Almost Wordless Wednesday

Trying to catch up...here are several pictures from February that I haven't posted. Its funny to look at these pictures and notice the crazy weather changes!! haha

These two look so much alike!

Daddy has big shoes to fill!

Fun times with Chocolate pudding

Ava Kate in the tub

Movie Star

My little lovebugs on Valentines Day

She is such a sweetheart!

Reading my Devotional in
Sissy's Bumbo

She was saying  "no Cheese!"
Thats what she says when she
doesn't want her picture taken!

Enjoying the weather with a morning walk

Enjoying the warm February weather?!

She is all into the "accessories" now

Such a  great Big Sister!!

My little angel! :)

Anna Riley and Addie Gail, our neighbor whom
she thinks hung the moon!! :)

Doctor visit and lunch with Uncle Wes

    I took both girls back to Dr. Roberts today for Anna Riley's re-check on her ear and for her check Ava Kate since she has a horrible cough and just not feeling well.  Anna Riley was so excited to be at the doctor!  Have you ever known a child to love going to the doctor?!  Well, my child does!!  I don't know if it is because she adores Dr. Roberts or if she is just amazed by what she does but she LOVES being at the doctor's office!  She cracks me up because the minute Dr. Roberts walks in the room she starts wanting her to listen to her heart and then she started screaming "ears" because she wanted her to look in her ears! And the whole time you can just see the look of excitement.  She went on to listen to Ava Kate and Anna Riley got so upset because she wanted her to keep listening to her!  Crazy, I know! Most kids hate the doctor looking at them! We decided that she might be a doctor in the making!! haha.
    
    Anyways...turns out Anna Riley's ears are better BUT now Ava Kate has an ear infection! Great!  But the good news is her cold is just cold and hopefully it will be gone soon.  We got antibodies for the ear infection.  She seems to be feeling somewhat better. But, she has so much drainage that she is getting choked a lot.  Her appetite is not that great either.  I am hoping she gets better soon.  I hate to see my girls sick! 


   We came home from the doctor and let AK take a short nap and then we met Uncle Wesley for lunch at El Kmart (not sure what the real name is but thats what we always call it...Mexican restaurant by Kmart!)



I forgot to mention in the last post that we
 started sweet potatoes and water in
 sippy cup last week...big fans of both :)



Lately

I have been slacking with the blog posts lately but we have had a house full of sickness this month.  I said I was going to name February the month of sickness because that is what it has been this year.  Since the beginning of the month to the end, someone in our family has been sick the entire month!  So here is a little run down of a few things that has been going on.

SICK:
Since I mentioned being sick, I will expand on that.  Anna Riley had a bad cold around her birthday and when we went for her 2 year she had an ear infection.  Then Ava Kate got the cold AR had and so did I.  We got over it.  Now Riley has pretty much the crud and feels horrible (so bad that he took a long lunch and took a nap which if you know Riley this is out of the norm for him because he never naps!) and AK has a really bad cold and cough.  I am taking both kids back to the Dr. tomorrow...AR for a recheck on her ears and AK for her bad cough.  SO...with that being said.  I am one tired mama.   When Ava Kate has a bad cold and can't breathe, she is just so pitiful.  I slept on the sofa bed in the playroom with her two nights and neither of us got much sleep at all.  She is sleeping better now but she still doesn't feel well.  :(

LENT:
The Lenten Season is here and I thought really hard this year about what I would give up.  I decided on Reality Tv.  I watch a lot of reality tv...pretty much all I watch is reality tv!  What made this even harder is one of my favorite shows, Bethenny Ever After, had just started the new season.  Riley was very excited about my choice to give this up and he is just hoping that I decide I don't want to watch them anymore after Easter either! He hates reality tv!!  Rather than watching these shows, I am reading the book that our church and Sunday school is doing as a book study during Lent...40 days of Fruitful Living.

WEEKEND:
We had plans to go to Bessemer to eat at the Bright Star for Mimi's birthday on Saturday for lunch.  But since Ava Kate wasn't feeling well and she and I had not gotten any sleep, we stayed home and Riley and Anna Riley went to eat with everyone.  Riley said Anna Riley was wonderful at the restaurant and everyone kept saying she was so well behaved for a 2 year old!?  haha really?!?! my child?  She is a great child, but let's face it she is 2 years old and that just doesn't happen often!  Maybe her Daddy needs to take her more often!  When they were finished, Riley met my Mom so she could go to Berry to spend the night with them.  She was beyond excited to go to "Paw Paw and Kat's".  She got to ride her new Barbie Jeep finally! 
Riley and I didn't go to church on Sunday since Ava Kate still didn't feel well and we didn't want her in the nursery but we did want to get out of the house so we went to the jazz brunch at FIVE and it was so good!!  Riley had the Wings and Waffles and I had the Cheeseburger and egg!  Ava Kate was wonderful while we ate, I think she enjoyed being out of the house and listening to the jazz music.  Mom and Dad brought Anna Riley back that afternoon and Pop Pop came by for a visit.  Needless to say, we had a very tired little girl who slept very well last night!

SITTING:
Ava Kate has been "practicing" sitting for a couple of weeks now.  She is getting stronger everyday.  She wants to sit up so badly and I am ready for her to!  I love when they can sit and play, it makes things easier!  She can actually sit by herself for a little while before loosing her balance.

