And the Helmet Comes Off!

We made it! Avery is officially and DOC Band graduate -  we are such proud parents. Actually she has been officially done with her helmet treatments for about two weeks, and unofficially done for about a month.   She learned how to take off her helmet two weeks before the 15 weeks of treatment were up. I'd put the helmet on her, she would promptly unvelcro the side and weasle it off her head in about 5 seconds. So I would put it back on, and she would do it again. I really tried to be diligent, but when you are so close to the end anyway, we figured "what the heck, we'll just be done two weeks early."
We are really glad we decided to put the money and time into this helmet ordeal; although we don't have dramatic results, it definitely helped. We even got a cool souvenir - I mean who has a bust of their child's head when they were 9 months old? Its actually kind of creepy, it looks like we have her head on a stick.

This next one is looking at it from the top down. You can really see how much her head has grown from this picture, her real head fills in those gaps you see.

And the little graduate herself....

I can finally do little pony tails! And her head doesn't smell like a sweaty foot anymore. Good things are happening over here.

In other news, little missy is still not walking - which is actually just fine with me. She crawls everywhere, and usually with something in her mouth...

We sure love our goofball daughter.

4th of July Travelog

This year for the 4th of July Steve and I drove all over Utah, Idaho, and part of Wyoming. I was not too excited to drive that much with a baby who really doesn't love the car, but she actually did great. Good girl, Avery. We spent the 4th in North Ogden, UT (where Steve's parents live), and watched fireworks shows all across the Utah Valley from this awesome park with a huge hill. 

It was super relaxing, and COOL. Avery loved the fireworks too, which was fun. I love watching her discover things.
Then on the 5th, we drove up to Idaho Fall, ID to visit Steve's Grandma & Grandpa Thomas.

Steve's grandpa is one of the jolliest people I have ever met, I have a sneaking suspicion Steve is going to be just like him when we are old. Its a nice preview. Avery looks really happy to be on her Great Grandma's lap, doesn't she?

The next day, Steve and I broke off from the rest of his family and took a detour up to Star Valley, WY.  Does anyone else's husband's have an addiction to Google Earth? Steve definitely does and has been infatuated with Star Valley and wanted to see its beauty beyond the computer screen. So away we went, and it was seriously gorgeous. 

This picture was taken in Idaho, near Idaho Falls. It kind of looks like I am standing in front of a pond, nope, those are millions of tiny purple flowers. Steve saw that field and almost killed us as he squealed to a stop to snap some pictures.

This was just outside of Star Valley. Can you hear the Dixie Chicks singing "Wide Open Spaces" like I can?
Basically we fell in love with the place and want to move here, tomorrow. Granted, we visited this place in peak season, if we visited in the winter, we might have had a different take away.
Then we drove to Grace, ID to celebrate Steve's other Grandma's 95th birthday. It was an eventful trip, filled with lots of nasty fast food, but lots of wonderful family. I declare it a successful trip.