!

Laura Leigh riding on the back of the 4-wheeler!

Avi Grace and her Grandaddy (Drew's dad) riding on the 4-wheeler.

Needless to say, we had a fun day yesterday. We thoroughly enjoyed the weather and the company! I hope all of you had as wonderful of a Christmas as we have had. I will post more Christmas pictures soon!

Odds & Ends

Well, we had our Christmas get together with the Fountains, Waltons and Adkersons last weekend, and we attempted taking some pictures...as you can see, Avi Grace was having a little difficulty!

And, she's almost back up in a seated position!

What's that up in the sky? Is it Santa Claus or Dars 

(Jack's Elf on the Shelf that he named to rhyme with Cars!!)??

Ahhh, there we go. That's about the best we could do! 

(Left to right: Jack Fountain, Riley Walton, Avi Grace & Emily Adkerson)

What, doesn't everyone play with their toothbrush in the bathtub??

And, doesn't everyone try to brush their hair with their 

toothbrush while they are in the bathtub??

Finally, brushing her teeth in the tub!!

She loves to ride her Zebra that was passed down to her by Jack Fountain!

Telling me she's ready to "go" to school. And, she's sucking her thumb, one of her favorite things to do. For the longest time she wouldn't suck her thumb unless she was holding her "blankie," but now she has started sucking her thumb some even without it.

Now she's really read to go to school!

Avi Grace loves to pull all of the pans and paper plates out of 

this cabinet. So much fun!

She will NOT leave a bow in her hair these days! And, isn't this the cutest dress? Aunt Susan McAllister made it for Avi Grace!

This is how I found her hair one morning when I went in to get her! 

Very bad bed head! AND, we had to take her pajamas off because she had leaked out her diaper! This picture kind of looks like a mugshot, huh??!!

A fun Thanksgiving!

George Walter "Walt" Anthony

We had such a fun Thanksgiving. We went to Jackson on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with Drew's mom's side of the family, and got to visit more with Avi Grace's new cousin, Walt. Isn't he a beautiful baby? He is so sweet, and he slept the entire day we were in Jackson! Unfortunately that meant a not so fun night for mommy and daddy!

Avi Grace, AnnaClaire & Laura Leigh at Thanksgiving in Jackson

Avi Grace enjoyed playing with the big girls! She also loved it when the boys went outside to throw around the football. She roamed all around and kept saying "ball" "ball" "ball." It was funny. She just loved being outside most of all! She was hard to keep up with.

The extended McPhail family at Thanksgiving

After Thanksgiving in Jackson, we headed back to Starkville to eat lunch with my family on Friday. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and great company. My nephew and niece are growing up so quickly. John Michael is in the 7th grade and Madison is in the 4th grade! The weekend before Thanksgiving, my older sister, Sheri, and I went to Memphis to see Mamma Mia, and Madison and Avi Grace both spent the night with their Mimi. Madison taught Avi Grace to do a "penguin" dance. It is so adorable and funny! I have it on video, and if I can ever get my computer to load it to the blog, you can have a laugh over it as well. Avi Grace had so much fun that she didn't want to leave when I went to pick her up on Sunday evening! 

Avi Grace & Papa after Thanksgiving lunch

When it was naptime, Avi Grace sought refuge with her Papa. She was doing anything she could to keep from going to the crib for her nap! Isn't she sweet cuddling with her Papa?

Halloween Pics & First Major Bobo

So, this was Avi Grace's costume. She was a PIG! I fell in love with the costume when I found it, and I had to get it even though I had a passed down lion costume already. She did so well in her costume! She left the head piece on every time that she wore it. She didn't even bother with it.

We had SUCH a fun time at the Fall Festival at our church. Avi Grace walked around like she owned the place! They had a room just for toddlers, which is where the first couple of pictures were taken, but when we first got there, we walked into the gym. That is where the "big kid" games were taking place. As you can see Avi Grace decided she was going to be a pumpkin thief!! It was funny. I would return the pumpkins and then she would just take them again!

Isn't this the most adorable costume in the world?? A SKUNK!! This is cutie Turner, who is in Avi Grace's Sunda School Class. His parents work with Campus Crusade for Christ at MSU. Loved the skunk costume!!

