Bowling Night

Saturday night we took Andrew bowling. We went with our friends the Wanderscheid's who have a boy who is 5.5 years old and a daughter who is 2.5 years old. Andrew had so much fun with their son Talen and LOVED bowling. We went to Players which is a bowling alley/arcade and it also has a restaurant. We had a great time talking with our friends while the boys had fun bowling and our girls just hung out. After bowling we took them to the arcade area where they mainly played air hockey. Andrew didn't really understand the game much and kept scoring in his goal, giving Talen the lead. Such a fun night with our life long friends!

The next day when Nate picked up Andrew from his class at church he was very excited. He said, "daddy, my best friend was at church!" He was referring to Talen. Nate said that Talen & Andrew were in the same class and were playing cars together. Too cute!

Daddy teaching Andrew how to bowl.

Watching his bowl roll SLOWLY down the lane!

So proud of his first roll.

Andrew & Talen having fun bowling.

Sweet Ava enjoying her Cheerios while watching the boys bowl.

Yea! He's so excited!

Getting just the right ball....they were a little heavy for him :)

1st time playing air hockey & he loved it!

3.26.2011- Andrew 3.5 yrs, Ava 10.5 months

Bed Head!

This is how I found Ava a couple of times last week when I went to get her from her nap. She was so proud of herself that she figured out how to sit up all by herself! Love her bed head too!

On Saturday afternoon she didn't nap much at all. She played in her crib laughing and talking. I peeked in on her for a bit and watched her as she rolled around trying to get herself into a sitting position. Most of her nap she spent trying to figure it out!

3.25.3011- 10.5 months old

Family fun

A new place just opened up in town....John's Incredible Pizza! We decided to take the kids there last night and we had so much fun. The place is perfect for families. It's all you can eat pizza, salad bar, pasta & dessert with a large arcade/game room. The place is huge! They have several rooms you can sit in to eat each with a different theme. Andrew picked the sports room for dinner and the cartoon room for dessert. Daddy & Andrew had lots of fun exploring the arcade. I think Daddy had just as much fun playing the games as Andrew did. Andrew's favorites were the basketball game & the racing game.

St. Patricks day

Unfortunately I didn't get many pics of my cute kids yesterday. They were both decked out in green, but I was only able to capture a few pictures last night. Nate just bought a new lens for our camera and I'm having a really hard time figuring it out. For some reason I can't seem to get it to focus very well. So here are a few pictures, but they aren't great. I'm hoping to get the hang of this new lens soon!

Ava LOVES playing with the phone!


3.17.2011

Andrew's day

3.15.2011
Andrew had "his" day at school again last week. He loves those days and get so excited to bring a snack and something to show his friends. He always wants to bring bunny crackers and juice. Bunny crackers, especially chocolate ones, are his favorite. He brought his pillow pet to show his friends and he was so excited as he walked it around the classroom.

On his day he gets to be the line leader (his favorite thing), hold the flag when they say the pledge of allegiance, pray at circle time, bring snack, tell everyone about his family and show his toy. After circle time they had recess and I stayed for a bit and watched him run around playing chase with all of the boys. It's so funny how the girls play nicely and swing or play in the little house while the boys run around playing chase, screaming, and scaring the girls.

When he got home from school he told Daddy about his day. He then proceeded to recite the pledge of allegiance! Nathan and I were both shocked and so proud that he knew the whole thing.

Patty Cake

One of Ava's favorite songs is Patty Cake. I just love when Andrew sings it to her. My favorite part is when he says, "put it in the oven for Ava & Mommy." They are just too cute :)

3.10.2011- Andrew 3.5 yrs, Ava 9.5 months

10 months old

Wow, 10 months already! Ava is getting to be quite the little mover. She started moving around during the last half of last month. She can't quite crawl, but she definitely gets around by rolling, scooting, army crawling and reaching. She gets into all of Andrew's toys and it makes him very frustrated. He loves playing with her toys, but doesn't like it when she plays with his toys. I'm constantly making sure that nothing is on the ground because if it's on the ground, it goes directly into her mouth. She loves chewing on fabric and paper! She still has no teeth but seems to be drooling a lot more these last few days and wants to chew on everything. We introduced the sippy cup, so far she only wants to chew on it and isn't very interested in drinking from it. She seems to always have a cold which I think is a thank you to her brother being in preschool. She laughs and smiles a lot, likes to dance and shake her head around, loves peek a boo, patty cake, and the frog song. She really loves to eat! I think bananas are her favorite as well as cheerios or puffs. She's still a great sleeper and nurses 4 times a day. She has a loud voice and will let you know when she wants something and she always wants it right now! She has quite the temper. She now lets Daddy hold her when Mommy's in the room, but only for short amounts of time. She loves to smile at Daddy to get his attention. She likes to stand when she's holding on to our hands, but doesn't pull herself up yet. She is always taking her hair clips out of her hair and chewing on them, especially when she's tired. Mommy, Daddy & Andrew love you lots Miss Ava!!!

Ava's 9 month check up

Ava had her 9 month doctor a few days before she turned 10 months. At 9 months she went to the doctor because she was sick and weighed 15.8 pounds (10th percentile). At her appointment last Friday she gained a whole pound and now weighs 16.8 pounds, but now she's only in the 7th percentile. She is definitely a tiny little girl, but the doctor doesn't seem to be worried. When I told her what she had for breakfast that day (a banana, 1/4 pear & cheerios) she was shocked! She eats a ton for how little she is. Her height is 27.5 inches (30%) and her head is 44cm (40%). Her doctor says that she is doing great and lucky for Ava she only had to have 1 shot (hep B).

