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.