More June

As I mentioned, we had a lot go on in June. Luckily, my parents joined us for the entire month and helped out a lot with parties and Avery watching.

One of the most exciting and greatest accomplishments of the month is that Kevin COMPLETED HIS THESIS! His defense was on the 10th and a few days later the last and final touches and edits were done and it was complete! Here is Kevin at his defense. I was able to attend and was very impressed with all he did and how calm he was. Hooray, Kevin!

Here he is a couple of days later showing Avery his work. She was impressed too, I'm sure. :)

That weekend he rode his bike in a triathalon where his cousin, David ran, and his uncle, Kurt swam. Here is the team. They did well.

There were a lot of riders. Kevin is in the center of the photo in the orange and white jersey.

Of course, Kevin's biggest fan had to pose for a picture with him after the race.

That evening, we had a Congratulations/Graduation Party for Kevin. He grilled (of course) some yummy ribs and a brisket. He is becoming quite the skilled party chef.

The next day was Sunday and Fathers Day. Our special guys opened their cards and gifts together in the RV.

Here is Avery's very first real swimming pool experience. As you can see, she warmed up to it pretty well.

We are starting to transition Avery into wearing shoes. It did not start out very promising. She considered the process just a challenge to her to see how fast she could get them off. She is doing better now though, and since Grams bought her some cute ones and Aunt Amber gave her some cute sandals for her birthday, she is actually asking to wear them upon occasion.

So, that is all for now. This updating stuff takes a long time when Avery is not napping! I still have lots to share about the birthday party and I even found some pictures from May that I need to post. Plus, some extremely cute videos. But that is all for now!

So Much to Share!

June was such a crazy month, I will have to post it in several pieces... Between Kevin finishing his thesis, defending his thesis, celebrating the completion of his thesis, him riding in a bike race, Father's Day, Avery turning 1, having a birthday party, and my parents being in town, we have had a full, full month. However, July looks to be just as busy, so I make no promises as to when this blog will be up to date. But, in no particular order, here is a start...

My friend Sarah is a photographer. You can visit her website here. For Avery's official one year old photos we met her at a local park and she took these photos. We love love them! If I get nothing else posted, you need to see these.

11 months!

This is it!! The last monthly "photo shoot" before the big 1 year! I truly cannot believe that we are here. She is so quickly becoming a toddler and moving out of that baby stage. And she is such a sweetheart! So, here are the photos of her on her 11th month birthday. Be warned, she was more in the mood to chew on the camera...

than to pose for pictures. She is always busy!

Now that the weather has warmed up, we are making good use of our great backyard with huge trees. We sit and play out there often.

She also spends lots of time looking at books. She loves turning the pages.

Here she is standing on our porch swing. She loves going for rides on this.

So that is all! Happy 11th month baby girl. Look here soon for 1 year old photos! Yikes!

Another month (long post)

Where does the time go?? It's been a month since our last post and so much has happened! Part of the delay was waiting to figure out how to turn these videos right side up, and I am proud to say they are now correct! Hooray! Watching Avery stand makes a bigger impact when she is shown moving vertically rather than horizontally. :)

These first photos are from the days after Easter. We took Avery to the park and she got to ride down the slide with Daddy. The video is rough and short, but it is hard to be photographer and baby receiver all at once.

We also broke down and bought a baby gate. Avery enjoyed the kitchen (and the contents of the floor) a bit too much, so she is now banned. But, that doesn't stop her from testing the gate every once in awhile to see if we have left it unlocked. If we have, she is in there as fast as her little crawl will take her.

These photos are just everyday life shots. For awhile, Avery's favorite thing to do was empty her toybox. She is now getting the hang of putting things back which is what she is doing with her arm stuck up the elephant's trunk.

We are trying to introduce Avery to table food. She likes the independence of it, but eating itself is a hit or miss event. She is just not interested in it for very long. But the other day Kevin grilled/smoked a whole turkey breast and here Avery is having her first taste of Dad's cooking. She seemed to enjoy it, but then, who doesn't enjoy Kevin's cooking.

Then we have Avery's 10th month birthday. Instead of doing many photos, I did more videos. So enjoy the collection of Avery in action. As you will see, she is standing on her own. Since these videos were taken, she has decided that standing is the greatest thing. We expect a first step sometime soon.

She also loves to knock over block towers, so that is a popular activity during our day.

On to Mother's Day. My first! Here is my precious girl on my special day. The sweater was knitted (crocheted?) by my great-grandmother. I thought it was a special way to honor the ladies of my family on Mothers Day as well.

These are the flowers that Kevin had sent to the house with a note reading, "Every working mom should have flowers sent to her office." I thought that was a great note!

Kevin's parents were in town that weekend, so we spent time with them.

This picture is special and unique because it is 4 generations of Dodd women.

We joined the family in Topeka for church that morning where Kevin's aunt Lisa teaches cradle roll. Avery loves Sunday morning class.

So, we are now all caught up. Kevin thinks that Avery has said her first word this weekend, "Dada". I was there at the time and it was said when Kevin walked in, but we will see if it was the real thing or not... Time will tell.

That's all for now! One year is coming up much too quickly, I'll have to do better at keeping this blog updated or there will be too much to get behind on!

Love to you all!