Ava's 4th Birthday Party

This weekend we had Ava's 4th birthday party. I think we can officially say that we broke the rain curse. This was the second year in a row that we didn't have rain. In fact, it was beautiful outside. The kids spent most of the time in our backyard playing.

We had a Hello Kitty theme because that is her favorite right now.

She got some wonderful gifts and we had lots of love from our family and friends.
She is really into crafts right now and got a bunch of stickers and paints etc. We have had stickers everywhere lately. They think they are making "thing" more beautiful with the addition of a sticker or picture with stickers added to it. It is awesome and I really do love it. I know it won't last for long!

I spent the day enjoying the company that I didn't get a lot of pictures. Here are the few that I did get.

Cupcake Tower

Ava getting ready to blow out her candles. Unfortunately it was those candles that don't blow out. I thought I got rid of all of them, but nope there was a new pack in our drawer. (Threw those away). 

It was a great day!!

We went to her 4 year doctor appointment today. She is in the 72nd percentile on both height and weights. She weighs 37.8 lbs and is 40 3/4" tall.   The doctor was pleased with everything. 

Ava's 4th Birthday

Wow! It doesn't get any easier. My Ava Grace is growing up so fast. I cannot believe that she is 4!!!

I can still remember they day she was born. It is amazing how much of that I still remember. I guess having pictures around helps. I don't remember much after she was born because I was all drugged up, but I do remember my water breaking and going into the hospital and being in a lot of pain for a LONG time!

She is just so amazing. She has so many different sides to her that I love. Some I prefer more than others! Ha! Ha! She is smart, silly, determined, stubborn, independent, loving, compassionate, moody, sweet, shy and perfect all rolled into one!

We had the perfect day on her birthday. We have been hyping up her birthday for a week now (or maybe since Noah's birthday!) When I went to get her up, she wanted us to sing Happy Birthday to her (and frequently throughout the day she would request us to sing it to her too).

She had a special day with mom. She had school and I volunteered in her classroom. It was neat to see how she is in school, because I do wonder and she is exactly how I expected. She doesn't participate a lot because she is shy. We had spanish that day and when it was time to sing the "itchy" song, she sat there, like always, so I went up behind her and moved her hands so she would get involved. That got her moving and more involved after I stopped. She just loved it.

After dinner, we went to Barnes and Nobles for our free cupcake. I didn't make anything because she was the only one to have one. (Noah didn't eat his dinner so he wasn't going to get one).
When we got home, we sang happy birthday and she opened presents. She was most excited about that.

This was the crown that she got in school. She got to wear it all day in class. They even sang happy birthday.

This is my favorite. Once Ava moved on to the next present, Noah finished unwrapping her present

She got a new scooter for her birthday. She wasn't quite sure how to do it, so she was going slow. It was getting cold, so we brought in inside and she practiced some more.

Safety first in our house!!

All day, Ava kept saying that it was her day and that Noah wasn't going to get any presents. She wanted to make sure that we knew that. It was a special day for a special girl. This weekend is her party. I know she is looking forward to that.

Blog Roll

This is what we call a blog roll. I finally have time to blog about what has been going on. So there are a couple of posts...

Here are some fun pictures of the kids.

After being sick, I figured it was a good idea to clean Bobo and Buddy. Boy were they dirty. The water was black. Here they are drying out and then off to the dryer or hamster wheel as Ava calls it to dry some more and kill all the germs.


Noah eating ice cream. He looks so old in the picture. This has been the only way to get dairy in him lately.


Ava and Bobo having a sleepover. Bobo is on the Hello Kitty blanket. He kinda blends in. Can you also see all the carts/strollers/seats around her. She has to build "forts" for EVERYTHING.


This was Noah's plate. He was finally eating a meal so I let him eat it on the ground by the back door. Lately, he refuses to eat at the table for meal time with everyone. He prefers to snack all day and eat standing up or while playing or watching TV. I guess this is how it is going to go for a while.

Yoga and Playtime

I have been getting into yoga a bit more lately. I really like it. The kids have always been able to do a couple of yoga moves, Downward Dog being the one they always do when we say, show us your yoga.

