Red, white, and blue

I'm a week overdue in sharing my experience in SC. I kept Avery for 2 days by myself. I have to first say to all of the parents out there, I'm in awe. And to all of the stay-at-home moms, WOW! Avery is the biggest joy - nothing else compares. But keeping a baby all day is a lot, a LOT of work. I will happily do it an endless number of times because she's fascinating to watch while she's exploring and learning, she's hilarious with all of her faces and sounds, and she's simply a love bug as she snuggles right into me. But the schedule is not something I'm accustomed. There's the feeding, the naps, the diaper changes, the play time, the questionable moments of not knowing what she needs but she clearly isn't happy, the toting around, the bath time, the second-guessing, the stress of making sure her environment is safe, the red marks that mysteriously appear on her brand new baby skin, the melt-downs... and there's no panic button to be found. I'm the answer... and I'm it! After all of that (and yes I know all the parents reading this are laughing), it basically boils down to this. I'm in love with my niece. She's perfect in every way. I can't wait to tell her when she grows up that she scared me to death when she was 6 months old. She'll laugh at me for sure and will not fully understand the love that develops when you care for your baby brother's daughter. I survived and so did she. And so did the dogs for that matter. At least they caught a nap. I wasn't so lucky.



Mom made this awesome Winnie the Pooh wall hanging for Avery's room. She totally designed it and put it all together. There's not way to show you the detail that went into this, but there's tons. It took her weeks to complete.

The whole gang is traveling to Nashville this coming weekend. I can't wait to see my entire family again.

Hope you all had a great 4th!