Averey's 2nd Birthday Party

Last night we celebrated Averey's 2nd birthday. Her real birthday isn't until March 10th but the next few weeks are busy, so we celebrated last night. I never thought about doing birthday themes before, but I started with Delaney and so I continue. We did a garden theme for her birthday. Delaney's 2nd birthday was Winnie the Pooh and her 3rd birthday was Minnie Mouse/Playhouse Disney. Averey loved the stick on earrings (ladybugs, butterflys, and flowers), and I always did too (back in the day)! When you asked Averey, what do you want for your birthday, she replied, "A blue cake." I made cupcake ice cream cones and a little blue cake.

Averey was so excited and had so much fun at her party. She was really energized and so cute! Last night, she was hysterically crying (that's an understatement), when she had to go to bed. She kept saying, "I not go to bed. I play...Momma, I play." It was so sad, but she was having too much fun with all her new toys. It was a really fun night for her!

Delaney had fun too at the party and is such a great big sister. She sometimes calls Averey, "Sweetie". She'll say, "Come here, Sweetie. It's okay, Sweetie." :) She really hasn't ever gotten jealous of her sister and has always been really loving to her (sometimes too loving - such as laying on her, hugging her REALLY tight, etc.).

Delaney and Averey love their cousins too! On my husbands side, they have 2 girl cousins (both of them are March birthdays too - the 12th and 17th, so 3/4 girls birthdays are all within a week on each other - different years though). We missed their 2 other girl cousins on my mom's side (they are missionaries), Delaney asked about them at the party :(

In the last 2 weeks, both of my girls are LOVING their baby dolls more than usual. Anything to do with babies/baby stuff. They love playing with them. They also like to play "babies" with each other, one will be the mommy and the other the baby (sometimes I play too, and I am the baby :)). It is so fun to watch them!

I have not kept track of cute sayings in the last week, but Delaney has been singing, "Deep and Wide, Deep and Wide, there's a feather flying in the sky!" Hilarious.

Tonight, Averey was playing in her bed before falling asleep. Grant went to check on her and came and got me. She was completely naked and said that she peed (thankfully in her diaper). Then she sang, "I'm wiping up my baby bumblebee, won't my momma be so proud of me....etc." Then she said, "I need to go potty." - so then she went on the potty.

I leave this week with the girls, to go see my sister and Andrew. We are very excited. I am still trying to figure out what I need to travel with the girls alone. I have a layover each way. Eek!

Fun Outings

So far this week, we have made it to both the zoo and children's museum. My girls love both! They are at such fun ages, and they get SO excited with everything. At the zoo, they were running all over and would talk to the animals. They would say, "Hi, Penguin" (or hi to any animal they saw) over and over and giggle, if the animals moved. Averey seems to be getting to be more and more of a "big girl". She kept saying, "I get in there" (she wanted to get in the fish tanks or go in the cages with the animals). I love watching Delaney and Averey experience new things. Sometimes I just look at them and try to take a "picture" in my mind. Delaney painted her face all by herself today at the museum, and I must say it was quite the paint job. Short post tonight b/c my husband needs to use the computer to do homework :)

I don't know where this is going

I stay up too late, which makes me want to sleep in late, but this is hard to do with two toddlers. Especially when one of them gets up multiple times a night. Averey will be 2 years next month and I can finally say she has STARTED (I think she has maybe slept through the night 5-7 times her whole life) to sleep through the night. Averey didn't do anything according to "the books", Delaney did. Delaney slept through the night at 7 weeks. I could go on and on about reasons why Aves has had sleeping troubles, but maybe I will talk about that some other time. Needless to say, I am happy with her progress :)

So last night, I went in the girls room after they had fallen asleep, just like I do every night. I love to watch them sleep, make sure they look comfy, turn off their CD (they LOVE the audio children's Bible CDs their Aunt Emily and Uncle Paul got them for Christmas. They ask me to put it on every night, and it seems to calm them down and drown out the noise), turn off the night lights, to cover them up, and sometimes sneak in a kiss. Well last night, when I got home from dance, I could hear them talking to themselves. I didn't want to go in and get them all riled up, so after they fell asleep I did. Averey had thrown everything out of her crib. She had her night gown on. I covered her with a blanket. This morning when she work up, she had no diaper on and was damp. Her diaper was at the bottom of the pile, she had thrown out last night. She was not ready to go diaper free at night! Then early this morning, Averey soaked Grant's droid work phone in water and of course it isn't working, so we are soaking it in rice :)

Delaney told my brother that she went on a walk with her Grandfather yesterday. We asked her who is your grandfather and she said Daddy. Which she did go on a walk with her dad yesterday. So we said you mean father, and she said ya.