The other night, we did a couple of other moves as a family. I taught them Namaste and told them that if I said that word, they were to stop what they are doing and go into Namaste pose. Well, Ava decided to be goofy and do the pose but sing silly songs too. Not too effective, but funny nonetheless.


Some downward dog.


And an attempt at chair pose


Then this is what happens...Noah either goes under you during downward dog...


Then on top of you during plank.


Either way, it was a fun time and I hopefully see a future in yoga for these kiddos (minus the daddy..he is very unflexible. Ha!)

My Sister's Baby Shower

My little sister, Jaclyn, is pregnant with her first baby. It is a boy, Sam! We hosted her baby shower yesterday. It was a lot of fun and I am super excited for her.( I have someone else to join my in the lack of sleep department!!!) 4 years later and we are still waking up at night and she will be right there with me soon. Just kidding! Well, not really

We had a great turnout. Good food, fun games and a great cake/cupcake and lots of presents.

Here are some pictures from the party....

Front view of the cutest diaper cake

Side view of the diaper cake

.

Sam's Club Cupcake Cake. I sooo wish I could have eaten one!

Monkey Diaper Cake

Opening presents

We played 2 games: Guess the White stuff and a Baby Trivia. The Guess the White Stuff game was 10 bags filled with white powders and everyone had to guess which was which. It was difficult, but fun. 

Jaclyn ended up with a lot of the little things she needed. She only has a couple more weeks to go!

Our Garden and P90X

I have been meaning to post some pictures of the garden that Mike has started.

Here is the first box that he started a while ago. It has lettuce, spinach, strawberries, cilantro
 and peas.



He built the second box today for the stuff that we are going to plant when it warms up a bit, like tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, onions etc..


Happy eating to us! The kids love watching everything grow and I know will enjoy eating everything when it comes up!

*****
Just a quick update. I finished the first week of p90x and I am still alive. I might just be walking like a cowboy though. Ha! The videos are pretty easy to get through, I have just been really sore everyday. I actually really like it because it has a little of everything in the program which is 3 months long! Some weights, yoga, plyometrics and martial arts.

****
I am ready for the "plague" to be done at our house. The kids (a.k.a two headed whiny snoops) need a serious Mickey Mouse and juicebox detox.

****
It has rained all weekend. I am ready for some sunshine, but it has allowed us all to slow down and relax because going outside isn't really an option.

Sickies and The "Why" Stage

So we have been hit with the plague. Well, not really, but the kiddos have been sick. It started with Ava on Thursday. When the kids are sick, we spend the days watching TV and eating whatever they want. It is a bad combo, but it makes the days a bit more doable. Thank heavens for On Demand because we have watched ALL the Mickey Mouse episodes like a million times (as Ava would say).

Here is Ava....



My poor little girl. She was sicker than she has been in the past. She might have caught a stomach bug. She ran a low grade fever the first evening. She wouldn't eat or drink anything. We had to force her to take baby sips here and there. She slept in our bed with me for 2 nights and Mike slept in the guest bedroom.
Here is how our sleep was the first night.

This is a picture of my fitbit. It tracks sleep at night. If you look close, all those red lines are movements during the night. It says I was "awakened" 40 times during the night. Pretty much she slept from 6:30-9 ish and was up until a little after 1 and then finally passed out until 4 ish. I wasn't as tired as I thought I was going to be, but it was pretty bad. At one point, I pulled out our travel video player and put a movie on for her to watch hoping that I would sleep, but she kept waking me complaining that her tummy hurt.  The 2nd night was better, she only woke up a couple of times, but I heard Noah cry here and there for about an hour as he is now sick. He ALWAYS gets it a day or two later. I am just crossing my fingers that Mike and I don't get it. I actually went out and bought airborn and have been doubling up on vitamins.

***
Noah has officially hit the "why" stage. Everything is "why". Sometimes he follows it up with "cuz". He knows that is what we are going to say. ha!! Kids are so funny that way.

***
The kids have yet another big box that they have made into a home.

They decorated it with stickers and colored all over it. Ava really wants to "bedazzle" it with all sorts of crafts, but because Noah still finds things to put in his mouth, I had to deny that for now.

Let's hope we are soon done being sick for a while. We have a busy February ahead.