A Judd Family Easter

We just returned from our Easter trip to Charlotte. Heather and I left with the kiddos on Friday, and Mark and Paul followed a few hours later with Ellie. All the cousins had a great time, as you can see.Carter and Bit...four months apart. They'll be playmates for most of their childhood, we hope.

Mary Scott and her "Baby Avery"

I love this picture with Catherine, Avery's oldest girl cousin. Catherine will be training Avery in the finer arts of wearing pink.

Benjamin is the one upside down.

Mark, Katie Beth, Paul, and Brian...the "original" Judds.

Paul with Anderson and Carter.

My two favorite people

This was in Avery's Easter Basket. I made it out of two gloves from the hardware store and tied a ribbon around its neck. You can find the pattern on Martha Stewart's website. Avery enjoyed eating its ears, so I guess it was a hit.

I realized as I was downloading pictures from the weekend we didn't get a great picture of Avery in her Easter outfit. I'll try to put her back in it soon so you can see her adorableness. We missed the rest of our families and friends and hope everyone had a great Easter weekend.

A Few Projects

Sorry for the flash in the picture, but this is Avery's family tree. I've been working on it since I was about 6 months pregnant. I bought the tree in July, spray painted it in August, hung it in Novemember and finally developed the pictures a few weeks ago. Most of her family (uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins) are on there, and it hangs right above her bookshelf. I love that her whole family is in her room. When she's older, we'll try to look at it together and see if she can name everyone.

My other exciting news is I finished my first sewing project. Technically, I"ve alreaded sewed a patchwork piece and zig-zag stitched around some cloth diaper wipes, but this is my first real bonafide project. Avery loves playing with these soft blocks. Of course, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of Avery with the blocks. She usually grabs them and eats them.

Avery and Uncle Gene

Paul's college BFF Gene came down to visit us this past weekend. Gene has this habit of evoking tears from babies, but we were hoping Avery would be sweet and welcoming. I wasn't home when Gene and Avery were introduced, but we have plenty of toothy grin pictures to prove that she was thrilled to meet him. This one is just a stare down picture, but again, there were no tears.

Gene held Avery often both days. He even got her to fall asleep after church...now that takes a special touch. (Yes, she's sleeping in the picture).

Our highlight from the weekend was a dinner with Mark, Heather, and the boys. We made an Italian Cheese Fondue that made me wish I pulled out my fondue pot a little more often. I used swiss instead of fontina cheese, but I think I stuck to the recipe strictly after that. Our meal was topped off with a fantastic tiramisu from Trader Joe's. We were all scrambling for seconds on that little piece of delight.

North Carolina Weekend

I spent the weekend in the Raleigh-Durham area with my family and a great friend. I started out in Cary, which is right outside of Raleigh. My Aunt Trish and Uncle Emil (pictured above this past Thanksgiving) live there and also had a special guest - their granddaughter Emily.

Emily is 8 years old and is a true sassy spirit. It's fun spending time with her. She came running into the house with her mom Karen wanting to meet Avery. Of course, Avery wasn't obliging, as she was taking her afternoon nap. But Avery woke up soon enough and gave her eager audience a winning smile. We spent the rest of the day playing with Avery and adoring her every move. Emily even spent some time reading to Avery while "Gaga" (aka Aunt Trish) held the book.

After a yummy time at a local chinese restaurant, (where Avery discovered the joy of her feet) we headed to Durham to hang with my friend Renee for the rest of the weekend.

We had a great time shopping and eating (I love Nordstrom Cafe!!) and watching a whacked out movie. No need to see "Across the Universe", everybody. But in spite of the movie mistake, Avery and I both had a great time with Renee. Avery seemed to love Renee instantaneously, as you can see.

Thanks for a great weekend, everyone. We'll be back to visit, we promise!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Teeth

Yep, two of them. In my girl's mouth. After several unsuccessful attempts at capturing her teeth with a photograph, you'll have to take my word for it. My mom discovered them as we were taking a walk on Monday. She reached down to laugh at Avery and saw these small white things protruding from her lower gums. Then she touched them with her finger and it was official....Little Bit is becoming Slightly Older Bit. Then I experienced for the first time the common struggle of all Moms. I wanted to be excited about the next milestone in her baby book, but I was sad that she was growing up so quickly. My reaction was "Oh no" instead of "Oh great!". Ah, the mixed blessing of being a Mom. I want her to be a cuddly little toothless girl forever, but that would make for an awkward senior picture. Here's to enjoying it all - no matter how quickly it comes our way.

Almost Over

We're at the end of Spring Break 2008, so of course we had to hit the beach for one day. We headed to Fort Myers Beach this morning and walked out to the pelican pier.

I'm not a fan of sun and little ones (Okay, let's be honest...I'm not a fan of sun at all), so Avery was snuggled nice and tight in her stroller with the shade down at this point. I did, however, take a picture of what everyone else was doing:

Good for them. They'll have leather skin by the time they're forty. Eventually, I did let Avery have a quick glance at the beach. We walked along the shop area and found this cute little entrance to the gulf waters:

Avery and I snuck down to the sand and had our picture taken to prove we were actually at the beach. And yes, it is Avery underneath the hat and glasses.

We strolled around the beach area a little bit longer and then headed to Junkanoo, one of my parents' favorite restaurants in the area for a relaxing lunch and a great view of the Gulf Coast. I love the beach from the convenience of my shaded indoor table!

While we were here, Avery was able to take her first big girl bath. I think she was a little nervous, because she held onto her rings for dear life for the duration of the tub time.

Well, that's it from Florida. I miss my husband and my dog! (In that order, of course!) Can't wait to see my Virginia friends again.