July 4th

We spent the 4th of July with Craig's parents. All of the other brothers/families were doing other things so it was just the four of us and Grandma and Grandpa. We had fun relaxing and did a lot of eating! We went to the fireworks show here in town at the end of the day but were sorely disappointed when it ended halfway through because of some set-up falling over and ruining the rest of the fireworks. Oh well. The ones we saw were pretty and Avery enjoyed them which was the point anyway! Fireworks definitely are at the bottom of my favorites list, but they are at the top of Craig's! So he was probably the most disappointed and almost refused to leave in hopes that they were going to fix what was wrong! We didn't find out what had happened until we watched the news later. Maybe next year, Daddy.

LET ME OPEN WITH THIS: MY FAVORITE PICTURE FROM THE DAY!!

Look how big she looks!! And ahhh, the ever open mouth! :)

Grandpa got a watermelon (Avery's favorite) and she was choosing her "side"

Oh Bailey will love me one day for this shot! I didn't realize Craig was getting this angle! If the watermelon was all eaten but the rind, she could've fit right into one half of it!

One of Craig's father's day gifts was a horseshoe set. He just recently played and really liked it so we got him his own set. Too bad it's plastic and he says you have to put the stakes really close together to even allow the horseshoes to reach the other! Avery still liked it and it was quality time with Daddy.

Grandma has a set of dress up clothes at her house and Avery has really been into them lately. There are several coordinated outfits in there, but Avery apparently like to mix and match!

Swim Day

Daddy took this past Thursday off and was also off Friday for the 4th so we had a long 4 day weekend with him! These weekends always spoil me rotten and I miss him so much come Monday when he has to go back to the real world. Too bad one of us has to work to earn a living! I would love for us to be able to play with our kids all day every day and run errands together!

Anyway, so Thursday we went over to Craig's aunt and uncle's pool and Bailey had her first time in the water. It was pretty cold but she didn't seem to mind. She couldn't really sit up in the floatie thing so we mostly held her. Avery of course didn't mind the cold at all and is getting really good at doing things by herself. (Of course we are still watching her, and yes, she has her floaties on!)

Random Cuteness

Bear with me while I lazily put a lot of random cuteness all in one post!

Budding Fashionista:

Avery got into her jewelry box tonight and had on every accessory: sunglasses, necklace, bracelet, watch, ring, etc. It was really cute but in standard Avery-fashion, it only lasted about 5 minutes. :)



Laundry Basket Ladies:

Why are laundry baskets so fun for kids? Avery has always loved ours and now Bailey is joining in on the fun! Check out Avery's side ponytail! :)

Avery always wants to make a silly face for the camera.

How much sweeter could she get? Look closely at the glistening corners of this babe's mouth. This child's face and neck are ALWAYS wet!!! And I realize we are nowhere near the end of drool and spit up!! We use 5-8 burpcloths a day!

Pack 'n Play Princesses:

Am I a bad mom that I put Avery in the pack 'n play to entertain Bailey if she is crying and I am busy? Does it make it better that Avery WANTS to get in there? OK, good. Look how happy Avery is!

Bailey is doing great in her exersaucer. How could I live without this thing? I have often thought: Where did moms way back on the prairie lay their little babies to play when they couldn't crawl or walk and they needed to get things done? There were no exersaucers, no bouncy seats. If anyone knows the answer, please respond...I love information about prairie times and I love to read fiction set in prairie times...and yes, Little House on the Prairie was one of my favorite childhood shows. Don't make fun...it's totally the truth.

Avery and I had a lot of fun with playdough one day. She likes to sit on a tall bar stool and play with playdough at the island rather than the table. It's more fun somehow. And while I realize that she is a child genius (well close) she did not do her name below...Mommy did. :)

Boy we have our stressful times around here, but going through all these cute pictures of the good times reminds me that we really do have some great times around here. I wouldn't trade these precious moments with my children for ANYTHING! I hope I am building a foundation of memories for them even though they may not remember these particular events, they will hopefully remember that Mommy was always around and loved them like crazy and tried her best to do fun things with them when she could!

Roller/Almost Crawler/Talker

This child is freaking me out! Bailey is just now 5 1/2 months and she has been log-rolling everywhere for a couple of weeks. For the past week she has been ALMOST CRAWLING! She is pushing with her legs and pulling forward with her arms. Once she figures out how to hold her body up on her hands and knees she will be off! I AM NOT READY FOR THIS!!!! She is way too young and my house is totally not baby proofed yet!!! Avery didn't crawl until 8 1/2 months! Granted, Bailey sleeps on her tummy so I knew she would be stronger in these areas earlier, but come on...this is freaking me out! I can't believe things are happening so fast with this little rolly polly! She is also beginning to jabber consonant sounds. Today she was jabbering up a storm and said "Da Da" several times. Yes I know she doesn't know what "Da Da" is yet, but still! Craig was proud and Avery was pretty proud herself! :) She was amazed that Bailey said Da Da because it seems like we are always saying "When Bailey gets bigger she will be able to_______" (fill in the blank). But now she IS bigger and she is doing so many things!!! STOP GROWING UP SWEET GIRLS!!!!

