Beau

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to meet Jannie's horse, Beau.  Avery has always loved horses, and Jannie felt like Avery was finally old enough to go for a ride! Avery was super excited to wear her boots, and Jannie brought along a perfect purple helmet to complete her ensemble....

Anna didn't make it too far - this miniature horse stopped her in her tracks! She loved to look and point at the horses, but she had no interest in getting much closer than this...

We finally got her outside, and she thought Beau's neighbor was pretty cool too:

At last they meet... it was love at first sight:

Watching Jannie warm up Beau:

Anna loved hanging with Pops!! She thought it was really funny to make horse noises, and thankfully Pops thought it was cute too (since it happened over & over & over again)...

There they go!

Little sis' new obsession...

Avery rode for a little over an hour, and she loved every minute of it! Beau was pretty sweaty after the ride, so Avery thought he needed a bath:

Anna wanted to "help" too... more with the bucket and rags than with Beau.  And this one has no problem getting dirty (unlike her sister!!):

We had such a fun morning and are so thankful that Jannie, Pops & Beau live so close!  I think we have a cowgirl in training!

Memorial Day weekend… a couple weekends late…

Avery had her 2^nd dance recital this year and performed again at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion. This year she danced to Jimmy Buffet’s “Take Me to the Island”… naturally, since it’s a classic ballet song. ;)  We’ll skip the part about how we thought we left her dance bag at home and how we managed to forget her flowers (Jannie &; Pops to the rescue!) and instead talk about how awesome she did. Dress rehearsal was a little rough for her class, but they figured it out for the show, and Avery did great!  I know how hard it is for her to get up in front of an audience (and this one was a REALLY big one!), but she didn’t miss a beat!  Here’s my little islander (although after the lei was wrapped around her head twice, we’re not really sure what island they were going for…):

And here she is in action:

After the show, we headed to dinner to celebrate Avery’s recital, Jannie’s birthday and thank all of the grandparents for coming to watch her dance!

Here we go with all the token shots…

With Daddy:

Mommy:

Deda:

YaYa:

Jannie & Pops:

Sunday, the Pratis came over to swim (and guess who is SWIMMING!!???)!  The weather was perfect, and the kids had such a great time in the pool!  

The crew, minus the dads:

Jack, Avery & Kyle:

We headed to our neighborhood Memorial Day party for dinner, where we ate too much, drank too much and laughed too much!  I’m pretty sure that Anna ate approximately half of the watermelon all by herself. Really wish I would have had my camera – she was double fisting the watermelon all night.  Avery loved playing with the older girls – at one point, she came up to me to say, “Mommy, I’m having lots of fun with the big girls… they really like playing with me.”

Yea for holidays! 

Ariel Party!

Since Avery is into all things "princess", we had an Ariel "Under the Sea" swimming party for her 4th birthday!

We were blessed to have lots of family and
friends celebrate her birthday with us!

Happy Birthday Avie Bug!

Avery is FOUR!

So, I ended up getting the token "cheeeese!" picture...

...but I'm sticking with this one since it captures your personality... sass-a-frass:

As I sit here to reflect on this past year, I type with a big ‘ole lump in my throat. This year has brought so many changes and so many milestones – you have grown in so many ways! The change from three to four has been huge. You are officially a big girl, and you love it… you love to be the big girl, the big sister, the big helper… You have gained a tremendous amount of confidence this year. Last Friday, Daddy, Deda & I brought cupcakes to school to celebrate your birthday with your class. 

Your teacher had you stand up on a chair so that everyone could sing “Happy Birthday” to you – she asked you to be the center of attention, your worst nightmare. You had a funny little smirk on your face, and you avoided eye contact with virtually everyone, but you climbed up there, and you did it! 

The biggest shocker came during your birthday party the next day… when it was time to do cake and sing to you, you said, “Mommy! I need a chair!” 

Speaking of school, you have learned so much in your new classroom. You moved up early to the 4’s class (in January), and you have just thrived there. You are challenged at school and happy when you come home. You are working on sight words, can count to 100 by 10s (with the help of your song) and to 40 by 1s, and you are writing your upper and lowercase letters really well. You love to ask me how to spell a word in the car and write it on your little dry erase board – or you will write a bunch of letters and then ask me what it spells!

Here you are with your teacher, Ms. Mirella:

Your desire for independence has grown as well. You like to do things all by yourself and only ask for help when you get really frustrated. You are shy, but very sweet. You are very, very sensitive – you get your feelings hurt easily. You love to laugh and learn new things – we hear, “Daddy, watch this… Mommy, watch me!” all the time! And you constantly crack us up… you were recently re-telling a story, and you exclaimed, “It scared Mommy out of her Heavens!!”

You love all things music – you always have a request when we get in the car - usually “Get Me Halfway” (“Meet Me Halfway”) or Lady Gaga.  You love to dance (when no one’s watching!), and we are always surprised with how many songs you can really sing.  It’s fun listening to your version of the lyrics too. :)
You have a love of fashion – you get yourself dressed each morning for school (thank you GOD for a uniform), and you like to change into a new outfit and new shoes after we get home from school.  And I wonder why there is always so much laundry!

You are an awesome big sister. You are a big helper, and you love to show Anna new things.  We hear you say, “Anna watch sissy!” quite a bit! You and Anna always give each other a hug and a kiss before bedtime, and it never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

Here are a few more things I need to document!!

Favorite things you say:
Hangabur (Hamburger)

Favorite colors: 
Purple, blue, sparkly & rainbow

Favorite foods:
Tomatoes, grapes, chips & guacamole, spaghetti, “white” pizza (cheese), donuts & blueberry muffins… oh and of course cookies, cupcakes and cake. Still milk and water only… we’ll see how long this lasts.

Favorite TV show: 
You have a new love for Sesame Street – particularly Elmo’s World and the Flying Fairy School.

Favorite thing to do outside: 
Ride your bike, your scooter, or most recently - play volleyball!

Favorite book:
Horton Hears a Who (and yes, we have to read the WHOLE thing every night)

Favorite toys:
DINOSAURS – crazy, but this started at school! Every day when I pick you up, this is where you are… and it is at the very top of your birthday list!  
Anything princess or dolly (dolls)

I cannot believe that this day, four years ago, I was blessed with a beautiful, dark-haired, blue eyed little angel. 

We love you Avie Bug – Happy 4^th Birthday. 

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!!??