My Little Valentines

Is it too much to ask that they take ONE PICTURE where they are both looking at the camera and smiling at the same time? :-)



ahem...Mom, you can click on the picture to make it bigger.

SUPER Party

So if you were like us, you were one of the 106 million Americans to watch the Super Bowl last night. We hosted a Super Bowl party with Josh. It was such a good time because we had lots of kids there, which was a first for a party at Josh's house. Generally we are there to celebrate an upcoming wedding or baby so it was neat to be in the house where we have had baby showers for so many of the kids that were playing in the living room. Of course, the kids did pose an interesting challenge when it came to WATCHING THE GAME, but it was totally worth it.

By half time it was almost every child's bedtime so most of the crowd cleared out and only about 6 of us were left to watch the second half of the game. The neat thing about that was that 2 of them were huge New Orleans fans and the rest of us were pulling for the Saints so when they won it was a lot of fun to bask in the celebration they were showing on TV.

Josh wasn't too interested in watching the celebration though, and he definitely isn't a fan of big messes so he started the vacuum cleaner the MINUTE the game was over. In fact, we had to tell him to shut it off during the trophy ceremony because we couldn't hear. It sort of reminded me of a time that I was on a really great date and we were having so much fun talking and laughing at a restaurant that we didn't realize what time it was until we heard the waiter vacuuming the floors. We got the hint and left...I hope that isn't what Josh was trying to tell us last night because we definitely stayed around to watch the whole ceremony.

Anyway, it was a great crowd and we had a good mix of old friends and new there so I am glad we were able to all get together--even if some of us enjoyed each other's company rather than getting to watch the game.

Josh hates it when the kids play with this tea set but he didn't put it away so the kids took over and played with it all night. Baby Denali enjoyed watching the older kids play with all the nice toys. (we had a shower for baby Denali last May. Hard to believe she is 7 months old now.)
This is Annabelle and she is definitely her mother's daughter. Every time I took her picture she would ask to see the camera and then tell me if she thought it was a good picture or not. That cracks me up. Her mom is my little sister in our sorority and one of the girls we threw a shower for in this house when she was expecting Annabelle.
I had a hard time getting Jack to stop eating long enough for me to take this picture. But I do think it was a big victory that I managed to keep Jack away from the brownies, burgers, chicken wings, etc. He was totally satisfied with Chex Mix. VICTORY! Anyway, this is Annabelle, Jack and Conrad. Would you believe that Jack is the youngest in this picture? Conrad lives on our street and goes to the same school as Jack does so they get along very well with each other. I didn't have my camera in my hands the whole time (shut up. I didn't), which is too bad because I missed Jack and Conrad sharing Chex Mix with each other. For such rowdy boys they can certainly be super sweet.
This is Reagan. She will be 6 in May and as you can see, Avery is taller than she is. Jack probably weighs more than she does. Was it something in the water when I was pregnant? Perhaps all of those baked potatoes I ate caused me to spawn huge children? Or is it that Micha (Reagan's mom) just doesn't feed her that often and puts her in a bed that restricts her growth like some kind of ancient African tribe might do? Which scenario seems more likely?
Reagan was telling Avery some knock-knock jokes. Avery laughed every time even though sometimes it was clear that she had no idea what Reagan was talking about. Then Reagan asked Avery why the chicken crossed the road and Avery's response was, "KNOCK KNOCK!" I pray to baby Jesus that she will not end up with her Grammie's sense of humor.

This is Maddie and she clearly didn't want me to take her picture. I tried and tried to get her to look at the camera or stand with Avery but she just absolutely refused. She is such a little sweetie and she is usually very happy to let me take her picture but she got to the house after the party was already in full swing and I think she was a little overwhelmed by all of the activity in Josh's living room. I had to take her picture anyway because that is the cutest outfit! Check out her sparkly zebra stripe shoes.
Look how engaged Avery and Reagan are in the big game! They are total sports fans! I couldn't be more proud!! (um, really they were watching Beauty and the Beast. But a mother can dream, can't she?!)
Thank goodness for baby gates because Jack just couldn't seem to stay away from the stairs. And we all know how coordinated this boy is.
This is my former co-worker's son, Sawyer. He is 4 years old but I still remember the last time we were together at Josh's house for a party. He was learning to walk then and it was my baby shower when I was expecting Avery.

