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,

TGIF...

I asked several people which cups they recommend that are truly spill-proof. Pretty much everyone said there is no such thing. I've started buying some of the ones recommended and so far - this is Amelia's favorite. She thinks she's so big to have a cup with a straw. She's not allowed to drink out of this one unless she's in her high chair or sitting on the red rug.

That's our deal.
She sticks to it.
We're both happy girls. :)



We hosted homegroup last night. This is what I made for dinner.

I mean called in for dinner.

The spicy veggie was my favorite.



Joy came over yesterday morning. She brought a pan of brownies so I shared them with my homegroup. They were so good. We had vanilla ice cream too. If you're making anything other than Ghirardelli brownies - just stop.



Alex has the day off today. If you could see my face while typing that sentence...I'm beaming!! A day off is precious to us. They are few and far between. I'm going to enjoy the day/weekend with my family of three. I think we'll have brunch at Mimi's and then run some errands together. Oh, and it just started snowing at our house! It's so pretty. Amelia is still asleep but we'll take her out to see it when she wakes up. :)



Love to all,

Chocolate Cake Day...

Amelia and I had a good day! She slept until 10:30 this morning. I was getting ready to go in and check her pulse and then she finally woke up. Joy & Pryce came by to see us this morning. I sent Pryce in to get Amelia from her crib. She looked through the bars of her crib, saw him, and said, "PRYCE!?" Like she was so surprised to see him. This little girl makes me laugh so hard. Pryce spent the morning being the best cousin in the world. He built her a big fort in the living room to crawl through and would chase her around the house from room to room - allowing her to do whatever she pleased. He is so sweet with her. I never dreamed that my sister's children would be so much older than mine, but Amelia just loves them and they love her. They're more like big brothers to her! :)



My friend, Hillary told me that today is National Chocolate Cake Day. So I decided to make a chocolate cake to take to home group tonight. I'm not really great at making pretty cakes, but they usually taste really good! Take this cake for instance. It was falling apart and a complete mess. So I decided to save it by drizzling chocolate butter cream over it. It ended up being a globbing of icing vs. a drizzling. I brought very little home though, so I think it must have tasted okay.



I let Amelia have a taste of the chocolate batter.

She liked it.

She really liked it.



I got a couple of days behind on my study, but was able to catch up today. I'm enjoying it. One of the things I've learned so far: I'm undisciplined in a few areas of my life. I knew that I had issues, but never labeled it as undisciplined because that word forces me to change. So I'm owning it. And now I'm going to work on changing it. It's not even major things, but things that once changed, will make a huge difference in bringing calm into my home vs. chaos.

Tomorrow we have a play date and a little shopping to do and then we're going to come home and wait on Alex to get home. We can't wait to see him!!

Do you have a fun weekend planned? I have a lingerie shower for my cousin to attend. Haven't been to one of those in quite some time. She's marrying a wonderful man and they've asked Alex to marry them. I'm so excited for their soon-to-be-family!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Love to all,

Quiet Day...

Alex and I were supposed to have a date night on Saturday evening. We had a sitter and everything. He had an 8am meeting that morning and by the time he got home and it was time for us to get ready, he was feeling puny and I was exhausted/still sick. I just looked at him and said, "do you still want to go on a date or stay here?" We chose staying at home. (LOL) I ended up going out and getting a much needed mani/pedi/eyebrow wax. I was way overdue for all three of those. I picked up dinner and we ate at home. It was nice to just stay at home, eat in front of the tv, and blow my nose in private. We've gone through almost 10 boxes of Puffs Plus in the last month. I'm not even kidding. I made fun of Alex for buying kleenex in bulk, but I have to take it back. We've blown through it. *Pun intended*

Amelia and I missed church last week, so it was nice to be back this Sunday. I feel out of place if I'm not with my church family on Sunday mornings. After church we ran by the mall to pick Amelia out some new pjs for her surgery day. Whenever I've had to have surgery I get new pjs - so she gets new ones too. :) Gap had a huge sale. We found her a cute pair of valentine pjs w/huge hearts on them. Her surgery is so early Wednesday morning - we'll just scoop her out of bed and go. After grabbing a bite to eat at the mall food court (I had Great Steak - yum!), we came home and took a family nap.

Today we've just hung out around the house. It has been a good day. Alex & I are still feeling icky, but Amelia is feeling much better. I'm ready for all three of us to be well at the same time. I look over while making Amelia's lunch and she's laying her head on the tray. I gave her a pillow so she'd be a little more comfortable. She took a morning nap, so I'm not sure why she was still so tired!?



And this is how my girl has entertained me (and herself) today. She has had a blanket over her head most of the day. She either walks around with it over her head and feels her way around the house or plays peek-a-boo with me. She's been running into walls, the entertainment center, etc. I try to get her to stop, but for some reason she enjoys having her head covered.



