Festivities

Ava came running into my bedroom the other night saying, "I am hiding from Daddy because he says it's bedtime!"
I said, "Then you better go to bed..."
She looked at me with an irritated look and said, "Would I be TELLING you this if I wanted to go to bed????"

Here is my sassy girl these days:




This picture is blurry but if you see the guy in the red Flash costume in the middle, it's Mase at his school Halloween parade. Standing in front of the whole school with a major power stance. LOVE this kid!



And just a few of my cuties at Halloween. I always mean to get better pictures but time gets away from us when there is candy to obtained from strangers!





Only 3 1/2 weeks til this baby gets here. The family is very excited and I am VERY done being pregnant!

My thoughts today

I miss my boy. Today we are celebrating his 1/2 birthday because 5 1/2 seems like a big deal to him this year. Yummy pudding-filled cupcakes with chocolate frosting and smashed oreos and worms on top. So... BOYish. Ava said, "Those worms are eating the Pupcakes! I don't want the worms to talk to me..."
The first week he was at school I had an aching in my heart. Seriously, I thought I would be fine, but thinking about the fact that I was no longer the center of his world cut me pretty deep. He actually happens to love school so much that he was upset that yesterday was early release. I am thankful for that. But this post wasn't even supposed to be about him...
My bond with my girl has grown SO much in the past 10 days. We spend our days doing "praw-jeKS" and crafts, reading books, dressing up, or just lounging around the house. And laughing. I really GET her sense of humor. Now I am not one that is into crafts or any art for that matter, but it is so much fun to see her get creative. She misses her brother and asks about him every day, but I know that both of us are treasuring this time until her baby sister arrives. Originally, I would have liked to have the spacing be a little closer, but I am SO grateful for this period where she and I can be alone for a few months.


To further prove my love for her, I have included a not-so-flattering picture of myself at 6 months pregnant, just because I know she is happy in it.

Now what am I going to do when I can't call them "MY boy" and "MY girl" because there just happens to be an extra one? (:

No tears were shed...

On the first day of school. And you better believe that was an accomplishment, not from my cute boy but from his pregnant and hormonal mom who had some attachment issues today. I think I would have felt better if I could have just watched him in his class for awhile...or had lunch with him...or gotten minute by minute updates to my phone about what they were doing ALL DAY. (:
No, but seriously, I survived and he loved it. He was a little quiet when I took him in there this morning but I heard all about his great day and the new friends he made. I was a little sad for Ava after we dropped him off. He usually sits in the back of the van and when we were almost home she said, "Mase, are you asleep back there?". Guess she didn't realize that we left him at school. And when I put her to bed tonight, I told her that we are going to play tomorrow after we drop him off at school and she said, "But he already went to school!" The adjustment is harder for some than others...
I noticed that he wrote "Mase" on the top of his paper instead of "Mason." I asked him if he told his teacher to call him that and he said, "Yeah... it's my nickname. And I LOVE my nickname!" So I guess that is what he will be going by in school. He is demonstrating his independence already. (As if he hasn't done that from the moment he was BORN!)


I didn't get a great picture because he was anxious to get into his classroom, but he is still adorable with this cheesy look on his face... miss him already for tomorrow.

Summer Highlights

Summer ends today for us. Mase starts school tomorrow and I have such mixed feelings about it. Before I can document my big boy wearing his new backpack, I need to play a little catch up. Here are a few pics of fun things we did this summer:

Back in June we took a trip to see my parents in Utah and also got to see some awesome cousins:




Then we had some fun without the kids at our Totally 80's party: (Did you know when you move to another state you can throw the EXACT same party again? We had a similar one in Portland- always fun!)






On the 4th of July, my kids had so much fun with cousins on Roland's side and their friends that I couldn't get them to stop for a picture. This is the best I got:



We went to Colorado in July and stayed in a cabin on the lake. It was beautiful and all of us had so much fun.










We also went camping but my battery died after two pictures. Here is one of them!



Because our yard is not yet landscaped, a rainstorm left us with a TON of mud in the gutter and street. We decided it would provide a good 3 hours of dirty play for the kids. Needless to say, they loved it! Now they are praying for another major rainstorm...







After all the fun, we are left with some satisfied and happy kids who are ready for their next adventure... I just don't know if I am!

So much to say...

But for now, even though we have told a lot of people, I just have time to post that we are getting another one of these this Fall. The pink kind!



We loved our first girl so much that we can't wait to have a new one! (:

Free

Our little Aves turned three years old last week. (She puts up her chubby little fingers and says, "I'm FREE now!"
We celebrated with the ultimate girly party. Fancy Nancy theme with 11 little girls dressed up in every fancy thing they could find. Ava kept saying, "I sure hope they like pink and purple!"








Here are the top 10 things we love about our little princess.

1. How much she adores our cat (and all animals). Cleo gets chased around all day but she is patient and makes Ava erupt in giggles constantly.
2. Her little budding attitude and stubborn ways.

3. The way she enjoys being glamorous and getting fancy.
4. The love and friendship she has with her brother.

5. Her new curls. (Yes, I know this one is a stretch but look at the picture below compared to the one above and see the progress!)

6. That she is EXTREMELY girly but still can have a blast playing with all boys and collecting rocks.
7. The way her voice sounds when she apologizes. And she says it over and over again... "Sorrrry. Sorrrry mom. I'm sorrry."
8. Her tiny feet.
9. How hyper and delirious she gets right before bedtime.
10. The way she strokes her lip with her finger when she is tired.

LOVE this girl and I am so thankful for her every day!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Ava found reading a little too tiring tonight.