Happy Birthday Avery! We LOVE you!

Harley and I had a rough time getting Avery here with us. I was told from a few Doctors that I would never be able to carry a child full term...meaning never being able to have a child of my own. This was devastating news for me but, Harley always had more faith than I did. He refused to believe that I was barren. We tried fertility with no luck....
Soon, I started talking about adoption and decided to enroll in school. I figured we could adopt a child when I was finished with my program and had established myself in a job....
Then, the unthinkable happened...
I got knocked up!!!lol

Anyone who knows Avery know how stubborn she is! Avery was full term when she was born but, there were complications. The cord was wrapped around her neck and at the LAST minute of the delivery she went into distress. The NICU code team had to do CPR and intubate her. I remember thinking "We came ALL this way, Avery, PLEASE don't give up on us"!....
....She didn't. She was the biggest baby in the NICU. She weighed 7.4lbs. when she was born. It was tough to watch my baby with all the tubes attached to her. Harley, Avery and I are so lucky to have such wonderful family that were so reassuring during this time.

Finally bringing Avery home was the best yet scariest feeling I've ever had. I thought to myself "We almost lost her at the hospital how do they expect us to take care of her at home"!!!....
....Well, we did! Here she is in her first week at home doing what she loves the most...taking a bath!!!

Avery went camping with the family when she was only 4 months old! She did awesome and we as parents were glad that she seemed to be an outdoor kinda girl!!!;}

Now here she is at her second birthday party! What a beautiful girl!!! It has been so awesome and a huge challenge raising this little stinker so far! She is so much fun, so lovable and such a handful all at the same time!

Harley and I feel so lucky to have such good family and friends and so many people that love our little Avery.

What a big day~it became a little overwhelming for Avery:}Luckily dada is so comforting for her!

Opening presents was a bit of a challenge...I guess when you're 2 the attention span isn't quite as long as a parent wants it to be!!lol

Again, we are so lucky with family and friends! Avery got spoiled!

Avery has been obsessed with Mickey Mouse for a while now...so we did what any parent would do and got her a Mickey Mouse cake! She LOVED it. We sang Happy Birthday to her~twice~and she knew exactly what to do when the song was over...blow out her candles!

Before the festivities really kicked off, Avery had a nap with Aunt Heather on the couch. We were glad to see her get some rest before the big event.

Her cousin Kairene couldn't miss stopping by to see Avery before she had to head off to work.

Thank you to all our family and friends for making Avery's 2nd birthday a fun and memorable one! It was a really fun day and Avery really enjoyed herself! She got to eat whatever she wanted and play with all her favorite people! What more could a 2 year old ask for?!

EaSteR!

Easter morning was really fun! We got up early so we could go to church with my parents. Here's Avery's Easter goodies! What you don't see in this picture is the golf club and ball she got from the Easter Bunnie. She got plenty of candy, eggs, etc...
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Church was pleasant. My parents ward put together a musical program so...not a lot of talks. It was nice.
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Doesn't Avery look darling in her dress?!!!...chewing on a plastic Easter egg!!!lol

My little sister put together an Easter egg hunt for Avery. Here my mom is reading the message the Easter Bunnie left for Avery before her search began.
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We decided to color out eggs the day of Easter. I stripped Avery down to her diaper so she could go buck wild with the colors and have fun!
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Later that afternoon we took a trip to Huntsville to see Grandma and Grandpa Meyer. Avery had a lot of fun with the Easter basket the Easter Bunnie left at their house for her....there was a lot of chocolate in it for her:}
Judy made a wonderful ham an good fixins' for dinner.