Please ignore the lovely spit up on the left hand side of this video. :)

Best Big Sister

Again, I am bragging on my Avery. She is the absolute best big sister I know. She is so good to her sister and always helpful. Here she was reading Bailey a book to keep her happy while I made Bailey's cereal. She is constantly wanting to hug and kiss on her. She gets excited when we make Bailey laugh. She is always trying to entertain Bailey and make her smile. I just love the love they have for each other and I am going to do everything I can to make sure it stays this way!! (Oh yes and Christy... that chef's hat from Chloe's birthday party is still a big hit! :)

Daddy's nap

We are always respectful of Daddy's naps. We try not to bother him and we try to be quiet around him. We are always sure to tiptoe and whisper when he is napping. Daddy's naps are very important.

Texas Trip

This past weekend we were in Texas for another great time at Nona and Pop's. The girls and I even got to stay a few extra days and it always goes by so fast!

Avery and Bailey's cousins came over one day to swim and play together. Avery just loves them to pieces and could seriously live with them and be fine. Here they are having a picnic after they swam for a while. Have I mentioned that picnics are one of Avery's FAVORITE things?!

Ashley is now 10 and I tell you what--she could move in with me and be my full-time nanny and assistant. She is so good with babies and adores Bailey!

One of the things we did was go to the RODEO!! We have been meaning to attend this rodeo for years and this was Craig and Avery's first rodeo ever. It's right near my parents' home and my dad got us tickets a while back so we could all go. It was fun... HOT, but fun. Avery really enjoyed it although I think the snowcone, popcorn, and treats were at the top of the list. Although when I asked her what her favorite part was, she said the barrel racing. Maybe one day. My dad can dream, right?
I think this pouty face is a put-on. She loves to pretend many things and I really don't remember her being sad the whole night especially not after Aunt Jenna caught her this frisbee!

Avery's favorite--barrel racing.

Look how hot and sweaty she was. We were all worse than her. It was really late, too, and I don't think she got in the bed until around midnight which is probably the latest she's EVER gone to bed! She slept until 8:40 the next morning and that's the latest she's ever slept!!

I think she ate a whole bag of popcorn all by herself!

Can you see her shirt? My mom got it for her--it says "Rodeo Girl." So cute!

Another event of the weekend was to saddle up my dad's new mule. Craig really wanted to ride her and he did a good job. Avery wasn't interested which surprised me because she has been on a horse before. I think she was too busy playing. Bailey had her first picture on a horse/mule, though, and loved it! (Or had no idea...whatever.)

What kid hasn't played in a 5 gallon bucket of water? When I was a kid, that's the only swimming pool we ever got!!

My mom found this old umbrella of mine from when I was a kid. Avery loves to play "It's raining!!!" whether it really is or not.

They stopped for a pose during some time of digging in the "diggy" dirt. Avery came up with that term a while back when she was digging in some hard dirt and told my mom she needed some "diggy" dirt. I love it!!

Nona's Girls

My mom was here for a few days last week and I loved this picture of the girls both in her lap as Avery played games on the computer. I don't do much when she is here. :)

First Swim of the Summer

Here are just a couple of pics of the first swim of the summer at Uncle Gary and Aunt Joyce's pool. It's so pretty out there and we all love to hang out there. Bailey hasn't gotten in yet but she had a fun time playing on the deck and "talking" to Uncle Gary. Little Fish Avery had a blast and even though the water was a little cold, her blue lips and shivering body still didn't want to get out when it was time to go!

Another First for Bailey

You know how when you have your first baby and you're so excited to do all the "firsts"? Like you can't wait for them to roll over and you can't wait for them to crawl and you can't wait for them to talk, etc., etc., etc. Then after you do all the firsts with your oldest you are a little wiser the second time around because you know that once they start to move you can't expect them to stay where you put them and once they learn to talk they won't be quiet when you need them to, and on and on! You learn to wait for some of those "firsts" with some patience and really enjoy the stage they are currently in. Well, I wasn't planning on starting any solid food with Bailey until 6 months because let's be honest--it's a huge mess!!! It isn't necessary until then anyway. Well even though I hadn't planned on it, the doctor suggested going ahead and starting rice cereal with Bailey in an attempt to curb the huge amounts of spit-up we get from her. It's really outrageous how much...you have no idea. It helps some but it has been a learning process over the past week of getting the cereal in her tummy instead of all over her! She is finally learning not to just push it all out with her tongue and I think we get most of it down now. Here are just a couple pics--ignore white, pasty, frumpy Mommy in the back. Of course Avery had to feed her a few bites and she wanted to pick out the spoon. It was sweet really. After I cultivate all of her best intentions, she will be a really wonderful wife and mommy one day.

Anyway, enjoy these messy pics from the first couple of cereal feedings. YUMMY!