Silly girl.



It has been a quiet day at the Averitt House. Happy Monday, y'all!

Love to all,

Our Weekend...

We had a busy weekend! Alex and I had a rehearsal dinner for two of our sweet friends/church members on Friday evening. I was so excited for them. I knew from the time that Jen started dating Will that he was the one for her. :) Since Amelia was at home with a babysitter, we went on a hot date to Target after the rehearsal dinner. HA!

We got up on Saturday and started getting ready for the wedding. Alex was officiating and I played wedding coordinator. Amelia came to the wedding with us and did so well. This was us afterwards...we were hot and sweaty by this point.



My Aunt Sandi was sweet enough to hold her throughout the wedding. It was outdoors and very warm, but Amelia sat on her lap through the entire thing.



Here's the lovely couple. Jennifer was such a beautiful bride!



It was such a pretty setting for an outdoor wedding. That's Pinnacle Mountain and Lake Maumelle in the background.



Here's Amelia giving Belinda sugars after the ceremony. :)



Amelia with her Aunt E at the reception!



After the wedding, we flew home to change into our Razorback attire.



We took Amelia to her Nana's house and we headed to the game!



Here's me and my sweetie at the game. Sweating some more.



Even though we won, it was a frustrating game to watch. I'm hoping we get our act together before this coming Saturday!



Sunday is our favorite day of the week...we get to go to church!! Even though Amelia is almost 11 months old, she has never been to Journey Kids. I always keep her in the service with me. She usually takes her bottle and will play on my lap for the entire service. While I'm singing with the worship team, she sits with a friend or family member. Sometimes I get up and walk her in the back of the sanctuary, but it hasn't been an issue up to this point. We're a family-oriented church...very laid back. We encourage parents to keep their children with them in service for as long as they want. If they get upset, you can take them to the nursery. This was my week to work in Journey Kids, so Amelia came with me. She had the best time! She would just sit and watch the other kids. She LOVED this little toy where she could stand and play. Yes, my child is barefoot. She still refuses to wear shoes. I'm praying that by the time it gets cold, she'll let me put them on her feet. She was so tiny last winter, she wore those fake "shoe-socks." She's a little old for those now. HA! Anyway, look at that sweet face...she was having the best time.



I went today and bought her a couple of new toys. I looked for the Leap Frog table that people told me about and couldn't find it, so we settled for this Fisher-Price table. She loves it!



I also bought her a Melissa & Doug wooden puzzle. She takes them out, slams them back down, chews on them, and repeat! She looks so big in these pictures.

Happy 4th of July!!

We've had the best day! We had a 4th of July brunch at church and it was SO GOOD!! Amelia insisted on wearing her hair in pigtails...



So I let her.



Amelia is used to a morning nap and we arrived at church around her usual nap time. We took some family pics and she was in a daze the entire time. (LOL)



This was as close to a smile as she would give us. Look at those sleepy eyes! :)



This morning, Alex recognized all of those that volunteer for things at our church. And to his surprise, after the brunch, they gave him this board full of letters of encouragement! They have no idea how much this means to him. He waited to read the letters when he was alone, because he knew he would get emotional. Alex is a bi-vocational pastor. Working a full-time job, pastoring a church, and being a husband and father is a full plate. I often wonder how he does it, but God is always faithful to provide the time to study and prepare, spend time with me & Amelia, work a full-time job...and sleep! :)



Alex took tomorrow off (YAY!!!), so we're now at the lake! Ready to have some fun in the sun! Or the shade. Either way, we have a day away and it's so nice.



I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family.

Love to all,

Random...

Totally random post...

My sister came over to see us. Amelia was hanging out in her bouncy seat. Aunt Joy decided to sit in the floor with her while she ate her sandwich. Because this baby just doesn't get enough attention.

Aunt Joy is a brave soul for sitting on my filthy kitchen floor.



I can't even tell you how many pics that I have like this. She loves to take naps with her Daddy. Seeing them together just melts my heart. I seriously don't know how Amelia sleeps like this because Alex is usually snoring so loud. It's like it soothes her to sleep. (LOL) As you can see, Amelia is already sporting some Valentine pj's. She has several pair, so I've already started putting them on her. I think the entire month of February should be the month of LOVE. All things pink, red, hearts, etc. Half the month just isn't enough. :)



We met Daddy at the mall after he was off from work. I have a dirty secret.

I love to eat at the mall food court.

You would think from this picture that Amelia is smiling because she's receiving kisses from Mommy. She's not. She LOVED the ceiling in the mall. I would get her to look at me and she would slowly tilt her head until she could see the ceiling again. Girl has a thing for ceiling fixtures.



