8 months

Avery started to reach out and put her arms up when she wants to be picked up. 

She found herself in the mirror and could not stop kissing herself, it was adorable! When trying to set her down on the ground she locks her legs and just wants to stand up. I love when I give her something new she inspects it for awhile moving it back and forth in her hands and then puts it in her mouth. She is sleeping through the night and has started giving us baby kisses. We ask for them all the time!! It consists of opening her mouth wide and leaning forward. 

Patricks first Father's Day!

 

Monterey to Big Sur

With Patrick about to start a new job, we took advantage of the time off he had before a busy 40 hour work week started up again. Monterey was a perfect getaway with a 7 month old. It is not very far from us, no time change and 'just simple' would be a good way to describe it. Although we had a shoe box of a hotel room with lights out at 9 for baby, we had a lot of fun discovering the Monterey Bay area.

Cannery Row is awesome with so many little shops to venture in and out of. Of course we also stopped in theMonterey Bay Aquarium. 

Other fun things to check out in Monterey is Old Fisherman's Wharf, Whale watching boat tour, Monterey Peninsula recreational trail and of course, the Bay!

Second day was a lot of driving as we did the 17 mile drive and then headed down Highway 1 to Carmel and then Big Sur. The whole drive was SO beautiful and scenic I could not get over it!

Downtown Carmel had the cute little villages! I want to live there.

^Lunch spot at Nepenthe with the most gorgeous view ever!!

We did a small hike in Point Lobos (Seal Lion Point Trail). 

I could not get over how blue the water was! So many trails

to hike around here but we wanted to have time for Big Sur so we kept it short.

After pulling over a million times we finally got to the famous Bixby Bridge.

Final stop at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park before heading back. 

You could spend all day hiking around here as well. 

If we had more time we would have kept driving down the coast to Hearst Castle.

*Helpful tip, when you pay for parking at one state park you don't have to pay for parking at any other state park that you go to that day. Keep your receipt. Not sure if that was obvious/dumb but I didnt know so I am telling you!  

OH. MY. GOODNESS. 

By far the best pancakes I have had! On our way home we made a stop at 

First Awakenings in Pacific Grove.

It is in a weird location inside this run down mall out of all places.

This was the Monkey Wrench pancake with Bananas, walnut and chocolate chips

and was the size of a large dinner plate. Heaven. Patrick and I shared and could not even finish it which says a lot! Best way to end a trip (stuffed faces of super unhealthy food while you have an excuse, vacation).

What do you like to do when you go to Monterey Bay area?

7 months

Our sweet roly poly is 7 months old. I never thought I would have such a happy little girl, always smiling, squealing and kicking those chunky legs as fast as she can. She is so full of love and not afraid to smile at anyone who walks by her, even if they are not even looking at her. She is already teaching me about the gospel and why the scriptures and prophets talk about the importance of becoming childlike. To be like a child is to be like the savior. Pure and full of love. I absolutely love to see the smile she puts on other people's faces wherever we go. My absolute favorite! Being a mom is the best thing in the world.

Fun to see Avery in this swing at Nana and Pop's since 

Patrick used to swing in it when he was her age.

Sold our first car, or Patrick likes to say our first date car. 

Some things I never want to forget...

-how Avery lunges forward for something she wants to grab

-squeals so hard when pulling Nana's hair

-sleeps with her legs on her crib poles and often times sticks them through 

-loves tags

-does this bobble head motion

-the time I thought her hands were swollen or she got bit but turns out she is just that chubby

-Patrick saying "You have a good life" (prison Mike from The Office) at ANY chance he got

-starting to reach out to people

-surprising Nana for Mother's Day when they got home from church and baby was sitting in the entry way

-her hair going slightly over her ears

-loves green beans, peas, carrots and sweet potatoes

-Patrick says her hair is starting to feel straw like thinking its going to be curly

-she puts her feet straight in the air and grabs them

-rolling like crazy