Avery's Stats: 2 Years Old...

We had Avery's well check appointment on Friday afternoon.  Fortunately Jeremy was able to go with us since I "technically" wasn't supposed to leave the couch.  The appointment started out rough as Avery melted down when the nurse tried to get her weight and height.  He had to hold her down on the table to get her height measurement as she refused to stand against the wall.  She did great though when the doc came in to examine her.  Kens was so sweet with her as well as she kept saying "It's ok, sweetie" and "You're doing great, Aves."  No shots this appointment and Avery checked out great.

 

2 year stats:

Weight: 24 lbs 8 oz (20%)

Height: 33.5 inches (39%)

Celebrating our "Big Girl"...

We had a fun week celebrating our big 2 year old last week.  Our plans were slightly modified due to my bedrest situation.

 

Tuesday night, Jeremy took Kens to the store to pick out cupcakes and donuts for Avery's birthday.  Aves loves her "dough-nies" so she was thrilled to start her birthday with them. 

 

I wanted to make sure Aves had a special day on her actual birthday (Wednesday). Since I am unable to do much, Grammy and Grampy were gracious enough to cart us all around for the day.  We spent the morning at the park, the girls playing while I watched from my bench.  We had a picnic lunch and then after naps, we went to the splash park.  Again the girls played while Grammy and Grampy chased after them and I sat comfortably in my chair.  Jeremy brought home dinner and we had a fun little party with the girls...eating cupcakes, opening presents and playing with new toys.

 

We had a small family party for Aves last weekend.  Fortunately Nana and Papa came on Thursday evening to help get ready for the party.  Nana made lots of food and cleaned the house while Papa entertained the girls.  We had a fun weekend and were thankful for everyone making the trip to help celebrate our big girl.

 

Aves seemed to have a good time, but was more interested in playing with her cousins and being a part of the action...rather than the center of attention.  She tore through her presents and loved trying out her new toys and gifts.  A big thanks to daddy for taking lots of pictures!

We tried to get some pictures of the birthday girl before the party...she wasn't thrilled.

I guess this is how she really feels about turning 2!

Sneaking a taste of her cake

Her classic "funny face"

Trying to coax her to do a "real" smile

Connor digging into his cupcake!

Her favorite part of any treat...the icing

Aves is a hugger...thanking Elli for her gift.

This is what present opening looked like...Aves had lots of helpers!

 Thanks again to all of our family that made the trip to celebrate our girl.  A special thanks to  our moms for helping to make and provide all the food!

Avery: 2 Years Old!

Avery Leigh is 2 years old!!!

 

I honestly can't believe our little peanut is already 2!  I still look at her and think it's not possible she can be this old already. She is fully of personality and adds so much to our family!  I know I say this all the time, but we think she is so funny.  I am sure it's partly the age as almost everything she does (outside of tantrums) is cute and entertaining. 

This is her fake pouty face that she breaks out a lot!

She is talking so much more and stringing lots of words together.  As most kids this age, she has her own "version" of words which we know pretty well.  There are often instances when we look to Kens for help with translation!  Avery has the cutest little lisp when she says things like sissy, kiss, etc.  I told Jeremy that I hope she keeps it forever as it's so cute...however, probably not so cute when she's 16.

Riding the Merry-go-round...she was so excited and talked about the horsey that went "up down, up down."

We've been talking lots about her birthday and how old she is going to be.  The only thing she really takes from all this talk is knowing that lots of family will be in town for the party.  She often lists off who is coming by name.  We ask her often how old she is going to be at on her birthday and her response is always "Big Girl".  It's really cute and I was able to catch a short video of it the other day.

Aves is still quite the singer and is usually humming some sort of tune she's made up or a version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  That seems to be her favorite song these days and she belts it out in the car, at the dinner table, etc.  She also loves the "Pat the Bible" song that they sing in Sunday school at church.  She likes to carry around a book (or bible as she calls it) to have us pat as she sings her pat the bible song.

She found this paci in her toys and loves it.  And yes, she's still obsessed with her paci's.

Aves is still our great sleeper and seems to know her limits.  She rarely fights sleep and often will ask us for "nap" or to go "nigh nigh".  She is going to be around 7:30 pm and usually is up anywhere from 6:30 am - 7:00 am (depending on how quickly we get her out of her bed).  Our girls are going through an early wake up period right now and it's almost always guaranteed that by 6:30 am someone is awake!