Time!

It flies!

Anyway, he is teaching Jack all about making silly faces during pictures. This isn't exactly a trick I was hoping Jack would pick up. It's hard enough to get him to stop eating long enough to take a picture and now I have to worry about him making silly faces every time. I might never get a real picture of my boy at this rate. Needless to say, the next few pictures in my camera are of Jack and Sawyer making funny faces together. sigh.

Then the wrestling began. Having boys is completely different than having girls. Poor Reagan is NOT participating in the wrestling match. She is trying to get up from her comfortable spot on the floor watching a movie. The boys totally took over.
Uh-Oh. Here comes trouble. Just when I had Jack changed into his PJs and ready to go home to go to bed he discovered his undying love for Maddie. I think I have 5 pictures of Jack just staring at her. Sometimes he was on this side of her and sometimes he moved to the other side but he never took his eyes off of her. Maddie, on the other hand, didn't have the time of day for him. She was very busy arranging magnets and could not be bothered by this baby who was falling in love. She is going to be 4, after all, so why would she want to be seen with a boy who isn't even 2 yet? She probably has to deal with this sort of thing all the time. A girl with shoes as cute as the ones Maddie wears has plenty of options.
He couldn't help himself and had to get closer to her. They arranged magnets together for a few minutes before she got bored with him and walked away. A sassy fashionista like her does not need to humor a baby like Jack. I mean, he was wearing footie pajamas, for Heaven's sake! I'm afraid he is in love, though. The look on his little face when she walked away was priceless.

But wait a minute....

Just like a typical man! Jack moved on quickly to a new girl after Maddie gave him the cold shoulder. Annabelle had her PJs on, too, and was more than willing to snuggle up with him. Jack was more than willing to let her. Girls are such suckers for boys with broken hearts. And Jack is a sucker for a cute girl. Somehow I think I am going to need to keep a very close eye on this boy.

I'm so glad we had such a good turnout to the party and the kids all played together so well. There were no meltdowns and no blood was shed, which I consider to be a major victory every time!

There's No Place Like Home

Whew. That was a long time to go without blogging. And there were so many times I wanted to comment on some of my observations (like how no one washed their hands after using the restroom)...but I was on a business trip in Asia and I didn't want to blog on my work computer. (see: Dooce File under: Lessons Learned)

I am so happy to be back home and with the kiddos again. They met me at the airport and the little smiles on their faces were priceless. Of course, we were only 20 minutes into the ride home when Jack started pulling Avery's hair. She just screamed and then there was lots of hitting and crying and I started wondering if maybe I could get back on the airplane.

I kid! My poor tailbone was way too sore from the 24 hours of travel back home to get back on a plane. I pretty much only wanted to stand or lay. In fact, I felt like maybe I would never sit again. Plus, I had been awake for almost 48 hours because of the time differences and the long flights home so I didn't have enough energy to really let the kids get to me.

I had a great time with the people I work with in Manila. I'm really glad that I had the chance to spend a lot of time with them because my last trip there was right when they had a terrible flood and most people were at home cleaning up what was left of their homes so I didn't get to see them much. This trip was much more pleasant for everyone and we had lots of good laughs. We even got a little work done while I was there.

I have so many things to get caught up on so I am going to post this picture of Jack and promise more posts very soon.

This is Jack's new trick. Whenever I get the camera out--even if it is to take Avery's picture--he makes this face. I was lucky to catch it before he quickly turned back to a smile. I think he has the cutest little facial expressions. And the best part about it is that he can't maintain this look for long and he usually cracks himself up just trying to look sad.

Perfecting the pout at an early age.

And here he is 30 seconds later. Dancing around the house "getting his sillies out" with the Yo Gabba Gabba gang. He really gets into the dances and always claps for himself when he is done.

so good to be home!

