dunkin + henry

today avery asked me to take pictures of her with henry and then she insisted that dunkin join them as well.  she is actually not usually this nice to them.  i mean she has her moments but it's not all love.  in fact just earlier today i had to take a bracelet away from her because she was using it to hit henry on the head.  based on that she's pretty lucky that he was willing to stand next to her.  i think that all of the popcorn she fed him right before didn't hurt.  

they are such good dogs.  the best really.  they put up with a lot from her. and keep coming back for more.  or at least don't run away when they see her coming.  i hope she always loves dogs.  i can't imagine not having them around our house and they are the best companions.  i'm so glad that she can at least appreciate them some of the times and i'm so thankful they love her.      

ellie grows up: 7 months

oh ellie, you are seriously at the squishest, happiest, best baby age ever.  you're still such a baby but you are really enjoying interacting with the world around you.  what life is like for you at 7 months:

... you cosleep.  you love it, it's working for us, and i actually enjoy the snuggles most of the time.

...  you're a champion sitter and can get from sitting to your belly.  you actually sit in a 'split position' most of the time, which is funny to me.  

...  you want to crawl! but you really can't figure it out yet.  

...  you mostly like your big sister.  you guys are so cute together although she is a big sister, which means she can be a pain at times.  i know because i was one, too. 

...  you are loud! you squeal, yell, scream, babble, blow raspberries, and make indian noises.  of course you are at your loudest when we try and do things like eat out at a restaurant.  you also love to yell at your sister's gymnastics class.  i think the high ceilings and the music gets you really excited.

...  you do not like to be left alone.  you can play really well by yourself but prefer that someone else is close by.  

...  you've figured out how to digest solid foods and now are eating something twice a day.  pears are still a favorite but you also like mangos and bananas.  applesauce was not a hit and you don't really like vegetables either.  i guess only the sweetest things will do. 

...  you grab everything and immediately put it in your mouth.  you're actually pretty quick and strong so we have to be careful when we put things down near you. 

...  you love ollie.  you don't get to pet him much because avery usually is too rough and scares him away but you get so excited to pet him any chance you get.  

...  you are the smiliest baby every.  charlie actually pointed out that you tend to swing in both directions more than avery every did.  you're both so much happier and so much sadder than she ever was.  she was a pretty chill cucumber when she was your age.  

...  you're napping two to three times a day and sleeping about 10-12 hours at night.  i think you would sleep better at night but lately i've been having to change your diaper in the middle of the night once or twice and it's always hard to get you back to sleep after that. 

...  you love to stand and get the proudest look on your face whenever you do.  you can't pull yourself up but you love when we help you stand and will do so for quite awhile.  i think it brings a totally new perspective for you.

it is finally summmmmmmmer!

it's really no secret that i love summer.  in fact the amazing summer's out here are what get me through the long and cold 'springs'.  sorry colorado i don't really think you can call it spring when you're still dumping snow all over the ground.  anyway, it's felt like summer since our last snow on mothers day (horrible present by the way) and we have been enjoying every last bit of our warm weather.  

ellie has finally gotten over her hatred of the stroller and will now ride for a while (and usually falls asleep, which is an extra bonus) so we've been back to taking our usual walks that i missed oh so much.  and it only took me about 5 months to feel like the double stroller purchase was worthwhile but now i am so happy that we have it and i really love it.  we've even walked to the pool with both kids in it and loaded it down with all of our pool gear and it did great.  it's a little tricky to get into the back of the car.  our jeep juuuuust barely fits the stroller in the back and it's not the easiest thing to move around but it can be done.  unless we're going somewhere like the zoo or to boulder to walk along the creek and playground hop we usually just use our umbrella stroller for avery and the ergo for ellie.  anyway, henry always comes with us on our walks too and i promise avery that we'll stop at the playground at the end of our walk, which helps keep her complaining to a minimum.  sometimes she even falls asleep too and then i get a few minutes of quiet.  :)

i made avery her first ice cream cone the other day and she definitely approved.  she insisted that i keep reapplying sprinkles throughout the entire process.  we also finally have organic strawberries and blueberries at the store and have been eating a lot of fruit.  we even made strawberry pancakes for the first time and they turned out pretty good.  they were really sweet so i think the syrup is optional on these guys.  and we've also used our popsicle molds a few times and avery is definitely a fan.  i just froze juice for these but i know there's a bunch of different recipes for popsicles all over the internet.  the only downside to the popsicles is how messy they are.  they definitely require a bath or a dip in the water table right afterwards.

we've been hiking a few times and avery even did her first 'solo hike' where she climbed the whole way up to red rocks by herself.  she did great and was so cute when she had to stop and find a rock to sit on for a water break and a snack.  ellie's also done really well.  i've just kept her in the ergo and she'll usually sleep for at least part of the hike.  i've tried to move her to my back in the ergo but she wasn't having it so she's still facing forward.  there's still a few hikes that i'd like to do by the end of the summer but we'll see how ambitious we get.  right now i think the longest that we've done with the kids is around 3.5 miles.

we've also just spent a lot of time hanging out in our yard.  avery loves throwing the ball to dunkin and playing in the water table, although it's not as exciting for her as it was last year i think.  her favorite game to play outside is to take off all of her clothes and sit in the water table and dump water all over herself.  and when she gets chilly she requests a towel to wrap herself up in (she calls it a paper towel) and warms up in the sun.

