Portrait Day

Yesterday Avery and I traveled to Conway Photo Shop to have her 9 month portraits done. She isn't nine months yet (two weeks from today!) but I took advantage of spring break to get them done. Avery has been in an odd mood the past few days so I was a little nervous about how the session would go. Lolli met us there to help bring a few smiles. Avery had a pink smocked dress to wear, but I always do at least one more outfit to make choosing pictures to order even harder. I had ordered her a Kenzie Band to wear in some "naked" pictures but it didn't arrive, so after the pictures in the dress we tried out Carol's cool tutu. By that point Avery had had quite enough and wanted nothing to do with the tutu, pictures, smiling, etc. We'll try the Kenzie Band for one year portraits, which sadly will be here before I know it. You can see Avery's sweet pictures and Carol's amazing work here. Things went much better than I had hoped, but as you can see, we did have to pull out the bink a few times!

Easter

Easter dawned bright and early in the Lankford house. The first sign that the Easter bunny had been was discovering Avery's 4th tooth...the bottom one that I was starting to think may never appear. As you can see, a tooth is not all the bunny brought. Avery got a little time to play before it was time to get dress. A major bathroom disaster put us a little behind and kept me from getting pictures before we left the house. In this house though, we rejoice over a good poop and were even happier that it occured in pajamas and not our Easter dress. We attended church in Newsoms with Lolli and Poppa and then went out to eat. Avery's lunch was a green variety of Gerber food which made me very nervous as she was still in her dress. She thought it was the perfect time to try blowing bubbles with the food, and Lolli only encouraged this. Luckily, she and I both made it out of the restaurant completely clean. It was a fun first Easter with Avery, and we look forward to doing it again next year...without teething!

Palm Sunday

Much to my mother-in-law's delight, we ventured to church for Palm Sunday. While Avery has been on a stellar nap schedule at the babysitter's since oh, October, she liked to keep us guessing on the weekends, and church just seemed to always fall dangerously close to naps. I think the Lord understands. But, now that we're regularly up at 6 AM on the weekends, we have a pretty good and predictable schedule going (which will change now that I've typed that). What all this means is that church is now possible and I can no longer blame Avery for my inability to get out of the house on Sunday mornings. Ned convinced me to leave her in the nursery, and after pointing out a few toys she would like, I left my sweet baby. Avery paraded back in with the rest of the children during the service as they marched and waved palms, and her head almost spun as she tried to take everything in. It was a great relief to go get her at the end of church and not hear crying as I walked to the door. I must admit I didn't hear a word the preacher said, so it looks like a trip back is in order.

A Pampered Chef in the Making

In Preparation for Pepsi

....because who would put Pepsi in a baby bottle?

Bringing Sunshine Into Our Lives

This is our sweet Felix, and of all the cats I've had, he definitely wins the award for most unique. He has many special talents, including doing his fast front feet on smooth surfaces, tearing cardboard boxes into tiny pieces (which Sammy then eats), and carrying ice cubes in his mouth. His biggest "talent" though has to be his chewing. He enjoys any type of stretchy material...hair bands, coat cords, etc., but as you can see, blinds are his favorite. I think this is the 7th set that he has chewed. Some have been our fault as we have not moved all the furniture stepping stools. We've tried squirting him with water and spraying the cords with bitter spray. He simply laughs and keeps chewing. The few blinds that still seem like likely targets stay closed at all times, which seems to deter him. Ned and I are a bit concerned as to what we will cover our windows with when we build, and we certainly can't live in the Tall Oaks neighborhood without window coverings. So, if any readers have suggestions I'd love to hear them, since removing his teeth probably isn't an option. Until then, we'll just keep believing that he's trying to bring a little more light into our lives.

Walk Like a Duck

We made the most of the beautiful day yesterday and strolled to feed the ducks. We had quite a crowd!



This guy didn't like our honey wheat bread.



This is my favorite kind of duck, so he got lots of bread. He would even try to take it from our fingers, but after a horrifying experience with a swan as a child, I kept my fingers at a safe distance.



Sammy enjoyed the walk with us but had to spend some time in the stroller basket so he wouldn't scare the ducks. And because Sammy starts out all walks at warp speed and gets worn out in the first five minutes, he also rode home in the basket!

I'm sure Avery and I will do this lots through the summer as it takes A LOT to entertain a growing child. One day we'll live even closer to the pond, but for now, we enjoy the short stroll.