To Avery on Your 3rd Birthday

From the moment you were born, I've always felt that you were an angel sent to me by God. When I tuck you in at night you often ask me to tell you a secret, and I usually say, "You are my angel and I love you so much!" I fell in love with you that first night at the hospital when you looked up at me and studied me so intently with your lips pursed in what we've always called "the whistle face", and my love has only grown from there! Knowing how special you are to me, it's sometimes hard to believe that God in heaven loves you even more! But I hope out of all the things I teach you, you learn that fact most of all. Over the past three years, your Daddy and I have so enjoyed watching you learn, especially since it is one of the things you do best. God has truly blessed you with the gift of intelligence and I hope you use it to do great things for Him. At three years old you have a huge vocabulary with words like "actually" and "definitely" and can carry on a great conversation complete with very animated gestures and facial expressions. Sometimes you talk just to hear yourself talk I think! You are so good at talking, however, that sometimes you get yourself in trouble arguing. But we are working on that! You can recognize just about all the letters of the alphabet and even know the sounds that many of them make. You can recognize most numbers 1-10 and can count up to 10 items. You know all your shapes and colors, can pick out rhyming words, spell your name out loud, and have begun trying to write some of the letters in your name. You learn new things so quickly--I tell you once or twice and you've got it down! Books are still one of your favorite things and you really look forward to our trips to the library. You enjoy reading to your stuffed animal friends at rest time, reading books to yourself in the mirror (ha!), and we often spend time reading together while Kendall is napping. Other things you really like doing are coloring, painting, and writing notes, playing dress-up and pretend games, playing doctor, laughing at your sister, watching all kinds of cartoons and movies (although we try to limit it to an hour a day), playing in the backyard, riding your scooter and tricycle, going to school, playing on the playscape with your friends after school, going to Bible class, shopping, taking bubble baths, and eating at Chick-Fil-A. You also like to sing songs a lot and you have started trying to sing in church lately. Some of your favorite songs right now are the theme song from "Land of the Lost", "Home on the Range", songs from music class that you'll be preforming in the Spring Show, and as always, "Jesus Loves Me." Even though you and I were both heartbroken that you were no longer my baby when Kendall was born, it really helped you grow and blossom into the little girl you are today. I am so proud of all the things you can do by yourself and of all the ways you like to help me. Kendall's birth and presence in the house also helped you and Daddy to develop a very close, special relationship over the past year or so. You really look forward to him coming home every day and to the weekends we he gets to stay home and play with you. Some of the things you and Daddy enjoy doing together are playing chase and "wrestling" or "tackling", running errands together, watching Star Wars, playing doctor, and you also like picking out Daddy's clothes for him when he gets home from work. I love watching you give Daddy his eskimo, butterfly, and "real" kisses before I put you to bed at night. You have such a tender heart and a sweet spirit that draws others to you. You are always hugging and patting your friends at school and you are very affectionate with Kendall, Daddy, and me. You have made our lives so rich and full of joy Avery. We love you and thank God every day that he gave us such an amazing and precious gift--you are truly one of His angels!

wearing your birthday crown from school at breakfast

loving on your sister

having some ice cream after playing and shopping at the mall today

sporting your new flip flops and sunglasses while "mushing the bag" of Memaw's friendship bread starter

Avery's 3rd Birthday!

We celebrated Avery's 3rd birthday on Saturday with a "Hello Kitty" party. We originally planned on having the party at Bear Creek Park in Keller, but we ended up having it here at the house since cold temperatures were forecasted (it didn't make it out of the 40's!). Both sets of grandparents, two of her aunts, and her three cousins were able to come and celebrate with us. For lunch we had some party trays from Chick-Fil-A (Avery's favorite!), which were a hit w/ kids and adults alike, chips and dip and a huge bowl of strawberries (also an Avery favorite) w/ fruit dip. Avery chose to open presents next. She got some Dsney princess books, Melissa and Doug lacing beads, a Dora doll with 5 different mini Dora adventure books and matching outfits and accessories, some activity books, a Beauty and the Beast play set, a Putt-Putt golf set, 2 Tag books, a game, and a bucket full of Chuck E. Cheese tokens along with a "coupon" for a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and a sleepover with her cousins. She really loves everything and she made us proud by doing a good job thanking everyone at the party for her gifts. The best reaction by far though was when I read her the coupon for the trip to Chuck E. Cheese and the sleepover--her eyes got so big and her mouth dropped wide open. It was really cute. After presents we had cake and ice cream. The same lady who made Kendall's 1st birthday cake made a cake in the shape of "Hello Kitty" for Avery. It was so cute and was very delicious. Avery blew out her candle before we even finished singing "Happy Birthday" and then started to try to poke her fingers in the cake and even tried to bite it before I had cut it!!! I guess she was thinking that we were expecting her to dig in like Kendall did at her party. It was priceless! Once I explained to her that only 1 yr. olds are supposed to smash their cake and eat it with their hands, she decided to wait for me to cut her a piece and get her a fork. Avery finished off the party by playing with Kendall and her cousins and her new presents-- especially the Putt-Putt set that her cousins helped her put together. She had a wonderful 3rd birthday party! Now it's off to school tomorrow for sharing "Little Mermaid" cupcakes with her friends!

the party set-up

Avery and Mimi

Avery and aunt Amy

family photo

Avery and Memaw

opening her Princess books and lacing beads from Mommy, Daddy and Kendall

reading the Chuck E. Cheese and sleepover coupon

hugging Dora, who now goes everywhere with us

playing Dora vet with cousin Brooklyn

checking out her "Hello Kitty" cake

"Good stuff Mom!"

playing putt-putt with cousins Bailey and Braden

Birthday Beauties

At the end of February, my friend Kerri who owns Freckle Face Photography was in the DFW area, so I had her meet me at Grapevine Springs Park in Coppell to take some pictures of the girls. I was most interested in getting some one year portraits of Kendall, but I figured we might as well do some of Avery too even though she was a month shy of being 3. Of course I'm biased, but I think the pictures turned out great and Kerri did a wonderful job making my girls look beautiful! You can check out her website at www.frecklefacephotography.smugmug.com. Here are a few of my favorites!

