Florida {Part 2}

And now the rest of the trip...

Wednesday morning was a super early morning for us.  Kens was sleeping on an air mattress in our room and Avery in the walk-in closet.  Avery woke early to eat and ended up waking Kens up at the same time (can't remember the exact time, but I know it was before 6 am).  Kensley was so excited to go downstairs and see Elli and kept asking us over and over if she could go down.  When Elli finally woke up, Kensley followed her around everywhere.  She kept trying to hug her, sit near her, etc.  It was so funny.

Kens was also smitten with baby Connor.  She loved him and always wanted to be near him.  She called him "my friend Connor".  Ha!

Wednesday morning the big girls, Nana, Papa and Uncle Scott headed out to the beach to play for a bit.  We spent the majority of the day by the pool and then we all went to St. Armand's Circle for dinner, ice cream and some quick shopping.  The little ones started to melt down as it got close to bedtime so we made a quick exit back to the condo.

Posing for "candy canes" (ie: Twizzlers).  Yes, we bribed the girls with these whenever we wanted them to do something (swim, jump in, pose for a picture, etc.).

Racing Papa across the pool (just for the record, she won)

Aves and her daddy

Oh these two...crack me up.  Look at those faces!

They took turns looking at different cameras.

So sweet.  She was probably saying "Hi, baby Connor."

One of many attempts at a group picture

I give up...at least they are all sitting, right?

Me and my sweet, Avery girl

Kens was adamant about pushing Connor in his stroller.

Look at that cheese face...ha!

Smiley girl!

My big girl

Not a great picture, but the only one of the two of us from the entire trip.

 Thursday, we spent the majority of the day at the pool.  Jeremy, Ashley and I were able to get away for a couple of hours to shop at the outlet mall.  Before dinner, we took the girls out to the beach in the late afternoon to play in the sand and do a little playing at the park.

Trying desperately to get a good pic of these two.  This is as close as we got.

Arms up!  I'm pretty sure they got a "candy cane" for this trick.

Sitting like a big girl!

Can I have your water, mom?

Looks like she loves cousin Connor, too!

Pausing for a quick, sandy hug

She loves to swing!

How cute are they?

Friday we spent the morning at the beach.  Then Nana and Papa stayed with the kids during their naps so we could have a quick lunch out with Ashley and Scott.  After a few more hours by the pool, we packed up and hit the road to head home (around 6:30 p.m.).

A little blurry, but funny picture.  Avery started patting Connor as he dove for a toy.

Cousin love!

Testing out the ocean...she wasn't a fan of the chilly water.

Riding the "horsey"

Bathing beauties

This girl and her cheese face...what are we going to do with her.

This girl has the longest eyelashes!

 We drove through the night again to head home.  Both girls did well again and Kensley ended up sleeping more than we expected her to.  I think she was just exhausted from the week.  Aves had a little bit of a rougher time and fussed every time she had to get back into her carseat after a stop.  We ended up getting home around 11:00 a.m. Sat morning.  I think the girls were thrilled to be out of the car.  Kens kept saying "Avery look at my new house" and was literally jumping and dancing around while we unpacked.

After being home several days, it seems like everyone is back into our normal routine and sleeping longer.  Thank goodness!

Thanks, Nana and Papa for such a fun week!

Florida {Part 1}

Last week, we spent the week in Siesta Key, Florida with my family.  My parents have been down there for the past 2 months and we were fortunate to be able to spend a week down there.  We had a great time and perfect weather all week.  Because I want to fully document for the blog book (ie: our family scrapbook), I have lots of pictures to post so I am going to

break this up into several posts.We decided to drive to Florida and determined that the best time (for the girls) would be to drive through the night.  We left around 3:30 pm on Friday afternoon and ending up arriving around 9:15 am on Saturday morning.  It took us just under 18 hours with about 16 hours of driving, stops for dinner, breakfast, bathroom/diaper changes, gas and feeding Avery. 

The drive went surprisingly well and the girls did great, especially with being in the car for so long.  Avery was a champ and a dream on the drive down.  When she wasn't sleeping (which she did a lot), she played quietly in her carseat or just stared at her sister.  Kens did pretty well also.  She watched several movies (Angelina Ballerina - her new fav and Mickey) and managed to sleep sporadically throughout the trip.  She was pretty excited and every stop we made she said, "We're here!  I want to see Nana and Papa."  She ended up being awake in the middle of the night from about 2:30 - 4:30 am happy as can be, just watching Angelina.  We finally shut it off and she fell back asleep for a while.

Taking off...we had to text Nana and Papa to show them that Baby Suzy was making the trip with us.

The condo mom and dad rented was great and very spacious.  Saturday we spent the morning at the beach and then after the girls naps, we spent the afternoon at the pool.  Saturday night was low key with dinner in at the condo and an early night (I think Jeremy and I went to bed at 8:30 after we finally woke up from sleeping on the couch!).

Ready for the beach!

Sweet girl...happy to be out of the car and heading to the beach!

Think she's a little excited?!

Toes in the ocean for the first time this year.

So happy!

Sweet pic of Kens holding her daddy's hand.

Toes in the sand for the first time.

Look at that face!  She isn't sure what she thinks about the sand.

Love the back of her suit!

Loving the raft!

Sunday morning we woke early (this was the theme for the week as the girls were usually up and ready to go by 6 am...they must have missed the memo that we sleep in on vacation!) and went for a walk on the beach to look for shells.  We spent the day at the pool and Kens surprised us by swimming alone (with her floaties).  We quickly learned that she had no fear and spent the week swimming around the pool and even into the deep end with her floaties on.

Sunday night we went out to dinner and then daddy and Papa went to catch a Spring Training game (Yankees vs Orioles).  Nana and I took the girls to the beach to catch the drum ceremony and play at the park.

