#3...

That's right...we are set to have two big sisters mid-July 2013!!! 
Baby #3 is on the way!

 

We are excited and can't wait to find out if the girls will have a little brother or sister.  Kensley says that she wants a baby brother as "we already have a little sister".  Ha!

 

 

Here is how Avery really feels about not being the baby anymore! 
She was done with pictures this day!

 It's been a rough couple months as I was hit hard with nausea and tiredness.  I've been taking some medicine for the nausea which has helped some, but brought about it's own side effects (I'll spare you the details).  I'm just over 14 weeks now and into the second trimester.  I think my energy is coming back as I no longer pass out on the couch before 8 pm!  Hoping the nausea subsides soon as well!



Avery: 19 months old...

Avery Leigh is 19 months old!  In fact she is the exact age that Kensley was when Avery was born.  It's so crazy to think about as Avery seems so much younger than Kensley was at this age.

Showing me her bracelet

Avery continues to be a feisty little thing.  This girl is so much drama and full of personality.  She knows when she's being funny, ornery and naughty.  Whenever she hears the word "no", she usually continues what she was doing or tucks her head down and gives us this little innocent look.  She has a silly side to her and knows when she's being funny.  She loves to hide (as evidenced below) and especially loves it when we say "Where is Avery?" while she is hiding.

Avery still communicates best with her jibberish talk and pointing at what she wants.  She continues to try new words and phrases and some newer things she says are: ohl me (hold me), geen (again), peese (please), mammi (Grammy), moe (more), etc.  Also she says thank you a lot and always uses it appropriately.  The funniest is when she thanks us for kissing her boo boo's and usually repeats thank you over and over until we acknowledge and say "you're welcome".  She "sings" for us often and seems to always be carrying on some kind of tune.  She loves to dance and is quick to show us her moves whenever music comes on.

The girls have been playing really well together lately.  In fact, they will go off somewhere in the house and I am often told to leave when I go to check on them.  Avery loves to try whatever big sis is doing and usually follows her around.  We have to watch Avery closely as she tries to climb, jump and "do" whatever Kensley is doing.  Kens continues to have a vivid imagination and is often quick to come up with things to do and play.  Avery is usually eager to follow along with the latest "pretend" play, unfortunately things are very literal to her these days.  Today Kens decided they were going to the splash park.  So it entailed putting on swimsuits and visiting the "splash park" that was located in our guest bedroom.  Aves was so excited about putting on her swimsuit and following sis around.  She got frustrated quickly though when she realized we weren't going swimming or to the splash park.

Kensley's fake smile for some candy.  I had to bribe them for this picture.

 Avery is still pretty clingy to us in that she loves to be held and often wants to snuggle or sit on our laps.  She likes to know what everyone is doing at all times and usually follows us throughout the house.

 

Avery loves to have her picture taken.  She'll often pose for me (as she did above) and will say "cheese" until I take the picture.  She then runs over quickly as she always wants to see it on my phone or camera.  She also loves to look at pictures, especially of people she knows.

 

Happy 19 month birthday, Avery Leigh!

Avery: 18 Month Stats

We had Avery's 18 month well check visit yesterday (however she turns 19 months tomorrow).  Overall the doc said she looks great.  She of course had some dramatic meltdowns, but recovered quickly as soon as I was holding her.  Big sis went with us and was great about offering support and encouragement.  She kept telling Avery, "Don't worry, I'm right here.  There's nothing to be scared of."  Aves got two shots and as usual the worst part for her was being held down on the table.

 

Here are her stats:

Weight:  22 lbs (13%)

Height: 30.75 inches (16%)

Christmas {week} 2012...

We had a fun and eventful Christmas week filled with lots of family, presents and swimming!

 

We had our first Christmas the weekend before Christmas.  We went to my parents and celebrated Christmas with the Zurchers on Sunday.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this day as our camera battery died.  This is the only picture I have as we attempted to get pictures of the kids before church.  Kens was in a bad mood and Avery was the only one cooperating.

 

 

Monday (Christmas Eve) we spent with the Roberts.  We had a full day of food, opening presents, naps, and playing with new toys.  The girls love their new presents!

 



Pretending to sleep in her new sleeping bag

On Christmas morning, we woke up and had breakfast at our house and opened presents here.  I grossly overestimated the time I thought it'd take us to open presents.  While we didn't get the girls a lot, they still flew through the presents in record time.  It ended up working out well though so they could spend time playing with what they got.

Loving her new scooter

After we got all packed up, we headed up to my parents and made it in time for lunch.  The adults opened presents while the kids took naps.  This worked out way better and was much less chaotic.  It was easier to focus and help the kiddos then as they all four tore into presents at the same time.

 



Just to show a little bit of the chaos...

We decided to brave the snow and headed to Ohio on Wednesday after the kids woke up from naps.  The trip was was long, but mostly due in part to being held up for an hour and a half due to a jack-knifed semi on the road.  We arrived around 10 pm on Wednesday evening and surprisingly enough everyone slept pretty well in the hotel.  I was expecting a lot less sleep with the four of us in a hotel room, but I think the girls were so exhausted that they slept pretty well both nights and during nap.

 

The hotel had a "waterpark" in it, which was basically a large pool, waterslide, baby pool and splash pad area.  The girls absolutely LOVED the waterslide.  The big girls spent hours and hours going down that slide.  They would go down by themselves and one of the guys would catch them at the bottom.  Aves also loved going down the slide with daddy.  We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Brauchler while we were in Ohio and celebrated Christmas with them.  We traveled back from Ohio on Friday afternoon and the girls slept most of the way.

 

 

Best friends

Showing me her "funny face"

Having a stare down.  I think Connor was afraid Avery was going to hug him for the thousandth time.

 We had such a great week!  Thanks to both our families for the great food, hospitality and generous gifts!



Dancing Queen

This past fall we put Kens in a 6 week dance class at a local dance studio.  It was a 45 minute class once a week, full of little girls her age.  It was so cute and she absolutely loved it!  The last week they did a little performance for us and we got to sit in the room and watch them.  Kens did so great!

 

Here are a few pictures of her dance class over the weeks.

 

Kens is in the blue skirt...one of her favorite moves.

With her friend, Ellie.

 

Being silly before class

 

Here is a cute video of part of the performance.  Kens obviously knew we were watching and video taping her.

 

Santa!

Last week, we took the girls to visit Santa at a local church.  It worked out perfectly as we didn't have to wait in line and we got free pictures with Santa.  Kens did pretty well overall.  She didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but she sat next to him and answered his questions.  Avery was a different story.  She clung to Jeremy and was terrified of Santa.  We finally got her to sit on Kensley lap, but she cried the whole time.

 

 

 

 

 

Kensley's Preschool Picture {2012}

Ok so this is a little delayed as I keep forgetting to scan and post this.  Here is Kensley's preschool picture from this year.  They all turned out so good, but this is the one we ordered.  I can't believe how old she looks.