West Texas Trip

Aidan went with Papi and Grammy to Abilene and Midland for a few days after Christmas all by himself! Although it wasn't much of a "break" for us because we still had Avery, we had forgotten how easy it was with just one! We missed Aidan tons, but he had a blast and got to see his great-grandparents Great Pa, Gamma, and Mema, and great Aunt Jeri and great Uncle Reggie. Here are some pics that my mom sent me from their trip.

Our Christmas

We spent Saturday night before Christmas at our house with the Steward Family (Grandpa, Nanna, Aunt Kathleen, and Uncle Jacob). We discovered Aidan was very good at playing Santa and giving out gifts! The next night we had our Christmas with Cookie, Gigi, Uncle Cody, Aunt Amy, and Aunt Lindsay. Then on Christmas Eve Aidan helped Grammy make some cookies, then we left some out for Santa before he and Avery opened one gift from Mommy and Daddy (pajamas) and we all read Twas the Night Before Christmas and a cute book about the nativity story. The next morning we opened presents with Grammy, Papi, and Uncle Jason. Popular gifts included a singing airplane rocker from Cody and Amy, a neat puzzle set from Grandpa and Nanna, a miniature tractor from Uncle Jason, a Little People nativity set from Cookie and Gigi, an Elmo doll for Aidan and things for Avery's nursery from Papi and Grammy, lots of cute clothes for both kids, and a mini basketball goal and exersaucer from Santa! Gifts or no gifts, we are so thankful to have such a wonderful family, especially our two beautiful kids :) Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Avery's Dedication

Avery was dedicated at church yesterday and it was so special since our whole family was in town! We have enjoyed having both sides of the family to our house to open gifts and celebrate Christmas. Hope everyone is having a great holiday!

Whitney and Mollie

Whitney and Mollie (good friends of mine since church youth group days) came over this week to see the kids. I thought this picture of them was really cute :) I went with them to dinner and Starbucks and got to leave both kids at home. Hooray! In other news, Avery's 2-month appointment was today and the doctor said she is doing great! She weighs 10 lbs. 6 oz. and is 22 1/4" long, 50th percentile for both height and weight. She also got her first round of vaccinations which were not fun, but she only cried for a couple of minutes and then she was all better.

Wee School Christmas Program

Yesterday was Aidan's Christmas program at school so Daniel, Avery, and I went to watch. First he got to ride in a wagon with his friends Bryce and Brooke for the Reindeer Trot parade around the church. Then each class did a musical production for the parents. The 1-year-olds did "Jingle Bell Rock" with the help of their teachers Ms. Robin and Ms. Michelle. It was super cute :) All the kids sang "Away in a Manger" at the end, and Aidan clapped when everybody else did. It was the last day of Wee School until January 8th. Mommy is so sad!

The Many Faces of Avery

Avery is two months old today! She is just beginning to smile, but it's very hard to catch on camera because by the time ours finally takes a picture, the moment has passed. She's sleeping a lot better at night now, waking up once about 2am and then again about 6 or 7am, but she still has a hard time falling asleep at bedtime. Aidan was sick this past Thursday, which meant he missed Wee School that day. But by the afternoon he felt tons better and had fun drawing with markers. We went to Aunt Lindsay's graduation from UNT this past Saturday (it was FREEZING that day!) and are looking so forward to having our family come in a few days!

Fun at the Mall

I met my friend Sarah and her twins at the mall yesterday so that the boys could ride the train. Sarah went with them while I was keeper of the strollers (and Avery). Then I let Aidan ride along with "Elmo" - which is one of his new words! - before we headed home.

Clubhouse for Kids

We went to Aidan's friend Kaelyn's 2nd birthday party today at a place called Clubhouse for Kids. It had little areas like a grocery store, hospital, and dress-up area. Aidan liked the grocery store the best, and it kept him occupied most of the time we were there! He ate some of a cupcake and had his first juice box, which he loved :)

Visit with Santa

Today Daniel met us at Northpark Mall so we could take the kids to see Santa. First Santa had storytime which was lots of fun. Then, thanks to my wonderful husband who stopped by the mall on his way to work that morning, we had tickets to see Santa first thing after storytime. There were a few tears at first from Aidan - not from fear of Santa, but because we took his snack away. We gave it back to him and managed to salvage a few pictures. Avery woke up long enough to meet Santa and then went back to sleep. The Northpark Santa is WONDERFUL and has been doing this for years. This was Aidan's second time to meet him (I'm attaching his picture from last year so you can see how much he's grown!).

Christmas Ornament Casualty Toll: 2

We waited until after Aidan's bedtime to put up our tree this year. There was just no way we were going to get it done otherwise! Aidan has been good about leaving the tree alone, partially because it's by the front door this year and not in the living room. But two ornaments still got broken because Aidan seemed to think they were balls and he threw them on the tile thinking they'd bounce. Luckily they're the cheap Target ones...the more expensive/keepsake ornaments are out of reach :)

6 Weeks Old

It's hard to believe, but Avery is already six weeks old. Time flies when you're having fun (or maybe it's that you lose track of time when you're functioning on no sleep!)

Grandpa and Nanna

We spent Thanksgiving at home with just the four of us this year. It was very nice and relaxing! The next day we had a visit from Grandpa, Nanna, Aunt Kathleen, and Kathleen's boyfriend Adam. Aidan had a great time hamming it up for everyone, and Avery enjoyed a good nap on Nanna's lap.

Baby Shower

Our friends from church threw us a baby shower yesterday and it was a lot of fun. I forgot to get any pictures of us opening gifts, or even pictures of people in general! So here are a couple of the cake and decorations. It was a long day so the kids both passed out in the car on the way home. I'm attaching a sweet picture of Avery sleeping in her boppy, and one of Aidan at Chuck E. Cheese playing on the Barney car (he's a huge Barney fan these days).

Say Cheese!

Daniel took this funny picture of Avery on my lap today. It's a sleepy, gassy smile but still a smile! Avery has a set of lungs on her and she has no problem letting us know when she's upset, but she sleeps great once she actually falls asleep (she has a harder time doing this than Aidan did at this age). She slept for four and a half hours straight last night and I think it was the longest block of sleep Daniel and I had had in a while!

Bye, Grammy!

Here are some pics of the kids, including Avery with her Grammy and her Uncle Cody (in one of her new bibs from "Aunt" Leslie). I also realized that I never posted Aidan's 18-month portraits, which we had made just three days before Avery was born, so here they are. We had also taken a few family pictures as well, although it was kind of silly to do so since we were missing a member! My mom went home today and we were so sad to see her go :( She had been a huge help and Aidan and Avery will miss their Grammy. She painted Avery's room for me yesterday, which came out way pinker than we expected, but it's still very pretty. Once we get it decorated I'll send out some pics.