Christmas card

Here is a copy of our Christmas card this year. I couldn't send to everyone...stamps are so darn expensive these days!

PS- If you like our card, check out The Peek a Boo Image!

Let the games begin!

I really didn't think I would see a true sibling rivalry between the kids just yet, but boy oh boy has it started. Anderson may not be able to speak yet but he is getting pretty good at making his feelings known! Ava has started being really possessive and she continues to take toys away from Anderson. I think has has finally gotten sick of being bullied so he screams at her now when she does something he doesn't like...I mean literally screams at her! Dan and i also witnesses something funny today...Anderson was trying to crawl into the toy room and apparently Ava did not want him to go in so she stepped in front of him (with her back to him). He wasn't about to let that stop him! He continued to crawl and ram his head into her repeatedly! She eventually got the point and moved out of his way. As Anderson is getting older, his personality is really starting to come out. He is usually very passive, but he is starting to show his temper!

Merry Christmas!

This past month has been insane! We have had Christmas celebrations every weekend since the 13th all of which had some kind of drama involved. Here's a brief recap...

On Saturday the 13th, we celebrated Christmas with Dan's dad and his wife and also Dan's sister. We hosted the event this year so I spent time that week cleaning and cooking. Over the course of the week, Ava had had numerous accidents (as in the wetting her pants kind). This was so untypical of her, but I figured it was because I had been busy and really not paying as much attention to her bathroom activities. She had also complained about her bottom hurting. I brushed it off b/c she often has aches and pains and they usually just require a band aid to go away. By Friday, it finally clicked that maybe Ava's trouble was due to a UTI. Of course by the time I realized that the Dr.'s office as closed. So...Saturday morning we were expecting company and I had to get up earlier than usual to take Ava to the pediatrician. So we hurried to get there and back so i could still get lunch prepared in time. Everything got finished...I even had a little time to spare but I was exhausted. We had a fun day of eating and opening gifts. Ava got her first video game...she loves it! Oh and it turned out she didn't have an infection so i rushed around for nothing. Better safe than sorry though!

The following weekend we celebrated with Dan's mom and sister. The drama surrounding this party started on Thursday evening. Our hometown (to which we were traveling to) was hit by a huge ice storm on Thursday evening/Friday morning. Many homes in northern IN were out of electric, including my mother in law. As were we leaving Saturday afternoon, she still had no power. We couldn't stay there with the kids b/c she had no heat. We had a backup plan to stay at my parents but fortunately her power was back on around 4 pm that day! Christmas was saved! We went to church on Sunday morning and then had a brunch and opened gifts. The ice was actually very pretty on the trees, but it caused many limbs to fall. With the strong wind on Sunday you had to be careful to not get pelted with ice falling from the trees!

We spent Christmas day at home with the kids. It is really nice to be able to just relax and play with the kids and their new toys!

This past weekend we celebrated with my family. We spent the weekend at my parents, which gets a bit crazy with 8 adults, 4 kids (2 1/2 and under), and 2 dogs. We had a great weekend with the exception the my sister got the stomach flu and in turn passed it on to Ava and my parents. Hopefully no one else will get sick!

I guess that wasn't so brief...I hope you all had a great holiday season. It's hard to believe another year is gone!

Making (or eating mostly) Christmas cookies with mom!

Our Sunday best!

Busy, busy, busy

It seems we have been so busy lately...hopefully after the holiday rush I will have more time to post.

Quick kid updates...Ava is still enjoying school. I wish it was more than one day a week. I could use the time "off" and she could use the help with her social skills! She has finally partially cut one of her 2 year molars. Maybe by the time she goes to kindergarten she will have all of her baby teeth. And is seems that Anderson will be following the same pattern. He is almost 9 months and the Dr. could feel no tooth buds (that may be one of the only things they have in common!). His ears are finally infection free. He is into everything these days. I am starting to think that he may never speak. He is so quiet but that is because his motor mouth sister doesn't give him a chance to say anything. He usually stays up a little later than Ava so for that 1/2 hour when it's quiet he has to get in all his "talking" for the day. We had his 9 month check up this week. It was actually more like 8 months but since we were at the Dr. for an ear recheck he did it then so we wouldn't have to come back. He weighs 17.5 pounds and is 27.5". Still a little guy but he is 2 pounds and 1.5" ahead of where Ava was at 9 months. Maybe he won't be quite as shrimpy as her. She has always looked small but her size difference is becoming way more obvious as she gets older. She is literally nearly half the size of some of her friends. She weighs 22.5 pounds and is 33" tall. My nephew who is only 10 months is almost as big as her. Maybe she will shock us all one day and hit a huge growth spurt. I just hope she makes it to 5' as an adult!

Little man on the move!

On Saturday night, Anderson finally figured out how to crawl. He was in the "rock on your hands and knees" stage for quite awhile, but now he has the hang of it. It's great for him because he was getting aggravated that he couldn't get around, but not so good for momma. Today I had to chase him all over. He even has started pulling up to his knees. I'm am not ready for a mobile child! Ava enjoys crawling around with him, but she is annoyed that he can get into her toys. She is very much in the "it's mine" stage, so she doesn't want Anderson to touch her things. Guess she'll have to get over that!

On a not as good note, Anderson is 1 week post tube surgery and already has another infection in his right ear. He caught Ava's cold so he has been really congested which is what started the other infections. This time however, we can do ear drops. The pediatrician said the tubes were working b/c he could see the pus draining. After the surgery, the ENT told me to expect his ears to drain, especially the right one. They really didn't, but I didn't think to much about it. After visiting the pediatrician yesterday though his right ear drained all night. Maybe there was some wax in his ear that was preventing complete drainage that might have been moved when they looked in his ears...anyway, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. Hopefully it will clear up with just one round of antibiotics this time.

We are enjoying have Dan home this weel and looking forward to another yummy Thanksgiving meal on Thursday!

Ava funny of the day

Yesterday I asked Ava what she did while she was at school. She told me this...."I colored and I did crap. Then I put it in my cubby." I asked her to repeat herself and realized she was trying to say she did a craft.

Anderson, the little trooper

Anderson had his surgery to put his ear tubes this morning. You can't even tell! He immediately woke up, took a bottle, and was back to himself. I have been so blessed with such an easy going baby (just wish he would learn to sleep all night!). The Dr. said that it was good that we were able to get this done quickly b/c there was quite a build up of "gunk" in his right ear. Without the procedure we would not have gotten any relief from the infections.