Telling me her shirt has her name on it.  She must mean "princess".  :)

Size wise, Avery seems to be able to wear a wide variety.  Her wardrobe for this summer is unbelievable as she has Kensley's old 18-24 month and 2T summer clothes in addition to some 12-18 month clothes that still fit her from last summer!  She wears size 6 shoes, however they are slightly big still so we're hoping they last through the summer

Love this cheese face!

Some of her favorite things include: playing outside, going to the park, bike rides in the trailer, playing with her babies, swimming, etc.  She also still loves to play with big sis and is usually right behind her following instructions.  She seems to be in a picky eating stage and most of the time we have to beg her to eat.  We use bribery a lot with her and her favorite foods all seem to be sweet!  Her favorite foods include: donuts, orange juice, french fries, ice cream, bread, yogurt, grapes, mac and cheese, goldfish crackers and waffles.


Loving her birthday cupcake!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Avery Leigh!  We love you!

 

Baby #3 Update...

Well this pregnancy continues to keep us on our toes and is definitely not lacking in surprises.  Our appointment this week was a bit of a shock and is definitely going to throw a wrench in our every day routine.

 

I had a follow up ultrasound scheduled for this week in addition to my regular 32 week appointment.  They wanted to double check baby girl's growth and ensure she was continuing to develop and grow appropriately.  She is looking good and still measuring a little small, but nothing to be concerned about (less than a week off from what she should be).  She is just about 4 pounds and is head down!

 

The ultrasound did however reveal that my amniotic fluid level is lower than they would like it to be.  It's still in the normal range, but on the lowest end.  They think I could be a little dehydrated so I was instructed to up my water intake.  The ultrasound also revealed that my placenta is a grade 2 (apparently they "grade" them and 1 is the best).  This just means that the baby isn't getting all the benefits she should or could be getting from the placenta.

 

So as a result of the above, I was put on immediate modified bedrest (meaning only do what was necessary and no extra moving around).  This will hopefully allow more blood flow to the baby as I will be using less energy not moving around.  I also have to do twice weekly NST's (non-stress tests) and will have an ultrasound next week and again the following week to recheck fluid levels and growth.  My doctor also sent me over to the hospital for two steroid shots to beef up baby girls lungs, in the event she comes early.

 

We're hoping that taking these extra precautions will allow baby girl to stay put for a bit longer.  I've been having some regular (and sometimes strong) contractions, which is another reason for all of the above.  My doctor did check me at the appointment as well and fortunately I am not dilated yet.

 

So now with all that news we're having to figure out how to manage on a daily basis as Jeremy is pretty much running the show.  I was scheduled to go to Chicago for my last work trip this weekend, but by doctor's orders I am now resting on the couch.  I am still able to work since I can do that from my couch, so that's good at least and will help to keep me busy for a few weeks.  I know our biggest challenge will be keeping the girls busy and active while I am taking it easy.  Our parents have offered to help out and I am sure the girls will spend lots of time with grandparents over the next few weeks.

We're definitely thankful for the extra precautions and feel good about the fact my doctor will be watching me closely.  I think Jeremy is definitely going to take the "brunt" of this all and will most likely be ready for July to get here!  We're hoping to keep the girls as unaffected as possible, but know they are already noticing my limitations.

First trip to the Dentist...

Today was Kensley's first trip to the dentist.  After much research, we decided to take her to our family dentist as opposed to a pediatric dentist.  My hygienist is so good and I knew she'd be great with Kens.  We prepared her by talking about the visit for a few days before and even threw in a few last minute bribes.

 

Kensley did SO good!  I was honestly shocked at how well she did.  She is usually so apprehensive about new situations and I was completely expecting a meltdown.  She sat and watched me while I got my teeth cleaned and I think that helped to ease her into it.  She got a full cleaning even her first floss!  The dentist said everything looked great and just suggested that maybe we start flossing her teeth some at home.

 

So got to pick out some fun sunglasses to wear during her exam.



Last Day of Preschool...

Last Tuesday, May 21st, was Kensley's last day of preschool (or Jr. preschool to be more specific).  She had a great year and really enjoyed going to school.  Her teachers were fantastic and were so nice with their feedback about her.  They sent home progress reports each semester and the year of year report was so funny.  Her teachers described Kensley as a social butterfly and said she enjoyed playing with the little girls in her class (we hear about 2 girls all the time).  Her teachers also said that Kensley is a rule follower and doesn't like when others aren't following the rules.  She'll often tell them "so and so isn't making a good choice."  Ha!  It made us laugh as we can only picture her saying it.

