Snow day

We finally got to play in a little snow!  Anna Riley loved it.  She just wanted to eat it really.  Ava Kate wasn't feeling great so she only went out for a short time when Daddy was home for lunch.  

Rainy Weekend Recap

Boy am I ever ready for some sunshine!! This week has proved that I could not live in a place where it rains the majority of the time...depressing!  

We picked up pizza on Friday and stayed around the house.  Sometimes those are definitely the best nights!  Riley has been working on most Saturday mornings since they have a big project going on right now so he has to get in bed fairly early on Fridays also.  

Saturday morning, the girls and I played out all morning.  I just love having two girls and all the dress up and princess fun!  Ava Kate is jumping in on all the quite a bit earlier than Anna Riley did, she doesn't want to be left out!  Anna Riley had put a crown on my head (because everyone has to dress up!)  and AK quickly took it off and put it on her head and wore it around the house for about an hour! 

It was funny because after about 10 minutes, Anna Riley had already taken her dress off and put her "dajamas" on and Ava Kate was just getting started accessorizing with all the bracelets.

 Saturday afternoon, when the girls got up from their naps, we headed to the Tidmore's Farm in Northside to cook out.  It was actually NOT raining at the time so the kids got to ride the golfcart before it got dark.  Cameron grilled some deer tenderloin that was SO good!   We made Smores for dessert! ;)

She got a little impatient and didn't want on the fire!

Love my chocolate loving girl!

These two were very impatient!

Haha!!! Oh Talon!

Sunday afternoon we headed to the Barnyard for Talons birthday party.  It had not rained most of the day so we knew it was coming.  It would pour down and then stop and start again so we were still able to feed the animals and ride the horse but it was just a little messy.  At least it was warm rain!  When it was time to leave, it came a down pour so we got soaked!!!

Pretty as a Princess

Anna Riley has hit the princess stage.  I have waited for this ever since I found out I would be having a girl!!  I love that we can sit and watch the movies that I grew up watching and I get excited when she wants to watch them and shows the same love for them as I did and well still do!  She is currently all about Cinderella and really was before she even watched the movie.  But now that she has seen the movie...oh a hundred times or so everything is about Cinderella.  She also loves Tangled and Little Mermaid (thanks to Uncle Wes for getting it copied to Dvd since it isn't out yet) and she loves reading about Snow White.  

She wants us all to dress up when she is dressing up.  As much as I would love to just throw on a princess dress and prance around all day, she doesn't understand they don't fit!  Luckily she has some hats (Thanks Target $1 section!) that fit Riley and myself.  And sissy as a couple of dresses that fit her.  

A little funny:  The other morning as we were getting ready for church, I said ok now I just need to go throw on my dress and we will be ready to go.  AR screams out "Mommy, don't forget your crown!!" Haha!  I think I would get some looks if I walked into church with a crown on!  

If you were a little girl in Berry, you
probably were in a pageant or two. And
my pictures were always of me holding my out like this
so my dress didn't smush.  I thought it was funny
that she did the same thing.  Mom saw it
and immediately said it reminded her of me!   

This is currently our smile!  Haha!
Trying to get her to understand to not
really cheese but I don't want a fake
smile either!!  

And then sometimes she just wants to be a witch!!!
:)

Ava Kate--15 months

Time sure does fly when you are having fun!!  I just can't believe my little baby is already 15 months old!  She has changed so much lately...her little personality is really starting to shine!  

- At her appointment this morning, she weighed 22.6 lbs. and was 31 1/2 inches tall.  She is a little smaller than what Anna Riley was at this age.  AR was 24.9 and is 32 1/2 inches long at 15 months. 

-She wears 18 months clothes mostly and the shoe size really varies so I am not sure.  She wears a size 4 diaper.

-She had her tear duct probed right after Thanksgiving.  She had to be put to sleep but did great.  Her eye has been so much better since then. 

-A big milestone that happened the Sunday before Christmas is Ava Kate took off walking!!!  She had taken a few steps here and there but that night we had just gotten back from a Christmas gathering and we were unloading gifts and opening toys from boxes and all of a sudden, AK is headed down the hall with two small toys in hand.  I grabbed my phone and caught a little bit of it (Thank goodness for videos on the phone!) She walked all the walk down the hall to our bathroom and then got in there and threw the toys in the air!! I was in tears!  I don't know if it was because I was a little concerned about her not walking yet or because my baby was walking!!  (maybe a little bit of both!)

-She is also climbing on everything she can and cleaning out every cabinet in sight!

