Monday, January 31, 2011

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

It's official...we have a ROLLER! After much practice of terrible tummy time, this girlie is now rolling from her tummy to her back in both directions. And, she is also starting to get the hang of rolling from her back to her tummy. Not too much longer for the swaddle at nap and bedtime :(

Sunday Morning with Daddy

On Sunday, Tim let me sleep in and woke up with the girls...brownie points already for the Hubby :) This was the 1st day since Ella was born that I haven't had to get up and feed her or pump and it was so nice. I think I got about 9 hours of sleep and it was just wonderful!!

These girls are so lucky to have Tim as their Daddy! He is so patient with them and so much fun. The great thing about Dad's are that they are "Big Kids" themselves so it's always a little rougher, a little less rigid, and more of do whatever you want. I Love him for being such an amazing Daddy to our kids.

He got both of them in the highchair and took a round of photos...I can't believe they both fit in there together. Not for long!

avery says: ella, check out all your toys


ella to avery...i'm holding on because i think i'm going to fall out of this thing


avery to ella: don't worry baby, i won't let you fall


ella thinking: i really want that rattle - one day it will be mine, oh yes!


there are those smiles we love


don't you just love my commentary ;)

Friday, January 28, 2011

20 Weeks

Wow!! Time if flying by...and I thought it would slow down once the holidays were over. I was wrong. My baby is 20 weeks this week!! Ella is getting so big and has such a sweet, happy demeanor.

Ella facts this week:

She is a "private roller", and what I mean is that I will put her down on her tummy and go do something real quick and when I come back she is on her back. Then, I will sit there for 5 minutes or more with her on her tummy to get her to do it again and she won't! Every time people, every time! One time I'll catch her - I just have to. Besides rolling from her tummy to back, she is really almost there from her back to her tummy. Soon, she'll be rolling everywhere!

I can really get her to laugh now and it is such the best sound. She likes to be tickled and Avery and I love to blow raspberries on her belly.

Both girls were really sick last week and they were both really good patients. Even with the whole nose sucking thing Ella did really good. She's a sleeper like her sister so they mostly just slept the sickness off. Poor things, the worst sound is hearing your kids cough in their sleep :(

Ella cannot keep her hands out of her mouth...really anything for that matter. And, I think she is ready for food, food, food. She has been sucking her bottles down and staring us down when we eat. I'm ready for her to just grab it out of our hands and eat it herself.

Full on bottle baby now...it is taking me forever to wean myself so I have a huge stash of breastmilk in the freezer that she will be having for at least another month. Down to my last pumping to drop and then I can get this body back into shape. It's been great, but I am ready! Almost 5 months for someone who wasn't planning on nursing at all...I'm pleased :)

I was able to take some pics of her sleeping yesterday. Babies are so pretty and peaceful during sleep. I think we all are but by the time I'm asleep, no one wants to take a pic of me :)


love her little hands clasped together





such a tiny thing in her crib. swaddle and paci - you're the best!


always "eating" something


sticker-time with avery


smiley sisters


avery is ready to go shopping and to eat. 2 purses, watch and ring...at least someone in the family is wearing a watch so we know what time it is!


happy girl talked mommy into 3 cupcakes after lunch. she said she'd share with me and they were delicious. i love sweets!


got the highchair out today to see if we fit...sitting on a book and propped up with a blanket and it works! she really liked it until she grabbed her rattle and couldn't get it in her mouth - then she was pissed off. 1 more month and we'll be gobbling up real food. you can do it baby girl!


Here's some video of Avery and Ella before bedtime doing the "Gingerbread" as Avery calls it. I don't know where she came up with the name but she loves it. Ella doesn't get it at all but it's cute and I LOVE Avery's laugh on the video.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

My Blackberry is Not Working...

Thanks Dad for sending me this video...it's been a long week and I needed a good laugh!! Hope you all enjoy it :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Avery Chatter

Tonight as Avery and I were leaving Target, we unloaded the cart and then I pushed the cart with her still in it to the cart "parking".

I put it in the carousel and said, "Bye girlie, I'll see you later" kiddingly of course.

She replied, "No, Mommy! You can't leave me, I'm your baby's sister!"

Then she told me when we got in the car..."Don't ever leave me again Mommy, you would Miss Me!"

And, I told her of course I would never leave her and we would miss her very much.

And, then she said, yes because I am your Big Girl!

She's hilarious :)


Here she is so proud of finding all the letters in her name and spelling it correctly...oh to be a kid again!