I loved the weather today! So nice, we even went outside for a bit. Hope everyone had a good day!

Valentine's Day Continued

I hadn't anticipated another blog so quickly, but I actually have a few random things to share. So about Grant working a double today, I totally believed it. I took the girls to Wal-Mart and let them each pick out something for daddy, and I got him something little too. I called him twice today asking if he wanted me to bring him dinner and he said not to worry about it. So I got Panda Express for the girls and I and headed home. The girls were eating and I had had about 2 bites and here comes Grant walking in. I was definitely surprised. He had a Valentine balloon for each of the girls, they love balloons and a dozen roses for me. He also had brought home Lo Sole Mio. He got the garlic, bread, tomato basil, salad, and each our favorite meal, and he also got me tiramisu - one of my favorite desserts :) Wow, how nice, I was really happy.

Yesterday, Delaney and Averey's Grandma (Grant's mom), Uncle Pauly, and Aunt Emily gave them little bags with Valentine's candy/Valentine toys. Then today my mom (Nana) gave them little heart polly pocket necklaces. They got everything into one bag and have been carrying everything around since Grandmas. They take it out look at it, put it back, put it in a tub, a grocery cart, and then put it back. They think it is the greatest. Last night at a birthday, Delaney was under a ping pong table with lots of wrappers, saying don't tell momma. Then she went in a little play ti-pi and ate more. She is getting sneaky. Aves was enjoying hers too :) Lots of candy the last 24 hours.

Kids Stories: Delaney points to a baby on a johnson and johnson commercial and says, "Mommy, I want you to have one of those." "I love babies. I want one."

Delaney says, "Mommy, I won't say naughty words. I won't say shut-up. I won't stick my tongue out. I won't say butt. I won't say crap. I won't say crack bottom." I haven't even heard her say a couple of those, but I replied, "That is very good, we don't want to say naughty words." lol :)

I said to Delaney, "Do you want to go get daddy a Valentine present at Wal-Mart?" Delaney, "Ya, I won't say stupid things to daddy." I have no idea what made her say that.

At Wal-Mart, I was looking for a card and they girls saw this really pretty, sparkly Ariel card. Delaney was so excited and said, "Daddy LOVES Ariel. Let's get that one." She really wanted to.

Averey pooped in her underwear today. Always a treat. Well, shortly after, I found her in the bathroom with a little poop, candy, a plunger, and her hands in toilet...fun.

So Delaney has a cough at night right now...And Grant said tonight, what does it feel like is in your throat, and tonight her response was "a balloon."

After Dinner tonight we watched "Enchanted" aka by the girls "True Loves Kiss". Love my family. Definitely Blessed. Thank you, God.

Love/Valentine's Day

Valentines Day...I like it. Then again, I like to have a reason to celebrate anything, especially since having kids. I think I was single for every Valentine's Day, before I was married, lol. I guess it wasn't too good of a holiday for me :) I am pretty sure I liked someone almost every Valentine's Day, but when it came to romance/love, I fell into the category of unriciprocated love (I got that from the movie "the holiday"). You know Kate Winslet known as Iris in the movie said something to the effect of unreciprocated love with Jasper...that was me! See the guys I really liked, didn't like me and the guys that liked me, I didn't like. Grant and I started dating right after Valentine's Day in 2005 (February 18th to be exact). I didn't like him at first b/c I liked someone else...but somewhere along the way obviously things changed. So our first Valentines together was a memorable one, we had been married less than a month and he surprised me and went all out. Candles (around 300) everywhere, roses, rose petals everywhere, the fireplace going in our little apartment, and he made dinner. It was so fun! The next year, I said let's just do cards for each other, and he agreed. I am sure we did dinner and a movie too. He claims to not remember this, but he got a card for me and wrote "true that" on it with an arrow pointing to what was said on the card. I am pretty sure I was hoping for a nice love note, haha! I know I have the card somewhere, and when I find it I will show him b/c he says that doesn't sound like him :) The next 3 years are kind of a blur, Delaney was 2 1/2 months, then I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, and then last year I had a 2 year old and an almost 1 year old. We went to Lo Sole Mio probably all 3 of these years b/c we go there almost any chance we get to go out to eat. For sure, when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant because I dripped olive oil on my shirt. I think all my maternity shirts have stains - getting the food from a plate to your mouth when you are that large is a challenge. This year, I am a little bummed b/c Grant is working a double shift on Valentine's Day...Ewww. I told him that and he said, "You should just be thankful I am alive." (He was kind of teasing) I was like... what? Isn't that what birthday's are for? Seriously though, I am thankful we are all alive and well.

