Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Avery loves Santa Claus. As I mentioned in my last post anytime she sees Santa she tells him that she wants "Baby Sara". Well, the last couple of days she has been patting her legs and saying, "Santa lap". So on Wednesday we took her over to the University Mall to see Santa. I was so surprised because there was no line, we walked right up to him. Of course as soon as we got up to him Avery got nervous and just wanted to stand by me.



We talked with Santa for a minute and Avery warmed up to him a little bit. She wouldn't sit on his lap, but she did tell him that she wants baby Sara and that she has been a good girl. It was really cute. Santa let me sit next to him with Avery on my lap for a picture and then he gave her a succer. She had so much fun, she has not stopped talking about it!

 

Thanksgiving!

We had Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house this year. We went over early to help with the preparations. When we go there my family was busy decorating their Christmas Tree. Avery loves anything that has to do with Christmas so of course she wanted to help! She sat down and started pulling out all of the decorations she could find. Then her Uncle Tyler helped her put them on the tree. She had a blast!


My mom has a train that she puts around her Christmas tree in her living room every year. The train has Santa on it and he waves as he goes round and round. Avery found this very amusing she would stand there and watch Santa go around. Each time he would pass by her she would bend down and tell Santa, "I want baby Sara!" (All babies to her are "Baby Sara", so she was telling him that she wants a baby for Christmas!) Every time she sees Santa she tells him what she wants for Christmas, it is so cute! I just hope that when we actually take her to see him that she will sit on his lap and tell him. We'll see.


After eating dinner we went to the ampitheater by the Mount Timpanogos Temple and Skyler took family pictures for my mom for Christmas cards, They turned out really cute! (I will post them later). Skyler is a great photographer, he definitely has the eye for it. If you want to check out some of the pictures that he has taken for people in the past you can go to CallStudios.us.



On Friday we went to Temple Square to see the lights. It is a tradition every year we go for my birthday. Avery loved it! We decided to take Trax up there so we didn't have to mess with parking. Avery sat on the sidewalk by the tracks and watched for the train, it was so cute! We went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, my favorite. After that we headed over to Temple Square. Avery would point at the lights and say, "Christmas lights, Christmas lights!" She can say it so clearly it is adorable! We had a great Thanksgiving break!

So Big!

Avery is 18 months old today! She is getting so big! We went to see Doctor Liddle this morning. Avery weighs 21 pounds (with all of her clothes on) and is 33 inches tall. She is in the 10th percentile for her weight, but she is gaining weight at the same rate as the average baby on the growth chart. She is in the 90th percentile for her height, which is where she has always been, she is growing along with the curve for height as well on the growth chart. She is a happy, healthy baby!


Avery had her first flu shot today. I held her hands as the nurse gave her the shot. Avery looked up at me and said, "Owie!' and whimpered a little bit and then she was just fine. She has been such a good girl today!


My little girl is growing up so fast. I remember the day she was born and holding her in my arms for the first time. It seems like it was yesterday and now she is 18 months old. I am so thankful that I am her mother. She has brought so much joy to my life, I don't know what I would do without her. I love you Avery!

Pumpkin Carving

Skyler and I took Avery to a pumpkin patch to let her pick out her very first pumpkin. She was so excited! She sat in the wagon and pointed at all of the pumpkins. She has learned how to say pumpkin so she was shouting it over and over again. Skyler got her out of the wagon and they searched for the perfect pumpkin.



Tonight we went over to my mom's house to carve our pumpkins. My sister and I scooped out all the seeds and passed them on to my mom to be cooked. When we were through cleaning out the pumpkins Skyler sat Avery on his lap and helped her carve her the face on her pumpkin. She was very proud of herself.



Come by Lori Call's house to see our three pumpkins in person!

Sorry...

Sorry everyone! I am terrible at this blogging stuff. I have been really busy with work and Avery, she is in a stage where she constantly wants my attention. No more excuses, I will try my hardest to do better.
Teaching is going really well. I have 19 students in my class. They like to talk a lot so I have been trying several incentives to get them to listen to me. My latest technique is "Call Cash". When they are on task I give them "Call Cash", I have a poster board with pockets for each student to store their money in, and then at the end of the week I let them buy stuff. This has been working really well so far. Except last week the poster board fell off of the board and money was everywhere! I quickly picked it all up and asked each student how much money they had so that I could sort it all back out. Several of the students told me that they had more than they really did because I ended up not having enough money to sort out from the pile I picked up off of the floor. I decided to not make a big deal out of it this time, but to keep better track of how much I am giving to each student this week.
I just gave my first Post Test on Friday. It went really well. It was fun for me to grade them and see how much they had improved from the Pre-Test I had given a few weeks earlier. It was great to see that I actually taught them something. I love teaching! When I go to work each day it doesn't seem like I am going to work, it is just so much fun for me.

