I love these kids

I take a lot of pictures and sometimes I just don't have the time to create a post for all of them, but I still have to share them with everyone because they are ADORABLE!!!!

She wanted my camera!!

He LOVES to build things with his Legos!

Look at that face...she is definitely up to no good.

Lounging in the backyard in my super cute Adidas outfit!!



Cute little troublemaker and he knows it!

***Blogger has updated their site, which has affected my how I upload pictures and create posts and I hate it. I am still trying to navigate my way through, but so far I am not pleased.

{Cael} - Quick Update - Swimming

Despite the fact that Cael is a wonderful swimmer, we have decided to pull him out of swimming lessons for a few months and focus on something else. He wasn't listening, refused to get in the pool and was a wreck. Therefore we have decided to try 'tumbling' or gymnastics as an alternative.....will keep you posted!

Bapa is back

My dad flew into town for a quick visit this past weekend and it was great to see him. The kids adore him and of course, Ryan and I love getting a chance to spend more time with family. Even though it is hard to do much of anything with two kids who nap back to back {Aveyn naps from 10:00 to noon, Cael naps from noon to 2:00 and Aveyn naps from 2:00 to 4:00}, we still had a lot of fun hanging out and watching the kids play with their Bapa.

Bapa accompanied Ryan to Cael's swimming lessons and Cael did much better than he did last week, which is great news because he needs to start listening better before he can move up to the next class. Dad, the kids and I also took our customary trip to the park where Aveyn had a BLAST on the slide and Cael had fun trying to get into as much trouble as possible {luckily, Dad and I make a good team}. We hired a babysitter on Saturday night and the three of us went out to dinner at the Fresh Fish Company. Dad remembered it from his days working here in Denver and was actually able to help me find the restaurant since I had never been there before {I was impressed}!

Naturally we didn't take ANY pictures of the three of us at dinner {not happy} and even though I took a couple of really cute pictures of Bapa with his grandbabies, I didn't get a chance to upload them to my computer before he left. Regardless, it was fun and we will miss him. See you in December, Bapa!!!!!

{Aveyn} - Quick Update - Milestones

Aveyn knows the sign for 'more' and will shake or nod her head when asked a question {not all the time, but she definitely understands yes and no}. She is also a crawling fiend and has been for about a month now. It won't be too long before she is walking! 

{Cael} Kids Say The Darndest Things

The four of us were in the car and Ryan leaned over to give me a kiss. From the back Cael says 'Daddy, keep your mouth to yourself'! Both Ryan and I weren't sure we heard him correctly until we asked him to repeat what he had said and he said it again. LOL - funny :)

Update {Aveyn} - 12 months

Aveyn had her 12 month appointment today and I wanted to update everyone on her stats and overall progress:

Weight: 19 lbs 5 oz {17 lbs 4.8 oz at nine months}
Height: 29 1/2 inches {28 1/4 inches at nine months}
Head Circumference: 46.5 cm {45.7 cm at nine months}

She is in the 25th percentile for weight, 70th percentile for height and 85th percentile for HC. The appointment went really well since she is now doing all of the things {and more} that they had asked about at her 9 month appointment. We were eventually told by our doctor that the questions they ask are geared more towards a 12 month old {um, then why do you ask them about a 9 MONTH OLD}. It doesn't matter because the PA {physician's assistant} that examined Aveyn at her nine month appointment was not our regular PA. All I care about is what our doctor and PA have to say and they think that Aveyn is perfect {funny....so do we}. Anyway, we talked about weaning her from the bottle and although Aveyn is not overly attached to the bottle, she has yet to grasp the concept of the sippy cup and does not take in nearly enough to replace what she gets from the bottle. She is on whole milk, which is a nice break for our pocket book and had no problems transitioning. Currently, Aveyn only has two teeth, but Dr. Connie assured me this is normal and we will probably start to see more teeth forming soon. She got three shots including the flu shot and WAS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. With Cael we always had a bottle ready to give to him after his shots, but it took a lot of planning and was stressful. Either way it doesn't seem to matter because when this little girl is upset she doesn't want anything to do with any of her normal comforts {Mommy, pacifier, toys} and prefers to scream/cry until she has gotten it all out of her system. She actually swats or bats things away and if you hand her something she will throw it on the ground as if to say 'I am upset and CANNOT be pacified'! Aveyn still has issues with bowel movements and once again, it was suggested that we give her pear juice or prune juice. We have tried, but have been unsuccessful in the past. Poor little girl, it breaks your heart watching her try to pass a stubborn stool {I think most women can relate - unfortunately}!