I get to spend the day with Delaney and Averey and that is always fun :) I will cut out hearts from construction paper and let them draw on them. The way they draw and do crafts, it might total 5 minutes total for that activity. I am definitely not the most creative, when it comes to art. Maybe we will make heart sugar cookies...we will see how the day is going :) I have cute Valentine outfits for them and I made Valentine hair bows for them. We will probably play dress up and dance to music, and who knows what else. I will enjoy every sweet kiss, hug, and "I love you" from my girls (but I always enjoy them :)).

I love LOVE! I am so thankful that God loves us just as we are and that he designed that feeling, emotion, or whatever you want to call it. It is such a gift to love others and be loved back. It so easy to take it for granted, when you have so many people who love you and you love back. Not everyone has people to love and be loved by, so it truly is a gift, a blessing.

So funny stories: Grant says to Delaney do you feel like you have stuff in your throat? What does it feel like that is in your throat? And Delaney says, "It feels like a clock is in it?" Ah, the funny things kids say....

Averey has thought she is 2 for quite some time now, and I haven't wanted to try and tell her she is one b/c she turns 2 in less than a month. However, lately some days she says she is 3 (maybe b/c sister is) or sometimes 5. The other day my mom asked Averey, "How old are you?" And she said "5" and my mom said, "you are almost 2" and she goes, "No, I not, I'm FIVE!" If you try to tell her she is almost 2, she tries to argue with you. Haha, so you never know when she wakes up, what age she will claim for the day :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day and feel so loved!

The Holidays are Back!

"The Holidays are back, Valentine is here!" was one of the first statements made by my 3 year old this morning. My girls loved Christmas time, just as I am sure most 1,2, and 3 year olds do. They are still singing Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells. We joke that Averey keeps getting better at Frosty the Snowman and maybe by next Christmas she will have it perfectly.

I told Delaney I would get her and Averey pretty pink nail polish for Valentine's Day. I don't have any fast drying pretty colors for them. She asks me all the time to paint her finger nails and toe nails. Yesterday, we went to Wal-Mart and got some Mickey and Minnie Valentines for her to hand out to her dance class and anyone else we may come in contact with the next month :) We got heart suckers and I picked out some nail polish for them. Oh and Grant (I can use his name now :)) I guess has been craving those sugar cookies with frosting, the ones right when you walk in the store, so we got mini pink frosted ones with hearts on it. Anyways, Delaney has been talking about Valentines Day like Christmas is back. She is very excited. The first few things she asked, after declaring the Holidays are back, this morning were "Can I have a Valentine cookie?" to which I said after lunch and "Will you please paint my finger nails and toe nails for Valentines?" (she actually asked this multiple times). I painted both Delaney and Averey's nails and they were so happy about it.

I love how the littlest things in life are such a big deal to them. For example, if they see a bug, it's like the most exciting thing. It's like that with so many things every day. I enjoy and appreciate it so much. It makes me laugh.

Highlights from today: So I was doing something and then thought: I hear running water in the bathroom...I peaked in and didn't see anyone, so I went in to turn the water off. Guess what? Sweet little Averey was sitting in the sink with all her clothes on. She climbed on the toilet and pulled herself up into the sink. The cold water was running full blast right on her. She was happy. Then just now, Delaney looked out the window and said, "Are the Holidays here...Nope, not yet?" (looking to see if there are lights out there) Good times :)

My First Blog Post

After thinking about this for a little while now, I have decided to start blogging! My sister-in-law Emily won me over :) The main reason I have decided to blog is for my girls, family/friends out of town or out of touch, and mostly for me, too :) You see, I love and cherish so many moments in life, and I want to remember them! I love to journal but rarely get around to it anymore. I try and write down precious milestones, sweet/adorable things my babies say, and events in life, but I am not always the greatest at doing that. I am hoping I will keep this updated and then be able to look back and remember life's moments more clearly and more detailed. I would say that I am definitely not the greatest at expressing my thoughts in writing or in this case typing. However, since this blog is mostly for me, I guess that takes the pressure off :) So here I go...

I have a wonderful husband (who shall remain nameless as of today - G****), who does not want me to use his name in the blog b/c he is leary of  blogging and all of the information people can get. I think he'll come around though - I am hoping by tomorrow :) We have been married for 5 years. We have the two most amazing little girls, Delaney and Averey they are 3 and almost 2. They are 15 months apart...Busy? Yes. Awesome? Yes. I cannot express how thankful I am to be their Momma. I have the BEST family ever (this includes my husband's family too)! My girls are SO loved and get so much attention. My parents are the greatest and I am extremely close to my siblings and sis and brother in laws. I also have great aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. I am so blessed with so many relationships.

I love the Lord, and my relationship with Him is the most important of all. He is the giver of all the blessings in my life, and I am on a lifelong pursuit to know Him.