Miscellany Monday

Weekend:
We had a very low key weekend and it was quite nice!  We celebrated Talon's 1st birthday on Saturday afternoon (forgot my camera!).  Courtney did such a great job with his party!! It was a winter ONEderland theme and it was just adorable!
Sunday was the first time in a long time that Anna Riley went to her class at church without any tears!! YAY! Ava Kate also did great in the sanctuary with us.  So we celebrated with lunch at Fig...she picked a big piece of chocolate cake for dessert of course! We spent the rest of the day outside playing since it was such a beautiful day!

Party Planning:
I knew what I was going to do for Anna Riley's birthday this year probably the day after her party last year! :)  There were lots of different themes I really wanted to do but she loves Mickey and Minnie so that is what it will be! The preparations are taking place but I am really trying to do things simple this year.

Sickness: With the weather constantly changing...we all have colds again! Uugh!  Poor Ava Kate always seems the worst but I think its just because she is so stuffed up and can't breathe...poor thing! And its not going to get any better since it will be rainy tomorrow, really cold Wednesday and then in the mid 70s this weekend!! Oh my!!

School:
Anna Riley started school last week and she went on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  I really think she is going to love it!  On Wednesday, I just went through the carpool line and did not walk her in.  I had been telling her all morning what would happen and that I would drop her off and one of her teachers would come to the car to get her and then I would be back at lunch to get her.  She just kept saying "okay, Mommy!"  When we got there and she saw Ms. Ashton come to the door she started waving her hands and saying "no,no,no!" but when she got her out she was fine and she never had any tears.  They said she is doing great but still gets a little upset during transitions.  She didn't have school today because of the holiday.

Sewing:
I got an embroidery/ sewing machine combo for Christmas and it is finally out of the box!  I have been a little intimidated to get it out!! I am now trying to get all the supplies I need to get started.  I wanted it mainly to monogram and applique some of the girls clothes but I really want to learn to sew a few basic things. I feel like a lot of the clothes I buy, especially for Anna Riley right now, are clothes that would be pretty simple to make.  I have been talking to Jennifer Clark (Livi Stitches) since she makes beautiful clothes for her girls and she taught herself how to do it!  I know a little bit about sewing but not enough to make anything.  I purchased three basic patterns from Jennifer.  She has been great to help with all of my questions.  My first goal, however, is to figure out the monogram/applique stuff. 

And just a few pictures just because:

Zero Doubt

National Champions!!!

ROLLLLLL TIDE!!!

Anna Riley's first day of Day School

Today was Anna Riley's first day of Day School.  She will be going to Noah's Ark at St. Mark on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  I knew without a doubt that she was going to cry when we dropped her off but she actually did much better than I anticipated!  We had been talking to her about "school" for a few days now and telling her all the fun things she would get to do.  Riley met me at school this so he could come meet her teachers.  She cried for just a few minutes but by the time we were out the door, she wasn't crying anymore.  We stood in the hall and talked to the director for a few minutes and didn't hear any crying or screaming so I felt really good about it!

I was so anxious to pick her up and see how her day went!! They said she had a pretty good day and only got a little upset when they would change activies. Everytime I ask her if she had fun and did she like school, she just starts laughing! On Wednesday, I won't take her in but they will come get her in the carpool lane so we will see how that goes!

All dressed in our houndstooth for the
Big Championship Game Day!

First Day of Dayschool

I tried getting a picture of the girls before we left...
Can you tell something is on TV and Ava Kate is
so amazed with the dots on her pants!  :)

Her Daily Report for her first day!

Ava Kate--3 months

Ava Kate turned 3 months old on January 6th.  She is changing so much everyday and becoming much more interactive now!

(This post has lots of pictures but she has the cutest expressions...I can't pick just a few!)

At 3 months old, Ava Kate is wearing size 2 diaper and wearing 3-6 and even some 6 month clothes.

I am not sure how much she weighs, but I am positive she has gained what she needs to...we call her our little "Chunky Monkey!"  I just love it!!

