Family Vacation!

We've been to a lot of places for vacation as a family, but one thing we've never done, until this year, is go see the snow!

For the last week we've been in Breckenridge, CO. We enjoyed the family time, the weather, the sight-seeing, and letting the girls see/touch/taste the snow for their first time! Ava even braved Ski School all by herself!

It was an experience from the beginning of the trip until the end. It started - and ended - with a 15 hour long car ride there (yes - we drove), but surprisingly enough, the girls did remarkably well. (It could have been because we loaded the car up with anything and everything we thought stood a chance at entertaining them for that long)! We visited the Children's Museum, played lots in the snow, Michael was able to snowboard for the first time and we just enjoyed being around family.

It was amazing. It was relaxing. It was exactly what we needed.

Growing So Fast…

Seems like there is never enough time in each day, week or month to cherish the everyday moments we have with our girls, so I do my best to capture them on this blog and with my camera.
Here are a few recent moments too precious to miss.

I love the way Ava is always trying to help Emma. She loves her baby sister. The other day Ava was pushing her stroller around when she turned to Emma and said, “Come here, sister, push with me. I help you!”

Emma loves whatever Ava is playing with. This is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Recently Ava was playing with her easel in her bedroom that we got her for Christmas (it is a dry erase board on one side and a chalk board on the other). I came around the corner to find Emma covered in marker. Apparently she thought her skin was also a dry erase board?!

Babies. Babies. Babies. There are not enough baby dolls in the house to keep Ava content. She loves her babies, and all the stuff that comes with loving babies. For Christmas she got a shopping cart that has a spot for a baby to sit, so her new favorite thing is “taking her babies to the store.” Her birthday request? A double stroller so she can push two babies around at once! I’m pretty sure her Gram is going to make that one happen…J

A few days ago we were able to take the girls to ZooLights with my mom and step-dad. We were supposed to go before Christmas, but didn’t make it, so we had to make sure we went before they stopped. They were both bundled up for the cold, watching the lights in awe. I think Emma said, “Wow” about a thousand times! Ava’s favorite thing there – the carousel. She rode it 4 times, once with each adult there!

Most recently Emma heard someone sneeze and started giggling! So now, it’s a game. She says, “Ahh” and someone else will say, “Choo” and then she laughs and laughs. Her laugh is so contagious; it’s the cutest thing ever.

Ava now knows all of her letters and can spell her name and Emma’s name. We are so proud of her! For a while Emma’s name was E-M’s-A, but she now knows that there are two M’s in Emmas name and spells it correctly!

Small updates from our everyday moments...

Priceless Moments

All too often we become busy with the things of life forgetting, or moreso taking for granted, the priceless moments that pass by. This is an attempt to capture some of those most recent encounters...

Emma:
-Kissing with her mouth WIDE open!
-Saying "whoa" to animals and things that are much bigger than her.
-Chasing (and by chasing I mean crawling really fast) your sister around the room, laughing hysterically the entire time.
-The happy circle dance she does. If she gets excited she squeaks and spins herself in a circle on her booty.
-Standing up all on her own - most often it is to reach the coveted sippy cup of Ava or food!
-How excited she gets when we walk in the room to pick her up from school - often resulting in the happy circle dance!


Ava:
-How gentle she's become, wanting to cuddle on our laps and watch Mickey Mouse.
-How she's already memorizing scripture. Psalm 139:14, "God made me" is her first verse.
-How were trying to teach her manners. By manners I mean saying, "Excuse me" when interrupting adults speaking or by saying, "May I please be excused" when she's done with her meal. Her versions, "Excuse you, Mommy" and "May I excuse you, please?"
-How she's been dealing with her own separation anxiety, but when she sees her friends deal with it, it's a different story. She walks over to them, puts her hand on the pack and says, "It's ok."
-How she prays with both of her eyes always open watching to see what we're doing. And how she always prays for her friends and family - most often by name.
-How she adores her baby sister. Playing with her, teaching her new things and protecting her.
-How she sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night, and yes I mean sneaks! Last night, before we went to sleep she had crawled in and fell asleep, lights on and all. Hard habit to break, I know, but every once in a while, I just enjoy the cuddle time.

We couldn't ask for anything more in life than this. So grateful God blessed us with these two girls.

*photos taken by Ginger Morby

KidFaire

This weekend we went to an event called, KidFaire. It was supposed to be a fun, community wide event that had lots of stuff going on for younger kids, so we headed out! My mom and step-dad decided to join us, for what was surely going to be a fun day of excitement for both Ava and Emma. Oh, and did I forget to mention that the MAIN REASON we even went was because the princesses were supposed to be there (the real Disney princesses, that is). Ava LOVES the princessess now days... so we wanted to facilitate their introduction!

When we arrived, we should have just turned around and left. What we found was a mob scene of parents and strollers, some of which were using their strollers as bumper cars! Yikes! We waited in line for about 30 minutes just to get the tickets, and then made our way inside.

Once on the bottom floor (it was on the ground level of the local football stadium) we were finally able to figure out where to go to see the princesses. After wandering around for about 20 minutes we find "the princess headquarters". Let me just tell you, that all the "princess headquarters" entailed were some paper crowns, nail polish and paper wands for kids to glue. All fun things for a little girl - but the Cinderalla encounter we were hoping for was not going to happen. We were bummed.

We were able to have some fun walking around, the girls met Larry and Bob from VeggiTales, jumped in a bouncy and Ava even did the bungee jump (in the picture) although, I’m not sure she was too thrilled! In my defense, I didn't force her to do it, she asked to. :) Just felt the need to throw that out there!

Emma was able to see a camel for the first time, at which she said, "Whoa" as it approached! Too cute. All in all, if you could get past the stroller nazis it was an eventful morning. Will we go again next year - probably not. But hey, when you pay $5/person to get into something you have to make the best of it!

Staycation = Potty Training Success!

This last week has been amazing! Michael and I took 8 consecutive days off of work and have just stayed home. No plans. No agenda. Just good, old fashioned, quality time.

Steve and Tammy (his mother and step-father) came into town to visit for a few days. We were able to play catch up with them, and just relax. It was really nice. We went to Scottsdale with them for a few nights, relaxed by the pool and of course they enjoyed some golf.

While on our vacation, we took on a challenge. Quite possibly the biggest parenting challenge we have had to tackle thus far...potty training. We were (I was) determined. Thursday night when we got home from work, the switch took place. From then until the present, she has been in panties! There was a lot of laundry done the first 48 hours, but after that it clicked for her. It's now been 14 days for her and she's only had a handful of accidents! Thank you, Jesus!

We also had our follow up appointment with the surgeon for her umbilical hernia. The surgeon would like to operate soon because the size isn't decreasing, so her surgery will be on Sept. 8th. Please pray for her. It's a simple procedure - outpatient - but she will still be required to go under anesthesia. The recovery will be approximately 2 days at home with no climbing or heavy lifting.

Emma officially hit the 9 month marker, is off the bottle and on table foods. Can't believe it. She's growing up so incredibly fast, it doesn't seem fair.

All is well in our home. We love being a family and love the time we get to spend together.