GROSSO gang in VA

My siblings came down from NY for a long weekend visit, and it was great! They've never all come down at the same time, and now with Avery as part of the family it was even more fun! We had a pretty chill weekend, and they spent most of their time on the couch loving on Avery :) She was sooo good this weekend (as she usually is) and did a whole lot of sleeping and smiling for her aunts and uncle. I'm so glad they got to see Avery still in the baby stage, even though I feel like she's changing every day! The next time we'll all see each other is when we go up the end of March for a short visit! Can't wait for Avery to meet more of her NY family and friends :)

So fresh...so clean

Look who likes to munch on her hands!

Ohhhh la la

So fresh so clean

She fell for it...

Avery is an awesome baby! She's happy, content, an amazing sleeper (10+ hours at night), a good eater, and the list can go on. However...there is one area that she can be a little rough in...her car seat. She's just not a huge fan of it, and even less a fan of being in the car. I'm not sure if it's because she feels lonely, or she feels confined in the straps...not sure. I've tried everything from making sure she's fed right before going in to eliminate hunger, I always make sure she has a clean diaper, I warm the car up before putting her in since it's been so cold, and I've been known to sing and dance for her before we leave the house. But I was able to convince her a few days ago that the car seat is cool. She fell for it- and was a happy baby until we reached our destination!

Nancy

John and I thought it would be funny if we named her stuffed animal blankets Nancy. I think it'll be cute when she's old enough to talk, to call them Nancy, instead of 'bunny'...or whatever. We were going to go with Barbara...but Nancy won. So...here is Avery with her two Nancys :)

Avery and her bunny

A lot of people gave us these little animal blanket things. They have a head of an animal (like a bunny, or puppy...) and then a soft blanket attached to the head. Sounds weird, I know. I seriously have like seven of these...none of which I've bought myself. I know a lot of babies who are in love with their 'stuffies', 'blankies'...whatever you want to call them. I hadn't given one to Avery yet, because I didn't think she'd really care about it, or notice it. My mom suggested that I give her one when she's in the car (since she's not all that crazy about the car), and she actually seems to like it. I don't know if it'll stop her from crying necessarily, but it'll soothe her a bit, and give her something to touch, and hold on to. If you can believe it...it makes this precious baby even cuter!

S-N-O-W

We got about 12 inches of snow between Christmas evening, and all yesterday afternoon. It finally stopped snowing last night around dinner time- thank the Lord! It's really pretty, and I know everyone was glad we had a white Christmas...but this stupid snow storm kept my family from being able to come down for a visit! My mom, dad, and sister had booked flights to come down for a Christmas visit. Their flights were canceled, rescheduled, and then canceled for good. They were told they couldn't fly out until Wednesday morning, and that didn't work because they had to be back by Friday afternoon for commitments they already had...no point in flying down for two days. Bummer! We were really looking forward to seeing them! My mom (and maybe my sister) are coming down the end of January for a few days, which will be really nice. I just wish we could have had some time together over Christmas.

Christmas Day in photos...

Well, everyone knows that I have an obsession with taking pictures...and Avery hasn't helped my obsession. In fact, I'm sure we could all agree that it's only more intense- haha! John and I took a bunch of pictures of Avery on Christmas! It's so fun to document her life in pictures, and video. And I know it'll be fun to look back on these pictures when she's older. I forgot to bring camera to Stew and Claire's house, but Claire sent me a few pictures that she got with her camera of us with Avery and Kai.

You probably can't tell...but this was on Christmas Day when the snow first started to fall.

Friends :)

Best Christmas gift ever!

Big girl sitting up...kind of :)

Hey you...!