Snow!

Avery finally got to play in the snow last week. He's sporting his new snow pants and jacket, which we bought him for Christmas. Just think, only a couple more years and he'll be able to shovel that stuff for us.

Everything's Cool

Everything is cool here in the Richard household. We've had some technical difficulties that have had an effect on the upkeep of the blog. We have finally upgraded to broadband internet access, which will help things immensely.

Avery is talking up an absolute storm these days. He's moved on to complete sentences, and Jen and I find ourselves doing double-takes and looking at each other shaking our heads with some of the stuff he comes up with.

Hockey Game

We all enjoyed another hockey game last night. Though it turned out to be a dissapointing 6-5 loss to BU, it was still a great game. On the way out, we ran smack into Bananas the bear. He's a little more imposing up-close, so Avery was a little hesitant to offer up a high-five, but he's still talking about the encounter this morning.

Weekend Festivities

Avery is so much fun this holiday season. He asks to watch Reindeer (Rudolph) every waking moment! We had brunch with Santa on Saturday morning and then went out to get our tree.

In Your Shoes!

Here is Avery-Monkey in his daddy's shoes! We won the drawing in my office for U Maine hockey tickets for tonight's game.... Avery loves Bananas (the Maine mascot...). Should be fun!

Good Sharing!

Sweetness for the Grandmothers

This is Avery assisting me with the Thanksgiving baking! He is such a character these days. He can now sing Baa Baa Black Sheep AND Row Row Your Boat (quite accurately). He does a pretty mean Bob The Builder song too. He asks for Papa's Song (even more since Papa visited and HE sang... so much better than momma) and (Puff the) Magic Dragon often as well. He's counting everything "two" "three" "two". He refers to himself in third person a lot. He runs around the house playing football (sometimes with and sometimes without his actual football)... yelling "tack-le... hurt... okay" "ruuuunnnnn" "hike" and "touch down" while raising both hands above his head. He's using his "please" and "thank you". He LOVES the Christmas lights and lets us know how pretty they are. He is growing up so fast. Life is so amazing through the eyes of Avery!

The Hunt

The bad news is that I won't be deer hunting any more this year. The good news is that it's because I took a 136-lb doe on Saturday. With the invaluable assistance and guidance of my Mom, it's already been processed and put in the freezer. -jgr

daddy, care

Jen has been out of state for a few days and Avery and I have been left to take care of each other.  I have had the best time with Avery.  He’s been talking non-stop about everything, and it has been great to spend the time with him. 

More Farm Fun

More photos of little A's pumpkin patch adventures!

Pumpkin Patch

This was our first trip to this pumpkin patch. We found three beautiful pumpkins, went for a hayride pulled by a tractor, and saw lots of animals at the petting zoo (llamas, goats, bunnies, and chickens). We fed the goats some grain. Avery loved the chickens! The apple cider was delicious. It was a great fall day to be outside.

EB

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. Most of our days and routines all run together and it seems we must be celebrating more years than just three. Especially considering that we have known each other for more than two decades now. And yet, there are times when it seems like yesterday when we closed the door to our separate independent lives and chose togetherness. Old and new all at the same time. I don't say it often enough - but I deeply love, admire, respect and adore my husband. Happy Anniversary. Big Fat EB to you!

My Guys

Avery and Daddy at Gram and Gramp's party last weekend.

Ride'em Cow/Boy

 
We had an enjoyable weekend visiting family. Avery got a chance to ride a very small cow. He's feeling much better each day. 

Breathless

Avery is feeling much better! Thank you everyone for your warm thoughts and prayers! Grammah had a post about little A's condition... but if you missed it... here's a recap. Avery developed a cold over the weekend. He awoke Tuesday morning with difficulty breathing - he was breathing with his belly, panting, sucking so hard that his ribs were showing and wheezing. Our pediatrician's office tried unsuccessfully for three hours to stabilize his blood oxygen levels with multiple nebulizer treatments, oxygen and steroids. So, Avery and I shared our first amublance ride (he kept saying Truck the entire ride!) to the hospital where he was admitted for overnight observation. Once we arrived at the hospital, his O2 levels stabilized. He had a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia, typical bloodwork, nasal and throat cultures. His O2 dropped overnight, but came back on its own. So, he received lots of neb treatments and a few more doses of steriods and we were discharged at noon on Wednesday. We are continuing the nebs at home. The final diagnosis, bronchulitis. Basically, he had an asthmatic reaction to the cold. He returned to daycare yesterday and had lots of fun with his friends. He was very happy to be back in his regular routine. So... that's the update on Avery-Monkey. He's ok.

Summer Outing

Saturday was my company's summer picnic. Avery played in the bouncy house. He had no fear - even with the big kids playing in it! The BBQ was delicious. Avery loved the cows, particularly the group mooing loudly. He sat with the big kids for awhile and watched the juggling show. He decided to cop a squat in this chair... I'm still not sure who it belonged to... but A got in and stayed a long time. He's growing so quickly!

Lawn Mowing Enthusiasm

Avery is quite excited to have his own lawn mower, and quite adamant that his Dad recognizes that Avery has a lawnmower. Think he'll be this enthusiastic about it when he's twelve? 

Pemaquid

We all went camping this week. We found a really nice campground called Sherwood Forest Campsite (click here). We were luck enough to be able to borrow Grammah's tent, which was very nice and very spacious. We spent yesterday relaxing at our shady campsite. Avery was feeling a bit under the weather and was running a fever. We thought he'd snap out of it, but he didn't so we cut our trip short by a day and came home so maybe he could sleep more comfortably. We did see a few sights--checking out the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point and the fort as well. It was extremly hot, though, so we tried to stick to the campsite and stay in the shade. Avery got cooled off with a swim and a few popsicles. It was a nice place and we'll definitely go back. 

Open Farm Day

Today was Open Farm Day in Maine, where 95 farms across the state opened their doors to the public. We visited the Curran Farmstead in Orrington. We all got to take a hayride behind an old John Deere farm tractor (see picture), and Avery got to see some bunnies, goats, sheep and horses. It made for a fun morning.  

Camp

We spent the weekend with friends at the lake. Avery had SO much fun being outside all weekend. He loved swimming, he played in the dirt, found bugs, saw lots of birds, filled his truck with rocks, played with the four dogs, and went for his first boat ride. We were very comfortable as we stayed in our very own cabin! What a great weekend, thanks so much to John and Kim for extending the invitation!!