8 Month Avery

You turned 8 months old yesterday, and we celebrated with some extra snacks after lunch! Here's what you're up to...

* You become more and more mobile everyday!
* You love to put your mouth on toys and suck them, instead of play with them.
* Other people (John and babysitters) can put you to bed now with a bottle instead of me nursing you.
* You wear 12 month clothes.
* You really like other kids pacifiers...especially Kai's.
* You sat in the front of a shopping car for the first time today, and loved it!
* You sleep for 12-13 hrs at night, and take two 2 hr naps during the day.
* You can feed yourself finger foods like Gerber puffs and yogurt melts.
* You chat about the weather and how pretty you are all day long.
* You think playing in water is the coolest thing ever...no one has ever made a bathing suit so cute!

We love you A-Bomb, and can't wait for more, and more of your sweet personality to develop!

Andy Grosso

*I took this picture in 2005. I was already living in VA, but came home to NY for my college graduation a few wks before Christmas. My dad and I always had a tradition from middle school on to get a Christmas tree together, and 2005 was the last year we were able to do it together.*

I know you think you're dad is the best, but you must be corrected by me...I have the best dad...not you! My entire childhood I grew up with a father who met all of my needs, and showed me (and my siblings) love, support, generosity, humor, financial responsibility, and interest.

Love- My dad knew how to love me the way I needed to be loved by him. He knew when to show be love, and when to show me discipline. But even through discipline- he'd reassure me that he loved me.

Support- This is sometimes hard for dads to do because a level of selflessness is needed. Even though it's hard for my dad to support the decisions, and life choices us three kids have made from time to time, he has still supported us. It was really hard for him to let Rebecca live in India for two years as a missionary because of obvious reasons, but he supported her anyway. It was hard for him to allow John and I get married and move away with a semester left of college because he didn't know if I'd give up on school and teaching, but he supported me anyway.

Generosity- My dad is faithful to tithing each month, donating money to charity, and giving financially to mission trips our church goes on. He loves to 'treat' others when they're on a lunch or dinner date. Growing up, and even now as an adult, my dad gives me 'ice cream money' which is just money to spend on whatever- not sure why we call it 'ice cream money', but I like it!

Humor- My dad is hilarious! It's really easy to laugh around him. Now some people may say he has cheesy humor, others may say it's sarcastic humor...I think it's just right. He makes fun of me a lot, and if other people said the things he says I'd probably get offended, but when he says it- it's funny!

Financial Responsibility- He is extremely financially savvy, and he never abused money by spending it on toys or insignificant things. Even though he was in and out of jobs for some of our childhood, he always made sure he was putting money into savings, and tithe. He invested money for each of us kids when we were young, and however the money 'grew', that was our college graduation present from him- pretty sweet, huh?!

Interest- My dad pursued each of us kids. We all had different hobbies and strengths, but my dad made sure to take interest in what we liked. I'm sure it was easy to show interest in sports when Jonathan was growing up, but musical theatre, and violin is a little harder to enjoy. My dad went to each of my sister and my piano/violin recitals, musical theatre productions, and music concerts.

Thank you Dad for being a father who shows me the love of my Heavenly Father as well. I love you more every year!

One year later...

Today I went into work for an end of the year luncheon for the staff. As I was driving to school, my mind brought me back to this time last year when I had just finished packing up my classroom, and was not returning as a full-time teacher because of Avery's due date in October.

When I left last year, there was such a strong sense of anticipation! I couldn't wait for the rest of my pregnancy to unfold, attend two more baby showers over the summer, and eventually meet Avery in the fall. I knew in June that there was a part of my life about to be complete, and boy was that feeling right!

And life as I know it now if so different! Life is full of diapers, schedules, feedings, babysitters, and toys! There isn't a minute during my day when I don't have Avery on my mind. When I left work today, the feeling of anticipation wasn't there- and that's okay. It was a different feeling...I was a mom going home to my baby girl...the sweetest job I've ever had!

Last day of school last year (I was 24 wks pregnant) with Steph and Danielle

Last day of school with Danielle and Steph

Me and Avery yesterday

Grass, stain, and flowers

The weekend of John's birthday party (March)

Taken today (middle of June)

Since our parents, and extended family don't have Facebook to look at updated pictures of the house and yard, the blog is where I post pics for them to view. It's been a long process of tearing down the old deck (November), building a new one (January), having the concrete for the patio laid (March), building steps (March) and staining the deck (June). The project was started at the end of November, and lots of holidays and bad weather caused some delays. BUT...the end product is beautiful, and in our opinion...worth the 7 month wait! We are planning on buying deck furniture in the fall, after they've gone on sale from the summer. I'd love to have more potted flowers on the deck as well, and now that it's finally stained the pots can go on the deck without causing any damage. Kind of crazy what grass, deck stain, and potted flowers will do to a backyard! Our yard is pretty much a mess in the front and back (we have TONS of weeds), but it's looking a lot better than it was last year for sure!

SAY HEY to Claire Diesel-Reynolds

You must meet my friend Claire! She oozes fun, spontaneity, and love from her pores! Who doesn't want that in a friend?!

John and I met Claire, and her husband Stew, three years ago through mutual friends. We stayed in touch when we lived in West Virginia, and actually lived with them for two months when we moved back to the area before we closed on the house we're living in now.

