The Energizer Bunny

I think Avery's milk must have been super-fortified yesterday morning. She scooted in circles for about an hour, pausing on occasion to play the piano or say hello to Ellie on the couch. Why bother walking when you can move so quickly the other way?

The Twins

This post is long overdue, Mark and Heather (Paul's twin brother and fam) moved on Thanksgiving Day. We are sad for us since we will no longer be in the same area, but we are excited for them as Mark starts a new job and they move back to their native Georgia. Friends of Mark and Heather's had a going away party a week before they moved, and in typical twin fashion, Mark and Paul showed up in almost the exact same outfit (blue button-up, brown pullover sweater, jeans). The outfits confused more than one of Mark's friends. Carter, Mark and Heather's youngest, is in between his Dad and his beloved Uncle Paul.

Judd Nugget

I keep delaying this post, only because I'm trying to think of something clever to say. Apparently I'm clever-less, so here's the scoop: Judd Nugget#2 will arrive some time in the beginning of June. We're really excited about Avery being a big sister and adding another Juddly (as Paul puts it) to our family. We found out at Avery's birthday party, so Paul was able to tell his family who were all in town for the birthday weekend. We've had an ultrasound to determine the due date, and all looks well. Can't wait to meet our sweet baby!

The Cutest Giraffe Ever

Avery and our friend Madison

At the Piano

Avery just started pulling up on the piano bench. She's been playing for 15 - 20 minutes at a time. The thing I love about her first picture is how tiny her bum looks. She's usually in cloth diapers during the day, so she can have a good-sized booty. With a little tweaking, I think I might have found my holiday picture.

Avery's First Birthday

Avery's birthday was a great success. Paul's family came up for the occasion, and we had a few friends over. My Aunt Trish sent a gift a few days early, so we thought we would train her to open gifts. It didn't really work, because she was more impressed with small pieces of paper she would rip off than the big package. She ended up carrying the card around for the rest of the weekend.

I decided to make Avery a birthday banner so she can have it every year. It has my favorite fall colors (I'm so glad I have a daughter who was born in the fall!!) and was finished with some brown bias tape (Thanks, Cathy for finishing it up!!). In my continued effort to be more like Martha Stewart, I also made some pinwheels for decorations.

I made carrot cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing. Avery was not impressed. She kept twisting her face when she had the lemon icing and ate about half of her cupcake. But when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she started clapping and smiling at her audience. I think she realized this moment was for her.

Avery seemed fond of hugging on Killian, though he seemed more impressed with our niece Anna's paci.

Thanks, friends and family, for making our girl's day so special!!

Cousins

Last weekend was Avery's birthday, so all the Judd cousins were together to celebrate both Avery and four year old Anderson's birthday. I forgot to include Carter and Anna in the mix, but we'll see them soon! We love our cousins!!

Mary Scott and Avery waiting for the party

Mary Scott, Anderson, Benjamin and Catherine awaiting their cupcakes

Anderson getting ready to blow out his candles
The Girls
Hanging out at Cracker Barrel with Nana, Papa, and Brian and Monica and the kids

Month Twelve (also known as 1 Year)

Okay..so this picture was taken on the 13th, but I think it's one of the cutest of the weekend. More birthday pics and updates to follow.

A Very Fast Year

I'm sitting here getting ready for Paul's family to arrive this weekend so we can celebrate Avery's first birthday. WOW. We have always heard how quickly kids grow up, but we didn't realize it would happen this fast. To help me remember Avery at every stage, I took a picture on the 12th of every month this past year. You'll have to wait until next week to see this Sunday's picture, but here is a little taste of how much Avery has grown.

On the Phone

Avery just started doing this last night. We;ve often had suspicions that Avery will be outgoing and talkative. The ironic thing is she doesn't say a word when the phone is actually in use.

My Little Scooter

A Weekend in Massachusetts

The Judd fam went to the Mother Land for Labor Day weeekend. This is Paul's third trip to the Boston area, but we've never been able to walk around the city due to horrible weather. Thursday was clear and beautiful, so we decided to do some serious sightseeing. We started with the Freedom Trail, which is a self-guiding tour of several historical sights relating to the American revolution. The trail is marked by a red line on the sidewalk throughout several Boston streets, but to be honest, I've tried walking it several times and I always seem to get lost at some point.

Anyway, one of the highlights was the visiting a cemetary where Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams are buried. I know it's weird, but we like cemetaries. We also went inside The King's Chapel, which was the first Anglican church built in America. We had lunch at Quincy Market and then walked around for a bit longer. You'll have to trust me on this because I took no pictures. This is what Avery thought of Boston:

Friday found us taking the ferry (the Island Queen, to be exact) over to Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. You'll have to trust me on this one as well, because even though we took pictures of Avery's first ferry ride, we forgot to include the water.

We hung out at the green by Oak Bluffs.

The brown house to the left of Paul's head is Bob Vila's house. It looked pretty impressive. And well put together, of course.

We also walked around the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association, which is a Methodist summer camp meeting that started in the 1800s. All the cottages look like gingerbread houses and are impeccably decorated.

We even found one for Avery.

This is what Avery thought of Martha's Vineyard:

The rest of the weekend was spent with my brother and his fiance Eveline. We had a great time and ate some fantastic food. The meals are always highlights when we get together with Rick and Ev.

Avery loved their dog Moses. We had daily photo shoots with Avery and Moses.

My cousins Jen and Steph were able to stop by, and we were also able to see my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Don and cousing Lynne. Thanks all for a great weekend!