Emily Adkerson as a clown

Brent & Jack Fountain as Curious George & the Man in the Yellow Hat

Cy & Nicholas Hallberg as Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat!

We enjoyed getting to see some of our friends at the fall festival. Aren't the costumes cute?! Amy Fountain has more pictures on her blog if you want to look at them.

See the blood on her dress?

See her fat lip?

Yep, that's right. Avi Grace got her first major bobo today. I'm glad I wasn't home when it happened. I know that may sound weird, but I think I would have freaked out more if I had been there. It happened right before I got home. Drew was very sweet and picked her up from daycare this afternoon. They were about to take a ride on the 4-wheeler to check on the cows. The 4-wheeler is very old and extremely temperamental, and as Drew was struggling to change the gears, it jumped a bit and Avi busted her lip on one of the handlebars. Drew said she cried for less than a minute. She got blood on her dress, but we have already washed it, and it came out! After about 5 minutes she acted like nothing had ever happened. Her lip is fat, but I don't think any other damage was done!

One last note. Those of you who know us well know that Drew drives a 1990 Toyota Forerunner. Yes, that makes the truck 18 years old! It has had no air conditioning for at least 5 or 6 years now. Anyway, just thought I would share our monumental news. Drew bought a new-to-him truck today!! Woo-hoo! Avi Grace and I are so excited! It is a 2006 Toyota Tacoma. It even has air conditioning!!

Halloween Party & Sneak Peak of Avi's Costume

Avi Grace wearing the head piece to her costume before Halloween

Avi Grace at school on Halloween

Avi Grace & Miller playing with my cake carrier

Avi Grace & Miller sitting in the fun chairs

Peter & Avi Grace

Avi Grace eating Cheese Puffs at her school party

Miller, Peter & Nohl, 3 of the 4 boys in Avi Grace's class

Aren't Halloween parties so much FUN!

I've got lots of pictures to post from the Fall Festival at our church with Avi Grace in costume. It will take me a few days to get it all on the computer and then on the blog! So, you'll have to enjoy the preview of her costume for now! The other pictures are from Avi Grace's party at school on Friday. I enjoyed being able to go to the party and seeing the kiddos eat cheese puffs, cookies with orange icing and drink juice drinks. Avi Grace LOVED the cheese puffs! It was the first time she had eaten them...it took her a long time to eat one of them, but she really liked them! Thankfully her teacher was smart enough to put spare t-shirts on the kids while they ate their "party" food! I had fun watching them eat and play. It was fun to see Avi Grace in her element with other children!

Spaghetti Anyone?

First spaghetti experience.

Second spaghetti experience.

Third spaghetti experience.

Well, first I have to apologize for taking such a long time to post another blog. It has been absolutely crazy around here. We have had one thing after another with little time to relax. Thankfully we are having a peaceful afternoon today! In spite of all of the things we have had going on, we are doing pretty well. Avi Grace has been sick off an on with the normal daycare illnesses. I am hoping we get rid of the runny nose and cough soon, but I am not counting on it seeing as how we are entering the winter months!

Avi Grace is just a bundle of joy these days. She is such a happy little thing. She's practically running, and I'd have to say that she owns this place! She still struggles with just having the one nap at daycare, but she has learned to tolerate it pretty well! All this week she would become giddy when we pulled up in the daycare parking lot! I guess that means she is enjoying herself when she is there!

The pictures above are from her first real spaghetti experience. I cooked spaghetti one night for dinner, and she LOVED it! She stuffed herself so full several nights in a row that we thought she might explode! Really, one night after she ate a ton of spaghetti, some green beans, a whole banana and some peaches, I had to cut her off! Her belly was so full and tight! As you can see from the pictures, she became progressively messier with her spaghetti eating! We just laughed at her, which made her smear it even more!

A couple of things she is doing right now that I absolutely love are: 1. Last week she started humming to herself. Mostly it is when she is in her car seat, but it is the sweetest thing, and it just makes my heart melt every time I hear it! I am dying to get a video of it, but the timing hasn't been right thus far; 2. She is able to do 3 signs: the sign for more, the sign for eat, and the sign for all done. The sign for more is my favorite. We haven't really tried to teach her other signs, but I am sure she would pick those up too, if we showed them to her. She is also trying to say thank you, which is sweet!

I promise I'll try not to let it take so long before I blog again! Take care.