-AK eats so well!!  She will eat pretty much anything you give her. She mostly only eats foods that she can feed herself.  She eats all table food and her favorites seem to be fruit (bananas and strawberries especially...she doesn't care for apples). 

-She is getting better with keeping food on the plate.  She usually makes it halfway and sometimes the whole time.  She usually does better with the plates in a restaurant but she has thrown a couple down.  I have to remind myself that one day it will be much easier to take two kids out to eat!!

-She loves her milk!  She has 2-3 cups a day with her meals.

-Her little personality has really started to show!  She can be so stinking cute sometimes, I just can't stand it!  

-She will finally give us real kisses.  In the past, you might get one or you might get a slap in the face! (she has a rough side!).  Now most of the time she will give you a kiss and if she isn't in the mood, she will lean her head over for you to give her one! 

-She always seems to be in the mood to give Anna Riley kisses though!! Those two will be fighting one  minute and kissing and hugging the next...true sisters!

-I have noticed that Ava Kate's fine motor skills have really improved this month.  She picks up the tiniest things.  Mom bought this counting piggy bank for her for Christmas and it has been a favorite of both girls.  

-She is also really playing with toys now.  She loves her little people princess castle.  She likes to put all the princess on the bottom and make them dance.  

 -She will finally sit still and look at books.  She loves the books about animals and the first word books.  She points at them over and over.  

-I find her in AR's big chair reading books all the time!  

-She is talking more but not a lot right now.  I see her more as an observer being the 2nd child.  She will repeat a lot of things we ask her to and if you ask her to point to a certain picture, she will. 

-She really tries to do some of the things Anna Riley does.  Anna Riley was telling her to "shhh" one day and had her finger on her lips and so now AK does that.  

-Ava Kate loves to dance!  I say it is because I danced for about 8  months while she was in my belly! If you know Riley, you know he loves his music and we always have some on, so Anna Riley gets us all to have dance parties!  AK loves it! 

-Ava Kate is a complete Daddy's girl 110%!!! If she has a choice of who to be with it is always him!  When he walks through that door, the excitement on her face is just the sweetest thing!!  He can go to the bathroom and come back and its the same excitement, like she hasn't seen him all day!  

The Weekend

We had a really low key weekend.  My Dad had an unexpected day off on Saturday so he ask if he could come get Anna Riley on Friday and let her spend the night and then he and Mom take her to see Monsters, inc. on Saturday afternoon before bringing her home.  She was so excited and told me numerous times how excited she was! :) I enjoy getting the one on one time with one of the girls!  

 Riley has to work most Saturday mornings right now but he got finished a little early so when I woke up at 8:30 (yes, my sweet AK let me sleep late and she was actually still sleeping), we made plans to meet at Another Broken Egg when I got both of us ready. So excited to have one of these in town! 

Reading books with Daddy Friday night

Waiting on breakfast

Peace and quiet playing with toys

Mom sent me this of AR in the movies! :)

Eating popcorn and watching TV with Daddy

Teaching Mommy some of her ballet warm ups! :)

On Sunday, we went to church and since AK is doing SO much better in the nursery, we got to stay for both Sunday school and the service.  I had really missed Sunday school but it had gotten so hard to be there for 2 hours because she would get so upset.  The girls got bundled up and played outside for a little bit while I got lunch ready.  AK even squealed with excitement!! I guess it really had been that long since we had played outside!  With it being so cold and them being sick, I just haven't let them and they were beyond ready!!

After lunch, the girls were playing in the playroom.  And when I went in, Ava Kate had the potato head lips in her mouth so we had to add the glasses and then of course Anna Riley had to do it too!  Silly girls!

Helping Daddy put together a new tv stand for the playroom

New Year's Eve celebrations

New Year's Eve Day we took the girls to the Children's Hands on Museum for a New Years Party.  It was really cute. They had Ginger Ale in little glasses for the kids to taste and AR loved it because she thought it was coke (definitely my child!) Then they did a countdown and released balloons.  Amanda, Riley's sister and Duncan were in the area so they came in for a few minutes and then went with us to lunch at Mellow Mushroom afterward.  

That night, Mom and Dad had offered a while back to keep the girls so we decided to go to dinner with some friends.  We went to dinner at Depalmas one of our favorites...Wade and Mandy and Jason and Elaine went with us.   Surprisingly, me made it out to midnight...but barely.  I didn't feel well with sinus stuff and by midnight my head was pounding.  We are definitely more low key people these days I do believe...I think that is a good thing! :)

The girls side of the table

The boys

Ran into Miss Katie

And my Bff...Bethany! :)