Fun on the Farm!

Last weekend we headed to the O'Kelley Farm for bluebonnet pictures and some fun with the Pratis and Davises.  Sadly, there were no bluebonnets, but there was no shortage of fun!

We arrived Saturday early afternoon, and as we pulled into the driveway, the littlest A made sure we knew how carsick she was.  Thankfully that didn't slow us down!  We headed straight for the animals... Here we are posing for a horse pic, while Anna is about to poke Goose's eye out:

Next up... the cows. Avery was a little hesitant to feed them at first, but thankfully Aunt Carrie took over so Mommy didn't have to. :)

Anna wasn't quite sure what to think about feeding them. She didn't take her eyes off of them and spent lots of time saying "MMMMMMM" (translated - Moooooo!)!  I spent most of my time trying to make sure that Anna didn't eat the cows treats!

Back to the barn... here are the kids kicking "smoke":

And posing on the hay:

Insert sissy for a photo op:

After several attempts, this was as good as it got!

Nathan, Anna, Avery

Jack & Kyle

Avery headed back to visit the horses...

Avery petting Magic (I think!):

Cuties:

Despite Carrie's encouragement to wear close-toed

shoes, the Mr. decided to rebel:

Sunday morning we took some family pictures and headed out for a few mule rides to see the farm.  When I asked Avery what her favorite part of the weekend was, she quickly said, "Riding the bumpity car!!"  Here she and the boys are ready for their first ride...

Group pic!

Anna needed to ride too.  Thankfully for everyone,
she didn't get car sick this time!

Doesn't get better than this... DRIVING the bumpity car!!

Truthfully I had no idea how my princesses would do on the farm, but thankfully they had no problems getting dirty! Avery jumped right in with the boys - at one point, I turned around and saw Avery holding a cup full of roly polys! Never in my wildest dreams (or nightmares!??) did I think I would see Avery holding a bug in her hand! (No idea what got into her since her parents are not big bug people. :))

The girls played HARD, and all of the kids played so well together. Avery crashed less than 5 minutes after we got in the car and slept the entire way home!  Anna... not so much on the sleeping part, but at least she didn't get sick! 

16 Months!

Did anyone notice that I skipped right over 15 months?  I didn't think so... that doesn't mean it wasn't important! It just meant mama has been busy. :)

Here we go on a 2 month update!

15 Month Stats:

25 lbs. 12 oz. (90th Percentile)

31.25'' (75th Percentile)

You love, love, love to read books! You will back right up to my lap and plop down with a book... usually "Head to Toe" or "Moo Baa La La La".  I love this picture of you - 1) because there's not really a picture of you that I don't like, and 2) you are totally showing me what the giraffe in your book does (attempting to bend your neck).  It's amazing to see how much you understand now and how interactive you are with your books, your sister, us, etc.... When I ask you what a cow says, you will respond with "MMMMMM", and sometimes you will do a very enthusiastic monkey "AH AH AH!!".  

You have lots of new words:  Up, Doggie (instead of dah), cracker, thank you (this one isn't that new, but it a little easier to understand now!), apple (but you won't eat them!), bubble, and you will try to repeat almost anything we ask you to!

You love to give hugs and kisses at night, and I love it too. :) The person you are about to hug usually needs a warning though because you will walk up to them and just fall on their face.  Haha.

You are trying to run now, which means you are falling more. :(  

You like to play outside with your sister and the neighborhood kids, and you like to be right where the action is!  You also like to hold my hands while we chase your ball and kick it!

You have a new found love for guacamole!  Mama's girl.

It's official... you get car sick.  No wonder you hate the car!!  Last weekend we went to the farm, and just as we pulled in, you yacked all over the car.  It was good times.  Your sister was particularly fond of the smell. :)  

You have 12 teeth, and I can see number 13 about to make its debut (right bottom incisor).  

You are loving on your teddy bears now.  It's so cute to watch you swing back and forth with them and pat teddy's back.  Speaking of your teddy bear... he recently took a little swim in the toilet... to say that you are a big fan of putting things in the potty would be a huge understatement.

If the pantry door is open, you will march right in and demand something.  

A good song will stop you in your tracks, and you'll shake your hiney.

Love you Baby Girl!

Kitchen - Phase 2!

