3+1=4

Amelia loves her magnadoodle. She has 3 of them. She brings them to us every day and asks us to write her a "note." As soon as Alex walked through the door yesterday, she said "Daddy, note!" He came over, sat on the couch, flipped the magandoodle over, and was truly SHOCKED at what he saw...



I'm not going to lie - I'm in shock as well.



We decided to stop using birth control at the beginning of July. We've been praying about it and figured it would take awhile to get pregnant on our own.

Um...it didn't.



And because two lines just weren't enough. I needed a digital message that spelled it out for me. It's the infertile in me. I tried eating a chicken sandwich yesterday and couldn't eat it - I had to throw it out. I was the exact same way when pregnant with Amelia. As soon as I threw it out a little voice in my head said "are you pregnant?" According to this little stick...YES...yes,I am.



We rushed to the store to find a big sister shirt before Alex got home from work. I was thinking that's the way I would tell him but then thought to myself...he's not going to even look at what she's wearing...you better write a note on the magnadoodle. Is she not the cutest big sister ever?



So it's official...our family of 3 will have an addition, March 2012. We'll be a family of 4. Unbelievable.

I know lots of people who wouldn't announce a pregnancy this early on, but this baby/pregnancy is in God's care and I want to trust Him with it. We're excited and thanking Him for this miracle baby!

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 21 months old!

Amelia, you're 21 months old!



We don't have an official weight for this month, but we're thinking you're close to 30 lbs now.



You wear a size 5 diaper.

You're wearing 2T clothing and wear a size 5.5 shoe.



Last time we counted, you have 16 teeth with a few coming through any day now.



Speaking of teeth, brushing yours twice a day had become challenging. You cried the entire time. Not exactly the way we like to start and end the day. :) We bought you an automatic toothbrush and let you decorate it and put your name on it. It has helped A LOT! Mommy usually jumps around and makes you laugh while Daddy brushes them as quickly as possible. It's a great workout for Mommy! The things we do as parents. (LOL)



You go to bed at 8pm and wake between 9:00-10:00 every morning. You usually take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.



You love popcorn.



You're also a fan of Mama's chocolate chip cookies.



You take your baby (which you've named Caillou), your bunny rabbit, and your glow worm every where. You have to have them in your bed when going to sleep.



You try to feed your baby your food or give her your milk. Mama caught you cleaning her ears with a Q-tip the other day. You diaper her, put socks on her feet, and feed her a bottle. You take very good care of your baby.



You've decided you like the grass now. You will lie back but refuse to lay your head in it. You used to not even walk in it, so this is huge!



You love to lie on your back and want us to come join you. We don't know why but you think this is so funny. You say "Daddy...Mama...BACK" while patting the floor. You laugh so hard when we come and join you!

Noah's Ark is your FAVORITE book. You ask Daddy to read it every night before bed. We ask you who the guy with the beard is and you say, "Noah."



You say "please", "thank you", and "sorry."



One of your favorite movies is Father of the Bride. You ask to watch "George."

Mama asks you if you're her baby or big girl and you always say "baby." This makes Mama so happy!! :)



Every day when Mama puts on her deodorant, you ask for "some" and raise your arms. Mama always pretends to put it on you.

You love to play catch!



When we ask what you want Daddy to cook on the grill, you say "dogs." You won't eat a hot dog unless it's grilled!

Some of the new things you're saying now.

"Ewwww, Mama" (when you think something is gross)
"I no like it"
"Love you"
"Hurry, Mama"
"Bye, see you"
"I hear birds" (When we're outside and ask you what you hear)
"Move it" (You just started saying this and get in trouble for it. No clue where you picked this up!)



Amelia, you just get sweeter as the days go by - if that's even possible! We love you so much!!

Daddy & Mommy

15 things I love about him...

15 years ago today, I said "I DO." It's hard to believe we're celebrating 15 years of marriage! Even though it has been 15 years, I still look at Alex and see that young, gorgeous, dark-haired man I married. Sure, we both have a little grey hair, a few added pounds, and a few more wrinkles, but I still think he's gorgeous and he still has the same huge heart that I fell in love with over 15 years ago. He has always treated me like a princess and now that we have our own little princess, he treats me like a queen. He might love a good deal but when it comes to me, he spares no expense. He makes me feel beautiful and says "I love you" many times a day. We often laugh about how young and naive we were. We had no idea what marriage truly meant. We had very little but that was okay - we were livin' on love!