 

Kensley loved her teachers and a favorite activity of hers at home is playing school.  We, of course, are assigned different roles and play the parts of her classmates, teachers, etc.  We just got a thank you note from her teacher in the mail this week thanking us for a small gift we got her.  Kens thinks it's the best thing and loves to carry it around the house and display it in her room.

 

Avery also loved tagging along with big sis to school, dropping her off at her class and giving her hugs good-bye.  Here they are posing for a picture together on her last drop off of the year.

 

 

We are so proud of our big girl!  Kens will be attending preschool two days a week next year and Aves even gets to attend a Parents-Day-Out program once a week at the same school.



Kensley: 3.5 years old...

I thought it might be fun to do a 3.5 year update on Kensley as she seems to have grown up so much in the past 6 months!  She is definitely becoming her own little person and amazing us daily by how grown up she is.

Kensley has such a soft heart and is always generous with her hugs, kisses and her "I love you's".  She loves her little sister and (for the most part) is so good to her.  She loves to try to teach and show her new things.  I hear her say to Avery multiple times throughout the day "We're best friends, aren't we Avery?"  Kens is also very concerned for Mommy right now and seems worried whenever I have a doctor's appointment, mention a pain, etc.  She also has been my sidekick lately wanting to do whatever I'm doing or go where I am going.  She tells me daily that she wants to be just like me and do everything I do when she gets bigger.

Working like mommy on her computer.

Kensley is definitely in the inquisitive stage as she asks lots and lots of questions each day.  It's funny to see how she is processing things and what she thinks about.  We tend to answer the same questions over and over again.  She talks about the baby often and is fixated right now on how we're going to get the baby out.  She asks this question several times a week.  It's definitely different having a baby this time around with a 3.5 year old that is understanding more!

 

Over the past month, Kensley has officially transitioned to sleeping in big girl panties at night (no more pull-ups)!  We knew she could do it as she would often wake up dry or was just wanted to lay in bed instead of going straight to the potty.  We added a little motivation and she was thrilled to be able to pick out a new Ariel doll after a week of dry nights.  She's had a few minor accidents along the way, but is doing great!

 

She also gave up her crib/toddler bed for the new baby and has been sleeping in a Queen bed since March.  She loves it and I think we've only had one issue of her falling out of bed during the night.  She is still taking a nap in the afternoons for about 1.5 hours and usually goes to bed around 8:00 pm and gets up anywhere from 7 - 7:45ish in the mornings.  She seems to be having a bit of a hard time falling asleep in the evenings and I'm wondering if it's because of her afternoon nap.  I'm just not sure she is ready to give up that nap (or am I for that matter!).

 

Kensley is big on routine and everything must be in it's correct place.  Naps and bedtime can become quite the dramatic event if something is missing.  She hates to have miscellaneous toys/books laying all over her room when she is going to bed.  So they have to be put away and if they go in the playroom, they get tossed in the hall.  Her pillow, blankets, Ariel doll, stuff animals, Baby Ruth book, Mickey pillow and kleenex are strategically place in her bed.  It's imperative that she has her water (full of course) on her nightstand regardless of whether she will drink it. 

Post ice cream (yes, it's on her forehead too)

Kens is still a relatively picky eater, however we can reason with her much better these days.  She knows the rule that she has to try new foods, but it usually is met with some resistance.  She could snack all day long and the girl eats cake faster than anyone you've ever seen (she gets that from her daddy).  She still has a big sweet tooth and we can usually use sweets to bribe her to eat her dinner (I know, good parenting right there).

 

Kensley also loves going on outings, out to dinner and is big on "plans" (I wonder who she gets that from?).  She often asks me what the plan is for tomorrow or what we are doing today.  We're working on days of the week with her and knowing that Tuesday is school day, Fridays are girls days (well most weeks when I don't have to work), Daddy is home on Saturdays and Sundays and church is on Sunday.  She's getting good about knowing which days come next.

 

She is also really big on playing with her friends (real or imaginary).  Often her "friends" from Sophie the first and Little Einsteins (both TV shows) come over to "play" and I'll often hear her talking to them.  Her imagination is impressive and I love to hear the things she comes up with.  She also loves being around other kids and is absolutely obsessed with her "best friend, Elli". 

Movie date with Mommy (her first movie!) to see the Lorax

Three is such a fun age, despite some of the tantrums and challenges.