Sledding on Powder

So before I begin this post a brief update is way past due. Avery will be turning 1 in two weeks and I can't believe a whole year has flown by already. She is just the best baby ever. She has been walking since 9 months, has four teeth (two on top and two on bottom), loves to chit-chat, loves to dance and play with balloons, and loves to give hugs, kisses, and also blow kisses, and wave to everyone she sees. She is just so full of life. I am still working and Eric is working and still going to school. He is getting closer to being done with school. I am proud of him and his hard work. We have been in our house now for almost 8 months and we have just loved it and our neighbors. This is such a fun area to live. Now to the story . . .

This morning Eric woke up to more snow on the ground and he just had to tell me. He lights up with the sight of snow. It is fun to see him play in it. He then asked me if we could go sledding at the park up the street from our house. I could not say no. We bundled up Avery in her cute snow clothes and then got ourselves ready to go and packed up the sleds. When we got to the park, there were tons of kids and families already enjoying the snow. So we found a good spot and Eric went down first to make a track. Then he took Avery down, and then I took her a few times, and we even did a train together and went down. It was fun. Avery loved it when the snow would get in her face a little. Then towards the end, Avery went down by herself. Of course it was like maybe 10 feet but still. . . We had a good time as a little family and came back home and enjoyed the snowfall that happened right after we stepped through our door.

Halloween Fun

So Halloween turned out to be so much fun this year. We started off by carving pumpkins at Derek and Jen's house. It was so fun. We had dinner, treats, and carved our pumpkins. Avery loved the pumpkins alot more than I thought she would. We all used patterns for our pumpkins. Derek and I chose hard ones. They took a lot of time and dedication to finish. Then Eric and I dressed up for our neighbors Halloween dinner party, which was so fun by the way, and I could not stop laughing at ourselves, especially Eric. Everyone loved our costumes. Thanks Jen for watching Avery that night so we could go! Then Halloween night, Eric took Avery Trick-or-Treating for the first time! She was a skunk this year. And she looked so cute! He just took her around the block. I can't wait for next year!!

My Drive Home

The best part about my drive home from work is turning around and seeing this:

Cornbelly's 2009

So last weekend Eric's sister Emily and her family came to stay with us on their way to Nevada. They stayed for a few days and it was so GOOD to see family from AZ! Avery just loved her cousins and loved to chase them all around. We wanted to go and do something all together so we decided to go to Thanksgiving Point and have fun at Cornbellys. It was fun, especially for kids. :) We invited Eric's sister Sarah and her family to join the fun. Eric took Avery through a haunted creature and I took her on a bumpy wagon ride. We watched the pig races (Carter really wanted to see the pigs, jumped on these huge jumping pillows, and we were crazy and went through the corn maze. We got so lost in the corn maze we had to follow a corn cop to show us the way out!!We could not stop laughing. Here are some photos of the adventure.

Blast from the Past

So this past Sunday, Eric and I were sitting out in the hall during Sunday School because it was so crowded there weren't any seats. We were waiting when this girl pointed at me and smiled. I did not know who it was until she got closer. JILL!!! Oh my heck. Jill is one of my best friends from hygiene school out in Connecticut. She came to visit her sister out here in Saratoga and it was so fast that she did not tell anyone she was coming. We could not believe the chances that we saw each other. She got to meet Avery for the first time and also she came to see the house and we talked for a little bit. It was so good to see her. I believe that we will see more of each other. It brought back so many great memories.

What Eight Months Have Taught Me

After eight months of being a dad, I can say my life has definitely changed in that short amount of time. Being a new dad has brought many opportunities for me to learn from. I thought I'd gather what I've learned so far and share a bit. Consider these my bits of wisdom.

-When you are changing a diaper, make sure you put the dirty diaper out of the baby's reach. They'll grab anything in sight.

-No matter how bad your day was at work, one little smile will make you forget it all.

-I can't understand how something so cute and small can produce the smelly and messy diapers that she does. I know some will say that she is MY daughter, but there were two parties involved in creating this child. Not pointing fingers, I'm just saying....

-I have never been a fan of reading, but when it comes to reading Avery a bedtime story while she sits in my lap, I have no problem reading the same book over and over.

-The second Avery grabbed my finger in the hospital, I knew I was done for.

-Babies are the perfect excuse to get out of anything. If they only knew how many times we threw them under the bus....

-Carrying around a pink diaper bag is not so bad.

-Baby talk and talking in an abnormally high voice makes babies smile only because they think you are a goober for doing so.

-After carrying Avery around for 20 minutes, I suddenly become grateful and feel sorry for Ash that she had to carry her for 9 months.

-You develop a bit of OCD as a parent. I systematically check on Avery three times after she is down for the night.

-Regardless of all of the advice you get, no one knows your baby better than you do. You can differentiate the types of cries. I think it is that gift you get as a parent. Even though they cannot talk yet, you know exactly what they are saying.

-I think I'll always be Ashley's biggest child.

-I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to spy on my kids when they are with their boyfriend or girlfriend like my mom did to us (ask my lil bro about his recent experience), but I do know I'm VERY protective of Avery already.

-Avery could not have asked for a better mom.

-No does not mean no. In fact it doesn't mean anything according to Avery as she glances back at the couch to see what I'm fussing about and then continues to hit the lower part of the TV. Ash fears she'll push the TV off the stand. I'm worried that the little hand prints will blur the score updates that run at the bottom of the screen.

-When Ave wants to be picked up, she'll crawl to you and lift her arms up. I love that feeling of being needed.

-Sometimes I wonder why I buy toys in the first place. Her favorite "toys" include our rubber phone cases, door stops, Ashley's decorative pot, laundry baskets, and the Huggies diaper box. In some sense, she has saved me some money when it comes to the rest of our kids.

-She lights up when Ashley comes home from work. I know they are going to be best friends and cost me quite a bit in shopping sprees.

These are only a few things I have picked up in my career as a dad. I can't wait for the day when Ave starts talking and we can have our little conversations. I know I'm going to learn a lot from that little girl. She is already eight months and on the verge of walking. Time has flown. I know it won't be long until I'm helping her move into a college dorm. There is no doubt in my mind that I will wish I could go back to the time where my little miss Avery would crawl around in her diaper and smile every time I caught her eye. She will grow up, but it’s that smile that will remind me that she will always be my little girl.

Zoo Trip

We went to the zoo for Labor Day. We arrived there an hour after the zoo opened and it was packed. It was fun to take Avery to her first zoo trip. She just stared at all the animals. It was so funny. Eric and I really enjoyed it. We went with my parents, Amber, Jen and Houston, and Josh's family. It was fun to be together.