15 things I love about my sweet husband:

1. I love your love for God and for His Word.

2. I love that you believe in second chances.

3. I love the father you are to Amelia.

4. I love how quickly you forgive.

5. I love your salt & pepper hair.

6. I love that you always open the door for me.

7. I love how smart you are.

8. I love that you can make me laugh like no one else.

9. I love how well you take care of our family.

10. I love that you don't just say "I'm sorry", you say "will you forgive me?"

11. I love that you're patient with me during an argument and speak kindly.

12. I love your gorgeous eyes.

13. I love that you have a heart to serve.

14. I love that you care what God thinks more than what others think.

15. I love that you chose me 15 years ago and still choose me today.



Alex, I love you with all my heart. I've learned so much over the last 15 years. Most importantly, I've learned that our marriage is worth fighting for. YOU are worth fighting for. I'm looking forward to 15+ more wonderful years together. I love that I get to grow old with you by my side. You are my love, my best friend. I'm blessed to be called Mrs. Alex Averitt.




"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." -Song of Solomon 6:3

We love the weekend!

Sunday is our favorite day of the week. Love it! We were at church before 10:00am this morning. Amelia helped me set out drinks on the hospitality table. She loves doing that...makes her feel so big. She will carry one drink at a time and then run back to the kitchen to grab another. I think she would make 100 trips if I asked her to do it! I love the thought of teaching her to serve already. It's in a very small way but it's serving her church none-the-less. The fact that she has a huge grin on her face makes it even more fun for me.



We picked up some burgers from Five Guys after church and headed to my SIL's to swim. We were there for several hours. It was a lot of fun. Lots of family there. Amelia was beyond good today. We had the most enjoyable day IN THE POOL! :) We had dinner with my BIL & SIL and then came home. Didn't get home until 9:30. Girlfriend was still in the best mood and she didn't even have a nap! I was just bragging on her at bath time, telling her how proud I was of her behavior and that I had such a fun time with her. She proceeded to wrap her arms around my waist and just hold them there...giving me a tight squeeze.



Excuse me while my heart melts.



I guess Alex was right...my last post was about a rough day. He kept telling me, "Jill, it's just one day - there's always tomorrow - tomorrow will be better." He was right. It's days like today that help me get through those few and far between rough days. :)



Love this girl so much.



Love to all,

Love is patient...

Amelia and I needed to be at our church by 10:30 this morning. She sleeps in pretty late so getting anywhere by that time is hard - unless I want to wake her up early. I usually just make sure I'm ready and have all of her things laid out and then wake her. We spent a couple of hours at the church, grabbed some CFA for lunch, and then headed to my SIL's house to swim. My friend, Heather was going to be there and I was looking forward to catching up with her. Once we arrived, I slathered Amelia down with sunscreen/put on her swimsuit and we were ready!

Fast forward 10-15 minutes.

What's that you hear?

Oh, that's my 20 month old screaming her head off.

Never mind, she'll stop in a minute.

Except she didn't.

Seriously, she made it 15 minutes in the pool. All she wanted to do was take off her floaties and run around the pool. Of course I told her she couldn't do that. She might fall in the pool and drown or fall and bust her head. She didn't really care for my take on it. She just wanted to "play." At that point I decided that we were leaving. I wasn't going to ruin everyone else's time by my child screaming. I'm sorry I don't have a picture to share. Just imagine my happy child losing her mind.

Can I just say that the closer we get to 2, the more I see this attitude creep out of my child and it exhausts me. I sit here racking my brains thinking, "what on earth am I going to do?" I actually get my feelings hurt when she acts like this and that in itself is comical. I'm the parent. She's 20 months old. She started mouthing something when we got in the car to leave and I just looked at her and said, "Amelia, please lay your head back and stop talking." She obeyed, but then I felt so guilty for saying that to her. I had a bad attitude because we were having to leave. Who's the parent again?

Sigh.

I know there will be lots of days like this but I've been blessed to have very few up to this point. Sometimes I just feel so tired and when I get a little glimpse of "the terrible 2's"...I get scared. Scared I won't have the patience and wisdom that I need to respond in the right way.

Today has been a tough parenting day.

