Pics and Stuff

We are having fun at our house lately!  Avery is getting bigger and interacting more and it is so fun to see Lily play with her.  We are having Tea parties, working on the potty, painting, playing, laughing, smiling, cuddling, and just plain LOVING!  Lily got an Olivia the Pig Tea Party Set for Christmas and she sets up her stuffed animals and dolls and tells me "I'm having a tea party with my girls mom."  WOW...she cracks me up!  Lily continues to enjoy going to "school" and she loves being a big sister.  We call Avery Avers sometimes and Lily has picked up on this and she calls her Avers too and she calls her Avery Gracers.  The other day Lily told me that her and Avery were best friends...awe.  I hope they do grow up to be best friends.  Sisters should be best friends...right?  I celebrated my 31st birthday last week and I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures with my girls.  I had a great day though.  I got lots of great gifts and cards and I even got to enjoy a nice night out with my hubby while GaGa and Papa watched the girls.  Thank you to my friends and family for making my day so special!

Snow Days

 All bundled up getting ready to play in the snow with Daddy.

 My little snowbunny

 She says "Its cold out here mom!"

 Stuck

 "Telly" the Snowman

 Yes...spraypainted the eyes and mouth

Lily has finally wanted to go outside and play in the snow.  We have been asking her if she wanted to for weeks!  She always said NO.  The first time she went out she just sat in the snow on the driveway and watched Jason shovel.  She kept taking her gloves off and sticking her hands in the snow and then her hands got cold and she wanted to come back inside.  Silly Lily.  A few days ago while Avery and I were napping, Lily built a snowman with Jason.  They got creative when they didn't have anything for the eyes and mouth...they spraypainted them on!  Goofs!  The melting snowman now has a blob for a face.  I asked Lily what she named her snowman and she replied "Telly."  I said, "Oh, that is an interesting name for a snowman."  Jason said, "His name isn't Telly, its Rusty."  Who knows where Lily came up with Telly! She is a silly girl!

Thumbsucker

Avery has found her thumb.  She loves to suck on her thumb...the left one...and she even spits out her binky and pops her little thumb into her mouth.  It is so cute.  When she is tired she finds her thumb and puts herself right to sleep!  It is funny how different these two sisters are.  Lily didn't care for the binky and she only sucked her thumb for a few days.  Avery always has one or the other in her mouth.

Silly Lily

Lily's vocabulary has grown so much in the past months.  I can't believe she says half of what she does, and half of what she says are probably things she shouldn't say!  She is so funny these days!  She over articulates her R's and her L's.  When she says dollar it is dolllllarrrrrr and quarter is quarterrrrr and Lily is Lillllllyyyyy. 

She has really melted my heart with some of the things she says.  For example, at night I say to her "I love you Lily," and Lily says back to me, "I love you to mom".  I then say "I love you more Lily," and she says, "I love you more mom."  This goes on and on.  Although I would rather her call me mommy, it is pretty cute how she says mom. Yesterday, I was getting frustrated and stressed out because Avery wouldn't eat.  I said to Avery, "Come on honey, you are scaring mommy," and Lily came over to me patted me on the back and said, "Don't worry."  If I wasn't crying already, I was now.  I picked that little booger up and hugged her so tight!

Lily can sing along to her ABC's, she can count to 20 by herself, she knows most shapes,  her colors, and everything about every show on Nick Jr....bad...I know.  She loves to dance...especially to the show Yo Gabba Gabba.  The one thing her mommy wishes she would do more than anything else is to go on the potty!  She will hardly even sit on it anymore.  She knows when she has to poop, but she refuses to go on the potty.  She now takes off running for the kitchen and does her business in there. 

I think the newness of having a baby in the house has ended.  Lily loves her little sister so much, but at least she leaves her alone most of the time.  She does play with her and reads to her, and the first thing every morning is still "Mommy, where's Avweee Gwace?"  She will occasionally steal her binky, and the other day she threw a soccer ball at Avery's head, but other than that Lily's behavior has gotten much better since Avery has been born.

Love you Silly Lily Rosebud!

Who is Who?

One of these is of Lily and one of is Avery.  Can you guess who is who?  The funny thing is that they are 6 weeks apart in these pics.  Avery is 3 months in this pic and Lily is 6 weeks.

Trip Across the State

I am behind on my blogging, but two weekends ago we packed up and made a trip out to Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  Jason's good friend and old college roommate got married and Jason was an usher in the wedding.  I wasn't sure how the road trip would go with a 2 year old and a baby, but the girls did amazingly well.  It was a 7 hour trip and I think we made it in 8-8.5 hours with the stops...not too bad at all.  I think we stopped twice...to eat and for diaper changes.  The trip back home was a different story.  The big snow storm hit during the trip home and we were delayed two days from getting back to Omaha.  On Sunday morning we left and we only made it 2 hours (to Ogallala) before we had to call it quits.  It was snowing hard and the interstate was a total white out when semis would pass.  There were tons of cars and semis in the ditches and we were only going 35-40mph on I-80.  There were accidents all over.  It was just too scary with the kids in the car.  We spent the night in Ogallala and we decided that we would try again the next day.  We learned a little while later that due to a major accident on I80 that it was closed down for the night, wo we wouldn't have made it home anyways. 

