The Nighttime Nomad Strikes Again

Aidan has been having trouble going to bed lately. He had some constipation issues this week (not fun!) so I let him sleep with me some since Daniel was out of town for most of the week. This is what we found tonight. How is this comfortable??

Handy Manny

On Saturday we went to Lowe's for their "Build & Grow" program for kids. A lot of our friends have gone but it was our first time. Daniel and Aidan worked together to build a tic tac toe game and it was so much fun! A great father-and-son activity for the weekend :) Avery had fun banging the hammer on the plywood, but I'm sure she'll get more into the activity when she's older!

Park Time

Today we joined some friends at the park to play, picnic, and feed the birds! The weather was gorgeous, except for some wind...but we found a great non-wind spot to eat lunch. I feel like it's been forever since we've been outside!

We're Still Here!

I know it's been a little while since I've posted...we just have hardly done anything picture-worthy since Christmas! Here's some of what we've been up to:

I met some of my KD sisters at the mall for a playdate last week! Aidan had been a little sick that week so I just took Avery with me. That's the good thing about Aunt Lindsay living with us for a little while, she's usually available to baby-sit if I need her!


By the weekend, Aidan felt better briefly, but then Avery started to get snotty. So Aidan and I went to their friend Bella's birthday party, then went to a Chili Cookoff at our church, which is benefitting the upcoming Orphans Ministry trip to Honduras (unfortunately I'm not going to be able to go this year....wish I could!!):


By the time the weekend was over it was clear Aidan hadn't fully recovered (but Avery had, go figure!). He's done great with his new bunk bed, but being sick kind of threw him off and he's been a wandering nomad again. Here's one of him on Aunt Lindsay's bed...this was actually during the day, amazing that he's napped more in the past week than he has in three months:

And another one of him on the floor of his closet tonight:


I haven't officially started potty-training Avery yet but if she's dry at bathtime, I let her sit on the little potty. The girl can NOT stay still even when I position the potty where she can watch TV, so I got creative and put one of her toddler toys in front of her. She's not having much success right now, which is fine with me! She does things at her own pace, and I am still recovering from the drama of training Aidan :)

This is actually from a few months ago but I don't think I posted it. Aidan has been into pirates ever since Halloween (when he dressed as one) and I was lucky to catch this hilarious moment to embarrass him later! Notice he has a lamp post from his train set in his hand, as a hook (he LOVES the movie Peter Pan!):

Tuesdays with Avery

Tuesdays are a busy day for Avery. Aidan is in MDO that day (Avery just goes on Thursdays) so I take advantage of some things that are easier to do with her when Aidan's not a distraction! At 9:15 she has her weekly therapy session with ECI to work on her talking. She is making a little bit of progress and lately likes words with the "B" sound (baby, bee, bye-bye, ball). When her therapist "Mr. Bert" leaves, she and I book it to Wylie for a Cherish Music Together class. It's similar to Kindermusik and involves a lot of singing and making music. Although she's lacking the words right now, Avery loves to sing the melody to a bunch of songs. When we get home we eat lunch and I let her relax for a bit after her busy morning :)

New Bed!

Aidan got a new bunk bed today! It is actually a twin bed over a full bed because if he's like his daddy, he will grow like a weed and will need that extra bed space! We also got a matching dresser and may add a desk soon. We have dismantled his little red toddler bed, and Aunt Lindsay has graciously agreed to paint it white for Avery, once the weather warms up enough for her to do it in the garage! My mom is making new bedding (it's an irregular-sized mattress) so Avery should be in her big girl bed soon :) As some of you know, the bed has been in our family since my great-grandmother and her siblings were children. Many kids have slept in it, including myself! It's neat because I got an email yesterday from a 3rd-cousin of mine that I've never met, asking if she could get the bed for her daughter after Avery is done with it.

2009 in Review

Happy New Year!! What a busy and fun-filled year 2009 was! Let's see if I can recap it:

We celebrated Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and 4th of July:





I helped plan a fun reunion weekend with my sorority sisters:


I went on a life-changing mission trip to Honduras in February with a group from church, where we ministered to children in two orphanages:



While I was in Honduras, Avery spent those few days in Miami with my parents! (Aidan stayed at home with Daddy, and Cookie came to help):


We hosted the entire Jolly family for a fun-filled weekend at our house! All that was missing was Mema, who we flew in later :)



Aidan was potty-trained! Hooray!


Daniel and I celebrated our 8th anniversary:


Aidan turned 3 and had a fun birthday party at Pump It Up, Jr!



We took a fun beach trip to Port Aransas with Daniel's family:


Aidan took some swimming lessons with his buddy Kaelyn:


Avery underwent surgery to remove her adenoids and have tubes put in:


Aidan did his first summer of Vacation Bible School at a friend's church and loved it!


We had a reunion with Aidan's baby friends from The Little Gym:


Daniel and I went to a CD release party for my brother Jason and his band:


We went to the annual Cunningham reunion in Comanche:


We made some fun visits to Waco (to see the Brookses and go to Baylor games) and Crawford (to see Grandpa and Nanna).




Daniel was promoted to Director at PWC:


Aidan and Avery started another year of Mother's Day Out at our church:


Aidan played blastball, his first official team sport:


The kids and I took a road trip with Grammy to West Texas to see Papi (who met us in Midland), Mema, Jeri, Reggie, Great-Pa, Gamma, and Marsha:



Cookie and Jeff got married and the kids were a super-cute part of the ceremony!



Avery turned 2 and had a fun petting zoo birthday party in our backyard:



We went on a bunch of fun outings, including the State Fair and the circus:



The kids enjoyed lots of Halloween festivities and dressed up as a pirate and a kitty-cat (and trick-or-treated with Cousin Sage):


I made time for some fun outings with my mom friends:



Aidan joined church choir, and both kids performed in the MDO Christmas program:



We saw Santa! (Some were happier to see him than others):


We had a very Merry Christmas with all of our family, the kids took a trip with Papi and Grammy to Abilene to see my grandparents, and we celebrated New Years with Marcus and Jenna (photos from these events below!). We are so excited to see what 2010 has in store for us!!