Baytown Weekend

We were waaaayyyy overdue for a visit with NeNe, Pop Pop, and Carrie. So go figure that we were attacked by The Great Stomach Bug of 2012 on the day we were supposed to leave.

We disinfected the house for our dog sitter and trudged out by 11 (so grateful that Matt had taken the day off), making it to Baytown by dinner time. FYI, the Dallas to Houston route on 45 is a million times more bearable during the day than at night.

Anyway, we had a great weekend with family and took full advantage of the gorgeous weather by spending most daylight non-napping hours outside. Matt got to fish with his dad, the kids got to play at two parks, and I got to eat at my second favorite Tex Mex eatery (El Toro!!).

Since Blogger's app is atrocious, here are all our pictures at once and in completely random order. Sorry, I can't figure a way around that and I'm using our drive time wisely, so phone posting it is!

Avery Update

Avery's three. She is crazy. One minute she is growling or screaming at us in annoyance (teenage preview, anyone?), and the next she is giving us the sweetest hugs and cracking us up.

Today we'll focus on the happy side of our precious girl because that's the best part. :) (And in all fairness, that's the side we see the most.)

A refrigerator is a "fridgelator" to Avery.

She likes to hang "upslide down" whenever she can.

When she started gymnastics, she announced that she was going to take "dramastics" and be a great "dramasticer." She even told us that she didn't need the teacher to give her lessons because she could teach them her "tricks." But a couple months in, I can see so much improvement in her coordination and confidence. She can even skip and do a (preschool style) cartwheel and a back bend.

Any time we're in the car, we play one of three games: knock knock jokes, I Spy, or Simon Says. She always asks to listen to "the CD with the verses" (aka Hide 'Em in Your Heart-- we're old school!!). Some of the songs have helped with her Cubbie memorization, too!

Avery LOVES her brother. She likes to boss him around, but she really does love to play with him. She's so sweet with him.

She is a big helper, especially at the grocery store. She insists on putting all of the items in the cart and then unloading them to the checkout belt. I'm sorry if you've ever gotten stuck behind us in line.

For my own records, Avery wears a size 4/5 and a size 10 shoe. She likes to dress herself, so some mornings require some creative persuasion. Other mornings I just don't even pick the battle.

Avery is super independent. She insists on brushing her own teeth, getting her own water, feeding our dog, and pretty much everything else.

She's become pretty snuggly and LOVES to read. She sings and has dance parties with her daddy most evenings. She's a really cool mix of OCD and fun.

Avery definitely keeps us on our toes, but we're up for the challenge, and seeing her really "get" the things we're trying to teach her has been extremely rewarding. We love watching her grow into a little lady!

Landon: 17 months

Well, we skipped over the 16 month update (whoops), so here's what our big boy's up to at 17 months instead!

Landon fits best into 18 month clothes, but he also wears 24 month and 2T. (Now if it would just cool off enough for him to wear his cute fall/winter stuff!) He wears a size 4 diaper and size 6 shoe.

He naps anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours (usually closer to 1.5) and goes to bed at 7:30 (getting up around 7 each morning).

He repeats almost any word he's asked to, but he doesn't talk all that much voluntarily (although he's starting to change that). He somehow switched his word for water (a fairly typical "wawa") to "wawie", so that's pretty cute. Lately he's been saying bubbles, Bible, and backpack a lot. Add that to his favorite word (ball) and I guess he likes his B words!

Landon likes food. If you're eating in his presence, be prepared to share. He's a mooch.

If you give him a high five, be prepared for knuckles also (accompanied by a "boom").

He is a climber. If I turn my head for two seconds, he is standing up on the chair. If I haven't caught him immediately, he's also dancing on said chair. And if I startle him by my response, he will fall. On his face. By the way, our table is extra tall and I'm the worst mom ever.

Landon loves to dance, jump, do somersaults, and sing. The dancing is my favorite. :) He dances a LOT!

Landon smiles and laughs and loves to read and PLAY. He is active and fun and we love him like crazy!! Slow down sweet boy, you're growing way too fast!

Halloween 2012

We don't do a lot of Halloween celebrations around here (I've just never really gotten into it), but I do love an excuse to dress up my kids and eat candy!

We went the easy route on costumes this year. After making both of their costumes last year, I was lazy wanted a break!

Avery decided to be a ladybug this year, and when she makes up her mind about something, there's no changing it (I wonder where she gets that...). I remembered that a good friend's little girl was a ladybug last year, so I asked to borrow their costume (I have no shame) and then made a fuller tutu to go under it.

Landon doesn't get a say in his costume yet, so he was a Newsie!! I was going to make him a little messenger bag for his "papes" but ran out of time and decided not to sweat it. I just rolled up a newspaper section to carry around with him to help people figure out what he was. His costume was pretty simple since we had most of it. His shirt and vest were from his Easter/wedding/baby dedication suit, and we had some navy shorts that were too long (perfect for knickers!). I found the hat and socks at Children's Place online. Ensemble complete!

The kids had their costume parade at school on Tuesday.

Avery's class! She loves her teachers, Miss Holley and Miss Whitney!

And then last night we took them to a Trunk or Treat at the church where I grew up. My dad and Aaron, Chelsea, and Evelyn came over for dinner before we went, and Mom met us up there.

My mom actually had to restrain this boy until they could set up the blocks from him to run into.

This girl was serious about her candy choices. Next time I'm coaching her on how to pick the chocolate.

This was my favorite booth! They had to pick the dude's nose to get candy, and their hands got wet. HA!

I just want to point out that my three year old kicks with the inside of her foot. I'm a proud mama.

The kids had fun, but it was super crowded and made for a late night. Matt and I talked about just staying in our neighborhood next year since there are lots of trick or treaters out. We always like talking to people in our community, so that might be a better fit for us in the future. Eh, it's a ways out so we'll worry about it next year. Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween.

Bring on Thanksgiving!