Ava the Turkey hunter

Tis the Season

Henry the elf has arrived and has been up to some shenanigans this year.  Ava gets the biggest kick out of his little jokes too.  She gets really excited to find him each morning. Brynn hasn't caught on yet, but Ava is really enjoying it. The girls have loved helping us get the Christmas decorations up this year.  As for me I've already gotten a jump start on my Christmas shopping.  I'm so proud of myself :)  I actually made the HUGE mistake of going to Walmart on Thanksgiving evening for one of their deals.  What a nightmare!  I will never do that again.

That silly elf!

very proud of all of her hard work on the tree

Henry took Barbie on a joy ride

Helping daddy put lights up

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Princess Fairies

They picked out these pajamas all by themselves. Ava of course had to have princesses and Brynn immediately chose "baby bell" for hers. Even over the super cute Minnie Mouse ones I liked. In this picture they are playing in their club house that we made out of a sheet and the dining room table.

snuggling up before bed

While daddy's away the girls of the house pile up in  one bed

Sisterly Snuggles

My babies snuggling in Ava's bed with her Christmas Flannel Sheets
watching a movie


 

Brynny also said her first sentence right before I took this picture!  She pointed to the pillow and said "Ava's night night pillow"  and it sounded like "Eva night night payow"

They have been up there just a giggling and squealing for about 30 minutes.  Music to my ears :)

Abby bite

Ava Michele at 4 years and 3 months

Ava is a big girl now...no longer a toddler that's for sure.  She loves her sister but doesn't like sharing with her, especially me.  She's starting to play much better with her as long as Brynn doesn't touch anything.  She would prefer Brynn just be a blob that was present but didn't actually play with toys.  Ava still likes everything in it's place and just the way she likes it.  While her sister annoys her at home, she gets really upset if Brynn doesn't play with her at school or when other kids are around.  She wants Brynn to herself and doesnt like other kids playing with HER baby.

The other day she asked Steve "Daddy why do I have to have curly hair?  All the other kids have straight hair"  Steve said "and so it begins..."

Today she told me "mommy tomorrow I'm going to be very sick so I can't go to school"  I said "no mommy is going to work tomorrow" and she said "Alma can babysit me", I said "no Alma is babysitting other kids"  then she said "okay well Lisa (Alma's sister) can babysit me then"  She's only 4 and already has the playing hooky thing down.

She loves cuddling, snuggling and sleeping with us at night.  Most of the time she sleeps in her own bed, but from time to time she'll sneak into our bed in the middle of the night.  While some parents might find this annoying, I find it endearing and it melts my heart. 

She hates soccer, refuses to play. 

Loves art and coloring us pictures.  Always sings us the daniel tiger song "making something is one way to say I love you"

She loves surprising us with things she's made, built upstairs or by cleaning her room and making her bed all by herself.

She LOVES playing outside in her club house and making "pies" and "soup" out of mud.

Brynn at 18 months

This is my favorite age!  If I could freeze time right now I would.  Brynn is picking up words at warp speed and her vocabulary is growing by the day.  She's also putting two words together now and tells me when she has pottied in her diaper.  Her personality is really coming out and she has totally taken on the stereotypical little sister role.  Ava will be playing with something and Brynn will run up all stealth like, snatch something and run for her life with a huge grin on her face.  She gets the biggest kick out of it too! Ava chases after her screaming and yelling and Brynn just runs faster and laughs harder.  It's hilarious to watch.

She can name all of her body parts, some colors and some alphabet letters.  She's already wearing a 2T and the same size shoe that Ava wore at 2 years old.  She looks so much like me when I was little it's almost weird sometimes.  She loves her sister so much and lights up when Ava walks into the room.  It's really cute in the  mornings because Brynn is always up first and when she see's Ava coming down the stairs she lights up, screams her name and runs to her to give her a big hug.

Things Brynn loves at 18 months:

• putting on makeup
• "curling" her hair
• shoes
• buckling and fastening things
• Baby Bell (Tinkerbell)  all figures with a blonde bun are baby bell, so cinderella is actually baby bell.
• baby dolls and feeding them
• bath time
• raisins, almost all fruits, yogurt, gummies, applesauce...okay just about all food
• her binky
• her blankie
• slides- she climbs and slides all by herself
• putting lids on things
• climbing in the car and getting into Ava's car seat
• pinching people
• telling everyone "no no no" while pointing her finger
• Coloring- and she can hold a pen and crayon like an adult
• coloring on my cabinets with my makeup
• sneaking markers into her bed- she's got prison tactics according to Steve
• wagon rides- she will trample other kids to get the wagon at school
• Sesame Street, Daniel Tigers Neighborhood and Barney

Things Brynn doesn't like at 18 months:

• diaper changes
• hair washing
• clothes that restrict her from finding her belly button
• Jeans or any kind of restrictive pants
• getting dressed
• teeth brushing
• being told "no"




Brynn's nap time artwork...she was also covered from head to toe in red ink