BOOK:

I am in the process of getting our blog from last year printed.  Can't believe it is already time to print another one!!

BEACH:

Riley and I are going to the beach KID FREE the weekend of March 10.  We are going with our friends Courtney and Cameron to celebrate Courtney's 30th birthday.  I am so excited!!  We will be going to the Eric Church concert at the Wharf on Saturday.  Mom is coming to stay with the girls that weekend and Dad will be here for most of it too so I know they will be in great hands!  My parents do so great with the girls and they love spending time with them.  I will miss them but its great to get away and rejuvenate...I think it makes you a better parent!! 

Weekend in Fairhope

Weekend before last, we went to Fairhope and the Tidmore's came with us.  We went for the Mardi Gras parades that weekend.  On Friday, after we went to eat breakfast, the kids played outside.  Unfortunately, the rain came that night and so we didn't go to the parade. We did get out and go to eat though.  Saturday, we took the kids to Kangarooz, a jumpy place in Spanish Fort.  Anna Riley really enjoyed it this time and was getting in and out of all of them...no fear this time! We cooked a shrimp boil at the house that night and then headed to the parade.  We have had such a mild winter, but this night it was so cold!  I had Ava Kate bundled up and in the stroller with both canopies over her but she wanted me to hold her. So,  I watched the parade while holding AK while she slept with a blanket over her! I had a major arm workout!!  Anna Riley had so much fun catching the beads and stuffed animals at the parade that I don't think she even thought about being cold! 

 My camera died on Friday and I forgot my charger!  I will post more pictures when I get them from Courtney. 

Playing on the jumpy at the house

Talon, Tucker and AR

4 months (2/6)

I'm a little late on this post...but this little sweetheart is 4 months old!!  We just can't get enough of her right now...I mean look at that adorable smile!  Here is what Miss Ava Kate is doing at 4 months old:

-She weighs 16 lbs and is 25 1/2 in. long (90% for both)

-She wears mostly 6-9 month clothes now but can still squeeze into a few of her 3-6 months.

 

-She has a 6 oz. bottle every 4 hours and oatmeal twice a day.  

-She really loves her oatmeal and is doing great being fed with a spoon! 

-She spits up quite a bit but thankfully the oatmeal is really helping!  Dr. Roberts said she wouldn't medicate unless she was in pain and which she isn't and we both think she is much better!

-She is on a great schedule (most days).  I stressed about getting Anna Riley on a schedule and she ended up putting herself on one, so this time I didn't stress it at all and Ava Kate did the same! 

-She loves playing on her floor mat and exercauser!  She also likes to sit in her vibrating chair and watch us while we eat dinner.  She likes the Bumbo but not for a long amount of time!

-She wakes up between 7 and 8 each morning, has a bottle, plays a while, has her oatmeal and then is ready for a nap.  She sleeps for 1-2 hours.  She has a bottle around lunch, plays some more and is ready for her afternoon nap (usually same time as Big Sister) and sleeps 2-3 hours.  She has another bottle and plays the rest of the evening.  Since her afternoon nap is so long, she doesn't really take an evening nap anymore.  She has oatmeal after we have dinner and then a bottle after her bath and she goes to bed between 7 and 7:30. 

-She is sleeping in her crib all the time now (unless she is sick).  She sleeps on her stomach.  If you put her on her back or side, she is constantly trying to roll to her stomach.  She pretty much sleeps through the night.  If she wakes up, it is only once but she has been doing pretty well with sleeping all the way through.

-If she loses her pacy at night, she sucks on her fingers. 

-She also tries sticking her whole fist in her mouth and often gags herself.

-She has big, brown eyes (yes they turned brown!) and her hair is light brown. 

-She has the cutest chubby cheeks and thighs!  :) 

-She gets so excited and kicks and squeals...especially when she sees her bottle!

-She is also trying to hold the bottle on her own now. 

-She smiles and laughs all the time! 

-She loves her Big Sister!! She watches Anna Riley all the time and is always laughing at her!

-She is grabbing toys, our clothes and hair all the time now. 

-She wants to sit up so bad!  When she is sitting in the vibrating chair or carseat, she will try to sit up!

Ava Kate, we love you to pieces!  You make each day so bright! 



I don't really think they favor much anymore... 



Presents, Visitors and being sick...

We brought home all the gifts so Anna Riley could open them later.  She isn't always really "in to" opening presents so I definitely didn't want to make her and all the other kids stop playing so she could open them at the party.  After she took a nap, she opened all her presents with the help of PawPaw.

She got lots of cute Minnie Mouse things, a couple of cute outfits, books, some little people toys, some Dora things and a wooden highchair for her dolls. 

That evening, Becca brought Zoe and Evan over to play.  I enjoy spending time with them since we don't get to see them often! 

How cute are these two?  I love how Anna Riley's
pants are half down! haha

Sweet friends watching Dora

Trying on the sunglasses she got for her birthday!

Anna Riley had not felt well before her party and she ran around so much playing a the party that she could not stop coughing when she got home.  She was just miserable!  That night, I ran to WinnDixie to get some more cold medicine for her and when I came back, her and Riley were asleep on our bed.  She had a few rough nights of bad coughing and even coughed so much she threw up a couple of times but thankfully she is better now with just a runny nose!