We didn't become as close as we are now until last year when we went through pregnancies together. Our due dates were one week apart, and our babies were born three weeks apart! Every milestone during our pregnancies, we basically went through together!

Claire had her son Kai three weeks before I had Avery, and the rest is history! She lives about five minutes up the road, so it's easy to hop in the car and spend a few hours (or a whole day) with her and Kai! It's been an amazing blessing to have Claire going through the same ups and downs of being a new mom. She is someone I can be totally open and honest with- without ever having to sugar coat things in my life. She is understanding, gracious, forgiving, and an awesome listener! She is happy for me when things are going great in my life, and empathetic for me when they're not. What more could you ask for in a friend??

We are opposites in most ways, but our friendship is one I treasure, and count as a huge blessing! Going through the journey of new motherhood wouldn't have been the same if I didn't have Claire right by my side- for real!

I consider you one of my best friends, and I am so thankful God crossed our paths! Thank you for being a loyal friend-one with gentle words, and an open heart!

Get your GLEE on!

Do you watch the show Glee? John and I love it! The writing is witty, and the talent is crazy good! We have so much fun singing/dancing along in our living room to the songs like we're in a music video or something! There aren't many shows we both really like, but Glee is one of them!

I had remember hearing that the cast goes on tour and does a concert, but I looked into it more, and found out that they'd be performing in DC! I called John to see if he was interested in going, and he was! Tickets were crazy expensive, but we figured we don't normally do stuff like this, and when's the next time we'll do it again...? We got good seats, and drove almost 3 hrs up to Springfield, VA and took the metro into the city, which took about 30 min. The trip up was seamless, and so easy!

We got into DC around 4:30 with plenty of time to kill before the concert at 7:30. We decided to go to National Museum of History, which was amazing! We then grabbed dinner in Chinatown, and went to the show. It was packed out!!! I heard someone say Glee sold out the venue!!

It was an amazing show- and sooooo worth the money, and the drive! We sang loud, danced like crazy, and acted like we were back in our living room! I enjoyed John's company so much...he was the perfect person to share the experience with!!!

When the show ended we grabbed the metro back to our car at the Springfield metro station. Since John had to work the next day, we decided before hand I would drive home so he could sleep a little on the drive. We entered our home address in the GPS, and started on our way. Not even 10 minutes into the drive did we hit a problem...our car broke down!! It started puttering, puttering, puttering...and then stopped! Thankfully we were able to pull into a small parking lot. We were JUST about to get onto the on ramp for the interstate...that would have been awful! We called AAA, and there was a tow truck within 5 minutes to pick us up! We have AAA plus (thankfully- because otherwise they only two 15 miles), so we were able to get towed 100 miles, but that would only take us to Richmond...still an hr from home. We brainstormed ideas of what we could do...

* pay the extra money...nah- we just spent a ton of money
* call a friend to pick us up, and then get the car the following day
* crash at a hotel for the night- nope...John had to work in the a.m.

While all of this is going on, I had texted a few friends about our adventure! Four people offered to drive to pick us up- regardless of how far away it was...how blessed are we with awesome friends?!?!

Before we got in the truck, the driver told us he'd take us past the 100 mile marker, as far as he could for only $40...deal! If you had to be stuck driven home at midnight by a tow truck driver...this is the guy you would have wanted! He was so nice, conversational, and funny! John fell asleep for a little bit, so I was stuck making conversation with this dude of out straight air.

Our house was an extra 60 miles from the original 100 that AAA allows a tow for. It was pretty expensive, but we reminded ourselves continually that things could have been way worse! Adventure never hurts, right?!

It was a fun adventure, and of course there is no one else I would have rather shared it with then John! He handled everything well, didn't get upset during any part of it, and was a trooper going to work with 3 hrs of sleep!

SAY HEY to Angela Reeves

You must meet my close friend Angela...she is such an awesome girl!

John and I knew her other half, David, for a few years before meeting Angela. We had known David for a few years before that from church, and being in community groups together. Angela and I met in 2008 at my 25th birthday party. David and her had just started dating a few days before, and he brought her to my party. It was their first 'outing' as a couple. I was so excited to meet her- and she was so sweet! We had tons to talk about right off the bat because we quickly learned we shared something in common: teaching! We love getting to spend time with the Reeves', and really try to prioritize hanging out with them- they are such a blessing to us!

I was so excited for Angela when she told me her and David were expecting! I let out a high-pitched squeal, and just couldn't wait for them to get back from Oklahoma (this was over Christmas break), so we could chat 'baby stuff'. Angela will make an amazing mother, and David will be an awesome dad!

Since being in community group with her- I've gotten to know her even better. It's always cool when you know someone, but get to know the deeper parts of them because of sharing a part of your week with them, every week for over a year. When we're in group- she always has something interesting to add to the discussion, witty to say, or a challenge to put out to the group. Who doesn't want someone like that in their life?!

It seems as though Angela always has people on her mind, and how she can help them out. Whether it's a friend, student, family member, or co-worker...she is always thinking of others! She is caring, dedicated, loyal, she loves God, sarcastic (which I love), independent, and smart! All character traits that I'd say are respectable! I feel so blessed to know Angela, and call her friend!