Quick Update

One of the 2nd hand dresses she got....SO CUTE!

Can you see the 2 toofers?

She is looking so grown up....so cute.

Yes, I know it's been unusually long since I wrote last time. I just haven't had much to say this week and I feel like every day I've been really busy. The only really exciting thing that's happened this week, is that Ava has started eating REALLY good all the sudden. She is eating food like it's going out of style. It is so much fun to feed her because she has such an intensity for what is being shoveled in! She LOVES all the fruits and also carrots and sweet potatoes. We are working on the green beans and peas, but I just don't think it's going to happen. I'm going to try mixing them with some of the sweet stuff and see if that helps. Elle is doing great. Shawn has taught her how to throw a football and she's really not too bad! She has caught it from pretty far away also a few times. She was so proud of herself. Well, not much else going on. Have a great week.

Elle helps daddy trim the trees

Spoon Aversion Diversion

What a complicated title huh? Lesley and my dad would be proud. If you've been reading this blog, then you know that my 7 1/2 month old seems to have an aversion to baby food. We've tried every way under the sun (so we thought) to get her to eat it. We tried everyone's suggestions except giving her cheeto's because then what's really the point if the stuff we give her has no nutritional value??? Okay, so I was getting alittle concerned since weaning her is on the horizon and at this point there is nothing to wean her to! Also, she is gaining weight EXTREMELY slowly. In the past 2 1/2 months she's gained less than 1 lb. But dang it if she isn't the cutest thing anyway! The size of her cheeks make my arguement that she's not gaining enough sort of flop. Anyway, so I took her to the dr. this morning just to get his opinion and see if he was alarmed at all. He said that for whatever reason she has gotten a food aversion but he believes it involves the spoon. He said to take the spoon away completely and let her stick her hands in the food and just eat it off her hands or ours. So, we came home and at lunch pulled back out some applesause and some rice cereal. She immediately stuck her hands in it (Elle would have NEVER done that! :) and was totally ingrossed with having it on her hands. I put some on my finger and tried to give it to her and she opened wide, smacked her lips real big and opened again for more!!! She was loving that applesauce and didn't seem to mind the rice cereal either. She ate all the applesauce we had in the bowl and was licking her lips. It was the cutest things to see her little pointy tongue trying to get all of it off of her lips. She never made a gross face at all! So, looks like we have maybe figured out the problem. Though it's a messy solution, maybe in a few weeks or days we'll try to spoon again and see how she does. It was so great today though to see her so excited about that food! It's been 2 1/2 months of trying to get her to eat so we were so happy that she enjoyed it today! Now, who knows what tomorrow will bring, but hopefully now we can get on track with the food thing!

Playing Together for the First Time

24 hours in Tyler

We left yesterday at around 1 in the afternoon to head to Tyler for a biannual used baby clothes sale that's really big and has great prices. Check out http://www.cccsale.com/ if you want to go sometime. You still have time to hop in the car tomorrow and head that way! We got a LOT of things for Elle that should last her until at least September or October and then it will be time for the sale again. In all I bought her 15 shirts, 11 shorts or capris, 4 pants and 5 dresses or skirts. So time for the guessing game. How much do you think I spent? Remember there are 35 pieces of clothing here and most are nice name brands. Don't spoil it and guess $25 dollars. Nothing was under $2 and nothing I got was over $10 so what do ya think?

After going to church last night we headed straight to the sale. Then, this morning we hung out waiting for nap time. I did get to go to Target and get a few things we needed that Greenville doesn't have. We still had about 30 minutes to kill before we left so we took Ava and Elle to a little park a block from my parents house and took a few photos. Now I've just been unpacking and redoing Elle's closet. We put up all the winter clothes or clothes that no longer fit and hung up all the new clothes. I am excited to dress her again! All of her stuff was well used and most wasn't fitting too well anymore.

In other news, funny little Elleisms. On our way home I told Elle that if she took a nap in the car she wouldn't have to take one when we got home. She looked at me and with a straight face said "That sounds like a plan." Shawn and I just started laughing because I think we both say that all the time but don't realize it. Then later tonight I had Elle and Ava watching (trying to watch at least) a Baby Einstein video for a few minutes while I finished up Elle's closet stuff and I could here Ava fussing on and off and then I heard Elle yell "Stop it!!" I made her come to me and asked why she was yelling at Ava and she said "Ava is freakin out." Once again, it was just so funny to here her using phrases like that. She's really picking up what we say...scary!