I think we both need a nap.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
-1 Corinthians 13:4–8a

Love to all,

Sweet little wrist...

Amelia and I are homebodies. We are at home A LOT. She's really good about playing inside and since it's so hot outside right now - that's a good thing. I try to come up with things for her to do - especially now that she's getting older. So today was craft day at The Averitt house!

Amelia LOVES necklaces and bracelets. She's always putting something on her wrist or around her neck (we really have to watch the around the neck thing). I decided we would make a special bracelet and necklace for her to wear today. I sat out the supplies (ribbon and fruit loops) and we went to work!



She watched me add rings to the ribbon and tried so hard to do it herself. She could get the ring to the ribbon but couldn't figure out how to pull it through. Eventually she asked for help. :)



Sweet little wrist. :)



We started on the necklace but at that point - she was more interested in eating the jewelery.



It was a fun craft that we'll definitely make/eat again. She loved it!



Love to all,

Terrific Tuesday!

I made a sugar free apple pie last night. I can't stop eating it.



The little girl in this picture is getting funnier by the day. I ask her all of the time "do you want to give me a kiss?" She usually says "yes", takes my face in her hands, and then gives me a kiss. Well today she says "yes", takes my face in her hands, and proceeds to LICK ME ON THE MOUTH! No clue what possessed her to do it but I couldn't stop laughing.



We headed out to run errands after Amelia's nap time. Our first stop - the DMV. I tried to go on Friday but there were 50-60 people in line. I walked in and walked right back out. Today wasn't too bad and Amelia was very well behaved. She pretty much stared at people the entire time and gave them this look. HA!



She kept asking for lemonade in the car. Her new fave. It was extremely hot so we headed to the mall and enjoyed a Chick-fil-a lemonade.



We hung out at the mall until Daddy got off work and then went to Cantina Laredo for dinner. We let Amelia eat cheese dip with a spoon. Because that's how you keep your child happy in a restaurant. You let them eat cheese dip by the spoonful.



This picture makes me smile. I think she resembles me as a little girl in this pic. She was cheesing with a mouthful of rice. She LOVED it...ate all of the rice on my plate and was asking for more.



I seriously love her so much...some days I think my heart will burst.

It was a terrific Tuesday!

Love to all,

Wonderful Weekend!

My weekend started with Alex walking in the door with these! Made my day. :)



We celebrated my nephew, Pryce's 13th birthday on Friday evening. My sister cooked an amazing meal. I think I could eat homemade potato salad until I'm sick. I didn't....but I could. I haven't given an update on my weight loss/calorie counting in a long time. I've lost 12 pounds and would love to lose 12 more. I was out of town quite a bit and fell off the calorie counting wagon. I need to start back. It really helps to keep up with what you're putting in. I feel much better in my clothes and I'm really only one size away from where I want to be.

My MIL cooked a delicious meal after church on Sunday. We had lots of fresh veggies which I could totally live on during the summer. SO GOOD! We headed to the pool after lunch. My Mom pointed out how big Amelia is getting when she saw this picture. She's allowed to eat potato chips now and LOVES them. I have to hide them at home or that's all she would want to eat. She had chips and lemonade for her snack at the pool. She was in heaven. It was obvious that girlfriend needed a nap after some time in the pool. I think that's the grouchiest I've seen her in a long time. She said, "no" and "I don't like it" about a thousand times, which I'm not going to lie - I can't stand to hear her say those words. She needed a nap and kept getting in trouble. It's better to remove her from the situation at that point - otherwise we're just setting her up to get in trouble over and over. I finally took her inside and we watched a movie until time to leave. :)



She fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up until 8pm (her usual bedtime). She was up for dinner, took a bath, and then it was time to go back to bed. She woke up a little after 9 this morning. She laid in bed talking off and on for about 30 minutes, so I finally went in to see what she was doing. This is how I found her. I love going in to get her in the mornings. She's so happy to see me and ready to start the day!



Monday is our day to stay in our pajamas and just recover from the weekend. I'm doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and playing with my girl. It's going to be a great week!

Love to all,

Snapshots of Summer...

Here are a few pics of our Summer 2011, so far. Amelia is so much fun - she's saying something new every day and makes us laugh constantly. We have the best time with her!

-click on pics to enlarge-













I hope you're having a super summer!!

Love to all,