Wet Paint

Last week was busier than normal in the life of the Lankfords. Ned had been saying for some time that the house needed to be painted, which should be an easy fix since Ned's uncle paints, right? Of course not. We don't do simple here. Ned and I discovered during some of our last "projects" that free/cheap family help isn't free if you pay with your sanity. Ned found a very nice little painter who was ready to start right away. Great...except that I wanted to go a tad lighter on the trim. So, because I make 5,000 decisions a day anyway, I turned it over to Ned. He didn't let me down. The painter did a great job and was even able to do something to our windows to delay purchasing replacement windows for awhile. Best of all...he didn't have to store his pimento loaf in our refridgerator.

The main color isn't that much different, but it certainly is nice and fresh. We did decide to do the garage door black, which looks great, but now we always think it's open.



We also went with a cheery red for the door. I need to dress it up a bit with my door bucket, but my flower colors don't match the new shade. A big thanks to our painter who gave us a great price, finished the job in three days, worked normal hours, and did not ask to go to the machine (aka ATM) four times a day. It really is the little things in life!

Avery's Day Out

Yesterday we spent a fun day in Williamsburg. We met Lolli and Poppa for breakfast and then loaded up. Avery took a quick nap on the ride to the ferry but woke when we stopped to wait for it. I think she might have gone back to sleep had she not had Lolli beside her and me in the third row. Who wants to sleep when there are people to smile at? She seemed to enjoy the ferry and checking out the seagulls, then we were off to Prime Outlets for a whirlwind shopping spree. We were trying to beat Avery's lunch clock and got a lot accomplished. Our first stop was Stride Rite to get Avery's feet measured. This made her scream like I was killing her, as did the trying on of shoes. She has only worn shoes on a few trips to church so they may take some getting used to. We continued to zoom around and do all we wanted to. I was very excited to see that Gymboree had some things from last season that I wanted for this year, and I got a bit carried away. The many bags that we piled into the car were all Avery's!

After a quick lunch at Chili's we made our way to Merchant's Square. Avery was an hour past naptime and looking tired but happy. Ned strolled her while Lolli and I did damage in The Carousel. Avery managed a quick catnap in the shade, and by the time we got back in the car, it was way past nap time. I thought a bottle on the ferry would do the trick, but as tired as she was she stayed awake for the whole ride home. She played with her toes and pacifier and burp cloths but would not close her eyes. We were glad to get home and thought an early bedtime would do the trick. Her nose had been running and before bath she had a bit of a fever. She was painfully overtired and cried when I put her to bed, which is rare. She calmed down with the help of another burp cloth (which has somehow become a lovey) but fussed off an on until about 1:30 this morning. Between the busy day and being under the weather her little body had just had too much. Luckily, I'm off today and can rest, and I'm hoping she's having a great day with Jennifer. We were all amazed at how well she did (aside from napping) and could not have asked her to be better. So, as long as we did not teach her that she can function on even less sleep continuously, the day will have been a success. Our next adventure will probably be Short Pump in Richmond...for more shopping!

9 Month Progress

Here are a few 9 month shots...and only one week late. As you can see, she's definately interested in attempting to move. We learned at the doctor Tuesday that she's 19 pounds 14 ounces and almost 29 inches long. That means she's gained almost 4 pounds and grown almost 3 inches since January! Those little statistics are the only ones I'll need on our shopping trip to Williamsburg Sunday. No one can say she isn't growing out clothes left and right and could benefit from a few new things!

9 Months

Avery turned 9 months on Friday, and what a quick 9 months it has been! Just yesterday I started looking at party supplies for Avery's first birthday. So many changes take place in a day, week, and month. Avery now has 4 teeth, which have been a bit of a challenge. Spring break and the week after were a bit tough. We are not sure if that was due to teeth moving or an ear infection that the doctor didn't see until it was clearing. Minus 5 points for me! The last week has been fantastic though. We're back to loving baths, and car rides are starting to improve again. We've made the decision to keep Avery rear-facing as long as possible, and we're hoping a new seat will give her a better view out the window. We will not have a new seat in time for our first big trip to Williamsburg this weekend, so please say a prayer.

Avery is usually a good eater. She has 5 bottles a day plus solids at lunch and dinner. We will start breakfast after her nine-month check-up and will more than likely cut out another bottle. We're are still working on loving meats. Fruits are always a hit, and we go back and forth on vegetables, especially green. I think this is more of a stage than a dislike. She has learned that it's really fun to blow bubbles with her food and came home in her spare change of clothes twice last week.

Our next hurdle will be crawling, and we are well on our way. Once she starts, I'm very sure she's not going to stop! Avery is busy...using her hands to get everything she can. She then turns it over and over inspecting it before it ends up in her mouth. She likes to play with her toys, watch Sammy and Felix, and stroll or do anything outside. She loves the babysitter and watching her friends there.

Avery goes to bed between 7:30 and 7:45 and wakes between 5:30 and 6:15. The very early waking usually coincides with teething or a new milestone. I have to wake her around 6 during the week, so we'll work on sleeping a little later this summer. She has basically dropped her late afternoon nap and is down to two naps a day.

So sorry for the long post, but it is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading. I love this blog, and the author wrote about each month of her first child's life. As quickly as life is moving by, I need all the help remembering I can get. I'll be blogging about the birthday party before I know it! And, pictures will have to come in the next day or so, or she'll be 10 months before I get this posted!

Spring Break

I was so fortunate to have the week after Easter off. I quickly learned how much it takes to keep Avery entertained without all of her friends at Jen-Jen's! Although the pollen was terrible, we decided to go ahead and put up a swing for her. After looking at many installation objects, Ned and his father fashioned something between two trees that only a Lankford could manage. As you can see from the picture, it's working out just fine though.



Avery had been working on finger foods for awhile now and got really good at it while we were at home. Now the trick is to keep her from cramming four or five puffs in at a time!



A sun hat was a must since she spends lots of time outside at Jen-Jen's. We thought we'd better try it out at home.

We enjoyed some time on the front yard. Luckily the toys she gets bored with inside get a little more exciting outside.

And there's nothing like relaxing with a good book on vacation.

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!