Well, enjoy the pics and remember to guess how much it cost.

The Babbler

More Party Pictures

Most kids don't get a car till they're 16, but Elle went ahead and got one now. We figure we'll be more broke when she's 16 than now, so better do it now. We went in together with Papaw and Carolyn for this fun toy!!!
Ava just stole Hiney's paci....she has the look on her face like "and...what are you going to do about it?" He didn't seem to bothered.

What cute pink feet

A bug catcher just like Riley!!!

Peter Pan!!!

The cake of all cakes!

Elle was just told to come on in the kitchen, it was time to see the cake.

Blowing out the candles

Pink explosion

Pink Party

The decor

All decked out in pink

Unplanned...my mom and I had on the EXACT same shirt and same color nail polish...scary!

The loot...I'm ready to open this!!!

Yesterday, we had Elle's Pink Party and our families came up to help celebrate. We had a wonderful time. It was so exciting to celebrate her turning 3. The decorations looked great and the cake....you know how you have an idea in your mind of how you want something to look, but it never turns out that way...well it turned out how I had it pictured in my mind! :) Elle received some pretty great presents and that makes me happy cause now we have new stuff to play with! She also got some really cute clothes from some very fashion saavy aunts :) Here are some pictures from the day. More pictures coming later this afternoon.

7 months old

It's Friday the 13th and my baby is 7 months old today. I took both of the girls to the dr. yesterday for a weight and height check. Ava is 27 1/4 inches long and weighs 15 lbs 6 oz. She's just a little thing! Elle is now 29 lbs and 37 inches tall. Both girls are doing very well. Ava got her first TWO teeth yesterday. I could see them under the gums for a few days, but yesterday they really came all the way through. No problems, or pain seem to accompany these 2! YEAH! I'm still diligently trying to get her to eat. She ate half a blueberry muffin the other day and ate some pancake Tuesday. She'll eat any bread product but forget the baby food! I'm still working on getting her to eat rice cereal since it has a lot of iron in it that she needs. I may call the dr. and see if he has any hints. I've tried mixing her baby food with some apple juice and she still turns her nose up at it. This is 2 months now of trying to get her to eat it.
I am working on disattaching her from me lately. She gets very upset if I put her down or turn to walk away from her. Last night I sat about 2 feet from her and read Elle a book (more like yelled Elle a book) while Ava screamed her head off. She just wanted me to hold her. She will never learn how to crawl if I don't put her down so I've been doing a lot more of that lately. She doesn't like it but she'll learn. I'm willing to listen to her cry to get two free hands every once in a while! Enjoy the comparison pics.
Elle was between 15-16 lbs in this picture and was about 27-28 inches long so they are pretty close together in the numbers. Elle had said her first word by this point which is amazing to me. She had said "mama" and "dada" and a few weeks later said "kitty." I think Ava's first words will be "pick me the heck up before I have a coronary!"

Ava sitting up

More bday pictures

Party like a 3 year old!

What a day we had yesterday!!! It was all about Elle from beginning to end. We started with a chocolate covered donut with 3 candles at breakfast. Then we let her open two of her presents from us. She got some books and Alice in Wonderland. Then, we headed to Frisco to have pictures made. After the pictures, we ate lunch...Elle's favorite: pizza and milk! Then she got to ride on the carousel in the mall. After that we took her to the Great American Cookie Co. and got her a pink cookie. After that we let her play and play and play on the playground that's inside the mall. She loved that. Next we went to Pottery Barn Kid and let her play as long as she wanted on the REALLY expensive but oh so cool toys they had. Then we went to the Disney Store and let her browse through the store at her own pace. Finally we were all pretty worn out and started to head home. When we got home and after Ava finished her nap, we let her open the rest of her presents from us. Her favorite thing was the play-doh we got her! Last, we headed to IHOP for dinner and let her get a cheeseburger and milk. After that we came home and pretty much collapsed! What a fun fun fun day we had and it was so nice to tell her yes a lot instead of saying no a million times! :) She felt so special and we are so excited to celebrate even more with family on Saturday! Thanks to all of you who called her yesterday to wish her a happy birthday. She really liked it when we said "It's for you Elle!" It made her feel even more special.