She is really starting to get on more of a schedule. 

 She eats 6 oz. every 4 hours.  and her last feeding is usually around 8pm.  She has slept through the night several times and sometimes she still wakes up once. 

She takes roughly 3 naps a day if she can get a good nap in...sometimes her big sister wakes her or she just gets woken up somehow and doesn't get to finish resulting in a few cat naps.  But on our good days, she takes a morning, afternoon (when AR sleeps) and a short evening nap (usually when we are eating dinner).

She rolled over for the first time on January 5th from tummy to back and has did it several times since. 

She is getting so strong and can hold her head up really well now.

She loves playing with her toys and on her floor mat and recently in the exersauser.  She is not as interested in the swing anymore.

I brought out one of Anna Riley's "Baby Einstein" videos for her to watch while I got ready and she loved it.  She kicked and cooed the whole time. 

She still has brown hair and her eyes are a green/hazel color (more like mine).  She has her Daddy's skin tone and the cutest, chunkiest cheeks!  I get mixed emotions on whether she looks like Anna Riley now or not...I think they have similarities but she is looking less like her and more like well...herself! :) 

She "talks" all the time. She makes the sweetest cooing sounds.

She gets so excited when you are talking to her.  She smiles so big and has even started laughing some. 

It seems that she maybe has outgrown the colic she had.  She is so much better and only has those fussy gas pains occasionally now.  She seems to be a much happier baby now, too! 

She loves watching her big sister!  Anna Riley loves her so much! If Ava Kate isn't in the room, she has to know where she is.  I can't wait until the two can really play together...they will have so much fun together!!

She makes to funniest facial expressions!  Her eyes get SO big sometimes!  She really looks like her Daddy's baby pictures especially when she makes her "big" eyes!



Just to compare: Ava Kate on the left and Anna Riley on the right.



23 months

I can't believe this little girl is about to turn 2 in just a month!  Oh where has the past two years gone??  She is growing so very fast and amazes us everyday with the new things she is learning! She keeps us on our toes and laughing all the time!!

-At 23 months, she weighs 28 lbs. and I am not sure how tall she is.  We will find out next month.

-She wears a size 4 diaper, 2T clothes, 6 shoe.

-She takes 1 nap a day and goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 at night...wakes up at... well some weeks its 8:30 or 9 and some weeks its 6!  She goes through phases of early waking and sleeping in...hopefully we can get back to our consistency here! 

-Her favorite foods at the moment are:  yogurt, apples, oranges, crackers, cheese, Popsicles,  chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, eggs with ketchup (she gets it from me and her PawPaw), pancakes, corn on the cob and of course COOKIES! (or "kahkis" as she calls them)

-She is pretty good at using her utensils now.  She uses them most of the time and gets the majority of the food actually in her mouth. 

-She FINALLY will drink out of a regualar sippy cup.  She has always drank out of straws and never could drink out of the regular kind until recently. (I know very backwards from most kids!)  She can drink from just an open cup fairly well until she decides to pour it on herself...so lid goes back on! 

-She talks non-stop these days.  I can understand more and more of what she is saying which really helps our communication because she can tell me what she wants most of the time!  It's funny though because there are a few certain things such as popsicles and yogurt that she has just made up words for...I mean it sounds nothing like that word she is trying to say.  I know what she is talking about but most people would not even know where to start! I always correct her but she must like her word better! Who knows?!

-She is talking in mostly phrases and sentences now.  One thing she says all the time now is "No, I don't think so Mommy" and if I ask her a question she will say "oh-tay, Mommy!" The other day she was taking a bath with her Ava Kate and was about to dump water on her and I told her no and she said "I not mean, Mommy" (I have never told her she was mean so not sure where she got that) and I said well good you should be sweet and she said "I tweet, Mommy" 

-Anytime she hears something out of the ordinary or an airplane especially she always says:  "Whats that?  You hear it?"  And she puts her hand to her ear..."Its a airpwane" or whatever it is. 

