Lock Down

We are ALL sick! Yuck!! Started going downhill yesterday after breakfast. I feel confident that Jeff and I could take care of the kids and make them comfortable, if we weren't miserable too. So I called in the troops! Luckily we have family close, Jeff's parents are only a couple of hours away. I know, just what they want to do on a Sunday...sorry Granny + Papa, but we really appreciate it. We were hoping we'd feel better this morning, but no such luck. Only little Ava seems to be doing slightly better with no fever. Will post some cute pictures of Ava's new cowgirl boots when we get over this funk.

A Playful Evening

I took the girls to the playground at the church across the street tonight. We had so much fun! We had the place to ourselves and Ava went WILD! Lately she's been pretty timid at the playgrounds, not wanting to climb; I was beginning to wonder if she is afraid of heights. Well tonight was a breakthrough; she climbed up, down, walked across the bridge, went up and down the slides, everything! She did scoot on her bottom when she was up on the platforms, but at least she got up there. Wondering if any molars broke through to cause this burst of happiness, but no, no teeth spotted. Pretty exciting to have the playground across the street; great way to kill that witching hour before dinner.

Monkeys Hum

Monkeys hum and monkeys drum. Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum.

It was a sad night tonight. My monkey didn't hum at dinnertime. If you've ever eaten a meal with us you know that Ava is a loud eater. Jeff + I thought that maybe we over exaggerated the humming sound, saying "mmmm", when we were introducing solids to her. But we really got used to it, it was her way of doing it.

Well, I guess an era has passed. Apparently the teachers at school have told her to be quiet when she eats. Part of me has a broken heart, the other part realizes that at some point this humming would no longer be socially acceptable. But at 2??? Oh well, I guess I'll have to get used to this as she grows up. Still kind of sad for me though.

On a happier note she ate ALL of her dinner! Yippee!

Little Sister's Turn

Happy Birthday Bailey!

We helped Bailey celebrate her 2nd birthday on Saturday. We celebrated at one of the splash parks, or "spray-grounds", around town. Bailey was so cute, she was having a blast in the water.

Jeff went with me to help with the girls. The only other picture we took was of Livi and Jeff. Ava was kind of being a toot, which was a little disappointing because she was SO excited to go and play in the water. I don't know what's going on with her lately, kind of a Jekyll + Hyde thing happening. Her moods just turn on a dime. I think school is going okay, she seems happier about it, she isn't crying & her teachers say she does just fine. I don't think she's sick; I mean I check her temperature at least once a day to make sure. I'm hoping it's the 2nd year molars; I just hope there's an explanation, other than "she's 2". Anyway, we had a great time on Saturday and hope Bailey had a wonderful birthday!!

Daddy's Little Helper

Ava is SO excited when Daddy comes home after work, and today was no exception, but perhaps her most enthusiastic greeting yet. She keeps one little ear finely tuned to the sound of Daddy's jeep coming up the drive, past the house, and then to the doors of the house opening. Once she heard him come through the door, she went running and yelling...."Daddy's home!!!!" And then ran into his arms with a big hug; so much fun to watch. Daddy then affectionately referred to her as his little "tick" as she clung to him all night.



The funniest thing is the little "routine" they have that I just recently discovered. Once Daddy comes in the door to be greeted by Ava, he sets his bag down and then Ava announces that it's time to help Daddy change clothes. Usually I'm so relieved to have him home so I can focus on dinner, or Livi, that I just let them go off to our room in peace. But the other night I was curious, so I followed them to catch a bit of the ritual. And this is the hilarious part, Jeff has Ava putting his clothes away for him...happily. He takes off his shirt and hands it to her, and she runs and puts it in the hamper, followed by pants, then shoes go in the closet and finally she selects a baseball hat of her choice for him to wear the rest of the evening. Jeff just discovered how excited she is to help out, and it definitely benefits him since I refuse to pick up his clothes anymore!



Another first happened tonight, and another thanks to Daddy. Ava told her Dad that she had to go poop and she wanted to sit on the potty. What???? She never tells me this, and I do ask. Often. He assumed it was too late, but soon found out it wasn't. So we did a bunch of clapping and laughing and called the grandparents...pretty exciting around here. I'd like to think that the potty training is suddenly "clicking" for Ava, but I think I also have MDO to thank for this too. I'll have to find out more specifics from her teachers, but I hear her talk about sitting on the potty at school too. So hopefully this will start to become a little more regular...ha! pun intended.



And we'll end with this little video of things we do to make Livi laugh for the camera....

Grandma-Time!

Thanks for coming to visit, Mom; we had a great time! Boy, I'm sure sorry we were sick though. But like I mentioned to you I think I know how it unfolded...perhaps it was something Ava or Livi picked up at MDO to start with, then we just crumbled when you arrived because we knew you could take care of us without breaking a sweat. It reminds me of when I was in college (ha! and I didn't even go but across town for that), and when I was feeling blue I'd call home, but before I could even get a word out and I'd hear your voice on the phone I would completely fall apart and just start crying. Of course you knew it was me and could finally calm me down to find out what the trouble was...thank you! Well my body must have done the same thing...I was doing fine, noticed some sniffles in Livi, but by the time you arrived on Thursday I went straight downhill with body aches, stomach pain and worse. Seems Ava got it too, although she's on the upswing now. But Daddy got it last night; we HOPE you don't get it!! We had a wonderful time with you, and Ava was so sad when we dropped you off at the airport. She kept saying, "I don't want to go home, want to go to Indiana!" Hurt our hearts. We love you!!
Some more pictures from over the weekend; Ava helping Daddy put up some shelves:
Grandma, Livi, Daddy & Ava at dinner:
And after Grandma left we managed to fulfill her request to get Ava's swing up...what a feat!! Look at the last picture for the closest branch; took lots of rope throwing from Daddy and LOTS of nagging looks from Mommy to keep Daddy trying. But of course he did it, and Ava was SO pleased!

One Fish, Two Fish

Just too many pictures to choose from, so here are a bunch from the girls double bath last night...

Shoes, shoes, shoes!!!

We got a package in the mail yesterday from Grandma Me-you. Here are the girls modeling their new shoes; thanks Grandma!! And thanks for the adorable outfits too, can't wait to try them on!!

A Happy Birthday to Papa!

Papa Tim had a big birthday over the Labor Day weekend, so Granny + Papa drove down to spend it with Ava + Livi (oh, and Jeff + I too)! We had fun; we played and we took Papa to the new Bass Pro Shop on the lake. We had his birthday dinner there at the Fish House, and it was pretty good. Here are some pictures of us messing around at dinner:




Ava had lots of fun with Granny + Papa and was tuckered out after they left. We rented Charlotte's Web, but she fell asleep in Daddy's chair shortly after it started. Oh well, I enjoyed the movie!

We all scream for ice cream!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!! Ava loves to say that! She also remembers that Papa Tim taught her that, and she can't wait for him to take her to get ice cream.