We got up the next morning and headed out again.  Things were okay for a little while, but then we were back to going only 35-40mph with trucks and cars in the ditches all over.  The interstate was ice and snow packed and just not good.  The wind was blowing and it was hard to see.  A semi flew past us and we fishtailed and I then of course freaked out.  It took us 5 hours to get from Ogallala to Grand Island...I think it should have taken us 3 hours.  We decided once again that it wasn't worth it to keep doing this for another 150 miles so we stayed in Grand Island for the night.  At least Grand Island's hotel had a pool...this kept Lily happy! 

Lily woke up around 1:00am with a fever of 102 and a horrible cough.  I gave her some Ibuprofen and she was better by morning.  We packed everything up yet again and this time we FINALLY made it back home safely.  I80 was clear and totally fine by now.  Poor Lily was not so fine.  I think she just got worn out with all of the traveling.  She continued with the fever through Tuesday night.  She was better by Wednesday but still had a bad cough.  She coughs so hard that she throws up.  Here, a week later she is finally getting over it...I hope!

I am really proud of how well both girls did.  It was a long ride in the car and a long time to be away from home.  Lily said at one point "Daddy I stuck in the car," and "I want to go to Lily's house."  I don't think Avery knew the difference or cared one way or the other. :)

Congrats to Jerrad and Cami Buller and thanks for a memorable trip!

 Chimney Rock

Dear Avery,

Dear Avery,

Yesterday you turned 3 months old!  Happy birthday little one!  Mommy has started back to work this past week and I miss you terribly at night when I am gone.  I know that you and Lily are in good hands with your daddy.  You were so good for daddy on my first night back...you slept through the night for the FIRST time!  Why can't you do this for mommy?  I think it was just a fluke though because the next time mommy was at work you woke up twice for daddy to eat.  I know I don't have to worry when you girls are at home with your dad.  He loves you both so very much. 

What You are Doing at 3 Months Old:

~you took your first long car ride to Scottsbluff, NE this month and did FABULOUS!

~you stayed in your first hotel

~you went to your first wedding this month

~if you take a bottle it is usually 3-4 ounces every 3-4 hours...mommy gets frustrated with this because it seems like you don't care if you eat (yesterday was really hard for mommy...you wouldn't eat at all and you didn't even cry!)

~you still prefer to nurse with mommy

~your lower birthmark seems to be growing still, but the upper one seems to have slowed down

~your left tear duct is STILL blocked...hoping this opens up soon

~you had thrush this month and had to take your first medicine (Fluconazole)...so did mommy

~still love your binkies...you got all new ones because of the thrush

~you are just a cat napper...not like your sister

~I am starting to see your eyes changing color...I think you will be a  beautiful brown eyed girl like Lily

~you don't really like tummy time, but it has really helped your neck get stronger...you look ALL directions now...even on your tummy

~I think your little head has gotten much better

~you smile and talk A LOT...love it!

~you have grown to really like bathtime...you used to cry

~you are still as laid back as ever and such a good baby...you did let mommy and daddy know that you could get really mad when your sister threw a soccer ball at your head though

~you are still just a little thing...still wearing size 1 diapers and 3 month clothes...a few 6 month things fit

~you are NOT sleeping though the night...you for sure get up at least once and mostly twice a night, but always go right back to sleep

I look at you right now, sound asleep and so peaceful and content.  How did I get so lucky to be your mommy?  God blessed our family in so many ways the day you were born.  Your mommy, daddy and big sister love you so much little Avery Grace.  I can't wait to see what you are able to do this next month!

I love you higher than the sky and deeper than the sea,

Mommy

New Year's Eve 2010

We thought that we would have a get together at our house this New Year's Eve since we knew we wouldn't have a babysitter.  It was a small, but nice, little gathering.  My sister's and brother's families came over and my good friend Jessica and her family came.  My mom and dad stopped by for a little while before there 9:30pm dinner reservations.  It was a low key, laid back night...my favorite kind these days!  Since everybody's kids came along the party was over by 9:30pm.  Our big kid...Lily...was up well past that.  I thought for a while that she would make it until midnight, but she finally crashed around 10:45.  I laid down around 11:30, but then I got back up at 5 til midnight to ring in the New Year with a kiss from my hubby.  Gretna had fireworks...we couldn't really see them but we could hear them.  2010 was a good year for our family...a job change for me, a new baby, 2 healthy kids...what will 2011 have in store for us?!

  Jessica and Rylee

   Bubba

  Kylie and Avery

  Kevin and Jason

 Pa Mike and Avery, Ga Ga and Uncle Justin

 Mommy and Avery and Ga Ga and P-Diddy

P-Diddy