didnt she just grow out of the baby stage herself like last week.  now here she is thinking she is big enough to babysit without supervision.  she adores little babies.  i knew this after spending a few weeks with meag and baby preston but i love watching her get so excited when there's a baby around. 

 

adorable.

most of the time...

most of the time i am pretty darn good at the mom duties. other times, i give in and let the little nina win. after begging to watch shrek 37 times a day it gets hard to say no, and if she gets any cuter while watching movies i doubt i'll ever be able to say no.  i do however try to sit and watch with her and teach her along the way... just so i dont completely relinquish my motherly duties, in case you were worried about her little addiction.

what a girl. the picture below though gets put right at the top of the ranks of favortie pictures ever. i laugh everytime i see it. she's a goofy one and 80% of the pictures i take are just as ridiculous. her wearing my socks and pulling up her shorts, swollen mesquito bites on her little leg...funny- but that toothless grin...priceless.

have a great sunday!

my sister emailed this over to me the other day and i am loving every second of it. my dads super cheesy smile mixed with averys super crooked grin, their funny shades, averys raggity-ann look, the thought that they were just about to go on an hour long motorcycle ride, and how happy they look together.  this little avery loves her grandpa.  i was worried how she was going to do with my family after spending so much time with my in-laws, but she didnt even skip a beat. it was like she just picked up where she left off and had a ball.  she's been rather fond of my dad since she was born and my dad has always had such a special way with her. they have quite the little connection.  oh how i love those two. 

adjusting...again

we made it back to brasil safely last week after a fabulous 3 week visit home.  now we are finding ourselves adjusting to this place all over again, and in different ways.  our visit home was so great, our schedules were free and we found ourselves doing lots of relaxing and running around.  but, 3 weeks was far too long to be away from the Mr. and ave and i wont attempt that again anytime soon.

we came back to brasil to a new home.  its nice and simple.  and in simple i mean a bathroom and few bedrooms.  not even a kitchen,  but we're working on that part. since the inlaws live in a hotel, and we live in a kitchenless apt. we eat out for every.single.meal.  never thought i would dislike eating out but after about the 2nd day i was craving a good home cooked meal.  i wont tell you how many times we've had mcdonalds for dinner since i've been back but it was for dinner tonight and uhhh....for dinner last night as well, and when we came upstairs to eat avery looked at her dinner and said 'chicken nuggets and french fries,' if that gives you any idea.  i can feel the greasy pounds piling on as i type (and finish off my cheeseburger). 

we don't live right on the beach anymore so i dont find myself walking out the door and across the street to play in the sand and the sun, and its not super safe where we live so i can't just strap the girl in her stroller and go for a walk... so i'm on the look out for ways to entertain the little misses, but she sure is a busy one and keeps me on my toes. today she figured out how to open all the windows upstairs so she could wave to the cars driving by. oh the joys.

 it is nice, however, to have our own little place and some privacy, and it is nice to have trae working downstairs. i can sneak down there as often as i'd like to say hi, or tell him i need a 5 minute avery break, or ask him to come upstairs and play with us for a few minutes.  this place has its perks. 

yes, life is still different here and we're still getting used to it, but it cant be that bad when i've got these two with me everyday.  my chocolate-milk loving girl keeps we lauging and busy, and my sweet, handsome husband keeps me sane and patient. 



corn

we are having such a great time at home. its hard to believe that we only have just over a week left here.  it always goes by way too fast.  ave is getting spoiled and her grandma and grandpa are loving every minute with her.  my mom pretty much cleared her entire schedule so that she could spend every day playing with ave, and my dad has been busy showing ave his cows and taking her on motorcycle rides.avery is taking complete advantage of all the attention.  this week my mom and i froze 113 bags of corn. lots of work, but so good to have done.  here's some of the process, and some fun in-between.

  and this is what ave did the whole day, well, this and watch Shrek and Fionna a couple of times. she played by herself so well, and made us pay for ignoring her the whole next day.

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1.03.01

home

we made it. 

it was an extremely long two days... as i expected, but ave was a champ.  she got very little sleep but managed to be mostly delightful.  we got to the miami airport thursday night at about 5:30 and after we got our bags through customs, checked them into storage for the night, grabbed a bite to eat, and had avery laying down ready to go to sleep in a make-shift bed, i thought we were smooth sailing. but naturally it couldn't be that easy right? right. at 9:30 the entire airport got evacuated because there was a questionable item/bomb scare going through security. perfect. from 9:30 till 2:30 we were kicked outside. finally from about 2:30-4:30 they let us in one little area and luckily we found a chair to rest. ave fell asleep at about 11:30 and woke up at 4:30. bless her little heart. she had a bit of a rough morning in the airport but once we finally got things going again she did pretty good. i on the other hand didnt get a wink of sleep for 30+ hours.

but, now we are home and it is marvelous.  i've slept in the most comfortable bed the last two nights, washed my face in warm water, eaten the most fabulous sunday dinner, blow dryed and straigthened my hair for the first time in a long time, listened to church meetings in english, communicated with anyone i wanted to without restrictions, and spent time with my wonderful family. the only thing that could make it better is if my husband could be here with me. 

it sure is good to be back.

ready to go!

our bags are packed--actually they've been ready for a few days--i guess i'm excited to go home.  i am nervous to be making the looooong trip by myself with a squirmy, busy 19 month old, but maybe she'll suprise me and do great just like she did on the way here (prayers greately appreciated).  we fly to miami tomorrow, spend the night in the airport and then make the rest of the trip to SLC friday morning. it will most likely be a long two days for us but i'm praying that we wont run into any complications that will make it even longer. oh, how i cant wait to be home, even though i will miss the husband terribly while we're gone. this little gal is ready to go. she's got her new backback with a few prizes for the airplane ride, and enough suckers, cookies, chip and crackers to last a good week.  sugar makes little kids sleep during airplane rides, right?

oh sweet little avery, please please be nice for me. i really need your cooperation on this one. thanks, love you!