Kens with her daddy

Searching for shells

She loved the water!

Quick stop at the park for a little swinging

The little fishy!

Dancing at the drum ceremony Sunday night!

Nana and Aves

The beginning of the sunset

She didn't want to leave

 On to Monday...we started the morning out at the beach, did a little shopping and spent the afternoon at the pool swimming.  Monday night Jeremy and I were able to head out to dinner while Nana and Papa watched the girls and put them to bed.  Only a few pictures from Monday.

Cheerio snack on the beach.

Pausing for a picture!

 Tuesday we spent the day at the pool.  Both girls loved the water!  Not only was Kensley swimming on her own with her floaties, but she was jumping of the edge and going under water.  It's amazing to see how comfortable she is in the water already!

Tuesday night we had an early dinner of pizza in the condo.  Papa went to pick up the Lindvall family at the airport, while we took Nana out for ice cream.

Aves has started pulling herself up on things.  She can't quite get all the way to her feet, but she ends up on her knees.

She loved standing on the step.

and floating in the tube

She looks so old here!

Picture with my girls.

The rest of the week to be continued in another post.

Avery crawls!

So Avery finally figured out how to crawl and we were able to catch a short video.  She hasn't figured out yet that she can crawl across a room, but she will go to objects close to her.

I love this video for several reasons.  First, we were able to catch one of her first crawls on video (the past few days she's done a few very short crawls).  Second, you can hear big sis cheering her on.  And third, you can see Avery's "frustrated face" mid-crawl as she sits, clenches her fists and starts to get mad.  This little girl is such a spitfire...we are going to have our hands full!

 

Avery: 9 Month Stats..

Today we had Avery's 9 month well check visit.  She did pretty well; however she showed that stranger anxiety is starting to set in.  She cried when she wasn't being held by mama, but calmed down as soon as I picked her up.

Overall the doctor said she looks great and is developmentally on track.  She does have a little cold (which we guessed), but she said it's a virus that is going around.  She seems to be at the end of it, so we're hoping it clears up soon.  Aves got one shot this time around and she calmed down relatively quickly after a quick cry (or loud scream).  In her defense, her appointment was right in the middle of her morning nap.  I always manage to schedule appts right during the girl's naps, no matter how hard I try to avoid it.  Their schedules always end up changing!

Avery is still our little peanut and is measuring on the smaller end of the charts.  The doctor said that she isn't worried and anticipates that this will be the new norm for her as it seems to be in her genes.  Here are her stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 8 oz (12%)

Height: 26.25 in (12%)

Head: 17.25 in (44%)

A side note and something to be celebrated: Avery slept from 6:45 p.m. last night to 7:00 a.m. this morning!  We didn't hear a peep out of her all night long!  However, big sis made a surprise visit in our room at 5:30 a.m. because she couldn't find her paci (remember the plastic ring she still sleeps with?)....we can't win.  Anyway, I went in to get Aves this morning and she was sitting up, holding onto the crib railing and just staring at the door waiting for us.  Sweet girl...it was so adorable I called Jeremy in to see her.

Avery: 9 Months Old..

It just doesn't seem possible that we are only 3 months away from Avery's first birthday!  Time is flying by and our little peanut is growing up too quickly!

Avery is still a happy little girl; however the past few weeks have been a little rough on her. We anticipate that she is teething as she isn't her happy self, very drooly, runny nose and pretty fussy and clingly.  We're hoping these teeth pop through soon so we can get our happy girl back.

Avery is pretty ticklish and produces the sweetest giggle when we tickle her tummy, neck or above her knees.  She still flaps her arms when excited and loves to bounce up and down in our arms now.  She gets particularly excited when big sis loves on her.  She often flaps her arms and hits Kens as she is getting hugs.  Kensley is so sweet with her and often just laughs as she is clobbered by Avery.

Avery is definitely starting to develop a more curious and inquisitive look as she checks out new things or tries a new food.  She is going after everything these days.  She is still not crawling yet, but manages to get to unexpected things.  She is scooting backwards, pivoting in circles and rolling everywhere.  She lunges forward from sitting to all fours (crawling position) and can then get back to sitting.  The other morning Jeremy went in to get Avery up and she was sitting up in the corner just smiling like she figured out something pretty neat.  Avery also loves to stand up and can stand hanging onto the ottoman and next to some of her toys.  She loves to pull herself up by holding our hands.

In the past week, Avery has learned to clap.  She seems to know what it means as we'll say "clap your hands" and do it ourselves and she mimics after us.  She has also been saying "da da da da".  I've been working with her on "mama", but no luck yet!

Avery seems to finally be a little more consistent with night time sleep.  She is still waking up in the early morning 4 - 5 a.m.  Jeremy will go in to give her ibuprofen (she's teething) or pat her back to get her back to sleep.  I usually feed her then around 6:30 a.m. when she wakes up for the day.  She is still typically takes two naps a day; however lately she has had a weird short nap in the late afternoon.

Aves is still our little peanut.  She is finishing up the last of her size 2 diapers, then will move into size 3's.  She's still wearing 9 month and 6 - 12 month clothes.  We have her well check appointment on Thursday so we are anxious to see what she weighs.

Avery still loves to eat.  She is loving her baby yogurt and prefers fruits over veggies: bananas, applesauce and pears.  I usually have to mix a fruit with her veggies to get her to eat them.  She loves to feed herself puffs, cheerios and Gerber cheese puffs.  This past week we introduced cheese and so far she seems to like it.

  

Our photo shoot this month was pretty short and definitely the most difficult yet.  Avery was all over the place and I was constantly watching her to make sure she didn't nose dive off the chair.