Avery's 3-month Portraits

Here are Avery's 3-month shots! I love the first one. The second one is really cheesy of her but it makes me laugh because she's giving the peace sign.

Mommy's Bad Idea

We had a busy weekend so yesterday we stayed at home to relax. Aidan was bored so I decided to make some homemade fingerpaint since we didn't have any in the house. I found a recipe online and followed the directions but it came out VERY thick. I didn't think it would matter that much, and as you can see in the first two pictures it started out okay....

got a little bit messier...

And before I knew it, it became a huge, gloppy, brown mess which Aidan proceeded to get in his hair and all over the high chair.

Next time I will
1) BUY fingerpaints at the store, and
2) use one or two colors at a time rather than four.
Maybe this is why Mommy was not an art teacher!

KD Playdate

Today a bunch of my college sorority sisters and their kids gathered at our house to play! It was very busy but tons of fun :) Aidan loved playing with the big kids and Avery got to meet her new friend Grace who is about two weeks older. They found out that they both have the same favorite color (can you tell what it is?). The sandbox in the backyard was a big hit, even though it was muddy. Trying to get all the kids to pose together was a challenge but we did our best. If only they all posed as nicely as Camille did :) It was great to catch up with my buddies. We are spread out all over Dallas, so a get-together like this doesn't happen very often!

AVERY'S SMILE!!

Here is little Avery Kate smiling for the camera!! Special thanks to Angel for taking these :)

Little Gym Buddies

We played with our friends from Little Gym today. We had missed them and most of them hadn't gotten to meet Avery yet! Aidan had a blast playing with everyone, and Avery stayed awake because she didn't want to miss anything. My friend Angel took some really great pictures of her smiling which I'll post separately :)

An afternoon at home

Avery is very trendy, so when I found out from my friend Leslie that "baby legs" (leg warmers) were in style, I had to get a couple of pairs for Avery. Here she is sporting one of them. You can also see Aidan's new "Baylor" shirt. I got it from Old Navy, but it's green and gold and says "B is for Bear." He is learning the alphabet and knows about half the letters so far! He has a set of foam letters my parents gave him and points them out in the bath every night. He didn't take a nap at Wee School today so he took one at home this afternoon, but still woke up a little cranky as you can tell. He got Avery all riled up and the sight of them both crying was too funny, so I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and capturing the moment.

Bowhead

I broke down and tried a bow on Avery today. Poor thing, she was born into a family with no curls so her hair is as straight as a board, just like the rest of us!

Artistic Expression

Aidan loves to draw these days, so I asked Santa to bring him some "Tadoodles" which are round-shaped markers for toddlers. They're okay, but as you can see in the first picture I can't really leave him alone with them yet. He's been a little under the weather this past week with a case of bronchiolitis. We had to give him nebulizer treatments all weekend and we go back to the doctor this afternoon to see if it's cleared up. He still has a little cough but hopefully it's gotten better. Avery is loving her new crib and she hit a milestone last night when she slept for 7 1/2 hours straight! We didn't hear a peep out of her from 9:15-4:45, then after she ate she went back to sleep until 7am. Yay! We're still trying unsuccessfully to get her smile on camera, but I'll be taking her for her 3-month portraits soon so maybe we'll have some luck :)

New Beds for Everyone!

Aidan moved to a toddler bed just in time for the new year! He is now sleeping in The Little Red Bed, which has been in my family for generations. It was bought for my great-grandmother and her siblings and almost every kid in the family (including myself) has slept in it. Now it's Aidan's turn! He took to it right away and we haven't had any problems so far. He hasn't really figured out that he can get out of it yet! We found a comforter that matched Aidan's airplane theme, and my mom made sheets (since the mattress is an odd shape) and a curtain to match. The crib is now in Avery's room and she took her first nap in it today, albeit a short one. Her nursery is still a work in progress...I'd like to do a ballet theme but so far haven't been able to find much to go on her walls. We'll get there!

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!