Friday, January 21, 2011

4 1/2 Months Old

We've been busy these past 2 weeks...busy and sick :( Boo!! I hate when the kids get sick...it's so sad to hear them coughing at night in their sleep. Avery got it 1st and then Ella. Thankfully, both of them love their sleep and slept a lot through the virus. Even so, we've been having so much fun watching Ella grow and Avery and her interacting. You can tell that Ella is just itching to get moving. She is sitting really well now, almost all by herself and still not too interested in tummy time, but doing better.

She LOVES her bathtime and LOVES looking at herself in the mirror...any mirror actually.




mommy & ella - i love the surprise face :)


ready to go out in the snow and play. tim was sick so we had to wait for him to get home so i could go outside with avery. have to be honest that i'm not the biggest fan of playing out in the snow. it's beautiful and all, but cold and wet and those are 2 things i prefer not to be. but, the things you do for your kiddos...how can you not take her outside to play in the snow?


taking pics of each other


ella is really liking to stand so i thought i would get her exersaucer out...give her a couple more weeks and i think she'll totally love it! avery's already showing her the ropes.


okay...she kind of likes it already, but it's just another "thing" to take up space and unless she's loving it, it's back in the closet ;)


avery had to get in too - of course! poor thing couldn't get out though.


tim and his baby


tim took some pics of ella hanging out in her chair the other day. where's her sock?? such a dad pic!




yeah!! our hat is finally fitting. just in time for the super-cold weather. i'm totally biased but she is so stinking cute. i seriously could eat her up!






watching avery bounce on the bed...they don't look too sick to you, do they? we were getting some serious cabin fever!




if you have the wii and like to dance, go right now to amazon and order just dance 2!! it is AWESOME! avery loves it, i love it, tim loves it. it's our new after-dinner activity. and, let me just tell you...you will work up a sweat to these songs. it is so fun!! thanks molly and nana for suggesting it.

New Year's Eve with My Man

tim and i had the BEST new year's eve this year than we've had in a really long time! the 31st is always a tough day for tim because it's the last day of the year...close of the year so it's hard for us to make plans.

this year we went and had a totally chill, yummy, relaxed dinner at covino's just the 2 of us to start out the night. it was great! then, we were planning on meeting molly and don and a few of their friends at sambuca after we had dinner but the line was so long and it was freezing outside that we ended up coming back to our area and going up to the londoneer that just opened up in our neighborhood shops.

they had a total 80's theme going on and it was packed. they had set up a dance floor and had a dj and we tore it up on that dance floor, let me tell you. and, we aren't really that big of 80's music fans. we kept asking the dj to play some newer stuff, but he wouldn't or couldn't do it. regardless, we had such a great time ringing in the new year together. i love when tim and i get a chance to just do things sometimes by ourselves. we never have a bad time together and let me tell you, it was the BEST new year's eve kiss i've ever had and we've had a lot of new year's eves together. thanks baby!

before we left the house...a couple normal pics :)



at the londoneer...this was the strongest and biggest manhattan i think i've ever had!




dancing machines...check out the girlies behind him in their 80's fashions















dj, turn it up, up, up, up, up, up, dj, turn it up


cheers!! we're ready for you 2011!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Videos of Avery

Every 6 months I put together a DVD of our video that we've taken and I am way behind but what's new :) I was going through the video of Avery b/t 2 1/2 to 3 and pulled out some fun ones I thought I would share.

They made me smile on this dreariest of a week we've had in a long time. I hope they make you smile too...TGIF!! Bring on some better weather, PLEASE!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

What We've Been Up To, Part 2

Avery has been helping me give Ella her bath. She loves pouring the water on her...she is such a great helper with her. I love experiencing Ella with Avery. It's always more fun through a child's eyes.


The Lairsen's came over to eat, play and meet Ella before New Years. The kids had so much fun together...I can still hear their laughter. The adults had fun too!! It's so nice that the kids can play together on their own now and we can enjoy ourselves as well.

Dress-up time




2 sick kids...thankfully Dr. Kale has nightly hours


Brandon meeting Ella for the 1st time...I think she likes him :)


The many faces of Ms. Ella...this week:
i love the big eyes when you catch them off guard



avery around the same age:






sitting pretty good with some support from the pillow


aves and ella


avery jordan

we went on a walk the other day before all the cold weather hit and it was so nice. i'm ready for winter to be over already!!

avery and her baby and stroller and me with ella in her front pack and the stroller...just in case. i told avery she would have to be responsible for her baby and stroller the whole time because i wouldn't be able to carry it if she got tired...she said she would be fine with it so we crossed our fingers and left.




playing on the rocks by the pond before the sun set



one day i will get ella to look at the camera with me ;)


so...she got tired but instead of asking me to carry her stroller and baby, she did it herself. she cracks me up!


drool, drool, drool

brrr, getting cold on our way home. good thing we remembered our jackets!