Play date

Don, Alyssa and Branoch came over on Sunday afternoon so Don could work on his Yukon. The boys did 'boy' stuff in the garage while Alyssa and I watched our little boys really interact for the first time since Branoch was born. He is so stinking cute. It is amazing that he is a now a little boy and walking since last time I saw him he was 10 months old. A lot can change in 3 short months at this age. Cael was intrigued by Branoch, but not overly so. They had the customary disputes over toys and established who 'Mommy' was, but other than that they played well. I actually thought they would interact more, but should have known better as kids this age don't really play together so much as they co-exist side by side. Regardless it was still fun to see and it was great to spend some time with the Sylvester's as it has been entirely too long since the four (seven) of us have hung out together.

Namma and No No

Our nephew (Nolan) got a snowboard (and gear) for his birthday/Christmas and wanted to test them out on a real mountain with some awesome snow (no offense, but Mt. Crescent in Iowa doesn't really count). Nolan flew out with Barb on the Friday before Valentine's Day (President's Day) and he and Ryan skiied all day Saturday and part of the day Sunday. Nolan had a blast and despite Ryan's complaints of being old, tired muscles and lack of energy, I know he did too. While the boys skiied, the girls (and Cael) hung out at home (and McDonalds). We love having guests (LOVE IT) and wish they could have stayed longer. Cael loves his Namma and No No and for days afterwards kept asking 'where'd No No doe' or 'where'd Namma doe' with a shrug of his shoulders and his little hands out to the side. I know the guys took pictures while they were up on the slopes, but I don't have any of those and once again I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to, but had to share the ones that I did manage to take.

Mornings during the week

Our schedule in the morning usually involves both of us getting up and while Ryan gets Aveyn's bottle ready, I head downstairs to make coffee. I hop in the shower and Ryan feeds Aveyn and gets her ready for the day (on a good morning, Cael is still sleeping). Ryan brings Aveyn into the bathroom and hops into the shower while I blow dry my hair and get ready. Lately, Aveyn has started to show a fear of the hair dryer crying every time I turn it on. In order to allow for the drying of my hair we have been putting her on the bed and turning on Mickey Mouse. I worked so hard to keep Cael from watching TV only to have it become a life saver later on and therefore have not worked nearly as hard with Aveyn (could be I am lazy or just that having two kids means sacrificing certain 'values'). Either way, Mickey Mouse has proved to be a wonderful asset in our family (similar to Curious George when Cael was about 12 months). When Cael wakes up early the two of them sit on Mommy and Daddy's bed and watch Mickey together... makes for a cute picture!

Videos of the kids

Ryan and I went to a work function on Saturday night for one of Ryan's customers (Mullen High School). Every year they host a Mardi Gras celebration, which includes dinner, drinks and a silent auction. This year we picked up a couple of things and one of them included a basket of books and a gray bunny for the kids. Cael LOVES books and was thrilled with the huge stack we set before him (we will give some to Aveyn too). On a whim, I gave Aveyn the bunny to play with and she loved it. It was so cute so I asked Ryan to get a video of the whole thing. Naturally as soon as the camera started rolling she wasn't quite as animated, but once again, I think you get the idea.

On Sunday afternoon we went grocery shopping with the kids. While Ryan and I were putting everything away, Cael started kicking the empty bags. Pretty soon he was having a blast piling them up and falling into them. I honestly have no idea how he didn't hurt himself, but it seems he had himself convinced that the bags made the wood floor softer in some way. It was pretty cute

Rice cereal

About a week and a half ago we started Aveyn on rice cereal thinking it would help her sleep through the night as she had gone from sleeping through the night to waking sporadically. We figured out later that it was probably caused by the medication she was on for the RSV and ear infection. Regardless, she will be five months next week and it seemed as good of a time as any to start her on baby food. I remember starting Cael on rice cereal and he hated it so we just moved right to the pureed fruits and veggies. He had a voracious appetite (still does) and had no problem transitioning from a liquid diet to one with a bit more texture. Aveyn is following in his footsteps in that she doesn't appear to really like the rice cereal (I have to admit I have tried it and it is not very good at all so can't say I blame her), but in addition she hasn't quite grasped the concept of swallowing, which makes the process somewhat difficult. We feed her once a day and will continue with that until she starts to actually eat as opposed to letting it dribble out of her mouth.

Once again, I know I am totally biased, but she is such a little cutie! She has the most beautiful smile and these gorgeous blue eyes. Combine that with her sweet personality and she is practically perfect!

Picture happy

I love taking pictures. I love capturing memories and reminiscing about the past! Now that we have kids I feel like it is even more imporant to take a lot of pictures because they change so much in such a short amount of time. I carry my camera with me everywhere and am constantly on the look out for a good photo op! Thank goodness for the timer on cameras, which has allowed me to capture numerous pictures that would otherwise go unseen. These next series of pictures were taken during the month of January and each have a story to tell! Enjoy!

Aveyn in her bouncer with her book. I loved how she looked against the color of the blanket! Not to mention it really shows off her cute hairdo!

Cael really wanted to hold Aveyn so I snapped about 20 pictures of them sitting on the couch.

Ryan put Aveyn on his chest and she was content to sit there and watch the TV. Then Cael wanted to get in on the action :)

I left work early to take care of Aveyn so Ryan could go to work for a few hours. Using the timer on the camera I snapped a couple pictures of the Zikas girls!

Twins!

Considering my only experience with kids stems from Cael and Aveyn, I have no idea whether or not all siblings resemble each other as much as the two of them do. Regardless, I can't stop taking pictures of Aveyn and immediately thinking of a similar picture that we took of Cael. I am fairly certain that they are the same age in the pictures (approximately 4.5 months) and I can't get over how much they look alike. They look like twins separated by two years as opposed to two minutes!

Night out with friends

On Saturday night, Ryan and I went out to dinner with some good friends of ours; Seth and Ellen. It was a much needed night out for both Ryan and I as life has been somewhat hectic around our house with a sick baby and a little boy who doesn't want to sleep past 5:00 am. We have been meaning to get together with the two of them for months, but couldn't make it work because of the holidays and four very hectic schedules. Ellen and Seth are expecting their first baby (a girl) in June of this year so we spent a lot of time talking babies, but also managed to squeeze in some normal conversation too (thanks mainly to the boys since I could have talked baby all night).

We went to dinner at Cheddars, which is a new restaurant just up the street from our house. We had good conversation coupled with delicious food and cocktails. It was an early evening, which is completely understandable and probably a blessing in disguise given Cael and Aveyn were up on and off all night long. Either way it was a blast. The four of us always have such a good time and Ryan and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their newest addition. I just know that Aveyn and Baby Christofferson are going to be the best of friends!!

Thanks to Seth and Ellen for a great night. Let's do it again soon (and much sooner than 3 months from now)!

The giggles

We bought very few things for Aveyn in terms of toys because we already had them for Cael, however, I did indulge and allow myself to register for a purple Bumbo (something girly amongst all the blue). I am so glad I did. From the moment, I opened Aveyn's Bumbo at the baby shower, Cael has been fascinated. When we got home, I pulled his out and now that we are starting to put Aveyn in hers it has been a wonderful thing to have two. When Cael saw Aveyn sitting in hers he pulled his up right in front of her and proceeded to make her laugh with his silly antics. I couldn't quite capture it on camera (she was really laughing), but I think you get the idea!