I told you that I like to peek into Amelia's bassinet when she wakes from a nap. I went in to get her (with camera in hand). Peeked over the bassinet and there she was. Happy as a lark.



I have no idea what a lark is.

We host our home group tonight. This is our first time (since before I had Amelia) to host. They gave us a little break once I hit the HUGE mark. I'm making chicken spaghetti, salad & bread.

For dessert I made a peanut butter pie and brownies
I made an extra peanut butter pie to take over to my neighbor. It's her husband's birthday, so I thought they might like a sweet treat!

Oh, and can I just say...if you're making anything other than these brownies...


just slap yourself and promise to stop. My sis and I make most everything from scratch, but there's really no reason when you find a mix that's THIS GOOD. Seriously. They're the BEST!!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week. I'm hosting a baby shower tomorrow night, so it's going to be a busy couple of days!

Love to all,

Christmas in pictures...

We had five different Christmas celebrations with friends and family. I knew that I didn't want to do five different posts. I also knew that putting all of the pics from each one would be ONE LONG POST, so I decided to do a small collage of each one. You can click on the collage to enlarge.

We first went to my Daddy's hometown and had Christmas with my Grandma, many aunts, many uncles, many cousins, etc. I always look forward to my Aunt's creamed corn and dressing...it's AWESOME!


Then we had Christmas with the Averitt side of the family...it's always super loud and lots of fun! :)


Then we had our Christmas Eve service with our church family. Before the Christmas Eve service, we went to Mimi's and had a late lunch/early dinner. We pretty much had the restaurant all to ourselves - it was so nice. My parents came in for the Christmas Eve service, so they were able to love on their newest granddaughters. I love that the kiddos come in their pjs every year...they always look so cute!


Had to do a collage of all of the yummy food we had on Christmas Day. We do finger foods, since we have a large meal on Thanksgiving. My Mom made her homemade biscuits on which we had little ham sandwiches - YUM! There were many sweets to be had...I'm still grazing on the snowballs and candy cane cookies that Momma made! Heather, you might recognize your black bean dip there in the pic below...it has become a family favorite! :)


We had my family over to celebrate on Christmas Day. There were WAY MORE pics than this, but I had to stop somewhere. :) When I get the pics from my S-I-L, I will share the hilarious gift that she and my brother gave Alex...we laughed SO HARD!!


The day after Christmas, we went to my Uncles house to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family. We built gingerbread houses, sang Christmas carols, and ate A LOT of food once again. I've probably gained back any weight that I had lost before the holidays, but it was so worth it! ;)


It was such a wonderful time with family. We are so blessed!!

Love to all,

No use crying over spilled breast milk...

I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster some days. I assume this is totally normal. I'm happy, doing well, but there are times that I just start crying. Sometimes I know why. Sometimes I don't. Alex learned a long time ago (3 years of IF treatments helped with this) to just hold me and let me cry. He knows there isn't always a reason. The past few days I've had some moments where I just have to let the flood gates open and then I'm all better.

I am breastfeeding as well as pumping. A has had no problem going from breast to bottle. She's a pro. It's nice because it allows Alex to play a part in feeding her. He has been taking the 4:30am feeding before getting ready for work. It gives them some Daddy/Daughter time and gives me 3 extra hours of sleep. NICE. I love that he wants to help...he's such a good Daddy! I've also been supplementing with formula for a couple of her feedings. They have us doing this to put some weight on her. According to her first doc appointment, it's working. :) I still like to give her breast milk as much as possible though. When I pump, I want to get every drop I can in that bottle. Alex started referring to it as THE PRECIOUS. (LOL) Yesterday I was pumping and I was tired. As I walked into the kitchen to put lids on the milk and put it into the fridge, I spilled an entire container of THE PRECIOUS. Alex walks into the kitchen and I'm bawling, wiping up the milk. The sweet man that he is...holding A in one arm, wraps the other around me. Then he proceeds to say, "baby, in this house there's no use crying over spilled breast milk." (LOL)

I love that man.

We were able to go to church yesterday. I was SO HAPPY to be back. It was weird to be up on that stage during worship - without A in my belly. I remember standing up there many times before getting pregnant, broken-hearted, trying to praise Him through the pain.
~
And then I found out that I was pregnant...He had blessed us with our baby! I loved the thought that A could hear me singing to our Heavenly Father while inside of me.
~
And now she's sitting with us in service...thank you, Father for this precious gift!! It was a special day for us as a family.

A wasn't happy in this pic. Daddy was holding down her hands because she kept putting them in front of her face as soon as the camera would flash. (LOL)


We had a wonderful weekend as a family of three. I'm savoring every moment and looking forward to many more. :)

Love to all,