Avery got a star!!!

Avery got a star sticker for using her potty this morning!!! She is slowly getting there and this is probably just a random occurrence but we are so excited and proud of her! She took her star sticker with her to church and had it crumpled up in her hand the whole time...seems like she was pretty proud of herself too!
Other Avery updates...
Yesterday while we were driving she said "I see birds!" and has been saying other random sentences! Can't believe how fast she is growing up!
And I can't believe I keep forgetting to post this, but Avery has been sleeping in her big girl bed for a few weeks! It is harder to get her down for naps and such but all in all hasn't been that bad thankfully! We had some beds made that are like bed/sofas. They have a back and sides to them. One is in our living room and the other we turned around to face the wall in her room so it is kind of like a giant crib of sorts but she thankfully doesn't seem to want to flip out of this bed! I should get around to posting some pics soon.

New family pics

Miss you already Aunt Allison

Avery had a BLAST with Aunt Allison. Here are just two pics of them enjoying their time together!

Christmas play at church and a surprise guest

Last Sunday we were treated by a Christmas play from the kids. It was a great family service that kept Avery's attention the whole time with the help of Aunt Allison and a surprise guest, Andrew!

Thanks for the boxes

Avery wanted to say thank you again for all her gifts. She even LOVES the boxes they came in! :)

Sing-a-long with Avery

This was from October. I meant to post earlier but couldn't b/c of internet issues. Here it is now since it is way to cute to not post!

Getting into the holiday spirit

Avery LOVES her little people nativity set, thank you Grandma and Grandpa Rounds!

Think it is time for a big girl bed?!?

Ahhh, this is life!

Here is Avery enjoying the good life of A/C in our hotel room in Mombasa! It also gives you a glimpse at the many fun faces of Avery!

Loving our little girl!

It seems like we woke up one morning and suddenly she was a little girl! We had a blast on vacation in Mombasa and by the end Avery was okay with the water. As me as her mom she has no choice but the love the water ;)

Random pics too cute to pass up

Some other random pics from our trip from Malakal and our first morning back in Nairobi. Avery enjoys her city view.

Voting Registration

A little bit out of order but forgot to load some pics from my camera earlier. Here are some shots at the Malakal airport I wanted to keep for her since this is a bit of history. While waiting for our plane, Avery and I were playing by some portable office containers recently put up. Upon closer look they turned out to be voter registration offices for the upcoming election!

back to Nairobi

It was harder than we thought to leave Malakal but we are enjoying our time in Nairobi. Avery is loving being able to spend time playing with Liam and other SIM Sudan kids here. She really appreciated the MANY cards and gifts that were awaiting us on our return. Mama and Baba did too! A BIG thank you to Nana, Pops, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Allison, OITS class and anyone else I might be forgetting. Avery will continue her reign as the best dressed gal over here. :)

more friends...

Avery really was like a movie star around town. So many people loved her and loved that they could speak a bit of Arabic with the "jena blastic" that is a plastic child (think more like a baby doll) Here is a picture of Avery and some more friends who came to say good-bye on our last evening in Malakal.

Friends

Here are a few last pics we took of Avery and some of her biggest fans! She is awfully fond of them too. We will miss being right next door to Stephanie and Andrew. They gave mama many breaks by playing with Avery, investigating strange bugs with her, or taking a quick trip to our corner dukan for some bread or sugar.

Just because she is the cutest thing EVER...

Here are a few pics of Avery being Avery from the last month or so. One day Andrew gave her a little ride around the compound, something she has been wanting forever! Don't worry they were going VERY slow. :)

The three brides

The is a family Stephanie came to know really well. We went and visited there often. Most of the women of the family left for Khartoum before the rainy season. Three brides and their husbands moved in and so we had new friends to visit. There was a little boy (it is usual occurrence to have a little boy or girl from your extended family be given to you after marriage to help with things) that Avery loved to play with. Not quite sure how to write his name in English, it would be similar to Khati. One of the brides, Afafe and I did henna one day. They typically do this once a week as a beauty treatment. Once you are married you can put henna on the bottoms of your feet to symbolize your marriage. It is also a great way to get some rest as once the henna is on you have to let it drive for a few hours. Since they do their feet and hands it typically means a great time to chat and to catch a little nap!

Everything can be a toy!

Avery enjoyed helping us with last minute preparations of moving, such as de-thawing our fridge/freezer. She made the little baskets that sit on the ledge into fun chairs. She is just too cute so we each had to get a picture with her in her latest "toy".

Last time to the material "shop"

One of our last days in Malakal we went with Stephanie to her friend Adam's material shop. There is the same place in an earlier picture of Avery standing infront of colorful bolts of material on our second day in Malakal so it was a bittersweet time of good-byes. She handled it like a pro, she even handled the price negotiations. They gave Stephanie the material for free! And as usual she got a good nap on mama's back on the way home.

My heart melted...

A few weeks ago Avery came over to me tapped me on the shoulder gave me a hug and then said what sounded like love you! I just melted right then and there. She is just the sweetest little thing ever! She is also a very good little mommy. She loves to take care of her little dolls or stuffed animals. The other day I found her sitting down with her dolly in her lap. She was looking sweetly at the dolly and then leaned over and kissed her on the head! She also makes sure all her animals get food and water which sometimes can be a bit messy. And on another random Avery update note, she actually put a dress on by herself today! She got on one shoe by herself as well, even though it was on the wrong foot. And these are very hard shoes for me to put on her! Such a smarty!

Little climber

Due to our lack of "normal" furniture and constant moving around Avery has never really taken to climbing furniture...until now. She is finally just tall enough to climb up on our plastic chairs. Since she discovered that she always is trying to step or climb on anything, even Dad's camera case. She loves to climb and lay down on a trunk in our living area and must have her blanket spread over here when she does. She also figured out that she can get on our bed whenever we have a trunk half-way pulled out from under it to use as a step.

Sunday best

Here is a pic of a recent Sunday morning with Avery all dolled up and ready for church. She is growing so big and talking so much now. She loves to choose which dress to wear and likes to pick out her shoes and hat as well!

Loves her daddy

This is one of my current fav pics of these two!

bed time

One last pic of Avery before I go. Here she is getting ready for bed this evening. Such a cutie!

Happy 21 months Avery!!!

After missing a few months here is the latest birthday month pic! She is such a big girl now! As of a week or so ago Avery has spent more of her short life in Africa than America, crazy! I had the chance to use Taylor's good camera for a few days so there are a few good shots I will put up on africaonfilm.com soon so keep your eyes out for those!

Best dressed little gal

A big thank you to everyone sending the cutest clothes for Avery! I still think she is the most adorable little gal in Malakal, even when she is in her birthday suit cooling off in her "pool" :)
edit- the busted lip was from falling off a bed when we overnighted in Loki on our way back into Malakal.