P-A-R-T-Y

Our friends Reagan and Amanda had a joint birthday party over the weekend. Amanda turned one and Reagan turned two so they had a clown themed party to celebrate. It was fun for the 1-2 year olds and the 3-4 year olds, which is a pretty tall task if you have ever had to throw a party.

Amanda's little cupcake. The hardest part about taking this picture was getting Amanda to wait before she attacked that cupcake.

Reagan's cupcake. She was much more patient than Amanda was.

The clown that painted faces and made balloon animals at the party. The kids had so much fun playing games with her. I was surprised that Avery wasn't scared of the clown since she is generally scared of everything else. Of course, neither of my kids would sit to get their faces painted.

One of the birthday girls!

Jack decided to hang out by the beer kegs. Matt was so proud.

Jack peeking through the circle balloon that the clown made for him.

The two big sisters enjoying themselves at the party. They posed for this picture and I think I took 12 different versions in my attempt to get them both looking and smiling at the same time.

Matt is getting Jack's love of video games started early. I am afraid for our future.

Avery is such a priss. She was eating her cupcake with a fork!

Jack wasn't afraid to just dig right in.

Nom Nom Nom

But Jack had nothing on Reagan. She attacked her cupcake! It was so cute to watch her eat every crumb.

Even though it was her birthday, Amanda made everyone else look like they were the rookies!
But in the end, the baby showed them all up! Amanda ate all of her cupcake and icing and then licked the plate clean. She was hilarious!

It was such a good time for the kids. Great party, Lauren and Elissa!

The 18th

And today he is exactly 2 months away from being 2 years old. I think we can all see where this is going, can't we...

Ronald McDonald House

This weekend Avery and I went to the RMH of Austin to drop off some of the books that she received for her birthday. (click on the word "birthday" for the entry on her party) We had planned to give them all to SafePlace Austin but I wanted Avery to be a part of the process and we weren't able to arrange that with SafePlace. So when Kelly over at Kelly's Korner suggested that people donate items to RMH in honor of her daughter Harper's first birthday, we decided that it would be a great chance for Avery to participate in the donation.

We took half of the books from her party to the Ronald McDonald House and the other half will go to SafePlace (which I will have to do alone). We also took some items off of the Wish List posted on the RMH of Austin website. Here are some pictures from when we took the books and toiletries this weekend. I think you can click on them to make them bigger.

Here she is holding some of the books that we brought to donate. She told me to "carefully" hand her some--but not all--of the books because she didn't want them to be too heavy. She also told me to "pick some good ones" for her to hold. Little Miss Sassy for sure.
Speaking of Sassy, I love this picture because of the way she is standing. I don't know what she had going on in her head when she decided to stand that way but it is hilarious to me.
Here she is giving Miss Sandra, an employee at the RMH, some of the books that we brought. She told everyone her name (her full name--first, middle, last--so fast that no one could understand her) and also told them that she is 3 and these are books from her birthday party. She was quite the talker, which surprised me since she is usually a little shy at first.
Miss Sandra was very kind to Avery and did a great job answering all of her questions. When Avery asked where the books go, she showed her the game room and even let her put the books on the shelf.

Avery was showing Miss Sandra that the book was about a Princess. We are in full Princess LOVE mode around here these days. Not much we can do to stop the obsession, I'm afraid.

I love this picture because you can see just how uncomfortable Avery is sitting next to this large plastic man. She talked to him and patted his leg. She even asked for a picture with him. She just, you know, didn't want to actually sit next to him.
These large blocks were in the back of the Ronald McDonald house, which is the first thing we saw when we drove over from the hospital. She begged for me to take her picture by the blocks, which I was hesitant to do because it meant that we had to park in the street to get out of the car. There were 2 lanes going the same way, so we didn't block traffic, but it was still an actively used road next to Dell Children's hospital, so I wasn't very comfortable with it. I decided to do it, though, since we were right next to the hospital if anything bad happened. :-) She was goofing around the whole time I was taking her picture. If I hadn't been nervous about our car getting hit, I would have tried harder to get a good shot.
Last and certainly least, my attempt at a picture of the two of us. Since it was just us, I had to try and hold the camera out and get a picture of us 1. with us both in it 2. both looking at the camera 3. without glare from her glasses. It's not great, but I would say this one is as close to perfect as I would have ever come.