San Antonio

Last weekend we took a little trip to San Antonio, along with every other Texan judging by the traffic on I35 in Austin. Seriously, this was early afternoon on a Saturday and it was stop and go traffic from the north side of Austin all the way through town with no major construction or accidents visible-- ugh! My parents and I had originally planned the trip as something for the girls and I and them to do while Scott was in Mexico "shucking teeth" on the Edmond C of C Spring Break mission trip. The mission trip was canceled due to all the recent murders at the border, so Scott actually got to come along. I was disappointed for him about the mission trip, but it was much more fun having him along:) We arrived in time for afternoon naps and then headed out to a great restaurant at The Quarry called Canyon Cafe. Their chips and salsa were so yummy we had to bring some home with us! That evening my Mom put Kendall to bed and Scott, Avery, my Dad and I all headed to the pool. Avery was so excited about her first swim since last summer. She was so brave and went under past her eyes and she had a lot of fun jumping off the side (last summer she couldn't really jump yet and just sorta lunged). Sunday we hung around the hotel in the morning so Avery could swim again and Kendall could take her AM nap, then we headed to lunch and to the Children's Museum downtown. Since we just went to Sea World 1 1/2 yrs ago and Fiesta Texas would be too tough with a almost 3 yr old and a baby, we opted to try out some different activities. The Children's Museum was really neat with SO many exhibits and things to see and do. The kids pooped out before we even got through it all. After naps back at the hotel and a failed attempt at going to a Hibachi grill (they only had one Hibachi chef working and two tables of people already waiting), we ended up at Saltgrass for Scott's birthday dinner. Avery and Kendall really liked singing "Happy Birthday" to Scott after they brought his cheesecake out, and Avery got to have her very own chocolate sundae. Back at the hotel, Scott and Avery squeezed in one more swim before collapsing into bed. Monday morning we headed back home with a stop in San Marcos at Aquarena Springs. We took a glass-bottom boat ride and went to the little aquarium. It was pretty neat, but I wish we could've seen one of the old underwater shows they used to have there with "mermaids" and swimming pigs! Even though we didn't do just a whole lot on our trip, we had some good family time and enjoyed getting away!

catching some air on her way in

she was Daddy's buddy since he took her swimming so many times

learning about milking a cow at the Children's Museum

pretending to ride a trolley like the ones that run downtown

driving a front-loader and moving some rock

playing with some super strong magnets

Avery filled up her shopping cart at the HEB market- it was so realistic!

Dinner at Canyon Cafe--delicious!

waiting for our table at Saltgrass

singing "5 Little Monkeys" and jumping on the hotel bed

some pretty cute luggage!

glass bottom boat ride at Aquarena Springs

Avery's sleep-over

This past weekend Avery got to have a sleep-over on Saturday night at my parents house. We met my parents for breakfast Saturday morning and then her fun started from there. First, my parents took her to Toys R US and got her a Disney princess helmet and knee pad set to wear while riding my sister's horse, plus a pink Radio Flyer scooter. She's a lucky girl (and a little spoiled if you ask me)! Then they headed out to the stable for some horse riding and barn kitty petting. In the afternoon and evening she got to practice riding her scooter, paint, watch a new princess movie, take a bubble bath and who knows what else! Sunday she got to go to church with my parents, which is also where her aunt, uncle, and cousins go. She had a great time doing sticker books with her cousins in church and having them take her and pick her up from class. Although she was completely exhausted when we got her back on Sunday from not sleeping well away from home plus the time change, she had a great time with "Mimi" and "Poppi"and really got to do some special things!

I'm a Big Kid Now!

It seems that I am always blogging about Kendall since she is at an age where she changes and learns new skills constantly, but over the past 3-6 months, things have really been coming together for Avery. Although the changes in her and the skills she has learned may not seem as groundbreaking, they make a big impact when you add it all together! Some of her new skills are probably things that a lot of kids learn naturally because they are adventuresome, independent, or like to explore. But Avery never has been one to explore much or to get into things and make big messes. That said, here are some of the things she has learned to do over the past several months: dress herself (minus buttons, zippers, etc), put her socks and shoes on, open the refrigerator, help set the table, feed Josie (our lab), read books to herself, hop around on both feet and jump off of things, do a somersault, use her stool to turn on lights, go the bathroom on the big potty by herself, get up on her swing, ride her tricycle, color somewhat within the lines, truly play and interact with friends at school and church, and we are focusing more on her cleaning up her own toys and throwing dirty clothes in the hamper. She is just blossoming into an independent little girl! Although she definitely has her "moments", overall she is such a helpful, sweet little girl who talks so "big" and keeps us laughing. We are so proud of you Avery and are looking forward to many more accomplishments, big or little!