I have always wanted to add banquette seating in our house to add more seating in our breakfast area and make a better use of the space.  We mentioned something in passing to our contractor as we were finishing up the kitchen, and he thought he could knock in out in a couple of days (complete with lots of storage underneath!). So, as much as we were ready to have people OUT of our house, we decided to rip off the band-aid and just go for it... 

Now we just need an oval table, some cushions and new curtains... Does it ever end!!??

Avery's Room Re-Do!

Avery's room has also been in need of a spruce up since we added Avery's big girl bed. She requested purple bedding (of course!), and we've been planning to incorporate more purple into her big girl room.  Thanks to Christie, we finally finished!

BEFORE:

And AFTER!

We traded the "baby" shelves
(and all 99 trinkets that came with them)
in for a fancy new purple starburst mirror.
Christie made a new fun pillow for her bed too.

And she painted this lamp
to coordinate with her pillow!

Avery's new gallery wall!
The focal point of the wall is a silhouette of Avery!

No more baby left in this room (boo hoo!!), but Avery loves it and so do we!

Anna's Nursery

Well, Anna is 15 months old, and we finally finished her nursery! Poor Baby #2... We enlisted the help of our friend, Christie so that she could actually help us finish what we started...

Here are some before pictures of her room:

And here it is now!

We replaced the Barbie pictures with a

pretty new mirror:

And moved the Barbie prints into a

grouping over her bed:

We added decorative hooks over her chair,

and Christie made this super cute pillow

to match her bedding:

And she also made the memory board to

go over her chest of drawers.

Finally a completed room!

Renovation Realities Part VI: Before & After!

Now that we are officially done, I thought it would be fun to take a look back!

BEFORE:

We knew when we bought this house that we would end
up rearranging the appliances. The placement was not
functional, and we had very little counter space.

AFTER:

We replaced the desk with the fridge, and we
relocated the microwave and oven to snag more
counter space. We added a lazy susan in the corner
and opted for drawers on the bottom to maximize
storage space.

BEFORE:
Aside from the obvious dated cabinets, the
split-level bar closed off the
kitchen and cramped our work space.

AFTER:

We lowered the bar, centered the sink on the
island, added a trash can drawer to the left of
the sink and another bank of drawers
between the sink and dishwasher.  

We honestly could not be happier with our new kitchen!!

Yee to the Haw!

The Mr. and I took Monday off to head down to the rodeo with the girls.  YaYa & Boompa came down to celebrate Daddy's birthday (Happy Birthday Dear) and head to the rodeo with us!

If I could have figured out how to post Avery's video singing "Happy Birthday" to her Daddy then I would have, but you'll just have to take my word for it that it was super sweet.  

Avery & YaYa making Daddy's birthday cake

Ok - now off to the rodeo...  At first we did not think the weather was going to cooperate, but poor Avery had been talking about going to the "radio" for weeks!  Thankfully the weather cleared up, so we headed into town!

First stop - the petting zoo!

Avery loved it...

Anna loved pointing at the animals but wanted

nothing to do with actually touching them...

Then it was time for some pony rides...  First up - Anna!  I really didn't think that she would even sit on the horse, but she did, so we went for it.

She maintained a death grib on my thumb...

 

And then came this... most people thought she was
waving, but that, my friends would be
sign language for "all done".
As in, ALL DONE WITH THIS HORSE.

Seriously, mom, I'm all done.  Are you not understanding me?  

I. WANT. OFF.

And then came Avery...

She was a natural!  You could not wipe that smile off of her face!

We saw cows...

Chickens...

And we even witnessed a few births!  Baby pigs, a calf, and we even saw some chickens hatching! Boompa thought all of the birthing could raise some "questions", so we were outta there pretty quickly. :)

Time for "Fun on the Farm"!

Anna enjoyed collecting all of the produce, and thankfully all of the volunteers let her take LOTS more than one of each. :)

Checking out her produce before she "sells" it at the Farmer's Market!

Last stop - the carnival!  

I have never heard my child giggle and squeal like she did on this ride!

Anna didn't enjoy it quite as much as her sister...

Avery & YaYa on the carousel

And the grand finale...

Avery and Mommy on the "Karris" Wheel! 

Such a fun day...we're already looking forward to next year!