My baby is 3!

One hour from now, three years ago, I went into labor with my sweet Elle. It's just weird to even imagine that it's been 3 years and that I, Emma, have a three year old daughter!!! We are headed to Frisco for an Elle day tomorrow. I am so excited to spend the day focusing on Elle and doing whatever she wants. I am so thankful for 3 healthy happy years with her.

Part 3

More Easter Pictures

This picture was not staged. This is really what she did when she opened one of her eggs to see what was inside.
The bunny ears where given to Elle when she was one day old...easter 2004 and it's now a tradition to wear them...here's ava giving them a try.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Why does it feel like we've been celebrating Easter for days now? Anyway, it's finally over. Both girls are in bed, and one of them has complained of a stomach ache all day...I wonder why? Could it be the 10 lbs of candy she consumed quite inconspicously throughout the day??? Both girls looked absolutely precious this morning. Though it was freezing, they looked cute. We just added panty hose and a sweater to their outfits to winterize it. We got some WONDERFUL pictures today! After worship we came home and the Easter bunny had left both girls a basket. Elle was very excited with hers. Then after her nap she hunted Easter eggs in the living room, which was just as fun as outside. It was a great day and went smoothly. Enjoy the pictures of the loves of my life!

Picky

Well, there are two more foods that can be added to the list of foods ava hates; sweet potatoes and bananas. I tried both today with the same tried and true reaction that all other foods except bread have received...the lemon juice face. I just can't figure her out. She loves bread and she loves her little finger food snacks that are like cheerios but with a banana taste, but she hates anything else. Will she ever start eating food???
Shawn left this morning for LTC. This is his first year to do this and I talked to him alittle while ago and he seemed quite impressed with what it was all about. He'll be home tomorrow evening. My parents came in for the afternoon today and spent time with the girls. My mom brought easter baskets and Elle got to eat a lot of candy, which started showing the effects right about bed time. She had a great time with them and after Ava got comfortable with my mom, she loved her. She kept trying to grab her nose off.
Well, nothing else new. Just thought I'd tell you the latest.

Crafty little Bunny

Well, I was reading a Martha Stewart magazine and it had the CUTEST ideas for craft projects for Easter. I got inspired and went online to her site and started looking for more ideas. I found the absolute MOST PRECIOUS little bunny pom pom figurines. I decided that I was going to try to make those....now Martha makes things look perfect and they look pretty easy to do, but doing them is sort of another story. I made the bunnies and they turned out so so so cute, but they were pretty hard to make. It has inspired me to make something homemade every year for the girls and date it and put it in their Easter basket. So, this is my first year and it will be hard for me to top this next year. I just LOVE them!!!

In other news, I went to the dr. today to deal with my rash. It was worse today. He said it either is an allergic reaction or viral. Not sure which one but he didn't seem concerned too much with how it looked so it can't be too bad. He gave me an antibiotic and some clarinex...not sure it that was for the rash or because he noticed that I was all allergyish. Either way, one of the problems will be fixed with the allergy medicine.

Also, I set up an appointment for next wed. to get my tooth looked at. That makes me feel alittle better because at least I'm getting appointments set up. Hopefully they can figure out what's going on.

Ava developed a little bit of a fever this evening. She has been sneezing and rubbing her eyes so it looks like the pollen is bothering her also. I gave her some Tylenol so hopefully in the morning she is feeling better. She is now waving...truly waving, not just moving her arm. As soon as I get her out of bed, she starts waving and when we see sister or Daddy, she starts waving again. It is so so so cute! She is trying to talk a lot. She says "Ba" and "A-Ba" a lot and I'm trying like crazy to get her to say "Ma." She has rolled herself a few times and I'm hoping she figures it out as a mode of transportation soon. She is really growing fast.

Elle will be three years old in 5 days. It's just unreal. We are taking her and Ava to Frisco on her birthday to have their pictures taken in their Easter dresses. We are also going to let her play on the indoor playground till her hearts content. Children are so easy to please...wish we were!

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the picture of my CUTEST BUNNIES IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.