Another Easter Full of Blessings!

I love this time of year! It's filled with beautiful spring days and a renewing spirit of hope in Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. Avery is at such a good age to enjoy the holidays. She really got into decorating eggs and hunting them again this year. I am sure spring will always be her favorite season because she can spend so much time outside- her favorite place to be! 

She decorated eggs....

and showed one off! 

Here are our creations. 

I made some Cadbury cookie cups from a recipe I got off  Pinterest. They were really cute and good! 

Grammy made a bunny cake for our Easter in Braxton. 

Gaines and Avery had a fun time hunting eggs and running around outside. They also made some music on Grammy's piano together!

She made sure to shake and check each one for candy!

She always seems to get better pictures with Jake- Daddy's girl! 

Papaw brought out a couple baby goats and chicks. Avery just wanted to see them from afar. She's still afraid of animals being close to her. 

Daddy took Avery on a slow four-wheeler ride. It is so funny to me that she loves riding it, but will have nothing to do with a riding lawn mower when Papaw tries to give her a ride. She is such a dare devil in so many ways, but she has fears of things you think she wouldn't be all that afraid of! 

We had to take the candy away. She crams as much chocolate in her mouth as she can! Grammy and Papaw gave Avery a pretty butterfly for her room along with some other fun happies. 

Peter Rabbit stopped by to fill Avery's Easter basket! 

He even ate all the carrots Avery left him. 

Avery was excited, but we didn't have long to check out her basket. We had to head to Vicksburg for church with GG, Papaw, Uncle Mitch, Aunt Becca, and Cooper! 

GG and Papaw got Avery and Coop some Easter happies too. 

Avery thought she'd take Coop's M&Ms off his hands. 

She let me hold her for one second so Daddy could snap a picture. 

Avery was being fussy and didn't want to take any pictures, but she did stop and give Coop a hug. 

Her favorite things to do are run...

and DANCE!

I love how they hold hands! 

Avery didn't want to sit for a picture, and it hurt her feelings when Daddy sat her down to do so. 

She can be such a little drama queen, ha ha! 

Silly Rabbit! 

We tried to get the kids to settle down for a minute and watch Hop, but it didn't last very long. 

Our final egg hunt in Vicksburg...

Oops, where'd it go?

This is serious business! 

Now that is my sweet girl! 

Avery always dances and claps along with songs in the car. It is really funny to me how she chooses to sing along with parts of particular songs. I posted a video on FB of her seemingly praising God and dancing to "Remind Me Who I Am" which is one she always chime in to. The lyrics below are from another song she does this to. She always says the "I Belong" part. Things like this just put it all in perspective and really make me smile! 

All I know is I'm not home yet 
This is not where I belong 
Take this world and give me Jesus 
This is not where I belong

~Building 429

I try to remember every day that I am called to a larger purpose.We're not home yet, but there are still things God has planned for us to do while we are on our journey.  Pastor Terry spoke on being "Radical" on Easter Sunday. I'm going to begin praying for this in my own life and the lives of my family members. While it is a bit scary, I am excited to see what God has in store for us. 

I must give thanks to God for saving me among every thing else He has done.  Jesus lives so we can face another day. He's prepared a place for us, and I want to make Him proud! 

Happy Easter~ Resurrection Day!!

"Ever-body" - It's a Spring Avery Update!

Let's see, what has Miss Avery been up to lately? Well, she is really enjoying this spring weather. Avery still LOVES being outside, and having a nice yard to play in has really been a blessing!

It seems Brobee has now replaced old Ko-Ko as her favorite go-to friend. Ko-Ko is still around though, so I don't think she's completely forgotten about him!

She still hates taking her new medicine, Levoxyl, because it tastes bad. We have to mix it in her chocolate milk each morning to get her to take it. All the other methods didn't seem to go over well. It does seem like her thyroid levels have gotten back to normal. I am very thankful that Avery is sleeping well at night and able to settle down once again. It still takes an act of Congress to get her to lie still long enough to fall asleep, but she eventually does. She is taking good naps at school, but tends to play in her bed and fight naps at home when we've slept in on the weekends. Avery is eating pretty well, and is even having raw carrots, cheese sticks,  and cooked peas these days. She plays with her food at dinner, and can be very hard-headed (I don't think that is going away, lol), but she usually gets something good for her down. Sometimes we have to pull out the turkey sandwich meat!
Avery still isn't interested in potty-training. She has the process down, but does NOT want to sit down on the potty or stop long enough to use it. I bought her some "se-sess" (princess) panties and pull-ups, which she loves, but not enough to use the potty! She kept throwing fits for her panties, so Jake ended up putting them on over her diaper! One morning, she fussed so much about having them, he let her carry them to "school!" Yes, she walked in with them in her hands, and they ended up in her bag. When I picked her up, she went straight for her bag to get them out and carried them to the car! I told her she wasn't supposed to show her panties to anyone!!
Avery is doing really well with her speech and the way she relates things to one another now. She is stringing words into sentences which makes me happy. The other day, she was outside looking at pictures on my phone. She saw one of herself and said, "Avery outside" (speaking about in the picture). Then, she said "I outside too." I thought that was smart!

We did a little painting and baking with Cooper and Avery on St. Paddy's Day. They "helped" me make some rainbow cupcakes with green icing! :)

She is getting into a very bossy stage lately!! She is giving me the "up to no good" smile when I tell her no or the "I do what I want to do- what are you going to do about it" smile when she gets in trouble. She is saying "no," "stop it" and "I'na hald it" with great intonation! She raises her voice too! She also likes to tell us "mon" or "up" as she pulls us in the direction she wants us to go. I noticed her take a toy from her cousin for the first time this past weekend, and they are fussing and wanting the same toys at the same time these days. She also told him "no" for the first time this weekend. I told her that Cooper is her cousin and that she loves him and has to be sweet to him. I also told her to say "sorry," and she did- it was cute! She is such a mess and is so funny that it is very difficult to keep a straight face! I keep telling myself (and Jake) that it won't be cute when she is ten!!
Avery is still all over the place at baseball games. She loves playing and running around. She will also give a clap or a "go Chocs" every now and then! She is very dramatic about bo-bos these days. Band-aids make the drama worse. She will fake cry or work herself into crying when she sees a band-aid on herself that she has forgotten about! She is singing more and more, and it is very cute! She says, "ever-body," woo-hoo," and "al-right." She acts like she is playing the drums and guitar when she hears music, and Avery loves making her own music as well. She still loves anything se-sess (princess) and the Fresh Beat Band too.
My favorite sound of all is still Avery's amazing laugh! It's like someone opened up the sky on a rainy day to let the sunshine in. I don't know anyone who doesn't stop, listen, and begin to smile when they hear it. Lots of people even stop to tell me how sweet her laugh is! She says "mommy funny," or whomever is being funny at the time. I just love my adorably sweet little rotten girl!!

Avery's E.N.T. appointment went well. She had no fluid or infections. Dr. Carron said her tubes will fall out before long, and he will continue to monitor her. We are hoping she has grown enough and that no fluid will cause issues again. Since we had no prior problems with infection (it was just the fluid causing hearing loss) may be that will not become an issue. All of our next appointments will be this summer, so we are just enjoying a little break at the moment. I am praying and believing that Avery's kidneys will be completely healed by her next urology appointment- no more cysts, no more reflux, and no more daily antibiotic!! I am also hoping for a better growth report and thyroid levels at her endocrinology appointment with no other side effects present, a healthy eye appointment, and a beautifully working heart allowing her to drop her daily Lasix! I think my sweet child deserves some time with no medication (aside from her daily HGH injection). Go Avery!!