Soccertots

Andrew started his first sport yesterday- soccer. We signed him up for Soccertots and he goes every week for 3 months. Him and his friend Hudson are the only two in the class so far and they had a ton of fun the whole time. At one point Andrew turned to his coach and said, "I didn't know this was gonna be so hard." Haha! She told me this later and I cracked up. He says the funniest stuff. Later during the class he told me that he needed a break. The class is 50 minutes and they go hard the whole time, so he was exhausted. Unfortunately I didn't have my nice camera (Nate took it to the shop & got me a fixed lens and a brand new one on the way...so excited!) so I had to improvise with my camera phone and it just didn't take that great of pictures of them running around.

Almost crawling

In the last week or so Ava has really started to move around a lot more. She is constantly scooting, reaching and rolling to get what she wants which is usually something she shouldn't have. She really loves getting into all of Andrew's toys which really bothers him. I'm sure once she really starts crawling, life will be crazy around here!

3.6.2011- Ava 9.5 months

"Talking"

A video from last month of Ava swimming on vacation. This is her voice and this is how loud she is most of the time!

2.18.2011- Ava 9 months old

Daddy date

Last Saturday Andrew & Daddy got to spend a little quality time together. Nate had to go to Home Depot so he took Andrew. What was going to be a quick trip turned into a fun little outing for the two of them. Andrew "rode" on the tractor and even got to make a wooden race car. He was so proud of it and ran to show me it as soon as he got home. We don't get much one on one time with the kids so it was nice for Andrew & Daddy to spend time together, just the two of them.

I just love how he got his own Home Depot apron with his name on it :)

3.5.2011- Andrew 3.5 years old

Fake out

Ava is a total momma's girl. If I'm in the room, she only wants me. If someone else tries to hold her she cries and reaches out for me. So far, I'm the only one she actually reaches for.

On Tuesdays Nate & I try to have a mini date with Ava at Starbucks while Andrew is at school. It doesn't happen every week, but we try to do it as often as we can. Last Tuesday when we were at Starbucks Ava and I were waiting in line when in walks Nate. Ava immediately noticed him and started getting really excited. She immediately reached for him, which never happens, and he held her for a second when she turned and reached back for me. Once I'm holding her, she turned back to Nate and reached out to him, then back to me. It was pretty funny. She just couldn't decide if she wanted Mommy or Daddy. Ultimately Mommy was her preference.....big surprise! She is such a momma's girl!

Vacation-Disneyland!

We spent the last 2 days of our vacation at Disneyland. We were lucky enough to have my in-laws join us and we all had a great time, despite the cooler than usual temperatures and the huge crowds (because of winter break, we think). Andrew was excited to have his grandparents with him. First ride was Autopia. He went on it twice while we were there as well as Dumbo, the carousel, the jungle cruise and of course saw lots of the characters. We were able to convince him to go on a couple of new rides this time too. We took him on Pirates of the Caribbean. He didn't love it and ducked his head for a lot of the ride, but he didn't seem too scared either. He also went on Soarin' California and liked the ride until the end when there are fireworks. After the ride he kept telling us that he didn't want to go on the small airplane anymore. The other new "ride" he went on was the boat that goes around Tom Sawyers island and he really enjoyed it. Nate and I were able to go on a few rides by ourselves too: California Screamin' and Big Thunder Mountain- two of our favorites! And while we were there, Andrew built a new car at Ridemakerz. He picked out the Jeff Gordon car all on his own and Daddy & Papa were so proud!

The only picture we got with all 6 of us, too bad you can't see either one of the kids faces.

He loved this hat and just had to have it!

Andrew, Daddy & Papa building his Jeff Gordon car at Ridemakerz.

Andrew fell asleep sitting up as soon as we put him to bed. He was exhausted after his first day at Disneyland.

Ava making her funny face while waiting for Andrew & Daddy to finish driving cars at Autopia.

Waiting in line at Soarin' California.

California Screamin- so fun!

5 minutes in the car on our way back to Palm Spring he was asleep. He slept almost the whole way back.

Vacation- bff's

We were lucky enough to get to see the Riedel family during our time in California. We spent Saturday at their house just hanging out. It was so nice to just sit and talk with our friends while the kids ran around playing together. Andrew loves their girls and is always asking about them, so he was very excited to spend the day with them. And we got to meet Miss Riley! I just love her. She's the sweetest, cuddliest little thing and I wanted to hold her all day. Andrew did not like that idea and was afraid that I was going to switch Ava with Riley, I think. He seemed very concerned the whole time I was holding her. Our evening ended a little crazy....we went to have an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory. After finding out that it was a 90 minute wait and we were in a hurry since we still had to drive a few hours back to Palm Springs, we decided to have dinner at the mall (next to Cheesecake) in the food court. It was kind of funny watching all of the people look at Daphne & I walk through the mall with 5 kids while the boys parked the car in the pouring down rain. Andrew HAD to hold both girls hands through out the mall.

Thank you Riedels for letting us spend the day with you!

The kids playing hide and seek. I think it was Andrew's first time playing and he didn't understand the concept of hiding and being quiet. He screamed with excitement most of the time!

The girls minus Riley....sad that I didn't get any picture of Riley.

Andrew & the girls. Every we see the Riedels Andrew becomes obsessed with one of their toys, and that day was no exception. He LOVED their Einsteins rocket and wanted to play with it the whole time.

The kids holding hands while walking through the mall :)

2.19.2011