in hiding.

No, this is not an exciting game of hide-and-seek. Nope, Avery is terrified of these toys, so we have them hidden.

Mom and Dad's side of the story-

This summer, we were in Hilton Head for my BFF's wedding. The hotel lobby had several different stuffed animals that laughed when they detected movement. Every single day Avery wanted to "go see piggy laugh." She would stand there smiling, sometimes laughing. At the end of our trip as a little surprise, daddy went and bought the piggy and gave it to Avery when we got home. Well, when the piggy laughed in our own house, she fearfully clung to our legs with her dimply, white knuckles. "No piggy laugh! No piggy laugh!" Ever since piggy has been in the closet.



I thought she would LOVE the FurReal bear for her birthday because she loves animals... nope, she completely freaked out.

The baby doll has a cry that sends Avery into a panic, so that's why she is hidden.

The sweet, little, tan bear says nursery rhymes in a gentle (little bit creepy) voice. Avery loved it at first and then one day when it came out, she flipped.



I know she definitely won't be getting a Baby Alive for Christmas this year. I got a fair warning when we were strolling down the toy aisle. She saw them and said in an anxious tone, "No, mommy. No, mommy."

That's one way our baby girl is always keeping us on our toes.

Just a little note to say...

we hope you had


a wonderful Thanksgiving.


Sending hugs




and kisses.



Love,
The Doran's

Monkey See. Monkey Do.

making pumpkin pancakes.

Step 1- Dump


Step 2- Pour


Step 3- Stir


Step 4- Flood


Step 5- Devour


Bon Appetit!

distressing...

a wooden shelf.




... being at the top of a ferris wheel {for me}.

a couple more firsts.

first sign (not counting the inadvertent 'hang loose' on the left).


courtesy of the nice lady at Trader Joe's


stay tuned...

some recent favorites.

a new spin on swinging.


a visit from my BFF, Heather and Michael.


a halloween 2010 costume rediscovery.


a trip to the long beach aquarium.







a big helper- Avery took her role very seriously as a candy distributor, not so much the trick-or-treater. The door bell rang, she stopped what she was doing, grabbed the bowl of candy and ran to the door. She methodically dropped one piece of candy in each of the kids bags. We were all surprised that she never got spooked from some of the scary masks on the other side of the door. As each group wandered to the next house, she gave them a loud, "Happy Palloween" (not a typo- that's how she says it).


a pumpkin-gingersnap parfait with papa.

patches, parties and a princess....

... that's what our halloween {season} was made of-














We hope you had a fun and safe Halloween!