If you would like to know more about the RMH or the Wish List for the Austin RMH, please click on THIS link.

Ah, the Joys of Santa

Luckily Santa is smart enough to know when people are out of town. Santa brought an orange scooter (perfect for a boy and a girl), pillows for school, a princess ballerina outfit, trucks, a See-and-Say and a Longhorn jersey to my parent's house in Illinois. Jack was hesitant when he first came downstairs but Avery knew EXACTLY what was going on and she was thrilled! She had trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve, which was so cute. She kept yelling downstairs to find out if Santa had come. It was pretty fun for me to watch, especially since Mom was the one sleeping with Avery so my sleep wasn't really bothered by it. :-)

Santa did an excellent job laying everything out for the kids. Meanwhile, Matt slept on the couch because he was a little under the weather on Christmas Eve. Good thing he didn't get into Santa's way.
Here's Jack as he came downstairs to see what Santa had brought for him. Notice the cookie that he has in his hand, which was left for Santa. (ahem, see above caption where I mention that Matt wasn't feeling well. Santa should have still taken a bite of the cookies, is all I'm saying.) (I mean, what kind of Santa doesn't eat the cookies?)
Avery checks out her new magic wand, the very first thing she asked Santa for every time she saw him.
Jack just loved his toys. He spent lots of time playing with each thing. He was so fun to watch.
Ah, more things that make loud noises. That's wonderful. And the mallets are just a bonus! I mean, not only can they be used to make *beautiful* music on the xylophone, they can also be used to hit unsuspecting parents on the head. That's especially fun when they get you from behind and you have no idea that it is coming. Fun for the whole family!
Here's Avery going through her stocking. Santa brought her some "lipstick" which was definitely her favorite. You know what my favorite is? It's cleaning up the "lipstick" that has been smeared all over the back passenger window of my car. That's just the gift that keeps on giving.
Jack got a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba toys and a basketball. He is such a big fan of "Gabba" so he was very excited to see what else was in his stocking. He got a Brobie, Foofa, Plex and Muno. Apparently Tootie isn't as popular because they don't make a plush Tootie. No love for the random dinosaur-ish characters.
It was a good thing that Santa left a ball because he turns anything slightly resembling a sphere into a ball. It could be a paperweight or a polka dot ornament (sorry Aunt Tina) and that boy will throw it. Hard. Which usually ends in some kind of breaking or crying. Luckily this nice, soft UT basketball was perfect for him. And the rest of us appreciated that he had something soft to throw at us. (**SPEAKING OF UT BASKETBALL, DID YOU KNOW WE ARE RANKED #1 IN THE COUNTRY?! Hook 'Em!!)
Avery playing with a whistle that was in her stocking. Santa really shouldn't have.
She couldn't wait to put on her new princess ballerina outfit. She wore it for most of the rest of the day. It was 20 degrees outside but this was all she would wear. Nothing says Christmas Cheer like trying to get your pre-schooler to put on some pants.
Here's Jack opening presents later on Christmas morning. He was a little confused about it at first but once we took it out and put the basketball goal together, he loved it. He kept saying "again! again!" when Matt would make a basket.

After Avery was done opening her own presents, she went around the room "helping" everyone else open theirs. She pretty much opened every present in the room. Which, you know, is fine for some people. I prefer to open my own presents, but whatever. I mean, Christmas is for the children, right? At least that is what Matt kept telling me when I was playing tug-o-war with Avery over my gifts so that I could open them MYSELF thankyouverymuch.
Jack got a peg toy with a hammer. We've lost those pegs approximately 17 times since Christmas. If you ever want to have a really good time, come on over to our house and help us find these things. We have to do it all the time so we can definitely work around your schedule.

After we checked out what Santa left and opened some presents, we went back over to my brother's house so that mom and I could start making our Christmas dinner. It was definitely hectic there, with all the kids playing with their toys from Santa. That is a story all on its own; and that is what I will write about next time. :-)