My newest videos!

Check this out! I learned this cool new trick that gets me where I want to go! Mom and Dad call it "crawling" but I just know that it helps me chase Howie and gets me closer to all kinds of things that I probably shouldn't play with. I think Mom and Dad are happy that I learned this new trick, but it seems like everytime I get someplace fun where I'm surrounded by electric cords or peering over a step they come pick me up and put me back where I started! It's so frustrating! I worked hard to get across the room, and they just put me back where I was! I guess I'll have to keep exploring until I find some good hiding places.


I also have periodic dance parties in my Exersaucer. It's tons of fun! You're all invited to my next dance party tomorrow morning. Here's a video of last time so you'll know what to expect when you come. I've already got three pretty good back-up dancers who follow my lead, as you'll see in my video. Dancing is easy! All you have to do is swing your hips! I'm really good at it. I can teach you.

Splish, Splash, SPRAY PARK!

Isn't Summer FUN?! :)

Yesterday, we got to go down the road to our neighborhood spray park for an afternoon of fun! The Arnolds came with us! Lea was my college roommate and her baby, Tate, was born on Christmas Day and is just a few months younger than Avery. Tate's Aunt Jillian (Donny's sister) came too!

We had such a fun day and it will be even more fun next year when the girls can run around and splash in the water on their own... although I don't think I'll be sitting on the sidelines taking pictures the WHOLE time because it's way too much fun to actually be in the water. Even adults can't resist running through sprinklers from time to time! :) Here are some pictures of our day... Enjoy!

Backyard Birthday BBQ!

Saturday night we got to go to a Birthday BBQ at Lindsay & Randy Key's house! There were 2 other babies in the mix, so Avery was in good company. She had fun eating watermelon, watching "Happy" and "Dakota" (the two precious puppies that were there) and playing with her new friends Hannah Walk & Hayden Molnoskey. But her most favorite time was when she got to swing with "Da Da" in the big swing. She felt like such a big girl, and it showed!

Happy Birthday, Randy!! Thanks for inviting us!

...A little late, but worth posting!...

Happy Fourth of July!!

We had such a fun time celebrating Avery's first Independence Day! Our festivities were spread out over a few days, so it gave us more time to enjoy this time of year. The weekend before July 4th, we got to go to a party at Kendra & Erroll's new house that they've done so much work on... and it looks PERFECT! What a fun time! Avery LOVED seeing the sparklers and playing with the bigger kids. (Also- shameless plug for some of our friends you see in the pictures here, Josh & Cara Havens. Josh is the lead singer for a super cool band called The Afters. You've heard their song "Beautiful Love" on the radio and as the theme song for the MTV show "8th and Ocean." We're big fans of their music, and you should be too.) :)

Then, on the actual 4th, we walked down the road to the Lake Highlands parade! It was SO cool! We really enjoy living where we do, and loved seeing our community on parade. Avery especially liked sitting inside one of the Lake Highlands fire trucks and also watching some bigger kids play at the spray park once the parade was over. It was a day filled with fun! Couldn't have asked for a better First Fourth for Avery! :)

BIG NEWS for the Bossens!!

YIPPEEE!! I've officially been given the green light to spill the beans on the blog...

Jennifer & Andrew are having a baby!!!

My sister and her husband found out they're expecting "Baby Bear" Bossen on their recent trip to Hawaii (pictured above) and called with the news shortly after they arrived back home. Jen called and said, "We brought back a little something extra from our trip!" I'll never forget how she told us... How exciting. The MIRACLE is that I've been able to keep this a secret from lots of people until now! I had to flat-out lie to some people! (You know who you are-- please forgive me!)

If you're wondering how Jen's going to endure pregnancy after her recent health history, I think she may surprise us all! Not only is she well enough to sustain a growing baby, but she's doing it all in a way that makes MY pregnancy seem like child's play! Over Father's Day weekend they went to Colorado where Jennifer (and baby) did all kinds of outdoorsy things like kayking, mountain biking 30 miles, hiking across native terrain, horseback riding... Who IS this girl and what happened to my "princess" sister?! My guess is that she's having a boy, based on the level of outdoor activity she's doing! Keep in mind she did all of this in her prime "morning sickness" weeks while giving herself Heparin shots twice a day! Baby Bear has one strong Mama!

