Sick

We've had lots of sickness in our house the past week and a half. It started with Andrew last week having a cold/fever/ear infection and then onto Ava. She has been the sickest I've ever seen her with a fever of 102.7 while on tylenol. She cried all night on Sunday night so I took her to the doctor on Monday. Her lungs & ears looked good, but her throat was really red. I suspected she had a soar throat because every time she coughed, she cried. They tested her for strep throat but it came back negative. There was nothing we could do but give her tylenol & motrin. She slept most of Monday and when she was awake she either cried or sat completely still on my lap. It was so unlike her. By the end of Monday night she was moving around a bit and smiling but still not feeling great. She is still sick and I'm hoping she'll be better for her 1 year/family pictures on Friday.

Butterfly Birthday

I knew I wanted to do a butterfly themed party for a long time and started working on all of my ideas for awhile. As soon as I found the plates and napkins I got some inspiration. The colors were hot pink, light pink & orange. I wanted to create the invites & party circles on my own but didn't know how to do it. So I asked my photographer and she ended up making them for me! The turned out absolutely adorable!

The party was at 4:30 so we served a light dinner of chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, fruit, artichoke dip and 3 different salads. For dessert we had cake, butterfly sugar cookies, chocolate covered strawberries and candy. I made most everything for the party and had lots of fun doing it. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I really do love working on crafts and loved making all of the butterfly banners and picture banner for the party.

We had Ava's birthday party on her birthday. Unfortunately the little girl was sick and cried on and off during her party. She wanted mommy and clung to me for most of the party. She was a trooper and we still had a great time with all of our family. Unfortunately none of our friends were able to make it, but we still had a house full of guests! Ava didn't care much for her cake which surprised most of us since she loves food. She didn't even try to eat it. I gave her a bit of frosting on my finger and she ate it, but didn't try to eat more. She did enjoy everyone singing happy birthday to her. Andrew pretty much opened all of her gifts for her. She got a lot of clothes which Andrew didn't care about, but when she got toys, he got really excited. I think he thinks they were for him. Ava was pretty tired so she didn't care much about the presents.

This picture really sums up the day. Poor thing just didn't feel good and didn't take a good afternoon nap which made for a cranky baby. She went to bed before the party was even over.

Since I didn't get a chance to wrap her gifts before her party, we decided to wait and give her her presents the next day. Once again, she didn't really care to open the gifts and Andrew did most of the unwrapping.

She got a few small toys from us, but her big gift was a kitchen! I've been eyeing this Pottery Barn kitchen for awhile and really wanted it for Ava. Luckily, we had a friend who was selling hers for practically brand new at an amazing price!

The kids are LOVING it and play with it all the time.

Since she didn't feel good on her birthday and didn't have anything to do with the cake, we thought we'd try again the day after her birthday. She loved it!

Happy 1st Birthday my sweet Ava. We ♥ you!

Happy Birthday Ava

I really can't believe that my baby girl is 1. Where did the time go! It really was one of the fastest years of my life. She is such a blessing and I'm so thankful that God gave us such a sweet and sassy momma's girl. Her little personality is really starting to come through and we are noticing how independent she is. She loves to crawl all around the house and play by herself. She does love attention though and really enjoys putting on a show and making everyone laugh. She is quite the ham. Her little belly laugh is the best! She is still such a mamma's girl, but is starting to go to other people now. She thinks daddy is pretty funny and loves trying to get his attention. She really likes men. She adores her brother and always wants to play with whatever he is playing with. She really likes to eat, but prefers bread, puffs & blueberries over any other food. She is becoming kind of a picky eater. She still naps twice a day and nurses in the morning at night. She loves to get into the dog food and is constantly pulling herself up to a standing position. She loves music and always dances when it comes on. She can clap, wave, do so big & patty cake and give kisses. She is the perfect little girl and we love her so much!

Week in review

Last week was crazy in our house. Andrew was kinda sick on Sunday but by Monday he had a fever and terrible cold. He felt better on Tuesday and went to school. I thought the sickness was over so he went to soccer on Wednesday but half way though he started coughing a lot and said he didn't feel good. We left soccer and went to my mom's house. We weren't able to go home since Nate and a friend were demoing our kitchen in preparation for new counter tops (yea!). Ava's birthday party was only 3 days away and I was running around trying to get errands run while Andrew was sick at my mom's and Nate was working on the house. My husband loves to do a huge project in the house before we host parties. I try to not let it stress me out :) (pictures to come of my brand new kitchen & bathroom soon) The counter tops were installed on Thursday so we spent another day at my mom's house. Andrew and I made cookies and I ran more errands. We weren't able to use our kitchen until Friday. Unfortunately Thursday night we didn't sleep much. Andrew was up most of the night screaming that his ear hurt. So Friday morning we went to the doctor and found out he had an ear infection, his first ever. He got medicine and seems to be doing lots better. Now Ava is sick though and we are still not getting any sleep! It was a crazy week leading up to Ava's 1st birthday, but I love my new countertops and so glad we got them done. Really hope the weather clears up soon so it will dry up all of these cold germs!

Bath time in Pama's big bathtub! Ava's 1st time taking a bath in a real bath, not just the little tubs. She liked it but slipped around a lot.

