Cousins!

The kids and I took dinner over to Cody and Amy's last night. My mom was anxious to see Logan while she was in town so she came with us! Daniel has been feeling crummy so he wanted to stay away from the baby. But we had a fun photo session with all four cousins together! Then today we met them at the park since the weather was absolutely beautiful. I can't WAIT for warmer weather!


Ashes, ashes, they all fall down...

Avery with her Uncle Cody...these two are such a pair, they both LOVE to eat!




Aidan playing with his shadow (think Peter Pan) and the sword he got at a birthday party:

Birthday Party Relay

Today we had back-to-back birthday parties for a couple of buddies. Avery's friend Lillian turned 3 and had a carnival party at her house, then I took her home to nap and picked up Aidan so he could celebrate his friend Taylor's 4th birthday with her. Grammy made Aidan his very own (Captain) Hook which he proudly wore to the party.

Soccer Tots!

I wanted to enroll Avery in an activity this spring after her music class ends in a couple weeks, and after much consideration I chose Soccer Tots over Baby Ballet. I was dying to put her in ballet, but chasing after a soccer ball seemed to suit her personality more than striking a dainty pose in a leotard. So stay tuned, maybe we'll try ballet in the fall! Her first Soccer Tots class was yesterday...she's in a class with other 2-year-olds and they had several activities to keep them busy and wear them out. Aidan was right at this age when he took Soccer Tots so I knew what to expect. It's parent-involvement so I don't have a chance to take many pictures but luckily Grammy is in town so she took a few for me. Avery obviously doesn't really get the concept yet but she had fun anyway :)



Here's a video of her chasing a hula hoop (please excuse Aidan gabbing with Grammy in the background):

Logan James Dixon!

Cousin Sage got a little brother yesterday! Uncle Cody and Aunt Amy welcomed Logan James into the world, weighing in at 7 lbs. 7.5 oz. He is super-adorable and we went to meet him yesterday! Unfortunately the pictures we took are AWFUL (and it was our "good" camera!)...not sure if the camera setting was off or the hospital lighting was bad, but I had to borrow the top picture from Cody and Amy's blog. Isn't he cute? After we met him, we took Sage for a walk around the hospital, and she is also coming over to play this afternoon. I think she is pretty oblivious to what's going on, much like Aidan was when Avery was born! (Sage is almost 20 months, Aidan was almost 18 months). Welcome to the world Logan!!

My Date with Aidan

On Valentine's Day, I took Aidan to a production of "How I Became a Pirate" at the Dallas Children's Theater. It's based on a popular children's book and was so cute! It was Aidan's first play and he did great. Afterwards we got to meet all of the pirates in the lobby after the show.

Little White Bed

Avery moved to a girl bed last night! It actually made me a little sad knowing I'd never see one of my kids sleeping in a crib again :( My mom made some really cute sheets (since the mattress is an odd shape) and bought a twin comforter to match. Aunt Lindsay painted the bed white to match her room and it looks terrific! She finished it yesterday but Daniel worked late and couldn't get home to assemble it until after Avery went to bed. But he decided to do it anyway, so we moved Avery to a temporary pallet on the floor while Daniel disassembled the crib (which Cousin Sage will be borrowing for a while since she is getting a baby brother in a few days...after which we'll get it back and convert it to a full bed!) and put Avery's "new" bed together. It was a great plan and she slept right through the transition! I actually had to wake her up this morning, so I don't know how she would have reacted if she'd woken up in there on her own. Aidan had no problem moving to this bed when he was 20 months old, and Avery seems to have followed suit...but the real test will come today when I put her down for a nap! Anyway, it's neat that she's another special child in the family that gets to sleep in The Little Red Bed!


UPDATE: She's been sleeping great and waking up great. She hasn't tried to climb out yet but I predict it's coming :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are having a very happy Valentine's Day and hope you are too! We played hooky from church this morning because the kids are a little snotty, but the four of us went to Babe's for a delicious lunch. Daniel and I already went out for a fancy dinner last weekend, so today I get to celebrate with all three of my valentines! As you can tell in the last picture, Aidan and Avery got LOTS of cards from the grandparents and great-grandparents!

Now THAT'S what I call snow!

It's a Texas Miracle...we had REAL, ACTUAL snow today! Not the typical Texas kind that leaves a micro-thin layer on the grass for 20 minutes before melting. There were huge flakes falling from the sky all day long...it was incredible! Daniel worked from home today, and Aidan went to MDO because the roads weren't too bad (Avery stayed home because of a yucky nose and somewhat puffy and gunky eyes). But later in the afternoon Uncle Cody, Aunt Amy, Cousin Sage, and Aunt Lindsay all came to play in the snow with us! I made some white-trash snowboots for the kids (ziploc bags and rubber bands) just like the kind I used to wear. What can I say, growing up in Texas hardly ever presents the need for real snow boots! Anyway, the kiddos helped the grown-ups throw snowballs, make snow angels, and create a snow fort and a sad attempt at a snowman. It was tons of fun, even for a Snow Scrooge like me! Afterwards we came inside for some hot chocolate. Who knows when we will see weather like this again?


Checking out the snow in our pj's before heading to school:


Avery and Sage:

Aidan helping Daddy with the snowman:

Siblings:

Cousins in front of the snow fort:

Snow angel:

Our pirate snowman (he was also a Mardi Gras and a Cowboy snowman:

What Not To Wear

Today was Crazy Mixed-Up Clothes Day at Wee School! But as you can see, we decided not to participate and just wear regular clothes instead:

Cookie Decorating Party

We had a Valentine's Day party with our Mom's Club yesterday. A very brave mom hosted a bunch of us and our kids while they decorated cookies.

Busy kids:

Avery was more interested in the sprinkles:

Silly Sage:

Aidan's table (didn't get very many pictures of him):