  

our 'family' (ellie, too!).  please note that i am apparently the laziest walker of our group.

we also managed to make it back to the museum of nature and science the other week.  and this time the discovery zone was actually open and avery had a blast playing in it.  i'm definitely thinking this will be a great place to take her in the winter when we need to get out of the house.  it doesn't hurt that it's very dino focused and avery is really into dinos these days.  she 'dug for bones', played in an awesome water table, built things with blocks, showed ellie a thing or two, and we watched a dino show that she was really into before we checked out two other exhibits and left.  there were a lot of other things there that were geared more towards older kids so it's kind of nice that there's lots of room to grow there.  also, they have older kids as volunteers and they did a great job getting the little kids involved in the activities and showing them what to do.  

we've also managed to take a few naps, head to the pool (although it's been mostly a little chilly for the pool in my opinion), and grill some meals.  i love grilling because it means we always eat really healthy and also charlie does most of the work.  :)

thanks for being so awesome, summer.  i'm hoping to stretch the rest of you out as long as possible and i'm in no hurry for fall even if avery is already asking for 'trick-or-treat books'.  

happy two and a half, avery!

at two and a half you ...

... call daddy charlie about 90% of the time.  

...  call me honey about 50% of the time. 

...  you love your little sister and ask to hold her, and play with her, and help her do things.  honestly you're a fabulous sister almost all of the time.  but sometimes you will push her over for no reason and then smile sweetly at me while she cries.  

...  you are still pretty tiny!  some of those 2T pants don't stay up too well on you. 

...  you love to read and are mostly into reading to yourself these days.  you have quite a few books 'memorized'.

...  you want to DO IT YOURSELF.  i get it. 

...  you have informed me that i am your favorite girl, daddy is your favorite daddy, ellie is your favorite sister, and henry and dunkin are your favorite dog.  

...  you love to hear stories and request them all throughout the day.

...  you are independent.  you want to do what you want regardless of what other kids are doing. 

...  you love ice cream and marshmallows and popsicles.  you also love pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions.  

...  purple is your favorite color and you love butterflies.

...  you love to be outside.  

...  you are just starting to walk up and down steps and are very proud of yourself each and every time you do it.  you'll tell me, 'i walked up the stairs ALL BY MYSELF".  and then we high five. 

...  you refuse to wear jeans.  apparently they are "too tight". 

...  you want to help with everything.  and usually you do!

 ...  you play pretend all the time.  you have an amazing imagination and i hope it never goes away.

...  you love the water and fish.  you have a counting book that has 7 fish and one is a shark and you get mad every time we read it: "that's not a fish that's a shark".   

...  it's june but you still talk a lot about christmas.  i cannot imagine how excited you're going to be when it finally comes this year.  we still read christmas books although we've managed to put off your requests to watch the grinch.  

...  you've informed me that ellie is going to be a bear for halloween but you're not sure what you should be.

...  you love to dance and are officially requesting your first country song (yes!), which is "this is how we roll".    

...  you give the best hugs and tell us that you love us for no reason.  when ellie hugs you (i.e. grabs your hair and tries to chew on your face) you tell her "awww, i love you ellie".  

...  you sleep with bunny and tiger.  and are very specific about your bedtime routines.  if charlie is around you want him to put you to sleep.

you are so.much.fun.  i love this age you are at even though sometimes you are not very logical, i suppose that's to be expected.  but you are still the sweetest and i cannot believe that you're already two and a half, halfway to five!! crazy.  love you, little a.   

       

project 52:7

life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

i remember this day so well.  it was actually not very peaceful although this was a sweet moment.  charlie was in hawaii and ellie was in the stage where if she didn't get her first morning nap in then she screamed the rest of the day and didn't sleep until bedtime.  babies are strange.  BUT i remember that it was warm and march and we actually played a bit on the deck outside, avery threw the ball to dunlin for a long time, and avery and i ate chocolate chip cookies that my mom had mailed to us.  ellie spent a good amount of time in the moby wrap and i listened to free by zac brown band about a hundred times.  

project 52:10

we lose ourselves in the things we love.  we find ourselves there, too. 

-kristen.martz.

it's funny how people change over time i think.  i remember when i was pregnant with avery a lot of people were surprised because they told me they thought i would never have kids.  in fact, my mom was the only one who said that she knew that i would have them or at least want to.  i think for the longest time i thought of having kids as something that would happen in the far off future until one day i woke up and felt like i wanted them now.  anyway, even though i knew that i wanted to be a parent it wasn't really until avery was born that i wanted that above all other things.  charlie and i used to have these conversations about passion.  and he would say 'there's nothing you're really passionate about besides our family'.  and i think that's true.  i have interests outside of my family (although most aren't things i've found the time to dabble in lately) but my passion is being a mom.  this is only surprising to me because for the longest time i was adamant about being strong and independent and i saw those things as something that didn't really mesh with staying at home with my kids but rather building a career.  fortunately, i think i've found that you can be strong and independent and a good role model regardless of what your job title is.  i've also learned that independent does not mean selfish, although i think it can be hard to separate the two sometimes.  i sometimes will be folding laundry on the floor, surrounded by toys and ellie and avery and think, 'i am so lucky'.  some might say blessed but i think they're one in the same.  i never imagined that these things would be so satisfying to me but they are and i'm so thankful that i get to spend my days this way -- doing what i love with the people i love the most.   

project 52:6

 some things take time.

wow, i haven't been on this space much lately but that really means two things.  one, these kids keep me busy and two, charlie has been around a lot.  both great things.  anyway, i'm attempting to pull some of the pictures that i have of the two of them together from this year and this is an old one.  ellie was so tiny!  and it was winter!  so glad that she's sitting all on her own now and that summer finally did come to colorado.  also, avery is a great big sister.