Old videos

I love watching old home videos. It brings back great memories and always makes me laugh. I found this video of Ellie when she was about 17 months old.

Easter

We had a great Easter with our families. Thankfully, we were able to spend time with each side and our kids had a blast playing with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents...

Need a Laugh?

When you say, "Quick question about my hair..."

Ellie says, "Uh, I'm on the phone!"

Spring

Spring is in the air - and I love it! The rain is not my favorite, but I know that it takes rain to create other enjoyable things. I love this picture. It's just weeds growing next to our house, but it's a great reminder that spring is here.

Already??

Ava decided to start sitting on her own this weekend. She's not a pro yet, but she can sit for a good 30+ seconds on her own and sometimes longer. I have to get her sitting just right, but she'll sit and play with a toy. She also quit taking her pacifier. Ellie stopped taking hers at 7 1/2 months and we wanted to do about the same with Ava. She'll be 6 months old Friday, so I guess she thinks she's big stuff. She's also babbling like crazy and saying mama and bye bye, and blowing raspberries if that counts as talking.

Ellie has moved past her 3 year old "funk" that she seemed to be in. She was really in a phase that was not our favorite, but the past month or so has been wonderful! She was sassy, defiant, lying, pushing the limits, whining...and it was driving us crazy. She didn't really have the terrible 2's, but when she hit 3, we thought we were going to lose our minds. She's back, though. Our sweet, obedient, loving little girl - who is not so little anymore!!

My cousin, Landy, was playing with the kids at Nannie's house on Easter and she convinced them she was magic by "taking off her thumb" and putting it back on. So, I was giving the girls a bath tonight and was trying to juggle 2 kids in the tub when one can't sit up. I finished, got Ava out, dried her off, put a diaper on her, and wrapped her in her towel. I went to get Ellie out of the tub so she could put her own pajamas on while I was putting Ava's on and I guess I wasn't fast enough. She was telling me to hurry because she was cold. I said, "I'm going as fast as I can. I'm not magic - I can't do everything all at once." To which she replied, "Well, Landy is magic!"

Easter Preview

Here are a few pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses. Hopefully we can get outside Sunday to take some, but I'm not sure what the weather is going to do.

front view

So, here is a front view of my hair, and a side one so you can see the angle. I like it. It's fun and so easy to fix. The other pictures are of Ellie looking silly, Ava drinking water from a straw (she loves doing that), USI basketball game, and chillin' with Daddy. The first one is Ellie's Mommy and Me dance class - and the next is with her teacher.

catching up

I haven't been on here much this week, so I'll try to get caught up on posting new info about the girls. Ava can roll both ways now, she's reaching and grabbing at things like crazy, and she can even hold her own bottle when we give her one. She's going to be a jokester!! She's so funny and she already knows it! Ava is 5 months old now and loves to eat. At her 4 month check up, she was 16 lb. 4 oz (97th%) and 27 3/4 in (WAY off the top of the chart). I feel like Ava's mouth is always open - she's either smiling, talking, or eating! :-)

Ellie loves going to "school" (mother's morning out)...but hasn't wanted to go the last 3 times, so I'm working on figuring out why. Her dance recital is in June and we're trying to let her hair grow out because they are supposed to wear dog ears and all the other little girls have long straight hair...and Ellie's is all different lengths and so curly. It can go in dog ears and that's how she wears it most days because it stays out of her face better, but it's not a nice, neat ponytail, so I'm trying to let it grow as much as possible. Ellie has turned in to a terrific eater - she used to be picky, but we would still make her at least try things. It was always such a struggle at the dinner table, but she has picked up some great eating habits lately and it's been such a blessing! Much less stressful at the table! She's also drinking from a regular cup all the time now (except in the van). I went to a training and they said that sippy cups don't always allow the muscles in your mouth to develop correctly, which could cause speech issues. She could drink from a regular cup, but we would use sippy just so we didn't have to clean up spills. She has done great, though! Instead of saying, "it's a good thing we put our coats on", Ellie says, "good idea we put our coats on"! She loves to quote the commercial where the lady is getting her hair done and says, "quick question about my hair". Ellie walks around saying, "Uh...I'm on the phone!" and she has attitude when she says it. It's so funny!

I got my hair cut - it's a mom cut, but a fun one. It's just an angle, but I can do the back normal or spike it, like it is in the picture. I've tried several times lately to get this cut and finally got a good one Thursday night.

We went to a USI basketball game and of course, had to wear cheerleading outfits. :-) Ellie also got to go to Chuck E. Cheese with a friend from dance class.