Everything looked wonderful at their first sonogram and the baby's little heart was beating along beautifully!

CONGRATULATIONS, you guys!! We love you VERY much and cannot wait for February 10th when we get to meet Baby Bear Bossen! We pray for our new baby niece/nephew all the time, and I couldn't be more thrilled to get to sit back and watch my big sister go through all of these exciting "firsts!" :)

Parents-to-be on their Colorado trip with the Bossen family over Father's Day weekend...

I'm 9 Months Old!

We know we say this every month, but it's amazing how quickly it's going. We'll BLINK and it'll be Birthday time!!... Happy 9 Months, Baby Girl! We love you very much!

"Tutu" cute! :)

Avery had her 9 month photo shoot today! It was tons of fun... I think I could waste years just sitting and staring at her. (I'm sure every new parent can identify.) I had seen a couple of pictures of little girls sitting in tutus and thought it would be cute to experiment with that. Who knew that ballet tutus were pricey?! I ended up taking it on as an "at home" crafts project. Stephanie Poage- Mom by day/Tutu maker by night! :) Turned out cute, though, so it was worth all the trouble.

Thought I'd share some of our favorite pictures from the day. Enjoy!

We love Summer Visitors!

Last night, Avery got to have another late-night play date with Drew! Lydia and I are in a girls bible study that meets close to our house, so on Tuesday nights Glen & Drew come over for "Daddy Day Care." We snapped a couple of pictures on our way out the door. Glen had BOTH of them to himself for a while as Collin was caught up in the traffic from the rain. (Can you believe this rain??)

Avery was sound asleep when we got home, and Drew was thoroughly enjoying giving his Dad a rough time. He sure was happy to see Lydia get home. They did a great job with the kiddos!... They must be their Dads, or something! :)



And on Sunday of this past weekend, our friends Meagan & Cameron Cushman came for a visit! They live in Virginia, so it was a real treat to get to have them visit us in Texas! Cameron was one of the groomsmen in our wedding, and he and Meagan were our "link" to meeting President Bush when we visited DC in 2003! (Meagan was in the Secret Service at the time. Would you have ever guessed someone so little and pretty would be a Secret Service Agent?!) We loved getting to introduce Avery to them too.




And finally... THESE pictures are way overdue for being posted on the blog... HOWIE had a visitor this Summer too! His REAL Dad, Connor, came to stay with us a few weeks ago- just before Father's Day! (How appropriate.) Howie and Connor are too cute together. Connor is a lot more laid back and relaxed than Howie, but he was sweet to tolerate Howie's energy level. If they would have let us, we could have kept Connor forever. He is SO loveable. We had a wonderful time having him here.

Bath time!

Scrub-a-dub-dub, what's not to love about bath time?! It's Avery's favorite thing to do, and you just can't beat the feeling afterwards of snuggling a clean baby. She SURE does love to kick!... but then again, I remember that well from when I carried her during pregnancy. It looks very similar to how it felt. Glad to be on THIS side of things now! :)

A Lazy-Day at the Arboretum

We had such a fun time at the Arboretum with the Farells. If only it had been just a few degrees cooler... but it IS Texas after all.

Wedding Weekend

*Photo credit for all above: Meagan Gaines, "Photos by Meg"

We had such a fun weekend traveling to Tyler, TX for my dear friend's wedding! Kristen Starwalt became Mrs. Robert Allen Mundt this weekend! It was such a beautiful wedding and Kristen was absolutely glowing! OH! And Howie got to officially meet his "real" Daddy, Connor, and spend the weekend with him! They had a wonderful time together... it was so cute to watch.

Congratulations, Kristen & Rob! We love you very much!