"POTTY TRAINING" HERE WE COME!

On her own, Avery started informing us when she has to go "potty". We decided it was a good time to go buy her a little toilet of her own. It went unused for the first couple days. Yesterday, however, as Skyler was getting Avery ready to take a bath she lifted up the lid and let him sit her on it. Moments later I heard Skyler yelling, "Good Job Avery!". I ran down stairs and found that Avery's little toilet now had pee in it! She stood up, pointed inside her toilet, and gleamed with a proud look on her face.

Now don't try to convince me that it was just luck, Avery did it again today. Yay!

Washing The Car

Skyler and I were out washing our car and Avery decided that she wanted to help. She scrubbed the car with me and then played with the hose with her daddy. Avery loves the water! She is such a big helper!

A Day at the Park

My family and I took Avery to the park the other day. She had so much fun playing on the slide! My sister, Nicole, would take her to the top and my mom and I would catch her at the bottom. Avery would giggle the whole way down and then say "again!". Avery also enjoyed picking up the bark and putting it on her head. Her uncle, Tyler, taught her that it is fun to put things on your head. My mom and Nicole had tons of fun on the teeter-totter. I think they had more fun than Avery did! We took Avery's cousin, Sadie, to the park a couple of days later. The girls had so much fun playing together. There is a small river that runs next to the park that the girls enjoyed putting their feet in. We had a fun day at the park!

Wyoming

Our fourth of July this year was spent in Wyoming. Skyler's has family that live there so we went for a family reunion. We had a ton of fun! We went to the head of Swift Creek and rode motorcycles and four-wheelers one day. While we were there I lost our car key. Luckily I was able to find it though. The next day we went to The Intermittent Streams. This place was really neat. It is a huge waterfall that during certain times of the year will completely shut off for about 20 minutes and the whole stream will run dry, unfortunately we were there during the off season. It was still really neat to be able to hike up to see it. On the Fourth of July we went to Skyler's uncle's house and watched fireworks and roasted marshmallows. That was a lot of fun because we were in Wyoming where the big fireworks were not illegal. The next day we were able to participate in the dedication of the Civic Center in Afton. Skyler's great-great-great grandpa was honored there for being the first mayor of Afton. Following that we watched the parade and returned home.

Motorcycle Ride

Avery is always trying to be just like her dad; whether it is talking on the phone, playing the drums, or riding the motorcycle. Whenever Skyler will let her she loves to take rides up and down the driveway. The first time she ever got to ride she shouted out "Yay!" and by the end her little fingers had to be pried off of the handlebars.

A Day at the Lake

We have discovered that Avery loves to be at the lake. We took her a few times last year, but she was so young that she just lounged in the boat. This year, however, we had a hard time keeping her out of the water. As soon as I would let her, she sat on the swim deck and put her feet in the water. Moments later, she was trying to scoot off and into the water. Skyler jumped into the water and Avery went in after him. After swimming around for a while we decided it was time to strap on the wakeboards! It was a great day of boarding and Avery enjoyed holding the flag whenever we would let her.

An Afternoon at Lagoon

Avery and I took a trip to Lagoon. As we walked into the park she saw the water fountain and got so excited. She pointed at it and said "Water!" We stood there and watched the water dance to the music for a few minutes and then began exploring the park. Avery loves to walk so, of course, she enjoyed herself. She enjoyed seeing all the rides and their bright colors. Avery's favorite ride was the train. There were so many animals to look at. She would point and laugh whenever she saw them. We went on a few other rides and then decided to have a slushie. Avery loves slushies! Avery had so much fun, she slept the whole way home.

I HAVE A JOB!

Today I received a phone call from the principal at Greenwood Elementary School in American Fork. She offered me a part-time, fourth grade position in her school. I, of course, accepted. My contract starts on August 14th. I will be working Mon.-Fri. from 12-3:45. These hours are perfect for me and Avery. We will have plenty of time to play together in the morning. I am very excited!

Avery Talking on Mommy's Phone

Skyler was talking with a client on the phone and Avery decided that she wanted to be just like Daddy. She took my phone from me, put it up to her ear, and started pacing the floor. Make sure that you turn your speakers on before watching this video.

For Time and All Eternity

Skyler and I met when we were 12. He lived in the house behind mine growing up. When we were in Junior High we would ride the same bus to and from the school. Skyler would walk the long way home just so that he could follow me as I walked home. Ten years later we were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Today we have the cutest one year old, named Avery!