Making cookies with Andrew for Ava's birthday party.

This was Andrew's 1st time really helping me out in the kitchen and he did great. He was such a good helper.

Mother's Day music

Here's a few videos from Mother's Day of Andrew singing in Tiny Tunes. I love how he wouldn't take his eyes off of us and how he blew me a kiss at the end....so cute!

Mother's Day

Yesterday started out a little rocky. Andrew didn't feel great and had a rough nights sleep. Ava's been teething so she hasn't been sleeping great either. Despite lack of sleep, we were determined to have a fun day. Andrew was so cute when I came down the stairs in the morning. As soon as he saw me he said, "Happy Mother's day mommy!" with the biggest smile on his face. He then proceeded to tell Ava happy mother's day too :)

Andrew was singing at church so we got up, got ourselves ready, opened gifts (a cute purse I've been wanting and some really sweet cards) and headed to Starbucks and then church. Since Andrew was singing at church, the whole family came...what a fun treat! Andrew was absolutely adorable singing. When he first got up there you could tell he was looking everywhere for us. When he spotted us, he completely turned to us and wouldn't take his eyes off of us. It was adorable. Ava didn't do great in the nursery, so we got paged early and decided to go ahead and leave for our early brunch reservations.

We went to Jory and sat in the ballroom where they had a wonderful buffet. It was perfect. A nice restaurant but since it was a buffet Andrew & Ava were both able to wonder around a bit more than they could at a sit down restaurant. It was so nice to have both my family and Nate's family all together. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful mother who is also my friend and a mother in law who loves me like one of her own....two women I look up to and love dearly.

Me with my mom & sister....it's was my sister's 1st Mother's Day...she's pregnant with her 1st!

Nate with his mom & sister

Love this view at Jory

She was being the little ham at dinner.

I feel so honored and blessed to be the mommy of these 2 amazing kids. I love them to pieces!

Since Andrew was under the weather we spent the rest of the afternoon just lounging around until we made a quick trip to Burgerville for a milk shake (per my request).

It was a wonderful mother's day!

One week

In one week my baby girl turns 1! Where did this last year go? It has flown by so fast. I've been working on her slide show for her first birthday and getting very sentimental. I adore my baby girl and love this stage of her life where she is learning, exploring and becoming quite the little personality. I do miss being able to hold and cuddle her since she won't let me me do that anymore. Looking back at all of the pictures of her, I just can't believe how much she's changed in one year.

At the park

It's another beautiful day here! We took advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures and went to the park again today. This time we went to the bigger park which is a bit further, but still walking distance. My mom came with us which was a big help. It's interesting having 2 kids at the park. Andrew wants to run everywhere and I'm trying to take care of Ava too. Andrew found a new friend named Gracie who he played with the whole time. He told me that she was his best friend. It was pretty cute. Ava decided that she liked the swings and the slide. Such a fun little afternoon with my kids.

Now Andrew is taking a quick nap at my mom's while Nate gets the boat ready and then it's the first boating day of the year! Us girls are staying at home while the guys have some bonding time on the river. Andrew's been asking to go on the boat for a long time, so he is very excited! It's going to be a nice quiet afternoon home with just one kid :)

Warmer temperatures

We are finally getting a little bit of warmer temperatures. It's been a long winter. Since it wasn't raining yesterday and it was in the 60s (yes, that is warm compared to what it's been) we decide to go to the park down the street for a bit. It was Ava's 1st time in the swing and I don't think she liked it much. She didn't cry, but had a panicked look on her face most of the time. I tried to get a smile out of her and I think I did for about 1 picture. Andrew had tons of fun riding his bike to the park, running around, going down the slide, climbing on the jungle gym and attempting the monkey bars. He hangs from one bar and that's it, but it's a start :)

5.3.2011 Andrew 3.5 years, Ava 11.5 months

My helper

Andrew is really into being a helper these days. He loves to play with his moon sand (what he calls his sand castle) but it makes a huge mess! It ends up all over the table and the floor. As soon as he's done he grabs the vacuum cleaner and starts to clean it up. Such a little helper!

In other news....Ava is really starting to get the hang of her sippy cup :) She will hold it by herself and actually suck on it, not just bite it. Good thing, since I'm weening her and she only nurses twice a day now.

5.2.2011

Andrew singing videos

Andrew loves to sing. He sings around the house all the time and sometimes I don't even know the songs. On Sunday he sang this song on and off all day.....

It's the song they will be singing next Sunday in "big" church. I took this with my iphone and he wanted to see himself sing, so I put it on the forward facing camera and this is what happened.....

He makes me laugh! This took place during dinner time with just me and the kids while Nate was at a church meeting. I took him to get ice cream after dinner and on the way home one of Britney Spears new songs came on the radio and he said, "mommy, I know this song!" and here he is singing it.....

He didn't realize that I was recording it, but when he did he didn't want me to anymore. I just love his little singing voice :)

5.1.2011

Ava update

As of last Friday, April 29th, Ava has her first tooth! Finally after months of drooling and chewing on everything her bottom right tooth popped through. She's been a pill and not sleeping much so I think more teeth will come in soon. So funny that she got her 1st tooth at 11 1/2 months and Andrew got his around 6 months.