-She is still working on her colors.  She still recognizes blue, yellow and red always but the others she gets confused on. 

-She still loves to count and counts everything.  If we give her M&Ms or Reece pieces, she wants to take them to the coffee table and count them first.

-She still loves animals and recognizes most of them and their sounds. 

-When she sees any pictures with babies its always her "sissy" and if she sees a picture with her in it she says "thats you!" Haha...She's just a little confused. I guess because we say that to her.

-She is saying more people's names now.  And she is stubborn and still won't say certain names!  It is no lie that this girl loves her PawPaw and she says his name all the time and she loves Granna too but she is so stubborn and will not say Granna very much.  I think because Mom has worked with her since she started cooing on saying her name and she knows she wants her to say it so bad.  Its not that she can't...she wont!  I mean how stubborn is that??!!  When you ask her to say Granna, she says "hmmm...PawPaw! haha"  She did say it the other night when she was looking at her picture but she won't say it to her.  She has even called her by her real name which I won't allow!! 

-She is all about her babies.  She is constantly strolling one of them or putting them in the swing or bouncy.  She helps take care of her "sissy" too!  When she wakes up in the morning she usually ask for "sissy!"  She likes to give her the pacy and get us the burp cloth. 

-She loves to play with her makeup that Granna and PawPaw gave her at Christmas.  She is really starting to get into the girly dressing up stage now.

 -She still hates to have her picture made and actually will run when she sees a camera!! UUGH...did I ruin my child with so many pictures when she was little??

-She has her fair share of meltdowns and tantrums!  Wow...if 3s are worse than 2s then I might go crazy!  haha.  She has some weeks where she does great and others where she spends a lot of time in timeout and throwing fits.  This too shall pass...I have to keep reminding myself of that.

-She loves to play outside and on her new swing set.  The past couple of months she has been scared to slide down the slide again.  I think a slide she went down went really fast and it scared her.  So, now when she slides down she sings "I did it, I did it" (from Dora).

-Her favorite shows now are Mickey Mouse, Dora, Little Einsteins,  Super Why and she loves Elmo ("mo-mo") but doesn't really care for Sesame Street.  I downloaded PBS video app on the ipad and my phone and its such a great app and its free!  It has all the pbs videos on there so she has discovered new shows she likes such as Super Why. 

-When she wants to watch Dora she says " I want Backpack, I want Boots"...I thought Dora was the main character?! haha 

She also calls Pluto on Mickey Mouse "PooPoo"!  haha

-She starts preschool on Monday! I am not sure how she will do.  I know it will be a big adjustment for  both of us but I know it will be great for her! Where did my little baby go????

Anna Rileys first haircut

The week before Christmas, I finally decided it was time to shape Anna Riley's hair up.  Her hair is so thin and kind of "ratty."  I had been asking Janet when when we should get it trimmed and she said to wait to give the sides time to grow out a little so we decided it was time. I was really worried she wouldn't sit still and might have a meltdown but she did so great! She was such a big girl!!  I don't know if it was the diet Mt. dew and suckers that Janet was bribing her with or what but it worked! Haha!

Before

Getting Started

"Ok, Mom...are you going to do this the whole time??"

Taking the first cut

Such a big girl!

After...
It wasn't a lot taken off but it made a
lot of difference in her hair and hopefully
it will help it grow better!

I think even she was proud!

Oh she looks so big!!

Thank you Mrs. Janet!!

Visit from friends

On Friday, December 16th, Becca was in town for Christmas with Zach's family, so she got to stop by for a visit!  It was so nice to spend some time catching up with her...well in between the "girls, you need to share...girls, what is wrong, why are you crying?"  We just don't get to see each other enough so the time we have together goes by too quickly! 

The girls watching Mickey Mouse and eating a snack
(Kendall came along to play too!)

Sweet little Evan

How sweet is this??
Already trying to hold hands! :)

Ava Kate & Evan
2 1/2 nonths apart