I am amazed at how different Cael and Aveyn are both in personality and their stats that it amuses me to provide Cael's 'measurements' for comparison!

Weight: 26 lbs 5 oz

Height: 31 1/4 inches

Head Circumference: 47.8 cm

Happy Birthday baby girl!

I say this all the time, but I cannot believe how quickly the time flies. It literally seems like yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital and now here we are a year later. It sounds so cliche, but she has brought so much joy to our lives it is hard to imagine life prior to her birth. Ryan and I have really started noticing how much she is changing and growing up, which of course is a lot of fun to witness, but also reminds us of how precious these early years are and that we should cherish them.

We threw her an impromptu party while my mom, Kyli, Chris and Veronica were here. She didn't really understand the concept and Cael and Veronica seemed to have more fun than Aveyn did, but it was worth it {if for no other reason than the pictures}. I had a hunch she wasn't going to dig into her birthday cake, which was fine with me and she wasn't that interested in the clothes, but she did love the wrapping paper and boxes {true testament to a one year old}. She really liked the doll that Kyli, Chris and Veronica bought her and I know one day she will have a better appreciation for all of the cute clothes that Nana and I purchased.

It was a great {last minute} party and I am so happy that it worked out where we had some family in town to help us celebrate because we weren't planning on doing anything {special} for her birthday.

**I had to post a picture of Aveyn at the hospital the day after she was born and a picture of Aveyn on the morning of her first birthday right before Ryan, Cael and I sang to her!?!?!

Aveyn's book: Year One

Click here to view this photo book larger

Wild women

There is nothing like wine, a camera and willing photographers to turn my mom, sister and I into three raving lunatics {we think we're cute}! On Saturday we headed out to buy some things for Aveyn's party and it sort of turned into a shopping spree for us instead. We literally could not walk more than 10 feet without one of us getting sidetracked. Kyli bought a pair of cute pajama pants while Mom and I opted to forego pajama pants in favor of other stuff. However, once we got home and she came downstairs wearing them, both my mom and I fell in love. With just enough wine in our system to make us dangerous {with credit cards, not behind the wheel}, we loaded up the 'girls' for a trip back to Target so Mom and I could buy a pair too {yes, we took Aveyn and Veronica with us}. I am not saying the pants are special by any means, but they did lend a certain magical feeling to the partay {the guys felt it too they just won't admit it}! Good times!!!

ThE KiDz - CaEl, VeRoNiCa aNd AvEyN

Ahhh, these little babies make me smile. Okay, so they're not so little anymore, but they still make me smile and I still think of them as 'little babies'. Aveyn is quite the actress with her big blue eyes and long eyelashes; not to mention her coy gestures followed by innocent expressions and sweet, simple baby-ness! I was trying to change her for bed and in an effort to distract her, I put a headband on her and she started hamming it up so much so that we were all screaming for someone to grab a camera!

Speaking of hamming it up for the camera, Kyli put Cael and Veronica on our overstuffed chair to take some pictures and the kids had fun making faces and being silly while she did her best to capture some cute {and funny} memories. Umm, I am sorry, when did these two learn how to really 'ham' it up for the camera? What happened to my babies?

My mom, Ryan and I bought Cael an indoor jungle gym of sorts around his first birthday and it has proven to be a WONDERFUL investment. The three kids had fun jumping, rolling, crawling, flipping and sliding off of it all while trying to avoid the dogs and their kisses, tails and paws! Aveyn and Veronica held their own for the most part, but we had to be careful to make sure Cael didn't bowl them over or take them out with one of his jumps/flips {he is ALL boy}!

P.S....I had to include this picture of Aveyn gnawing on a can of Fat Tire courtesy of her father!! I tell you, some of the pictures we have, you would think our 1 year old daughter was an alcoholic {I swear, she just likes to gum the bottles/cans}!